Part One - Chapter 2

Tests at the Headquarters begin

I looked at the tiles that covered the niche in the pool that I used for sleeping and tried to make myself believe I was home again... to believe that out there, just outside my pool, were my friends, not my jailers; that even if they wanted to somehow test me, they’d do it carefully to avoid causing me any pain. Because they actually cared.

My brief moment of serenity was ruined by a loud sound �" someone was knocking on the edge of the pool. The annoying tremor that spread through the water instantly reminded me that I was far from home. No-one  would ever do that back there, they all knew I hated it when people knocked on the edge of my pool because it always resulted in one hell of a headache for me.

But this new moron continued knocking. I swam to the surface to deal with it faster, there was no way a human would stop if I didn’t show my face!

I expected to see Lita, since she had arrived to the Infirmary around that time the day earlier; not like I had a watch or anything, but I’ve always been good at sensing the time. Instead I was greeted by the sight of my former jailer’s ugly mug. He looked at me, grinning.

“I’ll be your watcher for today. Get out of the water.”

I didn’t follow his order immediately. I knew he couldn’t do anything to me as long as I was submerged under the water. I still had a chance to go back to my niche, and he wouldn’t get me out of there with a metal hook! I didn’t dream of attacking him, because I knew  the b*****d wouldn’t even think about approaching me unarmed. He’s too much of a coward for that.

Anton guessed my thoughts quite easily:

“Move it, lizard, you can’t hide. You remember about the sweet little detonators in your body, right? I control them today. So get out, you trash, your training is just getting started!”

I got out of the water reluctantly and stood before him. I was sufficiently taller, but I'm ashamed to admit that out of the two of us I was the only one afraid. I could still remember the dark walls of my old cell, the dirty water, and how the smell of blood hung in the stagnant air.

“I was told to test your stamina. Get rid of your armor,” he said.

I hesitated, knowing full well that such an action would leave me too vulnerable. But… surely he wouldn’t kill me, they wouldn’t have cured me if they were planning to kill me! And if I refused to obey, I’d give him the legal right to trigger the device in my body. I had to work with him for now.

For the moment, death would be worse than pain to me.

With my eyes locked on him, I removed the scales under my skin. He’d been waiting for that. Anton threw me off my feet with one blow. I flew back and landed among tropical plants. I started to let the armor out instinctively, but he noticed that.

“No, freak, none of that for today! I’ve been waiting forever for the chance to work with you without those damn scales! Now I finally have it, so don’t spoil the fun!”

I couldn’t see how beating the hell out of me was fun. Maybe someday we should try swapping roles for this game.

He moved toward me slowly. I didn’t try to get up since I knew how useless it was. If I curled up on the floor and covered my head with my hands and tail, I’d receive less damage. During my incarceration, I had more than enough opportunities to test that theory.

But before he could hit me again, I heard the voice of my watcher, as cold and powerful as ever.

“What’s going on here?”

I couldn’t see her through the plants, but I felt she was at the door. Anton turned to her; he wasn’t looking at me anymore.

“I’m under orders to work with him today!”

“You’re lying, Mr. Larin,” she interrupted him calmly. “There could never be such an order. You don't have the qualifications nor experience necessary for working with a Line Two beast.”

“I’ve been watching him all this time!” Anton growled.

“You have been torturing him all this time with the silent support of the management. But plans for Subject 2-2 have changed, I am his official watcher. I’m not happy to see you enjoy causing pain to a living creature. And the fact that this creature is as intelligent as a human and under my guidance provides me with  the authority to intervene.”

“Guidance? Your guidance?” my former jailer laughed. There was not even a hint of respect in his voice. “I think you've got a little carried away in your new role, sweetie! I started working here long before you even entered your fancy college! I remember you and the others coming here for the first time! Just a bunch of useless interns! And now it turns out that you’re my boss suddenly because you’ve got an  almighty university degree?!”

“No. Because I’m a watcher and you’re a jailer. And from now on I recommend you show me more respect. I’m not a trainee anymore. Now would you please remove yourself and stop interfering with my schedule?”

Instead of walking out Anton just leered at her defiantly.

“And if I don’t leave? How are you going to make me?”

The recommendation to show her more respect clearly didn’t impress him at all.

Lita could have called a higher authority by now, but I guess that would mean conceding her own physical weakness in this situation. And because of this, or for some other reason, she decided to turn to me.

