The New Job, My work of fiction

[DreadnoughtDT]

The new job
By Nathan Jones, 2008

Dedicated to my brother - for any and all support. Thanks bro.

The blonde haired man was waiting in the room. He was rather thin, but relatively muscular. His name was Will, and he was waiting for his new job interview.
The door opened and that bald guy was stepping out again.
“I'm sorry Mr. Fells, but Mr. Helken will need a bit longer… we apologize for that.”
“That's no problem… I understand if he's busy.”
“Thank you… I'm sure it won't take too long now… I'll inform you as soon as he's ready.” And with those words he left through the door and the automatic slide door closed again. Will leaned back on the chair, looking left and right into the long hallway. The huge glass front of the building to his left that lit up the place, the hallway that seemed to continue endlessly into the building to his right and the door reading -conference room 4-055- right in front of him. The shape of the hallways seemed kind of odd, a somehow unpropotional hexagon with different angles and side length, but it gave everything a futuristic touch. Actually anything here had a futuristic look. The automatic slide doors that disappeared in the walls like in Star Trek, the soft lights that where imbedded in the roof and sides of the hallway… even the sign on the doors where not simple plastic, they where touch screen displays that told you when you reached the room you sought. Even though everything looked so futuristic it still didn't look cold or emotionless. Big part of that was thanks to the people here. Even though they seemed busy everyone had time for a warm “hello” or “always nice to see new people around here”. Rare thing you see these days, especially in such big places. It bothered him that he never noticed this huge building before, but he pushed that thought out of his head. Best not to think negatively before a job interview. Still, with that size it would be visible from the other end of town. Well if the smog clears up that is, which basically never happens these days. Only when it really rains hard, and that rain is sour enough to eat away your shoe soles. That was basically the reason Will was waiting here. The day before he got a job offering… a very special job offering. He received a package with a DVD and a mini DVD player inside… a really expensive mini DVD player. On the DVD he found a job offering that really caught his attention.

“Dear Mr. Fells, would you like to change your life, get away from where you are, start new and live at a more natural and less hectic place? Then this might be what you've been looking for…”

It went on quite a bit more telling about the firms’ history, it's goals and about Mr. Freidrich Helken, who seemed to be one of the top geneticists these days. (even though Will never heard that name before) He was already convinced by those first two sentences. He didn't even care that the offering said nothing about how much he'd earn. He'd grabbed his best suit and went off to the meeting. However he kinda regretted appearing half an hour too early because he now had to wait almost an hour, and was getting somewhat nervous. As he leaned back he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling his name. He looked around and to his surprise found his long time friend Mike walking down the hall towards him. Mike was a well-built man, but unlike most jocks, he wasn't a total jerk. That's why Mike and Will have been friends since kindergarten.
“Mike!” he stood up and shook his hand smiling.
“Hey man, what are you doing here?”
“Well, yesterday I suddenly got a job offering I just couldn't reject.”
“What, you too? They sent me one yesterday as well...”
“Wow... guess they want us both then, huh?”
“Yeah, seems so. Well, my appointment was set for 3:00 and now it's almost 4:00.”
“Well my appointment is at 4:00. So, I guess they'll interview us both together then.” Will nodded.
“Seems so… hope it's not a bad omen. Usually when interviewing two people at the same time, they only take one.”
“Darn, you're right.” They both sat there thinking for a while.
“Hey Mike, you know what? No matter who gets the job, we'll be happy for the other and still be friends… you agree with that?” Mike hummed a bit but then smiles and nodded.
“100%. After all we were friends since the first day of school, and something like this can't bring us apart.” With that they both shook hands.

5 minutes later the door opened and the bald guy stepped out again.
“Mr. Fells, oh and welcome Mr. Niemer… I just wanted to inform you that Mr. Helken is ready. And our apologies for the delay again.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“Well since you both are here now I think it's best if you go in together.” They both nodded and stepped through the door. Both were quite surprised. They actually expected an office or a conference room but the room was actually more of an auditorium to house about 1000 people. Will just thought if they have so many conference rooms why do they have to make an interview in this room? As they entered they where greeted by the “famous” biologist Mr. Helken. He didn't really look that special. A marine blue tie, slightly longer deep brown hair, a shaved face, frameless glasses… the only thing was that his left arm was in a sling and bandaged like you have it when you broke your arm.

