<em>"Good morning my pets,"</em>a voice called over the facility's speaker system,<em>"it's another beautiful Sunday.  Of course as you all know, this means it is a free day for the subjects who have passed all their testing this week.  So enjoy your day to relax and I hope Friday's incident with Subject 509725 has brought some perspective to any others who attempt to escape the safety of this facility."</em>The subjects who witnessed the attempt first hand shuttered at the thought.  Most of them knew her as Ariel, a gecko anthro who had nearly made it through the fenced ceiling of the enclosed courtyard that had, until that moment, had a gap just barely wide enough for somebody to squeeze through.  She had just poked her head through the opening when a sniper in one of the guard towers overlooking the recreational courtyard abruptly stopped her attempt with a shot right between the eyes.  There was still the faintest discoloration along the concrete wall next to the freshly patched portion in the caged ceiling as if some sort of grim reminder.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><em>I'm going to make it!  Nothing is going to stop me this time!</em>The thin metal of the ductwork only rumbled faintly as the fox anthro crawled within.  In his mouth was a PDA that held the vital information he needed; without it freedom would remain nothing more than a dream.  He spared a moment at each grated register to see what room he was passing through as a means of tracking his progress through the map he had stored in his memory.<em>Fifteenth air return register, this is the one.</em><br/><br/>Isoke looked through the thin grid, listening carefully for footsteps, voices, or any other sign that would indicate the presence of guards.  After several moments of nothing but the flow of air, he skillfully removed the small screws holding the grate in place with one hand while the other hand held the magnet that caught them so they wouldn't clatter as they fell on the tiled floor below.  Even the faintest of noises could give away his presence.  With the fasteners removed, Isoke popped the snugly fit grating from its frame and pulled it into the duct with him.  Bit by bit, he poked his head through the opening and looked around the room below to ensure it was empty before dropping down.  There was only the faintest patter of furred feet upon the hard floor as he landed in a crouch where he remained stationary, pointed ears twitching around for any sound.<br/><br/><em>There it is!  Freedom is just at the other side of that door.</em>At one end of the room was a heavy steel door used for personnel admittance, locked and alarmed by the keypad next to it.  Isoke closed the distance to his objective in almost complete silence.  Crouching next to the keypad, his ears remained alert as he scrolled through the information in the PDA until he found the five-digit code which he entered into the door control.  There was a muffled clank as the tumblers unlocked, a light on the pad glowing green granting him admittance to the freedom he had sought for so long.<br/><br/>Without wasting a moment, the fox pushed open the door and spun around the corner, pressing his back against the cold concrete wall as the door closed with a heavy thud.  He had been so overwhelmed with a sense of achievement that he hadn't noticed the presence next to him until a flutter of movement in his peripheries caused him to face it, backing away a few paces.  A thin wisp of smoke escaped the glowing ember at one end of a cigarette while the guard at the other end trained his pistol on Isoke.  "No!  Wait!"  He said lifting both paws in surrender just as the firearm barked out three shots, each one hitting the anthro in the chest causing him to crumple to the ground clutching his wounds as pain filled his body.<br/><br/>A mechanical buzz filled the area followed by an automated voice.<em>"Subject neutralized, end of simulation.  Test assessment for Subject 783021: Failed."</em><br/><br/>"Fuuuuuuck!"  Isoke shouted out, still trying to overcome the pain inflicted by the rubber bullets.  "I made it through the door and you know it!"<br/><br/>There was a crackle over the intercom as it switched over to intercom as the emotionless voice of Dr. Brightwater spoke.<em>"You did make it through the door, but the objective was to retrieve the PDA and escape.  Just because you make it out of the building doesn't mean you're out of danger.  Smoke breaks are not uncommon, so placing a guard outside of the door for this purpose was a valid obstacle."</em><br/><br/>"Valid my ass!  This is bullshit and you know it!"<br/><br/><em>"Reset the simulation, we will rerun it in ten minutes."</em><br/><br/>Isoke snarled angrily at the intercom before shooting a cold glare at the guard who simply smiled smugly at him as he took another drag from his cigarette.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Four hours later, Isoke's shoulders hung in exhaustion as he stepped into the cafeteria for dinner.  He was among the first, but soon anthros of all kinds queued in the appropriate line of herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore for their meals where they take their pick of the dish of their liking before sitting down to enjoy it in the company of their choosing.  Isoke grabbed a plate of cooked rabbit with a nice serving of fresh fruits as a side before sitting down with a thump at an empty table.<br/><br/>"Finally, freedom.  Even if I only have a few hours left of my free day to enjoy."