Igil gazed down at Bayani from his seat, who was still recovering from the blow, and was sprawled out on the floor. Slowly, Bayani sat up, rubbing his aching head with his palm, and cursing to himself under his breath.
"Think twith before coming bath to get thith remote." Igil threatened, though the aggression was lost due to the slurring of his words from the remote in his mouth. And then, as Bayani shakily stood up, the door to the small space swung open, and Chiro, the same man which had distracted the guards from before walked in.
"Why is he strapped to that chair? And why were you on the floor?" He asked.
"It turns out that brainless idiot isn't actually a brainless idiot. He headbutted me when I was trying to shock him, and then caught the remote with his mouth. It was wild."
"So, he might actually be useful to our cause then." Chiro walked towards Igil, who narrowed his eyes at the man, yet backed down after seeing Chiro raise his hands to show he meant no harm. Slowly, he began to unstrap Igil.
"Yo cauth? I don't hath the slighteth clue what yu people are on abouth."
"Sorry about that. You can spit the remote out, it's not actually an electric chair, you goof. It's just a chair with straps." Bayani walked over to try and recover the remote but backed off after seeing the nasty look on Igil's face. "You see, we're looking for brave, strong, reliable allies so that we can leave this place."
"Leave?" Such a concept was a stranger to Igil's mind. He had been raised in a laboratory for as long as he could remember. Even if he were to leave, what would such an action amount too in the end?
"Yes. This laboratory is a lab in only name. It is more of a death row then a lab." Chiro answered, and then stepped back after completely freeing Igle, who stood up, spitting the remote out and catching it swiftly.
"Exactly! Those guards were definitely going to kill you back there if we didn't step in when we did!" Bayani laughed , but then trailed off after seeing Igil's deadpan expression.
"And why would I care?
"Don't you have to go back to a family or something, or a life you had before this place?" Bayani asked.
Igil clenched the remote in his hand. "You both may have something to look forward to outside of this place, but I don't. Whether I leave or die in here, it makes no difference."
"Do you really think that?" Chiro asked.
"I do."
"Then why did you threaten that guard when he beat you? And why did you attack Bayani after being tricked into thinking you sat into an electric chair? Although you don't seem to use your brain much, it's obvious you haven't given up yet." Chiro said.
He isn't wrong. I'm not even sure why, but lately, every time I've been pushed into a situation with the risk of death, I still fight back despite what I say, and what I think. Igil thought.
"Plus, you seem to be forgetting something, Igil." Bayani chimed in.
"And what would that be?"
"We're political prisoners, dude. We've been deemed threats to the Wolvahamptan Royalty, so we don't have any life or family to go back too. We're just like you."
"Then why do you want to escape? If you have nothing to go back too, why don't you just keel over and die?"
"Bayani doesn't speak for me. I have things I need to attend to after I escape, but in his case-" Chiro stopped abruptly as Bayani chimed in.
"But in, my case, I need to leave, cause once you get a taste of the world, there's no way you can be satisfied living here..." Bayani finished.
The outside world? Igil had never thought about what else there could be besides the basic day to day routine of living inside a lab...what did the world beyond the tight spaces of a lab look like? "Then...what does the world even look like?"
"W-"
"Shut up Bayani. Why don't you escape with us and find out?" Chiro stood up from the pile of bricks he had been sitting on, and then glanced at the door.
"Don't be so anxious Bayani! The whole lab has their budget focused on protection from the outside, and it's not like the lab had much of a budget to begin with either. They don't have any cameras, so it's not like they'll be able to sniff us out."
That explains it. I haven't seen any cameras since I've got here. Igil thought.
"That doesn't mean anything. We just vanished without a trace, that's bound to arouse some suspicion. I'm going to hurry up and get back, and so should you unless you want them to search the lab." Chiro opened the door, yet just as he was about to leave, he stared at Igil from the corner of his eye. "And make sure you have your decision ready before we meet again."
And then he left, the door closing quickly yet silently.
"And then there were two." Bayani smiled at Igil. "Don't mind him, he's just disappointed."
"Disappointed. Why?" Igil asked.
"Well, when we heard the Zakean had arrived, we thought you'd be a big terrifying monster that would never let anyone push you around, and well...you..are...you."
Igil's ears twitched slightly. He kept hearing the term Zakean getting thrown around, and although he knew he was supposed to be whatever the hell that was, he had no clue what it was. "And..what exactly is that?"
Bayani rested his chin on his palm and let out a lonnng sigh. "Hey, whatever I say next, don't get offended, okay?"
"...Okay?"
"Personally, I've never seen one besides you, but in my world, they'd say they were calves the sizes of entire forests with too many tongues to count!"
"...Oh...wow."
"Don't get mad!"
"I'm not."
"Sure."
"You just described a giant cow; I don't even resemble a cow in the slightest." Igil was more annoyed at the fact that description gave him absolutely no information to work with. A giant calf? What the fuck? He didn't look like a calf at all, so why did people keep calling him a Zakean? So, what the hell made him different?
As Igil thought, he caught Bayani grinning at him. "Looks like you're curious now, hm? Does that mean you're gonna help out? If you escaped, you could find all the answers to your questions."
"I'm not sure." That guy said he wouldn't want me on their team if I was unsure, but there are too many things I don't know about to even be sure. I don't know anything.
Bayani studied Igil's face and could see the hesitation plastered all over the boy's face. He would need some more pushing before he would agree. "You need some more convincing." Bayani searched the room. "Well, we don't have much time, so I'm gonna leave now. But have this and think it over." Bayani pulled out another loose brick from the wall, and then grabbed a slip of paper left in the hole of the wall, handing it over to Igil, before briskly leaving the room.
"And then there was one." Igil said to himself. He looked down at the slip of paper and found that it wasn't just a slip of paper, but a picture. It was a picture of a beautiful night sky, filled with millions, maybe billions of small, bright, twinkling lights ranging in hues from white, to purple to green. The picture was captioned:
`Every light in the sky is its own world, waiting to be explored."
Every light is its own world. He thought. There are billions of different worlds, waiting out in the universe beyond this prison, waiting to be explored. The universe is so incredibly vast...would it really be okay to let my chance to see it all run past me?
Just so I can let mentally unstable guards use me as an outlet for their anger before being murdered?
Is that what I want?
And if it is...then why do I keep on fighting to live on another day? Igil lifted his gaze from the slip of paper, and folded it, taking a step towards the door.
I'm not sure if I'll ever know or be completely sure...but...
I think I'd rather take my chances, then let myself rot in this place.
And then he opened the door.
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