A Cage with No Key

Lullabies of Lust

"Y'know, school's starting again soon, Sunny." Mari swung her arms as she walked.

Sunny clasped the doorknob and turned it. "Yeah, I know. Are you still doing that online college thing?"

"Yeah, it's experimental, so it's got some glitches, but it's alright!" Mari smiled. She didn't look like someone who would be tech savvy, but she was the reason that Sunny wasn't using dial-up internet.

"You're already 17, only one year left of high school before you'll be moving off to college..." Sunny took off his shoes while Mari spoke. He looked at a note on the wall from his mom. Something to do with her having to go down to the office for a while. Sunny yawned and turned to Mari.

"Looks like mom isn't home, huh?" Mari said, turning her gaze from the note to Sunny's eyes.

"Yep, so the TV's free." Sunny affirmed. He walked to the couch and sat down, looking for the remote for a few moments before Mari sat down next to him.

"So, you have a crush on anyone..?" Mari said with a smug grin.

Sunny felt his face go red with embarrassment before flushing down to a pink. "No, Mari, stop asking dumb questions." He said in a shaky tone.

Mari giggled, "Alright, alright, maybe you'll find a girlfriend in school when you go back."

"As if. Girls barely even glance at me. They'd have to talk to me to be my girlfriend." Sunny reasoned with an eye roll.

"Well, there's one that talks to-" Mari began.

"I'm not into Aubrey like that." Sunny cut her off. Mari made a weird smile and mumbled something under her breath.

"Dndt sy abry"

Sunny sort of made out Aubrey's name, but didn't have much time to think with Mari continuing to speak, "They just are intimidated by how cute you are. Attractive people can be scary, after all." Mari gave another odd smile.

Sunny felt flattered but also a bit confused by the sudden compliments, "Ah- Thanks, I guess." He said as he looked down at his feet. The TV turned on. Sunny looked up, and saw Mari holding the remote.

"What'd you wanna watch, handsome?" She winked as she said it. Sunny felt more confused than flattered now.

"Um... I think I'm just gonna play on the computer for a bit." Sunny stood up and walked to the stairs.

"Aww, don't wanna hang out with your big sister anymore, I get it..." Mari pouted. Sunny rolled his eyes and walked up the stairs.

Sunny said he would be playing on the computer but instead played on his phone. The game involved some rather upset avians. Sunny continued to perform swine salvoes for quite some time.

-《》-

"Looks like I fell asleep." Sunny complained as he woke up in the cold snow. His felt his face numbing up. He looked to his left. It was... himself? A younger version certainly, but still, it was Sunny, no doubt.

"Soldier! You're alive! I thought you were a goner when that bullet rang your helmet! But you're still alive!" Gunshots rang out after the other Sunny finished speaking, "Get your gun! They've got reinforcements!"

"Wh-Where am I?" Sunny stuttered to his double.

"That bullet smacked your gourd good, huh kid? You're on the battlefield. The damned Americans are at our necks!" He fired a round from a rifle Sunny couldn't identify. He pulled a strange lever on the side, and a casing flew onto the snow, melting around the hot metal.

Sunny picked up the weapon next to him. It seemed to be a similar weapon to what his double had, the differences being superficial to someone as inexperienced with firearms as Sunny.

Sunny raised the gun to a similar position as his double and pushed down the trigger, aiming in the vague direction of some soldiers obscured by falling snow. Unfortunately, Sunny dislocated his shoulder as the recoil from his weapon's automatic fire.

"You dolt! Did you forget how to shoot your gun, too?!" He heard shouted at him. Sunny's vision blurred for some moments before his eyes reopened. He stood up. Still surrounded by snow. He retained his gun, but nothing was around. At least until he turned around.

A large chain link fence was a few meters away. At the top were loops of barbed wire, preventing any would-be fence climbers.

Sunny noticed the oddly thick fence posts but then noticed the strangely dark areas inside the fenced off area. Sunny looked up, and large floodlights on posts were above, lighting up the entire perimeter of the fence.

Sunny noticed something about the fence. Something useful. A small spot where some kind of animal buried a hole under the fence. It had become large enough for a human of Sunny's size to fit underneath. Sunny dropped to the ground as he saw a helicopter taking off at the facility and flying his way.

The ground he stood on was oddly warm despite the snow. The helicopter passed overhead, apparently not seeing him. Sunny breathed a sigh of relief, and began to crawl against the ground towards the hole. He felt his pants get tighter. The sensation of rubbing against the ground was odd. He was numb from the cold, though, so it only served to inconvenience him.

At least the blood rushing was warming him up a little. He continued until reaching the fence. He made it halfway through without touching the fence until his lower back accidentally touched the fence. A massive jolt of pain shot through him. The poles looked weird for a reason. It was an electric fence. The amount of electricity shooting into his spine would usually cripple a man.

Lucky for him, he was low to the ground, so Sunny had more pain than actual harm. He was temporarily stunned, and lay against the ground. In his state, he occasionally blinked and would see something that resembled his room, with Mari standing in the dark...

"Wait, my room..?" Sunny mumbled. He opened his eyes wide. Sunny rubbed his eyes and looked at Mari.

"Uh... what's up..?" Sunny asked awkwardly. Mari was hard to see in the dark.

"Oh, I was just, um... going to bed. Good night, Sunny!" Mari said as she speedwalked over to her bed and hopped in.

Sunny shrugged and nearly went back to sleep immediately, but before he did, he noticed his legs felt odd...

His shorts were pulled down.