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Treating other people humanely is an international law to protect human rights. To protect individuals from a number of things.
To protect them from cruel and torturous punishment.
To protect them from degrading treatment.
To protect them from abusive violence.
To protect their liberty.
Karl was only just now getting used to it. The scientists still controlled a lot of his life, including his income. But he was finally learning how to become independent and he knew that one day he’d burn it all to the ground. It just wouldn’t be today.
“Hey man!” A ravenette stopped at the door of the locker room with a wide grin, waiting as Karl shrugged on his lab coat.
“Hey Sapnap.” He offered a faint smile in return in the direction of his old handler. He didn’t exactly hate the man but he couldn’t help being bitter about the four years of experimentation he’d been subjected to until the higher ups Sapnap worked for finally came to see for themself if he had actually kept his humanity intact.
He could still remember the hopeful gleam in the ravenette’s eye as the most well known project leader, George Notfound, had paled upon the realization. So now instead of being worked as an experiment, he was working as a scientist for them. The irony had an iron grip around his heart.
“How’re ya feeling?” Sapnap shot him a worried glance as Karl slipped into the hallway to fall into stride beside the other man. “You gonna be okay today?”
Right. His brain startled at the reminder. I’m working with an experiment tomorrow.
He repressed the flare of emotions he felt at the thought, shoving them down in fear of activating his power, feeling the spiral mark burn underneath the skin on his right temple. “Who was their old handler?”
The ravenette shot him a look as he ignored the question, deep grey eyes flickering across his face as he took in the faintly glowing mark and how some of the familiar amethyst crystals were jutting out of the skin of his arms before slowly retracting again. “Quackity. Apparently there was some disagreement between the two and the experiment lashed out.”
A flicker of interest spiked in Karl’s chest. “Lashed out?”
The other scientist nodded. “I’m pretty sure that’s why the board is giving them to you. If they’re still awake you might have a new friend.”
“Don’t say it like that.” Karl swatted at him, ignoring how his chest hurt at the dismissive words.
Sapnap shrugged before swiping his keycard into a nearby door and opening it with an inviting gesture inside. “Let's get that paperwork done then.”
— — — — —
Karl was trembling as he walked up the stairs that night, a slim folder clenched tightly in one hand as sweat made the cover feel damp and stickier than it probably was. Prime I hate them.
He slipped into his empty dark apartment and slid into the only chair at the table with a shaky sigh. His emotions swelled to the surface and he allowed the transformation to consume him until he was comfortable again.
He had fluffy white ears, similar to a deer’s, that overtook the illusion of his human ones and a long white tail, tufted at the end that swished angrily across the cool hardwood floor. His spiral mark glowed, starting at purple before shifting into blue before ending in a green color. Foggy amethyst crystals that matched his spiral colors pushed through his skin to hover around him.
The purple crystals were the largest, circling around him in a lazy pattern he’d never taken the time to decipher. The smaller ones were a brighter blue green, those ones remaining attached to his skin or hovering just in front of it, like scales. If he was going through the tests, each crystal would have a different power he could utilize.
Experience told him his eyes were glowing one of his three main colors that varied based on his exhaustion. As of currently he’d guess it would be a purple grey color, signifying his deep wish for sleep.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he slumped further into the chair before glancing at the file he’d thrown on top of it. All he could hear was the board’s words echoing in his ears.
“Any questions?”
“Just one.” Karl ignored the startled look Sapnap shot him. “What happened to the original handler? Quackity?”
“He’s currently in the hospital with sustained injuries. The experiment is being treated as well, which you will see tomorrow.” George, head of the board, replied coolly.
“What did he do?” He couldn’t back down with this. It felt important.
“He severed Quackity’s head off his neck.” Karl’s stomach plummeted. They didn’t explain how the man was still alive.
He raked a now clawed hand through the tangle of his messy brown hair before reluctantly straightening and flipping open the file, skimming through the medical information and warnings about violent reactions. His hand paused briefly over one page and his eyes narrowed. Quackity wasn’t his first handler?
