Broken Dolls

Chapter 5: The Cage with No Door

Jade's mind raced with possibilities. Escape. It was the only answer. The only way to survive.

If he stayed, they would reset him, wipe him clean, and turn him into the perfect, thoughtless doll he was meant to be.

Like Jessie-21. Like all the others who disappeared.

He had to leave. And he wouldn't do it alone.

He turned to Mina-13, who sat frozen beside him, her small hands clenched in her lap. Her wide, frightened eyes darted toward the other cots.

"There have to be more like us," Jade whispered urgently. "More who feel. More who think."

Mina swallowed. "Maybe. But... where would we go?"

Jade hesitated. He hadn't thought that far ahead. He had never even stepped beyond the orphanage walls.

Still, he forced himself to sound certain. "Anywhere but here. We don't belong in this place."

Mina exhaled shakily. "But how? The doors are locked. The halls are guarded. We can't even step out of line without being noticed."

Jade refused to accept that. He glanced around the dormitory, scanning for the smallest c***k in their prison.

And that was when he realized

There was no way out.

Not a single window was large enough to crawl through. Every door was reinforced metal, coded to only open for instructors and scientists.

Even if they managed to slip into the halls unnoticed, they had no idea where the exit even was.

Jade's breath caught in his throat. He had always assumed that if he ran fast enough, if he tried hard enough, he could escape. But the truth was staring him in the face now, undeniable and cruel.

They were trapped.

Mina must have seen the shift in his expression. "Jade?"

His hands curled into fists. "We have to try."

Her voice was barely a whisper. "And if we fail?"

Jade thought of Jessie-21's lifeless body on that table. The cold, empty stare of a friend who had been erased.

"If we don't try," he murmured, "we're already gone."

Mina trembled but nodded. "Then we find others like us."

Jade met her gaze, determination hardening inside him. They couldn't escape-not yet. But they could prepare. They could gather the ones who were different, the ones who weren't empty.

They couldn't run from their cage.

But maybe, just maybe

They could burn it down.