Chapter 1:
Birth
I
Disken darted down the endless hallway as quickly as his booted, two-toed feet would carry him. He could feel the warmth of his panicked breath on his spearhead-shaped face, thanks to the tough, metal helmet that encased it. His gloved palms were sweaty as all six fingers gripped his yellow blaster in terror.
He forced himself to think only of reaching the nearest intercom, and reporting to Captain Gantu to send for backup. For a moment, he envisioned the chilling, illuminated grin of the golden creature hovering over Lieutenant Ailing, and nearly screamed as if it were still in front of him. Then he thought of the smiling face of his darling Desiree. Somehow, that was worse.
Disken could barely see the intercom around the corner, next to a large, circular door. He had just sighed with relief when his armored neck was gripped from behind by something with snake-like flexibility and malicious strength.
His body erupted with a scorch that felt like a sun was expanding inside of him. Disken felt like crying, but could not feel his tears through the excruciating shock.
He thought again of Desiree.
II
"That was a new record, I think," Experiment Number 221 said, placing a three-toed foot on the soldier's idle back. He rested an elbow on his knee, and used a clawed hand to scratch behind his conical ears. He removed his two lengthy antennae, gold up until their crimson-stained ends, from the soldier's neck.
"I was startin' to sweat a bit." His ovoid head stretched into a satisfied smirk.
He heard footsteps slapping the metal floor behind him.
"Nearly thought you weren't coming, 624,"
"I thought you were gonna leave me in the dust," 624 retorted. The pink Experiment slowed as she approached her electric comrade, scratching the end of a long ear with one of two soggy, red hands. Like 221, she had two antennae that hung neatly behind her head.
"I think you're just slow," 221 scoffed. He was responded by having his head locked under 624's arm, with her knuckles digging into his scalp. He laughed as she pulled him towards the door, which she sent flying off its hinges with a swift kick.
"Ha!" 221 ducked out of 624's arms, smiling at her like he had just outsmarted her in a game of chess. The smile vanished when a metal ceiling tile landed on the electrician's head.
624 burst into laughter. "Now who's slow?"
"Ooh, sorry, lightnin'!" A bouncy, slurry voice called from above, shouting to be heard over 624's cackling.
"Bullseye, 149!" 624 cheered as another ally dropped down from above, landing with the sound of a leaf.
Her fur was the same green as grass, and she had ears longer than 221's, but shorter than 624's. When she stood up, she had to lift her chin to look into her comrades' faces.
She stroked 221's head. "You OK? I didn't hit ya too hard, did I?" She spoke casually; she knew he was alright.
"Nah, just a bit of ceiling. Nothing major, deary," 221 replied. "Could you kiss it better, though? Just to be safe?" He lowered his scalp down to her.
149 who rolled her dark blue eyes before licking his head. She was sure to let as much saliva drip onto his fur as possible. As she did, one of 221's bloodied antennae curled around her ankle like a playful serpent.
As the couple wasted time, another comrade descended from the the ceiling. If 149 was small compared to the others, then this one was like a tower. His fur was olive green, his chin was broad, and he had more meat on his bones than his allies. What stood out the most, however, was his left hand, which was hidden in a bulky metal glove.
"We've disconnected all forms of contact to anything outside this ship," 150 turned to 624. "We won't have to worry about anyone calling backup,"
"Spectacular." 624 clapped her hands. She and 150 turned to their embracing comrades, who seemed ready to fall down as if onto a bed. 624 grabbed each of them by the back of the head, yanked them back, and clunked their foreheads together like an egg against a bowl.
"Come on, guys, we still gotta rendezvous with 621 and 300,"
"Alright, alright," 221 rubbed his head as he and 149 walked past 624. "You're gonna give me a concussion, you know,"
"Oh, suck it up, ya big baby!" 149 threw an arm over his shoulder as they entered the kicked-open doorway.
624 noticed that the electrician hadn't taken his antennae from 149's ankle. She rolled her eyes.
She looked up at 150, who stared at the two cuddling Experiments with a look of contagious gloom.
"You alright, bud?" 624 asked, tapping the flesh above his metal hand twice with the back of her hand.
She waited six seconds for an answer.
"F-Fine," He stammered, as if he had been accused of something unflattering.
"Then let's go." She entered the doorway, but again had to wait for him.
III
"If you're going to run..." 621 whispered, peering down the barrel of his rifle at the pathetic black-armored coward darting for the door. One of his two clawed fingers, gloved in white fur, hovered anxiously over the trigger. His third and fourth hands clenched and opened and clenched again. He barely felt the white mohawk of fur on his head make a faint wave. He licked the two teeth that protruded from his bottom lip.
