The POV of this new chapter was so difficult to choose. Like do I do it from Steve's POV, Aja's, another Jim POV, maybe Draal's POV? I couldn't choose.

Every one of those doctors thought Claire was crazy, which is exactly what she wanted. The whole charade started two nights after her symbiote had merged into her, those two nights she feared for her life and wondered if this alien was going to kill her like she and the other kids had seen D4LL-A do to a bunch of adult hosts the second they were brought out from the lab after it took them as a host. But much to her surprise and relief, B1K-H (or Blinky as she had taken to calling it for quite some time) was actually rather docile symbiote.

Turns out symbiotes could talk to their hosts inside their heads, though the hosts had to verbally talk back to them to communicate. Claire spent a better amount of her time acting hysterical to avoid letting these people know this, fearing they would take Blinky out of her and try performing tests on it to learn more. All they did was inflict pain on them and other "volunteers", along with the symbiotes.

So how are we doing today Claire, feeling good enough to release some of those chemicals your brain releases when it feels happy or loved? Blinky asked as she was trying to get comfortable on the hard floor of her cell.

"I wish they'd give us a proper mattress or something." Claire responds with a small groan. "Or blankets. I don't get why they keep changing the temperature of the cells every few hours."

Probably to see if my brethren and I can survive the extreme heat and cold in a host. Blinky says quietly. But have no fear, one of these days we'll be free of this place.

"Yeah, and I'm probably going out in a body bag."

Now now, that's not good. Remember I'm trying not to eat your kidneys or liver, I can live off those happy chemicals and you've hardly released them at all this week. I can't read minds, but I'm sure something is definitely bothering you.

"I'm scared...for my baby brother. He's just so little and..." Claire let out a shaky breath. "He's a host for a symbiote too. I'm scared they gave him one as violent as D4LL-A, and the next time I ask to see him they won't let me because he's gone."

Dear child, I'm sure they wouldn't give an infant as young as he is a dangerous specimen. I can assure you there are some docile and harmless symbiotes like myself still alive in this lab. Blinky tried to assure her as he carefully leaked out of her shoulder to look at her. "But I understand your worry for him, even I worry for my own brother who I haven't seen since before we were brought to this lab. I fear he might have been one of the symbiotes who perished because he couldn't find a comparable host so soon."

"I'll ask to see him tomorrow, just to be sure." Claire whispered as Blinky seeped back into her. "If we ever broke out we'll find out what happened to your brother, I promise Blinky."

🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

Everything was quiet in the Janus laboratory. All test subjects and their symbiotes were asleep in their cells, or were awake and unable to sleep. No one but security guards were roaming the hallways, but none of them noticed the dark figure slipping through the hallways like a shadow. The unknown intruder managed to reach the area where all test subjects were asleep, peeking into each cell until they arrived to one containing a young dark haired boy who was asleep. The intruder pressed their hand against the glass door and a strange blue ooze slipped from their hand and slipped through the crack of the door. Once open, the ooze fell onto the floor and quickly attached itself to the Intruders legs before sinking into them.

"Please...no more tests..." the boy whimpered as he curled up in a ball, keeping his back to the intruder. "I just wanna go home."

"And you'll be going home." The intruder said gently as they walked over to the boy. He sat up in alarm and turned himself around to see the person, dressed all in black with a mask and hood covering their face.

"W-who are you?" He asked fearfully.

"Your saviors." The boy nearly screamed as the strange blue ooze poked out from this person's shoulder. "Now hush Jim Lake Jr, we don't have much time."

"You need to be very quiet, I'm gonna go create a distraction away from here while you break the others out. Can you do that for me?" The hooded intruder asked.

Jim nods before shaking his head. "I don't know if I can, no one can break out of these cells unless the scientists put in a specific number in the key pad?"

"Who needs passwords when you have a symbiote to mess up the inside of the doors?" The blue ooze scoffs. "Now if you excuse us, we have some humans to kill for testing dangerous aliens and putting them in children."

Jim watched as what he guessed was another symbiote slip back into his new savior's body before they hurried out of the cell. Getting up from the floor, Jim crept out of his cell, relieved not to see any guards in the hallway. He approached one of the cells, this one containing the dark haired boy he had seen on his first day.

"Krel Tarron." Jim murmured when he saw the boy's name flash on the glass door. He rapped his knuckles against the door, awakening the boy who was looking rather grumpy from being awaken.The boy folds his arms over his chest and looks at Jim as if to say "well?"

