Bare feet padded across wooden floors and Kayden shivered with excitement.
As he walked, Kayden absentmindedly rubbed the raw spot under his jaw on the left side. The muzzle was made of a special heat-resistant ceramic, it had to be to deal with Kayden's extreme pyroclastic discharges, although it's purpose was to prevent such things, not withstand them. Either way, the muzzle had to be made from an exceptionally strong material, or else Kayden would have simply ripped it off, or melted it off of his face. Regardless, when they'd made the damn thing, they'd forgotten to thoroughly sand the edges, resulting in rough irregularities that chafed Kayden's normally smooth skin. Kayden winced as a twinge of pain coursed through his jaw and made his brain go temporarily numb. What was that Doctor up to?
There was a tenuous silence in the air.
As Kayden had asked his question, the
good Doc Griffin, had closed his eyes. Judging from the measured breaths he was taking, and the slow, steady beat of his heart, Kayden could tell that the Doc was really thinking about his response. At least, that's what Kayden's ears were telling him. The longer the silence became, the more Kayden became... impatient. Finally, after what seemed to be hours, Kayden could take it no longer. "
Well!? Are you gonna let me go or not!" Kayden shouted. Taking your time to think was all well and good, but in a situation like this, with Kayden's freedom on the line, the boy's patience was already stretched far too thin. At that, and seemingly in response, the Doc's head slumped to the side, and a huge fake snore rumbled in the small freezer. Kayden sighed, a calming hand rising slowly to knit his furiously twitching brow. Kayden knew better than to expect seriousness, in any situation in which the Doc was involved.
Incredulously, Kayden's eyes stretched wide, and his gaze came up to rest upon the smiling doctor. "
You're seriously letting me go?" Kayden stammered. The Doc raised a hand, showing three fingers-- clauses --Kayden's raised hopes fell slightly. "
Before you leave, however, I'll have you sign a contract that states the following," The Doc said matter-of-factually, as he produced a folded sheet of paper, with his other hand, from one of his lab-coat's many pockets. Slowly, the Doc walked over to the table at Kayden's bedside. As he did so, the Doc unfolded the paper and spoke. "
1) You will submit, willingly and earnestly, to our testing and give real effort during the tests that require your participation. In short, try your best. If you do well, I'll have an easier time getting the guards here to leave you alone, so we won't, for example, need to have someone following you around when you go to take a piss. It's really in your best interests to try hard here. The better you do, the more personal freedom I can promise you. 2) You will promise not to harm any more employees, staff, or other residents of the RIST. Should any danger come to these individuals, you will even be held to the standard of protecting these individuals from harm, albeit to the best of your abilities. Obviously, we don't want you dying on us, but we don't want you standing idly by while the place burns to the ground. Mostly, just use your common sense. 3) You are to remain on the grounds of the RIST. Once again, obviously, we can't have you running away on us. Despite your best intentions, you are, Kayden, a dangerous individual. Ten of you would, probably, be enough to single-handedly burn any city on this earth to the ground, overnight. As much as I would like for you to be able to live off-site, that is no longer an option, not with your most recent incident on the record." As he finished speaking, and having made his way over to the small table, placed the paper, and a pen, there, as if it were no big deal.
Kayden sighed, as expected, his hopes were stymied. Escape, without blatantly breaking his promise, was impossible. However, a niggling thought played at the back of his mind. Even with those conditions, Roman was still here, same as him. Meeting her, who was probably the sole reason that Kayden had managed to stay sane, was slowing becoming more and more realistic. Even if kayden couldn't leave, she'd be here too. "
That's all well 'n' good, but what's to stop me from smilin' real nice right now and killin' each and every one of ya when yer backs are turned?" Kayden asked snidely, a smirk on his face. The Doc, however, seemed to have already thought of this, and snapped back just as quickly. "
The national government has been notified of your existence, and has access to all of our files on you. Any breaking of the stipulations of this contract will, most likely, result in your permanent imprisonment, if not an outright death sentence. If you thought it was hell in here, just you try it. Them government types are even meaner than us." The Doc said, challenging Kayden with an equally confident smirk.
Kayden only scowled, growling under his breath. Nervous, and just the littlest bit nauseous, Kayden began to pace, his eyes burning holes in the floor and his mind furiously running in circles. Obviously, with his record they couldn't just let him go, and yet, here they were; finally willing to let him out of the freezer. Thinking about it was agony. Live a life of false smiles and unjust imprisonment, or kill them all and be put to death. As if to make it even worse for Kayden, the Doc chimed in, "
Provided you behave, I can even provide you with just about anything you could ask for. Food, clothes, or even entertainment, to a reasonable extent, of course. We aren't made of money here." Kayden hated that man. He was so infuriating. Just when kayden thought he had them all beat, there he was. That eternally smiling doctor, whose sole purpose, it seemed, was to make Kayden's life hell. Yet, even now, he smiled, as if... as if he actually cared about Kayden. The thought made Kayden stop in his tracks and slowly, his gaze lifted up to rest on the Doc, who was still smiling. Scowling, Kayden walked over to the table, picked up the pen, and deftly signed his life away. kayden stormed off towards the still open exit, but just as he was turning his back to leave, a small jingling noise caught Kayden's attention. Whipping back around to face the doc, Kayden's breath caught in his chest. In his left hand, the doc held a small silver key. Even just looking at it, Kayden could tell.