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

“Ah Mr. Niemer, Mr. Fells… sorry again for letting you wait so long but I had some important things to take care of first that just couldn't wait." He spoke with a soft voice, with a slight British accent."Well, since you both are here now we might as well do this interview together. Please follow me.” With that he motioned them to the front of the room where a desk and a chair where set up. Helken quickly grabbed a chair out of the front row and placed it next to the one that already stood there, then sat down behind the desk. Will and Mike sat down as well while Helken sorted through some papers… strangely he also used his bandaged hand for it so apparently he wasn't as hurt as they both first thought.
“Well to kill any upcoming fears in advance, just because we quickly decided to lay your both interviews together doesn't mean we'll just take one and send the other home. We have more then enough free positions left so, if you fill our requirements, you both will be in.” They couldn't hold back a sigh of relieve which cause a light smile on Mr. Halkens face.
“Well, judged by this data you both fill the requirements… except for this recommendation here, Mr. Fells from *Carl's TURBO diner* here which really doesn't sound too pleasing.” Yes, Will remembered working there… working over time every day for minimum wage AND that grease ball Carl constantly yelling at you for stuff he screwed up himself. Will did his best in that job and then Carl gave him the worse imaginable recommendation. Only ONE of many reasons why Will wanted to get away from here. And now THAT seemed to be in his way. Suddenly Halken started to smirk, crumbled the bad recommendation into a ball and threw it in the wastebasket.
“Heh, Carl that old grease ball… some things never change. You know, before I started this I worked at Carl's too, to finance college. Gave me a hard time finding a new place to work at because he gave me a horrible recommendation as well, but as you see I still made something of myself.” Will could only nod and agree with that. Halken put both folders aside and smiled.
“Gentlemen, I’m proud to say, if you both agree with me that is, you’re hired.” Will and Mike wanted to jump put of their chairs and dance but decided that maybe would make a bad impression. Will first answered,
“Of course I’ll accept!” followed by Mike,
“me too, of course.” Halken smiled, stood up from his chair and walked over to them to shake their hands.
“I’m glad to hear that. Now if you’ll please follow me, we’ll go through your preparations for your jobs right away.” he walked towards the back of the room and opened a door they both couldn’t see, it perfectly blended into the wall and had no handles or visible sensors like the others. He walked through it and it remained open. Both Will and Mike where a bit surprised at this, Mike joked,
“Hey, you think he got a secret lab in there?“ they both chuckled a bit and followed him through. There was a short hallway and the walls looked kinda sterile compared to the wooden design of the previous room's speaker platform. Once they were in about half way the outer door closed to their surprise and the inner opened, kinda like an air lock. After pausing a bit they walked inside and, to their surprise, there really WAS a “secret” lab in there, they could see sterile white rooms behind safety glass with a lot of scientific equipment, many things they've never heard or read of. They both looked a bit baffled at this, they both had no education to work in a lab, so why did he bring them in here? Halken waved them along to follow him in one of the rooms, so they did.
“Now I need you both to lay off your suits and put on sterile lab cloth, I’m sorry for that but it’s necessary in here.” Both were again surprised but agreed.
“Use the changing rooms over there, I’ll prepare anything until you’re ready.” Halken walked over to a wall mounted table and worked on something. Both didn’t really wonder why he was again using his “hurt” arm and why HE of all people didn’t use sterile clothing but went in the changing room and closed the doors behind them. Will put down his tie, shoes, pants and shirts and put them on a small table and hooks for that… but then noticed there wasn’t any sterile clothing in here. Just when he wanted to leave and ask Halken about this he heard a whirring sound and his cloth suddenly disappeared behind a slide wall. Surprised by that he tried to open the door but it was locked so he knocked with his fist.
“Dr. Halken, what’s going on here…!?” but with no answer. Suddenly the ground seemed to change, it opened in a circle around him and a large metallic cylinder slowly lifted around him, more narrow then the small room and it had a transparent window in it. Once at full height the ground also changed seemingly fused into the cylinder and the top closed as well. Suddenly he felt something grab him and pull him back against the other side of the cylinder tube and hold him there so he looked towards the window. He tried wiggling and struggling out but couldn’t. Suddenly the wall outside again opened revealing the view out in the sterile lab room again, Halken was standing outside looking at Will. Halken pressed a button outside which opened a speaker line to the inside of the capsule.
“Well Mr. Fells, I’m sorry for this surprise, but I assure you, you won’t be harmed”. Will only shouted back.
“What the heck is this, what are you doing!? Is this a bad joke or what!?“ Helken pressed a few buttons outside, then lifted up a transparent cylinder containing 2 chambers, one filled with a clear fluid, the other with a green fluid. He placed it somewhere on the outside and answered,
“Don’t worry, everything will be answered later. Now please try to relax.” with that he shut off the speaker and pressed a few more buttons. A sensor like device almost like a price scanner at a super market slowly went up and down the wall. Suddenly there was a hissing sound like gas filling the room. Truly, there was a greenish mist slowly filling the tube. Will tried to hold his breath, but couldn’t do that for long and inhaled a good deal of the mist. With that he was suddenly feeling relaxed and kinda dizzy, his view became blurry slowly, but he still felt something odd, his whole body was itching slightly like something was going into his skin. The same feeling slowly came from inside his mouth, lungs and even his stomach. He started feeling hot, almost fevery even though the metal tube walls and the air where feeling cool and he had nothing on except for his underwear and socks. All the time the scanner was going up and down his body, a red stripe projected on his body following it. After a few more minutes he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore and passed out.