"Uh...how do I open this without-"

"You know you can use your symbiote to open the door." Jim gives a loud scream before a hand slaps over his mouth. "SHHH! You want to wake the guards or something?"

Out of the corner of his eye he could see the blonde girl from before with a dark and light blue blob, probably her symbiote, sitting on her shoulder. With a frustrated sigh, she released him and pushed him away from the door.

"Watch and learn newbie." SHe instructed as her symbiote leapt off her shoulder and squeezed itself in the crack between the glass and the frame. The door slowly slid open as the other boy stepped out and flug his arms around the girl.

"Aja how you do that? How'd you know your symbiote could do that?" The boy asked and the girl laughed.

"That darkly dressed figure, I saw them do it with their symbiote and figured Vex could do the same."

"Vex?" Jim asked in confusion as the blue blob climbed out of the door and latched itself to the girl's leg.

"Yeah, doesn't your symbiote have a name?" The boy asked with a frown. "Let me guess, you haven't tried communicating with it."

"These things...can talk?" Jim asked as the blob climbed it's way back onto the girl's shoulder. "Aslo shouldn't we...free the others instead of just standing around-"

"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!"

"Oh look Krel, he has a stun gun!" The girl, Aja said in what sounded like mock horror. "Oh like that's really gonna hurt us when we've got...armor."

"We're wearing pjamas this isn't armor-" Jim was cut off as the girl leapt forward and watched as blue slime covered her body, encasing her until it fully covered her face and body. The guard in the hallway screamed and fired the stun gun, only for it to get ripped out of his hands and smashed across the face with is.

"Ha ha! Oh it feels so good to have a host! Especially one who can fight!" The blue creature that was once Aja laughed and punched the air. "Zarda! Are you seeing this? I got lucky!"

"She is very unimpressed." The boy, who Jim remembered was called Krel, laughed and shook his head. "Now I can't fight but I can try and hack the doors before someone notices we're gone. You boy, you help me open the doors."

It took Jim a while to try and convince his symbiote to do as he asked, since it was being very stubborn as usual. Lately since they had been put together this creature kept doing nothing but insulting Jim and threatening to eat his organs, until he retaliated with the fact that he needed him to survive properly. And DRLL-A was being a pain in the but as usual, complaining that he wasn't getting to fight like the symbiote Vex. So far they had released three boys who had been paired with symbiotes and the girl who slept in the cell from across his.

"So...what do we do?" One of the boys, who introduced himself as Toby, asked and tapped his fingers nervously. "My symbiote hates fighting, and so do these other three."
"We need to retrieve my baby brother, he's also a host." The girl, Claire, answers and clenches her fist. "It's not fair that they're literally experimenting on babies! Who knows if his has eaten him from the inside like DRLL-A has!"

"Wait who has DRLL-A?" Krel asked and Jim raised his hand meekly. "Okay that's weird, because this symbiote has been known to eat through his hosts like a starving bear. You've been here for less than a month and he hasn't even eaten your organs yet?"

"He keeps threatening to! But I remind him that if he kills me he probably won't get another host, and from the looks of it there aren't really any more volunteers in this place who don't have symbiotes aside from the scientists."

"Uh not to be a buttsnack, but we've got company!" One of the other boys, named Steve, yelled and pointed behind Jim and Krel.

Several guards were coming at them with stun guns in hand with Aja, now out of her symbiote form, being carried by one.

"Hey let go of my sister!" Krel yelled angrily.

"Transform or we shoot subject 207!" One guard yelled as another pointed a gun at Aja's head. "Now surrender!"

"Where's that black hooded person Aja said was here?" Krel whispered to Jim frantically.

"I don't even know, but we're on our own now!" Jim hissed back. "Hey DRLL-A is you can hear me, now's your chance to fight!"

Flesh bag if you think this weak little form of yours is going to last you long in battle you are dead wrong. The symbiote muttered from inside Jim's head. Let me handle this, let me take control when I armor you.

"Uh no because I know you're going to bite heads off!"

And what's wrong with that? A few dead bodies never hurt anyone!

"Hands up and walk back to your cells!" The guard yelled as everyone raised their hands.

"Okay Aaaarrrggh, I know you're a pacifist due to the last symbiote war but it looks like DRLL-A is being a diva and we could use your help!" Toby said loudly. He was quiet for a few moments before nodding. "Okay I promise if you do this and we get out I'll let you consume Nugat Nummies every day!"

"DRLL-A!" Jim yelled as the guards leveled their guns. "Ugh fine but just this once! And don't kill Aja!"