As he ran, the steady beeping and whirring of machines seemed to fade behind him. He focused on his breathing, keeping an even pace, and occasionally wiping the sweat from his eyes. Khari didn't mind the stress tests on the tread mill. It gave him an opportunity to get out of his kennel for a while and stretch his legs. He tried to ignore the whitecoats standing around, watching him. He tried to imagine that he was running far, far away from here.

Two hours at a hard run. That had to be a record or something, right? He didn't really keep track. Khari was huffing and puffing as he was led to the showers to wash himself off. Once he was clean and dressed in fresh scrubs, he was lead back to kennel and put away like a plaything, to be used later. The young man flopped down on his bare mattress bed and stretched his wings out a bit. They got cramps if he left them folded for too long.