Monster (Ryeji)

That thing is a killing machine pt.1

Yeji jolted awake, her restless thoughts still taunting her. Guilt clawing its way up her throat. However, upon properly focusing her eyes she realised she was lying in a bed, white sterile lights beaming down on her, an off-blue curtain wrapping around the side, narrowing her view of anything else. Maybe she was dead? She tried sitting up before realising her arms were strapped down.

"What is this?" She mumbled, peering at what was opposite her. It was a similar set up, with a bed and the same washed-out blue curtain. Someone was also lying in that bed. Desperately she tried to determine whether or not the person was friendly to their cause, but she didn't want to shout out, and the hospital gown they were wearing wasn't exactly telling.

It was only at that moment Yeji looked down at herself and realised she, too, was only wearing a hospital gown. She looked at her arm and realised there was a tube running from her hand to an IV machine in the corner. Suddenly feeling a bandage wrapped carefully around her ribs, a twinge of pain brought her memories flooding back to the front of her mind. Ryujin. They had taken Ryujin. She was an idiot. They were experimenting on her... but... had they also taken her? The last thing remembered was the medical bunker and that she must have passed out or at least, someone had knocked her out.

"Where am I?" She questioned out loud.

"You are safe, with us." A voice suddenly answered, a tall man with glasses suddenly appearing from behind the curtain, pushing it back slightly. And as he did so, revealing rows and rows of similar beds all in a big room somewhere.

"Who are you?" Yeji asked, uncertain of whether she should be fearful or not.

"I am the one of the doctors overseeing this operation. Don't worry you are safe."

"Are you the enemy?" Yeji asked, confused, not noticing her slip up until it was already said. However the doctor merely chuckled.

"On the battlefield, perhaps. But please, think of me now as a friend."

Friend? Yeji thought. If he was her enemy on the battlefield why should a hospital make any difference.

"But... you don't look like a monster?" She asked, her whole world view from the past seven years on the brink of overbalancing.

"We are not monsters." The doctor suddenly said with a solemn expression. "We are still human on the inside. Which is more than can be said for your commanding officers." He said the last part under his breath, but something told Yeji he meant her to hear it.

He then picked up a clipboard hanging on the end of her bed and gave it a quick once over. Only then did Yeji notice the cybernetic fingers clasping it.

"I assure you, you are well on the way to recovery. Your injuries were not serious. No surgery was needed." He returned the clipboard to its place and bowed before leaving.

"W-wait!" Yeji called out. Still trying to process what was going on.

The doctor took two, slow steps backwards so that he came back into her field of view.

"My friend.. she... she was injured and they took her. Do you know where she is? Is she alive? Did they... do anything to her?" Yeji almost didn't want to hear the answers; she braced herself for the worst. Not that she even knew exactly what the worst would be anymore.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know who you are referring to. If she was picked up with serious injuries she may be in an entirely different ward."

Yeji breathed a half sigh of relief, there was still hope.

"If you give me her name I can refer a nurse to see if they can find her." the doctor spoke thoughtfully.

"Ryujin. Her name is Ryujin. I... she was wearing a blue scarf."

The doctor nodded in understanding and disappeared again.

He was a hybrid? Yeji thought, baffled at this new situation she found herself in. But he felt so... kind? Maybe it's all an act. She tried to convince herself. Lulling people into a false sense of security and indoctrinating them into their regime. Maybe the only reason they healed her was so she was healthy enough to be experimented upon, like they were simply nursing a rat back to health ready to then kill in a way that benefited their research.

Her only hope was to find Ryujin as quickly as possible and escape before anyone noticed. First she needed to gather where this other ward was. Perhaps the nurse the doctor referred to find Ryujin would tell her. That was her only hope right now. That, and that these straps would loosen if she struggled enough.

However, what must have been hours passed by and no one came to see her. Several times she heard clunking footsteps coming her way before they suddenly whizzed past her and off to some other bedside. She strained against the material holding her down and finally managed to get her hand loose enough to slip out.

Slowly but surely, making sure to stop whenever she heard movement nearby, she untangled herself from her restraints, freeing herself from her bed. Glancing over at the IV drip next to her she carefully turned off the machine and disconnected the line from the cannula in her hand. Hopefully she wouldn't now drop dead the second she stood up.

Peering round the corner of the curtain she noticed the corridors looking fairly empty so, without waiting for the opportunity to pass, she snuck down to the end of the room, occasionally ducking behind someone else's curtain whenever a nurse or doctor appeared.

Eventually she made it to the door she had been eyeing and attempted to open it, but it stayed firmly locked.

"Damn." Yeji cursed under her breath

"What are you doing?" A sudden voice from behind her asked.

Yeji startled and turned to find a young woman in a uniform standing holding a blue tray with various medical bits and pieces in it.

"I um... the doctor is sending me to the other ward." Yeji stood awkwardly.

"Which doctor?" The nurse questioned her, her eyebrows furrowing.

"He's tall with dark hair. I... I didn't catch his name." Yeji could feel her palms becoming sweaty. "The one with a robotic hand."

"Dr. Lee asked you to move wards?" The nurse sounded surprised.

"Yes, that's right." Yeji played along.

"What's your name?" The nurse asked, looking Yeji up and down.

"Ryujin." Yeji blurted out.

"Come with me, Ryujin." The nurse asked, taking Yeji over to the nurses station. For a moment she wondered if the nurse was going to report her. She wondered if she should run, but there was nowhere to run to, she was trapped in this ward anyway. The nurse put down her tray and typed something onto a computer.

"What are you doing here?" She then exclaimed with a gasp. "You need to come with me right now!" She said, leading Yeji to the door again and opening it with an access card.

I guess that's step one complete. Yeji thought, pleased her plan was working so far. And elated that there was at least a 'Ryujin' somewhere on their system. Surely this was her Ryujin?

The nurse led her through several winding corridors and into a lift. Yeji watched as the number 2, which had been lit up above the doors, slid down to reveal a number 3. Useful to know they were on the third floor of the building. Once the doors then opened again the nurse led Yeji back out and through yet more corridors until they reached a similar door to the one on Yeji's ward. Yeji glanced briefly at the sign next to the door that read ICU whilst the nurse placed her access card on the small reader on the wall. The doors unlocked with a click and Yeji followed her in.

The layout of the ward for the most part looked the same as her own, the rows of curtains presumably surrounding numerous patients in bed. The only difference was there were no windows and the lights were minimal. That and the cries and groans. Yeji's ward she'd found to be quite quiet, restful even, however this one seemed far more riddled with pain. More like what she'd expected a cyborg hospital to be. The nurse had gone over to the desk by the entrance and was again tapping on a computer, her expression one of confusion.

"Um... follow me again please." She said, cautiously leading Yeji through the maze of beds until she stopped next to a particular one.

She drew back the curtain and Yeji's heart stopped.