The Escape (Coryana)

After Coryana had found the data chip in her stuffed sheep, she was determined to follow in Knitrias Maryanas footsteps and escape from the labratory.

She tried to keep a low profile, she stopped stealing the test drug and followed her normal schedule. Coryana knew she had to escape, but she needed a plan if she wanted to be successful like Knitrias.
Since Coryana had to stock up on supplies, she ate less to save some for rations. She started to destroy her secret hiding places for her diary, but also the place she had hidden the test drug.

Coryana contacted the minority group when she snuck out one night. The minority group were supportive of her plan and told her the name of their informant inside the lab. She knew she needed help to escape and had to finish preparing. She did not dare to escape unprepared.

Coryana was given the exact time, when the informant would help her sneak back inside the lab undetected.
Being in contact with the minority group was a huge advantage for her.
The minority group had alot of resources and connections. Coryana got a loan from the minority group, with which she could ask them to gather the supplies she needed on her journey after the escape.
Coryana had been preparing the escape for one month. The minority group had contacted her and told her about a big event that was about to happen at the labratory 2 days from then. She had been ready and was waiting for the days to pass.

When she woke up on the day of the big celebration, she knew she had to act normal more than ever. She could not risk getting caught, so close to her escape. Coryana got up, took a shower, got dressed and put on her lab coat. She left her room and walked down the white hallway until she reached the elevator. When she got into the round elevator made of glass, she greeted everyone like she had always done. She noticed her heart racing and the palms of her hands sweating. ~stay calm Coryana, you can do this, breathe calmly, lower your heart rate…~ she thought, while trying to calm herself.

The big canteen for all of the scientists of the 4th-8th floor was located on the 30th floor. Coryana had never noticed how long the elvator ride was from the 5th to the 30th floor. ~ This will feel like ages until it is 3 pm and time for the celebration.~ The informant had told her, the perfect time to escape would be at the opening ceremony at 3:15 pm. At 3:15 pm the president of the labratory would hold his speech, during the speech everyone had to be present. She knew the whole building would be empty, except for the huge banquet hall.
The elevator arrived at the 30th floor after what seemed like eternity, Coryana got off with her colleagues. She had always eaten alone and she would do the same today as well. She went up to the buffet and got the usual. Some scrambled eggs, a mixed salad and a joghurt drink. There was a special dessert with every meal of the day, but Coryana did not concern herself with the desserts, she did not want to feel too comfortable at the lab.

When she had gotten her meal, she walked past the round tables her colleagues were sitting at and proceeded to her usual spot in the corner of the room. She sat down at the empty table and just when she was about to eat, someone approached her and started talking to her: „Excuse me miss Guerra, is this seat taken?“ Coryana was intrigued, „How do you know my name?“, she asked. „Miss Guerra, do you not recognize your old professor?“, the elderly woman smirked at her. Coryana eyed her suspiciously, wondering if she was really one of her former professors. The elderly woman was slim, she had long white hair, which she had up in a bun. She was dressed elegantly in a simple blue dress under her open lab coat. Her face was kind and only had few wrinkles. Coryana remembered that she had attended one of the courses of Professer Loomia. Professor Loomia was the oldest and most knoweldgable of the Professors in the labratory, she was already 427 years old and respected across the world. Coryanas face suddenly turned red with embaressment, she had not recognized the most respected professor known. Coryana stood up from her chair, bowed to Professor Loomia, „ I am so sorry Professor Loomia, how could I not recognize you. My deepest apologies.“. „No need to apologize Miss Guerra, you have always been extremely focused when doing something, even eating“, Professor Loomia giggled. „May I join you Miss Guerra?“, she asked Coryana. „Yes, of course, I’d be honored.“. Professor Loomia sat down on the chair opposite to Coryana.
„So, Miss Guerra, I haven’t seen in you in quite a while. I have heard of your numerous achievements. I am proud that my best student has not wasted her talents. The discoveries you have made concerning the difference in the genetic code of the engineered race and the born race are astonishing. By the way, what do you think about todays celebration? If I recall correctly you were never the person to enjoy social gatherings or big events.“, Professor Loomia looked at Coryana awaiting a response. „Thank you very much Professor Loomia, I would never be where I stand today, if I hadn’t taken your courses on genetics. Yes, you remember correctly, I am not quite fond of celebrations, I’d prefer to just stay on the sidelines and wait for it all to be over..“, Coryana said nervously. Coryana was feeling very uncomfortable, she knew she had to fool her old Professor, but that woman was very sharp, could she really outsmart her?

