A Chance to Live

Chapter 11: Ghosts of the Past

    "Well, isn't this a pleasant greeting?" A voice on the intercoms cooed. A little raptor from inside the enclosure looked up at him and chirped happily. However, any normal person could tell from its stature alone that this was no ordinary raptor.

    Its shiny silvery white scales glimmered, the dark orange racing stripe along both sides of its body flashed on and off as the torso on which they were attached to stretched and contracted. It was hunched over farther than any normal raptor, ignoring the massive size difference. Sometimes it even got down on all fours as it jumped and hopped around.

     It was an indoraptor.

     "I've got a surprise for you. Meet your little brother!" A tiny door opened, no larger than the average doggy door. It remained open for a few moments, with the indoraptor staring at it curiously. He kept his distance, but no matter how cautious he was, the urge to go and check out the strange new part of his habitat was written all over his face.

     Suddenly, as he was building up the courage to investigate, a scrawny little ball was flung from the inside. It tumbled a bit, and unfurled itself to reveal another baby indoraptor, this one a dark gray with a gleaming gold stripe.

     The new raptor quickly stumbled back into the wall, visibly terrified of the sudden change in its enviornment and the other creature that seemed to be much more burly than him. The albino raptor simply cocked his head at him, unsure of what to make of this scaly new addition.

     The new raptor wouldn't settle down; he was shivering, and it seemed like he was trying to avoid the light. As if it was some foreign thing he had never seen before.

     The albino one decided to figure the newcomer out. He sent a happy chirp in his direction. The black one looked up at him, paused, and imitated the noise with almost perfect accuracy. They now looked at each other with excitement, and were itching to interact.

      "See? That's it. Go on, go talk to him." the voice on the speaker egged on, and it didn't matter to them the reason why he was so happy for them to meet.

     They were too busy with each other.

     "H-h-hello?" The albino raptor began. He was hesitant, and felt stupid for assuming that was the language he spoke. His null claws rubbed together, and he clacked them against each other in anticipation.

     "Hi." The other one responded to him, surprising the albino one, but also making him even more interested in this baby.

     "Hi. My name's Shredder, what's yours?" The black raptor cocked his head at him in confusion. Name? He had never thought about it. He had always known himself as INR-01-1, nothing else. Or at least, that's what the men in the white coats called him. He didn't know if he had a definitive name, never thought about it. Never thought he needed it. But he came up with one. One that seemed right, one that seemed to call to him. He had heard it before.

     "Umm, I-I think my name is Ripper."

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     I snarled and banged against the silver bars in front of me. Most of the men simply laughed at me, except for a couple, who seemed to almost jump out of their skin. I wished that had happened. Would have at least been an activity to lick the blood off the walls of my cage. Maybe even have their little taser sticks malfunction.

     'Yeah, that'd be fun to watch.' I decided. My thoughts didn't last, as I saw one of them power up their electric rods, and silver blue lightning danced from one end to the other. It didn't seem very happy about its captivity either.