My stomach growled before she answered, and I yanked a piece of meat into my mouth. Then another.

Babies weren't candy, and my brain didn't need to see them that way.

Everyone stared at each of my movements, and I tossed another piece of meat to the Compy. She caught it in her mouth and then chomped it in half. Bits of it went to the little one.

Thankfully my stomach settled, since I didn't want to draw attention to the fact that I had plenty of things in my inventory.

"He is freed," whispered Manee, not glancing at me. "Don't let Kabi be bound."

Then she turned away to face the lab.

Hed marched away from a table in the center of the room and toward her cage door. Yet, he didn't open it. Instead, he just stood there staring at her, eyes wide and licking his lips.

Creep.

Bars blocked the front of the cage from the floor to the ceiling, and on either side, a wall of bars created more cages. The only other visitor in this room was Manee. The metal wall behind us was the same as the floor and ceiling everywhere else.

I crawled closer to Kabi and shook his shoulder.

After a few moments, his eyes flickered and he stared at me before sitting up. He spotted Manee and froze for a moment, before ignoring her.

"What happened?" he asked in a low voice.

"Hed brought the bigwig to take us out," I said in a slightly louder voice. "Since he couldn't handle us on our own."

The blue and orange guy gritted his teeth at my provocation, but didn't respond. He turned away from the cage. His focus was on something I couldn't see.

"How long?" he asked in barely a whisper,

"Not long," I whispered back.

He let out a deep breath with an uncertain look, then he leaned much closer to me until his head almost rested on my shoulder.

"Soon, friends."

We didn't have long until the water tribe attacked. Hopefully, we'd get rescued in that time. Or find a way to take Dilom out. I didn't understand how Manee stood in the cage next to us, given her level.

I crept closer to the edge of the cage to get a better look at the laboratory. Toward the right, the doorway opened to the lab with the tubes filled with the green liquid and light. Those ten damn bodies. Well, clones. The pipes leading from the lake into this area now made sense. They needed the water for the tubes, probably to keep things cool.

Then the ice-cold voice came back.

"Ah, my little dear. It seems your programming hasn't lasted." Dilom stepped back into the room from a different doorway. This time he wore a bright, crisp lapcoat, clean of any blood or dirt. He smiled at Manee.

"Free thinking, and helping others of your kind instead of bringing them to me. Such a waste. I should have known a flexible binding wouldn't work on one such as you."

Manee didn't respond, just stared ahead, almost like Hed.

When I blinked, the cage door stood open, and he carried her to the table without a fight. He lay her down without any bindings at all, then flipped her on her back. He yanked her wrap down, revealing bright red runes carved below her shoulders.

Yet, two of them appeared almost white instead of red.

The binding rune that Sile couldn't remove from Havi's leg came to mind. It looked close to that, but I couldn't tell for sure from here.

Havi's and Kabi's concern that something was wrong with her came back. Also, the urgency she had to kill the Forger who was paired to Havi's rune. It made sense.

She knew he couldn't remain bound, not like her.

I turned away to figure out a way out of this mess. Next time, I'd leave the rescuing for someone else. Yet, that little voice in my head just chuckled. I wouldn't be leaving anyone behind if I could help it. It was part of who I was.

A tiny chirp came from where my hand rested on the floor. The baby Compy hopped closer. It stared at me.

I slipped a piece of meat into the shadows of its mothers tail, and it chased after it without making another sound.

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The cage had some sort of lock, but that didn't matter. The bars were the same metal as the binding had been on the table. With my spear, I'd cut through them in no time. I just couldn't let Hed or Dilom realize what we were doing.

I almost wished I'd killed Hed at this point, though I wasn't sure with their level being so low. Did the OFFENDER stats even that out? I didn't want to piss the system off.

Kabi tried not to watch Dilom study his mother's back, and I tapped the back of his hand to get his attention.

He leaned closer.

"Why can't we hurt Hed?" I asked. "He's an Offender."

Kabi appeared sheepish. "I hadn't noticed."

It made me wonder if he received notices like I did from the system about offenders, but I didn't ask. Now I knew Hed was fair game, no matter his level.

Dead man walking.

"Alpha," growled the Compy, snapping my attention to them even as Manee screamed. It cut through the air, and I clenched my fists before fighting to relax. We'd help her by getting out of here.

