Project, Failure
Chapter One,
Hide My Eyes, Turn Me Blind
She could feel it, beating faster and faster in her chest. What was this sensation? Slowly, her eyes slid open, the bright lights all but blinding her. The first thing she saw was read, complete and utter beauty of blood, blood and metallic instruments of torture or operation, tube going into her skin and a oxygen mast covering her mouth and nose pushing pure oxygen into her lungs. Where was she? The young female started to panic, her eyes darting around till she started to couch violently, a burning now in her throat as the beautiful blood was splattered all over the oxygen mask she wore. Pain, pain was the first thing she had ever felt. Fear came next, sheer terrifying fear. The poor girl started to breath abnormally, choking on blood as she tried to move, rolling off the operation table with a loud clatter of the blood covered objects hitting the floor. For some strange reason, she could feel something running along her back, and after pulling out some injections, reached behind her and pulled away a single, pure white blood covered feather.
What on earth was this? She felt her back, where the stubs of wings had been…tears coming to her eyes. Whatever this meant, it bought her so much sorrow. She looked to be so young, maybe about seven years old, if not younger. She started to spit up more blood, her insides on fire as she looked down, noticing that her stomach and chest was all ripped open, the skin pulled back by some kind of silver slips. She quickly ripped them out, stumbling on her hands and knees as she tried to walk, but her legs where also all busted and sore from the fact that they had been operated on, and the wounds had just been stitched up. She felt the tears falling at a faster pace, barely able to breath now. The girl had no idea what was going on, she had no idea how she had gotten here, or what was wrong with her. She couldn't even speak, and bit her tongue so hard that it might have come clean off…she finally had gotten to her feet, seeing her reflection on the metal platter splattered with her own blood. She gently picked it up, and then dropped it, horrified at what her keen eyes had seen.
She reached up, feeling her jaw line and face, feeling the spikes of pure blackness that they had implanted. What had they done to her?! The spiked ran along her jaw line, and under her eyes, growing larger as they passed the back of her cheeks.
Suddenly, she gasped and fell backwards, shaking all over as she felt her insides turn, black aura pouring from every cut or opening on her body. The girl let out a blood chilling scream, her eyes widening as the aura poured form her eyes as well. Such confusion and fear swept over her, her powers where out of control, and started consuming her as her skin turned black, and her nails and teeth started to grow beastly. Someone else had somehow entered the picture, and the young experiment's vision had gone black, but the shrill sound of her vocals was still heard echoing threw ought the halls.
"What a bunch of fools." A male's voice broke threw the silence of the halls and cells, as the young girl's vision slowly came back. This time, she had awoken in a much colder place, the dampness of the air around her sending chills up and down her spine. "Hm? Are you awake, so very soon? How odd. It's only been about a day since they brought you here. Most of the others sleep much longer…" the girl slowly turned her head in the direction of the voice, seeing nothing but a blur of colors and shapes. Soon, the haziness of everything wore off, and a rather short looking male was crouched beside her, the two of them separated by only a row of bars. "…Do you know where you are?"
The girl merely, shook her head, seeming to still be lost in a daze of some sort. And, of course, she was. She had no idea what this person was saying to her, and shaking her head had been a strange reaction. The experiment before her had a nearly emotionless face, his short, blond hair messily clinging against the sides of his face. He was wet, for some strange reason. The girl's eyes traveled upwards as she saw a source of light. The male also looked up, and then narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, I know, pathetic, right? Im the only one with a hole in my cell that allows rain to fall threw." He muttered in a less then desirable tone, scowling.
The girl looked at him blankly, and then cleared her throat. "I have, no idea what you're saying." She said in a horse tone, her language strange unheard of in the human dictionary. The male paused then chuckled lightly, shaking his head. She could still feel the spikes along her cheeks and under her eyes, but they also grew out of parts of her arm, small and nubby, yes, but still annoying. They also ran down her spinal cord, and her skin felt scaly to the touch, and shimmered with blackness. Honestly, she looked like a mutation of sorts, her wings now covered in black feathers, instead of white ones. She also had a tail, which was long and slender, with a spiked trail leading to the tip. Her body posture was still humanly, so she could normally walk on two legs if she wanted to. They weren't finished with her body yet, and that was why she still walked and moved like a human. The whites of her eyes had run black, and two colors span within the black, crystal blue, and bright blood red, although, after a while, they dulled to a crimson and navy.
