More on Area 51 AU, because I've become obsessed!
So here’s what I’m thinking is gonna happen to Keith. Basically, the scientists in Area 51 are interested in trying to see just what Keith’s “species” can do, and what the biological details are like. So they put him through a lot of tests. Lots of physical, and some mental too. (Kinda like a rat in a maze, as fucked up as that is.) Keith’s mental process has been tested too, with lots of IQ tests and stuff like that.
They also take his blood, and they’ve even injected him with viruses to see how his body works to recover. He has a much faster healing rate than humans, and his body is more capable of fighting diseases and illnesses. They’ve also tried to use his DNA to come up with new cures to harder to treat diseases.
Keith is miserable being so sick with so many different illnesses. It hurts, he can’t predict what’s going to happen, because they won’t tell him what his illnesses are, and he hates being so week that he can’t get out of bed. Naturally, he’s the kind of person that can’t sit still, and when he’s well, he often paces around in his room.
There’s even one point where they break Keith’s arm to see how fast it heals. It takes about a week, but the healing process is beyond painful. It doesn’t help either that they take constant X-Rays, and even keep him with an X-Ray for over an hour, just to see how the healing process works.
Basically, they push all of his limits, until he has a mental breakdown. He lashes out and attacks the person closest by at the time. This is when they, including Keith, discover Keith’s claws and immense physical strengths (despite the fact that he’s malnourished).
Once they find out that Keith is a lot more “dangerous” than they thought, life for him is a lot more restricted. Like I’m thinking at times he was allowed out, almost close enough to a window to see the outside. He was even allowed to wander a bit, escorted of course. They also gave him a lot of books to read, but even this is reduced. Not on purpose, just with all the restrictions, the scientists try to go into Keith’s room as little as possible.
So now these little freedoms are gone. Unless they’re doing tests, he’s in his room. And when they let him out, they keep him restrained.
Then, at one point, there’s like this HUGE power outage at Area 51. Like, there’s no power anywhere and they have to work to boot it back up.
Problem is, Keith is trapped in his room, because his door only opens when there’s power.
Not only that, but once the power goes out, there’s no light. Keith is trapped in a world of darkness.
It takes three days to get the power back, and by then Keith is a mess. To him, it felt like weeks. He honestly felt like he was going crazy. This most likely will impact him for the rest of his life. (Ahh okay I don’t know enough about the psychological stress this would put on Keith, but I’m sure he’s not himself for a while after this. I’m probably gonna do some research on this because I’m pretty sure I wanna write a fanfic about this. :3)
I’m thinking maybe Keith is put in the infirmary for a day or so after the power comes back. He’s in a panic when they open the door, and he tries to attack the people at the door. He thinks they’re here to kill him. So when they get him “under control”, they drag him to the infirmary, because he’s severely dehydrated and mentally unstable. (There is a bathroom in Keith’s room, with a sink, but with how dark it was, and with Keith’s mental instability at the time, it was almost as if there was no way to get to it. There’s even a point where he literally can’t find the bathroom.)
For about a day he’s kept in the infirmary. The only reason he “calms down” is because they put him under after he starts trying to get out of the straps in his bed.
This is the point where Keith truly feels broken. He’s lost his will to live.
At first the scientists don’t realize how serious this is, until they try and put him through more tests.
He won’t comply. He doesn’t even acknowledge anyone when spoken to. It’s like he can’t hear them.
They threaten him with food reductions, but he’s already stopped eating. They threaten to shock him, but he doesn’t respond to that either. Before, he participated in these tests because he had to. He was afraid of the punishments.
After these techniques don’t work, they send in one of the scientists to talk to Keith, to see if they can bribe him.
It takes a while to figure out how to get to him, until the scientist has an idea. He tells him that he can ask for anything. Anything Keith wants, it’s done. (Besides of course leaving Area 51.)
There’s something that almost immediately pops into his mind when he’s offered this.
