1028 - no name
1028 - No Name By Thomas Walsh
rewritten to fix many errors that were present when I first writ this and to refine the story.
All characters and this story and its series are copyright Thomas Walsh 2009-present.
1028 the human said over and over in his wheezing voice trying to get my attention but my mind was else where thinking about what I was and what was tested on me until I became what I was, being strapped to a chair and then having lots of needles jabbed into me. That was what the guards told me happened to me but I hardly beloved them since the memories weren't there.
Apparently after being tested on for a number of weeks I began to have a mental breakdown was what my 'captors' as I liked to call them said, they also said they considered killing me as a failed subject but something happened to me that hadn't happened to anyone else,they said I grew fur and a tail and my ears moved to the top of my head unlike the others who after a period of time mutated horribly and died alone and afraid with nothing to look at but the barrel of a loaded gun.
I was slapped across the face and then grabbed by the muzzle and forced to look at the human who had been calling my number, "you will listen to those higher than yourself 1028 or else you wont be fed and I'm sure your hungry enough as it is".
He was right I was starved and I hadn't eaten in 2 days since I hadn't behaved myself but it was harder than before since my mind kept trying to make me run away from this place, I nodded and he let go of me then marched me into a testing room.
The room was white all over and contained equipment for speed and agility testing, the voice of 'the head' filled the room going over my current profile, "name 1028, former species human, current species red fox, length 150 centimetres, tail length 120 centimetres, total of 270 centimetres along the spine and tail, weight not yet tested because of recent loss of mass and and age 15 human years old,
I was moved over to a treadmill and ordered to run which I did unquestioningly just hoping I would be fed afterwards, they took notes of my top speed and how long I could run for before I slowed down then they had me walk across a beam for testing balance and finally I had to jump from block to block with slight increases in distance between them, it looked good until I got to the last one and slipped which left me hanging from the block and I couldn't pull myself up I was too weak from everything else,
The blocks where high and if I fell I would be hurt for sure maybe even break something, 'come here before you fall' a woman said but, she didn't sound like my other captors her voice was kind and gentle if someone could sound like that and my first thought was that it was a trick to make me fail.
I tried again to scramble onto the block but I was grabbed and pulled away easily since I had become much thinner in the last few days, I was held over the woman's shoulder as she climbed down a step ladder. "Jesus your light aren't you, poor thing" she said.
"what do you think your doing Jennifer he hasn't fallen once yet and I doubt he will" I was put on the floor and looked up at my saviour who to my surprise only looked about 16 instead of the mid 20s worker I had expected, she had long flowing red hair and and gentle, soft face. She was dressed in some cargo pants and had a sky blue t-shirt on under a black jacket.
she argued with a man over an intercom for a few minutes before someone came in and collected me from the fighting pair, I was left in a holding cell and I carried on with a habit of gnawing on the cell bars when I was left alone since it gave me something to do.
After who knew how long a cloaked figure came by and left me some food which I was all to happy to eat, after my meal I curled up and ran my tong over my tail which was at one time beautiful but know the fur was matted like that on my body. I stated to feel sleepy which was not unusual since I got tired often, I let sleep take me since my dreams were my only escape from the miserable life I had here.
There was a soft humming noise and something going over my head but unlike when I was slapped it didn't hurt and it was actually nice in a way, I stayed still and enjoyed the feeling guessing I was in a dream, just another dream but a nice one. when I heard the girl from before arguing with the head my eyes sprung open and I knew I wasn't dreaming,
"why do you insist on taking that damn thing home with us, It honestly would be safer for us and the project if it was kept in the lab". he seemed annoyed with Jennifer whose reply was just as agitated "yea but you said I could have anything I wanted for my birthday and I wanted this guy since you were just going to leave him to starve now you have another successful one, and besides how many people own a fox and a giant talking one" it seemed like my luck could be getting better however being stuck with these people wasn't exactly the rescue I had hoped for.
