Subject 004: A Ring of Hope

I snuck my way through the halls, passing the Scientist-Doctors, staff, and guards. I went up onto the very first floor, where I always had been before getting put on a Unit. Just when I thought I was going to get caught, I dashed away from the air vent I had crawled through to get up here. I never took the way Dr. Frentz and I went to get down to SL1.

I took the air vents. Funny, they put maps in the air shafts for people who work there. Nobody knew I would go through there. This entire Facility trusts me to be the good little boy they thought I was going to be. Nope, I wanted to be in my secret area. Nobody ever went there. Besides a few times. I just had to be cautious about how I went in there.

Lucky me, there was an air vent that was supposed to go into my secret area, but it was blocked off.

I went into my secret area through the door I had always gone through to get in. I went past the old desk that was already there. Nobody was in there, of course. It was a good thing.

I went left and went into the small hallway-like area. I slipped my small body through the small space that almost completely blocked the old door. The old door was bent, and almost broken. There was an old generator behind the door that seemed to put more force on it than it should have.

I entered the small room and to the left side of the room, where the second fence was located. The machine across the door sat quietly in front of the first fence. The first fence was what separated this room from the one I was just in. A button, that I would always have to press to leave the room, was off. Just as it always was.

I sat next to the second fence, in the corner. There was a pile of bolts and bits of metal. I gathered them up over the years, from all around the room.

I always wanted to make something out of all of it, but never knew what. I always found myself thinking about it for a few good minutes, but never had any thought. No idea what to make out of this.

Maybe now I know what to make. I'm always finding myself knowing things before I knew that I knew what something was.

A thought finally hit me.

Dr. Frentz would always wear this ring around his right hand middle finger. It was a ruby that was protruding out of the center, and it had a few writings on the inside of the silver band. He had it off only once when I was 14 years old. He was washing his hands when I saw the writings on the inside of the ring. It wasn't written in the English Language. So it kind of confused me. He never told me what it was or what it was for. Not even what it was meant for. I never knew if he was married or not or if he had any children. It looked important, though.

There was a symbol on the ring too. I couldn't exactly describe it, but I know it had a circle with a line going through the bottom, with a smaller circle at either side where the circle and line connected.

It didn't really mean anything to me, but I'm sure it meant something to him. I remember him nearly snatching it from my view, as if it wasn't meant to be seen. Then he looked down at me, with the look of "you're a curious little lady, are you?"

I decided I should make a ring, but nothing like Dr. Frentz's.

I had some tools, but they were small. They were on the ground in front of me. I found them in this room, and figured they were everything I needed to make something.

I took one of the little tools and a few of the small bits of pieces of metal, and began screwing, bending, twisting, and turning. It felt like this little project was taking a little bit too long. I wanted to get back to the Unit, down stairs, before my group returned to our sleeping area. I certainly didn't want them to find me nowhere to be found. I didn't want to get in trouble.

I kept working, also looking back on what I had remembered while waking up in the growth tank.

Maybe it was a malfunction. I kept waking up in the tank. I didn't know what was going on, what year it was, what month, what day, what time it was, where I was, who were these people in white coats? Just a few times, I saw men and women. Holding clipboards that were almost filled with papers of who knows what. All of them walked past me. Sometimes I woke up to men and women looking at me through the glass. They were writing things down, taking notes or whatever. And then there was one time I saw Dr. Frentz. He looked so amazed to see me, so happy. Just as if he was honored. Honored by what? By who? Honored by me?

It got me thinking, what exactly was I to him?

Other times I woke up and saw men next to the tank on either side. I swear I heard sounds, sounds that I've never heard before. Maybe they were working on the tank. Maybe it was malfunctioning; me waking up. Maybe I wasn't supposed to be awake then.

Another time, I saw Dr. Frentz talking to, of course, men, and women, showing the magnificent me, to them.

I stopped and put the tools down, including my little project. I leaned my head against the wall and looked up at the dark parts of the ceiling.

Come to think of it, I never signed. Probably the reason I never exactly had the reason to. Any reason to.

