We exited the elevator, confronting a long entryway that led to a series of glass laboratories. This level's outer walls were white, windowless structures. And behind the hallway's transparent barricades, held state of the art technology, spotless equipment.

Most importantly, these rooms contained what I detested most, several deplorable employees.

I need to do this.

My fingers thumped an erratic beat against my leg, anything to calm my nerves. And suddenly fixated, my attention focused on the two cameras strategically positioned to capture the elevator's entrance before I began to mentally count others as we resumed our pace.

One camera at the end of the hall... another above a television monitor.

Although this visit wasn't my first, in the past, security had never been a priority. It was only in this moment; that I realized what a daunting task this would be as I took stock of how many lenses watched my every move.

Hell, my feat would be downright impossible if I didn't know that Dean and Tony were the only people watching the monitors at night.

"I've never asked, but Mother, what exactly did you have to do to get permission for me to be on this floor?"

"Wow, that cease fire lasted all of one minute." Her footsteps halted to regard me with a withering stare. "I didn't raise you to be crude, Kara."

Over the last couple of years, you haven't raised me at all.

Swallowing my resentment, silence fell between us as a callously cheerful co-worker strolled by.

"No really, I'm curious." A change in her demeanor had been my aim; however, my concentration lingered on the surroundings for hidden surveillance. Distracted, I foolishly stated, "Dad always said you and your boss were too close-"

The unexpected clutch around my arm was unbreakable, the rage just beneath her facade was visible only to those who knew her well. "No matter what your father may have inappropriately disclosed to you, none of it is true. Your presence here is a courtesy of BioGene because they know just how much we give up for medical progression."

Like your soul, or your relationship with your daughter?

"You could show just an ounce of gratitude."

With an anger that matched hers, I wrenched my arm free. "Yeah Mother, I'll get right on that."

My body twisted away from her misplaced adoration, bringing me parallel to an image that brought me to a standstill.

"I'm simply saying that you-" she persisted, only her reprimands no longer mattered.

Behind the thick translucent partition, a woman shoved a needle into the leg of a puppy while another held the defenseless animal in place. Its little, black tinted, fur lined body wiggled in protest before its big brown eyes met mine.

"Kara?"

Such agony lied in those pupils, such unnecessary suffering. My fingers touched the surface, wishing that it was fur that I felt rather than cold hard glass.

They were all monsters. I shook my head in disbelief. Fucking monsters.

"Kara, I am talking to you."

Whimpers were disregarded by these respected researchers, as were the puppy's weak struggle to regain freedom... All under the guise of science.

Why couldn't they see that pain experienced felt the same no matter what our genetic makeup was?

"Am I suddenly talking to myself?" Mother grilled, her voice finally managing to bring me out of my trance.

I blinked away my emotion, yet it only seemed to feed my inner sense of injustice. Soon, turning away from the sight of such brutality became the only solution to dampen my anger's escalation.

"Hey Kara." Tony's greeting threw me for a minute. "Nice to see you again."

Absentmindedly, I noticed mundane things: the tightness of his guard's uniform, the ingrained pride in his position. Ultimately, my brain detected anything that would distract me from what I had witnessed.

My vision's descent from his elated expression to the gun at his waist happened naturally. "Yo-you too, Tony."

"Stop by the guard's station when you get bored peering over your mother's shoulder." His grin revealed nicotine stained teeth while his stride never decreased as he moved toward the other end of the hall.

How someone can keep a smile on their face while surrounded by so much anguish, I will never know.

We commenced our walk down death row with countless torture chambers decorating each side of the corridor. Each lab rewarded us with a fleeting display of similar experiments executed on powerless beings until we finally reached our destination.

Like a bulb's sudden illumination above my head, it dawned on me...

Fuck! She needs the key-card to gain entrance.

Breathing heavily, I cursed my own foolishness.

Should I run?

In that moment, my failure to accomplish the one task that mattered most to me eclipsed everything else.

No Kara, just start apologizing and crying. Just keep apologizing and crying...

The test center's entrance abruptly slid open, much to my relief, just as one of Mom's assistants slipped a badge back into her white coat. "Saw you coming, Dr. Harlow."

Behind thick brown frames, lay eyes that were so keen to please set within a pale face that expressed such an intense hunger to learn.

Great, the devil in training saves me.

"Thanks, Melody. Where did Foster disappear to?" Mom questioned, that professional guise clearly back in place while I choked on my inner panic.

"One of the alarms tripped. He volunteered to check on the animals in the inhabitants' room. The thing's been on the fritz all week."

"Well, don't just stand there, Kara." When I still hadn't budged, Mom asked, "Are you okay?"

Looking up to find two sets of eyes on me certainly didn't help my loss of equilibrium.

Quickly, my footsteps mimicked theirs. "Why wouldn't I be? And... when did security replace flashlights with Glocks?"

