This is Dr. Jessica Rimnod, a white, speckled human-rabbit hybrid created in a lab. It is her 18th birthday and she was sent to her room for threatening to move out. Her father, Dr. Darwin Rimnod, always kept her locked up in the lab. This lab was her home growing up, but it always felt like a prison to her. A prison that she is only allowed to leave to study at the university. She was always told that the outside world is unforgiving and horrible. That she would be eaten alive by responsibility, and that it will always be worse than living in the lab. Supposedly, the lab is safe. Safer than the outside world. The best she can get. However, deep down, she knows that it is not true. She knows that this isn’t the pinnacle of living. Hell, she's 18 now. She's been sick of living there, sick of creating abominations for a self-proclaimed “involuntarily celibate" freak.
Jess's years in University have made her aware that there is more to life than this lab. Despite being young for a college student, she made some close friends. Friends who never judged her for her appearance. Ever since Jess received her Doctorate at 16, she hasn't seen any of them. She has been forced to do her dad’s bidding by creating more hybrids. A bunch of test-tube, human-insect abominations with a lobotomized ambition to obey a gross nerd. Jess hates it. She absolutely hates creating them knowing their fate.
Jess wants to see the world and find out what’s out there. She is smart enough to know that her father would do anything to keep her down, even lie. But where will she go? Who will take her in? What money does she have to pay for an apartment? She has no family that she knows of other than Dr. Rimnod.
Jess considers the possible directions for her life to go. There is a homeless shelter nearby. She could go there for a few days while she applies for a job at her alma mater. After all, Jess could be paid for her research instead of doing it out of fear, but maybe there is another way. One where she won't be forced to live on the street for a time.
Jess's friend, Reese, took her under his wing when she first went to college. He’s another human-animal hybrid. Jess has seen plenty of typical humans, but Reese is different. He is an orange human-cat hybrid, and he seemed to know who Dr. Rimnod is. Reese always warned Jess not to trust the insane scientist. He graduated two years before she did with a bachelor’s degree. He should be working and have a place to live. Maybe he will take Jess in.
It is decided. Jess will exit through the back window. As much as the memories of that window cut deep into Jess's mind, it is her only option to escape. She will leave this life behind and search for Reese. Jess is a grown woman now, and she does not have to answer to a creep anymore. Before she leaves, though, there are a few memories she needs to reflect on. After all, for her to have survived this long, there must be some fond memories that have kept Jess's spirits from descending too far into a deep, empty void.
Jess begins to pack up what she wants to take with her and lays out what she needs on her bed. There isn’t much, but it should be enough for now. Jess decides to pack up three outfits and four sets of undergarments, four pairs of socks, her toiletries, a few blueprints that she has been working on in secret, a few of the MREs that Dr. Rimnod distributes to the bug hybrids, her cell phone, her Jeffrey doll, her multi-purpose blaster, and a suitcase to cram it all into.
Jess inspects the blaster that she designed to make her life just a bit easier. It can sync up with her phone and scan materials to identify them, it can be used as a hairdryer, it can be used as a taser, it has a built-in speedometer, it has ports for various charger types, and it can fire precision laser bolts if push comes to shove. She can’t remember what else the damn thing does, though. Jess takes one last look at her one safe haven in the house before she gets ready to escape.
Just as Jess begins to add the items into her suitcase, the senior Dr. Rimnod comes in and sees Jess trying to escape. He looks pissed. "What the hell are you doing, Jessica? You know you're not supposed to leave the lab without my permission, let alone your room!" he yells. Jess looks even more pissed. "Fuck you!" she screams. She has so much more to say, but she falls silent as if her voice is being held back by a trained reflex. Dr. Rimnod raises his hand at Jess, ready to strike her with the back of his hand. She fights through her conditioning, grips the blaster, and begins to shake as she fumbles through the settings. He starts to walk over to Jess, as if he expects her to take his abuse. This is the moment she has been waiting for.
Jess aims her blaster at him and squeezes the trigger. She hopes that it's set to kill mode so she can be free from him forever, but the gun is set to taser mode instead. The two prongs stick into the scientist's chest as Jess begins to zap him. She releases the wires from the latch as he continues to spasm on the ground. This huge, intimidating abuser is reduced to a pathetic, spastic pile of lard who writhes on the ground like a tipped steer. Jess smirks as she looks down at him before her celebration is cut short by a screeching alarm, alerting the guards of this facility. The same guards that the bunny has created.
With haste, Jess crams everything she can into her suitcase and starts to bolt for the window. She feels uneasy as she approaches the window, but she has to do it. There’s no going back now. Jess hops out of the window and into the vast, open unknown.
Jess discovers that the city she had feared, the outside world that was painted as a hellscape, is in fact not much different from the university that she had attended. She breathes in the air around her. It's a breath of fresh air compared to the stale atmosphere of the lab. Cars zoom up and down the street Jess ends up on as she explores the city. There are planters with trees on every street corner, and the sidewalks are not incredibly crowded either. A man in a suit rushes past the bunny and shouts, "Get out of the way, carrot top, I'm late for work!" as he hurries down the street with a briefcase in tow. Jess looks at him with contempt and shakes her head as she keeps walking.
As Jess roams around the city, hardly anyone pays attention to her. They are either focused on their own problems, in a hurry, or they brush her off. It is not heaven, nor is it hell either. It is the real world, and it beats the lab by a mile.
Jess passes by various shops, diners, and restaurants as she makes it to the main square of the city. Osman, the capital city, has a lot to offer for those looking for a leg up in the world in fields such as politics, art, film, and various sciences. Consequently, a majority of those people flock to the city for those reasons, making the competition fierce. Jess feels like she needs to reward herself for escaping the lab, such as with a cup of coffee. Luckily, the bunny finds a coffee shop nearby called Chamberlain Coffee.