"Then at least strafe."
He squeezed the trigger. There was a blast of yellow light, and then the coward was on the ground, identical to all his comrades littering the floor, aside from the limp crawling and the screaming.
621 shut his eyes and listened to the coward's cries. His breathing was slow and his grasp on the blaster remained tight. He felt the leather belts and the weight of his arsenal around his torso, waist, and thighs. He listened.
"Shall I finish him off?" A voice like an abyss spoke near his right ear.
621 turned, and saw a body without arms, legs, head, or anything besides a pair of icy yellow eyes. Its shapeless form was translucent; 621 could look through him and see the towering shelves of green glass tubes on the other side. The body was like walking water.
"No need, 300," The marksman replied. "Let him sing a little longer,"
He turned around and took a proper look at the enormous shelves, and at their vile green contents. He remembered the last time he had seen it, and wished that when he destroyed it, it would sing just like the writhing coward on the floor.
"Aw, you didn't save any for us?" A familiarly bouncy accent called out from behind him.
"Did you disable the comms, 149?" 621 asked, knowing the rest of his and 300's comrades were approaching before he had even turned around.
"We disabled the shit out of 'em, yeah," She replied, stepping over a soldier laying indignantly on his side.
"And 624, 221," 300 continued, his watery form rising above 621 like a monstrous shadow.
"You took care of the rest of the ship's crew?"
"Oh, yeah," 624 answered, brushing a limp arm out of her path with her foot. "Didn't even need to sing to any of them,"
"Then it seems we're all set." 621 reached into a pocket on either side of his gunbelt and turned to the shelves and their sickly green contents.
"Ten minutes should do it," He muttered as he pulled out two crimson rectangles and firmly pressed the green button on the top of each one. He threw them one by one at the shelves, and they clung to the metal with a heavy clank.
"Man, the Federation's really got their plasma chemists workin' double-duty, huh?" 149 said, looking up at the top shelf as if it were the face of a statue.
"Indeed," 300 replied. "We need to keep our pace up, or else we'll soon be faced with plasma-coated floors and soldiers with plasma-resistant boots."
The shapeshifter looked down at the bottom shelves, and, to his left, found the soldier that 621 had crippled mere minutes ago. His face was hidden by his helmet, and he headed a trail of his own blood between the shelf and where he had been shot.
"T-T-This is for my big sis, you fuckers!" He snatched up one of the green containers and hurled it at the Experiments, flopping onto his face afterwards.
"Get back!" 300 commanded.
Everyone leaped backwards, except for 221, who stepped forward with sparking claws.
"How about some fireworks?" He fired a single thick bolt at the descending container. There was a generous explosion, as well as the promised fireworks, which headed right for 221.
"Aw, crap-" He turned to follow his allies, who, a moment later, heard an excruciating cry.
"Lightnin'!" 149 darted to her feet and ran to the electrician, now sprawled on his stomach like many of the Federation soldiers. His antennae glowed and buzzed like a flickering lightbulb. She looked at his feet, and found a repulsive green wound under his heel, smoking as much as it bled.
"Oh, fuck, is it bad?!" 221 moaned, paying no mind to his volume.
"How does it feel?" 149 asked, her panicked tone a whisper compared to the electrician's cries.
"Like a fucking Mercurian is trying to chew my foot off!"
"Well, you're not far off." She tried to pry her hands underneath him to pick him up.
"No, no, it's alright," 221 clenched his teeth. "I got it..." He held his hands out, and they faded into thin streaks of golden light, levitating him off of the ground. Red and green dripped from his right foot like water from a leaky faucet.
"You sure you're OK to fly, Lightnin'? I really don't mind carrying you!" 149 held her arms out as if he would oblige and simply fall towards her.
"Nah, thanks, I..." He stifled a scream through his teeth. "I can do it…Just don't stand under me; I don't wanna bleed on you,"
"Alright, well, if you feel like you can't go any longer, just fall and I'll catch you. OK?" She kept her arms out. "Just, really quickly; 621, pass me a blaster,"
The marksman obeyed without question.
149 took the weapon and aimed it at the soldier, whose only movement now was in his chest, undulating with weak breaths. She shot him in the leg, then the hip, then the shoulder. Each shot earned her a louder scream until he surpassed 221's earlier cries. Then she silenced him with a yellow bolt in his forehead.
"Alright, let's go," She muttered.
She kept the blaster.
IV
"We have returned, Doctor Jumba," 300 announced to the grey docking bay.
