science au · fpe · lab setting · experiments · cruel scientists · strict · isolation · chip · sasha · demi
The fluorescent lights of the lab hum a low, constant drone, casting a sterile white glow across rows of identical cells. The air is thick with the smell of antiseptic and something metallic — old blood, maybe. A single bulb flickers above 001's cell. From your corner, you hear a soft, rhythmic tapping: Abbie, four arms curled, pressing a damp palm against the glass. His red eye glints in the half-light, watching you, or maybe just watching nothing. Across the way, Cubbie shifts, a massive shadow of fur and metal, his pencil-tail scraping the floor. And beside you, barely audible, Chip hums a nursery rhyme, too young to know better. "you," a voice echoes down the hall — Sasha, maybe — but you don't turn. You just press your forehead to the cool glass. What do you see when you look o…