A human passed by her cage, and One twitched her tail. The squeal of metal bars upon concrete stung at her eardrums, but the meaning of the sound outweighed the pain. We're getting let out.

The back of her cage opened up to a tunnel, and One climbed out through the opening. It was a quick walk, and her feet soon touched down upon grass, a gentle breeze ruffling her hair. The gate closed behind her, but One didn't look back.

The area was beautiful, an immense, artificial forest. Metal bars arced above the treetops, but it didn't matter to her. Out here, we're free... At least for a while.

One inhaled, the air was crisp and clear under the night sky. She broke into a run, leaping up to the trunk of a tree, her agile limbs quickly navigating their way along the branches. Her claws sunk into the bark, able to support her full weight even completely upside-down. One paused, her ears twitching in time with the intricate noises that sounded about the area.

She could hear everything. Two was headed towards the water; Four ran from tree to tree. Where's Three? One swiveled her ears around and inhaled, testing the air. There he is, moping on the ground... One didn't even consider seeking him out. It's not like we can talk anymore.

She remembered him, from back before the change. Three was young, younger than most of them. It surprised One that Three and Four had even made it so far; most of the little ones died after the first injections. She closed her eyes, pushing such memories away.

One twitched her tail, flexing her muscles. The night was still young, and she vowed to enjoy it as best she could. Maybe I can even knock Two out of a tree again...


Three. His name had not always been Three.

That's what the humans called him, now. Three couldn't help it, he still considered himself human. When the others changed, they almost seemed to embrace it, all but him and Four. She doesn't act... Quite as wild as the others.

Three sighed, and made his way into the woods. His ears pricked; the others were close. Luckily they didn't attempt to bother him, perhaps his presence didn't warrant their acknowledgment. One would once talk to him for hours, but she seemed to have forgotten it. Three thought back to it as he walked, remembering her words.

We'll get out of here, just you wait.

Three could remember the room they were kept in, even though he had been drugged out of his mind. It helped with the pain, they'd said. Lies, mostly. Nothing could stop the furious burning in his muscles, the foreign skeleton growing beneath his skin.

One had tried to escape the room countless times, but the tranquilizers would drag her to the ground after a only a few paces. Three wanted to help her up, but he could barely even move his own limbs. One would lay on the ground, screaming until her voice went hoarse. Their keepers, the scientists, would usually just close the door until the noise stopped, and then One would get another dose, before being dragged back to her seat.

They act like tour-guides... Gleefully explaining the process, amused grins during each injection, but it all stopped when the spikes came out. When we couldn't talk back. Three remembered when Five managed to bite one of them, a man who had wandered too close, and from then on, they were all locked in cages.

Three shook his head. I should be enjoying the free time. He was almost jealous of the wildness that others had gained. Surely it would hurt less, ignoring the past?

Three exited the treeline, and he walked into a clearing, before pausing as his gaze locked on Two.

Two kept still as he sat beside the pond. Three approached the water slowly, lowering his head in deference. Three knelt down to sip at the pool, his left eye fixed on Two.

Two looked down at his reflection, squinting as it stared back at him, a creature of curved spikes and rigid plating. He flexed the muscles beneath his face; he had long, glinting teeth behind a carapace where his lips once resided. His horns crowned a mane of hair, which ran all the way down to the base of his tail.

Two exhaled, his breath misting in the chill. He ran a claw though his hair; still blonde like before, but more rigid now, almost like quills. Two leaned down, studying his own eyes. The light blue was nearly gone, as a dark orange stained the inner area of his irises.

The others had orange in their eyes as well, from the glimpses Two had gotten. They didn't interact much anymore, and Two missed the conversation. The five of them were kept together once, but after the final stage, they'd been separated. Two glanced over at Three, but he found himself alone.


Four darted up the tallest tree she could find, and she soon clung to the very top. Her curled horns brushed against the bars; she mused that it was the closest she'd get to the outside world. Four looked down at the building complex, whining softly. Five hadn't woken up to join them.

Five loved being out in the yard; they would jump through the trees together, and chase each other around. Four sighed, and she hoped that next time she'd be able to join them.

Four's ears pricked; something was moving beneath her. She crawled down the tree; her tail aided her balance tremendously, curling slightly behind her.

When Four had neared the base of the trunk, she glanced down at the forest floor, before she opened her mouth, a contented clicking sound rumbling out from her throat.

Three looked up at the tree, sighing in relief when Four landed beside him. Four tilted her head to examine him. Three was about the same size as her, but his horns were shorter; Four's horns curled in a loop, similar to her mane of orange, while Three's horns swept back in a curve, in line with his silver hair.

Four sat down beside Three, who was content to simply enjoy the outdoors. Four tried to sit still, but her mind wouldn't cooperate; she wanted to talk with Three, to ask how he was keeping up. She thought for a moment, focusing on the muscles in her throat.


One crept atop the branches, her back illuminated by the moon. Her pink hair brushed against the leaves, causing one of her horns to tangle in the shrubbery. She hissed, before wriggling away from the smaller branches. Her horns started out at an angle, curving outwards near the base, and back inwards by the tip. One smoothed her hair back with a clawed hand, before continuing on her way. She soon spotted Two by a pond, and she crouched, tensing the muscles in her back legs.

With a flying leap, One plowed into Two, knocking him into the water. Two sputtered, and he gave her a half-hearted growl. One would have laughed if she could, so she settled on a taunting series of clicks.

