Chapter Text
-Urbanshade, Hadal division test log
-Subject: Z-13
-Objective: Insert |||||||||||| DNA on subject
-Subject status: Sedated and chained
The words on the PA resonated inside Sebastian's head. Even more tests would be done. It was supposed to be the last one, but of course, so was the previous one, and the one before it. He was laid down on the cold cement floor, chained down, tranquilizing serum made his vision blurry and his muscles heavy.
The door in front of him opened and a man carrying a syringe and 2 guards entered.
He pulled on one of the chains. Useless.
The man got closer to him, with the other two following close behind. He slurred out a vague threat. Useless.
The man was tapping the syringe to get rid of any air bubbles.
He cried, his voice giving out and cracking, begging for mercy.
Useless.
Sebastian shot up, banging his head on the metal ceiling of the ventilation systems, the sound echoing through them. He looked around a bit, trying to make sense of his situation. His memory was hazy, but he could piece together some things. He had passed out again. After all, feeding off wall dwellers and human meat, barely sleeping and having been used as a guinea pig was going to bring issues.
He groaned, turning around to face up and placing a hand on his forehead. When was he getting out of this hellhole? Months? Years? Decades? Would he even get out at all? He took it off his mind once he heard footsteps coming from below. It was another group of expendables, just what he needed after waking up from another horrendous nightmare. Peering through the nearby vent grates, he could see they had already left the room he was above, but he could still see the sign indicating the room number.
-"Room 29... I better get going..."
He sighed.
Sebastian slithered across the vents, every once in a while hearing some activity from the group. Drawers opening, doors sliding, the rattling of the lockers, shortly followed by the scream of one of the anglers, about what he'd expect. To him, it was almost fun watching them struggle to keep the doors closed against Pandemonium, getting a cackle out of him. He stopped himself from laughing and kept moving.
He soon arrived at the spot he'd made into his shop, with the very familiar static from the radio. He began to set everything up. The batteries on the desk, placing the keycard next to the radio and adjusting the items on his tail to face towards the door. He kept silent, trying to keep an ear out for the incoming expendables.
Waiting some more, he was starting to wonder how far they would make it this time. He was kind of hoping they wouldn't make it past the Searchlights room to get the items back, since his new body made him a much bigger target for them…
He got an idea. After living down there so much, it did get boring at times, maybe he could scare the expendables a bit? If they made it this far, they wouldn't be so easy to drive off, right? Oh, he should probably turn off his lure.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of far away doors opening and the even fainter sound of the expendables, talking about a wall dweller following them. Seems they were getting closer. He got inside the vent shaft that connected to the hallway and waited for just the right moment... Once he heard the closest door opening…
He sent the vent grate flying across the hallway.
-"Need to stock up?"
The three-person group was shocked at the sudden situation, wondering what it was. They eventually decided to send two people there to investigate and leave one outside to keep an eye out.
The two expendables went across the vent and into the dark room. One of them pulled out a flashlight, but he had some trouble trying to turn it on, so he started whacking it, that usually works... The other one was feeling around the room, trying to find a light switch or anything to let them see, until something caught his eye. He saw a glowing light blue orb a few feet off the ground, and then another next to it, and another…
The first expendable finally got the flashlight to work, but he was interrupted by the other's shaking hand on his shoulder, now noticing the three glowing orbs, he quickly shone the light on them, revealing scaly skin and a wide grin.
The expendables let out a scream that could shatter glass, dropping the flashlight and backing themselves into a corner defensively.
Sebastian laughed at the EXR-P. He loved messing with them, their reactions were always worth it... Back to business however, he turned on his anglerfish lure, which lit the whole room.
-"Welcome, welcome! Don't be afraid, I'm not gonna hurt you, despite what you have seen, heard, and/or been told. My name is Sebastian. Your only friend."
He used the same greeting for every group coming down here, it was getting very repetitive…
-"If I'm not wrong, your supervisors told you to get some loose assets. Well, I have quite the deal for you..." He then gestured towards the items on his tail.
-"In exchange for some of those, you can have some of these handy items! Who knows? Might help you get there! Or, if you're running low on batteries, like you are right now..." He looked towards the expendable that had previously held the flashlight.
-"They're on the table. When you're done shopping, you can fetch the keycard next to the radio and be on your merry way. You got all that?"
The two expendables backed into the corner were still breathing heavily, looking at the huge sea creature staring back at them, dead silent.
-“What? I just said I’m the only thing down here not actively trying to kill you, are you gonna take up my deal or..?”
One of them gathered their courage and slowly got closer to Sebastian, still not trusting of him. Eventually, he was close enough to look at the items in the tail, and began to browse, looking at all the things in stock. Sebastian waited for him to make a choice. To be honest, he wanted them to be gone already, but if he ever wanted any way of getting out, it's what he had to do.
-“Hey… you didn't leave your teammate outside, didn't you?” He asked the nearer expendable.
-“How rude of you! Where are your manners?” He said in a teasing tone, making fun of them.
-“Hey, you outside! Come on in before you get eaten by somethin’ will ya?”
A few seconds after he said that, he heard the sound of walking in the vents, stopping before entering the room.
-“No need to be shy! I'll keep it short for you. I'm Sebastian, and for some of your ‘loose assets’ I'll give you some items to help you on your way.” He exclaimed, trying to sound welcoming to the newest potential customer.
After those convincing words, they finally got out of the vent, and something about their looks stopped Sebastian in his tracks.
The expendable looked much less… human than the other two. Grey, tough skin, sharp teeth peeking from inside their mouth and the most notable difference, a shark tail.
-“Well, you're a peculiar one, aren't you? What's up with… you?” Sebastian asked, questioning the newcomer.
