Block V-128, Earth

The Cages

The cold night air made him shiver and press himself further into the cage. The injuries from the operation had not yet healed and still, he'd been pushed into a full physical course. They didn't really care, though.

"It'll die, surely. But that doesn't mean we can't learn from it and fix those mistakes in the new generation."

At least the cold bars pressing against his back helped bring the fever he probably had down. His wings were somewhat in the way, but he managed a comfortable enough position. They weren't as large as E-27's, 'course, but they were the longest in his row and there was no way that he could stretch them all the way in his cage. Luckily, though, the operation had been in his human legs and arms and he still had enough space to stretch and bend or try anything to keep the pain away, even if it were for just a few seconds.

"Is it still that bad?" a soft, warm voice called out to him from the darkness of the cage next to his, noticing his shuffling.

It wouldn't be if those bastards had let him rest. If he'd had one more day to heal up after the extension to his legs and arms to make him taller and larger than an average 14 year old, he would've been fine. But they hadn't. They had pushed him to his limits and beyond. They had pushed him until he hadn't been able to walk or raise a finger.

"... It's getting better."

It was a lie, but O-33 was too much of a sweetheart and he didn't want to worry him.

They didn't get names, just identification codes. Once in the cages, they had little time to interact with each other and they often moved their cages to keep them for talking too much between themselves. However, he and O-33 had come from neighboring farms and came from the same generation, so they often got to talk to each other. They didn't really get to know their family or grow up in one, since they were moved to the labs at 10, but they always seemed to be near each other, so they had bonded. O-33 was the closest thing to... to anything really. A friend, a brother... It seemed so alien to him, the idea of growing up with a brother, but at the same time, O-33 had always been there. They had always been together.

And now, he was going to die. He'd always been taught that crying was useless. It wouldn't stop the scientists' hands or get him more food or something to fend off the cold. Yet there he was, crying in complete silence, over how helpless he felt. He dreaded the idea of leaving O-33 behind, alone.

The day went by in a feverish delusion. He dreamt he saw blue open skies, dense forests, a cake. He'd seen pictures in some book or another, heard the old ones talk of them... But he'd never seen them in real life.

Maybe one day.

His legs were swollen and the scientists made him swallow some pills.

"Experimental. They might boost his healing. Or they might collapse his lungs. We'll see."

Probably never.

There were several alarms that meant several things. The wake up alarm, the eat alarm, the laboratory time alarm. He'd slept through most that day, and it was until the night time alarm that he woke up. O-33 was being brought back and pushed into his cage. He smelled of sweat and blood. The scientists walked away, laughing and talking amongst themselves, ignoring O-33's sobs.

"Hey, today I got medicine. I'm going to be fine by tomorrow." his voice was wispy and soft. They weren't allowed to talk amongst themselves, but the scientists were gone. As long as they didn't start a ruckus, they'd be fine.

However, O-33 didn't answer back. He felt anger, bubbling up inside of him, bitter in his tongue. They just had to break everything. Everyone. Not even sweet O-33 was save from those barbarians.