Snippet #1643821

Kiora had stayed with Chiyo until she had hurriedly unlocked all of the remaining Omega's. However, once the last gate was unlocked, her excitement kept her from waiting for anyone. She could already see the others rushing out into the outside--the real world. Kiora could barely keep still, and once all were free, she didn't make herself do so any longer. It started out as a fast walk to the door leading outside, and quickly turned into a trot. Before she knew it, she was running down the last stretch that separated herself from OKARI and freedom.
The constant white lights. The white floors, walls, doors. The echoing footsteps whenever a nurse or guard walked down the halls. The way the doctors talked about you like you were nothing but an experiment. And there, that was all she was. A test subject who was lucky (perhaps unlucky?) enough to survive.
But today, she found herself thinking, in this moment, I'm free.

Though Kiora couldn't feel the touch of the grass through her shoes as she ran, it still felt far different from any tile floor. She nearly stumbled a few times, unused to running or even walking across an uneven surface. She slowed her pace only for a moment to acknowledge the winged man that stood in the middle of it all, watching. She wondered what he must be thinking before she tossed the thought aside and made her way for the hole in the fence. With the gentle wind on her face and the warmth of the new sun, she stepped through and found herself in awe. The pictures she'd be shown, the sounds she'd only heard in audio recordings, it was all here. Trees, grass, sky, and clouds, to city buildings and sidewalks and roads farther away. She had a lump in her throat, the kind you get before you cry. But before her eyes could begin to well up, she swallowed past it. No, she won't shed a tear yet. Not even a happy one.

She breathed in deep, and walking with a confidence she never had, she caught up to someone who had stopped near a tree. She didn't remember ever meeting her, but it was clear that she was also an escapee. Kiora slowed to a stop beside her, still panting through the thrill of her previous run. Her first real run. When her breathing was tolerable again, she looked over to the girl standing by the tree and held out her hand.
"Kiora." She shared her sudden excitement with the girl by saying, "I'm not just a number anymore. You're not a number. What's your name?"