Ah… I’m awake… I’m awake… There no needles in me… no drowsy… think weird… slow…too slow…

The room… room… room same… room always the same… years… years… fifteen? Me, no room… me… nineteen? Twenty… one… maybe? … think so… room always the same…

Room soft… room boring… toilet on side… jacket… jacket keep me… arms… don’t move… jacket keeps me… no… they keep me… they keep me in room…

What room… what room is my room? Not important… room is room… room home… no… room not home... home… where…

Boss… Boss home… where is Boss… Boss gone… remember. Boss killed me… Boss… make me bleed, die… Boss keep me. Me Boss worker… Boss kill me again… Boss go missing…

Wonder… wonder where Boss went?

Wonder… where food? Hunger… hunger always there… hunger don’t go away… food don’t take hunger… Boss… Boss take hunger… Boss kill hunger…

“Ah, the patient is awake.” Voice… voice… not Boss voice… not me voice… not Big Boss voice… not Miss Boss voice either…

Ah… Mad… it Mad voice… voice… voice bring pain. After voice… pain… pain, pain,painpainpainpainpainpainpain­-

“Sedate him in ten minutes… hm… almost twelve… well, after we get him sedated the tests can continue… he’s almost ready…” voice, voice pain! Voice pain me! Voice make hurt!

Scratch, scratch, want to scratch, room, room don’t let scratch, room too soft scratch, skull, brain, cranium, hair, head, itch, scratch, can scratch, not, no scratch, bleed-

“Yes sir… still, this is our best? He seems… subpar…” New, new voice, new body, new face, new blood, new kill, new make dead… make dead soon…so soon…

“Yes, despite how he looks he is the greatest result of our research… well, the current greatest… the original was taken away by the previous head doctors… foolish, the original was slowly becoming perfection, the perfect tool.” Voice… voice talk… Original? Original…original…Boss, Pain Voice talk of Boss!

“Original? Ah, you mean Patient 01? I heard that he left at a very young age… withdrawn after an incident…” Dead Voice talking, talk of Boss… must think, mustn’t drowsy…

“Yes… this one was involved, or was the cause of it actually… a shame really, they both made each other work more… Patient 01 was brilliant, but his brilliance was more that he could make this subject work even better than its current level… well, you’ll see the results later.” Pain voice talk more… talk.

“Well… irrespective of the results, the President is going to find out about this soon… and he’ll likely cancel this research, even if you do provide decent benefits.” President? Boss, Biggest Boss, no, no, no Boss bigger than Boss, Boss world, Boss the best!

“Yes… what a shame… well, let’s go.” Pain Voice, Pain Voice is taking Dead Voice away… no Boss… no talk of Boss… me… miss Boss… Boss the best…

Me sit… me wait… pain come soon... pain that Pain Voice sends… wonder… can… no… will… yes… Pain Voice will die.

Shock. Red… me see red… red high… red high in sky… red out window… scared… not me… other… Voice scared… all Voice scared… me not scared… Boss also not… Boss… Boss never scared… Boss never scared, Boss weary…

“Tick, tock, tick, tock... The clock strikes twelve. Tick, tock, little humans… try to survive.” Red, red speak, Red… Boss? Boss… no, like… like evil… Evil Voice… no, no Evil, no Good… Young, Young Red Voice speak…

Me listen… me hear screams, nice beautiful screams of pain and agony… scream gone… time…hour? Me sit in cage, me wait… no scream come me…

Red… Young Red Voice gone… Young Red Voice gone… two day, four eight hour… Pain… Pain Voice still… Dead Voice dead… me know Dead Voice dead. Pain Voice happy… Pain Voice happy Dead Voice dead.

“It’s excellent, brilliant, that the dog of that idiotic president would die just before this place was discovered… I won’t have my work ruined by someone who doesn’t understand!” Pain Voice stupid, Pain Voice not understand… place… this… destroy… soon… oh… soon…

“Still… twelve huh? It’s almost twelve… the guards should get ready.” Pain Voice leave hint, Pain Voice not even know… me listen… me sick… me drowsy… but me… me not dead… me alive… me think even though thinking is painful.

Me wait… then it happens…

Everything suddenly became so clear, when I felt as if I should lose brain cells just for thinking as I had done before…

Really, looking back it made me sound like a three year old on cocaine or something, not that I had much understanding of what that was beyond a drug of some kind…

Then again, other than age that was something that was pretty accurate. I don’t know what drugs they gave me, but it seems to not be in my system right now… though there was a burning sensation on my arm… then a pain in my chest… then all felt right, and I then felt better than ever…

No… I have felt better before… but that was long, so long ago… back when the Boss led me… Patient 01 they called him… I haven’t seen the Boss in around… ten or so years… but I would meet him again. I would not be held here anymore. The Boss would be found and he would lead me once more… just like then… just like it should have been.