Professor Loomia finished her coffee and stood up, „Well Miss Guerra, it was nice having a chat with you, I hope for your sake that the hours will pass quickly. But Miss Guerra, I think I have already tried to encourage you in the past to be more social and spend more time with your colleagues. You might find a friend and you could expand your horizon as well. Have a good day Miss Guerra, maybe we will meet again at the party“, she smiled and left. Coryana wiped her sweaty hands on the inside of her lab coat, her heart was racing and she felt uneasy. Coryana checked what time it was ~ Ugh, still 9 hours, when will this torment end, I can’t stay nervous the whole time, CALM DOWN CORYANA. If you keep this up you will expose yourself before lunch….~

Coryana walked back to the elevator and went to the 5th floor, she got off the elevator and walked down the hallway until she reached her personal lab. She was working on a drug to enhance the genetic code of the born race, which is supposed to extend their life expectancy, according to the plans of the government. Coryana had never tried to hold back when working, but right now she hated that she was successful and had such an important project. Because of the importance of her work, she knew the president of the labratory and her supervisors would notice her disappearance shortly after she left.

Coryana started to fake the results of her research on the drug, she did not want anyone completing the work, even if she had to destroy all the results she had gotten from her research. She spent 6 hours changing her research and all the results. Thanks to all the work she did, time flew by and it was 12 pm, lunch break. Coryana was relieved that she now only had to keep herself together for approximately 3 more hours. She went back to the canteen, got her lunch and finished it as fast as possible. She wanted to return to her lab to finish what she was doing, so she could pack the last few items for her escape.

At 2:45 pm everyones work ended, so they could get prepared for the celebration. But of course Coryana didn’t spent the last 15 minutes getting ready for the party, but instead for her escape.

She had spent alot of her time in the past on personal research. She had developed a small cube that could store items and change its appearance. WIth this cube her escape would become much easier, because noone would see that she had packed things and was planing to escape. She activated the cube with her fingerprint and stored everything inside. She changed into a light gray dress, that ended above her knees. She had to look like she was attending the party, but at the same time she needed to be able to run, if she had to. She changed the shape of the cube into a ring that fit her finger perfectly. Noone would suspect anything, as long as she could stay calm.

At 2:55 pm Coryana went to the elevator to go to the 87th floor, there she had to go to the banquet hall to have her attendance registered. After the registration was complete, she proceeded to get a light alcoholic beverage at the bar. She needed something to take off the edge, but nothing too strong that would hinder her escape. Everyone became quiet when they heard the sound of a bell over the speakers. It was finally 3:15 pm, the president came down the major staircase and walked up to a pedestal to begin his speech. Coryana had been staying in the back of the crowd since the beginning, so she could sneak away undetected. Since the security system of the Labratory was unrivaled, the security guards had to attend the celebration as well.

Coryana slowly turned away from the crowd and calmly walked towards the hallway. There she continued walking until she reached a set of stairs. She knew she couldn’t use the elevator, someone would hear it and they could notice that she had left the banquet hall. Coryana walked down the stairs slowly, she went down 4 sets of stairs. Exiting the staircase on the 83rd floor, (She knew there was an elevator that only went to the 83rd floor, this way noone on the 87th floor would notice her using it.) she walked straight to the elevator, got in and pressed the button to the first floor. When the elevator arrived at its destination, she got off and went to the left. There she followed a long corridor, to a door leading to the outside. She activated the door with the fake ID card, that was given to her, by the informant of the minority group. The minority group assured her, that if she used the fake ID, it would take a lot longer for her superiors to figure out, who it was that left the labratory.

As soon as Coryana was outside she walked down the street until she reached an alley, where the minority group had prepared a car for her. With this car she was instructed to drive to a certain meeting point in a forest, where a contact person from the minority group was waiting for her. On the way to the car, the streets were very lively, so Coryana had to stay calm and walk normal to not attract any attention. Upon reaching the car she quickly got in, started the engine and got on the road. The more distance she put between herself and the labratory, the more relaxed she became. But she had to stay on guard, she could still be caught, who knows how long it would be until they notice someone was missing. Maybe Professor Loomia would be looking for her at the celebration, if someone would notice it, it surely would be her.

