Work Text:
For as long as I can remember I’ve been in this place… I’ve tried to leave many times when I was still allowed to roam these halls. I know from what I’ve overheard through the years that I once had a family… I don’t remember them… Sometimes that thought is too hard to bear, but right now I’m too numb to care. Voice tries to talk to me but I’m too numb to listen. They took a lot more from me than they usually do. They try to call to me but I don’t even have a name to call. I lack everything that defines a person. I lack a name, a home, a family, education, normal speech, a personality, freedom, you name it. I was just a husk of a human and they like it that way, they made it that way. I’m too tired, too numb. I think I wanna sleep.
When I open my eyes again I feel a lot more alive than before. Something feels different… I feel hopeful…
“I’m glad you’re awake. You’ve been sleeping for a lot longer than you normally do.” Voice spoke. Ah, right it was still there. Sometimes I wonder if Voice is just a figment of my imagination but then they say things or more correctly put they predict things that I could never know. “Something important is gonna happen today so I need you to stay awake. Can you do that for me?”
“I guess…” I can barely croak out the words, my throat rough and dry from sleep, my voice weak and shaky from lack of use. I can’t actually see Voice but they’re always there. Always by my side.
There wasn’t much to do in my cage except wait. So that’s what we did. Just like every other day. Until it wasn’t. In an instant, the door to my room was busted open and in its now empty frame stood a silhouette. The light from the hallway blacked out its front leaving me to stare at its dark shape. It started to walk towards me and the closer it came the more I saw. It was a girl. A girl who looked younger than anyone I’d seen here before but she looked older than me, that doesn’t mean much, I don’t even know how old I am myself. She stopped in front of my cage and kneeled down. Her face was pinched up into an odd expression I couldn’t quite place.
“Are you… ok?” her voice was soft, a lot smoother than mine but almost just as shaky.
“Did you come to save us?” my voice was grating to my own ears but I couldn’t help myself. She could be my ticket out of here, I needed to know, even if it hurt my throat. Her face became more firm and serious. It scared me, was she not here to help? To put a stop to these people's bad games?
“Yes, yes I am.” An overwhelming sense of relief filled me, crushed me, and completely overtook me. Tears spilled from my eyes in huge waves. I took in deep hiccuping breaths as she worked with the lock on my cage. I didn’t see how she did it but in a second the lock was broken and my cage door was wide open. I jumped into her arms, I didn’t even care if my cord was pulling on my leg, I was too happy. I was too free.
“Let’s get you out of here.”