#Worldless AU: Test-3004

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

I can see Test-3004! Edda trying to escape her cell when the incident happened, completely terrified and confused.

Like she's already stuck in a completely different form (And is probably in a lot of pain), now a bunch of stuff is happening and it's all scary to her!! I feel bad for her since it probably been like YEARS since she was free...

On a more positive note, Edda chatting to Aven about what's happening on the surface since she got starnapped

Oh absolutely. I wouldn't blame her one bit either....

Poor gal has been contained like an animal for way too long, and that facility got what was coming to it.... Aven please get over here-

Awwww, yes! Let them talk! Catch her up! And get her home for pity's sake-

[octahedral-chaos]

Test-3004 AU: Horrors (A Drabble from Edda's POV)

Or, Edda's nightmarish ordeal, taken from her Point of View.

Warning: Body horror, kidnapping, experimentations, dehumanisation (Kinda?), jail, murder mention

Characters: Edda, Aven (Mentioned), unnamed side characters

Thank you so much @sqarletsworldlesswandering for helping me with this AU, and allowing me to ramble about it!

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How long has it been since she was taken?

She remembered the suddenness of all of this, suddenly being accused of killing someone, suddenly getting thrown into jail, suddenly being visited by a bunch of unfamiliar people and being taken to... whereever they're taking her.

She was under anesthesia, but for some odd reason they didn't put her under fully. Maybe they wanted her to see how far away she is from the surface, maybe they don't want her fighting back but also want her to be aware, frankly she's scared and confused and just want to go back.

She was in a submarine, with the other odd people, seemingly... scientists? They look like scientists, she don't know how far down she was. It felt like days at this point. How long was it since she last saw Aven?

Then, next thing she knew, she was at the surface... wait not, this is a dock, inside a building? There's a building underwater? How?

They essentially dragged her through doors, many door in fact, and then they threw her inside another jail cell. Great. Before they left, one of them took something from their pockets and clasp it around her hand. It was metallic, and silver in colour, a band?

When she finally manage to wake up, she immediately realise said band was a tag of sorts: "Test-3004" engraved on it in bold letters. It also seems to be really difficult to take off, if not impossible.

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She didn't know how long it was, was it days? Months? Years? She doesn't know. All she know is that she's in a cell deep below the ocean, with people who seemingly doesn't even treat her like an individual. They keep calling her by her number, which is frustrating when they ignore her corrections. In fact, she barely got anything besides some generic books, puzzles and the occasional check-in by the staff.

Besides that? Nothing. And it's driving her up a wall. She wants to talk to people, she just wants to not feel lonely and scared and confused and she just wish that she was with her friend. Aven, oh god, he must also be absolutely lonely too? Right? She still remember how mortified he was when they arrested her for murder (She don't remember killing anyone, not at all. The Former Universe doesn't count now), her imprisonment (She didn't kill anyone! But they didn't listen to her at all, only to that random person that she never met!) And her last meeting with him was in her cell, talking about random things they used to do.

She miss him already.

"Test-3004?" A voice said, shaking her from her thoughts. She looked up, a human staring at her with a slight frown. "Please go to Lab number 17, any refusal to comply will result in you being tranquillised," the human spoke, devoid of any emotion.

As she walked down the halls, she looked around. Most of the doors were metal (which was concerning), and none of them were open. Everything was in bland colours, nothing interesting nor colourful here.

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"So, Test-3004, you've been chosen for one of the programs here"

She tilted her head. No use to talking to humans if they don't understand sonar nor provided any means of communication.

"Specifically, Project Lightfish. We wanted to see if it's possible to make a light starfolk immune to water. By using genetics and the starfolk's unique ability of absorption, we hope to achieve this."

She did not like this one bit.

"I know that look, you're scared. But remember, you're gone to everyone you know, you don't matter to them anymore. Plus, we need data."

Now she hates this even more. How dare he say that! But... with the threat of being tranquillised looming over her (There is a person right next to her holding a tranquilliser gun), she has no choice but to agree.

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It hurts.

She did not know what just happened, but all she knew was that she was injected with... something and now she's in complete utter agony. It felt like being burnt alive. She felt her bones snapping and muscles tearing. No, No no no no no, this can't be real, this can't be real. Are they turning her into something else? The scent of essence filled the air, and her head was pounding.

And as quickly as it happened, it stopped.

She took a few breathes, collapsing on the ground. Everything was too bright, too quiet and disorienting. She was exhausted after all of that, barely able to move and look around.

"Test-3004 seems to be a failure, albeit a success at a tiny level. Subject displays too much mutations to be considered a success, but it seems to have gills, which might be a step in the right direction. More testing should be performed when subject recovers," the same person who caused this spoke aloud. They seem bizarrely quiet, like they're shocked at the thing they created. At the thing they turned her into.

