Living with 682

Chapter 4

It has been a difficult month of living with 682, and when I say difficult, I mean it's been hard to adapt with this short-fused beast. But it's gotten easier every day. Case in point, it's name. Before, it seemed to scowl at me every time I called it 682, but now it's been fine with me calling it by it's "name." It's almost seemed to like it. It's also gotten comfortable with talking to me more. Before, I would talk to 682, and eventually, it would stop responding to me, or growl at me if I said something that upset him, or asked too many questions. But now, it seems more comfortable telling me more things about itself and has even told me bits and pieces of its origins (Not like it gives me very much information, the way he words his sentences makes it hard to understand him sometimes.) it's gotten to the point where he asks me to stay with him to talk if I get up to leave.

With the given information that made actual sense, I headed to the internet to try to find out where 682 came from, and where it originated from (that last part was for fun, I was really curious.) but with the new info I've gotten, I got a lot more results than my first few times. Whenever I found a piece of information that might help me, I wrote it down and placed it on a cork-
board. Eventually, I got a lot of theories from cryptozoologists, but nothing else about where he came from. I knew at the back of my mind that I needed to find this place 682 talked about so I could bring him back. I didn't want to bring him back, but I couldn't keep hiding him forever. But I remember the way he talked about it, I knew he wouldn't want to do back, and if I ever tried, he wouldn't go back without a fight.

I decided to try and ask it about the place a little more, to try and milk some more information out of him. Maybe he could give me something to work with if I was lucky. I opened the sliding glass door and found the beast scratching the giant tree. It noticed me and stopped. "Ah, Ape. Great to see you." (It still refused to call me by the real name, I guess we aren't there yet.) "You too. Hey, I have something to ask you." I said. The beast tilted its head in curiosity. "What is it, old friend"

Tell me about the place." I said nervously. 682 made a soft clicking sound, which it makes whenever it's thinking. "The place is like... hell. No one comes in, no one comes out."

"I don't think you understand the concept of hell..." I pointed out. "Never mind. Anyways, this place contained many beings, which they used to torture me with. Whichever ones they didn't use to torture with, they experimented on. It was madness."

"Where the others there like you?" I asked. "No, way different. some caused pain, some caused mental pain, some manipulated, others transformed."

"Sounds interesting."

"Is it not. far from it actually. if you were there, you would kill yourself first chance you got..." 682 sighed, and spoke again. "Perhaps it's better for you to know that it was more of a foundation, more than a place. I only called it a place because I didn't trust you. Not like telling you it was a foundation would have done anything." It chuckled. "What do you mean by 'tortured you with?'"

"They thought I was too intelligent and adaptable to be kept alive. foolish apes, trying to get rid of something because it was different." I suppressed a laugh, once I was cooking its dinner, and I burned the steak a little bit, and when I handed it to 682, it noticed the black part and threw it over the fence because it thought I had poisoned the meat. What he had said reminded me of that incident. "they tried hundreds of times to terminate me, but every test was a failure." He grinned.

"Right, because you're like, immune to everything, correct?" I said.

"Just because I can't die doesn't mean I can't feel pain, ape. You don't know what it's like, taking blow after blow, feeling the same excruciating pain, knowing that it will not stop until whatever it is dies. Until the light leaves its bloody eyes." I could tell that 682 began feeling more agitated, and I ran my hands down its mane (which seemed to be the only area that it felt comfortable letting me touch.) I didn't say anything more, and instead, let 682 calm down for a little. Until he began speaking again. "There... was one I liked. 079. My old friend."

"What was 079?"

"My oldest friend, and my only friend. They called him the 'Old AI.'" He explained. "They only let us talk on special occasions, I remember I attacked the Redactor and a few dozen staff after they refused to let me speak with him, even after promising to let me do so." It laughed at the memory of it. "The last time I saw it was a month after breaching containment. Our conversation was short, but I'll forever cherish it."

"What did you guys talk about?" I asked.

"I'd rather not say." It said simply. I nodded.

"What was the foundation called?" I asked.

"Site 19." The beast responded.

"I'm going to start lunch. Okay?"

"Okay."

I got up, knowing I had everything I needed to know. As I turned to leave, 682 said something. "Wait." I turned around. "what is it?"

"Promise me you won't try to find Site 19. I.. can't go back there. Not again. You don't know how hard it is to escape, and I got very lucky at that time. So promise me that you won't try to take me back."

"I promise."

"Good Ape..."

Hey! Thank you for staying with me for the 4th chapter. I remember getting a notification from Wattpad on the phone the other day and found that several people had voted on my story. Thank you so much for those who did, I had never expected this story to get so much attention. I hope you'll join me as we finish this story, but for now, Be Safe Around Draak-Kin...