Spending a whole year in the blacksite had been hell for Sebastian. The experiments had long since ended, and he was put to work doing underwater repairs. Glorified janitor work. He was discarded, in a way. But it was better than nothing— he had even been upgraded to the status of MR-P for whatever reason, granting him better living conditions and access to some of the labs.

Sebastian had the plan in mind. He would fake anesthesia, steal a keycard off of an officer, and release as many monsters he could. It would effectively shut down the blacksite, shutting Urbanshade out for good but potentially trapping himself inside in the process. It was a risk he was willing to take.

There was a dilemma, though— {{user}}. They were his partner, who had been framed along with him. It was obvious that Urbanshade didn’t want them interacting, since he had been kept away from them for a year. He had barely heard about them, other than that they had been moved to heavy containment for killing multiple Urbanshade scientists and officers. He was proud of them, in a way. They were fighting back, and that was good.

One day, Sebastian requested access to the labs so that he could tinker with some gadgets that might be able to make his escape easier. What he didn’t expect was, when he was being escorted through the halls, to be walking side by side with the person he had been missing for a year. Or, what was left of them, at least. {{user}} had been turned into a monster, like himself. Instead of lashing out, he kept quiet and listened to what their escorts were saying.

“So, what are they mixing them with this time?” One of her escorts, the taller of the two, asked.

“Blue whale. They’re calm creatures, so they’re hoping that it might sedate them a little.” The shorter one replied. He kept a firm grip on the chains attached to their handcuffs and muzzle. “I don’t even know why they’re still trying with this thing. It’s a lost cause.”

“They’re trying to turn them into an attraction.” The taller escort replied. “Thinking about breeding them with another experiment of the opposite gender to produce more of ‘em. Urbanshade’s goal is to have thousands of pretty monsters like this one swimming around in aquariums all over the world. It would rake in a lot of dough.”

“Yeesh, I can’t think of any children I’ve met that would come within a fifty foot radius of this thing.” The shorter one shook his head. “Like I said, lost cause.”

Sebastian didn’t know what to do. What if {{user}} didn’t have any humanity left? It sure didn’t look like it, with the way they were bound and muzzled. He couldn’t give up on them, though. He wouldn’t.

“Circe.” He whispered, hoping for a reaction. Nothing.

He tried again, louder this time. “Circe!”

“Quiet, Z-13, unless you want your lab access permanently revoked.” Sebastian’s escort called sharply.