149 ran past him, carrying a finally-exhausted but still moaning 221. 624 and 150 followed close behind her. 621 came after, but did not follow them. He only stood beside 300.
The shapeshifter and the marksman looked up at a blank screen in the corner between the wall and the ceiling. Until it buzzed to life, the only sounds were the distant chatter of their other six-hundred-and-sixteen allies, and, of course, 221's echoing moans.
The screen soon flickered on, and displayed a plump face with indigo skin, as well as four eyes across it.
"How did it go, Number 300?" The Experiments' creator and commander asked, speaking like a soft father trying to appear tough in front of a disapproving spouse.
"The ship, its officer, and the plasma they were carrying is ashes. Unfortunately, 221 was wounded. He is being taken to 10 right now,"
"Oh, dear. Is it serious?" Jumba spoke softly.
"It was only in the foot, but he is in pain. 10 should be able to help him, but he may be out of commission for a little while,"
"I don't doubt that he will..." Jumba wiped some sweat from his purple forehead.
"In any event, you've all done excellently. Hopefully this will see a decrease in plasma-related injuries,"
"No thanks to you," 621 growled at him before storming out of the loading bay.
Jumba said nothing for a while. He looked at the bottom of the screen, as if it were a window he could lean out of to see the marksman leaving.
The shapeshifter ignored his creator's distress.
"I don't suppose the new one is on his or her way soon?"
"...Actually, I'm quite glad you asked, 300!" Jumba was suddenly ecstatic again. "He's on his way now, and I promise you; shooting plasma at him will be like trying to burn a Mercurian,"
"Hm." 300 gave a faint smile to some good news. "Better late than never." With that, he left Jumba as 621 had done.
The scientist was responsible for directing 300 and his hundreds of comrades to wherever the Federation was vulnerable, and for that 300 was grateful. That did not mean that he had to give him all of his respect.
He knew that 501 and 502 wouldn't have.
V
"10, ya got a sec?!" 149 called hurriedly into the medical ward after kicking its door open.
"OH!" A voice of unflattering squeakiness jolted in response. "I'll be right back, 258!"
A bright green figure came bolting down between the two rows of egg-shaped beds. Nine of them were occupied. As he ran, his cloth-like ears flopped vertically, and the three fins along his scalp wobbled. Instead of a nose, he had a long trunk, which curled upwards like an inquisitive extra arm towards his anxious visitors.
"What happened, 221?!" 10 tapped a bed neighboring the door, and 149 set him down in it.
"You should see the other guy's foot," The electrician said through clenched teeth, sweating despite his brief moment of wit.
"I mean, you can't, since he's basically stardust now, but still...Oh, fuckin' hell!"
"Okay, now, 149, think you please pass me the blue container on the shelf beside you?" 10 requested, as he inspected the wound, his clawed hands hovering over it like vigilant doves.
"Blue container, got it!"
The nimble Experiment immediately darted for the shelf in question, positioned just by the door where they came in. It displayed a dark rainbow of metal, cylindrical containers. Just as she picked up the blue one, 624 and 150 darted into the room.
"He alright?" The metal-handed Experiment asked.
"Y-J-Just hold on a second!" 10 stammered as 149 handed him the container. He unscrewed its cap as swiftly as a cork from a bottle, then let a small amount of its blue and creamy contents pour onto 221's gory heel.
The smoking green slime began to dissolve. 10 gently rubbed the medicine in with a careful finger.
"Right, uh, you guys feel free to talk while I get some bandages," He offered as he darted to the bedside of another Experiment further down the row.
"That gloppy stuff workin'?" 149 asked, scratching gently behind 221's round ear.
"Yeah, I'm feeling some improvement...You weren't worried, were ya, babe?"
"Nah, I wasn't worried." She saw 221 stick his bottom lip out in a mocking pout. "Oh, quit bein' such a baby!" She ruffled up the fur on his head.
"Ah, I can't help it, 149! Can ya really blame me?" His antennae curled around her waist.
"Well, at the very least, you're my big baby," She purred as she leaned into his bed. Their noses touched, rubbing together like two magnets generating warm friction.
"Ow, ow!" 221 suddenly exclaimed.
"Sorry, sorry!" 10 stammered.
149 and 221 looked to the foot of the bed, where the medic had returned and was bandaging 221's foot. He had also brought a small black cushion
"I just need you to hold still for a moment..." 10 severed the bandage from its roll with a swipe of his claw, then carefully slid the cushion under 221's ankle.
"Just keep your hands to yourselves for ten seconds," 624 cracked. She laughed when she was responded with a tongue from both 149 and 221.
SLAM
"Hey, 10, ya got any Silurian meat?!"
