Saturday: 11:17 PM
The silence had filled the air long enough. Six finally spoke.
"They blew him up," she said softly, "…they just…blew him up. They didn’t care. They didn’t care that Steve had feelings or that Steve was…was one of the nicest rabbits I’ve ever known…he exploded and they CELEBRATED."
Gerald shuffled to the cage beside Six. They were in the other testing room for the night, seeing as the main testing room was a bit, well, covered in Steve. They were airing it out overnight.
"It’s like…I can accept being a part of science, I can accept that we’re a lesser species, but…but they flat out murdered him and they cheered and poured drinks."
"Six," Gerald said quietly, "…how are you surprised?"
Six lowered her ears, her eyes growing dimmer.
"I guess I…I guess I just wanted to believe that humans had respect-even if not much-for species other than their own but they don’t. Steve didn’t deserve that, Gerald. Steve…didn’t deserve that at all. That was inhumane."
"I told you it’s bad here."
"I KNOW it’s bad here but this is over the edge!" Six said angrily, sounding on the verge of tears, "How do they justify that?! That wasn't experimentation, it was flat out murder! Steve didn't further progress in a medical or scientific field. HE EXPLODED. Steve isn't a hero! He's not a martyr! He's meat chunks splattered on a wall! And they still have the audacity to think that this was ok!? 'Yay, casual murder! Time for drinks!'. Unbelievable."
Six finally allowed her fur to settle and she took a few deep breaths. Gerald glanced at Doug, asleep in the cage beside him.
"You know what scares me the most about Steve?" Six asked quietly, "Is that it means we're ALL expendable. Even The Special Seven aren't off the hook...any day, any time...they could open the cage door and grab Doug and...just..."
"Don't think like that," Gerry said, "We don't need to stress ourselves out anymore than we already have been worried. I'm fairly confident in saying that The Special Seven are pretty well off. You all matter to them. If for nothing else but the publicity. It's Doug and myself and the others who're the ones who have to be wary."
"People say they do things in the name of science because it's right. That's a conversation I overheard THEM talking about one day when they had me out in the breakroom. Two of the men were speaking about religion vs science, and they said they got into the scientific field because they could make things better while religion only makes things worse....but....but where's the morality they claim to gain from this? They're harming us! That isn't making things better! And what's worse is that they hide behind this guise of caring about making the world a better place so people can't talk down to them!" said Six, becoming visibly upset now, her hair all fluffed up and her teeth chattering wildly, "And they act like they're gods! Meanwhile, last week they had me in another lab and they were sticking tiny metal rods into me to see my reaction to a certain type of alloy! This isn't science! It's cruelty disguised as research!"
"Six..." Gerry started, "We can complain all we want but in the end we're rabbits. We have no control and no power over them, and this is our life, whether we like it or not."
A moment passed.
"Do you know how I ended up here?" Gerry asked.
Six shook her head.
"I was in a pet store. I'd been returned because a family had an older brother who had an allergic reaction to me. Can't be around rabbits. So they brought me back. Imagine the liberation that was. Being picked over all the other rabbits, and to go to a nice safe warm home with a family and they're giving you good food and playing with you and then...you're back there in that tiny glass case filled with whatever rabbits are left until someone comes in and buys you and brings you...here. I went from a nice safe warm home to...this. There's no justice in the world. There's nothing. We're all just gonna have to deal with the fact that we didn't get lucky enough to be free or cared for."
Fern had gotten up and was stretching in her kennel, and flapped her ears a few times.
"I don't know. Each one has it's uncertainty and it's certainties. Pros and cons. You don't know who you're going home with. They could end up abusing you or not being good pet owners, or you could end up in someones Easter Basket, which sadly happens to many rabbits who then die from being poorly cared for. At least here they'd contractually obligated to feed and shelter us. Is it a safe, nurturing, loving environment? No. But neither is the world," she said, as she laid back down and looked at her right paw which was bandaged, and sighed, "The world is kind of a bad place."
Six had had enough and went to lay down as well. Gerry sat looking out at the blinking red smoke detector light across from his cage, and realized how pointless all these conversations were. Yes they were interesting, but in the end what you're left with is a meandering, meaningless debate that always ends where it starts. Gerry laid down and curled up, and shut his eyes. Then...a small scratching sound. He looked around, and noticed a small mouse had come out of a hole in the upper right of the wall, and their eyes met.
"Please," the mouse said, nearly in tears, "please don't let them hurt me anymore..."
