After the little stunt I pulled I was locked in solitary confinement for a few months. I had my birthday in my room, with a rat, and my hallucination, but before then I overheard Mikado speaking to someone on the phone…
" …She's dangerous, sure. But that is what she was made for. To be a bomb, a weapon right? " he'd said. I could only make out little of what the person on the other end said as I was merely being taken away and passed by his office.
"Are you saying you can handle the girl Mikado?"
"Yes, I made her I can work around it, I'll just need a bit more-"
" Do you fear her Mikado?"
"..."
I left before I got to hear the rest, the guard finally pulled me along. I got to my room and they locked the door behind me. "Well well well little bitch, it seems you were right" My alter ego said.
" Of course I'm right, I have the intellect of a scholar, but that doesn't really prove anything. How many are there, how are we sure he isn't just talking to the lab guy downstairs?"
I set up the tools I needed, luckily the Romans aren't necessarily good in the smart department so i dont have to rack my brain to hide the yearbooks in a sensible place.
** ** *** ** **
It took a while, but after analysis it became clear to me that I was dealing with hydrochromic ink, a type of ink that reacts with water, this one is transparent when dry but turns red in water, pretty simple really i dont know how i didnt figure it out sooner.
"Some scholar you are huh?"
"Fuck you"
Each thin plastic had lines printed with the ink. I scanned and compared them and realized it was an older map to the asylum. Slightly outdated considering few things were out of place, there were some things not taken account for but the general layout was the same. Each yearbook, a floor or level of the city was printed. Some were slightly misaligned so the plastic was easier to pick up on. Others are more deliberate and precisely put -Obviously done by human hands. Well, Mutant hands considering the circumstances. The last book was of the system. The core that powers the city was a pathway of doors, vents, wires and computers. The note "It's the last one was correct, it's the last piece of the puzzle. I suspected the plastics would somehow help me find the map when I saw it. I can't have been the only one who planned to get out of here, but this is better than i expected.
The blood on the page likely meant Ayla's death. Possibly she ran with her tail behind her legs to drop this last one because the plastic was barely placed well, the note was rushed and she didn't even bother putting it amongst the others. She was likely executed and dumped in Akeldama along with the other friends.
Upon my research I found that during that time the maps were warded only by mikado's DNA. Bodily fluids, finger prints, hair samples was all it took to get the maps. Most people probably just didn't know it could be done without getting caught if you choose the right time and plan ahead. Your only issues in that case might be the watchers.
The watchers- Automatic surveillance system that is placed in places they don't want you to go, like Mikado'soffie, the power generator room, the computer room, the vents, certain high value labs and the storage room for the flowers. Else where you are allowed to do whatever you want as long as the certain people are not injured or killed. Those who earned the silver card.
*Silver card- A protection mark so to speak for the few of them that are considered valuable to the cause. The project.
My being born a mutant, one without physical mutations besides the slight bioluminescence in my eyes when adrenalin gets high and my abnormally long canines gave me an automatic silver card from the get go, but those first months when i showed no useful mutation besides being an oversized child revoked my silver card status but no mutant, not even the stronger ones that oppressed the weakest bothered to touch me. They too saw what my mother saw all those years ago. The monster I have grown to be. Монстр, которым я стал.
The few times I was allowed to eat with the others no one bothered me, spoke to me, except for Kage. He was an idiot really. When my silver card status was restored it was like a confirmation of what they already knew. At least they were perceptive.
Concerning the systems, most likely Mikado detected someone trying to access his computers and changed the key to his blood, his exact blood composition. DNA and all. But that's stupid in my opinion, because he takes drugs and Hana like food and water. The drugs mess with his brain, the flowers with his genetic composition. Each passing year he seems to get closer and closer to madness, the others seem to have figured it out as well, most likely why they're much calmer these days. But the more he uses the flowers in the amount that he takes, the stronger he gets. He's like a missile or a bomb, feared and powerful, like a reactor ready to explode. His strength will become his weakness, and when that time comes I will strike. I may have beaten him today, but I think it was obvious he wasn't using all of his power.
Today was clearly a test.
"He's sending a message…" She began.
"-He's keeping an eye on me"
"No…He's the seeker. And he's counting down… Until it's time to find you"
"So the game begins"
1095 DAYS to The day of the Crucible