The Freaky Digital Lab: A TADC AU (15+)

Chapter I: A New Lab Rat

It was just a normal day in the lab. Professor Caine was busy conjuring serums and future experiments. He was deeply pondering his next project-- that is, until Bubble came into the lab. He was roused from his focused state and turned to his parasitic assistant.

"Hiya, Boss!" Bubble exclaimed, always being nosey of Caine's handiworks. He was intrigued as he gawked at the beakers and test tubes full of colorful serums.

"Now, now, Bubble! You can't be peeking at what I'm working on," Caine nagged. "How are the subjects doing?"

"Oh, don't worry, Boss! I promise not to peek...too much." Bubble snickered, and Caine slightly rolled his eyes. "Anyhow, the subjects are just doing the usual. They're either hanging out in their own rooms or hanging out with each other."

Caine sighed, shaking his head at Bubble. "Well, as long as they're not causing trouble. Keep an eye on them, Bubble. We can't afford any more setbacks." Caine took his duties and experiments as a professor quite seriously. He believed that one slip-up could ruin the entire lab. Bubble floated out of Caine's lab and out into the open.

...

A small, helpless human with dark brunette hair spontaneously appeared in the lobby of the Digital Lab. The white-tiled floor was reflective like a clean spoon, and the walls were as dim as ashes. Her eyes looked around at the lack of windows, the faint lighting, and the bare silence.

"Hello down there!" A friendly female voice called to her from down in the corridor.

The newcomer gasped as she slowly left the lobby and walked into the corridors. The lobby doors shut behind her, leaving her in near darkness and enshrouding her in fear from head to toe. The new girl stepped warily down the hall. As she got closer, the female figure became more apparent. She stepped closer as the female figure crawled toward her.

The female figure appeared to have red, yarn-like hair, a light blue bow on her head, and a blue button for a right eye. She was from head to torso a ragdoll, but had the lower half of a centipede, legs and all. The new girl was taken aback by her beautiful yet fear-inducing appearance. She shrieked for help, but the ragdoll-centipede girl covered the newcomer's mouth while gently wrapping her centipede body around her.

"Shhhh... shhhh... Calm down, new stuff," she crooned. "You don't want the professor finding you... Shhhhhh..." The newcomer calmed down a bit, but was still unnerved about the professor part.

"Here, come with me to my room," she said, grabbing the newcomer's shaky hand. She crawled down the narrow corridor and into her room. She closed the door behind them and locked.

...

Her room resembled an asylum with its bare walls, illuminated only by a lamp on a small birch wood nightstand. There were no windows and only a twin-sized bed to sleep on. Ragatha had lots of thread, needles, yarn, crochet needles, and fabrics under the bed. She pulled out a quilt she had started on.

"Who are you? Where am I?!" The new girl exclaimed.

"Hey, hey, shh..." She spoke in a soft, loving tone. "You're in the Digital Laboratory... I am Subject R173, but you can call me Ragatha. Either one works."

"Hi, I'm--" The new girl greeted shyly, before being interrupted.

"You must be Pomni," Ragatha pointed out the sticker name tag on her gown written 'Pomni' with permanent marker. Pomni hadn't noticed the tag until now and did not remember where it came from. Ragatha placed Pomni on her bed and continued to sew a quilt. "You probably don't have a subject name yet because the professor hasn't found you yet."

"Who's this professor?" Pomni asked. She wanted to know who this professor was and why she needed to hide.

"His name is Professor Caine, and he's... crazy." Ragatha shuddered. She continued sewing the quilt, her button eye showing a mix of sadness and caution. "He conducts strange experiments, creating hybrids like me. Subjects who don't fit his vision end up... discarded."

Pomni's eyes widened with concern. "Hybrids? Discarded? What do you mean?"

Ragatha sighed. "I used to be a regular ragdoll until he experimented on me. He injected me with the mutated DNA of centipedes. Now I'm part centipede, the thing I fear the most... As for the discarded ones, they became part of his failed experiments... You need to hide until we figure out how to keep you safe."

Pomni started to hyperventilate as Ragatha sewed. "So this is it? I'm doomed?! There's no way to leave?!" She shouted and felt like she was going to break down.

"Unfortunately, I don't think we can, Poms," Ragatha sighed. She wrapped her finished quilt around Pomni like a swaddled baby. "Don't worry, I'll do my very best to keep you safe and well hidden in my room."

Pomni, wrapped in the quilt and comforted by Ragatha's words, took a deep breath to steady herself. "I appreciate your kindness, Ragatha. I don't want to be a burden, but I also can't stay trapped here."

"You and I are not the only ones trapped here," Ragatha cautioned. "There are about four other subjects. Rumor has it that Subject K91413 was the first successful experiment out of all of us, though he wasn't the first to be experimented on..."

Pomni winced at the fact that Professor Caine had experiments that didn't go as planned in the past. "I'm scared of what he will do to me... I'm scared it'll go wrong and I'll be discarded..." She began to feel sick to the stomach.

Ragatha nodded. She looked at Pomni with fretful empathy. "We'll find a way, Pomni. Escaping may seem impossible now, but we'll uncover the truth and break free from this nightmare. Is there an exit out of this hell? We don't know..."

Little did the two know, Bubble had eavesdropped outside the door almost the entire time...