The silence had filled the air long enough. Six finally spoke.
"They blew him up," she said softly, "…they just…blew him up. They didn’t care. They didn’t care that Steve had feelings or that Steve was…was one of the nicest rabbits I’ve ever known…he exploded and they CELEBRATED."
Gerald shuffled to the cage beside Six. They were in the other testing room for the night, seeing as the main testing room was a bit, well, covered in Steve. They were airing it out overnight.
"It’s like…I can accept being a part of science, I can accept that we’re a lesser species, but…but they flat out murdered him and they cheered and poured drinks."
"Six," Gerald said quietly, "…how are you surprised?"
Six lowered her ears, her eyes growing dimmer.
"I guess I…I guess I just wanted to believe that humans had respect-even if not much-for species other than their own but they don’t. Steve didn’t deserve that, Gerald. Steve…didn’t deserve that at all. That was inhumane."
"I told you it’s bad here."
"I KNOW it’s bad here but this is over the edge!" Six said angrily, sounding on the verge of tears, "How do they justify that?! That wasn't experimentation, it was flat out murder! Steve didn't further progress in a medical or scientific field. HE EXPLODED. Steve isn't a hero! He's not a martyr! He's meat chunks splattered on a wall! And they still have the audacity to think that this was ok!? 'Yay, casual murder! Time for drinks!'. Unbelievable."
Six finally allowed her fur to settle and she took a few deep breaths. Gerald glanced at Doug, asleep in the cage beside him.
"You know what scares me the most about Steve?" Six asked quietly, "Is that it means we're ALL expendable. Even The Special Seven aren't off the hook...any day, any time...they could open the cage door and grab Doug and...just..."
"Don't think like that," Gerry said, "We don't need to stress ourselves out anymore than we already have been worried. I'm fairly confident in saying that The Special Seven are pretty well off. You all matter to them. If for nothing else but the publicity. It's Doug and myself and the others who're the ones who have to be wary."
"People say they do things in the name of science because it's right. That's a conversation I overheard THEM talking about one day when they had me out in the breakroom. Two of the men were speaking about religion vs science, and they said they got into the scientific field because they could make things better while religion only makes things worse....but....but where's the morality they claim to gain from this? They're harming us! That isn't making things better! And what's worse is that they hide behind this guise of caring about making the world a better place so people can't talk down to them!" said Six, becoming visibly upset now, her hair all fluffed up and her teeth chattering wildly, "And they act like they're gods! Meanwhile, last week they had me in another lab and they were sticking tiny metal rods into me to see my reaction to a certain type of alloy! This isn't science! It's cruelty disguised as research!"
"Six..." Gerry started, "We can complain all we want but in the end we're rabbits. We have no control and no power over them, and this is our life, whether we like it or not."
A moment passed.
"Do you know how I ended up here?" Gerry asked.
Six shook her head.
"I was in a pet store. I'd been returned because a family had an older brother who had an allergic reaction to me. Can't be around rabbits. So they brought me back. Imagine the liberation that was. Being picked over all the other rabbits, and to go to a nice safe warm home with a family and they're giving you good food and playing with you and then...you're back there in that tiny glass case filled with whatever rabbits are left until someone comes in and buys you and brings you...here. I went from a nice safe warm home to...this. There's no justice in the world. There's nothing. We're all just gonna have to deal with the fact that we didn't get lucky enough to be free or cared for."
Fern had gotten up and was stretching in her kennel, and flapped her ears a few times.
"I don't know. Each one has it's uncertainty and it's certainties. Pros and cons. You don't know who you're going home with. They could end up abusing you or not being good pet owners, or you could end up in someones Easter Basket, which sadly happens to many rabbits who then die from being poorly cared for. At least here they'd contractually obligated to feed and shelter us. Is it a safe, nurturing, loving environment? No. But neither is the world," she said, as she laid back down and looked at her right paw which was bandaged, and sighed, "The world is kind of a bad place."
Six had had enough and went to lay down as well. Gerry sat looking out at the blinking red smoke detector light across from his cage, and realized how pointless all these conversations were. Yes they were interesting, but in the end what you're left with is a meandering, meaningless debate that always ends where it starts. Gerry laid down and curled up, and shut his eyes. Then...a small scratching sound. He looked around, and noticed a small mouse had come out of a hole in the upper right of the wall, and their eyes met.
"Please," the mouse said, nearly in tears, "please don't let them hurt me anymore..."