Coryana made sure not to drive too fast or too slow, she didn’t want to attract any attention. After driving for about an hour Coryana had left the city. Still going down the highway she soon turned left onto a dirt road leading into the forest. At the end of the dirt road she reached the meeting point, where a member of the group was waiting for her, with a dirtbike nearby. As instructed she handed over the car to him, so he could dispose of it. In return he gave her the keys for the bike and a map showing the way, then the man told her to follow a path up the mountain.

On the map she saw, that the minority group had built their facility inside of the mountain and an “X“ marked the location of the secret entrance. She got onto her new vehicle and started towards her new destination. After following the mountain path for one hour, she finally reached the marked spot. Looking around, she could see nothing out of the ordinary, no entrance in sight. She started to get nervous again, could this have been a trap? Her palms began to sweat again and her heart was racing. She frantically started searching for any secret mechanisms or anything indicating an entrance being around, but to no avail. Coryana sat down on the floor, drooping her shoulders, as tears started flowing down her cheeks. Suddenly she heard a noise behind her, she turned around rapidly almost loosing her balance. Only to look into the same eyes, that she had seen once before, on the day she snuck out to plan her escape. She had never felt so relieved in her life, she began to wipe away her tears, as the man reached out his hand to help her stand up. She took his hand with a smile, as tears of joy ran down her face,….She made it,….She escaped. The man pushed some buttons on a small device that Coryana couldn’t see and then a staircase appeared infront of them, where just a moment ago, was only rock.

Coryana was fascinated and surprised by the technology the minority group had, she followed the man down the metal spiral staircase. After a few steps she stopped, to take a look back behind her at the entrance. The mountain side had reappeared, she only saw a stone wall behind her. The staircase was bathed in a blue light all the way down. Coryana tried to count the steps to keep her mind occupied, she was nervous for other reasons than before, she realized she had to trust the minority group with her life. They walked down 120 steps until they reached a platform with a door leading to the left. It was an elevator. Entering it, Coryana looked around but there were no buttons, nothing that showed on which floor they were, where they were going or how far. She only felt the elevator going down, probably about 4 floors. The doors opened and the man left the elevator, following him, she saw a room and was amazed. Everything was bright with sunlight, but there were no windows, there were sofas, bookshelves, a bar, beautiful green lush carpets with landscapes as patterns. The room was huge and there were about 50 people present.

The man stopped walking, „Hey listen up everyone, this is Coryana Guerra, you all should know who she is and why she is here! Today, we and Coryana have achieved something together, that was only done once before by Knitrias Maryana! Let’s help her get accustomed to our facility, the people and our ways! Let us all help her feel at home, she hasn’t had that feeling for quite a while!“, the man turned around and gave Coryana a warm smile. Everyone cheered and applauded in agreement. Some of them started to approach her slowly and others quickly began to follow their example. As this was happening , a young woman caught her eye, she was quickly approaching Coryana from the right. „Hey everyone, I know we are all excited to get to know Coryana and find out more about her life at the lab and her escape, but she just got here, let‘s just give her some time to rest. I am sure we can all have a chat with her eventually, we should not all approach her at once, that might be a bit too much.“, she turned around and winked at Coryana. Everyone else in the room started laughing, including the man who had accompanied Coryana. „Roxani, can you bring Coryana to her room please?“, he said. „Sure, no problem!“, Roxani replied. Smiling at Coryana she invited her to come along. Very exhausted, Coryana nodded in agreement. Together they walked to Coryanas new room. „Here you go Coryana, this is your room. Oh, and I know you probably heard, but my name is Roxani, nice to meet you! If you need anything, just contact me through the COM next to your bed. I will pick you up tomorrow morning at 9 am, have a good rest!“. Coryana in return introduced herself properly and thanked her. Going into the room, she immediately focused on the bed. And as Roxani was still closing the door, Coryana dropped onto the bed fully clothed and drifted right off into deep slumber.

To be continued….