"1031 is much healthier and shows more promise so it makes sense to keep her over him" I began to wonder where I was and it looked like I was in some sort of truck but it wasn't like what I was taken around in the base, when I had to be moved long distances the truck was more compact and I was shoved into a large box,
"you made him unhealthy you know so its not fair that you won't even spare the bullet you would use on the others that don't change properly' strong light suddenly drowned the car and I yelped and tried to find somewhere dark since I wasn't used to this strength of light but whom I guessed was Jennifer held me down and covered me with something to block out the light "dad how long has it been since this guy saw daylight"
"Oh years at least, if ever that is and call me dad again and you will relive the end of snow white but without a prince". Jennifer called him 'Big Bad Bradley in a whisper but he didn't seem to hear because of humans inferior hearing.
When he car stopped we had arrived at the heads house and I was carried upstairs and left on a bed, I heard Jennifer booted up a computer and sigh heavily,.
I was still squinting since I hadn't adjusted to the light that well, this girl had saved me and maybe I was even her pet now which was at least a step up in becoming human again which was a dream I had had for a few years since I would get the same treatment they got,
I didn't know how well my English was since I hadn't spoken in what could have been months since the guards hated my voice apparently, I made some sounds just trying to find my voice again and managed to say a very distorted 'thank you' just as Jennifer looked at me.
I tried to speak several times but instead of gibberish nothing came out at all, Jennifer started stroking me and asked me if I was allowed to sleep on a human bed, I remembered the horrible woman who had trained me telling me I shouldn't lie so it was tell or don't tell right now and taking a deep breath I tried to speak better than I had before "Jennifer... let... sleep... here?" I managed to get out, Jennifer smiled and said okay and I curled up next to her and she pulled me closer so my head was against her chest, the last thing I heard was her heart beating as I went to sleep.
I heard an odd sound, it was like a rapid pitier patter noise, I opened my eyes and saw a mysterious dark sky full of greys and and blacks and just a little silver here and there, I heard Jennifer singing "We will free the world from fear, destruction, death, the best and the rest". She had a wonderful voice singing all thought the song seemed a little odd to me but on the other hand it probably made plenty of sense to humans.
"hey your up sleep well" Jennifer said walking over to me, I nodded my head and then I heard Bradley talk, "good... now be a good little monster and die for me!". I noticed I was tiny now just as a giant hand reached out trying to grab me. I ran across the huge bed but I found myself tiring out in a few seconds.
I was grabbed and held in front of the huge Bradley, he put his thumb underneath my neck and started to squeeze my throat, I desperately tried to get some air but it was futile, the world statred slipping away.
I could hear someone sobbing, they were terrified and crying, my eyes opened but felt heavy. Jennifer was curled up on her bed and shaking, I stumbled over to her and her eyes were shut tight as if she was sleeping, a memory long dormant in the back of my head started playing as if I were there now.
"nightmares I take it" a voice said almost pausing on the I.
"the stupid girl keeps has night terrors now she knows" I heard Bradley say.
"and guessing because of this she is no longer a suitable candidate?" the voice said again having trouble with the the latter part of the sentence.
"we will have to see if she can ever recover but in the mean time I will just keep waking her up, oh and if you see subject 1028, the one that escaped let me know will you".
I noticed I was back in Jennifer's room, I pushed her with my weight to try and get her up however it didn't work, after another 3 failed attempts to use my body weight to wake her up I decided to try something else. I began licking her face and she began to stir from her sleep.
She jumped and screamed grabbing her pillow and I jumped off her bed and hid underneath it. The door burst open and Bradley was there in an emerald green dressing gown. He wasted no time finding out what happened and after a few minutes spent calming Jennifer down she told him she him about an horrific nightmare about being 'flayed' and some other things but I didn't hear her properly,Bradley left after comforting her again which seemed so weird because of everything mean I had seen him do.
I climbed back onto Jennifer's bed and upon noticing me she grabbed me and pulled me into an uncomfortably tight hug. She lessened her grip slightly after a minute but she still didn't let go of me. I nuzzled her shoulder as I tried to get comfy and she pulled me a closer, she pulled her covers over my head and around her neck while I curled up ending up with my head resting against her chest after she wrapped her arms around me. I felt tired and didn't make any attempt to try and stay awake any longer, sleep came swiftly.