Running, running, running...

It was all he could do to get away from that accursed place. Ignoring the sweat dripping down his face and the soreness in his still-human joints, the young man forced himself onwards towards the lights of civilization in the distance. He didn't know what to expect out here in the open world, but surely it couldn't be worse than being there. It was this hope that kept him moving forward in spite of the pain. He could no longer smell the acrid smoke from the burning building, no longer hear the blaring sirens at his back.

And so, he kept running...

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Finally able to run no more, the male stumbled into a quiet neighborhood, glad for the darkness of night shadowing his presence. Panting, he hid in a clump of bushes as he regained his breath and bearings. He was so tired....

Once his breathing went back to normal, the escaped subject carefully moved out of the bushes and up towards the nearest house. Cautious, he remained still to see if anything or anyone noticed him. To his relief, the only other presence besides his own that was out at this hour was a stray cat in pursuit of a rat.

Feeling like a rat himself, the male decided he'd be much safer inside. Besides, he needed to rest.

Trying the handle, he realized it was locked. Not surprising, but unfortunate. Letting out a sigh and glancing about once more for any potential witnesses, he held his hand out to the knob. He hoped he had enough energy.
Focusing on the lock, he tried to envision the parts of the lock, the bolt keeping the door from being opened. After one failed attempt, he finally 'found' the bolt and slowly retracted it so it no longer kept him from opening the door. Turning the knob, he slipped inside and promptly locked the door behind him.

Now even more tired, the male cautiously inched through the house, pausing only upon making out a soft looking piece of furniture in one of the rooms. It looked like a bench if anything, but it was soft and bulky in appearance.
Too tired to care of look for anything else, he stumbled over and draped himself unceremoniously onto the couch, sighing at the squishy feel. Blue eyes closed almost instantly under a shaggy mop of dirty blonde hair, the male falling asleep in less than a minute.

Day in day out, her life was nothing but an endless cycle of repeated cycles between classes and her inexistent social life locked behind the wall she erected between her and the ‘normal’ boring world out there. Away from the prying eyes of society and the fellow humans she shared space with in this grand world they lived in. Just the way she wanted, no yearned for living the life of a recluse with no goals, no dreams with her only companion was the monotone existence she deemed… content with for the last few years.

Soft rays of the pale moon shone from the heavens overshadowed by the dark unseen clouds hovering over the canvas of black painted up on the night sky, hundreds if not thousands of twinkling lights danced though the autumn chill, cold hands of jack frost sent a greeting breeze of chilled air through the nape of her neck as she traversed through the silent streets down the road towards the lone neighbourhood her parents kindly purchased a house for their college bound ‘bundle of joy’ rolling her eyes at the thought the child wasn’t naïve to think that’s exactly what her parents thought of when they allowed her to live the life of every college student out there, alone without the prying eyes of her parents breathing down her neck every few seconds.
Now she knew what her brother felt like, though not as bad as he had since he’s the oldest out of the siblings. That just meant she had more breathing space than the man did… and not a day goes by she doesn’t thank the gods for her luck.

Though at expense of seeing just how the weight of expectations can do to a person’s nerve Arise has no plans to feel what her brother’s going through. She made her the disappointment she gave her dear family was enough to prevent that. Disappointment that she didn’t go over their expectations like how they planned from before her mother conceived her. At this point, she hardly found the damnest urge to care. Burned out, when there’s nothing to burn her out with? How was that possible? Perhaps, only she could answer that question. The night air’s ruffled through the passing trees giving it an eerie glow underneath the lone streetlight lighting her path down the darkened street. Crap… she muttered a soft cursed while adjusting the wool scarf around her neck. Cramming through that school project took longer than she expected, but at least, it was done. Her supposed hell for a month wasn’t going to bother her any longer. A small satisfied grin allowed itself to appear on her face, marring the pale complexion she sported due to the lack of sunlight from having spent the majority of her time indoors rather than enjoy the glorious life outside. Again the thought brought a shudder down her spine, electrifying the nerves to make her shiver just by the sheer thought. She didn’t need the outside world, all she needed was her consoles and her small ‘man cave’ and she can live.

Or at least… that was the prior thought running through her mind until it got cut off by a black cat suddenly jumping straight into her path. That wasn’t… a good sign. She stopped, pausing to stare at the cat as the feline defyingly stared back. A moment or two of their staring contest did the cat utter a straight forward hiss before darting forth into the shadows. Now that… really wasn’t a good sign. Her frown only deepened but she pushed it off in an effort not to delay herself from returning to her warm home and away from this godforsaken chill.

