The Labs

The experiments

I was awoken by rough hands and sharp voices.

"L3R10, you are late." Said a scientist, shaking me. I sat up and followed this scientist into the main room. All of Lab 3 were already there, eating. The scientists on guard looked irritated, as if they knew about our little party.

"All of the labs are thoroughly overexcited!" Grumbled the one at the table. "L3R05, any idea why?" Flora, the person to which this remark was addressed, shrugged.

"Escapist hype, s'ppose." She said. "I mean, it's not normal, is it?" The dragon head girl looked uncertainly at her, but she smiled at the small girl in support.

"Crissie is too nice to those kids." Grumbled the scientist again. Flora waved her hand and a couple of butterflies flew into the air.

"Anyway." Said Fauna, watching the butterflies closely, "News, please?"

"Oh, right." Said the scientist, swallowing his bacon hurriedly. "Yes, 4. Nothing special, and the experiments are individual. Sceia's welcome note is still up- Sceia is your new L3R10- but apart from that, day is as usual." Almost immediately after his speech, an announcement played over the speakers.

"Please could Lab Three please proceed to Lab Four for testing."

"All of you! Up! Numeric order please!" We got into line, and were led down a corridor into a large corridor with a large opening next to the end of it.

"L3R01." Came a voice. The small girl at the front shuffled into the room. The voice was still clear.

"We will be going through the virtual reality today." She said. There was murmuring down the line of

'Oh, no, not the VR!" However, I had no idea what they meant.

Soon, the girl was screaming, a terrible sound that rang in my ears. Then, there was a roaring fire, another scream, and the girl, silent now, was carried out and away, unconscious.

"L3R02." Came the voice, and the dragon head girl walked in. Soon, she was being carried away too.

L3R03 had the same results, though he was much older than the first two.

"L3R04." Fauna was called, and Flora murmured something at him. He went into the room, a set expression on his face. His experiment took a lot longer than the first three, but with the same results. He was almost dragged away, his face chalk white.

"L3R05" came the voice, and Flora entered.

"You are not going to make me faint." Came an icy voice that was Flora's, but not one I would associate with her.

"You have no control over the experiments, L3R05." Came the blank voice.

"I have more control than you think." She said. Then she was plunged into her testing.

Fifteen tense minutes passed, in which Flora screamed more than was imaginable. Then, the voice spoke again and the screams ceased.

"Enough! We need to do the other experiments." Flora struggled out, refusing help, and stumbled across the corridor. Her face was as white as snow, and her entire body was shaking so much it was obviously hard to move, but she continued alone.

The next people passed in a flash and a lot of noise.

"L3R10." Came the dreaded voice, finally. I walked into Lab 4.

It was a large rectangular room, with a large desk at the front and a chair at the centre. This chair had my code on it, and I went to sit in it.

"This is the virtual reality test." Said the scientist at the front. "Remember only that what you are feeling is not real."

With her last two words spinning in my head, I fell down into a bottomless pit.

I opened my eyes with a jolt. I was in the testing room, and it was obviously empty.

"Into the door at the left." Came a voice. I turned around to see where it had come from, but instead saw several doors. I entered the one on the left and found myself stuck. I was stuck in the middle of a flaming building. I screamed, staring around. There was no way out. I was trapped. There was fire on all sides.

The flame drew closer, and I felt it searing my skin, burning my clothes, my body, my entire world in flames. The pain was too much. I couldn't think. I closed my eyes tight shut, and drew in a huge intake of breath that consisted of only smoke. I coughed, spluttered. The pain was searing through me, it would stay that way. Just let me die, I thought. If life wanted me to burn, burn I shall.

And I fell unconscious in the chair of Lab 4, to be carried back to lab 3 by a scientist who had done this so many times before.