Chapter Text
Dawn broke on another day in that cold, dreary building. Despite the sunlight being warm, none of it seeped through the cracks of the walls to provide warmth as our protagonist awoke with a frostbitten nose and dried tears on her face. She struggles to find the strength to sit up, knowing what awaits her she lays in bed and reflects on what delivered her to this point in life. It’s not as though she could’ve avoided this fate, life is cruel to most people and the only equality given to humanity is the blessings of death that so evaded her unlike her predecessors - lucky individuals are to be spared from this life. Subject 015 was what she was called, an experiment by a group of Nazi scientists and soldiers. Never growing with a family nor friends, she was kept in isolation for a good majority of her life. The organization behind her existence is known as Abstammung, the closest thing to a family she was cursed with. The ones behind what came to be known as Projekt Eisenbult, with a goal simple on paper yet difficult in execution - to create a biological weapon. A Chimera is what subject 015 is classified as, resembling humans with controlled mutations that resulted in them being stronger. Subject 015 dared not groan or make a noise as she sat up, afraid of annoying her captors. Whilst she had a deep hatred for them, she can’t vocalize these things because she knew it would only result in punishment. While most children were spanked or grounded, subject 015 had a subconscious feeling they would do much worse to her. Finally, she found the courage to pull her sheets off of her body and feel the cold air rush against her exposed skin of which her uniform didn’t cover. It was a plain white color, she was grateful for it being a long sleeved shirt paired with pants as it allowed herself to stay at least somewhat warm. Her feet landed on the ground with a soft thud, the thin material doing little to prevent the floor's temperature from hitting her yet she didn’t stutter, she turned back to her bed and made it to the best of her ability. Although it exhausted her to lift the mattress up and tuck in the thin blankets, she knew it was simply something that must be done. Her room was almost as bland as her clothing, a simple bed pressed against the back wall with an iron barred window lay above it. Both the floors and walls of the establishment were made of stone, making the temperature feel even colder, while the glass window was covered in snow that stretched as far as subject 015 could see. The only other thing in the room was a dresser, in which several more uniforms were stored along with her toiletry. She never owned any toys, and had nothing truly belonging to her. She stands in front of the mirror brushing her overgrown brown hair, it was straight and therefore didn’t take long to untangle yet it became slick with grease whenever she wasn’t able to use shampoo and conditioner. To her knowledge, the base was far off somewhere in Southern Germany and they would only get supplies every so often. Because the guards and scientists also lived on base, it wasn’t as though there was enough supplies to go around. The date was March 6th, sometime around the late 1930s, meaning it was subject 015’s seventeenth birthday. Her ears flickered and her amber colored eyes wandered over to the door as the lock thudded open and the door creaked. Two guards walked in and directed her to follow them, and so she did. It wasn’t often she was allowed outside of her room, only to eat or shower and therefore the rest of her time was spent staring at the walls. Boredom was always preferable to whatever they had in mind however, as leaving the cell for anything other than dinner time or to bathe herself meant being experimented on. Every step she took felt like agony but she held it behind a face of indifference, as showing emotion is seen as weak. She knew there were others, there had to be others like her - she was subject 015 meaning at least fourteen other individuals exist or existed. She doesn’t hear of them, she’s never socialized with them, and for years she clung to the dim hope that they exist and she isn’t alone in her suffering yet a person can only handle so much and as time passed she knew they had to have died. She rubs her neck where her burn is, one given to her in a similar style to how farmers brand cattle, reading out “015” - a label. The way the guards walked unnerved her as she followed behind them, stiff, almost as if they’re made out of wood. Their joints rarely ever bent. Stopping short in front of a room and opening the wide double doors, subject 015 was met with a sight she had never seen before. The floors were wooden, the window in the room didn’t have any bars on it, there was an unusual box she had never seen before near the window in which a tiny screen was inside and displayed what appeared to be moving images and while she would be more captivated she was more interested in what was watching the box. There was a chair sitting in front of it with a girl sitting there, getting her blonde wavy hair brushed and cut by a man - on her neck read “016”. Subject 015 couldn’t believe it. There were others like her. Another chimera that had survived, having the same two sets of arms, the same unusually hard and sharp nails, the same humanistic features, seemingly the same age as her. Subject 015 felt as though she couldn’t breathe, she didn’t know how to react to this knowledge - that there was someone out there going through the same things she did. Questions flooded her head but she couldn’t bring herself to ask them, was she even allowed to ask them? After a moment the man moved away from her, “Nächste” he said. The girl took this as a cue to get out of the chair, her hair now shaved. A guard pushed subject 015 ahead by an inch, “Du bist dran” the guard informed her. As subject 015 and subject 016 passed each other they glanced to look at each other, amber eyes meeting blue ones resembling the sky on a good day unlike this one. It was brief but it made subject 015 feel hopeful for once in her life. She sat in the chair as instructed and let her hair go. The process felt almost nice, the feeling of her hair falling down and the air hitting her head was a unique one and it made her feel at ease. Despite the process of the man cutting her hair feeling just as emotionless as the guards walk earlier, it felt like bliss, having weight off of her head although she couldn’t help but wonder what the occasion was. In the back of her