He tugged the sheet of paper free before immediately gritting his teeth and shoving it away from him. Green eyes looked smugly up at him from the paper, a cruel tilt in his smile. This experiment’s reactions made infinitely more sense if their first instinct was to defend themself. Awesamedude was his original scientist.
Karl remembered the few interactions he’d had with the man. None of them had been pleasant. If this experiment had only ever been treated through Sam and Quackity then maybe there was a chance to break through to them.
At that thought he took a deep breath and pulled out the experiment’s information sheet, the last piece of paper that George had placed into the file before handing it over.
Birth date: August 12, 2028
Designated Number: #157644309
Experiment Name: Dream/Nightmare
Age: 24 years old
Pronouns: They/them
Relations: REDACTED
Entry date: December 24, 2052
Type: Emotion based
Level: 33
Powers: REDACTED
Of course they’d erased anything that might’ve helped Karl. Still it gave him some basic information. They were under the same experimentation category and were both among the higher levels when it came to power. It’s probably why the board had decided to assign Dream to him.
Hmm. He glanced over at the level again. As of currently he was the only successful experiment with a level that even got close to 45 that hadn’t gone insane. And yet Dream was only a level below him. Why haven’t I heard of him before?
— — — — —
The sound of a lock clunked on the other side of the door from where Karl had swiped his key card, unsettling his nerves. The faint pulse in his right temple was his constant reminder to keep his emotions under control. It felt like ages before the sounds stopped and the door slid open silently with no resistance. He wasn’t sure if that meant the door was well used or barely.
“Hello?” He called reluctantly, nails piercing his skin as he felt them lengthen before he quickly tamped down the defensive reaction. The entire area reeked of something dangerous, a citric acid that tainted the air.
He was met with a high pitched chittering sound that sent the hair on his arms on end, the universal warning to stay away. He swallowed hard and curled his hands into fists to keep them from trembling. “U-um. I’m Karl. A-are you okay w-with another experiment here?”
The noise abruptly fell away with a small hiss at the words. Karl’s heart rate spiked. Do they understand me?
“Another experiment?” This time the voice was undeniably human, completely throwing off the brunette’s expectations though the source remained out of sight. “Why would they send you?”
“I proved I wasn’t an animal.” He admitted softly. There was no point in lying to an emotional based experiment. He knew that better than anyone. “Once they realized I could communicate and think and feel and act like a normal human, that I hadn’t lost my humanity in the process, they made me a deal."
Silence followed and he racked his brain, trying to think of what else he could say. The smell wasn’t as sharp anymore but it was still tangy and filling his nose and mouth. They didn’t feel safe around him yet.
“It’s not the best, working for them, but it’s better than being in a cage. I know what it feels like to be in the other’s place so I…” He bit his lip, voice faltering before pushing through. “I know how to treat them.”
“Hmm~” There was a threatening song in their voice now but Karl didn’t feel the pull most humans would have at emotional manipulation. Upon realizing there was no effect the experiment fell silent.
“If you don’t want to work with me I understand.” Karl offered, remembering the times Sapnap had given him an out. “I’ll tell the board to give you somebody who has more experience. And would, ideally, not treat you like crap.”
The phrase struck something for the figure he still couldn’t see. “… Sapnap says that.”
A thrill of shock and gratitude ran through him. Somehow he wasn’t surprised the ravenette was trying to help other experiments. Thank goodness for Sapnap. “He was my handler until I got released.”
Another silence, this one less awkward and tense than the first, overtook them and Karl found himself content to just let it sit, leaning against the now closed and relocked door, allowing his eyes to slip shut.
“You don’t look like an experiment.” A whisper in his ear. Karl kept his eyes closed. He knew this feeling, he knew he hadn’t earned their trust yet. If they didn’t want him to see them, then he wouldn’t.
