Lab Rats [Closed]

Pluto looked at the door fall down. She stared for a while. "How...Even...But I punched it before and it didn't go down and now it wants to go down? This place is unbelievable!" Pluto complained walking to the nalext room. She immediately felt the sudden change of temperature. She looked down at the orange liquid. "Lava? Typical." She walked on the catwalk. "This lava is Offaly close to me....." She said now floating. She was worried and made an assumption that the lava would suddenly start raising. "I don't trust this at all..." 

Room 71 seemed to be one of the weirder rooms, all things considered. It only had a single table, with three circles cut into them.

"Please wait for additional participants to reach this chamber," the voice tells her. "In the meantime, is there anything you'd like to make the time go by faster?"

When the voice hears the hedgehog's comment about heart-shaped cubes that contain corpses, it became agitated. "You're not supposed to know that," it said with emotion, a contrast to its almost monotonous speech from earlier. "That's classified information."

After a while, it does respond to his question as well, this returning to the routine of calm and monotonous. "Yes; any equipment deemed unfit for testing will be returned when the test is over. You are doing great, by the way. Keep up the good work!"

The next room contained several buttons and boxes.

-------------------------

Before executing the rest of the containment procedures, the AI wanted to give them one last to leave, appearing holographically as a small, blonde girl in a red dress to each of the squads.

"You have invaded my home," she says. "I don't want to harm you, but if don't promise me to leave, I will be forced to."

-------------------------

The lava didn't rise and the rusty door at the end creaked open. "Many could learn from your calm and collected approach. Please proceed to the next area."

The sea bunny was glad to see that she had no problems in getting through the door this time. Upon enterring the room, she tensed up, bracing herself as she was expecting there to be a dangerous test that awaited her.

Seeing as the table was the only thing in the room, she cautiously aprroached and examined it. The circles cut into it caught her attention, but she didn't know what to make of them, not knowing their purpose.

Once she had been told to wait on other subjects, she was a little surprised. She didn't think there would be others like her in this facility. Sure, there was evidence that someone had previously been in the room she was just in, but judging by the room's condition and... décor, it seemed like whoever was there had been long since dead, like the presumed technician. The thought that there might be others partaking in this strange event had not crossed her mind until now. Upon thinking further on it, she realized it may not be something to be too surpirsed about. The facility seemed capable and large enough to hold multiple tests at the same time, and on top of that, if this was an actual test and not just some sick joke, her results would need to be compared to someone's.

She soon began to wonder what these "tests" were for, and what their purpose was. She closed her eyes, and placed her hand on her chin, thinking deeply about this question. Alas, her train of thought was broken when the voice had asked if she would like something to aid her boredom in the passage of time.

She quickly opened her eyes. The voice having asked such a question caught her attention. The act of consideration seemed a little odd to her, given the circumstances, but she truly had nothing better to do at this moment, and there didn't seem to be any negatives about accepting the offer. She thought for a breif moment. Finally, she spoke for the first time since being stuck here. "...What are my options?" She murmured in a soft, yet serious tone, not even sure if the synthetic voice was able to pick up what she had just said.

Just as Caen reached for the door handle, the same voice replied to his question in a rather... Unsettling manner. The monotonous tone changed entirely, portraying what seemed to be agitation. From its reply, the hedgehog guessed that is, or at least was going to be one of his tests, causing him to chuckle to himself. One thing that gladdened him, though, was that his possessions would be returned. I doubt they'd really want to test what would probably amount to a couple of swords and a mobile phone, as well as whatever sweets he had stashed away. 'if they have even so much as lay a finger on them, I swear to God... he thought to himself, before sighing. Onto the next room.

The door handle easily turned and, with a metallic creak, the door swung open. This next room featured a very similar task, featuring several buttons and boxes. Clearly, whoever built this place had some sort of fixation on a certain series of video games. "Okay, budget GladOS. What am I supposed to do here?" Caen asked in a rather exasperated tone, looking up at the ceiling.