head, an unease crept in but it was blocked out in the moment. She reopened her eyes and focused on the box, it was unlike anything she had seen in her life. The small glass inside resembled a mirror of sorts, but instead of showing one themselves it showed what appeared to be a simple movie of animals drawn to be on their hind legs with unrealistic proportions - bunnies and a boar at one point. In a way, it made her feel less like a monster. If creatures such as these were drawn and paraded around then maybe her appearance wasn’t as beastly as she thought. She was still a girl at the end of the day, she looked just like anyone else besides the claws and extra limbs. She watched the story play out before her eyes until she had to stand up. The guards lead her out of the room, she felt calmer and more content at this point although she still wished to learn about that girl she saw. Many things rang in her head, and she wrung her hands nervously as she thought about everything that happened thus far while curiosity blossomed about what was to come. Eventually, they stopped in front of another door. Unlike the last, it was one door, and there was no one inside. There was just a bench and on the bench clothes sat. The guard only ushered her in and closed the door. subject 015 figured things out quickly, it was obvious they wanted her to change into these clothes and therefore she did. The top was made of a thin cloth similar to the one making up her socks, and had the usual extra holes for her arms. There were no sleeves. Paired with the top were shorts she put on. In a way, it felt freeing. Having her limbs out and feeling the air. At the same time, she shivered as she stood there. She felt as though she was missing something as she walked, still feeling the stone floor on her feet. She knocked on the door. A signal she was finished, and it opened. They lead her through the building once more, getting further and further from her room. She hasn’t gone this far ever, despite living here her whole life. The shower was in the complete opposite direction of this place and the dining room sat in between the shower and her room. The dining room, subject 015 always wondered why it exists. Every time they brought her there it was only her eating in silence. They might be making sure she doesn’t injure herself again, or maybe it’s a form of control. That she can’t even eat without being watched. Despite the different rooms, every part of the building looked the same. It was made of pure stone. That fact made the building colder than most, she wonders if the guards and scientists have some sort of heat as they don’t seem to mind the temperature. There were few windows, and unlike her room’s window there were no bars. The air had no scent to it. No clinical smell of chemicals, no scent of must or muck. The building smelled like nothing. When the guards finally stopped, she almost bumped into them. They had been walking for so long it startled her when the motion disappeared. In front of the guards were a scientist and a nurse, and while the men spoke - the nurse approached subject 015. She wasn’t particularly gentle nor rough as she grabbed one of her hands and started wrapping it. The wrapping felt snug but not tight, it was soft but firm. The nurse took her time wrapping each of subject 015’s hands until she was done, to which she walked away and disappeared down the hall. The guards ushered her into the next room, the third one today. The area was wide and circular, the walls curving in as if they wanted to trap her. Above the wall, towards the ceiling, were glass panes. She was being observed. Her heart briefly sank. All of her previous thoughts went dead silent as she processed her fate. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen, nor if she would survive this time and a quiet part of her hoped she wouldn’t. She was finally in this big wide room. Alone, for the most part. The door on the very opposite side of the room opened, door creaking, and from the darkness stepped out the girl from earlier. Subject 016. She wore the same clothing as the girl in front of her. It seemed they were always in uniforms. Subject 015 shuffled on her feet for a moment, her eyes trained on the other girl in the room. “H- Hallo..” she managed to stutter out. She wasn’t sure where to go from here, what to say, what to ask or do. She didn’t know where to put her hands. The girl in front of her quickly progressed forward and before Subject 015 knew it, she felt the pain. The girl’s fist had connected with her face, making her stumble back. It was clear why they were put in the same room now. Not to socialize. To fight. The girl she once found hope in, for a brief moment, a symbol of solidarity had quickly become corroded. This girl was her rival, her match. The thought of her being her murderer, her savior in a sense, made her head spin. Subject 016 acted quickly in this moment, going for the stomach this time and landing another clean hit. Subject 015 knew she had to fight back or accept her fate, so she did. Adrenaline spiked, one hit to the head then she grabbed her hair and slammed her down into her knee causing blood to leak from subject 016’s nose before she was shoved away. The battle continued, though it seemed as if they were both afraid to make use of their own mutations during the fight. At one point subject 015 had subject 016 cornered, acting out of desperation the girl clawed at the others face causing wide gashes to the right side of her face yet she didn’t scream. She backed off for a moment, clutching her face, blood leaking onto her hands and clothing. She could feel blood pour into her mouth from where subject 016 caused a large gash. Rage flooded her, mixing with the pain and before she knew it her body acted on its own. Fist connected with face, subject 016 fell over from the impact and a foot held her down on the floor. Her second pair of arms were grabbed, and panic flooded the blonde haired girl - using her first to claw at her attacker’s leg. Ripping and pulling until they were torn out of their sockets and eventually torn from her body entirely, the noise that escaped her was beastly and full of agony. The blonde finally got up and rushed the brunette, punching her face until she passed out. The amount of strength required to tear one's arms out at the same time had rendered her exhausted, and she couldn’t do much but lay there as an alarm sounded and guards rushed in. That was the last thing she saw as she fell unconscious.