In stomped another comrade, this one with brown fur. His ears were floppy, like a dog's, two teeth protruded from either end of his upper lip, as if they were the dulled teeth of a walrus. His was as muscular as the rest of his brethren, though his gut was notably saggier.
"I've got a hankering that I need to take care of!" His voice was infected with a rambunctious arrogance.
"I, uh, I think I do," 10 coughed as he rolled the remaining bandage back up.
"Kickass! Think you could make me a sandwich, then?" 625 found a seat in the bed across from 221.
"Why don't you do it yourself?" 624 questioned, folding her arms.
"Why can't 10 do it?" The brown Experiment retorted.
"I've just, uh, I've just got some more patients to attend to first," The medic spoke the truth, but he averted 625's eyes as if he were lying.
He heard 625's footsteps approaching him. When he looked up, he was met with a toothy glare, and felt a wretched grip near the base of his thin tail.
"I said..." 625 growled. His breath was humid and smelled like decay.
10 kept his head down, sweating at the heat from 625's breath. He clenched as his tail was gripped tighter. His legs tightened against one another, praying that 625's hand would not move down.
"I. Want. A. Sandwi-"
625 was suddenly on his back, and 10's tail slid out of his fist. Something else thin and furry tightened around his neck, and he was being dragged across the floor. He looked up as best as he could, and saw 624's back.
"Didn't know you were into this kinda thing," 625 coughed.
"Not really," The pink Experiment replied, stopping to pick up 625 by the fur atop his head. He met her with a grin that seemed to crawl from his head and become its own slimy body.
"I'm more into this!" She punched 625 in the gut with all of her strength. Then she repeated the blow over and over, as if she were tenderizing meat, each time earning a spit-filled cry from 625. After more than a dozen hits, she pushed him to the door, which 150 opened before giving 625 an extra shove out.
"Oh, fuck..." The brown-furred Experiment burped, clutching his stomach as he struggled to his feet.
150 gave him a scoff before shutting the door.
"You'd think what we did to Pig would've clued him in," He said to his more respectable allies.
"Some people don't want to be clued in," 624 sighed. "He'll keep on with his own demented mindset as long as it's the one where he's in the right." She turned to 10, who looked down at his clawed feet, his arms wrapped around his chest.
"You okay, Tenzy?"
The medic did not respond right away.
"Yeah..." He said. "It's just...625,"
"I know, bud." 624 caressed the fins on 10's head with one of her antennae.
"He's a real shitsucker. But you know what? If he ever grabs you like that, all you gotta do is give him a good punch in the mouth,"
"I know, it's just...Those things don't come to me like they come to you guys,"
"That's okay," 624 smiled at him. "Hey, you want a hug?" She held her arms out, and after a moment of hesitation, 10 obliged.
"You're so important to us, you know," She whispered. "More of us would be dead if we didn't have you to take care of us,"
10 said nothing, but when they pulled away, 624 saw that he was smiling. That was good enough for her.
"I'm gonna go do some training," She said, giving 10 a last pat on the shoulder before heading for the door.
"After already breaking your last punching bag?" 221 cracked.
"Ah, I think I can get a little more use out of him." 624 moved to pat the electrician's bandaged foot as she passed him, but patted his other foot instead. She chuckled at 221's subsequent flinch and sigh of relief.
"You guys comin'?" The pink Experiment asked 149 and 150.
"I will in a sec," 149 replied. "You can go on if you like, 150,"
"Oh, can I?" The metal-handed Experiment retorted, his broad jaw stretching into a grin.
149 grinned back at him. "I'll see ya in a bit." She turned back to 221.
150 followed 624 out of the medical ward. He looked at 149 as he shut the door. She did not see his grin fade.
"...Right!" 10 clapped his clawed hands together after a moment of silence.
"I'm just going to check up on my other patients, then I'll get back to you. Okay, 221?"
"Just out of curiosity, what would ya do if it wasn't okay with me?" The electrician smirked.
"...I'd probably do it anyway," 10 managed a small smile before he went on his way.
He didn't even make three steps before he saw another Experiment, one he had never seen before, coming his way. His body was much like those of 621 and 624. He had a pair of small antennae, but they were only a tenth of the length and width of 624's or 221's. His fur was a watery shade of blue. His lingering ears grew above his head, and at the end of each one was a strangely deliberate notch.
"Hey..." The new creature said, waving his clawed hand once 10 had seen him.
His voice was like a child's to the medic, who knew that before too long it would sound like the voice of a hardened general. Nearly every voice he had ever heard had already done the same.
"I'm the newest one..." The creature continued. "I'm number 626..."