A.S.H

Set up

"What is he?" I picked up the conversation again after we'd both gone quiet. Mai practically held back a flinch, "I can't answer that. You should probably get going now." I narrowed my eyes, "Mai, what is he? He's in that room for a reason that I witnessed when I went there, I saw him change like you did. A sightless man would be able to tell he's not human, so what is he?" 

"I don't know," She finally whispered, meeting my eyes, "I have no idea what he is or how he came to be, but like you said, he's not human. He's a subject, property of this facility, and extremely dangerous." She stood up, ready to lead me out of the door. Her words were harsh, though they reflected the mindset I was certain every worker based in the hidden floor held towards him. A deadly creature, not human, not somone to be valued as a living being, only a means of experimentation. 

Property of the labs.

"I have one more question," I told her as we approached the exit to her apartment. She looked at me wearily but remained silent as I continued, "the subject, what's his name?" Her eyes widened in surprise, "he doesn't really have a name, more so a label if you will. He is referred to as Subject 9 or Subject A by most. 9 because it's the department number, and A, because it's short for Subject A.S.H. A few of us just call him Ash as a nickname though." The door opened as she finished her answer but I spun around, "what does A.S-" Mai gave a tight smile as she cut me off, "I answered your question and now I would like some rest." 

"Sorry." I mumbled as I walked out. "I'll see you around Alice." She spoke and then shut the door before I could say anything in return. 

◇ Mai's POV ◇

I leaned my head against the door, waiting for the sound of her departing footsteps with my eyes closed. How could I have done that to her? In the end, I would've gotten the both of us killed, but Alice stepped in. Lord knows how she had the strength to stand before the subject and touch him without even knowing it would have killed her, no, it should have killed her- the more I thought about it, the less sense it made.

She touched him in his most unstable condition, and he didn't lash out, or rather he didn't move away. That was supposed to be impossible considering he hadn't yet been sedated, but here she was, alive and walking away from my apartment without a scratch...well, without a scratch from him. Memories of Alyssa's death came rushing too fast for me to ignore; everyone in Department 9 had been shown the video footage of her death for the reason of being reminded of how inhumane and lethal the subject was.

She was on her shift, and like myself, she preferred to sedate him before anything else so that he would be unable to change fully and therefore harm her. Usually, he'd sit quietly and allow himself to be sedated, but his recent instability drove him towards lashing out and changing. Something else happened however, his eyes changed into a mix of gold and red, I shivered as I recalled, it was the first time that had occurred during his shifting. Alyssa tried to flee, get out of the room for safety and he went after her.

She, in a state of panic, used her taser on him and then he...he killed her. "In case you've forgotten that he's not human just because he looks like one. A wolf in sheep's skin. Do not forget." That's what Dr. Turner had said after the video ended, before he walked away. I barely registered my own tears as the picture of Alyssa's body flashed endlessly in front of my eyes.

I shook the thoughts out of my head, as I heard Alice's quietened footsteps, and settled for a glass of Sprite as I sat down with a newfound headache. The good thing was that I wasn't working in Department 9 tomorrow so I didn't have to worry about seeing the subject again so soon. I felt a buzzing in my trousers pocket, which turned out to be my phone which someone was calling.