Shattered Windows and Metal Cages

'''Based off a dream I had last night. I'm an odd child. BTW, this is gonna be really long.'''

In an underground zone in Jamaa, known as the "Unknown," a dark truth to the cheery town is revealed. A truth so vile and evil that no jammer would want to know about... So vile that they would instantly want to forget about it. The Unknown should live up to its name- being left alone and out of our thoughts. That's what everyone says. I say that the public deserves to know this truth, though. Our suffering is unseen.

What are we? What is the Unknown?

We are merely subjects, subjects to terrible, horrid acts. The Unknown is Jamaa's hidden testing ground. We are tested on with chemicals and heart-twisting weaponry that should be used on phantoms. The Unknown is just a rare myth to jammers. They think we don't exist.

Our screams roll down the dusty white, bright hallways of the terrible lab we reside in. Nobody can hear us. We have never been touched by a loving finger, flipper, or feather. The only things we feel are pain. We don't feel love, passion, or warmth. Our bodies are rocked by cold sensations and brutal, aching sounds we cannot rid of in our small minds.

Who am I?

I am... I... I don't know who I really am. I am called 'Number 1103,' just like the other subjects. Everyone has a number. Us subjects are unnamed because we never last long enough to be remembered. There's nobody to remember us, anyway. I pray that someone loving, someone with a warm heart will free me from the chains that bind me. I want to join paws with someone who will bring me the life I have dreamed of. I was born into this life- forcefully born into this life. I didn't wish for this.

I don't know what the outside world is like. All I see is the cold walls of my chamber. I have to stare at white walls all day until it is my time to be removed into the testing grounds. My suffering never will end because I am the one subject that the experimenters favor. I was injected with a strange, glowing, electric blue liquid. My wounds always heal. I cannot die. I'm just a lonely puppet being pulled by strings.

I do have a few friends, though. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to stay in the caging rooms with some other sufferers. They're my family- the only family I know. We all share the same fate.

"Hey... Hun, are you up?" I heard that sweet voice say close to my ear. I raised my head to see a milky white arctic fox crouched beside me, her green and blue eyes locked with mine. A smile stretched across my face. We always stayed in the same cage.

Her number is 1108, one very close to mine. I'm glad, since we always stay in the same caging room based on our numbers. 1100 through 1130 stayed in this room. I've been bashed by words of hate, since the two of us are both girls. It doesn't matter, though. She's the closest friend I have, and we're pretty comfortable with one another. Plus, we're both foxes, except I have pitch black fur and yellow eyes.

I yawned. "Yeah, Milky Way, I'm up... Oh, they didn't take off your collar yet?" Milky Way nodded. That was her nickname, while mine was Umbra. Remember, we don't really have names. It was hard to hear due to the chit-chat going on.

"Yeah," she said. "It really itches, too. Did you hear the news? It's horrible..."

"What happened?"

"Poor Rock had metal coils placed in his ears. They're doing the sound thing again... Oh, I feel so bad for him!" Milky Way wailed, laying down by me on the cold, metal floor of the fairly small cage we stayed in. "They also put one of those weird things in his head, drilled it into his skull. He can't hear now, since they intentionally deafened him."

"Where did you get this info from?" I said.

"Chirp. You know that weird bird is always spitting out info," she laughed. "He's.... they're allowed to fly out of his room, remember? He behaves the best, but I don't think he's gonna be flying out of there any time soon."

"Haha, that bird got his feathers dyed green!" I heard a deep voice rumble. I turned my head to look at a blonde tiger, bald spots where his stripes would've been along with yellow flecks on the skin. He had his silvery blue eyes squinted, white in the pits of the color. "I think..."

"Goldenrod! What happened to you!?" I called in shock. He barely smiled.

"It was nothing..." he said. "Just an experiment that went wrong. I-"

He was interrupted by a loud siren. The light on the wall began to flash red as the sirens went off through the speakers on the ceiling. The noise stopped. I could feel the fear circulating in the air. That siren only meant one thing- someone was going to be called down to the testing zones. Usually, it was about five or six animals taken to those zones, but it was scary. You never knew if it was going to be you.

"Numbers 1102, 1103, 1108, 1112, and 1114 will be transported to the sound testing ward at this time. Level 3 staff only. I repeat, numbers 1102, 1103, 1108, 1112, and 1114 will be transported to the sound testing ward at this time. Level 3 staff only."

I heard wheezing and some breaths of relief, but fear ran through my veins. I huddled close to Milky Way. The sound testing ward was a bad one- that's where Rock had metal coils drilled in his ears. I caught a glimpse of this area, but Milky Way never had. I felt her shaking against my side, burying her nose in my fur. I placed my head over hers.

"Shhh, it'll be okay..." I said as comforting as I can. "I promise we won't be upstairs... They're not going to hurt you..."

I heard the door open. There they were, two monkeys pushing a utility cart into the room. A third one held a clipboard, checking off some of the numbers. One came over and grabbed a stool, grabbing our cage and roughly throwing it onto the ground. My head hit the top of the cage. Milky Way wailed in fear as we were loaded onto the top of it, a blanket placed on top of ours. I heard a hiss of rage and some other whimpers. I felt the cart begin to move as the door slammed shut. The squeaking of wheels rung through my ears.

I opened my eyes to bright lights in a large room, but the sight was cut off. I barely caught a glimpse of a counter with many cabinets, a sink, and some tables and a blue curtain on the ceiling being closed. It was pitch black now. I felt our cage being lifted and then things went still. We were being kept for a minute, since we were two individuals in a single cage. This rarely happened, and it would be hard to get us out. I suspected that the experimenters were working with some other ones.

"I need to sleep..." Milky Way moaned, laying against me. I nodded, closing my eyes. I tried to relax as I forced myself into sleep.

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wip