1201 screamed. The large winged one was upon them, and gaining fast. They barked and tried to pick up speed, not daring to look back at their pursuer. The winged one yelled something at them. Freedom? They thought rashly, brain being pumped with adrenaline. Freedom is nothing to me, there is danger outside! I thought I was safe here, but I was mistaken. They ran until they were met with a wall. They promptly whined and bashed their paw/fists against the stone, tail tucked between their legs.

"I know you're not stupid, I was just saying that a lot of your actions are" Aydan said. "Also, don't tell them that. They obviously can't leave here". He then held out his arm in front of her before she could get any closer to the experiment. "I apologize for frightening you. "He said kindly to the experiment as they punched the wall. "Why don't we start over? My Name is Aydan. What's yours?"

Lacey stood a couple of feet behind Aydan and Ashes, not really wanting to get caught up in the action.

1201 dropped into a cicada-looking position and buried their head underneath their arms. They let out a long, sharp whine, trying to come to terms with their inevitable fate. They could hear the scientist's voice again. "I do not want to start over. You are bad. You scare me." they whined into the floor.

Lacey walked around Aydan and Ash and sat down in front of the huddled experiment, her knees pulled to her chest and her tail wrapped around herself. "You've hit a wall" She said matter of factly. "What do you want to do now? You can't just stay there forever"

1201 heard a new voice. Feminine? "I can stay here." They whined. "And if anyone tries to take me away or hurt me, I will curl up and claw open my guts." They mumbled. "It's better to die at your own hands than at the hands of another."

"No it's not!" Lacey shouted standing up abruptly. "If anyone tries to hurt you, I'll claw their guts out! And that includes yourself! If someone's trying to hurt you it's all the more reason you should hold onto life! It's all you can do. It gives you something to live for" Her tail was flicking back and forth in an agitated manner. "I'm going to go and find whoever made you this way, and I'm going to slap them in the face, drag them over here, and make them apologize" She turned around, pushed her way past Aydan, and began to storm down the hallway.

1201 flinched at the feminine voice's sudden outburst. They looked up for a moment, if just to catch a glance at such an unbroken person in this place. They shoved their head down farther under their arms.

--

"Geh!" Nico snarled, slamming the old cell door to 1202's cell, unoxidizing the room slowly. "It'll work, I guess." She sighed, gazing down to the thousands of cells beyond those of her experiments. She let out a exhale of "BLUH." She started walking down the hallway to her office, deeper within the redlight hallway. Eventually, as she passed doors marked 1025 , the red light dimmed to darkness. She could hear metallic sounds. The screeching of unfortunate children with two extra eyes. Soft whirring and the occasional splash. She used her flashlight phone to make her way through the darkness without having to rely on her sense of touch. She found her way to a dark steel door marked "DAVIDSON". She opened the door and sat down at the computer.

(The redlight hallway wasn't on fire, 1201 only thought it was)

"Wait!" Aydan yelled after the young girl as she left. He was about to chase after her, but realized that it probably wasn't the best idea to leave the terrified experiment with the girl who had recently held a knife on them. "Lacey, please come back!" he yelled, hoping that she would listen to him.

Lacey ignored him. She didn't know why she was so determined to help this person, but she knew that nothing was going to stop her. She shivered as familiar scents and sounds came rushing back to her. Her steps began to feel heavy, and she didn't know whether she wanted to run or just curl up and scy. "No" She said out loud, shaking her head. "I'm going to find who did that to them, and I'm going to make them regret it"
She swallowed and tried to ignore her fear as she continued walking down the hall.

Nico tapped on the keyboard, her back hunched over the soft yellow glow emitted from the old PC. "1202 has been transferred to the 3000th cell. Taken up by a little man with freckles. I do believe he is Irish." She mumbled out the words she was typing. "Such a sweet little frijole. Trying to repair the skin tissues on 1202. Such a pure one, it's a shame that he's all the way in the very back. Surrounded by people who...er" she trailed off. "Uh, blah blah, never doubt yourself, uh, you'll always be gorgeous to me, aaand, sealed with a kiss." She joked, hitting send to her own account. "Diary entry, check." She sighed, scratching her neck. "Now it's time to go home." She logged off the computer and started tap-tap-tapping through the halls. She occasionally tapped on a door she recognized to say goodbye to fellow scientists who worked later than she did.

Lacey heard the tapping sound of somebody walking in her direction and began to panic. She looked around desperately for a place to hide, a closet, bathroom, anything, but couldn't see anything but locked doors. she pressed herself against a wall and held her breath, hoping that whoever she was hearing wouldn't come down the hallway that she was hiding in. If they did, well, she'd figure something out.