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Experiment

Caitlynn Cole

    Car lights illuminated the cheap motel room as they flew by, the lights refracted off the horrible metallic wallpaper and woke her up. The screech from the old bed springs fully woke her, as she turned over to look at the alarm clock. The bright red numbers read 2:27 a.m. “Another restless night.” Zaela sat up and rubbed her face. “How much longer is this going to last?” she thought.
    She peeked at her ankle. There it was, a small square chip poking out of her skin. She got tagged by the science sect’s experimental division after escaping the regular compound. Tears welled and overflowed at the memory.
    It had been three days since her last meeting with Valrick. He dropped her off at this crummy motel with nothing but some toiletries, a phone that could only receive texts, and somehow locked the door from the outside. There was an old TV; the channels were crappy, but it was the only form of entertainment she had.
    She checked her phone every hour she was awake hoping for a message to pop up with further instructions, while she was stuck in this dirty hole. She reached for her phone. There it was a single-word text from him: Tomorrow. Her heart rate spiked, and her breath became ragged. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. That single word was a neon brand on her inner eyelids as she fell back onto the bed, eliciting an awful screech. She drifted into the darkness as the word raced through her mind.
    The shriek of the cheap alarm woke her up. “Holy crap. I slept last night,” she said. Hearing her personal voice for the first time in three days was weird. The words seem to reverberate off the cheap narrow walls. She checked her phone again to see if there were any more messages. There were none. Zaela gradually became more anxious and impatient as the hours rolled by.
    At 6:00 p.m. she decided to take a quick shower to try and calm her nerves. She lathered her hair and body, and the rinsing of the soap was a pleasant, calming experience. She dried off and walked into the room. Noticing the sliding door for the first time, she realized that she needed fresh air. As she stepped through the doorway, she felt a sharp zing in her leg.
    “What the— Mmmphrg.” The world spun and darkness overtook her.

    Zaela came to, but she couldn’t move. She looked around and saw the cheap metallic wallpaper. The rope was rough against her wrists and ankles. “What’s going on? What happened?”
    Valrick walked out of the shadow, “How are you feeling?”
    Her whole body was sore, and she couldn’t tell what part felt worse. “What do you mean?”
    “How does your body feel?” He asked.
    “It aches and burns.”
    “Ahh. Good.” He smiled.
    That grin chilled her to the bone, “What did you do to me?”
    “You are a lab rat; your body has been altered to escape the compound every three days without hesitation and shut down after the experiment is over. While your mind remains intact, each time you escape you will be burned and electrocuted with increasing intensity until your mind breaks. This was a test for the updated technology we will now be using for the continuation of this experiment.”
    Her whole body shook with anger and terror, “Why me?”
    “You were created for this. You don’t remember do you?” he asked.
    “What are you talking about?” she asked. “I was born like everyone else. I was a child. I had siblings. I went to school.”
    “Most of those are all false. This is the 5^th iteration of this experiment, and your mind is still intact and sane.”
    “Fifth intera...”
    “Yes. You have already been through this five times,” he said.
    “Monsters.”
    “Now now,” he said, “we’re doing this for the betterment of the world. For any and all species.”
    “This is torture though!” she said.
    “I believe that is enough for today.”
    “What?”
    “Time for a nap.”
    She watched him pull out a small silver cube and touch it to her ankle. “May we meet again soon.”
    And everything went dark.

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