“Subject 2-2?”

“Alive,” I replied glumly. I still wasn’t sure she was on my side.

“I want you to remove the jailer, Anton Larin, from this room.  He has been given no authorization  to be here. I leave the method of dealing with him up to you.”

That was the first time I gladly followed one of her requests. In a moment my armor was back in place, and two more seconds later I had Anton  hanging above the floor, trying to wriggle himself free. It was futile. I finally let him feel just how much stronger I was. That’d leave him with a nice set of bruises. I decided not to break any bones  to avoid abusing the trust I’d been given.

“You’ll pay for this, Lolita,” Anton gave my watcher an angry look. “The Council will hear about it!”

She held his gaze calmly.

“That’s great. Thank you for eliminating the necessity of me having to write a report for them. And once you’re on it, don’t forget to mention how you got here and what you were doing before my arrival. It would be embarrassing if you missed that part, now wouldn’t it? Let’s go, Subject 2-2, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

The desire to break his neck was too damn strong, but I managed to suppress it for the moment. I simply threw him on the floor with disgust. Anton got back to his feet immediately, but seeing him limping was an added consolation. .

“Don’t think it ends here, you filth,” he hissed.

“I don’t think so, I even hope it doesn’t end here,” I told him without looking back. Lita was waiting for me in the hallway, and he stayed in the room. I hoped he’d leave before I returned.

In the silence that followed I wasn’t sure if we should discuss what had just happened or not. It would be awkward I guess, I didn’t trust her enough yet. This time she helped me, but was she truly on my side? Could that even be possible? I highly doubted it.

Instead, I decided to remind her of an important moment:

“I haven’t been fed today”.

“That’s part of the plan. I thought it would be better if you ate after our training.”

She was silent while we crossed the hallway. Her quietness was probably due to all the other watchers surrounding us, but once we stepped inside the elevator, she returned to her thoughts about the previous events by my pool.

“I should’ve known he’d come �" him or someone else. Not everyone approves of your presence here... or your life in general. That’s why I want you to know: I’m the only one here who can give you orders. You do not obey  anyone else, including my management. Outside of that, if you must, I give you the permission to protect yourself. Only protect! Don’t think for a second I’d ever allow you to attack someone unprovoked.”

“Like I was going to.” I rolled my eyes.

“Then it’s settled.”

“Thanks.”

I was sincere about my gratitude. Her permission wasn’t even close to giving me freedom, but that was the first chance I had to keep some of my own dignity. I think she understood.

We didn’t go to the stadium this time. Instead, we headed to higher levels where we crossed a hallway and then went down on another elevator.

“Labyrinth of Minos,” I mumbled.

She turned to me rather sharply, and through the icy wall of indifference in her eyes I could see the tiniest sparkle of amusement. Which I couldn’t understand, actually.

“What?” I stared back. “I know it’s not the funniest joke, but it doesn’t deserve that much attention!”

“How do you know what Labyrinth of Minos is?”

Stupid question. What am I, a two-year-old?

“I read about it.”

“You can read?”

“And write, if that matters.”

She frowned. She was thinking about something, but didn’t continue with the topic.

When the elevator doors opened in front of us, I expected to see another hallway, but there was none. Instead we stood in front of a relatively small area, more like a platform placed just under the ceiling of a spacious hall. Two more humans were waiting for us there.

One of them was much older than Lita, he walked with a cane and viewed the world through the thick lenses of dark rimmed glasses. The other was about her age, well, maybe a couple of years older - in his early thirties, I’d imagine. He looked at me with obvious amusement and exclaimed:

“I thought he’d be bigger! And, you know, more… special. But he’s almost like them!”

“You’ll see the difference soon enough,” was all Lita said to that.

I looked down and gave a surprised whistle. Down there, on the lowest level, I could see a conveyor belt moving. Concrete plates were steadily floating in the air between the floor and the ceiling, they all had different speeds and directions. Two of the plates were occupied by Line One beasts.

A female sat closer to the platform with humans. It was the first time I saw a female of that species! She was a bit more thin and elegant than the males, but she was still much larger than human women were. Her scales were a smooth pearly shade and her spikes were nearly white. Another similarity between her and other human females was the chest anatomy, but due to the armor and uniform it was hard to tell just how close the resemblance actually was. Of course, to compare her to Lita in this regard provided me with a momentary chuckle and upon closer inspection Lita was the clear winner in my mind!

