Don't Pet the Test Subjects!

“Don’t pet the test subjects!”

Ms. Vrabec instructed the class this very sentence, slowly looking each child in the eye. She had a singular eye, full black and round. In the olden days, parents might’ve said that she couldn't teach 1st graders science because of her scary eye, but obviously it wasn’t the case now. She was proud to be going on her fifth year of working at Nzenza Elementary.

Ms. Vrabec looked right into Iridian Cornett’s eye, and then she moved on. “Line up,” she clapped, signaling toward the door. Slowly, the class stood and walked toward the front of the class. The door was grey, and large enough for any species to walk through. Even Tony Ridgeram, a Tujec mammoth, could fit.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ms. Vrabec saw something blue…but she couldn’t tell what it was. It looked like a small child, but she was sure they were all lined up. “Alright, everyone, let's go.”

Unbeknownst to Ms. Vrabec, there was one more child in the back of the room, her head buried beneath the table. Rita Chaudhary looked up not 10 minutes later to find the whole of her class was gone, and not even the half-invisible ones were left behind. She, of course, didn’t hear the words said by Hetepheres Vrabec, and therefore didn’t know that the test subjects were not open to affection.

Rita got up from her desk and slunk to the front of the room, peering through the glass window that looked into the laboratory. She saw Iridian, as well as Hersilia and Idida. Sunil waved at a small, peach blob on a counter but jumped back as it snapped forward.

With a small, tentacled push, Rita walked into the lab. It was quiet, save for the yelps of children as the test subjects pounced forward and scared the poor 7 year olds. It was cold, and sterile, and full of oxygen. Rita coughed a little and continued in.

The first tank she saw was a 6 feet tall box of glass with a full grown TOBA. It had blue Larok feathers across its body and the feet of a Qibina. But, the eyes…they weren't normal eyes. They were full and a deep brown, dark enough to encompass Rita fully. She quickly moved on.

The next tank had a bedroom-looking scene. A teen TOBA was sitting on the bed, clicking on some old-age technology. She had long nails, the kind only seen on the I Huaj species. They had somehow become a bright pink, where usually the talons are black. Rita suspected a bottle of paint, and found it not long after sitting on a shelf.

The TOBA turned her gaze to the window, where Rita was standing. She smiled, showing a full mouth of sharp teeth, like an Asing. Rita smiled back, her teeth-less, Pulpo Aliento genes showing. She waved her tentacle, and the TOBA said, “Next time they test on me, I want a tentacle like that.”

Rita giggled. “You can have it if you want.”

The TOBA shook her head and sunk back down onto the bed, her nails clicking on the rectangle. Rita followed her eyes, marveling at the emerald-green that almost matched Rita’s skin. It searched and glowed in the dim of the bedroom but the light of the screen. If they ever develop it, I want your eyes, she thought. Rita eventually moved on, still thinking of the TOBA’s beauty.

The next tank was a small one, the same one Sunil had been scared away from. The blob crawled around in a bed-looking cage with metal bars encircling it. Rita looked at it. It had a tuft of hair and clean, tan skin. It hadn’t been tested on yet.

Ms. Vrabec was on the other side of the laboratory. Sunil and Aida had bumped into each other and were bawling, silently, but still bawling. Ms. Vrabec was consoling them, not noticing the green, tentacled girl on the other side of the room.

This TOBA, a baby one, was still free of mutations from the lab specialists. And the eyes of her…they were a piercing blue that seemed to cut through Rita.

Rita opened her mouth. “Hello, little one.”

The TOBA looked at Rita, searching her face. Suddenly, a wave of calm went over her. She pushed herself onto her feet and to the edge of the bars, looking at Rita. She cooed.

Rita smiled. “What’s your name? I’m Rita.”

She stuck her finger through the bars, which the TOBA took slowly. She had a tight grip, the kind Ms. Vrabec had told them about.

“If you see a baby TOBA gripping onto a bar, it is their way of learning cognitive abilities. It helps with the TOBA’s development. Just don’t let them grab you!”

Well, Rita was glad she didn’t listen to Ms. Vrabec. This TOBA was a lot nicer than those ones from history, before overthrowing them. They completely desecrated this planet, and Rita’s ancestors took it back. But somehow, it seemed unkind. Rita pondered the humanity of taking land from someone and then testing on them, as if they were no better than derra ginis.

Ms. Vrabec looked up from the two crying 1st graders to see Rita picking up the TOBA out of the cage. “Hey-uhm, you! Don’t pet the test subjects!”

But, Rita didn’t hear. Rita really only listens when she hears her name, after too many incidents of being caught eavesdropping. So, Rita began rocking the TOBA, to which Ms. Vrabec ran to the door.

In less than a second, Hetepheres Vrabec had put the lab on lock-down. The red lights and sirens awoke the TOBA, making it yell and scream and howl. The other classmates ducked down, covering their sensitive ears. Rita yelped and ended up tossing the TOBA back into the tank, watching it slowly land.

Once the TOBA laid back down onto the cushion, the sirens stopped. The doors unlocked. Everyone in the lab got up slowly, looking around for any damage.

Ms. Vrabec marched over quickly, her stick-thin, Vreemdeling legs clicking across the floor. She finally seemed to remember Rita’s name, which had stumped her since the beginning of the year.

“Miss Chaudhary,” she screamed, looking down at Rita. “What were the specific instructions I gave you and this class?”

Rita shrugged. Her squishy, bald head bobbed up and down. Ms. Vrabec sighed and turned to the rest of the children. They watched her with fear and calm, waiting to hear the next words that they all were silently hoping for.

“All right, back on the bus.”