A Chance Encounter

 - The Center, Junior Detention Bloc D, ████ 23:12, █ years before the Incident


The Detention Bloc was completely composed of reinforced concrete and steel. Even the beds were devoid of comfort and covering, flat extension hanging from the walls on chains. The air was stale and smelled of bleach.

There were eleven empty cells in that Detention Block. And one occupied cell.

In the middle of which sat a girl on the floor with crossed legs. Alone aside an untouched platter of 'dinner' long since turned cold. She could barely be called a teenager, her white hair had been completely shaved off, her clothes were ragged and dirty. Her boots cast off in a meditative state, as she sat there, seemingly content to be alone with only the noise of the hallway ceiling fan.

Despite that, she was not as alone as it might have appeared, her head was craned at an odd angle.

Standing anywhere else in the cell, one would only have that rusty fan for entertainment.

However, where she sat, from the small air-vent she caught a faint conversation coming from the entry hall to the bloc.

"... What? You believe that?" The older, hoarser voice asked.

The second came a moment later. This one speaking with an accent the girl placed as from the Ozarks. "Doesn't matter if I'd even said anything, she was gonna take the fall no matter what. Eggheads rank her low. Trainers all hate her. She's the fall girl in her platoon."

"So why isn't she going to the drop list?"

A scoff. "Why do you think? They need some wins for this dog-shit program. Even if she is a shit mentalist, she's an acceptable soldier. Might even fit in with the crayon eaters in Spec-ops."

Both men laughed. "We still on for Cards?" The older man asked.

"Should be. Unless Bose thinks he can worm his way out of it again."

There was some rustling, steps. Then a door was shut. And she was finally left to her own devices.

She did not move, sitting contemplative like a Buddhist monk.

Yet that peace couldn't last. After a few minutes something else caught her attention, and it was unlike anything she had heard before. Like a gelatinous sloshing, coming from the vent behind. So faint she almost thought it was her imagination. Though, after a moment it became clear it was drawing closer. She rolled up, briefly checking the hall, before turning and dropping suddenly, looking through the air vents' grates.

A number of brackish oily eyes stared back, looking less like organs belonging to a living creature and more extensions of a disturbing balloon that had filled up the vent space. This mass froze. Both sharing a certain stunning.

The girl reacted first, turning her head. "Huh." She said softly. "That'sa' new kind of rat."

The mass withdrew, almost vanishing into the darkness as it tried to escape. But something happened. To the unusual senses of this mass it felt then as if something had touched it, and suddenly there was a note on the skewed vet grate faced on its side. Scratched onto the paper with a rusty edge. 'KEEP QUIET! LOTS OF CAMERAS AND MICROPHONES!' The mass stopped, staring at the note with clear comprehension.

Then the note was gone as if it had never existed, the girl behind visibly chewing something as she stood up. The flesh entity creeped forward, noting that the screws keeping the grate in place had vanished. Outside, the girl picked up the plastic platter, before walking back over. With a deliberate slowness, she pushed the vent grate aside, and when it was far enough away she kicked it into the opposite. "Oops." She said. "They aughta' fix that. Someone could be hidin' shit in here."

Then, with the same plain irreverence she dropped the plastic platter in front of the opened vent.

Cold beans, unsalted potatoes, and curiously half a lime. The eyes of the flesh-thing widened, teeth emerging from the spaced between the now almost glowing pupils. The girl sat down beside the vent, watching half-lidded and grinning as the creature came over. The faint slosh revealing how much of it was hidden out if sight.

It stopped near the edge, a single eyeball on a fleshing stalk extending out to look at the nonchalant girl. She said nothing, but tapped the food tray expectantly.

The moment her hand was gone, a mass of meat, teeth, and sensory organs emerged to flatten the meal tray, audibly sucking for a moment before it withdrew. Leaving no trace of itself or the food that had been there. The girl let out a wheezy laugh as the eye extended out again. "Looks as if you needed that more than I did fratru. Don't even feed us schiffs proper." The eye swiveled for a moment, before an imitation of a high pitched rat noise echoed from the flesh.

That made her laugh even harder, almost wheezing.

Another rat noise emerged from the entity, as a few more eyeballs peaked out from the vent with pitched curiosity.