The other beast, a male, was a bit further from us. He was squaring his enormous shoulders from time to time and twisting his tail. His armor was dark green; I could tell he was nervous.

“King doesn’t look healthy,” Lita noticed his condition too. “Are you sure it’s the right time to start training him?”

“He’s fine!” the younger human wasn’t too preoccupied with the situation. “He can handle it! Besides, yours just left the Infirmary, and you've already brought him here for training!”

“It’s different: we don’t have much time. But it’s up to you. Subject 2-2,” she called me closer. “I want you to meet King and Kathy. I think it’s better for you to know other beasts. Someday you may have to work with them, but today you’re playing against them.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“What do you mean?”

But Lita just gestured to the hall:

“Get to the playground, I’ll explain the rules to you.”

Playground? That was an interesting way to name it!

I just shrugged and jumped to one of the plates from the observation platform. At seeing me, Kathy wagged her tail and smiled, while King became even gloomier. I was an object of interest to them, sure, a novelty, but nothing more. They didn’t think I was special in any way. And I still wasn’t sure how intelligent they were.

“May I have your attention please,” the older human knocked on the floor with his cane.

Kathy pointed at him and pronounced:

“Daddy!”

“Well,  in that case, I don’t want to see the mommy,” I smirked, knowing full well no-one was going to hear me.

“You are here for a little game,” the human continued. “A competition. Down there, on the belt, there’s ball. The one who brings it here wins.”

As far as I'm aware, this is how humans tend to play with their dogs. I wasn’t thrilled to participate in something like this to say the least. Though I could see why they were making us do it: it was a decent test of speed, agility, and coordination.

“What do I get for the victory?” I asked matte- of-factly.

That caused the younger human to laugh out loud:

“Oh yeah, Li, now I can see the difference!”

“Just do it,” Lita told me, ignoring the other watcher completely. “It’s really important. Begin!”

The Line One beasts jumped off their places and started to get down. I hesitated for a moment, evaluating the surroundings, and then followed them. It wasn’t too hard to overtake them since they were able to bypass only the obvious obstacles without noticing the potential ones. That made them turn around and search for another way fairly often, whenever a moving plate would get in their way.

And I quickly figured out that the plates’ movement wasn’t chaotic at all. I just used their rhythm to plan my way, and I was the first one to reach the belt. I didn’t see the small rubber ball immediately, but I didn’t waste much time searching for it either. The Line One beasts were still on their way down when I started to climb up with the stupid toy.

They didn’t even notice my advantage! I turned around and saw that they were looking for the ball down there. I could have simply continued to the top, but the whole thing was just  too boring. If humans wanted a game, I’d make a game out of it!

“Hey, down there!” I shouted and slammed my tail on the plate to attract their attention. “Lost something?”

I showed them the ball. They bolted up, angry, and confused. I was in no hurry to run, because I could easily tell which plate would slow King down and into which wall Kathy would bump with her head. It was enough for me to jump away from time to time, keeping a safe distance between us. All three of us approached the platform, but I was in the lead and I still had the ball.

And then something happened �" something I couldn't have seen coming.. The two of them converged on one plate. Kathy, who was impatient to get her hands on the ball, suddenly pushed her opponent away and jumped up. It wasn’t a strong push, her intention was to get him out of the way, not to hurt him, but the subtle movement caused the massive beast to fall. . He held his hands to his chest as his body plummeted through the air.

I cursed, using all words my friend and maker forbade me to use, and jumped off the plate. Kathy tried to stop me, but I simply threw the ball to the side, and she followed it with the enthusiasm of an excited puppy.

King fell to a lower plate and stayed there motionless... which wouldn’t be too critical if it weren’t for another plate that was slowly descending on top of him. The space between the platforms wasn’t large enough for a beast his size. He'd be crushed, and I didn’t want to know if his armor could withstand that kind of pressure or not.

I wasn’t sure why I was saving him. Not out of some sense of being related, that’s for sure! I didn’t even feel sympathy toward him. I just didn’t want to see him die. In all fairness, it wasn’t too complicated or dangerous for me to help him, either.

Without enough room on the same platform, I balanced on the neighboring plate, clinging to it with my claws. Catching King’s massive body with my tail and raising him wasn’t exactly easy, but I managed somehow, and to top it off I did it long before the plates were able to hurt him.