-The soldiers seem to not even notice her presence, as if they did not see her or simply ignored her, with the security systems in lock down mode, plans had changed both teams had began to rig explosive charges to multiple sides of the area. The result would blow open various entry points allowing for continue sweep of the complex. 

Bravo and echo elements set about rigging the charges, the faceless masked military like soldiers stood calmly with not a inch of fear to be noticed, then again unable to see their face no one could see how they were really dealing with the situation. 

Reinforcements had been scrambled from the base however were not going to be deployed until much later. 

" This is Bravo 0 get those charges rigged on the bulk head now I want multiple entrances blasted open, we will be nearing check point and link up with Echo element to continue on route to checkpoint two Echo element whats your status ?" 

"Echo 0 here charges are rigged and ready to detonate."


"Understood detonate the charges!" 


" Copy that fire in the hole!" 

-Multiple simultaneous explosions rocked the facility, these charges were condensed thermite packs, melting armor like a knife cutting through butter. A few more explosions went off till calm finally returned.- 

" Alright let's move go go go ! proceed to checkpoint 2 Echo element we will regroup at Checkpoint 2 confirm ?" 

" Solid copy we are en route to checkpoint 2 element on the move." 

-Both units move with swift speed and precise maneuvering, weapons raised and ready, they were now closing in to regroup but not only that they were getting extremely close to those subjects who the facility held.-

"calm and collected? You should also add annoyed and bored to that description of me right now. Tell me , A.I., do you work for anyone or am I to assume this is all your doing? " She said as she walked to the next area. Pluto's ear twitchEd to the left a bit. "Also, I know you have others here. I can hear them. They're not exactly quiet." 

"We have comfort and entertainment addons available as a moment's notice," the voice responded to the sea bunny's inquiry. "Unfortunately, you'll have to leave your suggestions and wait a couple of minutes; I have business to attend to."

The ceiling had a delivery system designed to dispense cubes into the room, with a nearby lever. The room itself was separated into four parts, each with a button and a door. So far, each door except the one leading to the last door was opened.

"Four buttons, four doors. Only a few specific sequences open the last one. Good luck."

------------------------------

The charges blew a sizable hole through the walls, but automated systems were quickly covering them up with more plating.

The holographic girl disappeared and activated the rest of the safety procedures, most notably filling the rooms with smoke and deploying security turrets in each corner.

"So be it."

-----------------------------

"I have orders that I must follow. The Genii Subsystems apologise that you find your testing experience unsatis-"

The voice stopped, being interrupted by an alarm. "Warning, reactor 7 core temperature critical!"

It was at this point the lava begun to rise rapidly. "Please, remain calm; I will deal with the problem at hand and then return."

As the soldiers set off multiple explosions throughout the area, the sea bunny's "ears" pivoted as if trying to pick up the direction of the sound. It was distant, but she was able to feel the vibrations. The expression on her face changed to concern. She had wondered if the explosion took place in one of the testing rooms.

When the voice had claimed that it had business to attend to, the bunny began to wonder if this meant cleaning up the mess caused by the explosions. Was someone's corpse splattered across the room? She stuck out her tongue and gave a look of disgust at the thought. What a poor soul. At least, it wasn't her.

She looked back at the table, and once again examined the circles carved in it. She pondered if the number of circles were connected to the number of people required for the test. If that were true, she hoped that at least two others would find their way to this room.

She began to wonder what would happen if less than that made it to this location. There would likely be a problem. But if that was the case, the voice would probably just let them proceed to a different area. 

She wondered how many were stuck in this facility, and how many have already lost their lives. Though, she was more concerned about herself than others, right now, so none of that really mattered much to her.