I felt things… felt as if I was invincible, as if the world was in my grasp… as a knife suddenly appeared in my hand and with an easy flick, my bindings were taken away… yes, I wouldn’t be stopped so easily this time…

Yes… I’ve tried before, but that was when they started the drugs and I couldn’t think… horrible really… still, the straight jacket look… nah, didn’t work for me… not that I’d understand fashion, I don’t remember anything outside this place… I mean, from my understanding, I’m an orphan, unlike the Boss.

Boss… ten years… it has been ten years since that day… wonder how he is? Well… I’ll meet him again eventually… for now, I need to get out of this place… this place that so easily decided to torture and twist Boss and I into their guinea pigs…

I moved over to the door… I can hear it, I can hear people shouting and screaming. They’re probably checking up on the patients… they’ll be here at my room shortly, considering my importance in this place.

I’m their ‘greatest masterpiece’ not counting the Boss, so obviously I need to stay here… not happening. I’ll kill them for what they did to me…

Not because it was vile and I hated it… no, I quite enjoy the results of death, the colour, the emotions, the texture...

It’s just out of principle, you hurt me, and I kill you… and I like it.

But still, even with my want to kill the good doctor and all his associates, I can’t do that from this cell, as much as I wish I could… so I need to get out… and I’ll get out as soon as someone comes to check up on me.

I held the knife in my hands… Razorback, it’s called apparently… makes sense, it has such a delightful design… extremely sharp edge, and at the back it also had an edge… a serrated one that would likely rip skin and muscle tissue as I pulled the knife out. The name was very fitting.

My soul apparently… how interesting… I looked through the gap that they usually fed me through and heard some steps as I crouched, willing that beautiful sensation of power to stay away for a moment… it was euphoric but I couldn’t keep such wonders for this moment.

“Patient 23? Patient 23, are you in there?” I heard him step closer, closer… he moved to my door and looked inside. He couldn’t see, and my guess is that the cameras weren’t working right...

Thank you, doctor… you’ve kept me drugged and docile but you hadn’t allowed me to atrophy… no, I’m just as good as I was, possibly even better… then again, considering this place, it’s a good thing.

I heard a jingling of keys… how foolish… from my drug induced haze I’ve called this guard Foolish Voice but then again, that haze seems to have only known people by voice.

The door was open, and I struck… it was beautiful, it was efficient, and of course, it was very red and thus, very dead.

The first hit was a stomping kick to the knee, shattering his kneecap so fast that before he could even scream I had already grabbed his mouth and then drove Razorback into his neck before using its namesake to rip his neck open… he died instantly, considering his brain wasn’t connected properly to his spine anymore.

“Hm… I wonder if I could…” I looked at the recently severed head in my hands before I nodded. Yes, this could work.

Oh, before I forget… ah, there’s that nice feeling… that feeling of power, of control… not to mention, I’ve apparently ‘levelled up’… wonder what that meant really? If I just took in the meaning, I got stronger I guess. I’ll fix that soon… it’s not like I need to be stronger than I currently am to butcher everyone else.

Remembering the layout of this place from the time Boss lived here and we were allowed smaller freedoms, I wondered how to stalk towards the communications room, since the camera system was also controlled here, so that I could fulfil my agenda…

Really, I am so, so thankful to this place… it was so horrible and disgusting… but that’s what made it so helpful in learning how to be disgusting and horrible to others… and so… efficient…

Oops. I was drooling a bit.

Wiping that off, I checked the guard’s equipment… a gun? Well, the patients here are more dangerous than the standard fare… I’m proof of that… I found another bit of equipment too…

Aha, the tools I needed were assembled! With that done, and my path to the communications room decided, I continued on my merry way, skipping along without a care in the-

“Stop, Patient 23!” Ah, a bug… a quiet bug after a round to the skull… maybe not a bug? I mean, bugs usually have some pale sickly vomit colour for blood. Red was too vibrant a colour, too beautiful to come from a bug…

How exquisite… it looked like liquid rubies to my eyes…

Ah, I’ve forgotten the first rule the Boss taught me!

Don’t enjoy the kill unless it’s the last one ****.

A brilliant lesson, it stopped one from getting distracted… though I couldn’t be helped… they stopped giving me prey during my haze… during that period of time that I was too stupid and docile to ask for a treat.

“Ah Boss… I miss you and your wise words, truly, truly you are the best of us!” I reminded myself of the splendour that was my leader… then again, the other people of my same affliction likely wouldn’t remember the Boss… seeing as I’m the lowest numbered patient left…

The rest all got killed as I recall? Viciously, by either the Boss or myself… Now while I used efficient, clean kills, the Boss’s methods were better.

It’s why I was carrying a head with me after all… though I was kind of sad as well though… the screams were glorious and I could almost taste the deaths of those around me, but I wasn’t there for them… well, that’s why I was going to the communications room after all.

Ah, I’m here… seems they really were guarding the place… well, it would be for naught if I was the one attacking.

Now! Let’s talk a bit of scientific trivia the Boss and Miss Boss taught me a long time ago!