Kabi flinched beside me, but I just ignored the screaming as much as possible. I had to.

I moved closer to the Compy.

"Can you free us?" she asked in a low, guttered voice that cracked.

"Maybe." I paused, then nodded. I needed to offer more than that. "I'm going to try."

She stared at me for a few seconds with her bright yellow eyes as if she studied my soul.

"I am too slow." Her eyes flickered to her missing leg, before landing on the small baby still eating the bit of meat I'd given it. "But will help if you save my hatchling."

"Hatchling?" I asked, wondering how old it was.

"Only one left. Little." The Compy nodded, her snout pointing to the little one. "Please."

Her yellow eyes reminded me of Dengu begging me to save Lenna.

"I will do my best." I couldn't leave a kid in this place. I just couldn't. Even if it was a Compy.

She nodded once, and her eyes turned to focus outside the cage.

I hadn't a clue what a level 58 Compy could do to help us, but I'd take all the help we could get. After all, Dilom kept her in line by threatening the hatchling.

"Do you know where this wall goes?" I asked, tapping the wall behind us.

She shook her head.

Kabi stared at us, then shook his head before standing up, moving closer to the bars. His body blocked a good amount of the view.

The walls were the same metal as the bars, yet very much out of sight from the mad scientists still working on Manee's back.

Taking out my spear, I quickly heated it up and made a hole at eye level to peek through. A dark lab greeted me, but one with a door to the far right. Twelve beds of some sort filled the space, each with a pillow but no blankets.

Maybe these were the recovery bays.

A shut-off lab station stood to one side, and I shifted a few feet to the right before making another hole. Melting the metal didn't make a sound, but it did drain my energy. Still, it was the best shot we had. I then continued cutting a curved line through the metal as quietly as I could.

The screams from Manee covered it until she stopped. I froze for a second.

"That should work a little better now, won't it…"

Kabi stood next to the door to the cage, watching outward, and very nicely blocking the view of my work.

I quickly kept going. The opening would fit us if we stopped down low, but getting out without getting caught would be worth the crunch if we could do it.

The Compy dragged herself closer to the door to the cage as well. She used her tail almost like a second leg, but she moved so slowly. Finally, she slumped to the floor.

I bent the piece of metal that opened into the lab, like a door swinging open. Sweat dripped down my head as I used all of my strength, but it worked. It creaked a little.

"Stand up," ordered Dilom to Manee. "I said stand!"

Whatever he did wasn't working, since she screamed again.

My stomach twisted at the sound.

"Kabi," I whispered.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw the opening. I motioned for him to follow me through the hole.

"What are you two doing?" asked Hed, closer to the cage, though he kept his voice low. He didn't turn from the sight in front of him, almost like he couldn't.

The tiny Compy padded away from its mother, and I scooped it up. It didn't make a sound. It was a dark green color, with small blue spots and an extra claw on each foot.

Kabi then suddenly dashed by me and I handed off the Compy. He glanced at me like I was nuts, but didn't stop moving. He made it through the opening by the time Hed turned and opened the cage door, still without saying anything to Dilom, whose back faced us.

As soon as he stepped inside, I slammed my knife into his chest. I yanked him into the cage and set him on the floor. The screaming from Manee increased.

[You have collected a bounty: 2500 credits.]

I closed the notification and the cage door, shaking my head. Manee's eyes flashed in my direction, but she screamed again. This time, I knew she was keeping his attention on purpose.

The Compy nodded at me as I darted toward the hole in the wall, yet she stayed put.

I tried to send my intentions her way about keeping the little guy safe, but I didn't dare stop moving. I made it through the hole and found Kabi on the other side, next to the door leading to the hallway. Thinking fast, I started bending the metal half-moon back into place.

I motioned for him to go quickly, hoping we could get free before Dilom noticed.

The door slid open, and he vanished into the hallway.

"What do you think you can accomplish?" Dilom suddenly asked at the cage door, which swung open at his approach.

He stepped inside faster than I'd anticipated.

The Compy suddenly latched onto his leg. It couldn't have hurt him much, but it slowed him down.

He kicked at her head, snapping it back with a crunch. Yet, as he did a silent form rose up behind him with a sword.

A blood-filled smile came from Manee as she launched herself at the Forger's back. The sword sank in deep.

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