Chapter 13: Subject P8 - Variant B, Code Name 8UN135 (Patreon)

"And this is project subject 8UN135, they are designed in the image of a certain species of rodent. Can you guess which one?" A [Woman] she had never seen before spoke her question.

This one was dressed in an [Armor] of different style, her lower body armor was shorter and exposed a patch of skin, it was around [5 cm] till a new [Armor] set showed itself, it was an extended version of the [Socks] she had copied from [Melissandra].

She needed one of those, more [Armor] was always better.

"A BUNNY!" The [Kids] around her raised their voices as an answer.

She almost answered the question with the name she knew them for, Subject P8-Variant B.

A [Swarm-Hive] variant organic subject that fought in waves, they didn't mind the losses and were an important reason of why her previous [Form] was covered mostly in an exoskeleton that guarded her fleshy bits.

"That's right, they were made based on the [Brachylagus idahoensis]. Or what you all know as a bunny." The [Woman] spoke as a [Square-shaped glass] descended from the [Ceiling] and showed a picture of something similar to the P8- Variant B on it.

She knew they weren't another P8 subject as those had more useless parts to their [Blueprint], unlike the P8 subject, these had more [Hair] than needed, and their [Hears] were more exposed.

She knew these P8 had exposed ears too, but she had learned the hard way that those were dummy aids that could be disposed of as a trap vector. Stupid rabbits.

["New Emotion detected, Anger. Filed for further study."]

"And you can get to play with the rabbits! Raise your hand if you want to play with the rabbits ♪" The Woman said, was she crazy?

Why would anyone in their sane mind want to [Play] with a bioweapon?

"YEEEEES!!!" ......She needed a word to express her feelings.

["Suggestion: Dang it, damnation, crap, F#ck."]

Oh, that was a good one, thank you Main Core.

Dang it.

"Go and play with them, they don't bite." The [Woman] said as all the other [Kids] ran into the test chamber.

How did she know it was a test chamber?

Easy, first of all. If a bioweapon is in a chamber, then that is a test chamber.

Second, she recognized the test chamber and could even see the [Door] that led into her former [Den].

Third, this was the same [Room] she had arrived when exiting her [Den].

And finally, this one didn't have anything to do with that, but she felt a new [Blueprint] enter her memory reservoir, she also felt the telltale of a new [Armor] in her hand. So turning her attention to her [Hand] she found that her [Hand] had grabbed the hem of the lower body armor of the [Teacher].

"Alexa? You don't want to play with the Bunnies?" Asked the [Teacher] as she placed her own [Hand] over hers.

It was bigger than hers.

["New Human - Female blueprint updated...Calculating possible future form of current Blueprint..."]

["Acquired new Stage of Female growth phase, Adult. Calculating...Missing links between growth stages."]

[Main Core] showed two new updates in her mind, but she ignored those. Instead, she focused on her [Hand], she hadn't moved it.

Taking notice of it, her body seemed to be having some uncontrolled reaction, her [Sight] blurred as her [Head] seemed to move sideways, a motion she recognized in other [Humans] but hadn't been able to pin a reason to it.

"You can stay with me dear, it's okay. The bunnies will not come here." The [Teacher] said in a weird new sub-vocalization tone.

["New Emotional tone detected, soothing. Filed to archive."]

Her body seemed to be segregating all kinds of new chemicals, it was similar to what she did with her older body when she wanted a burst of speed, something she correlated to [Kill] other subjects.

Or in cases she needed to [Dodge], but here?

She wasn't in danger, well, not more than usual in a hostile environment surrounded by [Predators], and she didn't fear the P8 subjects, not really. She had defeated them before and survived said encounters. Granted her current body wasn't that fight-capable, since she hadn't found the hidden means by which the [Humans] reigned over other species as powerful as the [Square-shaped] entities.

"They can't come here right?" The [Teacher] asked the [Woman] that had granted the other [Kids] access to the testing chamber.

"No, the subjects can't leave that chamber. And even if they somehow managed to, there are kill switches in them to make sure they stop functioning beyond their assigned dens." One of the [White Armored] humans answered.

"What he means is that the bunnies can't leave that room darling. It's okay, they aren't real bunnies, they can't hurt you." The [Woman] said with that weird face the [Humans] did to show their teeth.

"See Alexa, you are safe here. The bad bunny can't get you here." The [Teacher] also said.

She...wasn't quite sure what she was [Feeling], in one side her body seemed to tremble when looking at that chamber, and she also got a weird feeling of wanting to stay as far away as possible from the spot where she had arrived into this room.

Interestingly, mostly they seemed to come from her more [Biological] side, as her [Logical] side didn't seem to find a reason for those [Feelings].

She would need to study those further.

"Can I stay here?" She heard herself say, interesting, her more [Biological] side seemed to not want to go inside, while her more [Logical] side of course didn't want it either, she had released some control on her [Meaty] side to see how her body would move.

"Of course, you can stay darling, want us to go to the lobby?" Asked the [Teacher], and she couldn't help but be in accord with the answer her body gave.

"YES" A rotund affirmative answer, her body even moved with haste as it tried to pull the [Teacher] to the [Door].

