chapter 3: Test subjects

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Ian’s eyes fluttered open, a stark white light piercing the veil of darkness. His heart raced as he bolted upright, his voice tearing through the silence. “Mom!” he called out, but the echo of his own voice was the only reply.

He scanned the room...a vast expanse of sterile white, resembling a quarantine zone more than a place of comfort. Beds lined the walls, accompanied by a solitary table and chairs, all immaculate and untouched.

“Where am I? Mom? Where are you?!” Panic clawed at his throat as he searched for a familiar face, a way out, but found none. No doors, no windows, just unyielding walls that seemed to close in on him.

“Someone help!! Get me outta here!” His plea dissolved into sobs, the sound of his fists pounding against the walls punctuating his desperation. “Mom!!!”

Ian's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the little girl's voice, a whisper of resignation in the sterile room

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Ian's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the little girl's voice, a whisper of resignation in the sterile room. "It's no use," she said, her tone laced with the weariness of many days spent in captivity.

"Who are you?" Ian asked, his voice echoing slightly in the vast white space.

"I'm Kaida," the girl replied, her eyes meeting his. "Or should I say Number 20." She gestured to the number emblazoned on her t-shirt, a stark contrast to the innocence of her youth.

"Oh, I'm Ian," he said, trying to piece together the situation. "Where are we?"

Kaida's gaze fell to the floor, her shoulders slumping. "I've been asking myself the same question for the past 60 days," she admitted.

"You've been here for 60 days?" Ian's voice cracked with disbelief.

"Yes," Kaida sighed, "until I've lost the hope of escaping. There is no escaping this place. We're in the middle of nowhere."

Ian's spirit, however, refused to be dampened. "Don't say that," he insisted. "We shouldn't give up. We will get out of here."

Kaida shook her head, her despair evident. "We're just two kidnapped kids. How are we going to do that? We're helpless."

Ian's resolve hardened. "Stop being a downer," he said firmly. "Our parents are going to find us. I'm sure my mom is looking for me. They will find us."

Kaida's thoughts drifted to a family she never knew. "Parents? If only I had any... I'd hope to be found too," she thought wistfully.

Suddenly, the sterile silence of the room was broken by the entrance of a masked man clad in white. Without a word, he reached for Ian, his grip firm and insistent. Ian's heart pounded as he was led through a long, white corridor, the air thick with the scent of antiseptics and fear.

The man ushered Ian into a laboratory, a stark room buzzing with the hum of machinery and the murmurs of scientists. Their eyes turned to him, dissecting him with their gazes as if he were just another specimen.

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