I was taught how to hide it.” He replied calmly, well aware of the loud pounding of his heart as he felt their presence remain nearby.
“Can you show me?” The question held a different tone than before, less hostile and guarded, more shy and almost embarrassed. There. That’s the real them.
He shifted without another word, allowing the relief of reverting to the form he’d come to prefer to roll off him in waves because there was no hiding it from this other experiment. He felt eyes studying him and forced himself to remain relaxed, pushing away the memories of unwanted eyes roving over his body.
He didn’t remember much of his time during testing but he still got a sense of deja vu every once in a while.
“Oh.” The spiral on his temple pulsed, reacting in excitement to be in such close quarters with an experiment similar to himself. Karl’s own breath caught in his throat at the quiet awe that leaked into the other’s tone.
“May I see yours?” He finally asked, careful not to break the sacred quiet that had fallen over them.
“Sure…” The voice crack gave away their nerves but Karl didn’t point it out. He slowly opened one eye and then the other, gazing around in confusion around the room when he didn’t spot the experiment.
A shift in the shadows and then the figure stepped forward to approach them. “What the honk.” His heart felt like it stopped. George hadn’t mentioned this experiment was pretty.
Every visible piece of skin was a deep pitch black that melded deeply with the shadows, making it look like they were detaching from it. Their hair was shocking white with pieces of lime green crystal melded into it. Smaller, sharper shards that looked more like weapons circled around the experiment like a ring and two jagged pieces appeared to be jutting out of their head like horns. They had similar claws as Karl but their tails and ears, while also being white, looked more like a cat than anything.
They had two tails, both curled close to their legs and their ears were flat in both a sign of distrust and fear. There was a white smiley face that Karl assumed was their mark on their left cheek. The experiment didn’t have iris or pupils, eyes being a completely blank glowing white and their teeth were all sharpened like a canine. Most of the experiments Karl worked with stunk of smoke and alcohol, signifying their loss of humanity and often their sanity. He’d been told his own scent was comforting but this one fell in the inbetween. Not lost yet, but bordering.
Something shifted in his peripheral vision and Karl realized he’d been staring too long. “Oh, I’m sorry-” He blurted before wincing as he heard the door to another part of the lab close softly.
They were already gone.
— — — — —
“Dream.” Karl groaned, clipboard discarded on a nearby table, dull tools making a mess of any open counter or floor space as he stared up at the experiment, who was currently perched on the highest set of cupboards, appearing to estimate the distance up to the rafters. They gave him no suggestion that they were listening. “Come on. It’s just the new vaccination shots. George is gonna complain if you don’t take them.”
A smug wave slammed into the brunette and he felt his own mouth lift into a smile as Dream glanced down at him with a taunting chirp. The message was clear, both unspoken and echoing around in his head, which was an ability the other had revealed quickly after their first meeting. Come get me.
“Fine.” He popped his neck and burst into a genuine grin, the morph coming easily. It had been more comfortable and more natural to shift the longer he worked with Dream. “You asked for it.”
He saw their eyes widen slightly before he launched forward.
— — — — —
“You mean you still have a human form?” A thrill ran down his spine as Dream stretched, hopping off the track where the most recent test had been run. This could be it. This could be enough to let him join me.
“Yeah?” They tilted their head, white eyes meeting Karl’s. “I mean, you have one, don’t you?”
“Can I see it?” He couldn’t stop himself.
A small smile, this one genuinely sweet compared to his sharper, teasing ones, crossed Dream’s face. “Maybe someday.”
— — — — —
“You did well today.” Karl whispered softly in the quiet of the room surrounding them. The same place they’d originally met and what had become their safe space when tests ended early and neither was ready to leave. “I’m sorry that I didn’t stop him in time.”
“You didn’t know he was there.” Dream mumbled into his stomach from where their face was pressed into it as they lay partially across the brunette’s lap, tension slowly bleeding out of their form the longer the two sat together.