She soon realized that this might be her time to finally relax, for the test shouldn't begin without any other subjects in the room. She let out a long sigh as she sat herself down onto the floor. She wasn't as tense anymore. The sense of relaxation made her realize how mentally exhausted she was with trying to keep herself alive. She slowly closed her eyes, gradually and accidentally drifting off into a light slumber. Her body was finding trouble keeping her up as her muscles would relax and she would go limp, causing her to fall a little before waking back up and catching herself. With all that has gone on, the place had taken a toll on her both mentally and physically.

She figured that it'd be okay for her to lay down and take a nap... just for a few minutes. Nothing should happen without other subjects in the room. She could use some rest, even if it was while laying on a cold, hard surface.

She wasn't concerned with anything happening while she slept. She figured something would wake her if the test were to begin, or if there was any danger, should that be the voice, other participants, or simply a loud noise. This allowed her to find some sort of comfort, enough to where she let herself drift away in such a dangerous facility.

Four buttons and four doors. That was basically the best clue that the hedgehog got on what he was supposed to do in this room. He sighed "so, I presume certain combinations of these buttons open certain combinations of doors," he pointed out, before looking up at the ceiling "I doubt you'd give me anything to write down any notes, no?" He asked, lifting up a cube and placing it on the nearest button, to see its effect on the environment.

-Despite the multiple holes they blasted into the side of the various walls it seemed they were going to have to use more charges to get through, there recent explosive charges had seem of triggered another set of security defenses. Smoke started to fill the the area making visibility poor, however these soldiers were geared with various equipment to allow me to operate in such environments.

To add further complication to the objective walled mounted turrets started to pop up, coming up out of the corners, there first encounter to hostiles.- 

" Bravo element hug the walls! Turrets take them out! Echo element watch your back automated defenses have been activated deal with the turrets. Reinforcements will be arriving in 5 mins." 

" Copy that Bravo 0 engage and destroy the enemy automated defense systems Stay close to the walls and return fire!"

-The paramilitary forces reacted fast, faster then what typical soldiers could handle they immediately began to fire upon the turrets with great accuracy and speed, despite there being smoke the soldiers helmets had enhanced imaging making the use of smoke almost useless against them.

5 mins away two more gunships were en route carrying the specialized elements, they were going to deploy straight into the facility there first objective would be to find the control room and neutralize the communications jamming system and possibly over ride the facilities control system so they them self could take control of the complex.     

Gun fire echoed through the facility as the soldiers confronted the turrets. -

"There's always something isn't there?" Pluto's ear twiched more. She floated to the top of the room again. "The A.I. leaves me here alone with raising lava and there are people blowing things up. What a great day this must be" She said it so calmly looking down at the lava getting closer to her. "Genii Subsystems...I don't think I've heard that name before" 

The A.I's response was to make the bed addon emerge from underneath her and carefully covering her with a soft, thin blanket.

For the hedgehog's inquiry, the artificial intelligence running the test did give him a pen and paper. It opened the wall and dispensed those items via a, well, dispenser.

The button that was nearest closed the nearby door and possibly a few others beyond. "This test may cause frustration."

-----------------------------

The turrets were a lot more durable than they had any right to be and the room started shaking. "Executing Order 99. Releasing geothermal fond."

The room was now being flooded with extremely hot vapour, a byproduct of the coolant system for the generators.

---------------------

The lava stopped three quarters of the way and slowly went down. The walls seemed virtually untouched by the volatile force of nature.

The A.I. decided to spill the beans. "This facility is under attack by some unknown armed forces. Sorry if I'm a little busy buying you and the others some more time."

No machine tone this time. Just a girl talking.

The sea bunny felt the surface beneath her change from a cold, hard, floor to something softer, and sensed her body elevate slightly as the bed beneath her rose from the ground. Realizing that this could possibly be part of the test, she woke up, thinking it might have began. 

Her eyes shot open, and she sat up, but she was still rather drowsy since she had forcefully and suddenly pulled herself from her sleep. She looked around to find that she was on some sort of mattress. For a moment, she almost thought she was back at base, resting away in her room, but she soon came to realize that was not the case once she took in her surroundings. Her heart sank when she finally registered the fact that she was still stuck in the testing facility.