True to his word, the Doc had let him go. He even got to take off the muzzle they'd put on him. "
Feh... as if I were some kind of beast." Kayden griped softly to himself. "
I'll show you beastly..." Kayden trailed off halfway through his statement, stopping dead in his tracks. He'd already forgotten. Sure he was free, but, if anything, Kayden was, arguably, more chained up now than he had ever been before. This was made all the more vexing due to the nature of his bindings. As strong as he was, even Kayden couldn't break chains placed on him by
responsibility and
obligation. "
That's right..." Kayden said to himself, he trailed off as he neared the end of his statement, his mind racing. Kayden absentmindedly padded in the direction that
Griffin had sent him. Apparently he'd been given a room of his own, Kayden figured it would be a good idea to wash up before meeting Roman in person, after all, it wasn't everyday you met the girl of your dreams. Kayden chuckled to himself. "
That joke sucked..."
As he reached his
room, Kayden sighed. It was threadbare. Sure there was an attached bathroom, but the bedroom itself was depressingly empty. Just a bed, a dresser, a nightstand table with a lamp on it, and a single chair. They'd even given Kayden a room with a window. "
Bastards..." Kayden growled under his breath. Sure being out of the freezer for a change was nice, but having a window, one without bars on it, which he could easily smash to leave this damn place, was just too much. Sighing, Kayden checked his dresser. Sure enough, extra clothes had been put into the drawers. Everything from underwear, to sweaters, to pressed and folded collared shirts was there. Kayden sighed. This was normal life, eh? Too bad his job sucked. Kayden chuckled again. "
Much better."
Slowly, as he was somewhat out of practice, Kayden showered in the bathroom attached to his new room. The hot water, some 90, almost 100, degrees felt good on his skin. It was a welcome change from the constant embrace of the frigid air within his old -10 degree home. Kayden stood stock still for a short moment, dropping the bottle of soap in his hands.
Kayden scowled as he picked up the soap. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't have any other place to go. For now, this place was his home.
When he'd finished cleaning up, Kayden dried himself off and checked the cabinet in his bathroom. Sure enough, it had been supplied with deodorant, a toothbrush, mild medications for pain, allergies, and cold symptoms, like coughing or runny nose. There was even mouthwash and floss. Kayden brushed his teeth. He was sure, with his previously muzzled situation, that his mouth was in need of some serious hygiene assistance. When he was finally finished with his teeth, Kayden applied his deodorant and got dressed. It was weird wearing regular clothes. For the longest time, Kayden had worn nothing but, what was essentially, a hospital gown provided by the institute. As a dangerous Abnormal, he didn't need clothes. He basically spent most of his days poisoned and anesthetized anyway. Kayden chose faded, light blue
jeans, black
PF Flyers, ankle socks, and a plain white t-shirt with a
black hoodie. Obviously he needed to chat with someone about the kind of clothes he liked to wear. However, that could wait. When Kayden had walked up to his room, he'd caught a whiff of a familiar scent. It was a flowery and warm scent. Kayden recognized it from his dreams. It was Roman's shampoo.
Following his nose, Kayden wound his way through the halls of the RIST. As his nose led the way, Kayden's ears couldn't help but pick up the sound of music. Someone was playing a piano, and rather well at that. Kayden couldn't tell what the song was, he'd never heard music like that before, but he could tell it was something beautiful. Kayden stopped for a moment, his heart twinging painfully. His right hand reached up to his chest, grasping the material of his sweater, as if to calm the wild beating of his heart. "
Roman..." Kayden said softly. Kayden tripled his pace, nearly flying down the hallways, until he came upon a closed door with a guard posted outside. Upon seeing Kayden, and somewhat unfortunately, the man did as he was trained. With no small amount of fear, the guard's hand whipped up to his belt, and, holding the device to his mouth, shouted into the walkie-talkie he usually carried on his hip for situation such as these. "
I have a code double red! Repeat, double red! Subject #04 has escaped from his containment, repeat, Subject #04 has escaped from containment!" Sighing, Kayden put his hands in the air. "
Bet ya one hundred dollars that you stop shoutin' and just leave me be." There was no response from the device. Still, Kayden took a step back and kept his hands raised high. The guard only smirked, beads of sweat forming on his face.
