"You trust me?" (A miniforce ray angst fanfiction)

Chapter seven

TW: experimentation, trauma, dehumanizing, mild cursing

Ray's POV

     Ray's balance was gradually worsening. 'Shit. Something's wrong. I really should've checked up on it.' He fought off the Zero Bots, growing slower and more sluggish with every passing moment. 'How many are left?' He thought. He counted them and estimated about 20. 'I can hold out for another 20. I hope.' Truth was, he didn't know if he could hold out for one other Zero Bot, let alone 20. He cursed under his breath as he charged towards them. "Force Gun, transform." He transformed his Force Sword into a gun. He started shooting at the Zero Bots when his side started to feel like it was being stabbed. He glanced down and didn't see any wounds on it. He counted again. 'Nine left. I can do this. I have to do this.' He felt exhausted, which was in no way a good sign. He fired at the remaining Zero Bots, taking down seven. 'Two more left.' He transformed his Force Gun into a bow. And shot the last two Zero Bots. 'That's all. I hope.' He had a long way to go. His knees began hurting, and his side. His side was killing him. He wouldn't be surprised if it literally was killing him. 'Come on. Come on.' He began walking towards HQ.

     'I only have a mile left... until... I reach HQ...' He was slipping in and out of consciousness, his side was basically rendering him weak and sluggish, and he couldn't see properly. It felt way too familiar. Ray tried to shake off the feeling but it wouldn't leave him. His knees finally gave in and he fell into the sand. 'Shit. No, no no no no no no no no. I can't. Not here, not now. Im so close dammit!' But he couldn't move. He tried to yell, to whisper, to make out any noise, but nothing came. He couldn't speak. And he couldn't see. His mind was slipping out of consciousness and there was nothing he could do about it. 'I'm so sorry, father. Im sorry, Miniforce.' He blacked out.

(Flashback to a hazy memory: "Ray's")

     "Will TSJ 67 please come forward?" The nice lady says. The nice lady is the only person who actually cares about Test Subject 67. 67 doesn't really know why, but it assumes that is because it is the only test subject that was successful. 67 hates it. The nice lady is only nice because it is the mean people's favorite. But 67 knows the nice lady doesn't like him. "TSJ 67?" The nice lady calls again. "Coming." 67 answers. It walks towards the nice lady. The nice lady's face is blurry apart from her smile, which made it feel uneasy. "Good mouthing, 67. Are you ready for today's tests?" The nice lady asks. 67 nods. The truth is, 67 is never ready. The tests hurt a lot. They always stick needles and other weird stuff into it. Sometimes, it throws up after them. And the lady time it ate was probably 2 weeks ago. It was tired, and hungry, and really didn't want to do any tests. But if it didn't do any tests, they'll hurt it again.

     As 67 walks with the nice lady, she explains a game. "We'll inject this purple liquid into you, wait for the effects to kick in, then we'll let you go outside for a while. Sounds good?" She explains. It nods eagerly. 'It will finally go out!' It rarely goes out. The last time it was out was 6 years ago. That was when its...its... It forgets the word. "Miss, what's the word for the people who made you?" It asks.  "You mean 'parents'?" The nice lady says. "Yeah those! Ummm. You can access those file thingies, right? The ones that tell you who uhhh donated, right? Can you see who my 'parents' are, please? I'll stop bothering you after that, promise!" It pleads. The nice lady sighs.  "I'll look into it, okay? But right now..." She pauses. She looks at 67 for a moment before asking, "67, do you know what genders are?" 67 did know what genders are. There are two genders. Male and female. "Yeah, I know what those are. Why?" It says. "You do know you're a male, right? You're a he. Not an it. He." 67 goes quiet. It knew that, but it didn't really feel like a 'person'.  "I know. I just don't feel like a 'person'. Sorry." 67 admits. "It's because of the tests and experiments, right? Don't worry about those. You won't be dealing with them for much longer." She smiles again.