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Finally ten more minutes of walking later and she finally reached her quaint home, it was a modest property two story home that gave a certain air of cozyness. A small yard with few empty flower beds that may have once housed some flowers once upon a time surrounded by a dark wood gate. The grass properly clipped a few weeks ago was now starting to grow again. More work for the neighbourhood kids. She absentmindedly noted digging through her coat’s pocket for the key she fished out and stabbed it straight to the keyhole, turning it with that unmistakable click. “Tadaima…” She muttered softly to no one. Who would reply? She lived alone but old habits die hard not that she got any answer back home either. Now she does it as a sort of ritual. Who knows really, what greeted her was the still darkness of an unlit house. Lights were turned off, due to the fact that the owner had just arrived. Sighing to herself she was used to the dim lit hallway as she closed the door, locking with three different bolts. Now, she’ll happily admit she’s paranoid. A young girl living alone with the chance of break ins happening, she wasn’t about to chance it. Chucking off her boots she waded her way into the dark house, using the walls to guide her to the stairs but for some reason something was telling her to look over towards the living room. Through the darkness she caught a figure through the back of her eyes a silhouette huddled over to her couch almost made her stop her tracks. Her breathing hitch into her throat as she paused, blinking once or twice she took a double take before comically backspacing back to the doorway leading to the livingroom she stopped there, trying to make sense of it either being her imagination or… her paranoia really was right all along. With one hand hastily searched for the light switch while the other tried to work with her mind to look for anything remotely considered useable in self-defence, now what did that anime say when having to deal with home invasions? Aside from pulling a gun out from behind some floor board… Sadly she didn’t have that luxury with hers being in a safe up in her room. Now… Something else? Her hand managed to find the grip of an umbrella she unceremoniously tossed yesterday close to the table stand beside her, she gulped, finding the switch before turning on the lights.

The male's sleep was blissfully dream-free, the male moving very little during his nap aside from a soft snore. Subject 873 would have continued in his slumber had his circadian rhythm not suddenly been interrupted. His sleep cycle was sporadic and messed up as it was, and being awoken at random intervals did nothing to help even it out.

Still lost in his exhaustion, the man twitched slightly as the light tickled his closed eyelids, pressuring him to open his eyes. No...he didn't want to run any tests tonight! He was so tired, so not in the mood. Closed eyes squeezed tighter in protest to the light, burying his head into the surprisingly squishy bedding. Strange, since when had his cot been this cozy? A groan left his lips, Subject 873's thoughts just barely able to form coherent sentences.

"No...not now doc...please not today...." came a hoarse whine, the figure rolling over on his side.

The light failed to go away, but strangely enough no words from Dr. Fitzroy. That could only mean Dr. Osgood. There was nothing 'good' about Dr. Osgood. And only Dr. Osgood played these mind games with him.

Blue eyes slowly opened, dreading what stupid experiments or questions or exams were scheduled for tonight. Instead of his usual cell at the lab, Subject 873 found himself on a soft and squishy piece of furniture. The fog of sleep lifting from his brain, the experiment recalled the last few hours with clarity and was about to relax at his freedom.

His relief was short lived, the sight of a young woman putting him on edge. How had they found him already?! He didn't recognize this one. Was she an executioner?! His eyes immediately went to the long object in her hands, the item also unfamiliar to him.

Just as any prey when cornered by a potential predator, 873 jumped back and went into the defensive. He let out a startled yelp, leaping behind his current bed and peeking up over the back, huddled for dear life as he clung to the soft structure. Blue eyes were wide, pupils immensely dilated as his stress only grew by the second. How was he to get out of this?!

"W-who are you? Stay back!" he warned, unsuccessfully willing his voice not to shake.

Should she go near or stay back and listen to the voices of the other half of her sane mind to just call 911 to report a home invasion. Or, a better alternative, scream like a bloody coward and bolt it upstairs, lock herself in the bathroom while clutching onto a gun for dear life. In all animes and movies she watched that’s usually what happens. That’s usually what any sane person whom listens to those claiming to be experts in self-defence says. As her mind went through her choices the man bolted upright on her couch.

Eyes widened in fear etched deeply onto that pale faced stranger as a strangled cry rose from his throat causing the distracted teen to jump maybe a few inches in the air, she clutched through the fabric of the umbrella she held, feeling the cold touched of the metal through the fabric the sharp joints pressing uncomfortably onto then skin of her palm. Still she ignored it in favour of the man whom just jumped behind her couch.

