I am normal, but I am different. I am human, but I am extraterrestrial. I am Earthen, but I am an alien. I deserve rights, but I am an experiment.

• • •

I climbed the artificial rocks in my home, a landscape based off of "Mars"—whatever that was. When I reached the peak of the largest red-sanded boulder, I breathed in a cleansing breath of fresh air—through my skin.

To you, this may seem very strange, but to me, it's normal. I had lived in the same enclosure my whole life, when I wasn't being experimented on in a lab. It's a large glass bubble filled with Mars themed everything, including the atmosphere. There were a few large boulders in the center of the dome whose sides I hadn't yet scaled, and around them were smaller, easier to climb rocks. For most of my life I had darted through the shadows of said boulders. They were very tall, with few handholds. Today I had resolved to climb to the very top and see what I could see. Maybe I would see the sky, at last.

Although I'd lived in this environment for as long as I could remember, I had never managed to reach the top of the peak of the boulders. Until today. It had required immense strength and agility, but I had managed to heave myself over the edge and reach the peak. My hands and feet were ingrained with the sharp sand, but I didn't mind. All I could feel was the exhilaration of achieving one of my few goals.

The sun beat down on me from above. I looked up, expecting the sky—but the only impressive thing I could see was the amount of grime coating the glass. I sighed miserably. At this rate, the only sky I would see was the red one I had seen in pictures intermittently.

I ducked into a shaded alcove and rested my head on a smooth rock. It was warm on my sweaty face. I sat up again and threw the rock against the glass wall. Of course it didn't break, just like it hadn't the last fifty times I had done the exact same thing.

My whole bubble of desert was based off of Mars. This was modeled after the "ideal place" to live on the planet, with shade and sun and shelter all in just 400 square feet of land. Everything in this enclosure was authentically alien, from the rocks, to the sand in my hair, to the atmosphere itself. I was the only Earthen object in the space around me, but I wasn't quite human, either. I was the product of years of lab experiments and successes. All this to make me: a sort of person needs hardly any oxygen at all. I could survive on Mars' thin atmosphere, containing barely .13% oxygen.

Here's the science: I'm like a plant; I perform photosynthesis. Mars' atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide, so this method of breathing allows me to inhale the air on the planet. This system also creates glucose for me to digest, eliminating the need for monthly shipments of food.

• • •

I heard the hiss of the doors that separate me from Locus Unum's labs. I scrambled down the boulder as fast as was humanly possible and peeked around a corner to see why someone would be visiting off-schedule.

The man in the white lab coat who usually performed experiments on me stood in the doorway, just as usual—except not. His normally laughing face was stolid, and on either side of him stood a burly guard wearing a dark uniform. Each of them held a taser in their muscled hands. Guns were strapped to their belts. I didn't want to see any more, so I slipped into a dark niche in one of the boulders.

The three men looked around, and when I was not easily spotted, they began to scour the space. Finally one of the men gave a shout, and they all rushed over to my hiding place. I was wedged as far into the rock as possible, but clearly that wasn't far enough. One of the guards, a man with bristly blond hair and a nametag reading 'Charles', grabbed my arm and I came stumbling out of my hidey hole.

I was escorted into the hallway. My feet slipped and slid on the tiled floor and a light breeze ruffled my cropped hair. The corridor was colder than anything I'd ever felt. I'd never been there before. Before, I had been sedated and carried to the lab for testing, but now they seemed to realize I had nowhere to go. I had no real home, no family; I could only go forward. To Mars.

The man in the lab coat brought me to a storage room and closed the door behind us. Then he crouched so he was closer to my eye level and put his hands on my shoulders. This was my first real, safe human contact. Then he said the words that would change my life forever:

"Mars One is a doomed mission. You will not survive."

The blood rushed from my face. I shook my head. No. After fourteen years of desolation, it all came down to this: my death. The man looked upset, for the first time. Out of his pocket he pulled a glass sphere, small enough to fit comfortably in my mouth. At the very core was a small black computer screen filled with lines of code. I rolled the sphere around in the palms of my hands, reveling in the feeling of something so clean and smooth.

"This is your new mission." I listened. I had never received a new mission before.

