"You will, effective immediately, surrender your freedom and surrender your whole self to your employer, [ CENSORED ], so as to efficiently perform duties as a Bodyguard. In the event that any mishaps including, but not limited to, unexpected experimentation catastrophes, sudden laboratory invasions, treacherous plots, and self-inflicted harm, occur, the hired bodyguard will be tasked with and held complete responsibility for the protection of his or her employer, [ CENSORED ]. Do you agree to the terms, hereby set?"
"... Yes."
"Good. Proceed down the hallway."
I went down the hallway, unaware of the possibilities of what might happen. The naivety... I was knocked unconscious and the next thing I knew, I was awake on a hospital bed, an unholy itch on my cutie mark, but when I sat up to look at it... it was gone. It only gets worse from there...
"Proceed to testing."
"Wait, testing? Wait, no. What? What testing? I don't -"
--- ---
Rook pained himself recalling the memory, but he felt it necessary to vent out to Experiment 404 if he were to trust her in his escape efforts. He planned to escape so he could save his family and the only way he would be able to achieve his goal is with Experiment 404. Even with his modified construct, Rook could not pull any operation off on his own. Rook had surrendered his might to the hatted stallion a long time ago under the agreement that the hatted stallion would not bring harm to his family.
Rook, sitting solemnly against the wall next to 404's bed, looked up at the dull colorless ceiling. He muttered, "Lies."
Rook himself used to have honor. He thought highly of honor and discipline, at least as much of it he can in his current predicament. Escaping and breaking his contract would damage his honor irreparably, but Rook reasoned that the hatted stallion had broken it before him so, though it's not fair game, it provides a loophole to go back on his word.
Rook sighed and tossed a glance over to 404. She was resting peacefully in bed, almost as if she hadn't a worry in the world. Rook scoffed quietly and slumped a little lower down the wall.
"These experiments are messed up things." Rook's eyes darted around while his ears swiveled, trying to pick up any trace of unwanted eavesdroppers. There were none as far as he could tell. He continued, "They damage a pony irreversibly in hopes that they will be granted with powerful magic that extends beyond our current way of thinking."
Rook looked about again before starting again, "I reckon since your psychological experiment there have been another thirty or so new ponies who came in. There are the test subjects, and the contributors. It is a euphemism really. Contributing sounds like it is a selfless act. In a way it is I suppose, but it is cruel. They are only brought in to - "
A series of clanks rang from down the hall and interrupted Rook. They almost sounded like the ruckus dropped pots and pans produce. He looked over at 404 and noticed that she had woken up and was staring intently at the doorway. She glanced back at Rook before sinking down into her bed covers, turning over on her side.
Rook trotted out the doorway and peered down each end of the hallway. Nothing seemed out of place, but Rook still cantered on the cautious side of things and turned around to return back into the room, but the door had shut.
What?! I hadn't shut the door! What? How? ... Rook's brain raced to figure out what happened. He danced in place until it donned on him.
The other pony that was in there... The 404 look-alike. Oh no...
He pressed his ear to the door and heard a muffled voice. It was muffled, but Rook could barely make out what it said. "Didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It's fine." Rook's eyes narrowed. It sounded like his own voice. He trotted around the hallway, tapping his head with a hoof hoping that a spontaneous idea would come to him.
Nothing. I guess he had no choice but to bust the door down...
--- ---
There was a slam, 404 shot back up and peered at the door. Rook had returned back in. She raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. Rook turned around and caught on. He answered, "Didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It's fine." Rook smiled maliciously at 404, the smile plastered on his face while he sauntered closer to 404's bed. Something was off. Rook's eyes were the wrong color. It's friendly sky-blue was now a piercing, deep magenta.
404 gulped. She felt the fur on the back of her neck stand on end. This was not Rook. It couldn't be. She growled and bared her teeth. There were no daunting fangs to accompany her growl this time around, however. Rook's smile disengaged and he raised both eyebrows in surprise.
"Now, now. That's not how you treat your sister, is it? I am this lab's Experiment 405, and your blood-related sister. Well, we were before the experiments."
Before 404 could react to her words, the door blew in, creating a massive cloud of dust that shot splintering wood shrapnel into the room. Most of which stuck to the walls, but the few that did not were embedded in the false Rook's behind. The false Rook's eye twitched. He turned around to meet the real Rook's gaze. Rook's sky-blue gaze burned into the false Rook's resolve, melting it. He took a few steps closer to the fake and snorted.
The fake's body immediately let off a green flash and she became a different pony entirely in the blink of an eye. The fake had become the 404 look-alike again. She flashed a failing smile and blinked a few times.
