Keane stared out into the empty space ahead of him. The distant stars dotted the inky blackness that seemed to have no end. He was happy now that he had stolen this ship. Those other guys didn't need it. He could thrive on Turo. There were so many opportunities. Even if he was an illegal experiment, he could live a happy life…..
A noise sounded from behind. Keane turned around, startled. He had been so deep in thought he forgot about everything else. What could it be? Probably just the engines. It was an old ship. Or what about that load the two aliens had spoken of? Keane had been too hasty to take a look. Perhaps it was time now.
Keane walked over to a small hatch on the floor. He pulled it's switch, and it swung open, revealing a small storage room. It's walls and floor were simple metal, and there were boxes everywhere. There was a narrow ladder leading down. Keane stepped on to it and climbed down carefully. He hopped off and landed with a clang. The noise echoed in the ship, giving an eerie feel to the room.
Another noise was heard. It was louder then the last. Keane looked over in it's direction. Through the mass of boxes he could see a small metal cage. He navigated around the larger crates and peered through the cage's rusty bars.
There, bent over and still, was a small furry creature. It's blue fur was dusty, and its fluffy white belly, face and feet were nearly brown. It had a wolfish head to it, with a black nose and greyish muzzle, and it's blue spiky tail hanged limply. It was obviously not a natural being. Keane wasn't sure if it was conscious or not. He tapped on the cage softly and hoped for the reaction.
The creature stirred. Its limbs moved slightly and its nose twitched. It slowly raised it's head and opened its brown eyes. When they saw Keane, they widened. The creature quickly sat up and began to scrape at the cage's floor with it's black claws.
"…Who are you?" it said in a child-like voice. "Don't hurt me…. Get away…." Its masculinity could barely be recognized through it's meek voice.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Keane said softly. He crouched and looked the creature in the eyes. "I came to see what you were. I heard you from above."
"What happened to the other guys?"
"They're gone now…" Keane glanced at the mechanical lock on the cage. It could be opened. "I'll let you out." Keane stuck a paw into his cloak and pulled out a jagged piece of metal. He stuck the sharp end into the lock and pushed it in. He moved it around a bit, waiting for the sound of victory. Click! It opened. Keane pulled off the lock and dropped it, then stood back to open the door. The creature came running out, and to Keane's surprise, it wrapped its arms around the startled experiment.
"Thank you for letting me out!" the creature exclaimed. "I thought I'd never get out of that cage!"
"Uh… You're welcome…" Keane patted the creature on the head then shifted out of his grasp. The blue-furred experiment looked up at Keane and smiled.
"It was really cramped in that cage…" the experiment said. "Those other guys just stuck me in there."
"How'd they find you anyway?"
"Um… It's a long story."
Keane and the newly discovered experiment went back to the ship's controls and sat on the chairs there. The blue-furred captive paused to look at the stars for a moment, then turned his attention back to Keane.
"My name is Experiment 231," he began. "I was created by Dr. Malayaki. He was an independent scientist, he had his lab hidden on Turo where no one would find it. I hated it at that lab. Malayaki was nice enough, but everything was so tense… He would zap his experiments with his electric shocker if we did the slightest thing wrong. I was really scared of him. Sometimes he would talk with us and let us go around his lab as we pleased, and sometimes we would be stuck in our cages for weeks, with hardly any food. Malayaki didn't care about our needs…" 231 sighed. "I'm lucky to be the way I am. Some of the doctor's early experiments were horrible… They didn't have the right parts and they couldn't even use their bodies. Malayaki said it was our fault they were that way. I never understood what he meant…"
"This guy sounds pleasant," Keane said sarcastically. "It must have been tough there,"
"Yeah, it was… I wish I never had to go through that. I still get bad dreams."
"So how did you end up here?"
"Well… After a while, Malayaki was caught for making illegal experiments. I remember when that big group of police blasted open the lab's door and started shouting. Malayaki tried to stop them, but he couldn't. He was knocked out and thrown into the police ship. Then they started to round us up… Everyone ran around screaming. The police nabbed 39 experiments within a minute. I was scared. I ran through a hole in the wall a gun had made and boarded Malayaki's old ship. The police were shooting at me before I even left the ground. I'm still amazed that I got out of there…"
Keane nodded in agreement. This kid had been through a lot.
231 shook his head and continued. "I'm no good with ships, so I crashed near a city. I didn't know what to do then… The lab had been the only place I knew. So I went into the city to look for help. People ignored me when I talked to them. I wasn't sure why. After a while, I found the two guys who were on this ship before. They said they would help me. When we went on to this ship, they shoved me in the cage below and gave me some tranquilizer. I blacked out for a while. When I woke up, you were here…"
Keane nodded and considered 231's story. "Well, 231... that was an interesting tale. My name's Keane, and you'll be safe with me for a while. I've been evading the Fed's for a while now. We'll have to hide out on Turo until we can set things straight."
231 smiled. "Keane… That's a cool name. Where did you get it?"
"I thought of it myself. 149 didn't really suit me."
"Yeah… Well, I need a name too!" 231's brow furrowed in thought. "But what should I use? I'm no good with names… What do you think Keane?"
"Um…. Well…" Keane studied 231, hoping that something would come to him. "How about… Cless? I think it suits you?"