I looked down at my project, and for the first time in forever, I smiled. I smiled down at something I created.

Maybe that was what Dr. Frentz was doing; smiling at something he created.. but in this case, he was smiling up. He was smiling up at me.

Maybe it was for, and because of something different.

What exactly is that difference?

I made a ring. A ring that was made out of bits of metal and bolts.

It's just a band, but it was something important to me. This was my first time.

I got up and started to look around for anything I could tie it to. Maybe I should kept it here instead of taking it back to the Unit with me. I didn't want anybody finding it, and I didn't want anybody taking it and giving it to the staff or Scientist-Doctors.. or keeping it from me.

I looked down at my ring and picked it up. I went around the room, looking for a place I could hide it.

I knew I would remember where I would leave it. The staff here weren't very observant, so I just put it where I always sat. I gently pushed the ring into this small hold in the wall, with my index finger.

I quickly got up and went to the machine near the first fence and pressed a button on the old machine.

I saw the caged red light that was above the heavy door behind the second fence turn green. I hurried out of the small room and went around the room to get to the door.

I wrapped my left hand around the lever handle before cautiously pulling open the door. I poked my head around, checking to see if anybody was walking across the metal platforms. A little funny, there wasn't really anybody there. Maybe the Scientist-Doctors were doing something big.

I ran out onto the platform and went down the stairs, turning right.

That area seemed to be one of the main areas of the Facility. Since it had a bunch of metal platforms that went this way and that way. Everywhere.

Determined to get back to the Unit, I began running down the hallway. I looked around for any air vent.

The boys were already back in the sleeping area. Skyler stopped and looked around for me.

"Where is the girl?" Skyler wondered out loud.

"Probably on bathroom break," Suggested Brian. He was joking, but he was also serious.

I crawled my way through the air vent, as quietly as I could. I wasn't surprised that the plastic looking wall around me wasn't packed with dust. This air vent was so clean, but who knows what was hiding among these tight spaces.

I could see light at the other end of the route I was taking. I was close to my Unit's resting area. I heard voices... I knew I was late getting back.

I moved backwards, and moved my head a little to look over my shoulders to see where I was going. I could only move my head so far. It kind of started hurting a little after keeping my head like this for so long.

I examined a small map at the corner I stopped at. The map said to turn right, so I did. There was another end where I was headed.

"She's been gone for too long." Skyler pointed out., "That's too long of a bathroom break... unless she's doing something--"

"Aye!" Brian interrupted his friend, "Go wash your mouth out, you dirty mother fuck--" but, he immediately stopped right when he heard the blue lights on the sleeping area's doors link with a calm, gently like mechanical sound.

Two male staff came into the room after the doors came open.

"Shit..." Brian mumbled as if he and his group were going to get in trouble.

"You there!" A male staff member with dirty blonde hair called out to me. His voice sounded a bit harsh, "What are you doing out of your sleeping area?"

Another staff member was with him. This one had black hair with dirty blonde streaks.

I stayed silent as I usually did. I walked up to them, meeting them almost half way in the hallway.

"7295?" The man with black and dirty blonde hair asked, looking down at me, "Correct?"

I simply nodded, but it took me a little bit to do so.

"Huh?" His co-worker next to him questioned, surprised. "He quickly turned to him, clenching his fists.

"Mmhmm." Responded the man. "What are you doing out here alone."

I had to admit, I was a little scared. I knew I was in trouble. Already. I was getting a bad vibe from the man in front of me.

"Get back to your sleeping area, immediately." He ordered, "I'm reporting this to the Head Scientist-Doctor."

I nodded and as instructed, I weaved around them and hurried down the hallway.

"None of you want to tell us where 7295 is, eh?" The male with brown short hair looked around at each and every one of the boys.

Nobody answered.

The male staff closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine then, a lot will be informed to Dr. Frentz."

Suddenly, there was a calm and gentle mechanical sound behind the two male staff.

The two staff turned to face the doors sliding open into either sides of the walls.

I calm walking into seven happy faces, and two angry faces.

"You're in big trouble!" The two male staff yelled at me at the same time.