Rook coolly cast a glance over to the bed that the look-alike had been in and noticed that it was empty. I guess this must be her. Seems like she can shapeshift. He felt anger set it, seemingly arriving from no where.
He shook his head and looked down upon Experiment 405. He snorted and trotted up to 404's bed, shoving the shapeshifter aside. As he inspected 404 for injuries, he asked 405, "Is that your true form, 405?" He concluded that 405 hadn't brought harm to 404.
Gently, she asked, "How do you -"
"I overheard your conversation with Experiment 404. You're her sister?"
405 looked away, hiding behind her rust-colored mane. She looked back up at Rook, nodding quietly.
Rook repeated, "Is that your true form?"
405 nodded again, but looked away as she did.
Rook scoffed and stared down at 405. "You sounded confident and more sturdy when you talked. What happened to you now?" He trotted past her back to the doorway to look down either hall. No one was approaching but that doesn't mean no one will notice the big empty space of where a door should have been.
She quietly answered, "I imitate the voices of ponies as well..."
Rook sighed. "Of course you do. What are you doing here? Why?"
404 pushed herself up and leaned against the wall. She, too, wanted to hear her sister's reason. She swiveled her ear to listen better. She head 405 take a deep breath.
"Well, I was just thinking, that... I could get you two out of here..."
Rook raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think we want to leave?"
Without even pretending to think about it, 405 replied, "Because... I overheard you talking to 404 while she was asleep. I can shapeshift, uhh. What's your name?"
Rook eyed 405 suspiciously but eventually gave in. "Rook."
"I know you probably have your abilities too, being a successful experiment. I see your E-mark. It's streak is vertical."
Rook looked down at his Experiment Mark. He had been a successful experiment. His components were not hard to modify and install after all... He glanced over at 405's E-mark. She seemed to be a success as well. Following his gaze, 405 shook her head. I'm not. I simply shifted my E-mark. I'm really a failure, but I don't want to die, so I used my ability to appear as a success.
Rook grunted, he understood how she felt, not a personal level, but he still understood. Failure are sent to disposal where they are destroyed, and nopony wants to die. Returning back to 405's original question, he shook his head. "I won't be telling you my mods just yet. I don't trust you enough."
"Well, then I will be waiting until the day you do."
That was pretty sappy. "Alright. I can live with that answer." Rook looked back at 404, who had a questioning look on her face.
"Oh, right." Rook looked back at 405. "404 wants to know how do you intend to help us?"
"Well, I can just change shape and become a doppelganger of 404 and act as her while you guys just sneak out and escape..."
Rook sighed and sat down. He buried his muzzle in his hooves and shook his head. "No, that won't work. That's not nearly enough. Speaking of failed things, 405, you should re-shift your E-mark so it looks like you're a success."
405 looked at her flank disgruntled, and shifted her mark. "Stop calling me 405 or Experiment 405. I have a name. It's Hex."
Rook scoffed, "Hex? Since when? In my knowledge, I'm the only experiment that was allowed to keep his or her name and that is only because I work directly under the hatted stallion as his bodyguard."
"Keep your name? No, I don't remember my name, I've been here for a while. I don't remember my name, or if I even had one, but I remember being a filly when I arrived here with my sister."
"404?"
Hex nodded jubilantly and continued, "We grew up here and the mean ponies that guarded the batch of fillies that I was in called me Hex, so I thought it was my name... Ever since then I thought my name was Hex..."
Rook nodded in contemplation. Finally, he said, "But 404 did not get a name?"
Hex shook her head.
"Can she even talk?"
"I have never heard her talk. She made faces and noises, but never talked..."
Must be a mute... Sigh. Of course the third Unknown had to be a mute. What was I thinking..? Rook reburied his muzzle. He sat for a while, thinking long and hard. To escape, we'll need a plan. We'll need reconnaissance, a general layout of the laboratory, and the locations of all exits just in case. He groaned. Escaping was never easy, but for some reason, this escape felt like it was going to be hard. There is a reason no one has ever escaped this lab...
He glanced up to see a scientist standing in the hall. The scientist had an extremely confused look on his face as he stared at the crumpling doorway. Rook's eyes grew wide as he realized that he had done that. He scanned the room for Hex and 404, noticing that they were both in their original beds. He exhaled in relief.
"Uh, Rook. I hope you don't mind me talking to the head about this..." The scientist didn't give Rook a chance to rebuke, so he just hung his head and stood up.
He looked up and trotted toward the doorway. "Great, now I have to explain what happened to the hatted stallion." Rook looked back at the two ponies he planned to plot with later and sighed. He continued out the doorway and hastily made his way to the hatted stallion's quarters.