With another short laughter, he ruffled his own hair, shaking any stray amounts of water off. "Of course you cant, please forgive me. I am called prototype Zero, the first of my kind, and the best." He held out the palms of his hands, where he had been branded as such. On his left hand where the letters 'Z E', and on the right, 'R O'. Together, it spelt his name. Zero. "And you, you are being called Thirteen. Im sure you don't remember your true name, none of us do, so Thirteen will be your name. It is what the humans call us, our numbers." He explained, seeing the blank expression she had. Slowly, Thirteen rested her forehead against the cool metal bars, feeling the pain all over her body only increasing when she moved. How annoying.
"…I see." She muttered softly, her brain slowly starting to put everything together for her. Zero, as they called him, didn't get much of a chance to explain anything else, because as soon as she had spoken, she heard the sharp sound of metal hitting metal and her cell doors had slid opened.
A man, dressed completely in white, walked calmly inside, a clipboard in his rough hands. The unlucky number's dull red and navy eyes narrowed suspiciously as he stepped closer. "Stand." He ordered, glaring down at the girl with cold, heartless eyes. She, of course, didn't know what he had told her to do, and bleakly looked at Zero for help. He motioned for her to get up, and slowly she had, pushing aside the feeling of worry that had swept so soundly over her. "Good. Now, come with me. You will show your strengths, since you are well enough to stand." He said in that harsh tone of his, gesturing for her to follow.
She did so, her multi colored orbs staring at his back as she walked behind him. Honestly, Thirteen had no idea where he was taking her, and frankly, didn't care. She didn't understand a lot of things, she had only been conscious for about ten minutes, and she had no knowledge of her past or anything like that. Inside, she felt completely numb, lacking of all emotions or feelings other then anger and pain. Oh, such anger she felt…though, she had no idea why she was so angry inside. She just, was.
"We are, here." He pushed open two double doors, a blinding light hitting Thirteen's ever-sensitive eyes. She had raised her arm up to block out the light, one eye closed as she looked around. On the other side of the room was a boy, looking to be about the same age as her, though, his features where different. "Prototype One, and Prototype Thirteen…you are to test each other's abilities. I want no deaths in this fight, and absolutely no fatal wounds. Verify command."
As if on habit, the one called One spoke, his voice very even, all one tone, "Command verified." Thirteen, did not respond however. She, in all honesty, still had no idea what on earth these weird creatures where saying. The man all in white looked displeased that she had said nothing, but the one called One seemed a bit more then pleased, perhaps even happy. Speaking of this other prototype…he had the strangest features. He looked much like an animal, if you will, a fox. He had bright orange, white, and silver hair, and fox ears perched up top that head of his. He had a tail, too, and it was very puffy and cute looking, but all matted and muddy, as was his hair and clothing. He slowly got into some sort of pose, his foxy ears pointing strait back, as if angered. For the most part, Thirteen kept her mouth shut, watching carefully as he moved a little closer, inch by inch.
What on earth was he doing? Thirteen found his actions terribly interesting, if not amusing. He seemed to be positioning himself for something, but Thirteen didn't know what at the moment.
