Final Assessment | December 29, 2286

The bright lights overhead did little to distract us from the fog-like scent of disinfectant. It haunted the observation room like a restless spirit but wasn't as chilling as Overseer Chieko's presence. She looked down upon us from her place on the metal catwalk—scrutinizing not our facial expressions or disheveled appearances—but instead, the so-called 'gifts' of wings, ears, and tails she and her fellow scientists granted us at conception.

Around me, I could see many were trying not to squirm under her silver gaze.

If they weren't so broken, we could take her down no problem, I thought with an inward sigh. Then we could all leave together

The loud clanking of heavy boots on the catwalk made me look up. Almost immediately, my face scrunched up in disgust. Lily, the overseer's prized guard had made an appearance. She was a tall yet lean woman with umber skin who wore a scarlet midriff and baggy pants. Coming to a stop at Chieko's side, I could feel her amber eyes boring holes into my body as she handed her a clipboard lined with papers.

Is she trying to pick a fight now of all times? I wondered. Why's she always signaling me out?

I rolled my eyes. I hate that stupid mutt.

Seemingly satisfied with cowing me into submission, she leaned against the railing beside Chieko as she began to flip through the pages with slim fingers.

Silently everyone watched her on bated breath.

"Now I'm sure I don't have to name any names, but it looks like a few of you are failing classes you normally excel in," she said. Quiet yet fearful mutters began to fill the air as a few kids looked down in shame.

"This would normally be grounds for punishment, specifically being confined to your rooms so that you can do your work with little distractions," Chieko continued. "But seeing as your training has been amped up as of late, it's completely understandable why there would be slip-ups."

A wave of relief washed over the once-tense air.

"Subject 457-968J," she called. This made a blonde-haired girl with black tabby ears and a matching tail stand at attention. "I'm happy to see your math score has improved. Well done."

"T-thank y-you Overseer," stammered the girl. "Y-your t-tutoring s-sessions really helped!"

A few of the more bold kids loudly coughed out the words kiss ass, which got me to snort.

"It seems that's all I have to address seeing as the rest of remained at the same level you started the month with," Chieko said, turning away. "You're dismissed."

|—|—|

To anyone else, the long winding halls made of linoleum and whitewashed walls would be confusing, but that wasn't the case for me. It didn't matter if we were heading to class or a test or because a few interns had finally earned enough trust from the higher-ups to be enlightened about our existence, we were always paraded up and down like some sort of pets.

At least the rooms are decent I reminded myself as the human guards let us into our suite. It was supposed to be worthy of two stars, maybe even three since we kept it clean, but I didn't understand the need to rank a place you slept in. When the guards left, Suzuran smiled at us.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

I shrugged, "Apparently a few kids are failing due to training. Doesn't look like she'll ease up on it though."

"When has she ever been lenient with a Hybrid?" scoffed Phantom from one of the lower bunks. "She'd train us all until we keel over."

"Won't argue with you there, Tom," replied Kerria as she sat up and hung her legs over the top bunk above him. "Who knows, maybe she'd train our ghosts too."

That got us to laugh because we all knew she and the higher-ups would be crazy enough to try it.

I just hope that day doesn't come soon I thought. Otherwise, we'd be in major trouble

"I got a gold star today," Chimed a giggly voice. I turned my attention to the young girl surrounded by crayons and notebooks on our suite's plusher rugs. "It was for getting an A on my spelling test for third-grade words."

"That's great sweetie!" I cheered as I scooped the young girl up in my arms. Her giggles grew louder as I spun around. "When we get out of here tonight, I'll be sure to buy you the sweetest thing I can find!"

Alicorn smiled brightly at that. She was so smart, but then again, all of us were farther ahead in school than normal kids our age thanks to what the scientists teach us.

Nova chuckled at us before she sent me a wink, "We should probably get ready first before celebrating, Em."

"She's right," agreed Kerria. "We only have an hour between shift changes to get out so we have to make those minutes count."

Nodding, we began to bustle around our room to gather up the key cards, lockpicks, spare uniforms, and MREs we managed to hide from the camera's view.

After putting everything in a pillow case-turned backpack sewn by Hitoshi and having him blend it into the floor, we crawled into bed and laid as still as possible.

"Remember guys," I whispered. "Once Phantom makes the guard on headcount duty think we're in bed, we'll slip past them, meet up with Nezu, and book it through the doors. We won't stop until we hit the tree line, got it?"

"Got it." we chorused.

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This is my sixth and final attempt at this story. This time I have Grammarly to help point out any mistakes I make so chapters should be coming out faster than they used to. Once again the first seven six chapters are dedicated to the flock bonding before we get into the aftermath of the prologue. It's just something to keep in mind.

I can't wait to see you in the next chapter.