She soon felt the soft blanket cover her body. She pressed her hand against it, and took a moment to gather her thoughts. Why would they care enough to give her a blanket and a bed to sleep on? The consideration for her well-being baffled her once again. She decided to consult the AI. "Why...?" She murmured in that soft yet serious voice of her's as she pulled the blanket up to her chest. "What is the meaning of this?" She inquired, speaking more firmly, and expressing additional confusion in her tone of voice. Whoever was behind this seemed to care for her well-being outside of tests, but when it came to actually taking part in them, traps and other dangerous obstacles riddled the place, putting her life in danger. This didn't make sense to her. Perhaps they just wanted to see her top performance in these tests, but maybe there was a chance they actually had some sense of humanity. She waited patiently to hear from the voice, wondering if it was even around at the time to have heard her questions.

As the hedgehog observed the door beside him slamming shut, he sighed. As he stood there, he noticed what sounded like more of the doors shutting, although he didn't know how to confirm this. As he lifted the cube away, reopening the doors, he heard a slight clacking sound behind him. He turned around, seeing a pen and paper lying on the ground. "Well, that's unexpected..." He muttered, walking over and picking the two bits of stationery up.

He twirled the pen around in his fingers before scrawling a brief plan of the amount of room the hedgehog could walk into before being blocked by a closed door. Wait. The closed door, of course! If anything, Caen realised they could easily be bluffing at this point, meaning this entire puzzle was a waste of time! He stood before the door, giving it a hefty push to see if it would, in fact, open.

-The soldiers continue the hammer the turrets with sustained heavy ordinance until they began to realize they were facing yet another problem, a extremely volatile substance had began to pour into the room. Thankfully there advance gear would be able to whether this substance for a period of time. While confronting the defense turrets they needed to act fast or be more or less melted by the vapor.-

"Elements be advised volatile substance detected entering the chambers, our armor will hold out for a period of time but not going to take any chances, rig charges on the closest wall you can and breach it. Switch helmets to respirator mode to filter the substance!"


"Understood switching to respirator Echo 4 set that charge we need to get moving and out of this area before that substance eats through us." 


-Quickly moving to the front of the force Echo 4 rigs a much larger explosive then previously used, this was no ordinary explosive it was a thermite charge, able to melt it self through substances. The soldiers had to move quick the longer they spent the more danger they would be in.- 

"Thermite charged rigged and detonating fire in the hole!."

-A fiery explosion ripped through the door as if it was plastic, the hole opened and the soldiers moved quickly to escape the vapor and the turrets.

High above the two gunships had arrived off loading the new reinforcements, two teams of Assassins with two units of Phase troopers drop into, using the phase technology to move passed and through solid matter entering the complex, once inside the new forces move to regroup with the existing elements inside the facility.-

Pluto slowly floated down. She landed on the ground again. She looked at the walls. 'Hmm...0.000004% of wall has been burned off. It should be showing more signs of being burnt. Maybe this planet is not as primitive as I thought.' Pluto said in her head.  "Do you know why this unknown force is attacking? It can't be the local police if it's not known. " Pluto started thinking. "Why are you buying the others and I time? You haven't lead me to the others. Or any way to escape. " Pluto kept hearing noises. She turned to the direction of the most noise. "By the way, you have a lovely voice"

The AI hesitated whether to continue the pretense or drop the act like she did with Pluto.

"This facility is under attack," she started, dropping the synthetic voice for her own. "But the only way out is through the testing areas. I'm trying to make sure you're not hurt when you go through them."

The door bent. Seemed as if it was just cheap alluminium instead of steel.

"Sometimes, the obstacles are in your mind and your mind alone," she told him, keeping with the trend of not speaking like a robot. "I'd ask you to hurry into the next room."

--------------------------

The turret self-destructed past after a certain damage threshold, sending their remains as sharpnel across the room.