Then he suddenly lunged at Thirteen, who's instincts took over from that split second, and she easily dogged, twisting her leg so it was behind his before she jolted, making him fall on his knees. She had a firm hold of his wrists with one of her hands, and the other hand carefully placed against his neck, brushing against his chin. Her nails where barely pushing against the skin, long enough to make a decent sized cut, and definitely long enough to end his life. One all but froze for that split second, his ears now perked to alertness as his tail twitched, and he violently growled, thrashing about to free himself. Thirteen finally let him go, quickly moving away as he lunged yet again, attempting to kick, hit, or pin her in some way. Finally, he had got a hold of some part of her body, his animal like claws digging into the scales that lined her tail. She hissed, her hair frizzing some as she kicked his chest, making him skid backwards. Sadly, he had been holding her tail rather tightly, and his claws had made a few lines of blood rush down. Now, she looked at her tail with a shocked expression. What on earth? She was bleeding again, just like before. This strange, pure blissful liquid touched her lips as she kissed the wound, her eyes narrowing.
Now, she wasn't too pleased, and a stunning black aura started to leak like water past her fingertips, collecting in a puddle under her feet. One moved back, his scattershot blood red eyes watching the aura slithering towards him. "Stop it!" he yelled at her, an accent very heavy on his lips. "Stop!" He started to move, dodging the aura when it lashed out, scrapping against his skin several times, making his own blood splatter onto the ground. Again, her expression was one of shock as she knelt down and touched some of his blood, her aura acting on its own accord. "We where ordered to cause no fatal wounds!"
Thirteen's attention snapped back to the fox boy as he screamed the aura completely wrapped around his body. Blood was practically pouring from his body, before he became completely still, and completely quiet. Thirteen had thought that perhaps, he was dead, and that she had that annoyance taken care of, and let her aura slither on back into her body. If it was that easy to rid herself of annoyances, why didn't she just do the same to that man in white?
But, that thought was quickly pushed aside when the man in white had interfered, saying something in that bloody language that Thirteen couldn't understand. One was taken away by some other humans whom had recently walked threw the same doors she had, and Thirteen simply stood there with a null in void expression. What was the point of all that? With a sigh, she saw the man walk over to her, seeming utterly irate with her. "What did I tell you before the match had started?!" He yelled, seeing her eyes narrow with warning. 13 didn't know what he was yelling about, but she didn't like being talked to in such a manner. His expression changed a bit when he saw her eyes narrowing, and sighed and decided to let it go.
He didn't want her to attack him as well, and simply gestured once again for her to follow him. The man would need something to keep her under control, before he tried to punish her.
The girl named Thirteen complied, her eyes scanning over everything and anything they landed on. The tension for the fight was gone, and all that was left was her curiosity in this strange place. The man had lead her to another cell, the letters, 'XIII' carved into the name plate. She carefully inspected the place, seeing the man write something down on his little clipboard out of the corners of her eyes. "This is to never be taken off, understand?" He put the clipboard aside and strapped something metallic around her neck. At first, 13 thought nothing of it, and kept her eyes on the area around her. Why should she care what the humans did? It was only when the man had not so gently pushed her inside the cell did her eyes dart over towards him.
"Don't touch me." She grumbled sharply, glaring angrily as the man snickered, and walked away after having locked her cell. Thirteen kicked at the bars, hissing now since he was far out of hearing range.
"Whoa, whoa…calm down," came a mellow, almost dull reply form the cell next to her's. At first, Thirteen had thought it was Zero, but this male had long, black hair that hung well past his waist. Definitely not Zero. This guy was also, from the looks of it, taller then Zero. Gently, Thirteen leaned against the bar's that separated the two cells, her eyes curiously searching over the man whom had responded. Her eyes wandered to his face, where there was a harsh carving in one of his cheekbones. 'XII'. Was everyone here branded? That appeared to be the case, as Thirteen slid down to his level, since he was sitting with his back against the wall.
Thirteen made a soft, huff of a sigh, still staring at him curiously. "Who are you, hm?" She asked in a sore tone, his deep crimson eyes meeting her's for the first time. He smiled, and sat up a bit, leaning closer to her.
"Ah, you're the new one that Zero was telling us about. Im called Twelve, it's a pleasure, im sure. So, what where you? A demon, a vampire, an animal mix? Something else?" He asked carefully, watching her eyes stray of his. Some of the experiments knew what they where originally, the only one that was purely human made was Two, and that monstrosity had long since died. Though, it wasn't uncommon for them to nor remember what they where, since none of them remembered their names. "Or, my sister, do you simply not remember?"