Slowly Will woke up again, he still felt dizzy, but it was clearing up fast and he got his senses back fully. He was still in the tube but now the temperature felt normal again and the green mist was gone, also he saw through the window that he wasn’t in the lab anymore and it seemed like the room was moving. The scanner was still running but this time with a greenish light beam. A confirmation? After a while there was a beeping outside and Mr. Halken appeared again. He seemed to check something on the tube, then smiled. He activated the speaker again.
“Ahh hello Mr. Fells, I hope you slept well. I’m glad to tell you that you’re first step is done and you can be released now, Mr. Niemer just got ready a few minutes ago, as well.” he pressed a few buttons and the hatch of the tube opened, he then walked over to the other tube that was right next to it and did the same. After going back a bit the arms holding Will and Mike back opened letting them walk out. Even though the both where fully awake they walked a bit weakened. Will looked towards Helken, a bit angry.
“What the heck was that all about, did you try to poison us? And where in the heck are we?” he could hear a plane engine roaring. The doctor didn't answer, and Will began to shout.
“Is… is this a plane!? where are you taking us!?” Helken walked a bit closer, he didn’t really seem to think they’d attack him.
“Ok, it is now the time to explain. You are now part of a project I’ve been planning for years. After a long time researching genetic alterations on living beings.” Both Will and Mike looked a bit puzzled at this.
“Genetic alterations? The heck are you… ohh… owww” Mike was cut off by pains suddenly going through his body, he slowly got down on the floor holding his chest.
“Mike are you ok… what… ahh… nooo” Will soon felt the same pain but remained standing. There was a stinging all over his body like pins and needles. During that Halken continued,
“You see the current way mankind is going never pleased me, slowly polluting the world more and more… so I decided to go my own way with this… and my researches helped greatly to accomplish my goals.” Will looked down himself; slowly the all over prickling was changing into a numb feeling. His skin started to feel dry, when he rubbed over it, white flakes fell off like after a bad sunburn. Below that he saw something else, it looked kinda like skin but when the touched it he felt that it was actually scales. He was shocked but couldn’t do anything; slowly more and more skin flaked off all over him revealing the newly formed scales. Something similar happened to mike, only that in his case his body hair seemed to spread even more and changed in colour from a dark brown to pure silvery grey and white.