The room then started getting compacted, not unlike trash in a garbage truck.

------------------------------

She blushed at the notion of having a pretty voice.

"I don't know why they're attacking," she said. "Only way out is through the testing areas; I can't make this any shorter than I already have. Four rooms is the bare minimum."

"It wasn't supposed to be this way..."

(If you notice some sort of difference between this post and my previous ones, then it's because I'm pretty mentally burned out, here. My brain is fried. It has done enough thinking for today.)

The bunny was suprised to hear a voice that wasn't monotoneous and synthetic sounding. She wondered if this person was the voice from before. After listening to the girl's explanation, she realized it was.

Hearing that the place was being attacked gave a clear explanation as to what the cause of the explosion from before was. She had also taken note of some other sounds in the distance, but she didn't think anything of it at the time.

She felt the need to show her gratitude to the unknown girl, for expressing genuine concern for the sea bunny's safety. "Thank you." She spoke with utmost sincerity.

She was silent for a short while, but it didn't take long for her to get back to asking some more questions. "What are you doing here... and why is this place being attacked?" She inquired in a calm voice. Her reason for asking the first question was that she believed the AI to be an actual living being. She thought that perhaps it was a girl, sitting behind some sort of computer located somewhere within the facility. She figured the girl had used some sort of voice modifier to have given herself that synthetic sounding voice. It didn't once cross her mind that she may be some kind of artificial intelligence.

There was still an important question that she had yet to ask. "Why am I here...?" 

So far, this place was turning into quite a mystery. She knew nothing about the facility, other than the fact that it contained multiple testing rooms, but why? What is the purpose of this place? Why was it being attacked? What happened here? Questions were popping up faster than they could be answered.

With a pretty audible creak, the door started to bend, with a bit more force, Caen managed to rip through the metal. Very thin, and very cheap metal. That's all it appeared to be made out of. "Of course the answer would be this," the hedgehog remarked. Before the synthetic voice made its inevitable quip about the test, the voice suddenly shifted to that of a young female. She spoke of how the facility was under attack, to which the hedgehog replied with "what?! You only tell me this now?!"

Quickly, he stepped over the now scrapped metal door, walking through the hallway "hold on, why tell me at all? Surely you want me dead?" He asked, reaching the end of the hallway and swiftly opening the door.

-The mysterious force continues its push deeper into the complex, meeting obstacle after obstacle to overcome fortunately their highly adaptive nature saw them through, after managing to evade the vapor and destroying the sentry turrets the soldiers were posed with yet another situation the walls seem to be closing in, using more charges would not stop this they needed another way out, thankfully they had the right units dropped for such a problem.-

"Watch the walls they closing in, keep moving! Phase trooper team 1 do you copy we need you here ASAP we have various walls closing in on us we need a extraction route via Phase shift."


" This is Phase trooper team 1 responding confirmed we will deploy phase shift shortly we are nearly in position." 

" Bravo element this is Echo element we are picking up various thermal sources close to our position, possible life forms inside the complex are our orders still standing ?"

" Affirmative orders still stand eliminate all inside personal but ID before you engage." 


" Roger that!" 


" Assassin team Sigma here we have infiltrated the facility and commencing operations attempting to locate control room."

" Be advised Sigma we have life forms inside the complex use your optical camouflage to take them out also find a way to disable their communications jamming system." 

-The facility was now swarming with various types of soldiers it would only be a matter of time till they crossed paths.-

"You truly have not a clue why you are being attacked?!? Maybe you stole one of their people. " Pluto ran through the room. "Where is your location? I have far too many questions for you little girl! Whoever is attacking I can handle. Nothing is immune to gravity. " Pluto had entered the next room but stopped waiting for an answer. "Here's a tip on life. Nothing ever goes as planned if there are too many variables." 

"I'm running tests; you're here because you were randomly chosen from a list of candidates."