My welfare was easily forgotten, secondary to the tablet in her hands. Preoccupied, she muttered, "Once competitors made it their mission to steal what we have."

Yeah, wouldn't want the countless murders to be all for nothing.

"Well, if it isn't little Kara."

This was a greeting that I knew all too well.

That tone irked me almost as much as that lecherous grin upon his leathery face. His rotund figure moved closer, that balding head glistening beneath the fluorescent lighting while plump fingers held on to his stylus. "I don't think I've seen you since you were... about twelve."

"Well, Andrew you are a man of science," I replied, contempt interwoven within every word. "You should know that every living organism eventually matures, develops."

"Kara-" my mother warned.

"Dr. Harlow, Dr. Stevens-" Melody's interruption was all it took to make them completely forget my existence. For a minute, I stood there. Watched my mother's observation of an imprisoned primate before she consulted her chart.

Dr. Harlow in action. This is how she, as she put it, 'saved lives.'

It was hard to reconcile this person with the woman my mother used to be. Hard to realize that the parent who had once brought me my first pet was now happily dissecting them.

"It's no use. You can dispose of it," she stated without emotion.

It was the sudden disturbance beside me that diverted my attention from her insensitive actions. Within a metal confinement, lay a rabbit, its body cowering within the corner of black bars.

Subject 357.

As if these assholes had the right to number one of nature's creatures.

With my eyes on my mother's oblivious form, a piece of my granola bar was pulled from my bag before I moved to offer it between the small gap.

"Come on, girl," I encouraged.

Its back was to me, its small body busy as it gnawed away at something.

"Come on, how about a treat?"

With an unnatural speed, it's frame jerked toward me, bones popping as it moved. A horrified gasp slipped from my lips at the sight of those huge black eyes. Its jaw extended, saliva dripping down to disappear into white fur while the inside of its mouth remained devoid of several teeth. The ones that remained, were unlike those seen within Easter bunny ads, but rather fangs that dripped with its own blood.

"What the-"

My fingers were yanked back from the cage just as the feral animal's face rammed into the bars.

"Kara," my mother exclaimed, and yet my attention was consumed by the animal currently biting viciously at the bars where my fingers used to be. "You know better than to interfere with an experiment."

My enlarged eyes met hers. "You call that an experiment? What did you do to it?"

She ignored my shock as she checked her charts. "Did Subject 357 have its assigned dosage of the KPM virus?"

"Yes, just like the others," Andrew droned, ignorant to the rabbit's continued attack. "Along with an increased dosage of Adlofloxine to see how it would affect temperament."

Temperament? It was going fucking crazy.

With trembling fingers, my jacket was quickly removed before I shoved my cell phone in my pocket. The Humane Society t-shirt caused her associates to shield their amusement behind the surface of iPads, and my mother to exclaim, "Really?"

"If this is a surprise to you Mother, then you really don't know me at all." Squaring my shoulders, my vision wandered back to the rabbit that continued to strike metal. "What can I say? Clearly, you have your cause and I have mine."

"That's funny," Andrew mocked, his voice laden with amusement. "I remember a time when little Kara used to want to follow in her mother's footsteps."

Those words jabbed into me; striking nerves on so many levels. "Unfortunately, that was back when I was gullible enough to believe my mother's lies about being a vet. But on the bright side, it seems my body isn't the only thing that has matured." Her expression remained unchanged until I pronounced, "My bullshit detector has certainly improved as well."

Such frustration radiated in that normally clinical stare. And still, inner emotions were visibly swallowed rather than soil that false representation of valued technologist. Turning toward her team, Mother ordered, "Give us a minute."

The dispersion of minions sent snickers back to us that amplified my need for defiance. Crossing my arms over my chest, I waited for her usual reprimand. Instead, from her lips emitted a breath that released anger and left behind twinges of weariness within her gaze.

"I have never condemned you for your beliefs, Kara. Can't you extend me that same courtesy?"

Shaking my head, the sincerity in her plea wouldn't dissuade me from my mission. "If only your actions didn't condemn other souls."

Sadness although fleeting, clung to her features, permitting a rare glimpse of her old self. "And you'd rather I condemn those who could benefit from our research? You'd rather I doom souls like your Grandmother."

Such a fucking low blow, Mom.

For even after two years, Gran's death still felt too raw.

The blockage in my throat made swallowing difficult, but still I argued, "A wrong for all the right reasons still makes it wrong."

As I started for the door, she questioned, "Where are you going?"

"Your office, of course."

"Kara-" she started brokenly, that mask, for once, completely eradicated.

"I can't, Mom." These words softly spoken, were almost like an apology, for I knew what needed to be done. "I can't sit here and pretend to be okay with watching your enforced cruelty. And quite frankly, it's not fair of you to ask me to."

"Kara-"

My stride continued despite her plea. The opening of the entrance freed me her persuasion, from needless pain inflicted, and wretched memories.

None of this was fucking fair.