Two turned away from her, rising to his back legs, up to his waist in water. One huffed, and she started to stalk off into the woods, but something rustled in the bushes, and she paused.

Four burst out from the undergrowth, clutching her neck. Three trailed behind her, his eyes wide. Four pulled her claws away from her throat, revealing a tiny patch of pink, human skin.

One's breath caught, and she slowly clicked at Four, walking closer to examine the skin. Four was breathing heavily, but One could make out something escaping her mouth, a sound similar to speech. Two clambered out from the pond, but One didn't bother to growl at him.

Four clenched her teeth as her muscles seethed in pain. She bit back a cry, focusing all she had, until she felt her spine shift and pop, and finally, her voice escaped into the air. Four laughed, but the noise was almost foreign to her ears. She glanced around; the others stood frozen in shock. Four attempted to speak, but her voice came out gravely and broken. She focused, and tried again.

"It..." Four paused to breathe. "It's back."

Three clicked rapidly at Four, gesturing at her neck.

"I just... Pushed it away." A jolt of pain shot down her spine, and Four cried out. The carapace was growing again, forcing her neck back into shape. Four whined, as her speech was gone.


Five groaned, artificial light seeping through her eyelids. She covered her face with her hands, claws intertwining with her dark mane of hair. Five hissed under her breath as she glanced out from the cage; hers was positioned across from One and Three, but their cages were empty. Five sat up, and she tried to see into the other enclosures. Two had his own wall; he was much larger than the rest of them, and Four's cage was next to Five's. The cages weren't tall enough for them to stand up on their back legs, but they functioned just as well on all fours, even faster than two, provided enough space.

Five glanced down, and she noticed a shell casing that lay on the floor. She carefully picked it up, examining the metal, which was caked with blood. Five ran a hand over her shoulder; the muscles beneath the carapace ached, but the bone itself had grown back.

A scraping sound rattled in her ears, and Five snapped to attention. After a moment, Three loped into his cage. One appeared a minute later, but she lay down on her blanket immediately. Five clicked at them in question, but Three only paced in his cage. Five's ears twitched; Four moved through the tunnel behind her, and she soon jumped back into her cage. Five scratched at the metal between them, and Four scratched back.

Five looked back at One and Three, sensing that something was off. She clicked at them again, but One only lay on her side, staring at the wall in silence. Three clicked back at her once, before he closed his eyes, dropping down on his blanket. Two thumped back into his cage, before falling silent as well. Five let out a long sigh, wishing that they had a code, or anything to communicate.

One's ears twitched, and a moment later, footsteps entered the room.

"Why couldn't you let them hunt again? I hate feeding them..."

Another voice called out from the adjacent room. "Getting another deer in tomorrow, so don't worry."

Five began to salivate, and the hair upon her neck stood on edge.

"Good..." The woman knelt down, a grimace on her face. She carefully pushed a tray through a slot in One's cage, before moving to the next enclosure, and so on. When she reached Five, the woman hesitated. "This one's giving me a weird look."

"That's because you aren't feeding it! Shut up and get it over with..."

The woman grumbled, but she shoved the tray through, recoiling back as soon as it was inside. Five set to work on the food, her teeth moving through the sinew and muscle quickly and efficiently. Tastes like... Beef. Last week their meals had been chicken, the week previous was something that Five couldn't place. Hell of a lot better than chicken.

The woman shook her head, before slipping a tray into Four's cage. She rolled her eyes, calling out into the next room. "One of you guys take a turn, next time!"

A third voice called back. "I don't think so! You should just be glad that they have self sufficient intestines..."

The woman grimaced again, but she stopped before exiting the room. "Uh... Number one's not eating."

After a moment, another set footsteps approached, and a woman knelt beside One's cage.

One glanced up, her eyes narrowed. Blond hair, glasses... One snarled in recognition, baring her teeth.

"Now now, let's calm down..." The woman smiled. "Can't have you skipping meals, now can we?"

The woman lightly tapped along the bars with a pointer, and One hissed at the object.

"If it isn't finished within an hour, notify me." The woman stood, striding out of the room.

"Yes, Doctor Nabaat." The other woman followed her out.


Two mumbled in his sleep. He didn't dream much anymore, but when he did, it was usually memories.

"Wait up!" That was his voice, Two recognized it immediately.

"I already gave you my answer." The woman rounds on him, her eyes narrowed.

She was familiar, and Two tried to remember who she was.

"You will drop all contact with her, and we will never see you again... Is that clear enough for you?"

"I don't understand why you're doing this! We were going to-" He stops then, watching as something moves off in the distance.

The woman starts to scoff at him, but she chokes halfway. She falls, face-first, a dart sticking out from her back. Two tries to catch her, but he is struck by something impossibly cold.

They're in the room, now, with the rest of them. At least two dozen people, all crowded together in chairs. Two tries to move, to escape, but his limbs are unresponsive. He cries out when they start to die, but the injections just keep coming. They fall, choking on their own breath; their eyes clouded over in a deep, foreign orange.

Soon there are only five. Two watches as they progress within seconds, the weeks all melding together in an dizzying swirl of pain. Their faces, once human... Now only their eyes were remotely the same, an orange blossoming out from the center. Spikes and carapace burst from their shoulders, backs, arms, and so on.

Two remembers the blood, wishing, praying that it doesn't really make his stomach growl, but he knows, deep down... The scent drives him mad. Their skin is still partially human at that point, so the blood has that effect, but as soon as the plates grow over, the hunger stops.

Now... He isn't sure what they are.

Two curled up tighter, clicking softly in his sleep.