AIkat’s heart pounded like a drum in her chest as she raced through the labyrinthine alleyways, her senses on high alert. She had never seen such a gruesome sight — a pile of bones, skulls, and mutilated limbs, both human and animal. The putrid stench coming of the rotting pile of dead meat and monsters hung in the air making it more than enough to shake even the most seasoned warrior, and for AIkat, this was her first solo adventure, training sessions aside.
Obsessed with escape, she failed to notice the long, dark tongue with sharp, thorny spikes that swiftly wrapped around her waist, tightening its grip until the spikes pierced through her nanosuit. A sharp pain jolted her, and she was yanked back with such force that her stomach lurched. She couldn’t even manage a proper yelp, let alone make a sound. She was flung like a rock from a slingshot, crashing against the grimy wall with a sickening thud. Something inside her snapped, but she felt no pain; the nanosuit was already hard at work.
She collapsed into a heap, sprawled on the hard ground next to the dented, cracked wall. It took her a while to regain her senses. The pain rushed in like a gushing stream, igniting an excruciating fire along her nerves. She screamed in agony, her shrill voice echoing through the desolate alleyway.
The relentless monsters were upon her, giving AIkat no time to catch her breath. They came at her from three sides, their back legs bent, their forelegs poised to strike, long talon-like blackened claws menacingly aimed at the momentarily incapacitated feline on the floor. If she didn’t do something soon, she was dead meat. Not even the nanosuit would be able to protect her from those razor-sharp claws.
She managed to evade the attack, but only by a hair’s breadth. The creature on the far left managed to deal her damage, three deep gashes appearing on her right side, just under the armpit. The nanosuit sprang into action, repairing the damage, knitting itself and the wound together. A surge of sedatives numbed the pain, and AIkat was back on her feet. Escape was no longer an option. She was now a cornered cat.
AIkat growled, her back arched, ears flattened, and tail puffed up. She felt threatened by these flesh-eating creatures who had so rudely interrupted her adventure. Anger surged through her veins as she chastised herself for her cowardice, forgetting her training amidst the chaos. What would Zurchan, the Game Master, think of her? What would Katsi say if she witnessed her helpless state? And Deals… the thought of him froze her thoughts altogether.
A sudden breakthrough, a shattering of a forgotten barrier, allowed a torrent of emotions to flood AIkat, altering her perceptions, stripping away the unnecessary façade, exposing the raw truth like a new-born babe. The clarity was so overwhelming, it filled her with a giddy sense of silliness, as if she had just realized that the door she thought was locked had always been open, merely needing a push, not a pull.
Twisting her head ninety degrees, she locked her gaze on the beady, unblinking eyes that searched for an opening. She dared not close her eyes, as they would pounce in that split second. Reaching out with both hands, her eyes fixed on her adversaries, she conjured an ethereal whip adorned with daggers strapped to its tail, and a short sword, shaped like a scimitar.
Her shapely brown irises flickered with green flecks, swirling in a vortex that demanded retribution. AIkat pounced simultaneously, as one of the creatures lunged its tongue at her. She vanished from sight, reappearing behind the hideous amphibian monsters, her scimitar glistening with blood.
The creature’s tongue fell before it blinked its beady, orb-like eyes several times, a flimsy, white covering obscuring them, before the monster’s frog-like head slid sideways in an unnatural manner, severed from the rest of the body and falling to the ground with a thud, still blinking. Then the headless body collapsed.
AIkat stumbled around, her eyes reflecting the galaxy. She tilted her head drunkenly and glared down at the two remaining amphibian beasts, their monstrous faces now appearing as insignificant as rats. With a sound that was half a hiss, half a snarl, she pointed her scimitar at her prey. Then, with a swift movement, she swung her ghostly coloured ethereal whip, its sharp crack reverberating through the air.
One of the remaining two monsters recoiled in terror at the raw display of power exhibited by the fury feline, its once menacing demeanour replaced by a desperate attempt to flee. The creature vanished from sight, attempting to escape the wrath of the merciless AIkat. Little did it know that it was running towards its inevitable doom.
A fissure-like rift suddenly materialized, and AIkat emerged from its depths, her eyes blazing with a predatory gaze. The fleeting monster, unaware of the impending danger, charged headlong into the rift, its movements mirroring a bull charging at a matador’s red cape. As its body plunged halfway into the rift, AIkat snapped it shut with a swift motion, slicing the creature in two.
Without wasting a moment, AIkat summoned her ethereal whip, the razor-sharp blades spinning with deadly precision. The whip coiled itself around the last monster’s neckless head, the blades sinking deep into its slimy green flesh. With a forceful tug, AIkat wrenched the monster’s head free from its body, its grotesque form collapsing to the ground, its life extinguished
***
King was startled when he saw a movement inside the mirror on the wall. He leaped with a startled yowl, and then annoyedly hissed at his own stupidity when he was sure that there was nothing behind him. The room was as empty as it was clean. The two humans who vanished took all evidence about their presence in the room with them.
There was nothing in here and King was getting tired of being inside this room. It gave him nostalgic feelings that he’d rather forget about, for reasons he couldn’t put words on. He looked at the mirror again one last time…
..two human males wearing masks were staring at him from inside the mirror. Blinking at him judgementally.