Getting up the structure with him was tougher than doing so alone. I’m heavy enough myself, and King was even larger. Our combined weight made the concrete crack under us. Nobody hurried to help me. I was on my own here. The humans didn’t even bother to stop the plates from moving.

On my way up I remembered the fact that those beasts were not called by their number. They had their own names �" rather stupid names admittedly, but still! I used to have a name too…

Back in my past life, in my friend’s laboratory, a human child called me a king �" he mumbled something about me being a king of mermaids and other nonsense. I didn’t like the nickname, but it just stuck! My protest resulted in it being changed to the less pompous Rey. As far as I could tell, it also meant king, but in some other language. I didn’t really care. I wasn’t happy about that name either, but humans insisted I keep it.

And now I found myself suddenly missing my name. It had more soul in it than the dry and sterile “Subject 2-2.”

I reached the top platform and threw the unconscious beast to the young watcher’s feet. The human wasn’t laughing anymore, but he didn’t look too concerned either. He kicked the beast slightly and cringed:

“Out of service. You were right, Li. It was too early for him to start training. I’ll get him back to the Infirmary. Better for me �" more days off!”

Lita gave him a look, the meaning of which I couldn’t fully interpret, and went to the elevator. The young human stayed with his beast; Kathy and her watcher were long since gone.

“I lost,” I noted when we were alone.

“No,” she said.

That was all we had to say on the subject of that particular training session.

From there she led me to the place where the other beasts were fed. It didn’t look like a cafeteria that humans used �" I once visited such a place with my friend and maker. The food here was poured into large bowls. Beasts were gathering around them in groups and eating the creamy substance with their hands. They didn’t give a damn about it getting smeared all over their faces.

“I’m not going to eat here!” I announced. Just watching them made me feel sick.

It was better to remain hungry than humiliate myself like this!

“Happy to hear that, but I don’t remember asking you to join them,” Lita responded.

“Then why are we here?”

She pointed at a table that stood so far from the entrance that I didn’t even notice it at first. There was a bowl waiting on it.

I noted that my food was different from what humans ate, not only here, but also back in the lab. Back then I occasionally managed to get some snacks from my friend’s assistants. That memory only served to remind me that I wasn’t in an advantageous position since the food back in the lab tasted a lot better!

Just as I feared, the bowl was filled with thick porridge of unclear color and unknown origin. It was probably nutritious, sure, but it couldn’t possibly boast a nice taste. Or any taste at all, for that matter.

“Liquid Styrofoam,” I sighed, taking my place on a metal stool. Normal chairs mostly crushed under my weight, or it was just plain uncomfortable to sit on them because of my tail.

Lita sat opposite me, we were separated by the table now. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that the trademark cold in her eyes was now replaced by a slight twinge of curiosity, which was directed at my modest persona.

“What?” I leaned my head to the side a bit, looking at her in return.

“You’re different from what I expected.”

“What were your expectations based on?”

“On the materials I received,” she informed me. “According to them, you're a beast with increased intellectual capabilities. But a beast nevertheless!”

“I am.”

I was getting curious too.

“It may be so, but some features of your behavior are just unfitting for an animal. Beasts don’t read books, they don’t use gathered knowledge to analyze a new situation, don’t have a sense of humor, though yours leaves much to be desired.”

“It’s fine,” I replied indignantly.

She ignored my protest and shook her head in amusement:

“See, you’re not just following my speech! You can receive information and perform emotional evaluation all at once! I’m starting to think my knowledge of you is full of blank spots. Care to fill them in?”

“No.”

I pretended the contents of the bowl were the only thing that interested me in this world.

“Listen, Subject 2-2, this thing that is happening… it’s a test not only for you, but for me too.”

“Why?”

“It's  hard to explain”, Lita sighed.

“Well, it's hard for me too!”

“I think you’re right,” her voice, which was filled with emotions for a little while, froze once again. I don’t even know what I did, but it obviously upset her and pushed her back. “We don’t need to know much about each other, because it’s just unprofessional. I’ll wait for you in the hallway, try to make it quick. There won’t be any other tests today, but you’re in for a training session.”

She walked away, leaving me alone by the table. I just stayed there, eying the bowl of cold slush in front of me and a feeling that I unwittingly made a stupid mistake in my soul.