Then they left, leaving her in pain and complete, utter confusion.

She tried to calm herself down to a manageable level, as well as waiting for the pain to become bearable.

After a while, she finally got a chance to stir and look at herself.

The first thing she realise was the fact that she seems to be... bigger? The cell seems a bit smaller than she remembered. Second thing she noticed was the clawed hands, she weakly lifted her hand, staring at it in confusion. She tried to get up, before realising that she can't feel her legs.

She looked behind her, and instead of legs, she had a long, serpentine tail with many fins, including a very long tail fin. And then she noticed the extra pair of arms, and gills, and the feather-like pectoral fins that seemingly acts like legs, with the somewhat normal pelvic fins that also acts like legs.

To say at this point she felt like screaming would be a massive understatement.

She thrashed around, screaming all the while. No no no no nononononono, this must be a nightmare, right? Right?! She'll wake up back home with Aven, right?

Screaming turned into sobbing, she curled up, still scared and confused. How they could do this to her? Those heartless monsters, they turned her into a monster without any mercy whatsoever. Why can't they leave her alone? Why they needed her? Why did they took her away from her friend?

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It did not get better one bit.

They performed several tests on her, throwing her into the water multiple times just to see if she's immune to it. Good news is that she's immune to it, so it doesn't hurt, bad news is water entering and exiting her gills feels weird, so she usually have to restrain herself from scratching at them.

But they still call her Test-3004, barely got her anything to do and they didn't even move her to a new cell or anything, she's still in the old cell (which is downright uncomfortable because of how big she is now. She's tall enough to pick up a human with ease) AND they still ignore her. So did they dump her or something? Do they not care for their "failure?" She was frustrated, so, SO frustrated at this place. She wants to go home, she wants to be with Aven and be happy. She wants to be called "Edda" and not by a silly number.

And now the facility is abandoned, because something happened and all the entities were let out. Now she's alone, completely alone in this horrid place with monsters lurking at every corner. She tried befriending some of them, but most of them were hostile, others were friendly but aren't sapient and others.... aren't alive at all.

How long has it been since she last saw the sun? How long has it been since she was last called "Edda" and not "Test-3004?" How long has it been since she last had a proper conversation with someone? How long has it been since she saw Aven?

She shook her head, she didn't need to think about this again. She crawled to one of the open floors, water pooling into the hole, and dived.

At least she could occupy herself with swimming, even if it's not her favourite thing.

[octahedral-chaos]

Currently thinking about Test-3004/ Pressure inspired Worldless AU because it can get scary-

Like some places are straight up flooded for rooms on end, there's MANY entities lurking in the building and Aven is armed with a flashlight and his fire magic, which might not be enough to fight off any of the entities-

Oh and Aven is stuck in a facility that's very, VERY deep underwater.

Absolutely terrifying tbh.

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

Also on the Test-3004 train:

Aven trying his best to retrieve objects that the person who hired him needs. This also include some... anomalous ones. Don't ask how he manages to store them because somehow he does (Probably bag with infinite amount of storage? AKA yes the foundation uses an anomalous object to contain other objects-)

Aven in the flooded areas trying to navigate.

Aven encountering some of the entities.

And of course: Aven finally reunits with Edda, cue lots of questions and hugs

*Mission Impossible theme plays in the background.*

I can imagine, some point after finding her, Edda watching and being about to ask "How do you plan on carrying that?" only to be cut off by Aven simply... shoving a Very Large and Strange item into his satchel Mary Poppins style and continuing on.

It'd be hilarious if like, Aven needs to get across a flooded area, but he sinks like a rock and just... has to go on this stupidly long detour because he can't swim or jump across.

I wonder what sorts of entities he encounters.... and how poorly that goes. And how beat up he gets. And how many times his heartrate increases to concerning levels.....

YES! Let the blorbos reunite! All the hugs! All the questions! And all the comforting too!

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

Also on Experiment Edda AU, imagine how terrifying the entire ordeal is for her.

Like she got accused of something she didn’t do, got sent to an UNDERWATER facility, got a bunch of experiments done on her that’s most likely very painful AND Ashe is confused!

Poor thing

Oh yeah, that's uh... probably absolutely terrifying. On a number of levels. Framed and therefore probably very confused, actively wrestling with her thassalophobia, and being effectively tortured and altered against her will in the name of science....

Trauma. She's traumatized now. Nice job mysterious scummy lab. Someone get this girl a weighted blanket, a mountain of plushies, and a tub of ice cream.

...Question, actually - does she need water to survive now??

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

Some more Test-3004 stuff!

But imagine Edda after all the experiments, confused and probably in a lot of pain. I already feel really bad for her!

Also Aven trying to figure out what on Earth is going on in this facility... and accidentally running into Edda-

Also: To add even more salt to the wound, the Lab workers doesn't even use her actual name, they just refer to her as her number, which is Test-3004-

The poor girl.... I wanna take a baseball bat to the lab workers- Or maybe some Deadly Neurotoxin TM.