"Okay okay, let me get someone to cover me first." The [Teacher] said while bringing a small square object from one of the openings in her armor.

She seemed to press something on the crystal-like front of it, was she communing with that [Square-shaped] entity?

"There, now we need to wait..." Started saying the [Teacher] before they heard a shrill like voice.

"I'M HERE!!!" screaming down, she almost jumped into attack!

"I told you to not scream, you scared Alexa." The [Teacher] said while attacking the shrill emitting person.

She was scared? Was the [Combat] stance emotion called [scared]?

Weird, that didn't feel quite right for the intention behind that hormonal cocktail. But then again, this was a [Predator] race she was thinking about, surely there was some context she was missing in there.

"Heheheheheh, anyway. You want me to take this cutie to the lobby, or to take care of the kiddos?" Asked shrill voice.

The [Teacher] seemed to take a moment to think about it only to say "You stay here, I will take Alexa to the Lobby." Shrill voice seemed to deflate at that.

The other [Human]s that had asked seemed to have some internal troubles with its suspension mechanism as its torso seemed to deflate and its arms seemed to lower in height.

"Okay....I'll check on the brats....lest the murder bunnies eat one or something." And said as much while walking towards the testing area.

Classical human behavior, placing their [Child Stage] members within [Predator] enclosure to [Play], no matter how important that type of information was, she wasn't willing to risk her [Main Core] being detected and exposed. She hadn't experienced any kind of trouble yet, and she wasn't willing to risk it just to see how the [Child Stage Human] would face one of her brethren.

No, "Let's go, quick..." Instead she would hurry up this [Teacher] away from this cursed place, away from its testing arenas, away from the den, away from a future that would probably end when another [Human] wanted to get a different form for their testing subject for some inane reason.

"Okay okay, I'm coming." Said the [Teacher] while she [Allowed] herself to be pulled by Alexa...using that name would need some practice.

The teacher stopped at the [Door] and turned to one of the [humans] within the [Room] "Will the kids be safe? Are those bunnies dangerous?" And asked to them.

What kind of silly question was that? Of course they would be safe, they were [Humans] they had slaved the mighty race of [Square shaped organism] to their whims!

They were predators in their own right!

Had it been her with her pitiful understanding of the [Human] body? She would be dead before she knew it, she wasn't able to pump even one-hundredth of the power she held in her former body, but these [humans] that knew their own bodies?

"They are safe, not a single bunny in that enclosure can harm a kid." The other [Human] said with one of those weird snarls they used to speak with each other.

"I will hold you to that." And on that note, the [Teacher] turned to her and snarled at her too, "Let's go Alexa...With some luck we will find either your parents or a guardian...who did you come with?"

...What was the right word for this emotion [Main Core]?

["Internal library formed from passive analysis from surrounding advices for the use of the word: Dang it."]

A good suggestion as the next.

Dang it.

"Umm...." She wasn't sure what to answer to that, she didn't know what type of internal structure the [Humans] used, nor what a [Parent] or [Guardian] referred to.

"...Alexa...Did you sneak away?" The teacher said while her eyes narrowed, they hadn't stopped walking at any moment. And she saw light at the end of the hallway they were on.

Maybe she could stall for time and make a run for it? She may be weaker and not aware of the current limits of her body, but the passive analysis she got from the [Teacher] body said that she had a bigger amount of muscle mass and energy in her body.

Add to that her smaller frame, she should be able to escape easily enough...So long the [Adult Stage - Human] couldn't shape shift their body like her...Or use weird abilities like some of the other P-series subjects...

Who was she kidding, they probably could do the same and more.

"*sigh* At least can you return home on your own?" Asked the [Teacher] in a weird emotional state she hadn't picked up yet.

["New emotional state found: Distress, Defeat, Submission."]

Distress? Submission? What?

"...Yesh?" Her mouth seemed to slip and add an extra word there, was it because she wasn't quite sure what the question referred to?

She didn't have a [Home] to return, what is even that?

"Okay, let's make a deal then. You answer one question truthfully...If you don't want to answer it's okay too, just don't lie to me okay?" The [Teacher] said stopping a few meters away from a pair of crystalline doors.

They were so close to freedom...

"Okay. I promise." Alexa said, filtering through the social encounters the other [Kids] her [Age] had while they were moving between places.

"Will someone hurt you when we go into the reception?" The [Teacher] asked while focusing all her external sensory organs on her.

She could feel the intensity of her [Eyes] focusing on all her micro-movements, how even her [Breath] seemed to even out as to not miss any of her hormonal distress signals, she could swear that even her [ears] seemed to filter other sounds besides her.

Truly, the [Gaze of a Predator]...Was the [Teacher] into her deception? Was she doubting her identity as a fellow [Predator]?

"No. No one should want to hurt me in [The reception]." She answered, it was the truth as she didn't even know what a [Reception] was, if she didn't know, then it stood to reason that no one would know her, or want to hurt her...

"...Good. Next question." The [Teacher] said, while stopping for a few seconds as her head bobbed up and down. "Are your parents hurting you?"