Thirteen shook her head, touching the metallic thing around her neck. Twelve's eyes lit up. "Oh…I feel bad for you, my sister. You best listen to everything the humans say, alright? If you don't, im sure it will hurt a lot."
"What will hurt?" Thirteen asked abruptly, her eyes flickering up towards his own with hidden interest. Twelve merely reached threw the bars and poked the shock collar around her neck, still smiling like a lunatic. The girl had thus stopped the conversation with him, and scooted into a corner of her cell, trying to rid herself of the drowsy feeling she had gotten just suddenly. Sleep came easily for the unlucky number on that first night, even if it was cold, and the air was damp. Oh well, her scales shimmered some as she slept, collecting particles of water from the air. That really didn't help her cold feeling, but there wasn't much she could do about that, now was there?
But, it wasn't the sleeping part that was to be feared. It was what happened when she began to dream that would leave her notorious. Twelve spent his sleepless night staring off into space, however, when she started to shift in her slumber, he couldn't help but sneak a glance at the newest experiment.
"I think she's might be the one." Jaul set down his clipboard, and then pulled off his white lab coat, tossing it over the back of his chair before he sat down. "The new one was just put into the sparing chamber, and all but trashed the little fox…One. It took her less then five minutes to knock him unconscious, and put him in intensive care."
A female scientist lifted up her head, sliding her reading glasses off her face with a small but tired smile. "But, we don't need another wild one. What if we have another breakout?" Lerra asked, watching her partner sit down in the seat right next to her's, after having removed his lab coat.
Jaul sighed and rubbed his eyes with one hand, seeming equally as tired as Lerra was. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there." He replied, hearing Lerra chuckle, shaking her head.
"No back-up plan? How very unlike you, Jaul." She smirked, and then moved to take a look at Jaul's notes, firmly clasped to the clipboard. Lerra picked up her reading glasses and put them on once more, tapping her lips gently with her nails as she read, and re-read the report on the newest altered product. "Hm?" she blinked, eyes scanning over a sentence over and over, as if her mind where playing tricks on her. "Her design…is much like Zero's." Lerra pointed out, seeing Jaul nod.
Twelve rubbed his eye's, then moved closer to the bar's of his cell, in utter disbelief as to what was happening. Thirteen groaned loudly in her sleep, then tossed her head to one side, the black aura forming around her. Her body slowly started radiating a beautiful white light, but it was held in by the black aura, as if the aura didn't want it to become tainted by sinful air. Twelve sighed, then shook his head, leaning back as he began to stare off into space again.
Such a shame, that a pure soul like this one beside him would become tainted by human experimentations and curiosity…and even their bloodthirsty wish to be supreme, the most powerful of their kind. Humans, such foolish creatures. And yet, Twelve snickered, because as foolish as the humans where, they still had him and the others locked up like dogs.
About six years after that first, faithful day…Thirteen had gotten custom to the human ways. If she did something 'wrong', she would experience some small fraction of displeasing pain…but if she did as they where asked, she would be allowed to go back to her cell and do whatever she pleased.
Sadly, today was not one of those good days.
Screams echoed throughout the cemented hallways, screams and cries in a strange language pouring from the mouth of a young child, Thirteen. More words formed after her's, animals outside the laboratory screeched and howled with her screams, making the other experiments very uncomfortable. Thirteen screamed the other language as the howls and barks increased form outside the stonewalls. She was being held down in chains and straps, her black eyes covered by a steel blindfold. Her wings had been ripped apart to prevent her from flying away, and her claws pinned along with her neck.
She could feel them digging the knifes into her, drawing symbols of sealing as she tired to pull herself free angrily. Her stomach was the only one that really bothered her at this point. She felt it necessary to screech loudly when one of whoever was touching her dug the knife threw her flesh, and finally pulled her spiked tail free. He died, simply because she had hit him so hard, that the impact with the wall crushed his bones and internal organs instantly. The other lab workers backed up some, listening to her chant in that other language of hers. Tears started to flow past her blinder, as bit by bit, she ripped her body off the examination table and threw the men and women aside like they where mere bugs. And to her, they where.
