Acalon Labs. (pt. 1)

Groggily I opened my eyes as a plate of very processed food was shoved through the bars of my cage. My tail swished as I jumped at the food. Sitting down, I saw that breakfast was the same as always. A packet of strange liquid and some sort of lump of artificial protein. Sighing I guzzled everything down, ignoring the horribly bland taste. Setting the plate down I peered at my fellow cell mates.

We were all prisoners here at this science lab. From what I’ve gotten they have started creating mythical creatures, new races and all of that. This section of the lab is for the humanoid creatures. My genetics were crossed with a cats, I have cat ears, eyes, and tail for the physical part. I can also, jump really high, see ultra violet, purr, make many noises, have extreme intelligence, talk to other cats, sprint up to 31 mph. I can survive being dropped from high heights, see better than humans (but the scientists kept it so that I can still see color really well). I have homing instincts, I am extremely flexible, am sensitive to vibrations, can hear an octave higher than dogs, can smell pretty well, and have retractable claws. That’s all I know, there are probably some things even I don’t know about my abilities.

Across from me is a bird cross breed, her name is Spirit. She has white wings, pretty silver blond hair,  wispy blue eyes, flawless pale skin, and a gorgeous voice. She is very popular with the other human hybrids but over all a “bird brain”.

On Spirit’s right side is a dog hybrid named Noah, he is also very attractive with slick black hair, green eyes, pale skin, handsome features, and two pointed black ears. He thinks he is so much better than me, but he is wrong. He may bigger, stronger, and can run for longer. But I am more agile, have stronger senses, and am much, much smarter. I suspect that he and Spirit have a romantic relationship.

On Spirit’s left side is a horse hybrid. His name is Ferin, he is all brown horse from the waist down. He has dark brown hair, brown eyes, and light brown skin. He is very proud, always prancing about, competing with Noah for Spirit’s attention. Overall he is very annoying.

On my right is a deer hybrid named Spore, she is deer from the waist down like Ferin. Unlike Ferin, she is very kind and gentle, she has long black hair, median brown skin, and brown eyes.

On my left is a bat hybrid named Ebony. She is very quiet and scared. I suspect that she is around five years old. Unlike the rest of us who are around sixteen. She has median length black hair, dark skin, and amber eyes. I feel bad for her, she is so small and thin, I worry about her.

That’s it for our area. Beyond that are big doors that require a card to get past, on one side is are aquadic hominoids, and the other a bunch of computers.

As the rest of the group finished their “breakfast” I noticed that Ebony had not taken a bite of her food.

“What’s wrong, Ebony? ” I said reaching through the bars to rub her back.

She was curled up in a ball on the cold stone, but her eyes her open so she was obviously not asleep. She got up silently and poked the pouch of liquid.

“You know that if you don’t eat they will feed it to you through a needle.” I whispered to her sympathetically

She nodded and opened the pouch to drink.

“That a girl.” I said as she started to drink.

I pulled my arm out of the cage and glanced across me to see that Spirit, Noah, and Ferin were chatting as always. Everyone had finished their food except Ebony who was finishing her lump of protein. I turned twards Spore as the door from the computer room opened and three people in green lab coats walked in.

“Noah, Claw. Come with us.” Said a man with glasses shortly.

His two other teammates opened our cadges and brought us out. Casting one last look at Ebony they led us through the other door.

Great, I thought sarcastically, another testing series and with Noah! That meant it would be a competition. The lab workers led us through many hallways caring cadges of different experiments. Dragons, unicorns, fairies, you name it.

“Must avoid the gryphons.” I heard the man with glasses say. “The kids are feeding them, must not let them see the experiments.”

I glanced at him skeptically as they led us down the hall of manticores. What kids? And how dare he call us experiments. I was smaller than almost all of the lab workers, it must of had something to do with my cat genetics.

Fifteen minutes later we were led into a room that held a sort of obstacle course. I adjusted my arm band as Noah and I were put onto panels. The lab workers walked over to a big computer and I felt a buzz from my arm band meaning that it has started to collect data about my physical status.

“Both of you must get to the red dot on the other side of the room.” The man with glasses motioned to a red button on the other side of the obstacle course. “Whom ever reaches it first wont receive a shock.” He smiled wickedly. “3. 2. 1. Go.” He said coolly.

Immediately I jumped onto a higher plat form and began to swing from a rope onto another. Noah decided to take the low ground and began at a run. I climbed onto a tower and threw myself onto a moving platform. Dang, timed it wrong. I crashed  onto a wall but quickly grabbed a handle. Noah was getting ahead quickly. I tried again at the moving platform. This time I managed to grip the side and pull myself onto it’s slippery surface. I looked at the button, I was at the highest point of the obstacle course and could easily jump to a sphere from my angle, then I could grab a rope, swing and hit the button. So off I went, I jumped accurately onto the sphere, only slipping a little as I regained my balance. Noah was right below me, it looked as if he might have bumped in to an electric fence as his hair was on end. This was going to be a close one. I jumped from the sphere and onto the rope, burning my hands. I was almost there. I sucked up my core muscles and forced the rope to swing. Once, twice, it swung. Noah was beginning to climb the ladder up to the top. I kept swinging he was almost there. I could almost reach the button when I flung myself at it. I jumped off of Noah’s head and hit it hard with my fist. I had done it, I jumped down to the ground as Noah was shocked by his arm band. I was sweating hard from my hands and feet. I caught Noah as he fell from the ladder, I felt bad for him he was so close. I set him down on the ground as the scientists came and put him on a gurney.

“Very good Claw.” The man with glasses said looking at the results on a tablet. “Lets go back to your room.”

I nodded and we began to walk back to the cages.

When we got back I flopped down onto the cold stone and prepared to take a nap when I felt hot eyes burning into the back of my skull.

“I’m sorry Spirit. But I had to, it was him or me.” I said and turned to her where she was patting Noah’s slightly burned face.

She said nothing, she didn’t understand. She didn’t have the mantle capacity to put herself in another situation but her present. I sighed and curled up on the stone floor. A couple minutes latter I fell asleep thinking about our future. How long were we going to get put through these tests?

 Claw