**"When will this end?"**
The boy in the cell beside mine whispers the words like a prayer. I can't see him through the dark metal walls, but I can hear the tremble in his voice. The soft hitch of breath. He was brought here only a day after me.
I lie on the cold floor, the advanced chain around my ankle humming faintly with mana restraints. I, too, was dragged into this place.
To be experimented on.
The ceiling's dim lights flicker as I stare blankly upward. Footsteps echo down the hallway—slow, measured, merciless. They pass my cell, then stop.
A hiss of metal.
Screaming erupts from the cell next to mine.
They're dragging the boy out.
"Well… that makes me last," I mutter. "Wow."
A sigh escapes me. I really am next.
**"You're thinking out loud, boy."**
A guard stands by my bars, expression unreadable beneath the helmet.
"Right… sorry."
He walks off without another word.
It's been two years since I was brought here.
*Sold by my mom.*
A familiar ache rises in my chest. I shove it down. The silence in this place only makes the memories louder.
There used to be more kids. The yard used to be open. Laughter—forced, but real—used to echo here.
But one by one, they all disappeared.
Now it's been months since I've stepped outside this cell.
"I keep talking to myself…" I murmur.
Cuts and marks cover my skin, reminders of failed procedures.
I'm a failure too, huh?
A softer memory flickers—
A girl who used to patch my wounds.
I'd wait eagerly for out-time just to see her.
But she, too—
The lock clicks.
My cell door swings open.
I inhale sharply.
It's time.
Hands seize me, snapping a high-tech collar around my neck. It beeps, sealing with a cold jolt of energy. I don't fight them. There's no point.
All I can think about is the way they'll kill me.
They haul me through the sterile hallways and shove me into a white room. A body lies on the floor—limbs severed, chest hollowed where the heart should be. The boy from earlier.
A man in a blood-splattered coat stands beside him, holding a syringe filled with a thick, glowing red substance.
**"Don't worry, kid. It'll be painless,"** he says, voice tinged with sick delight.
My stomach turns.
He steps closer, raising the needle to my neck.
"Your use is finished. At least it'll end for you like it did for the others who couldn't evolve."
I can barely hear him. My vision blurs. My body shakes.
He's savoring every second.
*Is he the only one who does this? Did he kill the others like this too?*
The needle touches my skin.
And then—
**BOOM.**
The world explodes.
The blast throws the doctor across the room. I'm flung backward, slamming into the wall. My ears ring. My arm screams with pain.
Through the dust, a silhouette floats in the air.
A Niosiet.
When the dust thins, I see him clearly—eyes glowing, gaze locked on me. Behind him, the outer walls of the facility crumble like sand.
I don't think.
I run.
Branches slash my skin as I sprint through the forest. My breath rattles. My legs burn. The collar around my neck blinks red—faster, faster.
I stop dead.
*Is it going to explode?*
"What am I thinking—of course it's going to explode!"
I turn, take a few steps back toward the shattered facility.
The collar light turns green.
"Thank God I thought of that," I mutter.
But I can't stay here forever.
I collapse under a tree. Images of severed limbs, hearts, blood flash through my mind.
Did the same thing happen to her too?
Footsteps rustle nearby.
Slow. Heavy.
A guard?
I crouch low in the bushes—
Then a hand snatches my face and slams me into a tree.
My lungs empty in a gasp.
He's in front of me before I even blink.
**HAC—**
Blood bursts from my mouth as his fist drives into my stomach.
My vision swims. The moonlight casts shadows across his face—hair falling over dim purple eyes.
**CRUNCH.**
His fist connects with my jaw.
**CRUNCH.**
Again.
And again.
He mutters about a "fresh meal."
Meal?
He's a Kiosiet.
Of course he is.
Blood soaks my shirt. My nose is shattered. My eyes sting and shut.
"I'm going to die… aren't I?"
He raises his arm again—
**CHUNCH.**
"I have nothing to lose…"
Nothing.
Nothing.
I barely dodge by tilting my head and swing back. He catches my fist effortlessly.
**TWIST.**
Pain shoots through my arm.
At least I tried.
His fist comes down—
It hits my neck instead.
The collar cracks.
Breaks.
I cough violently.
Look up.
His fist is inches from my face.
I dodge.
He grabs my arm, but my strength spikes—pain vanishes. Adrenaline? Something else?
We struggle, pushing back and forth, weaving between trees.
I slam my shoulder into him and break free.
He stares at me, shocked.
"How— how could this—"
But my hearing is muted.
I spit blood and steady myself.
Light flickers at the edge of my vision.
He hesitates.
Then vanishes.
"What is even happening…?"
My neck throbs. The collar's mechanism is destroyed; I rip it off.
"That's the only good thing that's happened to me in years."
I wipe my face with leaves, then stumble through the forest.
After a while, I see distant walls—tall, high-tech, glowing faintly. And far off to the right, thin smoke curls into the night sky.
Smoke…
People?
Actual, normal people?
I head toward it.
It takes twenty minutes.
No Kiosiet.
Just… an elderly woman stirring potato soup over a small fire.
It looks like muddy water, but still—
She doesn't notice me.
I'm about to leave when she says,
**"Are you lost, child?"**
I freeze.
"I… am. Kind of."
She waves me over. I sit across from her, unsure why.
Maybe because she's the first normal person I've seen in years.
"You look troubled, your name?" she says.
"Neo, it's neo"
Her eyes narrow at my shirt.
"Neo?, hmmm so neo why is the front red? And the rest of it? Is this what people wear now?"
I can't tell her it's blood.
"I'd answer, but… I have a better question. Miss, how long have you been here? In this area?"
"Hmmm… four days."
Four days?
And she hasn't been attacked once?
"That's surprising. So… no Kiosiet?" I ask.
"I haven't."
"Why?"
"No reason."
My brain screams.
Nothing makes sense.
"Do you want soup, child? You look pale."
Of course I look pale…
"Sure, miss."
She hands me a bowl.
It's surprisingly… good.
I stare at her.
"I have another question. Why stay here?"
"Oh, that." She nods. "The niotefi nearby was hijacked by a group of Niosiet. They run the place. They're keeping the Kiosiet away."
Hijacked Niosiet… keeping others away…
Makes sense. Somehow.
"If there are people, why stay alone?"
"It's more convenient here. That side is… less convenient."
"You're tired," she adds gently. "Stay here, child."
"Stay?"
It's nearly midnight—at least, I think it is.
Better than sleeping in the cold.
"You can sleep in the tent. I'll stay ou—"
"No," I interrupt. "You take the tent."
After ten minutes of convincing, she finally gives in.
She checks if I'm comfortable. Then she disappears inside the tent.
And just like that, my body gives out.
I fall asleep