11 Years Later

"I open my eyes. The warm sun on my face and the strange gravity of the planet that makes me feel so… grounded. I'm back. I start to walk around as I can see I am not in the place I woke up last time. I start to roam the interesting rock structures that surround me. I remember the last time I came- I just sat basking in the radiating sun light. It felt unlike anything I have ever felt before, considering I have never felt warmth like this before."

(Woosh)

"There's a hovering craft that came quickly and flew away as quickly as it came. I didn't see that last time. Before I knew it my legs started to chase after the craft. It's almost like I don't have control over them. I don't care. The excitement grew in my stomach as more started to pass by and dip through the mountain I was coming up to. As I approach the towering land, I jumped and felt the wind soaring through my body as I flew to the top. When I landed, I saw a great congregation of ships, canvases, and people. So many people! Are these the land's inhabitants? They all look similar to each other- men and women with dark hair, and all with similar outfits on. Now, I jump down to the plain and see all of these people. I walk around. Some of them are fighting, laughing, or eating. Wait- they all have tails! These people look like me! My stomach gets giddy with excitement. I can't help it. I've never seen so many people with my characteristics. Man, I wish 2 and 7 were here to see this. They would be so excited.

Now, I'm moving toward a group of young females under a canopy who are talking. Suddenly, I feel a hand touch my shoulder. I turn around…"

"Hey! HEY!", an angry voice calls out through the barred door. There in the desolate room lies a girl. She lies on the cement floor sleeping. She opens her eyes as the uniformed man stands at the locked entrance.

"Hey girl- don't pretend like you can't hear me", the man says to her. The man opens the slot on the bottom of the door and slides a tray of old bread through. The young girl picks herself up and groans in pain from the hard night of sleep she just had. She carries herself over to the tray. Her chains clank around her feet and she sits down and devours the moldy food in front of her.

"At least it's not as moldy as yesterday", she thinks to herself as she finishes the last bit without regret. She peers up at the man who is now laughing at her.

"Wow, you're a freaking animal you monkey", he says as he walks away.

"Bastard." She looks down at her tail. She takes a deep breath and turns on her lanturn. The cell around her is bare and the lanturn barely illuminates the room. She has a thin mattress on a metal, military bed frame. No pillow, only an even thinner blanket, if you can even call it such. On the other side of the room is an old toilet attached to the wall. A captives cell, not a room you'd expect to find an 11 year old girl. On the outside of the door is written "SS14". This had always been her identity. The guards and scientists referred to her as 14. With the guards footsteps receding down the corridor, she picked herself up and started her daily stretching before commencing her daily routine. She starts to do her intensive training exercises. This kept her focused, and kept her from going crazy in her dark cell.

After a few hours she was mid in her pull-ups on the exposed bar on the ceiling; she heard footsteps approaching her cell door. The presence walking toward the cell was familiar and non threatening compared to the usual patrols.

"Do you ever not work out, monkey?", the familiar voice said to her. SS14 looked at the door, not breaking from the set. She saw a pair of friendly eyes, it was Gadia. She had been a patrol officer in the compound for the past 5 winters, from what she had counted. She was one of the only humane individuals she comes across on a regular basis.

"I have to keep myself in shape don't I? I have to be strong", the young girl retorted back.

Gadian looked at SS14 and chuckled to herself. "You remind me of my grandfather. But I will never understand what you are training for. It's not like you have a life."

The tailed girl stopped. "What am I doing this for? To numb the pain of the experiments? Or for something more?" She didn't know. She had been programmed to train since she can remember, it's all she's done. Prepping for combat has always been in her blood in a way. The young girl hopped down from her pull ups and walked toward the door.

"You know the drill 14", Gadia says to her. She unlocked the door as the child held out her wrists ready to be cuffed. This was the only time each week she got to leave the cell, and Gadia was the only one who she allowed to take her. Over the many times of fighting the other guards, the treatments were always more brutal, torturous, and inhumane. "I hate it when I get called that", she says in a monotone voice.

The two walk down the corridor to the laboratory room, where the experiments are done. As they walk down closer to the entrance, Gadia can see the tension building in the prisoner. Her posture straightens and her tail stiffens. The guard can tell the girl is mentally preparing herself for the weekly torture beyond the door.

"I can't let him see my nerves this time. He will taunt me and if I can't hold my temper- No! I won't give into fear!", the child thinks to herself.

They get to the door and Gadia stops her to enter the code in the keypad beside the door. Once that happens the door opens to a large white room with an operating table in the middle of it. The two walk forward and SS14 hops on the table. The same male guard from earlier walks up behind Gadia and the two start to strap all appendages of the girl. Gadia straps in her arms, while the male guard harshly straps her feet. The abrasive male then grabbed her tail and squeezed hoping to see her squirm. SS14 withholds her fury and pain from showing externally. After all this time she has learned to start numbing herself from pain. The guard laughs as he straps her tail down as well.

"Stupid monkey freak", he says exiting the chamber.

"Stupid jackass", she thinks to herself.

"That's Panz, he's a dick", Gadia says to her. SS14 looks up at the young female guard and can't help but feel some ease. Because she's here, she knows some people can be kind. Her eyes then dart to the Red Ribbon Army symbol on her uniform and can't help but to feel some anger. She then looks back at the woman and speaks without thinking.

"Why do you work for them", SS14 asks. Gadia is shocked by her question. Gadia develops a stern scowl on her face, much like the one SS14 usually masks hers with.

Gadia sighs, "The Red Ribbon Army will rise again. Whose side would you be on when that time comes? I'm not looking to get killed, 14."

SS14 puts her head down. "Yeah, and I'm just a pawn in making that happen." She can't help but think of the day she was removed from the compound she was developed in with her comrades. Of course she wasn't the only one developed who was like her. She thinks of all the memories she had with her friends.

"I wonder what you would say if you were here, listening to this guard. 2… 7… would you consider her our friend too?" She subsides her thoughts, and thinks of them, her friends, smiling. Suddenly her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the door opening. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.

"Hello, SS14. Let's get this over with I have much more important things to attend to", the deep monotone voice says. She looks up at the diabolical man now toppling over her. Doctor Gero.