((Sorry I'm late.))
The mantis was still inside of the locked room that he had been confined to for the past week. His mind itched with boredom. So much that he had learned of the exact time that the small hole in the thick, white metal door would open and give him the only excitement that he got all day. Feeding time.
He looked up at the glowing green clock above his white bed, sitting on a white counter, against a white, metal wall. Thirty seconds until the hatch would open and present him with his food. His life sustaining nutrients ina dull, paste form.
Twenty-two seconds. Why had he been locked in here anyways? All he did was rough up that guard a bit, he never meant to actually hurt him. Or maybe he did, and he just did it subconciesly, it was getting harder to tell by the day.
Ten seconds. He wasn't sure why he even awaited the food, if you could even call it that, at all. It was dull, tasteless paste, and all it did was take away the small amount of emptyness that hunger gave him.
Two seconds, His stomach growled with anticipation, soon it would be filled and he could go back to watching the clock tick by. That's all he ever did these days.
This isn't right. The hatch should be open by now. What's going on? Why haven't they given him his food?
Suddenly the door opened with a soft creaking noise of well oiled hinges, and a man clad in a white lab coat stepped into the doorway.
"Are you ready to re-enter the world of the living 7?"
This hits him as a surprise, surely they would leave him here for at least a month or two. He nod to answer his question.
The man smiles and steps aside, gesturing for him to go out the door.
The mantis slowly did as he was told, and did not object when the scientist put the restraints around his front forelegs.
The scientist led him first to the infirmary, where he preformed multiple tests on the mantis to ensure that he had not gone insane from the week of solitary confinement. After passing them all, the scientist led him to his room where some food was waiting, and removed the restraints.
"I assume that you have learned your lesson 7?"
The mantis nods.
"Good, now rest up, you have some tests to preform in the morning, and we expect you to give it your all."
The scientist closes the door, and the mantis sees his smile fade right before he is out of sight, he expect things are not as they seem.