They looked rather frustrated with the comment, but they were still looking at the vent where they came from, looking towards it every few seconds. Sebastian then noticed some bruises on their face, and pieced together they may have been attacked by the wall dwellers.
-“Hey, don't burn your little head out worrying about that now, eh? I got a few things here that might be of interest to you~” He said, showing off a medkit.
They didn't really seem bothered by the giant sea serpent man in the room and seemed the calmest of the group. Instead, they went over to the table and grabbed the keycard. They then went to lean on the wall to the side of the vent entrance and next to it, waiting for their teammates to be done shopping.
Sebastian really didn’t like their sass, but it's not like he could make them buy something, so he shrugged it off, and when they were done, he waved them off.
He sighed. Back to the usual loneliness of the place. Nothing to do, except wait for another group to show up and repeat the routine again and again and again. He heard the sound of footsteps slowly fading away, probably the last he'll hear of them… He let out a sigh of frustration.
He spent some time there, the yellow light from his lure being his only company, thinking what he should do next. But his thoughts were interrupted by the far away sound of footsteps, growing louder, and by their frequency, someone was running. He didn't want to peek out of the vent, just in case there was an angler, but before deciding what to do, the shark expendable from earlier came dashing through the vent.
They were crying and breathing heavily. They didn't even notice nor remember Sebastian was in there and sat down, knees to their chin. He wanted to help, but wasn't sure on how to. He debated if he even should try to say something, but listening to them panic so hard just made him feel bad for them.
-ehem “I'm uh- sorry to interrupt you, but… what's the reason you came in here freaking out?” Sebastian wanted to be empathetic, but he still couldn't shake off the rude tone.
The expendable looked up at him. Their pupils were shaking violently. They tried to control their breathing, taking deep breaths, and eventually managed to stabilize their breathing.
Sebastian sighed, he wasn't equipped to help anyone emotionally, so he just stood back and let them breathe it out. He still had questions for them, so making them panic for more time would slow that down a lot.
-“You done?” he scoffed
-“Look, I dunno what you expected signing up for this, it said it would be risky… Gotta read the fine print, y'know?”
-“T-They just died! You're just gonna- talk about them like that!?” they yelled out, standing up against him.
-“Oh, please… I've seen thousands of 'em die. Killed some myself, actually! The big guys above said so, you're expendable.”
-“Ugh, should I even bother arguing with you?” they said, irritated.
Sebastian laughed at that.
-“Ha! No, you shouldn't!”
They sat down again, letting out a sigh.
-“I should have just stayed as I was… I never needed this whole thing…” they whispered to themselves.
Sebastian heard that, perking up his fins.
-“Hm? What's that mean?”
The expendable was shocked he heard their whispering, looking at him weird.
-“You heard that..? Nevermind… I just joined Urbanshade's body modification program. Didn't expect them to…” They trailed off.
-“Body modification pro-? What the hell is that?” He asked
-“You're not on it? It's like a program to change your body to have fins or gills or stuff like that.”
-“Unfortunately for me, I got forced to be a guinea pig for this damn place, so those gills of yours are courtesy of yours truly…” He glared at them bitterly
-“Oh-! I'm so sorry… I didn't know that…” They said, backing down.
-“Hmph, why are you even down here? I'm guessing it means that they backstabbed you and forced you here?”
-“Yeah, pretty much…”
They looked around nervously, trying to avoid eye contact.
-“Ah! I should keep moving, HQ said they were going to kill me remotely if I didn't move…”
-“Hang on a second there.”
Sebastian stopped them, having an idea.
The body modification program they mentioned would definitely be more leverage, which means if he were to escape with them, he'd have much more chances against the people that tortured him all these years.
-“I might have a little something to help with that, if you would make a deal with me…”
This took them by surprise. He seemed very sketchy, but they didn't lose anything by hearing him out.
-“Alright… What is this deal?”
-“Listen close. The thing they use to kill you when they want is your own diving gear. Now I can offer to disarm it for you and a way out, if you do me a favor. I've been trying to get leverage against Urbanshade to get out of here. The program you mentioned has no way of being legal, so… If you promise to testify against them in court… I could help you get out.”
They contemplated the offer. Would it be the safer bet to take this deal? Or to get out the way he was doing before? On the other hand, taking down the corporation that put them in this place…
The decision was kind of rash, but they looked at Sebastian and said:
-“Fine...”
-“Wonderful! I'm looking forward to working with you here… Never did catch your name, did I?”
They laughed a bit at him.
-“It's Clover, I just hope this ends well for us…”
-“Well, looks like you have luck on your side already, huh?” he chuckled at the dumb pun, while Clover looked like they were already regretting the deal.
-“Alright, alright… listen up!” Sebastian said, holding his laugh.
-“I don't really have the equipment to disarm your PDG myself… however! I got a friend down in heavy containment who's got just the thing! There's a slight issue, though…”
Clover exhaled, annoyed
-“Always more conditions with you…”
Sebastian chose to ignore that comment with a grimace.
-“...You see, for Urbanshade to not find me, I had to get a little device that blocks most signals, and if HQ can't see you anywhere, they might think you teamed up with me, and explode your PDG anyway… Which means-”
-“I'll have to make my way to your friend alone..?”
Clover interrupted.
-“Bingo! I trust you can make your way there, though- But! If you ever need help finding him, I can give you a little hint… if I'm available, of course.”
He said as he reached for a table and threw a walkie-talkie at them.
Clover barely catched it, juggling it in their hands before getting a good grip on it.
-“Okay… I'll just- get going. Talk to you when I get to heavy containment, I guess…”
They both waved goodbye as Clover went through the vent. Leaving Sebastian alone in that room again
and Clover back to putting their life on the line.
Ugh