Queen Of The Ventils

VI

Running...running...running...take off...I have to get away...need to run...been spotted...

All these thoughts swam through my murky conscious. Test subject 47-D is awake, came a robotic voice from somewhere above me. Am I...dead, I asked myself. If you were dead, would your brain be working right now, chided Ela's voice, snapping me back to reality.

Okay, I said to myself. Okay. I'm alive. Do I have all my limbs still attached? I could dimly feel my legs and arms, coated in some strange wet substance. I tried to move them, arms first, waving them in slow circles. Every stroke was a struggle, like swimming with a car on each limb. And, sweet Eclipse, everything hurt so bad.

Why is it so hard to move, I thought angrily. Probably all the energy you used to escape spent your body, Aquarius offered. Why can I not have one single private thought, I groaned inwardly. Once I evaluated that I, indeed, still had all my limbs attached, including my tail and ears, and could feel and move them, I tried to open my eyes.

It was a real struggle to keep them open. It was like I was stuck in a pit of honey. I started to panic a bit. I was barely able to move, and potentially vulnerable to predators. Also, I was in the human's hands. Eclipse knows what would happen to me. Once I finally had them open, everything was tinted the color of liquid gold. I was in a tube-like, circular containment chamber of some sort, filled to the top with amber liquid. Strangely, the liquid didn't burn my eyes upon contact. Also, I could breathe just fine. Last time I checked, I couldn't do that while submerged in fluid.

I kept my eyes open, taking my surroundings beyond the cylindrical tank that held me captive. I was in a lab of some kind, packed full of strange gadgets and creatures on little trays. There were more cells like mine, though whether they were full of watery substance like the stuff I was floating in I couldn't tell though the golden haze. Strange creatures, in what I could only assume was yellow protective skin, with black paws infested the room. They also had circular, long, black snouts with grates on the front. Their nostrils, I guessed.

They patrolled the room constantly, occasionally interacting with one another or putting their muzzles up to a small black box with a singular horn on one side. The small box had a grid on the front, and little knobs below it. It sometimes emitted static noises, then a body-less voice would start speaking from it.

Okay, nobody's watching. I need to find a way to escape, I thought. I tilted my head up, and saw a metal lid on the top of my cell. It had the outline of a hatch and a metal joint to open it, but it appeared to only be accessible from the outside. Try slamming your weight against the hatch, Insanity offered. When the force of your body hits the hatch with enough velocity, it should pop open.

That is probably the first idea you've had that doesn't involve gruesomely murdering another living being, I told her. I'll try not to make it a habit, she replied. I smiled, and prepared to spring.

I bent my knees, pressing the pads of my feet against the cool, steel surface of the bottom of the container. I counted down mentally. 3...2...1...push!

I pushed as hard as I could with my legs, and shot upwards. Instantly, I was yanked back down by the skin on my arms, legs, back and head. I let out a muffled shriek of pain, bubbles streaming from my mouth.

Every inch of my skin stung like it was on fire. It was like slipping into a bath of molten metal. What in the Three Worlds was that, Zephyr shrieked. I'll tell you this; it was one of the most painful things I've encountered before, and I've picked a fight with Insanity, Scales told her. I could almost feel him shuddering.