Twelve rubbed his head, listening to is sister's screams and cries for help, for the death of those who where hurting her so…but he could do nothing. It soon ended, and they finally restrained her and dragged her back to her cell, locking her securely back up before leaving her to wallow in her pain. "I hate them." She whispered in a deathly ill tone, eyes still hidden by the metallic blindfold.
Twelve sighed as he leaned his head against the cool bars that separated him from his sister, and reached out, touching her cheek gently to wipe away the tears that fell. He knew that out of all of them, she had been the one to suffer the most. She was the one that was most valuable to their creators, so they pushed her harder, cut her deeper, and made her immune to just about everything.
"Im sorry, sister…but I have a plan, to get out of here." He whispered, using an unknown language. Thirteen moved her head some, leaning the metal on her blindfold against the bars, her long, deep red hair sticky and covered in blood. 13's wings twitched, and then spread apart as her body started to regenerate, the feathers growing back in place, fresh and new.
"You are the strongest of us all, sister, I need you to kill everyone nearby, and distract them all so I can let everyone else out as well." She listened quietly, biting at her tongue for no other reason then to distract her mind. "Then, after I am out, you and I can leave this retched place!"
Slowly, the aura started leaking from all over her body, every pore, every cut, the aura slithered out like snakes to the Garden of Eden. "Alright, brother." She whispered, feeling her aura rip and tear threw the many humans in the laboratory, trying to kill as many as possible, as quickly as possible…that way, mass chaos would help then escape in the mist of all the confusion. Feeling important, she pulled her aura back inside her body, her whole being reeking of the blood that had been shed. Sadly, she had not meet to wise, and had not killed enough, or perhaps not anyone to important…because she could feel more humans running towards her, then away from her.
"To your feet, monster!" A man ordered after having opened Thirteen's cell. She, slowly, stood up, her arms already tied behind her. She had learned not to use her arms and fingers…they where always ties up anyways. Just like her eyes. They where scared of her, terrified even. XIII had no idea why, because she was scared of them. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Jaul yelled at the unlucky number, but she paid him no mind. Somewhere in the back of her head, in the depths of her mind, she could hear a voice, a mocking tone, like a demon. That voice, Thirteen had heard it many times, the voice had called itself Tesh, and wanted, pleaded with Thirteen to let her out. The number refused, every time.
Thirteen felt restraints on her again, chains and other things ties to her, trying to pull her out of that retched cell. Twelve had already broken his own cell open, attempting to escape while they where pre-occupied with Thirteen. She had sensed this, and growled loudly as they started to move her past the bars. "Twelve, brother! Don't leave me like this!" She pleaded, her wings flapping furiously as she growled, trying to resist the pull. Twelve looked at her, and then shook his head, running the other direction. At first, Thirteen was in disbelief…why was he running that way? Why wasn't he helping her? Then, her mind had put the pieces together.
It was all just a trick. Just a trick to free himself and the older experiments. He must have known that she'd kill a lot of the humans, and he must have known that they would come after her for it…grinding her teeth together, Thirteen let her wings fall, letting all hopes of escape fall with them. 13 felt stupid, oh so stupid as she felt them lead her into a large stone room, the only source of light being the moon above. Of course, she couldn't see the moon, but she could feel it.
"Lock her up, tight. We don't want another outbreak like the one we had earlier." A woman spoke this time, cool straps being licked around her neck, arms, waist, legs, and tail. It was cold, and Thirteen shivered only once, feeling some pressure on her blindfold when they tightened the hold enough to cut into the tender flesh on her forehead. Thirteen didn't care. That was the very least of her pain.
"Now then, Experiment Number Thirteen, you have been scheduled for deletion on account of the fact that you killed many of my colleagues. Will you comply?" Lerra, pushing her glasses closer to her eyes. Typical…Jaul and Lerra where the main scientist that worked on Thirteen. Perhaps it was because no one dared get any closer. Who knew.