Now then, before I get to the main topic, let’s discuss glass and the force glass can withstand, namely, the glass of a door that has a ‘window’… bad design flaw really, Boss complained about it as well.

Anyway, those pieces of glass were roughly the same as windowpane glass, slightly thinner or wider in certain cases. In this case, let’s take wider. The amount of force required to shatter such glass could be done by a simple punch as long as the person punching weighed a certain amount… a baby couldn’t get it right after all.

Now, let’s use a brick. Standard sized bricks weigh around 3.5 kilograms (because Imperial is strange once you learn about Metric) and can be thrown hard enough to break glass easily.

Now, using the brick as a standard, do you think a severed head could go through? The answer would be yes, because a severed head actually weighs roughly 4.5 to 5 kilograms depending on the sex and race of the person.

So I was, in essence, carrying around a bowling ball that would terrify people who saw it…

So it broke the glass pretty easily. The screams of the people who realized what I threw in was like spice on my tongue… it burned with flavour…

Then the explosion occurred and red went all over that room, and I’m glad I now have a few seconds to bask in my actions (and wipe the drool from my mouth at the colour).

With a living person it’s a bit difficult but when there’s so much slack in the muscles, well, shoving a grenade into a dead man’s mouth is easier than a live one… I should know, I’ve tried it before, it’s why I thought of this (though Boss recommended the idea before)

I walked into the room, coughing a bit and glad that my targets (six of them) had all gathered near the door… plus, the head attracted them to it to see what it was, unlike if I had thrown just a grenade (which also only weighs half a kilo roughly)

It also made for some, as Boss called it once, interesting intestine art on the walls… I think I should preserve this, but unfortunately I don’t have a camera or phone… too bad… I think I see a dog shaped one somewhere. Well, ignoring my art I walked to the monitors… as expected, people are dying, whether they be patients or guards… now where was…

“Aha, there he is! Ahem… do I kill him myself or… eh, I’m a fair man, option two it is.” I made my decision and found the announcement button.

“Attention, attention all inmates! I found the good doctor that put us here! Be some good friends and kill him for me? He’s over at the third wing, second floor! He has two guards, but kill him and I’ll make it worth your while! I’ve got intestine art!” not everyone appreciated my tastes… so I got rid of them and now most if not everyone here appreciated mine, and by extension, the Boss’s tastes.

Ah… the Boss… he was very different from me, honestly speaking… he didn’t act like the others… but he was much worse in my opinion.

With me, what you see is what you get. I’ll hurt you, maim you, rip you to shreds, violently detonate bombs in your vicinity just to see red fly around, and you would know it.

Boss wasn’t like that though. He acted positively normal most of the time… but consider it. I learned most of my tricks to fighting and killing from him… and he made sure to do it much worse than I did… more violently.

The Boss was practically an incarnation of destruction, while I preferred looking for the art in it… though he occasionally showed me his own art (Intestine art was fun, you’d never know what was going to come out, it was a surprise for everyone involved, especially the materials)

“Soon… soon Boss…” I watched eagerly as some guards attempted to get near me but were easily rebuffed by some other patients, and on the screens… well, the doctor died as he deserved, with a few new breathing holes and some sicko who thought it would be fun to connect them… well thought actually.

I mean, what strange person didn’t like murder?

Normal people, but then again, normal is overrated, I’d much rather stay the way I am.

“Boss, we’re done… what’s the reward?” I turned and blinked at their manner of calling me… oh yes… I had taken that title when the Boss left… the patient with the highest kill count was given that title by the others after all…

“Well, freedom of course, not to mention the chance to do as we please in the new world outside! Well, you’re all following me right? If you want to leave though, be my guest.” Of course none would leave if they knew me… some didn’t though… it was a bit sad to see that Razorback didn’t keep blood on it actually…

“Yes… a crusade! That is what we will do! Journey, on our crusade against this world that hates us, and we will find our glorious leader once more!” of course, I was the only one this happy, but you can’t have everything…

Still, looking at the weapons everyone had, I had to appreciate their uniqueness…

Everyone here had some good ones… I had my Razorback… and my nice little Top Hat… now; let’s leave this place like good little psychos.

[email protected]*( [email protected]$(& Level 4 (Rank L) 43 EXP to next level

Anima: Razorback Anima 2: Gentleman Top Hat

Points Available: 15

Strength: 5 (8.16) Dexterity: 5 (5.1)

Intelligence: 5 (5.1) Wisdom: 5 (5.1)

Vitality: 5 (5.1) Constitution: 5 (5.1)

Skills: Blade wielding (SSS); Overflowing Strength (S); Close Combat (SS); Shooting (A); Recovery (S), Drug Resistance (A)

Yes… good little psycho… just like Boss taught me… and like a good little psycho, I’ll lead my fellow psychopaths out of this place.

I absently noted the name of this place… based off of another penitentiary of the same name, the old owner of the name was long shut down due to torturing the patients… much like this one, despite it not being applicable anymore…

“Good-bye, Pennhurst.” And so I walked away.