When I woke up, I noticed that my body felt strangely light, yet heavy at the same time. I looked around and noticed that I wasn’t in the gas chamber anymore. Instead, I was in a glass tube and was surrounded by an unknown fluid. This was the fluid that created the peculiar feeling that I was currently experiencing. Basically, I was in a giant test tube. A gas mask was attached to my mouth, enabling me to breathe and there were several tubes attached to my body. The tubes were filled with a strange green liquid that seem to emit an unnatural glow.

“Where am I?”

“You’re in a testing chamber kiddo.”

As soon as I heard the voice, a woman stepped out of the shadows that seemingly encroached the entire area. She was tall for a woman, about 175cm in height. She had a slender body and voluptuous breasts that were barely contained by her rather revealing clothing. Her wavy blond hair swayed as she approached me and a white lab coat was draped over her. I squinted my eyes and could barely make out her name that was printed on her name tag.

“Ev…er…Everlyn.”

“Oh so you know my name!” she exclaimed, acting surprised.

“That’s right, my name is Everlyn and I am your new buddy! Just kidding.” she smirked looking at me up and down.

As her gaze landed on me, I suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable. That was when I realized that I was completely naked and was devoid of any clothing. My underwear was also gone too, exposing my….

“Calm down kiddo, I have no intentions on your ‘precious part’, though, I’ve got to say, it is pretty big for someone your age.” she continued, licking her lips.

My face immediately went red and I could feel my inner body temperature rising. Even though I did not have any carnal desires, it is impossible not to blush when a female is staring at my private part.

“Just kidding, just kidding,” she said, savoring my reaction.

“Now you might be confused right now, but don’t worry, big sis Everlyn here will explain everything to you. Right now, you are in a human experimentation facility. Your body and mind will be altered to become the perfect killing – I mean ‘human’ and you will work for us, isn’t that great? Now I bet you are curious as to why you are here. The answer is very simple! It is because your loving mother sold you in order to survive! She sold her biological child to a group of strangers in order to live, isn’t that hilarious?” she continued while laughing manically.

I stared at her, struggling to absorb all the information from the bombshell she dropped at me. Human experimentation facility? Sold? Altered? What is she talking about….

Suddenly, my memories came flooding back towards me, as if a flash bang went off inside my head - my mother avoiding my gaze, the guard’s stoic expressions, the gas chamber slowly filling up with sleeping gas and last but not least, anger that filled my heart.

When I pieced everything together, I realized that Everlyn was right – my mother sold me. My mother was the joy in my life, the only ray of light illuminating my dreary existence. The illusion of the happy family I had cracked when she trapped me in the gas chamber. After hearing Everlyn’s reply, it vanished completely, leaving behind a sense of betrayal and rage.

Was the time I spent with Mother genuine? Or was it a façade put up by her so that she could cast me aside without me noticing until the last minute? Now that I was trapped here, I could never get the answers from her. I was angry, angry at my mother who betrayed me, angry at myself for not noticing that she was planning to sell me away. Before she sold me away like a piece of property, Mother was always away for long periods of time. When I asked why, she simply said she had matters to take care of, and was very busy.

Me, being the naïve child that I was, did not suspect a single thing and believed in my mother’s words wholeheartedly. I loved my mother too much to do so. However, after knowing the truth, the trust that was built between me and mother tumbled down like a house of cards, leaving behind distrust and anger.

“Why….? I thought we were family…. I trusted you Mother….” I cried. Tears unknowingly flowed out from my eyes, mixing with the liquid that surrounded me. I wanted crawl and hide myself in a place where nobody could find me.

“She sold you in order to survive kiddo.”

Everlyn’s words shook me out from my stupor.

“What?”

“I said, she sold you to survive. Your mother was given a choice, in exchange for you, she would be provided with money and basic necessities needed to live, or suffer living in a poor, malnourished environment together with you. Now you might think that there is no way your mother would sell you away in exchange for her own well-being and survival. However, humans are very selfish creatures. They will do whatever it takes to keep themselves alive. In order to live, your mother sold you, the end. Do you get it now? When it comes to survival, love or trust doesn’t matter, only your life matters, so stop crying like a like a baby. Crying is not going to help you in this situation.” Everlyn continued lazily. I could hear a hint of annoyance in her voice, as if she is telling me to shut up.

Strangely, after hearing her cold reply I felt better. I couldn’t explain the phenomenon. Maybe it was because deep in my heart, I knew that she was right. Crying is not going to help me in this situation. It is not going to turn back time neither is it going to help me escape. I quickly stopped crying and regained my composure

“Good you finally shut up. Here’s something you might want to know. From this day onwards, your name is no longer ‘Aaron’ its ‘No. 167’ got it? Like I said, you will be altered and you will work for us, whether you like it or not. As an apology for making you do things against your will, I have one last piece of advice for you.”

She placed her hand in her pocket and fished out a small metallic disc with a red button on the center. Her finger hovered over the button, as if debating whether or not to press.

“Don’t die.”

She pressed the button.