"Hide this—however possible. When you have boarded the ship, drop this ball. Crack it. Destroy it however possible. Then run like you have never run before. Run for freedom. Live."

That was strange. But I knew I had to obey, or there would be... consequences. I knew better than many that there is no freedom. Free will is a fantasy conceived by dreamers, spun into a thread of imagination. There is no free will, only soldiers, forced to do their general's bidding. Resist they may, but that born obedience, drilled into us through the centuries. That natural obedience—it's in human nature. So my mouth formed the only words it knew how to:

"Yes, sir."

We left the room, sphere still in the palm of my hand. The guards flanked me, grabbing each of my elbows tightly. Did they know I knew I was headed to my doom?

After a long walk through the sterile corridors, we reached the largest building I had ever seen, until it wasn't. A building, that is. It was a ship. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen. A stairway descended from the starboard side, tiny in comparison to the ship itself.

"Go."

I went. Worst decision of my life. I nearly collapsed from the chemical smell of lavender air freshener. Once I regained my senses, I inspected my pristine monochrome surroundings. As I said, monochrome. Everything was either black or white. As I looked around, I heard the stairwell slide to a close.

An automated voice came over the speaker system.

"Please strap yourself into a seat. Takeoff will occur in

10...

9...

8...

7...

6...

5...

4...

3...

2...

1..."

I dropped the sphere from my clammy palm. It shattered on impact with the floor. All at once, everything stopped. The computers flickered off. The thrusters stopped whirring. The lights blacked out. The stairwell fell open.

"Then run like you have never run before."

And run I did. I burst through the door of the airship. The guards from earlier shouted and chased after me. I ran in zig-zags and loops, making it nearly impossible to score a direct hit with a stun gun. Multiple vehicles chased after me, but still I ran. My legs ached and lost feeling and I panted for breath, but still I ran. My feet flew over the ground. But of course, the cars gained on me, faster, faster. They caught up within seconds and flanked me on either side.

The passenger in the car to my left raised a stun gun and aimed it at me. I did the only thing I could in that situation. I turned on my heel and ran the other way. The cars swerved and skidded, trying to turn fast enough, but I had already rounded a corner. I scurried down a flight of stairs and hid behind a corner, just as the vehicles roared past. I waited for the vrooming sounds to pass. Then I allowed myself to swallow deep, rasping breaths. I put my hands on my knees and gasped for Earth's life-giving air, for the first time relishing the feeling of oxygen inflating my lungs.

I gathered myself, then sprinted to behind a nearby trashcan. From there I darted behind a small shrub, aiming for the base of the foothill. Once I was there, I could complete the man in the lab coat's order, and be out of Locus Unum's grasp.

My legs burned with all the flames of Hell as I darted from hiding place to hiding place up the hill. It was almost like bouldering in the Mars bubble, except with higher stakes. If I stumbled, I would be caught. I would be forced to Mars, forever knowing I failed the man in the lab coat. I could not go back, knowing what "nature" was and that I would never see it again if I fumbled this up. I would be alone on an empty planet with sandstorms that last for months.

Finally, after an eternity of ducking behind trees and rocks and shrubs, I reached a decline. My muscles, happy for the release of the strain, screamed with joy and carried me to the base of the hill, skirting pebbles and roots. In the distance, I could see a city, perfect to disappear into.

But right in front of me was something whose beauty I could hardly fathom. Green fronds waved in a delicate breeze, and all around were hundreds upon thousands of fully grown dandelions. I collapsed into their loving embrace, seeds flying up around me, ready to spark new life.

Maybe in the city filled with people, I thought, there would be a family to call me their own, to give me new life, pure and full of laughter. But right then was not the time to think of the future or the past.

It was time to live in the present, lying in a field of flowers, staring at the blue, blue sky. It was more beautiful than I could have imagined, in my wildest dreams. Wisps of white raced through the soft blue, reaching up to touch infinity. The sky caressed my eyes, somehow warmer than the fiery inferno that was Mars. I could almost feel myself falling into that vast sea of peace and calm.

I closed my eyes, reveling in the moment. Right then, I knew everything would be alright. No longer was I Specimen #347, a piece of technology to play with, to take apart and stitch together again. For now and for always, I am my own person.

I am Rover, and I am free.

The End