The new dawn had proven no different than any other to Yugo. Upon lifting his head from the cold pillow, a shiver runs through his body, the harsh fluorescent lights above had given him a startling awakening. He looks down at his pale hands for a few moments, trying to gauge what he was supposed to be doing. Before he had time to sit and collect his thoughts, the crackling of a radio was heard from the furthest-back corner of his "room," giving him simple instructions. On the other side, the monotone ringing of a man's voice could be heard.
"Yugo Zenith. You are to walk to the designated scale at the base of your bed, so we may initiate the daily weight check. Failure to comply will result in punishment."
Yugo reels slightly in response. While he didn't have any recollection of his past upon waking up in this damned room, he does remember everything that they have put him through, up to this point at least. A shaky hand reaches up, gently caressing the spot which should be just above his left eye, yet he could only feel the fabric of the eyepatch.
I guess the incident wasn't just a bad dream... damn it... Yugo faintly mumbles to himself, his thoughts interrupted once more by the crackling of a microphone.
"Yugo Zenith. You are to report to the designated scale immediately."
Frightened and stunned, he scurries off the comfort of his bed, hobbling quickly onto the scale. Just then, the Smithsium metal door slides open, and a large burly man steps into view, a musket trained on Yugo. He had seen this before, and it terrified him. It seemed to be their way of keeping those under their fist submissive, and it worked amazingly. Of course, you wouldn't lash out with your ankles chained and a musket trained on your head. Yugo trembles violently, eye welling up with tears as the clunky auxiliary scale groans under the sudden weight. He turns his head towards the man whose musket was trained on him, the glossy iron tip of the musket was just waiting for him to move, daring him to retaliate. After a few minutes, his weight is taken, and the radio crackles to life once more, giving him the greenlight to step off the scale, the man with the musket taking a few steps back, the door sliding closed behind him.
"You are permitted to step off the scale. "
Upon doing so, he glances down at the bulky analog numerals displayed under the glass.
"Only 56 kilograms? I could have sworn I was 57 yesterday... Why am I going down?"
Yugo groans in frustration, wanting to pull his hair out. He was 17, and yet, he was only losing weight. Was it because of how little he was being fed? Or perhaps something related to the exercises they put him through? He knew so little about how basic biology or physiology worked that he really had no clue what was going on with his body or what to think anymore. These last few months have been a complete hell to him. But thinking further into it, Yugo wasn't even sure how long he's spent here. Has it been weeks? Months? Even years? He isn't allowed to keep journals of any kind, and any damage to the room gets him severely punished, so he had no real way of memorizing times. He constantly felt like a little ant scurrying for safety under the foot of a human so much larger than itself, being able to do nothing in defense of its livelihood. Unluckily for him, the small unintentional act of defiance he exhibited a few minutes ago would cost him dearly, as the radio in the furthest corner of the room crackled to life once more.
"Your punishment for the day has been determined, you will be starved of your three daily meals for today. Use the time you would be spending consuming your Breakfast to repent for your previous actions."
Yugo's face almost immediately went pale, his eyes widening, as if they were the nostrils of a great beast puffing out smoke.
"WHAT!? "
He loudly groans to himself, tugging on his hair and going to the corner of his room. There was no way he would be able to get through the day on such an empty stomach, much less with the probable pain they were to put him through!
"Why, why of any day, why today? "
Yugo cries out, kneeling down into a fetal position. He felt so weak, so painfully vulnerable, such a laughably pitiful creature. Today should have been no different than the others, aside from the fact that it was testing day. Every three days, it was testing day, and this was indicated by a small glowing crystal off the side of the Smithsium door. On most normal days, the crystal shone a faint white, to match the fluorescent crystalline lights overhead. On testing days, however, it would darken into a sinister crimson, as if the people behind his testing and confinement wanted to make him fear it even more. He knew that they would be walking into the room any moment now, to make him do stupid things he couldn't understand, to put him through as much pain as possible, at least in his mind.
Rolling out of the fetal position and climbing into his bed, he sat idly, just waiting for something to happen. Given today was going to suck regardless, he might as well try to hurry and get it over.
30 or so minutes pass by, and just as Yugo was beginning to doze off, he could hear the scraping of metal as the Smithsium door leading out of his room was jarred just open abruptly, a tanned arm depositing a small tray of food onto a ledge jetting out of the side of the wall before reeling back, locking the door behind.
"Did they... leave food for me? "
Yugo asks himself, concerned. Some tests, he is required to eat beforehand, to replenish his energy before an experiment, but other times they would slip chemicals into his food, to test his bodies reaction to them. It was a gamble, but he was starving, and food was food. He slides off the bed, shaky feet landing on the cold slat tiles. Walking up to the ledge, he inspects the food. It seemed to be the usual sludge of leftover grain and vegetable chunks, mixed in with sawdust and tiny slivers of meat. He looks closer at it, it looked disgusting, yes, but he couldn't really see anything off-putting about it. Warily, he grabs the crude wooden spoon off the side of the tray, dipping it into the sludge. He was used to eating this kind of slop, as it was all he had really gotten to eat during his time here. Bringing the spoon to his nose, he sniffed it for a few moments. Nothing smelt too off, so he decided to give it a go. Bringing the spoon to his mouth, he slurps the chunky liquid up.
Almost immediately after swallowing however, his face grows incredibly pale, and his airways seal shut as some chemical was passed from the food to his insides. His hands shoot up, grasping for his throat, eyes watering up. The speaker to the left of his writhing form, almost as if to mock him, crackles to life.
"You should know your place, little worm. Any time you disobey, that gives us more of a reason to do this to you. Now, two men and a woman will walk into your room to observe the effects. Don't fight them, or worse punishments will be given."
Reeling in asphyxiation and pain, he stumbles to the floor. His vision was blurred, and he heard the door to his room slide open once more, three pairs of heavy footsteps walk into the room, out of the corner of his free eye he sees them observing him and jotting things down in leather journals. There seemed to be One woman of a fair white skin and red hair with freckles, she was one of the people Yugo was acquainted to, constantly walking in to do research on him. Out of the three, she was the youngest and the one who pitied him the most, often leaving small food scraps for him when she could. The other two, one was a darker toned man in his early 40's, and the final appeared to be a burly white man in his 50's, with a balding head.
"Subject "Zenith" appears responsive to the catalyst, Right eye seems to be glowing a bright blue. Likely a side effect of stress put under the body, but may be a direct result of the chemical as ingested. "
One of the men jots this down in his journal as they watch him. Meanwhile, Yugo weakly sputters on the floor, fearing himself to black out. Of course, his captors wouldn't want him to enjoy a few minutes of rest, so one pulls out a tiny crystalline dagger, impaling Yugo in the arm with it. Almost instantly, all of the negative chemical was sucked out of his body like a pressure pump, he could breathe again. As his vision slowly starts to return, he watches the three researchers leave almost as quickly as they entered, the red-headed woman, Cynthia, says something in a monotone voice behind her.
"Be ready for your examinations to begin in 15 minutes. Get dressed and lined up at the door, with your hands up and ready to be bound. "
He barely has time to register the words of the woman before his body subconsciously pushes him to his feet, stumbling over to the wooden wardrobe against the left wall of his room.
"What a horrible day today will be... "
He grumbles to himself, eye still watering from the painful experience he went through just moments before. Unbeknownst to him, today would be different. Much different.