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The subject tried not to react as its collar activated, though it was unable to help the cry that escaped it. It couldn’t figure out what it had done wrong—it hadn’t even seen its handlers since the last time it had been put away—but it sat up with its paws resting on the ground in front of it and its eyes cast downwards. If it was being interrupted from rest, it needed to be ready for whatever its handlers were going to want it for.
Despite it being in its proper waiting position, the collar activated again, and it was unable to stop another cry from escaping as it jolted from the shock. It knew it was supposed to accept any punishments without complaint, and it was certain to receive another one for being unable to remain quiet…
Before it could even start to wonder what was going to happen, the door to the room opened and the subject glanced up to see two figures it was unable to recognize came in, though it looked like one had a flame in their hand.
“Oh, that’s… You’ve gotta be kidding…”
The subject pressed its lips tight as the figures came close and knelt in front of its cage. “Is that seriously what it looks like?”
“There’s a lock on the cage. Think you can break it?”
The subject tightened its paws at the sound of something breaking but otherwise stayed still, even at the more familiar sound of the cage door opening. “Uh, do you mind if I ask what exactly your plan is here?”
“Hey, buddy. We’re gonna get you out of here, okay?”
It didn’t respond—it knew it wasn’t expected to, though it wasn’t sure who the figure was talking to—but it didn’t fight as a pair of arms grabbed onto it. These two must have been new handlers.
“I’m not sure we’re going to do much more investigating with you holding him like that.”
The subject was held against the chest of whoever was holding it with an arm against its back keeping it firmly in place as they stood up. “We weren’t finding anything, anyway. I’m not leaving him here.”
“Of course not. I was just hoping we’d find… More, I guess?”
“This is plenty. Plus we don’t know what the others found.”
The subject listened as the person not holding it talked to someone it couldn’t hear the response of. While listening, though, it couldn’t help but relax slightly against the warmth of its holder—much warmer than anyone that had ever held it before.
It was nice. And as long as it behaved, it could take the moment to enjoy the rare treat, right?
“Sounds like Jay may be doing something stupid.”
“You needed to hear him on the comms to figure that out?” The subject was bounced slightly from a rumble in whoever was holding it, and it tensed when they brought a hand up to the back of its head, even if they didn’t do anything further with it. “Let’s just head back out to the van.”
The subject as still as it could as its new handlers(?) carried it through the lab, keeping its face against the shoulder of the one holding it. Between the warmth and the movement, it felt itself starting to go back into rest, though it was quick to bite the inside of its cheek with its fangs to keep itself from doing so—it knew it had no permission for such a thing, and the collar around its neck remained a heavy reminder of the consequences of acting without such.
When they all stopped moving, it kept still, waiting to be dropped down in wherever it was needed, though the person holding it kept it in their arms for some reason.
“How’d the computer search go?” it heard the second person ask, and it risked turning its head slightly to see three more figures approaching.
“We got this!” one figure said, waving something in the air. “It’ll be easier to decrypt it at home.”
“Please tell me you didn’t fry it in the process.”
“That stands to be seen…”
“Many files on the computer we found were damaged. Most we could find was something on a Subject 770-YD”—the subject turned its head more at the mention of the ID number its (previous?) handlers occasionally used when murmuring to each other about it and its progress—“but we were unable to find too many details before you contacted us.”
The subject was bounced up slightly, though the arm around its back never left. “Think that’s what we found?”
The three recently arrived figures turned their heads towards it at the words of the one holding it, and the subject tensed at the attention.
“Is that a kid?” one of them said, though the masks made it hard to tell which one. “Where’d you get a kid?”
“Found him in the lab.” A hand rubbed against the subject’s back, and it continued watching the newer figures. “Pretty much the only thing we found, and whatever they were doing with him couldn’t be good.”