“That doesn’t honking excuse him for what he did! Quackity’s such a honking jerk!” He burst out, keeping his third, most horrifying question to himself. What if George hadn’t been there to tell him to stop?
The other didn’t audibly respond but he could feel their shoulders shaking in silent laughter at the unexpected display.
Honking?
Do you have a problem with my language? Karl grinned, poking their shoulder blade playfully.
“Karl?” A feeling of curious reluctance washed over the brunette.
“Yes?” He cooed back, sending back his own peaceful affection in response to the unspoken nerves.
“You have power over time, right?”
Karl jerked briefly before stilling himself, worrying he’d hurt Dream further. They’d never ended up discussing either of the other’s powers, he didn’t know when the experiment had figured that out. “Yes…”
“Why didn’t you ever undo what they did to you? Just fix it all and run?”
That was one of the questions Karl had asked himself hundreds of times. And one of the only ones he actually had an answer to. He summoned three crystals closer, sending them spiraling over Dream’s head, whose eyes tracked them with unrestrained wonder.
“You’ve noticed how most of the others here only have one colored crystal right?” The experiment hummed in acknowledgement, eyes still tracking the dazzling three gems hovering over their head.
“The purple one slows everything around me. I use that one the most. That’s why they’re the most plentiful and the biggest. The blueish green ones are harder to use. If they’re more blue than they literally pause everything, including my physical body. If they’re more green then they speed everything around me up.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, none of them allow me to travel back in time.”
“Oh.” Dream muttered before the two fell back into their own thoughts, Karl’s amethyst crystals mingling with what he had learned to be Dream’s apatite ones.
“I can bring people back from the dead.” They muttered softly. Karl tensed, eyes widening despite his usually careful control.
Revival is unheard of. It’s against the laws of practically everything in this world, heck, my own powers aren’t supposed to be a thing. What in the world did they do to Dream to get that to work?
“I wish I hadn’t brought him back.”
Everything suddenly made so much more sense. Sam’s cold obsession with this specific experiment, the icy secretiveness the board kept around Dream, why everything on the files had been redacted, Quackity’s unbridled rage, the worry that George and Sapnap sometimes hinted at when they asked how everything was going.
That’s how Quackity survived being headless.
Karl didn’t know what to say.
— — — — —
Alarms started flashing, blaring in his sensitive ears, red lights at every corner, right after Karl left the locker room. Sapnap, who was sprinting down the hall, recognized him and grabbed his forearm, dragging him along until they reached a safe room and activated the lock.
“What’s happening!?” Karl gasped, trying to catch his breath.
“Nightmare escaped.” Sapnap replied, hands darting over the keyboard as he pulled up security footage. Beyond the guards and frantic last few scientists still trying to seek out safety, there was no sign of the experiment.
“Dream?”
The ravenette nodded, still focused on the screens before him. “It’s what we call them when their powers fluctuate out of control.”
“Out of control!?” His voice was raising but he couldn’t bring himself to care despite the surprised look Sapnap shot him. “Dream can transform their crystals into various weapons, read other people's minds, and has the power to revive the dead! What would push them out of control!?”
“The board was testing the revival limit.” Wide grey eyes informed Karl that Sapnap had no idea what consequences that could bring but his anger had boiled to the surface and there was no stopping it now. His tail lashed out angrily, ears pinned flat to his head as he snarled, hackles raised, and took a step toward the scientist.
“Without me!? What the honk Sapnap! Their other two handlers were abusive at best! Quackity and Sam’s thoughts combined with the strain of over-exerting their powers probably just pushed him into instinct!”
The ravenette flinched away before taking a deep breath and looking him in the eye. “I know. George wasn’t sure Dream had been abused until the reaction happened. I didn’t know either.”
Karl hissed in displeasure, eyes frantically scanning the screen before him as he tried to make a glimpse of white or neon green among the dark shadows and flickering red lights.
“… George told me to tell you to take him and go.”