Thirteen bit her tongue, causing her blood to flow past her lips. Even if life was nothing but suffering for her, even if nothing had gone as planed, and no one was there for her…she would not cower, she would not die without a fight. "No." she stated firmly, speaking the human tongue for once.
"Very well. By force, then." The woman spat coldly, snapping her fingers as the restraints tightened more, molding around the experiments unique body structure.
Thirteen leaned her head back a little, before she felt something touching the bottom of her right foot, something very cold, and somehow wet. As a knee-jerk reaction, Thirteen flinched away from the odd object, eyes widening from under her metallic blindfold. She couldn't flinch very far, or fast, however…she was still locked down tight, and Lerra just sighed, putting the stiletto knife to her foot once again. The knife sliced easily into the young experiments flesh, but she didn't flinch again, nor did her expression change. This wasn't anything new to her, she was sued to being sliced and diced by the humans in white. It was only when she felt a burning sensation tingling at her foot did she wince.
It hurt. Badly. Like something was eating her foot from the inside out, and whatever it was, it was traveling up her legs, and now her stomach …arms…back…neck… Thirteen let out a loud, angry scream, pulling rapidly on her restraints, trying to get rid herself of whatever this new pain was, whatever was eating away at her body. "I warned you." Lerra said softly, seeing Thirteen throw her head for side to side, strange, black vein like markings traveling slowly up her body. It didn't take very long for her scaly skin to start cracking, bleeding profusely as her screams only increased. Lerra pushed her glasses up and took a small step back, cleaning off the infected knife she used to carve the number 'XIII' into the pad of Thirteen's foot. She had branded the experiment, then had infected her with a extremely dangerous toxin that fed on the body…every part of it, including the bone. The only real problem was, that Thirteen wasn't dying as quickly as the other 'failed' experiments had.
Black aura poured past Thirteen's fingertips, whisking around the room wildly in a rage of chaotic confusion. Finally, it had pulled apart the restraints holding Thirteen down, and removed her blindfold, along with her 'collar'. Thirteen instantly sat up, grabbing her head as she pulled her knees towards her chest, eyes very wide, and teeth bared. Lerra took another few steps back, and then ran out the door, rushing to tell someone, anyone about what could happen next.
The experiment shook, her throat to bloody and raw to continue her screaming…she took control of her aura, and started to run blindly in any direction she could, trying to get as far away as she could…nothing was familiar to Thirteen, everything seemed new, and no matter which way she went, she felt like she was a lab rat in a maze. Finally, she was fed up with it all, and stopped completely, barely able to move, blood and black ooze dripping down the cracks in her skin that the infection had caused. Thirteen had to think. Her mind raced a million miles a minute, her eyes till open, a beautiful mixture of red and blue spinning in her glassy orbs like water and fire.
Thirteen could hear voices behind her, voices ahead of her…all around her. She wouldn't be able to just get out without a fight. So, without second thought, she put her hand against the temples of her head and pushed down some in her pain, eyes spinning much faster then before. "Tch. Worthless human scum!" She growled in a horse tone, the world around her going into negative effect, before explosions and fire erupted all over the laboratory, the ground cracking and crumbling under her feet by the amount of aura circling around her, and the speed it was circling. Shrieks and cries of people trapped in the cross fire where quickly quieted, the entire building collating to the ground, the only thing left to prove its existence being small bits of rubble, barely bigger then pebbles, but not small enough to make fine dust.
"Hn…" The unlucky number glanced around at the aria, small fired still active, even after the world had gone back to its normal colors. Her body suddenly collapsed, and she fell face first into what was left of her place of creation, her entire body shaking violently from the infection that had spread across her whole body, making her sight go black, and her throat dry.
Thirteen bit hard onto her tongue, unable to keep an unemotional face. It was swollen in pain, and anger…she passed out, hoping that she would feel better when she woke up.