"Yea' you lucked out ratto. Cheap guards, jus' me..." She looked down at the eyes. "They got you wound up like a string eh?" She tapped on  her temple, as one of the eyes craned up to look at her. "Can't feel what they got you feelin', but I feel it without the feelin'. If you get me?"

In the space between spaces, both felt something chewing at the fringes of their consciousness.

The flesh entity was still, attempting perhaps to decipher what it was. Or perhaps curious as to the young woman before it.

This young woman was not at all concerned, aside from a slight smile she did not at all seem bothered by this entity. Or perhaps she was just too tired to actually comprehend what she was dealing with.

She started, the flesh did not know why but the girl jerked upright.

"Puchiach." She spat, and to the eyeballs of that hidden flesh they were suddenly shoved back behind a restored vent cover, once again screwed to the wall. "Now scooch Ratto, and see ya' soon?" She said, giving the odd creature a last wink as it registered the distant steps, pressing near. The girl stood up, pacing over the bars of her cell, sparing a single look back to the grate.

There was no sign that anything at all had been there, no sign of any tampering aside a little concrete dust on the floor. She sighed, leaning back against the bars. Waiting.

She did not need to wait long as the din finally reached her, a shrill alarm rang out as every cell door was unlocked by automated access, though she did not take advantage of this. She remained still, waiting. Out of sight the bloc's door was almost kicked open and several men filtered into view. They wore white plastic suits and gasmasks that obscured their faces, carrying unusual spray guns that resembled fire extinguishers more than flame throwers. The girl did not seem bothered as the group of three began yanking open the cells. Behind, another man walked in, middle aged with brown hair, flabby jowls and a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. His uniform marked him as an officer, and unlike many at the Center he had a nametag on his chest. 'Col.Woods'

He glared at the young woman as he stepped in front of her. "Umbro." She looked up, half-smiling. "Have you noticed anything unusual?"

"Besides the wardens dippin' out a bit early?" She shrugged. "Notta' all. Is' been pretty normal."

"Feel like fessing up over this pudding nonsense?" The Colonel asked.

'Umbro' just shook her head.

"Apologizing then?"

"Can't apologize for somethin' a' didn' do." The girl retorted.

"Then it's another day in here for you." The colonel grunted, as one of the white-suits marched over.

His voice was muffled by the gasmask. "Have you heard anything from in the vents?"

Again, she shrugged. "Jus' the usual rats. Ye' should really do somthin' about them sounds like they're getting pretty big."

The gas-mask stepped back as the Colonel jerked, snapping the cigarette in his hand into two. He looked at the young woman for a moment as if he was considering reaching through the bars to strangle her, while she seemed to be utterly oblivious to what the men were worried over. Then the Colonel turned to the white-suit, mouth half open when one others approached.

"Sir. No sign of eight oh-oh one, but there also isn't coverage to guarantee it can't slip out here. What do we do?"

"I don't know." The Colonel suddenly grabbed the first white-suit by the arm, yanking him forward. "Since it seems like you incompetent project ingrates cost me my damn brig. What do you suggest Major?" The last word was laced with enough venom to kill an elephant.

Behind his gasmask the man choked. "We can seal up the vents but not in any way we can guarantee any resident's safety! And every second we waste here is another chance for the Project to escape! We've got a dozen other buildings to screen!"

"What's the matter?" Umbro asked. "Do we have some big cucarachos running around?"

The white-suits were silent, Woods audibly grit his teeth. Umbro utterly nonchalant or utterly ignorant.

Either way, the Colonel grabbed the door and threw it open.

"Get back to your Dorm." He ordered. "Any delays and you go to the pit next time."

Umbro picked up her boots and gingerly saluted as she stepped out, whistling. "Almost got used to the quiet." She muttered, before passing out of sight.

Two of the white-suits immediately set to work, pulling off the vents in the cells and using their sprayers filled the entrances with a solid stoney packaging, as two men before Umbro's empty cell did not move. Finally. The Colonel released the Major's arm.

"Next time you decide to let one of your pet projects off its leash and it finds its way this far out, I'm having you by the neck." He leaned in. "So. This won't happen again."

"Yes Colonel. We're already looking into long-term precautions." The Major said stepping back.

"Tell your overseer he should have done that when that blob was handed to them." He stepped off, making for the Bloc's entrance. "Now move it gentlemen! We have a monster to bag!"