Jess enters the coffee shop and sees that it is decorated primarily with fall colors such as red, orange, and brown, as well as various paintings by local artists. She walks up to the counter and sees a tall barista with a generously endowed chest. The woman looks at Jess with vacant, white eyes and smiles, almost laughing as she sees the short rabbit staring at her chest. "Can I help you?" she asks, clearly noticing. Jess's face flushes an almost beet red as she stands on her tiptoes and squints to see the menu. She then says with a shy look on her face, "I'll have a vanilla latte. Large." The barista smirks and brushes her hair to the side. Her hair is blonde on one side but dyed black on the other. "Long day, huh?" She asks. "That'll be 3 dollars." Jess hands over the money and the barista looks at her expectantly. Jess looks back and forth and furrows her brow. "What?" the bunny asks. The barista smiles, holding a large coffee cup in one hand, and a permanent marker in the other. Jess rolls her eyes. "Jess." she says. The barista smiles widely and writes it on the cup in some of the most beautiful handwriting Jess has ever seen. "Coming right up!" says the barista. The bunny catches a glimpse of her name tag as she goes to make the coffee. "Hey, Clara is it?" asks Jess. "Do you know anyone named Reese?" Clara takes a look at the clock on the wall. The time is 4:55 PM. She looks back at Jess. "I know him, but I don't know a lot about him. We can talk about something I do know after my shift, though. Meet me at one of the tables at 5:00," she says. Clara then hands the bunny her hot drink as she picks a spot to sit down.
Jess decides to sit at a table for two by a painting that has caught her eye. It is a blue frog with large, burgundy lips, wearing a brown cloak and inspecting a wine glass filled with a white wine. He looks to be in a fancy room that's draped with red curtains and atop a castle. Jess takes a sip of her coffee as she admires the work of art. The silky smooth flavors of vanilla, milk, and coffee pair well with the atmosphere of the painting, helping the bunny to feel more at ease than she has in years. She was so nice, Jess thinks to herself, and this coffee is better than any I've had at the lab.
Jess looks towards the counter and sees Clara hang up her apron. She takes off her barista hat as well and Jess can see long, beautiful blonde and black hair fall down to her shoulders as she walks towards the table. She takes a seat with Jess and sighs, her milky white eyes meeting the bunny's bright green eyes. "So...I have a question." Clara begins, "Are you the girl who graduated with a doctorate a couple years ago?"
Jess nods. "Yeah, that was me. If I had a choice, I would have just gone to high school." she says with a disgruntled frown. The bunny then tilts her head and narrows her eyes. "How did you recognize me?" she asks.
Clara chuckles a bit and puts her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her folded fingers. "You're a bunny, you were the only teenager walking offstage with a doctorate, and no one knows where you live or who your parents are. You tell me." She says this with the most deadpan look Jess has ever seen.
Jess is taken aback by how direct the barista is. No one has ever leveled with her like that before. Jess feels much calmer and respects Clara a lot for that. The bunny nods and takes a sip of her coffee. Clara then looks back and forth before resting her palms on the table and drumming with her fingers. She begins, "So, where do you live? Do you stay with a scientist--"
"No! Nononono!" Jess yelps, interrupting her new friend. "I'm never going back there! That lab's a shithole. I can't go back. I...well…" She trails off, realizing that she is now homeless. Clara's eyes widen as she nods, her mouth slightly open as if she is gasping before her teeth close into a wince.
"It sounds like you had a rough day. Do you need a place to stay the night?" Clara asks, looking at Jess with a concerned look. Jess shrugs. "I guess I should. I don't know you that well, but you've been good to me so far." says Jess, feeling slightly nervous. Clara laughs and says, "Hey, it's like I'm roommates with a celebrity now," she says, winking and sticking her tongue out at the bunny. Jess blushes, feeling her face redden as the tall woman teases her with that comment. Clara stands up and cocks her head back. "Let's head home. You can stay in my sister's old room," she says, her boobs bouncing as she stands up. Jess stands up and walks with Clara, staying close to her as she feels more comfortable around the statuesque lady.
After walking a few blocks, the two make it to a high-rising apartment complex. In the lobby, there is a stand that has various brochures for local attractions as well as a dispenser for coupon books. There is a security guard napping at the front desk and a table and two chairs near the elevator, as well as an ATM machine by the door. Jess and Clara take the elevator to a floor towards the center of the complex before arriving at Suite 10C. "Well, this is it, Jess." Clara says with an excited smile. "Make yourself at home."
Jess walks in and sees that the walls are painted a bluish gray in the entryway. There is a decent sized living area with a couch, an armchair, and a large television on a TV stand. It is connected to an open kitchen which seems to be a mess, as if someone cooked multiple meals to last a week. There are various gaming consoles and one or two controllers attached to each one. "Here, let me show you your room," Clara says. "It's been cleaned, but some of her stuff is still there." She sounds uneasy as she starts to open the door. Jess tilts her head and asks, "Do you think she'll need any of it?" Clara shakes her head. "She said she'll never be back, so...it's yours now," she says to the short bunny with a melancholy tone. Jess gives Clara a big hug, and the tall human woman pulls back out of surprise. Jess then looks up at her and tells her, "Thank you for taking me in." Clara smiles and wraps her arms around Jess, returning the hug. "Of course, Jess. It's what Reese wanted me to do."
Jess's pupils widen as her eyes dart up to meet Clara's. "Reese?" she asks, her face lighting up with a wide smile. This could be what Jess has been waiting for.
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