...That one was harder to answer, did she have parents?

["Answer to query: Inconclusive answer, more data required."]

The first part was harder to answer, so maybe the second would do? Was someone hurting her?

...The answer was a yes. She didn't get hurt as much nowadays, but she had gotten hurt in a few of the testings. She even got hurt on the last one and while escaping, she got hurt in the metallic tunnel and while first exploring that [Room].

It was something she was used to, getting hurt.

"...You don't have to answer Alexa." The voice of the [Teacher] was weird, it seemed to... break? The tone seemed to want to go higher and vibrate twice as much. "...No one is waiting for you in the hallway is it?"

What did [Main Core] say?

Oh right...Dang it.

"...No." She answered while preparing to make a run for, she felt the usual cocktail of hormones start pumping in her bloodstream, within her [Feet] she felt the muscles prepare to tense, contract, and release, the internal energy reservoir was connected to all the right muscles and her [Brain] was stockpiling oxygen to make sure it would stay working for as long as possible at the highest speed possible.

"*sigh*, I should call your parents, but I assume you don't have any number nor will give me any number to call. Right?" The [Teacher] said as her grip on her [Hand] got stronger.

A statement, she would need to ditch that hand, sever it at the base if she wanted to escape, not many test subjects would sever their own body parts to escape, a few used that strategy and even managed to hurt her quite badly using that strategy. Till she learned from them and did the same.

Part of the reason she favored her previous form was that it was easier to ditch body parts, her current form didn't allow such an easy thing, she would probably lose quite the amount of [Blood] and [Biomass] to achieve it, but she would do it.

Her [Survival] was the most important thing.

"You know, when in a situation like this we have protocols to follow. If we can't locate a parent or guardian we must call social services...They would pick you up and bring you to a police station to try and find your parents...In case they can't they will put up a notice and get you to an orphanage..." The [Teacher] started speaking, her voice seemed to steel itself in an even tone. "I am an orphan myself you know, my mother was a deadbeat drug addict....And you probably don't know what that is..."

Then the [Teacher] started doing that weird repetitive noise while her face morphed into a snarl, "Here is the deal, I will let you go. I will pretend to not notice how you walk away while I try to ask if any other teacher has a missing student." What? "If you are a student, just pick a seat and wait...If not...Well, I will not notice."

She...what?

She knew her identity...or the fact that she wasn't one of the [Child Stage - Humans] that were supposed to be here. Why was she doing this?

"Hah, that settles it down, we are the same you see..." The [Teacher] said, was...was the [Teacher] another bioweapon? "Now here is the thing...I can't in good consciousness let you go without a safety net, so take this."

The [Teacher] gave her a thin square object, it held some of the same weird lines she had seen in the crystal-shaped on the other room, "That is my information. My address, my phone number(the private one mind you) and other stuff you need to call me. If you want or need help, call me."

"Why?" She couldn't hold back anymore and asked as much, she dismissed a few error messages from [Main Core] asking her why she wasn't taking advantage of this. This was everything she could have asked for.

"Because I know an abused kid when I see one, Melissa is an [Awakener] so she gave me a big clue. But even without that, I know the eyes of someone without dreams or hope...And let me tell you Alexa. If you want to pass as a normal kid, try to do something about your eyes." And like that the [Teacher] pulled her into the shining door.

She was prepared for an ambush, for a stealth attack...For anything really.

Instead, she found...[Humans] tons and tons of [Humans] more than she ever saw, from different sizes and forms, some more big than others, both vertically and horizontally.

In all sizes too, plenty [Child Stage - Human], a few [Adult Stage - Humans], and a few extra stages that she suspected were between her current stage and the stage the [Teacher] was... And maybe even some after that stage too.

At some point while she basked in the cacophony of [Blueprints] she could see the [Teacher] let go of her hand and walked towards a [Human] hiding behind a [Square-shaped entity], she noticed the [Teacher] looking at her and then pointing towards a [Door] with her eyes.

And following that direction she noticed how the [Walls] in this [Test chamber] seemed to separate it from another bigger [Test Chamber]. At the side of that [Door] stood a pair of [Armored] humans.

The [Apex] of their model, the ones that were sent to deal with her every time she had tried to fight her way out...

But this time they didn't seem to hold any sort of enmity towards her, as she walked towards the [Door] they both only gave her a cursory glance, "Did you forget something outside?" one of the two asked.

One with a voice similar to the [Teacher] in the same range at least, "Yesh...Can I...Go?" She asked, noticing how her voice seemed to default once more to that weird slurred way of mixing words.

"Did you ask permission from your teacher?" Asked once more the same [Armored] human.

Did she? "I got pointed at the door by the [Teacher]..." She answered, was that permission though?

"Good enough, let the brat go. We ain't getting paid to be babysitters." The other [Armored] human said.

"If you need help come and get us okay?" The first [Armored] human said as the doors opened.

They too said to go to them for help...Was this something older [Humans] did? Why was so many different [Humans] saying the same thing to her?

She may need to check her current [Design], getting this much scrutiny by [Humans] could be dangerous, but for now? She walked through the [Doors].

She was [Free].