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A boy startled awake, aware something in his room had changed.
What he didn’t expect, was a girl hovering just a few feet above his bed, with a curious expression.
At least, he assumed it was a girl, she was kind of…fuzzy, and made his eyes hurt to look at. But she was a little taller than him, a couple years older, with long orange hair that flowed like a stream, seemingly defying gravity. Her eyes were a striking blue, bluer than anything he’d ever seen before. Most strange was what was on her back, tendrils of various shades of orange all seeming to move of their own accord. Seven of them.
What was this, another test? Would he be forced to kill her too? Would she try to kill him? She didn’t particularly look like she wanted to kill him, but…that hadn’t stopped people in the past.
He swallowed thickly.” H-hello…?” His voice came out in a hushed whisper.
She smiled, eyes somehow brightening even more as her whole body perked up from where it sat cross legged in the air.
“Hi!” Her voice was barely contained to an enthusiastic whisper.
He squirmed uncomfortably in his restraints, tail flicking restlessly. They didn’t usually make him fight in his jacket, he’d only have his teeth, tail, and feet claws to defend himself with.
“Are you here to kill me?” He asked forlornly. There were orange freckles along her cheeks and nose that glowed like distant stars in the dim light of his room. He’d never seen the stars, but the others talked about them like they were the most beautiful sight in the world.
She flinched back, startled.” Oh, gosh no! Why would I do something like that?” She said incredulously, putting her hands on her hips.
“That’s what most strangers come into my room to do.” He admitted with a flick of his ear.
“Aw that’s sad!” She set her head in the palms of her hands.” No, no I’d never kill you! I was observing this place from afar and I noticed your glitches, I’ve never met someone else with those before!” She commented excitedly.
His glitches…his right eye, left hand, the tip of his tail, obscured in sparking purple and black. It didn’t hurt, but whatever area they covered became numb and hard to control. When he became too emotional they would expand and mutate across his whole body, making him lose complete control. It would be hard to make his body move, locked in place and trembling.
“You—you have them too?” He’d never met another creature with glitch capabilities, They said that’s what made him so special, and so dangerous.
“Heck yeah, check it out!” In a flash of colors, greens, oranges, purples, and blues; her whole body disappeared and a moment later reappeared in the opposite corner. She did a little flip in the air, shifting to a lying down position, legs kicking behind her as the tentacles on her back formed a ‘bed’ for her to ‘lay’ on.” Isn’t that cool?”
He stared up at her, awestruck.”…Yeah, yeah that is cool, I wish I could do that.” He said softly, struggling to get into a sitting position.
“You can’t teleport? What can you do?” The girl prompted, tilting her head.
“I don’t know, I’ve hurt a lot of people with my powers…” He answered matter of factly.
Her eyes widened.” Really?”
He nods, wishing to curl in on himself but barred by the restraints.
“I’m very dangerous, I hurt and kill people all the time…but they tell me I’m doing a good job, that I’m their greatest weapon.” He explained, wondering if it would startle the girl into leaving. He didn’t want her to go.
She did not leave, her eyes staying wide and glimmering with sympathy.” Do you want to hurt people?” She maneuvered out of her silly position, drifting closer and hovering over him like before.
He blinked up at her.
“It doesn’t matter what I want. It’s what I was made for. I’m built to hurt people.” He answered.
The girl settled onto the bed in front of him, holding herself up with her arms. He could faintly feel the warmth radiating off her, even through the restraints. Subconsciously he leaned in closer.
“I think it matters. I think you deserve the choice to hurt or to not hurt anyone. You deserve to be free.” She said gently.
“I can’t leave, though. I’m stuck here, I have to do what they say or they’ll hurt me.” His voice broke on the word hurt.
Despite his words, she smiled at him.
“What if I could get you out?” She whispered.
His tail flicked incredulously.” How? I’m all tied up, and everything is unbreakable.”
“Welllll, as for the first one,” her hand stretched out and one of her fingers gently tapped the jacket.” Boop!” He gasped as his arms fell free, the restraints disappearing in a flurry of color like they had never existed at all.
He flexed his fingers. It had been several days since he was last let out, it felt good to move again, even as his limbs tingled with pins and needles.
“Wow, wow—thank you! How- how did you do that?!” He shakily stood up, she lifted into the air after him.
“Magic.” She winked with a conspiratorial wave of her hands.
“And as for the second one, here,” in the palm of her left hand the glitches appeared again, and when they retreated something new sat in the palm of her hand,” this is a chorus fruit, it’ll let you teleport like I did earlier!” She explained, holding the fruit out to him.
He took it from her, shivering as their fingers brushed, and held it to his chest carefully.
“Thank you, thank you, can I do anything for you?” He asked, his tail swished behind him. There was a strange feeling in his chest, warming him from the inside out. Something he’d never felt before.
She drifted forward, and suddenly her arms were wrapped around his shoulders, making him freeze up. The tendrils on her back also wrapped around him, making him feel enclosed, but not trapped. Safe.
“Just enjoy your freedom for me, okay?” She requested, ruffling his hair softly before pulling away. He resisted the urge to chase after her.
“Oh! And, I never got your name?” She added.
“My name? Um, They call me number 1198 (A S H).”
“That’s a silly name! My name is Squiddo.” She giggled.
For the first time, Ash laughed.” That’s even sillier!” He said with a smile, the expression feeling strange on his face.
“I’m glad I got to meet you, 1198, enjoy your freedom for me. I hope I get to see you again some day.” Squiddo said, leaning close for a hug one more time.
“Goodbye.” She whispered.
“Bye…” He barely breathed out, and within the blink of an eye she disappeared, leaving only the fading warmth of her touch and the chorus fruit in his hand as an indication there was ever another person in the room at all. It seemed all the light had been taken with her when she left.
For a minute he stood in the empty, now deafeningly quiet room, staring down at the fruit in his hand. It was cool, dripping juice in between his fingers, and lightly pulsing.
The key to his freedom.
There were other children, other experiments in the facility. They would remain trapped here. It wouldn’t be fair for him to escape while they were left behind.
But…fairness had never been shown to him. Bound in chains, strait jackets, muzzles, anything to keep a leash on the weapon he had been honed into. The monster they made.
The memory of blood coating his hands, his face, his mouth, sometimes his own, oftentimes not. Accompanied by vicious screams that tore at his eardrums.
All that would end.
With a reverence he’d never had the luxury of feeling before, he brought the fruit up to his mouth, taking a bite.
It was the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted.
A bath of purple sparkles washed over him, and in a split second his head spun dizzily as he was transported across the walls of his prison.
And Ash breathed fresh air for the first time.