Containment Breach

Part 1

HOLLYHOCK HUMAN RESEARCH CENTER BREACH – BEWARE POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ESCAPEES

My lungs feel like they've been stabbed three times each – almost like I'm drowning. My legs are so weak and shaky I'm scared they'll give out. Despite all that, this is the most exhilarated I've ever been. I've been running for, I don't know, a half hour? It seems like it's been hours, but I'm determined to get as far away from that building as humanly possible.

I don't know where I am. There's trees all over, and some weird looking dirt path that I've been following since I initially found it. I'm coughing now, my lungs desperately needing a break, but I keep running. I can't go back. I can't go back. I can't go b-

Suddenly, I hit the ground. Hard. I must not have been looking and tripped over a rock or a branch or something. My head and right shoulder take most of the impact. My body goes limp as my level of pain become unbearable. I fall down some hill, only stopping when I slam into a tree. I lay on the ground. Some leftover adrenaline helps with the pain, but it's still very much there. I roll over onto my back and look up at the trees. This fills me with immeasurable, indescribable happiness.

Hollyhock Human Research Center wasn't what they said they were. To the general public, they were a scientific research center, using volunteers and doing harmless, progressive technological advances. To me, they were my captors for over a decade. My parents took me there when it was first opened and looking for volunteers, back when I was just barely old enough to remember. I had both of my arms and legs removed, to be replaced with robotic, resembling cyborg limbs. They work just as well as real ligaments, just with less sensitivity and a bit more technological. I went through rigorous, painful tests, to which no one of authority ever seemed to care about. I wasn't the only one, there were plenty of innocent and unwilling people subjected to the tests of that monstrous corporate facility.

I sit up, looking around. I'd never been this far from the research center. Not that I remember, anyways. Reaching up, I put my hand on my right shoulder. It feels like the metal is dented, but I can still move it. Looking forward, there seems to be some kind of small animal in the distance. I try to think of what it could be; I'd only ever learned about animals, only ever seeing a select few in the flesh. As it gets a bit closer I realize that it's a cat. At this point, I'm ecstatic. Cats were my favorite animal to learn about – I even got to see one from a distance once at the research center. Now is my chance to be able to interact with one.

Reaching out, I call the cat over. It eagerly approaches me, meowing as it runs over. I'm almost surprised at how friendly it is. As I pet the cat, my face hurts from smiling so much. I think I may even be crying a little bit.

"Hey," I say to the cat. It takes a few steps forward and looks back at me, almost signaling for me to follow. "Where are you going?" It hurts, but I manage to stand. The cat moves a few more feet, looking back at me again. To be honest, I'm completely lost in the middle of some forest, probably with people looking to capture me. So, I follow the cat, having no other place to go.

Afterwalking for a little while, the woods clear up. We arrive behind a house, whichis a part of a small neighborhood – another thing I'd never seen in real life.There's a considerable sized shed behind the house, to which the cat approacheswith no hesitation. I follow, now a bit worried, but I don't know where else Iwould go. Pushing the unlocked door open, the cat enters and I'm presented withwhat looks like a library. There's books everywhere, some small jars containingthings I can't see, and several pots and pans scattered about the room. There'salso what seems like some kind of necromancer standing at a desk and staring atme with an almost scared look on his face. We both stand soundlessly, staringin awe at each other.