He wants to see the sky, see the sun, see the stars. He wants to feel the wind on his face, the warmth of the sun, the smell of rain. (Although I’m pretty sure Area 51 is in a desert, so he won’t get that. But he’ll take anything.)
At this point, it’s been two years since he’s been outside.
So, after much debate among the scientists, they agree to take Keith outside. (Heavily guarded.)
It’s everything he’s dreamed of. It’s been so long, he almost forgot what it feels like, only able to remember in his dreams and books. He loves the heat (inside, it’s always so cold), the sand beneath his feet, the blue sky. He’s speechless. He never thought he could feel happy again, but now, he knows happiness still exists.
This brings the life back into Keith. The possibility of happiness, of being able to see this every day. He’s filled with a new purpose in life.
It takes a year for Keith to find his opportunity. He knows that he only has one shot at this, so he can’t screw this up.
He starts trying to monitor how he acts around the scientists. He becomes as submissive as he can, and when the impulses and fears come up, it takes everything within himself not to lash out.
They start reducing Keith’s restrictions. He’s no longer restrained when out, and he’s allowed a space to wander. The amount of people to escort him grow fewer and fewer, until there’s only one person who takes him where he needs to go.
He even attempts to befriend some of the people.
The strange thing to them is, he starts asking about cars. He asks the person he’s closest to about his car, what it looks like, and even if he keeps his keys on him. The guy says he does, and Keith asks to see them. It seems like a harmless question. Weird, but harmless. So he lets Keith look at his keys, and Keith studies them, playing with the buttons to unlock the car, tracing his thumbs along the many keys this guy has.
A few weeks later, Keith asks a different person if he could have a book on driving. When asked why, he says he wants to write about driving, but doesn’t know how that works, because he’s never driven.
Again, a seemingly harmless request.
What they don’t know is that Keith spends several weeks memorizing every single word in the book. How to start a car, what the mirrors do, how to put the car into drive. All the works.
Finally, he finds his opportunity.
When the same person who let Keith see his keys comes to escort him around his usual area, Keith asks if they can go outside. The person is unsure at first, but Keith pleads, saying it would be only for a few minutes. He promises not to tell anyone.
Finally, the guy’s convinced, and Keith is taken outside.
Keith seizes his opportunity.
As soon as they get outside, completely alone, Keith attacks the guy and knocks him out. Then he searches him for his wallet and his keys, and makes a run for it. He finds the car the guy had described to him, and hops in. He drives as far away as possible, pressing down as hard as he could on the gas pedal. (It’s okay because Area 51 is very far away from any trace of civilization.)
It takes about an hour for someone to realize that Keith is missing. The guy that he knocked out comes to, and realizes that his keys and wallet are gone.
At this point, Keith has a decent distance from them, but not enough to lose them completely.
It takes hours to reach civilization. The car runs out of gas before he reaches a city, forcing him to walk for a few hours until, finally, he makes it.
There’s about 50 bucks in the wallet he stole. There’s also a credit card, but Keith knows it’s not safe to use.
There’s also another issue.
He’s going to draw a lot of attention. It’s hard not to notice some scrawny looking kid wearing nothing but a hospital robe, feet covered in dirt and sand.
So he manages to steal some clothes and a backpack, and buys the cheapest food he can find at some gas station. Basically lots and lots of junk food, especially beef jerky, because he’s trying to make this last for weeks, while also trying to find something that’s somewhat nutritious.
He ends up wandering for weeks, walking miles and miles, hitching some rides, sleeping outside in the woods or wherever else is secluded enough not to be easily found, until he ends up in the town Shiro’s in.
Aaaaand the rest you know.
Update: I’m working on the fanfic for this! It’s a prequel, when Keith is at Area 51. I haven’t finished chapter one yet, but I’ve been writing a lot, and I published a little teaser for you guys to read. :3) http://dylexa.tumblr.com/post/148271842272/area-51-au-fanfic-teaser-3