***

The second training session was harder than the previous one earlier today. After it was over, a watcher whom I didn’t know led me to my room. Lita was called somewhere an hour ago, and I hadn’t seen her since.

My meal was brought to my room again. I went back into the water when I was finished with it. I didn’t feel like communicating to humans at the moment. I was tired of them and a bit angry because of all the useless training. It’s not even training actually, it’s just a humiliating waste of time!

I knew she’d come and I was right. In about half an hour after my return she got out of the elevator and I sensed her presence immediately. Her heels were clicking in the hallway; I swam up to the edge and sat down.

She looked into my room, but didn’t cross the threshold.

“Is everything okay? Have you been fed?”

I nodded without turning to her.

“That’s good. I’ll see you tomorrow then”.

She was about to leave, so I had to call out to her:

“Hold on!”

“What?”

She wasn’t irritated, just surprised, but as usual she didn’t show much of her emotions.

I didn’t like my idea, not at all, but it was too late to back down. If I wanted to get out of this place, I’d need her help. Though the chances were high I’d regret this decision later…

“I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

She closed the door and locked it. If she bothered to do this, I figured there were no wiretaps in my room. Nice! Hey, and knowing I have an inner lock to my room was a good thing, too, though I doubt I’d ever need it.

There were no chairs in the room so she just sat on the edge of a small table where my food was usually left. She tried to look me in the eyes, but I avoided her gaze stubbornly. Not because I was planning to lie to her, no. It was just too painful to go back to those memories, and I didn’t want her to see me like this.

“Talk.”

It wasn’t an order, she was encouraging me. To be fair, she wasn’t good at being friendly, but I guess it just wasn't her style. I had to talk, not because she told me to, but because I started it.

“I don’t remember where I came from. To be honest, I don’t know much about my past or origin at all. My memory starts with the days I spent among humans in their laboratory. I woke up inside of a glass tank, surrounded by people. At that moment there was nothing in my mind, no thoughts save for a strange feeling that things were wrong, not the way they used to be. I was afraid of humans, because I could feel they were hostile towards me. And then another human came. He told me the same thing you mentioned in the Infirmary, and I believed him. I believed that he truly wanted to help me.”

“Dr. Vladimir Strelov,» she said. Her voice was very sad, as if the name held personal meaning to her �" or maybe it was just my imagination. “What happened next?”

“I tried to find out where I came from and where they found me. Dr. Strelov  knew that, but he never told me. That is the only bad thing he ever did to me. Otherwise, he was my friend, he wasn’t afraid of me. He tested me, but there was no pain during those tests. He taught me to read and I learned how to write on my own. He helped me increase the duration I could spend in open air, out of water. He told me a lot about the world I ended up in. I don’t know how long it lasted. I can’t say I really liked that life, because I still felt like a stranger among humans. But it wasn’t too bad! And then, about half a year ago… Dr. Strelov  just didn’t return to the laboratory. He wasn’t living there, he usually left for the night and returned in the morning. Not this time though. His assistants didn’t come either. They weren’t my friends, but at least I could’ve asked them  what was going on! I had to face the fear of the unknown. Not the best feeling, believe me! When humans finally appeared, I was happy at first, thinking that the wait was finally over. But those new humans weren’t exactly nice to me! They brought me to the cell where you met me. No use telling you what had been going on inside that cell for the last few months, I think you’re quite aware of that. That’s all I can tell you. Disappointed? I bet. I’d be disappointed too if I were you. Of course, looking at me makes everyone wonder where a freak like me came from! But the truth is… I want to know that myself. It’s not easy to live without knowing who you are.”

I finished and looked at her attentively. Sure, I wasn’t being too detailed about my life in the lab. Why should I have been? Those memories would mean nothing to her, but I knew they’d hurt me, and I wasn’t ready to handle that now.

“Thank you,” she jumped off the table and went to the door.

That “thank you” gave me no clue to what her reaction to my story was. That was unnerving, since confessing all that demanded some effort on my part. I wasn’t going to let her go that easily!

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

“So far �" yes,” Lita replied. She still wasn’t ashamed to look me in the eye. “Don’t overestimate the level of my knowledge. I have some information about you, perhaps more than other people who are employed here. But I don’t know everything. In any case, the past is the past, and we’ve got the present to think about. Tomorrow is going to be difficult, so try to get some rest, Subject 2… Rey.”