That was as much explanation as the sea bunny was gonna get.

The next room contained a table with three circles in it and a person laying in bed.

----------------------------

The AI could only watch helplessly as its defences were failing and the soldiers were digging deeper and deeper into the facility.

They found the elevator leading down to the first testing chamber.

---------------------------

"AI Core. We'll meet soon."

Even Pluto found herself in the same room as the sea bunny and the hedgehog.

After hearing the girl's explanation, the rabbit-like creature closed her eyes, and tilted her head to the side, letting out a sigh. She fell back onto the bed, and stared up at the ceiling, pondering upon her vaguely answered quetions. She soon rolled to the side, and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. Her mind was stuck on trying to figure out what exactly this complex was. This made it difficult for her mind to rest, yet she closed her eyes once more, and attempted to fall back asleep as she waited on other participants to arrive.

Hardly a minute passed before she heard a door open. Her "ears" pivoted, picking up the direction of the sound. She slowly opened her eyes, appearing exhausted as she lifted her head to face the red hedgehog who entered the room. She stared at him with a weary expression for several moments before letting her head fall back onto the mattress. She greeted him with a wave before rolling over, and turning her back to him. She knew they at least needed one more person before the test were to begin, so she decided to go back to try and get some rest while she could.

However, only mere seconds went by before the sound of yet another door openeing pulled her from her rest. She sighed at her failed attempt to gain more sleep while she could, and looked over at the odd being who came into the room. Once she laid her eyes upon this strange creature, her expression changed to interest. She no longer appeared to be so exhausted.

"Who are you...?" She asked Pluto as she pushed herself up from the bed. She seemed far more interested in this Nubiu than she was with the hedgehog. She especially took notice of the way that her hair seemed to be made of unearthly (unmobiusly ?) material with how it contained a space-like appearence. This was quite a beautiful and fascinating phenomenon that caught her attention.

The door creaked open, revealing a relatively large room. In the middle was one table, with three circular holes cut out of it. A rather interesting take on décor, Caen thought. Then again, he wasn't one to talk. Aside from the table was a rather comfy-looking bed. Caen was thinking about climbing into it and resting were it not for the sea bunny that stared at him for a few seconds, before flopping back down. Either she was incredibly tired, or rather rude. Either way, the hedgehog shrugged it off.

Before he decided to make conversation with the sleepy creature, a third door opened. Stepping out this time was a rather... Odd-looking person. She appeared to have fungi growing out of her face, yet she was somehow... Glowy? Was that the way to put it? All of a sudden, the sea bunny was really interested. In response, the hedgehog gritted his teeth, taking a small amount of offence. He shook his head, choosing not to focus on something as petty as jealousy. He shifted his attention to the alien, first, and then to the sea bunny. "Well, it's good to see I'm not the only one going through this... Rather interesting facility," he said, a sense of warmth in his tone that he did not have with the AI who had been the only form of communication beforehand.

-At last they found what seemed to be the way down into the lower sectors of the complex, bravo and echo element pile in and proceed onto the testing chambers sector.-

" This is Bravo and Echo elements we have found a elevator into the main testing sector of the facility we are about to enter it, be advised we are now picking up 3 thermal sources in the sector below orders are to ID targets on site before engaging. Phase teams have you located the control room yet ?" 

"Phase team 1 and 2 report no sight of the control room we are continuing search through the lower sections once we find it we will over ride control."

" Assassin team Sigma reporting in we have neutralized the communications jamming systems. Link has been re established with command."

"This is command all units what happened..we lost contact with you for a 2 hours."

" There was a communications jamming preventing us from contacting you the problem have been rectified. Echo and Bravo elements are entering the testing sector now. We have contact with 3 potential hostiles."

" Understood ID before you engage we may want some of them alive for transfer to the near by facility confirm new order."


" Affirmative." 

-The Elevator hits its destination, the large doors opened and the soldiers poor out sweeping the area, weapons drawn and raised.-