The guard's mind was racing. He was new on the job, started up just a few weeks ago actually, but even he knew enough about Subject #04 to know that he was in some seriously deep shit. Subject #04 was, essentially, a dragon. A fierce predator of a creature that would kill a man as soon as look at him. Usually Subject #04 was placed in a freezer down in the depths of the Institute. Half a mile of concrete and steel kept that beast locked away, yet here he was, plain as day. There was still no response from the walkie. This was strange. The guard seemed to think, cocking his head to the side. Subject #04 was acting... compliant. There had to be something wrong. Was... was Subject #04 afraid of him? Perhaps... perhaps he could apprehend him! The man could get that raise he'd been after! Taking Kayden's unusual lack of resistance as a sign of cooperation, he advanced on Kayden, and reached for the ceramic cuffs on his belt that all the guards had on hand specifically for occasions like these. As the guard closed the distance between them, Kayden took a step back and shot the man a warning glance. "
Yer dreamin'." Kayden said simply, snarling at the man. Kayden's hands came down, he stood fully, proudly, and poured all of his hatred out at that guardsman with nothing but his eyes. A smarter man would have balked, knowing he was in the presence of a mighty predator. This foolish man, however, didn't. "
Jus' 'cause I can't kill ya, don't mean I gotta play too nice either..." Kayden said coldly. Resolutely
not listening to Kayden, the guardsman strode forward confidently and placed his hand on Kayden's shoulder, in a misguided attempt to shove Kayden into the wall, as if to detain him. Within the time span of, roughly, 1.53 seconds, Kayden reversed their positions and was holding the guardsman's wrist behind his back, with the poor man pressed against the wall. Kayden dusted off his shoulder where the man had touched him. "
I told ya, didn't I?" Kayden said coldly.
As if he were throwing a ball, Kayden's hand swiped to the left, throwing the full-grown man into a nearby chair. "
Sit." kayden commanded. Weakly, the guardsman got up, dusted himself off, and sat down. With that, Kayden smirked, and turned towards the room where he smelled Roman. As Kayden began to walk towards his destination, he heard a rustling, and turned back around. The fool had stood back up, "
Wa-Wait..." he said weakly, as if to tell Kayden that he had to do as he was told. Kayden's ire to skyrocketed. He'd only been out for two seconds, and here this man was, trying to put him back in his cage. "
Yeh can't possibly be serious? Can ya?" Kayden asked furiously, nearly growling with anger. In that instant, all his anger at that man poured out of him, roiling off his body like waves of heat. The man's face blanched as Kayden approached him. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a jumbling, mumbled, stuttering nonsense. Kayden was just about to smash his face in, when-
"Operative TK421, until further notice Subject #04 will be given free run of the Institute. As long as Subject #04 is not harming any staff or residents, he is to be left unmolested."
"
That's that then." Kayden said, stepping back from the guardsman and lowering his fist, which was steaming, just like the rest of him. Kayden's body temperature had risen significantly, due to his anger, and all the leftover moisture on his body from the shower had evaporated. Kayden smirked. That damn doc had actually meant it. To Kayden's chagrin, the walkie continued. "
Be warned, Subject #04 has a wicked temper, and is prone to fits of anger." Here Kayden couldn't help but scowl. It was their fault after all, who do they think made him like this? "
Do not
, under any circumstances, make him angry. He could kill you as easily as you might squash an ant." Kayden actually chuckled. That was just about right on. Still the walkie continued. "
In such an instance you won't receive back up, as our first priority will be to evacuate the RIST before the military moves in."
Whatever mirth Kayden had vanished. "
He wasn't kidding... Damn..." By this time, the guardsman appeared to be lost for words, and in all other ways incapacitated. His eyes had rolled back into his head, and there was froth at the corners of his mouth. "
Tch... Fainted on me." The staticky voice on the other end of the walki-talkie spoke up again, drawing Kayden's attention to it. "
Operative TK421, what's your status? Operative TK421? TK421?" Kayden couldn't have them raising the alarm, not when he'd just gotten out. Kayden sighed, his fingers coming up to knit his brow. Suddenly, an idea struck him. Calmly, and with a smirk on his face, Kayden walked over to the unconscious guardsman and reached down, picking up the walkie-talkie. Pressing the button labeled, "speak," Kayden did as it instructed. "
Everything's just fine over here. Just a minor weapons malfunction." "
Affirmative, don't let it happen again TK421." Kayden smirked again. "
Yessir." Turning his attention back to the guardsman, Kayden slipped his hand inside the man's pocket, finding his wallet. He pulled out some money and slipped it into his pocket. Having taken the agreed upon amount, Kayden returned the man's wallet. "
We're square." Kayden smirked.
With that, Kayden finally strode into the music room, which, to his surprise, had more people in it than just Roman. He stopped in the doorway. Not saying anything, Kayden's eyes trailed across the room. There was another girl, her hair was blue. Kayden's senses devoured her existence. It had been so long since he'd seen anyone, in the flesh. Her smell, her appearance, Kayden relished each of them. His eyes found hers, locking for a moment. As interesting as she was, she wasn't the one he'd come here to see. As Kayden turned, looking for Roman, he stopped. There was another presence in the room. Kayden could smell it, even hear the way... its clothes rustled. Kayden's eyes swept over the room, trying to locate the source of the smell, when what should he find but a little, metal bracelet. It was floating. "
Ahh... yer invisible..." Kayden said, directing his words at the shiny band. "
Nifty. Either of you seen..." Kayden trailed off. His eyes found what he'd been searching for. Her hair, her face, her clothes, even her smell, all of it was just how she'd been in his dreams. Kayden's eyes locked with hers for what seemed to be an eternity.
"Hullo Roman." Kayden said simply, a rare real smile on his face.
RPG