Oooh my, that's gonna be a reunion. I can kinda see Edda just... glomping him the moment she recognizes him, but for Aven he doesn't realize right away that it's her, and panics. I...imagine a very emotional reunion follows....

Those little twerps, of course they don't. *Reaching for multiple whacking sticks*

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

Also Test-3004 AU silliness, but Edda, since she has extra arms now, trying to hold a bunch of stuff.

Also: Trying to move on land. Lots of dragging and stuff-

ALSO: Edda trying to protect Aven

Hehe, she hold All The Things now. Reminds me of that one meme of the guy holding an absurd amount of folding chairs-

I...imagine land motion is a wee bit awkward now. Get this girl some wheels or somethin'- Or, I guess, she can just learn how to snek properly, but that's hard. And probably involves a few near-faceplants. And a lot of "Can we go a different way? That's a really uncomfy surface to drag across."

YES! She protecc! And she attacc! And most importantly, she have Aven's bacc. Thou shalt not mess with the Experiment and her frends, for she is Significantly Bigger And Stronger than you and you will perish.

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

Also: Test-3004! Edda trying to get used to her new form. Lots of face plants-

Oh and probably lots of panicked thrashing around too-

And maybe knocking things over by complete accident-

That's gonna be... an experience. Many many faceplants. And possibly a lot of her body - internally and by way of physics - telling her it wants to be in water and not on land. I can sorta see her fins n' stuff complaining a la wilted plant because "you aren't watering us lady."

Somethin' tells me the panicked thrashing around is the immediate response, assuming she isn't in such excruciating pain that she can't. Would not want to be within range of any such flailing....

Imagine her knocking Aven over a few times on accident-

[octahedral-chaos]

ANYWAYS, after that whole debacle. Uhh...

Experiment 3004 AU! (I believe that's what it's called)

I really love this.

BUT WHAT ABOUT AVEN?! What has he been doing in the months/ years after Edda's disappearance? Hopefully trying to find her...

Also PLEASE DON'T TELL ME AVEN WILL BE EXPERIMENTED ON, TOO. My heart can't take much more.

(Says the angst writer lol)

Oh! Test-3004! My favourite angst-filled treat! /silly

OKAY so first thing first: Aven won’t be experimented on, thankfully. He comes along MUCH latter, after the Incident, which took place around… A week before Aven went to the facility? The timeline is basically this:

Edda gets kidnapped -> Edda gets experimented on -> Incident/ Site-wide containment breach -> Aven goes into the facility

Aven’s entire purpose is to basically retrieve as much anomalous objects as possible.

As for what he was doing during her absence? Tried his best to comfort himself. He was told that she died (In order to cover up the facility), and thus was grieving for quite a while now. He ended up trying a bunch of things to distract himself from his grief, but at times it became too much.

He also suffered regular sleep paralysis episodes, as well as insomnia. Because of this, he got into the habit of pretending that Edda is there in order to get some sense of peace.

Until he got a random letter from someone, with an email address attached to it. It was a “Wreckage Artifact Retrieval Operation,” asking for his help.

It seemed sketchy at first, but with practically no one there for him and nothing to lose, he contacted it. Then he signed up for it.

To say he got more than he bargained for would be an understatement.

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

Also back on the Test-3004 train, but I could see Edda trying to help Aven with retrieving the object, and she's surprisingly good at at! Especially for out-of-reach areas.

Also Edda trying to help with the underwater areas-

She's trying her best not to panic

Ooo, yes! And now Aven has Scary Friend Privilege, lol. Yeah, the height would definitely help, lol.

We love a brave girlie, yes we do.

...To be comedic about it, I can see The General observing from the other side of a rift just being like "You're doing great sweetie!"

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

Also on Test-3004 AU:

The duo's reunion! Edda being overjoyed, Aven initially being terrified but then also being overjoyed that Edda is still alive!

... Until Edda starts crying because she realised just how much the experiments screwed her over, cue Aven trying to comfort her-

Yes!! All the glomping and excitement! And then immediate task of trying to get Edda out. And poor Aven trying to get over the initial eldritch horror jumpscare-

NOOOOO bby-! She been done dirty, Aven please console her. The Wanderer crew will rip a hole between dimensions just to deliver snuggles and comfort and plushies and a weighted blanket and a hot drink....

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

Also Test-3004! Edda being thrown into a tank so they could test if she could withstand water...

Of course she can, but she DOES NOT LIKE IT ONE BIT-

Also Edda curling up when asleep, with Aven vibing with her-

Yeah I can see that turning into a panic attack very quickly-

Awwww, lil' fish loaf! Lil' ball! ...I can see Aven using her as a pillow. Or her using him as a mattress-