It was over in an instant- quick, predictable blood spilled out and onto the stage underneath as Oegyin’s body fell.
Going into it, Oegyin had some peace of mind with the notion that there would be less suffering once they lost. It had been made clear from the beginning that the competition was really an elaborate excuse for their owner to get rid of them, and, with the panic attacks getting worse by the day, they didn’t mind all that much.
The panic attacks, frequent as they were, always felt disconnected from Oegyin’s mind. While the rough, almost inhuman nature of her body was often the source of the chronic anxiety, they found that their body rarely responded to the nervous stimuli of their racing thoughts. While they spiraled and spiraled, the most proof they could find of their anguish was a broken sweat, and, in turn, they grew to feel more and more trapped in their unresponsive and disconnected body.
However, as the blood seeped through her clothes and onto the cold metal, the crowd’s cheers began to die down, and a hesitant hush fell around the stage.
“Ah, this blood is blue! I have never done seeing this before..!! Wow!!!!!”
Muddled gasps and unintelligible mumbles filled the crowd. Laika’s mic had yet to be turned off, leaving her completely unconcerned comment to be broadcasted throughout the venue.
Oegyin had, of course, bled before. They remembered vaugely being told by their owner that the atmosphere’s effect on human blood was different than on earth- and, of course, they had realized early on that every other child in ANAKT’s paper cuts were red across the board. The only time they’d seen blood reminiscent of their own was at ‘home,’ staining their owner’s skin.
They tried not to think about it much, but—
Something had begun to move in the pool of blood, a twitching almost similar to their own, seemingly stemming from the body. An almost skeletal growth, the same dark blue shade of their blood, reaching out, or, at least, trying to shift towards the light of the stage.
Laika’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she watched the mutation, stepping back from the body as if to let it take center stage “This thing is begun moving..! Wow, this really is very new!”
The stage lights were turned off, and security was rushed out to blockade the stage. Laika waved happily at the crowd, most of which was herding the exits in a hasty attempt to get away from whatever they’d seen.
Security, after losing two personnel, was unable to catch the mutation.
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