King jumped back with a startle and squeaked “w-Wh-WHa-WHAAAAAAT?” his heart pounding in his chest, as he frantically looked behind and around him with a puffed-tail and flat ears. Nothing. There was nobody behind him, no one but King alone was inside here.
Looking back at the mirror, King saw the humans still inside the mirror, staring at him while constantly blinking. Out of pure reflex, he jumped with a startle and looked behind himself, his heart pounding when he realised that his own reflexion was missing from the mirror. He squealed with frustrations, admonishing himself for the tricks of the dungeon.
King practically roared the doubt and insecurity his lonesome mind have conjured out of his system. Good thing Deals wasn’t with him or things would’ve been aggressively uncomfortable. Ignoring the tingling signals his senses were sending him, and faced the mirror with the two humans. They were probably the same individuals who made the disappearing act.
“Hello, I am King,” he started formally introducing himself, exactly as Zurchan The Game Master had taught him. “Nice to meet you boss.”
“Do I look like a boss to you?” Asked the human on the left, his voice a if talking from a choked throat.
King looked at the male, puzzled by the question. He wore a distinctive uniform similar to his companion and their faces were masked like that of a doctor or nurses. Their eyes were bulging red like tomatoes, and they constantly blinked, which was the deciding factor for the warrior feline King that these two were probably not bosses and looked nothing like one.
“No, sir!” King was sincere in his apology, bowed his head respectfully before continuing. “I am sorry, but you do not look like a boss.”
“Do I look like a sir to you?” squealed the other male on the right, taking his mask off, revealing a dishevelled stubby face that clearly needed attendance.
“No,” King admitted, admonishing himself inwardly for doing it again. “You definitely do don’t look like a sir, sir.”
King never saw it coming. The unmasked human male that was not a sir came out of the mirror, the way one would enter or exit through a window, in supersonic speed. It was impossible for King to react, let alone register to the horrific sight before him. The human male that unmasked himself, devoid of any courtesy or acknowledgement, seized King in a vice-like grip, leaving him paralyzed with shock.
King was pulled, King did not resist, and King was taken inside the mirror with ease and dash. The light in the laboratory room flickered, and then shut down completely.
***
A terrified tomcat lay motionless upon an operating table, its forepaws and hind legs bound tightly with specialised restraints. Its mouth was concealed by a brown muzzle-mask, preventing any vocalisations. Despite being sedated, the cat was fully awake, its wide, panicked eyes darting around the unfamiliar surroundings. The cat’s fur stood on end, and it whimpered pitifully.
The room was a cacophony of strange sounds — muffled beeping, pungent, unfamiliar scents, and distorted voices. The cat felt disorientated, its vision blurring as it struggled to focus on anything. An unbearable pain shot through its body as a surgeon’s sharp instrument pierced its lower back. The cat’s body spasmed involuntarily, a muffled squeal escaping its muzzled mouth.
Trapped and helpless, the cat endured the agonising pain, unable to scream or escape. The looming figures, their faces obscured by surgical masks, seemed to bend and distort like mirages, adding to the cat’s terror.
Desperate to escape, the cat tried to wiggle its body, but the restraints held it firmly in place. The beeping sound grew louder, and the cat’s eyes darted towards a square-shaped box filled with moving objects it couldn’t comprehend. Trying to turn its head to get a better view triggered another surge of pain, forcing the cat to remain immobile.
The pain subsided, and the cat’s eyelids grew heavy, drifting shut as darkness enveloped it. When it awoke, the cat found itself still strapped to the cold operating table, but the disorienting sensations had vanished. Instead, the cat felt a heightened awareness, noticing details it had previously overlooked. Its thoughts were more vivid, eager to label and understand the world around it.
The cat’s ordeal continued, trapped in a cycle of sedation, restraints, and agonising pain. Two men, their faces masked, subjected the cat to horrific experiments, using sharp tools to cut, flay, shave, and dissect its body, marvelling at its remarkable regenerative abilities.
Through the pain and terror, one word pierced the haze — “Frankie.” The cat’s eyes widened in shock as it realised the meaning of the word. The muffled sounds it had heard now made sense. “Frankie” was the only piece of information that remained clear, a beacon of identity in its sea of torment. The cat clung to this label, storing it in a newly discovered part of its mind, where it could hold more than just scents and images.
***
King awoke to the stark reality of being strapped to a cold, metalic operating table, his face obscured by a muzzle-mask. A wave of horror washed over him as the truth dawned upon him like a bucket of icy water. He was not lost in a dream, and he was most definitely not a tomcat. Yet, he knew that the fragmented memories he held were real, though he couldn’t quite pinpoint their origin.
“Franky, it’s awake!”
King jerked his head reflexively, but a sharp jolt of pain halted his movement. He recognized the voice, though the disorientation clouding his mind prevented him from fully identifying it. A slow, insidious dizziness crept into his system. He was heavily sedated, and the effects were either kicking in now or the nanosuit was working overtime, purging his body of whatever toxic concoction they had injected him with while he was unconscious.
“It’s time to begin then!” croaked a raspy voice that King was certain belonged to Franky, the name that sent shivers down his spine.
Franky emerged from the shadows, carrying a silver tray laden with sharp instruments and tools. He placed the tray on an adjustable table that he maneuvered into King’s line of sight. With meticulous care, he lifted a pair of stainless pliers and examined them closely. He removed his mask, revealing a stubby face with an unsettlingly sinister grin.
“We’re going to teach you how to tame fear!”