T-2 lay on the flat bed in his cell, willing himself to sleep to pass the time until somebody came to wake him up. His schedule was practically engraved into his mind after years of following the same thing. The last thing that happened was lunch, so the next thing would be shower time, where you're only given 5 minutes of cold water - lukewarm at best - to undress, wash with sad bars of soap, dry off, and put on the same dirty clothes as before.
The stingers T-2 had on his knuckles had been an inconvenience in the start when he'd gotten them, but over the months, maybe years, he'd had them, he'd learned exactly how to live with them.
As if summoned, the guard known as S-116, at least that's what T-2 had heard him called, came banging on the cell gates, grabbing the kids of various ages in this cell row and hooking them up to the same chain of cuffs to ensure that none of them would escape. T-2's wrists ached at the thought.
All of them obviously knew better than to attempt escape, not after an experiment known as B-5121 had tried and was shot down and put into solitary confinement, almost dying from the lack of care to the bullet wound. The only reason she lived was because not everyone in this god forsaken place was evil.
"T-21220!" S-116 yelled, banging on the door, knocking T-2 out of his thoughts and running over to the door for SapNap to cuff him next in line, right behind R-114200.
R-1 was the closest T-2 had to a friend in the lab. They were celled next to each other, so they were cuffed in line together, and they had made a way of communication similar to morse code since neither of them knew morse code. Same premise, but not perfect.
T-2 tapped R-1's shoulder in line to get his attention. "You'll be okay?" he whispered, almost impossible to hear to anyone else. R-1 nodded in response.
A negative effect of the experiments that had been done of R-1 was his skin sensitivity, mainly to water. The few minutes of showering only irritated it a small bit, but if he went any longer it would turn to blisters and burns. The showers weren't daily, so it gave his skin time to recover, but it still didn't help much. He powered through it though because any sign of resistance would end in punishment.
Even accidents would end in punishment.
Near the beginning, when T-2 had first gotten his stingers, he'd accidentally stug a guard by the name of P-216625. P-21 was nice to him, she was the one who saved B-5, and had even tried to evade a punishment for him, but G-501875 had enforced it, solitary confinement for a week and food only twice during the whole thing.
While they were being herded to the showers, some of the first people in line were already in, a high pitched wail sounded throughout the place, a voice coming through the speaker. "AN EXPERIMENT HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE MISSING. PLEASE BE ON HIGH ALERT FOR EXPERIMENT PV-1316L5. I REPEAT: EXPERIMENT PV-1316L5 IS MISSING. REPORT ALL EXPERIMENTS BACK TO THEIR CELLS."
At the command, S-116 came rushing past T-2, taking the line back and putting kids back behind bars, job being quickly done due to the efficiency of S-116 from doing the same motions time and time again. Within minutes, all the children were back in their cells, T-2's hands clasped over his ears to quiet the wailing of the siren.
After what felt like an hour, the siren finally stopped. Unlike when B-5 attempted escape though, there was no follow-up announcement.
Did PV-1 escape? T-2 thought. He didn't know PV-1 very well, he was a little bit ahead of R-1 in line and their cells weren't particularly close, but T-2 knew that his abilities were something psychological, telepathy or telekinesis or something.
Moving over to the wall, T-2 tapped a few times, waiting for R- to respond before continuing. Did PV-1 escape? He tapped.
Think so, R-1 responded. No more message, he added, seeming to have the same thought as T-1.
We try? T-2 suggested. Try leave.
No, R-1 stated immediately. We die.
PV did it, we too, T-2 tried convincing.
No, R-1 said again, a fist hitting the wall as a sort of defiance.
Me go alone, T-2 told him, hoping that sort of threat would convince R-1 to break and agree. There was a pause before he heard a sigh from the other side.
Fine, he said. You go, I go.
T-2 made a little giggle that R-1 heard and made him sigh again.
"Quiet in there!" a guard shouted, having heard the laugh as well.
So throughout the days, with dirt, pencil , paper, DIY morse code, and quiet whispering, the two devised a plan. A way to combine both of their abilities and smarts to escape that place that they'd been stuck in for more years than anybody should.
Once lights out fell over the lab, their plan went into action. There were guards at both ends of the hall, but they weren't the most focused at this time since most kids took the time to sleep, so T-2 and R-1 took advantage of it.
T-2 poked his head through the bars, checking to make sure the guards were distracted, smirking upon seeing that one was asleep on their feet and the other was quietly chatting just out of view with another guard, neither paying attention to what any of the prisoners could be doing.
T-2 knocked on the wall, alerting R-1 that it was safe to go.
Within moments, R-1 was in T-2's cell, some purple particles surrounding him as he looked at T-2, waiting for the next step. T-2 nodded, checking again that the guards were off in their own worlds before grabbing R-1's sleeve and letting him teleport them as far as he could go.
There was a sinking, twisting, nauseating feeling in T-2's, stomach as they teleported, but it was gone as soon as it came, the two finding themselves surprisingly out of the main building entirely.
Unfortunately, there were guards patrolling the outside 24/7, meaning it was impossible to get past them.
That's what they thought at least.
They were proven right though when the moment either of them tried running, a bullet was shot in their direction.
"Run," T-2 whispered as loud as his vocal cords would allow, too scratchy from disuse to make any coherent words in any way but whispering.
R-1 grabbed T-2's arm and teleported them to the edge of the courtyard. By this point all the other guards were focused and searching what the one had shot at,
"There they are!" a guard yelled, taking another shot in the two's direction.
They'd been seen, and the only thing to do now was avoid bullets and get out of the surrounding fence. R-1 teleported once more to get outside the courtyard gate, and that left one more layer of defense to get through then they'd be home free.
A shot came from behind, the two ignoring it, which turned out to be a bad idea as T-2 let out a pained cry, stumbling to the ground as he gripped his shoulder with a wince. R-1 turned, grabbing T-2's good arm and pulling him up to keep him running.
"You've been shot in the shoulder, your legs work perfectly fine," R-1 growled as he kept the two going.
At the final exit gate, the wailing finally came on with the announcement that two experiments had escaped, both not even shooting a second glance behind them before R-1 teleported them out as far as he could with his remaining energy and they were sprinting into the trees that surrounded the lab.
They were free.
1300 words
Number Names (in order of appearance):
• T-21220 = Tubbo
• S-116 = Sap/SapNap
• B-5121 = Beau
• R-114200 = Ranboo
• P-216625 = Puffy
• G-501975 = George
• PV-1316L5 = Purpled
Welcome to the new story! :D Would love to hear any thoughts, suggestions, questions, etc. and I hope you enjoy :]
-CardCatCardboard
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An Experimental Family (BeeDuo)
FanfictionR-1 and T-2 have been stuck in their experimental lives for too many years for them to count. Eventually, they escape and life can finally start over for them. Maybe they even find a family. Cover art by @ Maxispog1 on Twitter!