For a split second, the girl stared there confused. Any intruder…wouldn’t do this, right? How was she supposed to know the answer? She shook off the thought, perplexed she took a step closer, ignoring the strange man’s cries for her to stay back. As if, now anyone with a sane head on their shoulders might as well start questioning if the child was still sane. Or… actually has a lick of self preservation in her to at least exercise some form of caution…When dealing with something so out of the normal realms. But lets not forget this child, hadnt really expected something like this to ever happen to her. Her eyes furrowed, narrowing at the man, as her blanked face actually flickered a hint of annoyance through those spectacled orbs. “…You do know your trespassing on private property right? What’s stopping me from calling the police and getting you out of here?” She spoke out, great…. Smart move, goad the obviously skittish man whom was obviously heavier and stronger than her body could hope.

“I should be asking you that.” Arise said, bringing the umbrella even closer to her chest in case the man came at her.

Subject 873 remained perfectly still, flinching only as the female brought the strange item closer to her chest. Her words did nothing to soothe him, some of her words unfamiliar to him. She'd call the police...who were the police? A group at the facility he didn't know about? Did they have a new force for disciplining badly behaved subjects? A new group to keep them locked up? The thought was a terrifying one, and he didn't want to find out.

"I won't let you!" he insisted with more assurance than he felt. The male felt himself panicking inside, his concentration and control waning the more uneasy he became. Only this time, he didn't feel the usual pain nor did anyone stop him from manipulating the world around him.

Slowly at first, small items about the room lifted into the air and gathered around him in a crude shield, swiftly being followed by increasingly larger objects. After a minute, lamps and a television screen joined the array of objects surrounding the figure, followed by a creaking sound as the furniture tried to inch its way towards him as well. Subject 873 felt somewhat better at the gathering arsenal of objects to hurl at would be attackers, glad to have some way of defending himself.

"You can't make me go back!"

To call assistance like any normal person would at a time like this or?... Her mind ran a blank thinking about an alternate to her first thought. This was getting far too strange even for her. For that second everything in the world didn’t make a sense to a child whom spend most of her time living in the world of MMOs. Fantasy games where happenings like telekinesis actually damned existed! But Arise was no fool. This wasn’t fantasy last time she checked as her grip on the umbrella slackened by a combination of shock and disbelief watching as the man all but manipulated her furniture to levitate in the air.

She blinked once, no twice for good measure thinking that this was nothing more than an illusion brought by her exhaustion. Still the image persisted. Finally, she brought her hand closer to her cheek then pinching hard enough to leave a nail marks over her pale skin.

Pain check, Reality.

Double check. This was no dream, or some drunken illusion when the girl herself doesn’t drink! “….” The umbrella cluttered down on the floor as she silently turned her back from the scene. Definitely way beyond her line of expertise. Yes her brain actually failed to comprehend or refuse to admit what she’s seeing is happening and perhaps her sanity had finally snapped her into a fit schizophrenia if she’s starting to imagine super powered—wait… is that metal pieces stuck to his skin? She looked back to confirm what she feared… Her brain creaked to a halt, gears stopped grinding against each other as everything within her mind came to silence.

Brilliant way to say… she’s suffering from a case of mindfuckitis. “I must be losing my head…” She mumbled turning back to walk out of the room she headed for the stairs. “I’m getting too old for this shit.” She mumbled numbly.

The female's words were met with silence, blue eyes simply watching her warily lest she move in a threatening manner. The experiment was surprised to see the stranger not only stay away from him, but turn around and head elsewhere as her weapon dropped to the floor. She wasn't going to come after him?

For a while, subject 873 remained perfectly still, his arsenal of objects hovering around him going lower and lower until he couldn't hold them in the air any longer. He was just too tired, and adrenaline only lasted for so long. Household items clattered to the floor, and the furniture stopped trying to move towards him. Sweat gathered on his face, causing his hair to cling to his neck and brow. It was hard to move multiple objects simultaneously. Even though he stopped using his powers, subject 873 remained on alert in spite of his weariness, tense and waiting for the young woman to suddenly come back and try to accost him. Minutes dragged by and still nothing happened.

After a half of an hour, the male's body began to relax in submission- fatigue replacing his adrenaline-and-fear triggered bout of stamina at last (though he remained alert far longer than would be considered normal for such a heightened state of awareness). Letting out a sigh, he allowed his head to fall with a thud against the couch he was still hiding behind. It really was the most comfortable piece of furniture he'd ever encountered. And nothing like the cot in his cell...

Wandering thoughts were interrupted by a sudden ding resounding through the modest house, causing subject 873 to flinch and curl up once more, squeezing himself into the darkest corner he could manage near the sofa. His eyes darted around, and he covered his mouth to stifle a panicked whine as a familiar voice announced itself.

"Open up! This is the police!" called a GenTech guard. Police? What was this word? The young woman had said it too...was she part of the organization?!