Electric Like Fire

The Escape

Yukio woke up to every muscle in his body aching. When tried to lift his hand up it wouldn't budge, so he tried to open his eyes instead. He opened his eyes to a dark room. He looked around but could see nothing. Something hissed and his arms felt lighter. He tried to lift his arm again and succeeded. The room felt spacious and as he still couldn't see anything, he turned his night vision on. A layer of green coated his vision and was immediately interrupted by a flash of red. His warning lights were going off. He looked down and saw that his legs were twisted into unnatural positions. And his skin on parts of his body was melted off. Oh shit, he thought, the piece of crap must've fried most of my wires. The most confusing part about it was the fact that none of it hurt. The wall in the far back of the room slid up and revealed a man in a white lab coat. The figure leaned forward and Yukio was blinded by the light. The whole room was now illuminated completely. The figure that had walked in was a lesser scientist that Yukio happened to know.

"And God said 'let there be light'," Yukio said amusingly to no response," Oh come on, Maurice. You can't say that wasn't g-"

"Speak when you are spoken to, android," he said coldly.

Yukio figured that he probably just had a bad day and tried again.

"Awe don't be like that. You're so cold I almost got frostbite."

Maurice gave him an annoyed look and pressed a button on the table next to him. A bolt of electricity raced through him. The pain was so strong it made his back arc in an unnatural way. He looked down to see what he was laying on and it turned out to be an electric table used for experiments. What the hell is wrong with this guy? He thought. Maurice walked out and was replaced by another scientist that Yukio didn't recognize. She was carrying a piece of equipment in a small glass case. She set it down on the table and opened the case. The piece of equipment was smaller than it had looked in the case. She reached forward and forced the top of Yukio's head into a piece of machinery. She loaded the small contraption into it. Yukio tried looking through the facility archives for her identity and was met by a red restricted access screen.

"Who are you," he asked while trying to hack the site," I haven't seen you around here."

She smirked as if amused and continued to look down at her clipboard. Does she think I'm flirting? Oh well, couldn't hurt to try.

"Your eyes are a beautiful color," he said trying to think of a good line.

He got locked out again. Dammit, why am I locked out in the first place? He tried it again. The woman looked at him and smirked again.

"Your privileges to browse through the database have been taken away," she said in a cold tone that almost sounded amused, "Oh, and don't bother trying to hack it because the moment you get through a sharp bolt of electricity will be sent through the system to your brain. In short, you'll die if you try."

Yukio looked at her in shock. How did she know what I was doing?

" The close proximity of the tracking unit to your brain give us access to your every thought," she told him.

"You can't do that. It's a violation of my privacy," Yukio said angrily.

"But that policy is for those of us who are still human," she paused thoughtfully," Then again, you were never human even when you were alive."

Yukio looked at her and studied her face. When I was alive? He had no idea what she was talking about. Just then he was blinded once again but, not by light but by pain. The machinery the woman had put his head in was now burrowing into his skull. He heard and felt the metal grinding into his skull churning the bone with a deafening whir. He thought it was going to drill straight into his brain when it stopped. His head felt suddenly cold as something was pressed against his frontal lobe. He heard something click and long lines of code flash across his vision. His corrupted eye rolled back in its socket and was disconnected. Then the sound stopped and Yukio was left with a burning sensation in his head. He turned to look around but all he could see was darkness. He hadn't realized that he'd closed his eyes throughout the process. He opened them and saw the woman staring at him curiously. She smirked at his irritated expression then walked out of the room. A few minutes passed by and no one else came in. Are they done? Why am I still strapped down? Just then clamps holding his wrists opened and the machinery holding his head loosened. He sat up and tried to turn his head. The pain, which had been, dying down flared up causing his head to twitch involuntarily. The door hissed open and a scientist walked in. It was Daren Fobb, one of the nicer ones. Yukio smiled door slightly. He hadn't seen him for a while.

"Android 72J-D5Y state your condition," he said.

Yukio looked at him in amusement and responded.

"Hey Dare, why don't you give me a break and sit down."

"Answer the question," he said glaring at him.

"I'm not feeling very loved right now, Dare," Yukio said playfully.

Daren gave him a disgusted look. Yukio saw and opened his mouth to respond but was immediately cut off.

"Stop ignoring your superiors or we'll be forced to discontinue your project", he said," We are to treat you as indifferently as other androids."

Yukio was taken aback by this and gritted his teeth.

"Critical", he stated reluctantly.

Daren jotted down the response then leaned over Yukio's shredded legs and placed something in the puncture wound in his arm which had yet to heal. Pain shot his arm but it was as faint as it had been that morning. The f*ck did he just put there? He tried to turn his head which earned him yet another wave of pain through his skull. Daren walked away and hissed something in sekan. Yukio stared at him confused as he walked away. Sekan? He hasn't spoken that since I was in Study Hall. Yukio shuddered at the mention of Study Hall. Study Hall was the Lab's sick joke of "testing" androids. The last time he was there he had a chain attached to his neck which they tightened every day. Yet another scientist walked in and was accompanied by two security guards. Yukio looked out the corner of his eye to see who it was and he was shocked. Dr. Nemler stood just a few feet away from him. He wore a blank expression and his eyes were red with dark rings under them. He looked at Yukio with a forlorn look in his eyes.

" Oh god Reisse, what happened to you. You look like you didn't sleep for ages", Yukio said concerned.

"Yuk- ", he paused then flinched ", Uh,72J-D5T, you are to address me by my title, no exceptions. As of now, you are to be treated as the android you are. You are an important project for the company so you can't be seen as anything more."

Even as he said this he looked as if he wanted to take back every word. Yukio could do nothing but stare as Nemler placed a clipboard on the table next to him and was guided out the door. After a few minutes, the door opened yet again. By then, Yukio had given up on straining himself to see.

"Hello, android ," said a smooth voice, "How are you liking your new room? I do hope you're enjoying it, though I must say, the neighbors don't seem to friendly."

Yukio groaned in realization. The company's head was slowly walking towards him as if admiring a spectacular view that wasn't there. He looked at Yukio and smirked at his grim expression.

"Oh come now, don't look at me like that. I simply put you back in your natural habitat..... Study Hall."