The brunette abruptly whirled toward the scientists, pupils slitted in disbelief but he sensed no sort of lie from the other man. He didn’t say anything, no words of goodbye or thanks, no apology or questions like he once wondered he’d give if he ever got out of here. He spun on his heel and flung his arm forward, three large amethysts slicing the heavy metal door like it was nothing before he was out and running with only one thing on his mind. Where are you Dream?
— — — — —
“Don’t take another step 057485376.” Quackity warned, knife held against Dream’s neck, whose body was limp in his arms. Karl snarled, a pure raw fury but stayed put from his position down the hall. He wasn’t focused on the few random bodies of people he’d never met dead on the floor. Only on Quackity and Dream.
“Let him go.” He demanded, crystals swirling around him in a circle like Dream’s often did, an unspoken threat.
“Y’know I was thinking.” The scientist smirked cruelly, pressing it in a little deeper, earning a near silent whimper from the other that Karl caught with his enhanced hearing. His heart screamed in terrified rage. “If I could just take 157644309 with me, I’d be set for life! You could come with us, escape this awful government lab. Whaddya say?”
“You’re not taking them anywhere.” Karl let out a low growl, teeth sharpening. “They’re coming with me. I suggest you leave before I decide to kill you. Or better yet, let them do it again.”
Quackity’s eyes narrowed, drawing more attention to the scar that stretched brutally across one eye, blinding it. The other scar was thicker, more jagged, more desperate, across his throat, the two ends of each scar colliding across his right jaw bone. “So be it.”
He drove the knife cleanly into Dream’s throat. Lime apatite crystals shattered, clattering to the floor as equally neon blood splashed the experiment and the scientist. The normally sweet cherry blossom and vanilla scent crippled into something that can only be described as blood lust as the familiar tones of blood orange and ginger soured, drowned out by the smell of copper.
Karl screamed.
— — — — —
“I still can’t believe you rewound time back an entire two days.” The voice echoed from beyond the changing room stall. Karl smiled to himself, touching his spiral marking. It was the only visible evidence of ever being a government experiment but he was proud to wear it.
“I’m just sorry I couldn’t get to you the first time.” He admitted, heart clenching slightly at the reminder of the image that was burned into his brain, forever there to haunt his nightmares. “I’m so sorry Dream.”
“Don’t do that.” They frowned, sending a wave of comfort over him through the closed door. “I’m glad you saved me.”
“But you never would’ve had to unlock that book if I hadn’t-”
“No.” This time their voice was firm, if a little anxious. “I needed to bring that back into play. It… it was good.”
Karl knew they’d have this conversation several more times so he let it drop. Instead he went back to his normal teasing tone. “Do you enjoy being a living Death Note?”
“I still don’t know what that is.” Dream grumbled. “But if you keep calling me that it can’t be a good thing.”
The brunette laughed. “I’ll show you when we move into the new apartment.”
A breath of hesitation caught Karl’s attention before Dream meekly asked, “Can we still be in our other form there?”
“Of course.” He softened.
“Fine…”
“Now stop hiding away your pretty human face, I’ve been dying to see it.”
Shut up.
“Make me.” Karl grinned. It was so much fun teasing his love. Honking make me then Dream.
Dream groaned at his substitute swear word but the lock clicked and Karl stepped back, excitement flooding through his veins like sunshine. The skin was now a natural color, slightly less tanned than Karl’s considering he’d been locked underground for a couple years now. His vibrant white hair was now a shocking blonde color that matched the golden rays of the sun. The scar Quackity had given him a month ago when Karl had discovered Dream’s powers was still faintly visible on his cheek.
He inhaled sharply. Deep emerald green eyes that were nothing like the lime color he was so used to seeing met his own and Dream offered a hesitant, if not a little sheepish, wave.
“You’re gorgeous.” Karl finally managed to get out. A blush deepened on the blonde’s face before he slowly reached a hand out. Karl didn’t even bother hiding the way his entire face lit up before he gently entwined their fingers.
“Let's go home.”