I'm once again back from the dead. It's been one year since I've updated my story. I've noticed a lot of grammar mistakes that had bothered me in my previous chapters. I'm not sure if I've improved since then, since I'm by no means a very good writer. I'm a digital, and visual artist. So I guess I'll begin.

Escape

Hours had past as the small Irken sat there thinking. He wasn't exactly sure when the guards patrolling will arrive. All he knew was that he had to dig through his mind to find out how he would escape. As he thought, something slid down a chute located on the side of his cell.

His eyes wandered to where the sound was, and noticed the very little food he got once a day, a bowl with nothing but a glob of what looked like goo. Normally someone would had cringed, and thought of the stuff to be inedible. But since he was used to it, and it was the only thing he was ever given, he didn't really mind it. From seeing this, his mind clicked with an idea.

It was going to be very painful and slow, but it was better than staying here, and waiting for his death. Standing upward, he gritted his teeth as he was immediately stricken from pain. The incision he had received earlier that was now stitched up still hurt. But there was no way he was going to let that stop him from ridding himself of this place though. The chute was narrower than he'd thought it was going to be, and rusted in some places.

Sighing, the small Irken got ready to climb. Squeezing himself in and gasping as more pain shot throughout his body. Closing his eyes, he stayed there at the bottom of the vent for a moment to wait until the pain left. Then he swallowed as he fought to hold back a few tears. His body shook violently, as he once again proceeded to heaving himself slowly up the chute. The tight space and rust scratching at his exposed skin, and sometimes making him stop during his ascent. He panted, and at the same time wanted to scream, but he knew better. Instead he let out a pained whimper, before he continued his way upward.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but it seemed like an eternity. Eventually he made his way up top. Crawling out from the chute, and landing onto the ground sprawled out. The Irken laid there for a minute, breathing heavily, before forcing himself up again. No one was around, besides machinery with clawed robotic arms. Some of them were old, and non-functional, but some were still moving, and proceeding to what they were programmed to do. Only thing that seemed to keep the mechanical appendages working was a small drone, with a wielder as hands.

It seemed not to had paid him any mind, and continued to tend to the equipment within the room. Seeing that the room was clear, and that the drone posed no threat, the small Irken made a dash for it, with a slight limp. Since there was plenty of room to freely use his PAK, he activated his PAK legs without hesitation. The long slender mechanical limbs making movement so much easier and faster.

Throughout his time being tested on, his PAK legs were something they paid little attention to. They once forced them out to examine them to see if they were functioning properly, but that was pretty much it. He had once tried to use them to attack the guards but every attempt was a failure. They were much stronger and bigger than him.

Knowing this information, he knew to stay clear, and avoid any guards as he finally made it into the hallway. He retracted his PAK legs and landed onto his feet with a grunt, and hid around a corner. Peeking from around he saw that it was clear of guards, but from what he could see was that the hallway lead to another room. The whole room was lit with dim reddish lights, and was surrounded by conveyor belts, ones that seem to be moving what looked like to be Irken PAKs. Seeing this, his curiosity grew but there was no time to dwell in one spot and explore the place.

He had to keep on moving. Something made a loud noise, which caused him to freeze. Swiftly he turned around, to see a large spiked robotic drone standing from behind him. Something flashed as it began scanning him. Then just as quickly, it aimed its large claws at him, electricity emitting from them. "INTRUDER DETECTED! BE PREPARED FOR EXTERMINATION!"

The small Irken shrieked, dodging a spark of electricity, and using his PAK legs to leap onto one of the conveyer belts, the robot now in hot pursuit. Another spark of electricity shot from its claws, hitting and knocking off a PAK into a pit below. He quickly, jumped onto the ceiling, the tips of his PAK legs grabbing hold of wiring on the ceiling. The robot shot up from the ground using jets, and landing roughly onto the conveyor belt he had been on, it once again trying to send another wave of electricity after him. The robot screeched in a monotone voice, "HOLD STILL AND LET ME KILL YOU…IT WILL BE PAINLESS…I SWEAR."

Glaring at the machine, he spat, "No!" Then leapt away once again from the robot who this time tried slamming its claw into the wiring. It got caught, struggling to free itself. Electricity sparked, as it pulled onto the wiring to try to break loose. Some of the machinery flashed red from warning, and before he knew it, one of the machines exploded, sending the robot flying down below.

The explosion had also knocked him down hard onto the floor, scraping his arms and knees in the process. He knew this would attract attention, and someone defiantly will arrive quickly to see what had happened. Scrambling back up onto his feet, he once again made a dash for it. Running as quickly as possible, until he saw a closet nearby to hide in. The small Irken slipped in quickly for a place to hide, collapsing onto the ground. His clothing was stained with some blood, his blood. Looking down at himself, he'd noticed the stitching had come loose, and that the blood now showed clearly on the white shirt he wore.

At this point he wanted to give up, since he was hurting. Usually after being subjected to the torturous experimentation, he laid down the whole time to recover. This time, he didn't have any time to rest, and he knew there was no turning back, not like he would want to anyway. If he can find his way to safety, he'll try to figure out how to reseal the wound.

Facing the door, the small strange Irken once again, ran out. His hand grasping the wound, and his face strained from the pain. Not too soon he found a vent, one that might possibly help him finally escape this place. Quickly, he used his laser cutters to slice open the opening, and then climbed through to a tunnel.

Once inside, he began crawling slowly forward. The tunnel went on straight for a while, never splitting, but eventually rising upward in a slope. At this point it seemed like it was going to never end, until it split. At this moment he couldn't decide which way to go. Sitting there, he thought for a moment, now noticing one vent had a small breeze coming from its direction. Without second thought, he quickly went in the direction the breeze was coming from. As he crawled even further, a unfamiliar scent hit his face. It was a smell he had never breathed in before. His movements quickened, until he was stopped by a large fan, blocking his path to what he could now see as freedom past it.

There was no way he could try to run past it without getting torn to shreds. However there was no way he was going to let a fan blocking his only way out stop him. Using his laser cutters, he charged it up, turning around so that his back faced it. The laser formed a square, and then blasted parts of the large fan off. He'll need to recharge, but for now he ran off, and jumped from out of the vent into freedom.

Smoke stretched across the dark red sky; the silhouettes of sinister looking builds could be seen in the distance with ships flying by above the city. Some stars shined through the smoke, with large ringed planets seen close by. He was standing in a small ditch from where the tunnel had ended. Some trash littered the ground from where he was standing, with graffiti marking the walls. The city was far away, but since it was all he could spot that looked at least safer than the prison he had been in for so long, he decided to make his way towards it. To him, the outside world looked amazing, when one normally would think it was a messy and nasty slum.