"Cless… Yeah… I like it."
Keane smiled and turned his gaze to the ship's controls. They were on their way to a new life, a new start, on Turo.
A noise sounded from behind. Keane turned around, startled. He had been so deep in thought he forgot about everything else. What could it be? Probably just the engines. It was an old ship. Or what about that load the two aliens had spoken of? Keane had been too hasty to take a look. Perhaps it was time now.
Keane walked over to a small hatch on the floor. He pulled it's switch, and it swung open, revealing a small storage room. It's walls and floor were simple metal, and there were boxes everywhere. There was a narrow ladder leading down. Keane stepped on to it and climbed down carefully. He hopped off and landed with a clang. The noise echoed in the ship, giving an eerie feel to the room.
Another noise was heard. It was louder then the last. Keane looked over in it's direction. Through the mass of boxes he could see a small metal cage. He navigated around the larger crates and peered through the cage's rusty bars.
There, bent over and still, was a small furry creature. It's blue fur was dusty, and its fluffy white belly, face and feet were nearly brown. It had a wolfish head to it, with a black nose and greyish muzzle, and it's blue spiky tail hanged limply. It was obviously not a natural being. Keane wasn't sure if it was conscious or not. He tapped on the cage softly and hoped for the reaction.
The creature stirred. Its limbs moved slightly and its nose twitched. It slowly raised it's head and opened its brown eyes. When they saw Keane, they widened. The creature quickly sat up and began to scrape at the cage's floor with it's black claws.
"…Who are you?" it said in a child-like voice. "Don't hurt me…. Get away…." Its masculinity could barely be recognized through it's meek voice.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Keane said softly. He crouched and looked the creature in the eyes. "I came to see what you were. I heard you from above."
"What happened to the other guys?"
"They're gone now…" Keane glanced at the mechanical lock on the cage. It could be opened. "I'll let you out." Keane stuck a paw into his cloak and pulled out a jagged piece of metal. He stuck the sharp end into the lock and pushed it in. He moved it around a bit, waiting for the sound of victory. Click! It opened. Keane pulled off the lock and dropped it, then stood back to open the door. The creature came running out, and to Keane's surprise, it wrapped its arms around the startled experiment.
"Thank you for letting me out!" the creature exclaimed. "I thought I'd never get out of that cage!"
"Uh… You're welcome…" Keane patted the creature on the head then shifted out of his grasp. The blue-furred experiment looked up at Keane and smiled.
"It was really cramped in that cage…" the experiment said. "Those other guys just stuck me in there."
"How'd they find you anyway?"
"Um… It's a long story."
Keane and the newly discovered experiment went back to the ship's controls and sat on the chairs there. The blue-furred captive paused to look at the stars for a moment, then turned his attention back to Keane.
"My name is Experiment 231," he began. "I was created by Dr. Malayaki. He was an independent scientist, he had his lab hidden on Turo where no one would find it. I hated it at that lab. Malayaki was nice enough, but everything was so tense… He would zap his experiments with his electric shocker if we did the slightest thing wrong. I was really scared of him. Sometimes he would talk with us and let us go around his lab as we pleased, and sometimes we would be stuck in our cages for weeks, with hardly any food. Malayaki didn't care about our needs…" 231 sighed. "I'm lucky to be the way I am. Some of the doctor's early experiments were horrible… They didn't have the right parts and they couldn't even use their bodies. Malayaki said it was our fault they were that way. I never understood what he meant…"
"This guy sounds pleasant," Keane said sarcastically. "It must have been tough there,"
"Yeah, it was… I wish I never had to go through that. I still get bad dreams."
"So how did you end up here?"
"Well… After a while, Malayaki was caught for making illegal experiments. I remember when that big group of police blasted open the lab's door and started shouting. Malayaki tried to stop them, but he couldn't. He was knocked out and thrown into the police ship. Then they started to round us up… Everyone ran around screaming. The police nabbed 39 experiments within a minute. I was scared. I ran through a hole in the wall a gun had made and boarded Malayaki's old ship. The police were shooting at me before I even left the ground. I'm still amazed that I got out of there…"
Keane nodded in agreement. This kid had been through a lot.
231 shook his head and continued. "I'm no good with ships, so I crashed near a city. I didn't know what to do then… The lab had been the only place I knew. So I went into the city to look for help. People ignored me when I talked to them. I wasn't sure why. After a while, I found the two guys who were on this ship before. They said they would help me. When we went on to this ship, they shoved me in the cage below and gave me some tranquilizer. I blacked out for a while. When I woke up, you were here…"
Keane nodded and considered 231's story. "Well, 231... that was an interesting tale. My name's Keane, and you'll be safe with me for a while. I've been evading the Fed's for a while now. We'll have to hide out on Turo until we can set things straight."
231 smiled. "Keane… That's a cool name. Where did you get it?"
"I thought of it myself. 149 didn't really suit me."
"Yeah… Well, I need a name too!" 231's brow furrowed in thought. "But what should I use? I'm no good with names… What do you think Keane?"
"Um…. Well…" Keane studied 231, hoping that something would come to him. "How about… Cless? I think it suits you?"
"Cless… Yeah… I like it."
Keane smiled and turned his gaze to the ship's controls. They were on their way to a new life, a new start, on Turo.