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

“I did the first successful experiment on myself, as you see and can't wait to complete the process, but for now, I need to remain human until the project is completed.” Will panted and looked over himself, his whole body except for his chest, stomach, throat up to his chin and parts of his arms and legs was covered in scales now and slowly radiating for several points on his body out, changed in colour to a bright green colour. Mike now too was completely covered but in his case in the silvery grey and white fur.
“My assistants and I found that the best way would be a controlled infection, as you see viruses spread by placing their genetic information in a infected bodies cell which cause the cell core to produce more viruses. We created an artificial virus, which has a very short life span, and instead of placing it’s own information in the bodies cell core, it places information WE gave it. After that the virus dies and turns itself in a nutritious fluid to serve the changing process. If you remember the cylinders I briefly showed you, the clear fluid contained the virus, the coloured fluid the necessary information. Both combine instantly on contact and infect the body to place the information. For that we also had to place you in those tubes, we can’t risk infecting someone else or allowing the virus to get in contact with other viruses. After it infected every body cell in your bodies we just had to wait until the Virus fully died and couldn’t affect anybody else.” Will panted and was suddenly hit by a stinging pain in his bones and muscles. He rolled on his back and looked down at his leg. He heard the bones crackling slightly, his feet bones lengthened stretching the socks he was still wearing until they ripped at the toes, which was mostly because his toenails had changed into long, dark green, nearly black claws. He slowly lost movement and feeling over his legs and they laid limp on the ground, the bones still shifting in shape, 2 toes evolving back, one completely, the other only to leave a stubby rear claw while the others got thicker, spread out and got longer. The muscles shifted in position to aid the new posture and even gained in size becoming firmer. Another pain hit him at the tip of his spine and he felt something pulling his underpants. He pulled them down a little and felt a stub there that slowly grew and lengthened. He again turned around on his stomach this time having to adjust his still numb legs by hand. The stub kept growing longer and thicker and was twitching at times. It was a tail, a real tail. It kept growing, pulling his underpants apart more and more until they ripped and tore a bit. Once it seemed finished it was at least 2 meters long, looked very strong and mobile with a slightly pale but still colourful green, but just like his legs was still numb and only twitched a little from time to time. The same change was happening to Mike again, his legs changing the same way except that his toes only became thicker with a thick padding on the sole and balls of his new feet. He too grew a stub that evolved in a tail but it didn’t grow as long and instead covered with thick, longhaired fur.
“The changes are sadly painful, that’s something we cant prevent yet, and now we probably won't be able to. I’m sorry for that.” Will shivered as the feeling was travelling up his stomach and spine there too altering the muscles and again even making them grow a bit. He saw that his stomach slowly changed in colour just like the underside of his tail and again the numb feeling retuned so he now had to keep himself pushed up with his arms. Once it reached his chest he panted faster, the changes affecting his organs as well as altering them for his bodies needs, but he had a bit of trouble breathing for a few seconds. His arms suddenly felt weak and he lowered himself down on his back as they now changed too, not much in shape though, they only gained muscles and again got the greenish colour along the biceps and under side of the under arm. His palms changed a bit in shape looking more segmented like Mike's feet but didn’t lose their mobility. His fingers lengthened a bit and seemed to strengthen and each grew a long black claw, but on further inspection, it was really a very dark shade of blue. Mikes change followed right away, changing the colour of his stomach fur and adding more muscles to his frame, his hands changing in the same matter forming a palm similar looking to his foot shape and dark black but slightly number claws.
“You see we chose you both because you try to get away from the polluted and dirty towns, like many others before you who volunteered into this project. We still have many open place to populate the colony and since we had to do a cargo flight here anyway we took you both with us.” Finally the change reached the last unaltered part of their bodies. A short stinging pain shot through Will just before his face felt numb as well but he could still see what was changing in shape. His face slowly lengthened, his nose merging into his upper jaw and his nostrils moving to the sides. His eyes also moved to the sides slightly, but still enough to the front to focus. His ears developed back into his head but left an orangish area over his ear holes. His lower jaw colour changed to match that of his body too. His head hair slowly began to drop down in bushes leaving his head bald, after a few seconds however, he grew a new batch of black hair that extended in crest like fashion all the way down his back and ended at the tip of his tail. Inside his mouth his teeth lengthened into long, bent fangs, his tongue growing longer and pointy tipped. Mike's change started the same way, his face lengthening out and his nose moving up to merge into his upper jaw, only it changed in a different way, becoming black and moist. His ears grew longer and pointy while his head hair lengthened just like his tail fur. His teeth also reshaped becoming long fangs and his tongue lengthened just a bit. Both their changes where nearly finished now. Suddenly Will's view darkened and he closed his eyes, as he opened them again they had turned from brown into a bright golden yellow, and became slitted. Deep green stripes suddenly appeared in a pattern all over his body and darker yellow stripes grew over his stomach, chest, jaw and lower tail while it slowly altered into a soft, flexible plating. He panted as his darkened view slowly retuned to normal, only now he saw a lot sharper then before. Mikes change ended with his fur growing thicker, longer and bushier in spots like around his crotch and neck and his eyes turning from their former dark blue to a stinging ice blue. They both laid down on the ground still with no real control over their bodies’ only random twitches going through them. Helken walked over to both of them carrying an injector. He gave each of them an injection; soon they could feel a prickling go though them. When Will tried he could finally move again, but it was still hard, especially keeping controlled over his legs and long tail. When he finally got on his legs he stood quite shakily as he tried to walk normally, but soon something in his head told him to walk digitgrade, on his hands and feet. As he did he found it much easier that way, strangely. Mike made the same experience, soon this walking style seemed like he always walked like that. They both eyed themselves and each other being baffled, surprised, scared but also fascinated the same time. It now was more then obvious, Will had become an anthro-lizard and Mike an anthro-wolf, both of them had grown a good bit more muscular to aid them with their new shapes. This also explained the part in their application forms where they had to fill in their favourite animal, real or fictional. Will looked down himself, curious, and removed his underpants seeing that his genitalia had turned internal now, leaving a genital slit at that spot, but much to his relief were still there. Mike too dropped his pants as they felt uncomfortable with his long bushy fur, his genitals also retained, but in a sheath. Will first talked to Halken, he found it a bit hard with his new face, teeth and tongue but managed it. When he talked, his voice no longer sounded the same, it was hissy, and scratchy, like when someone has really bad strepp throat or tonsilitis.

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

“I can’t believe this… that’s impossible…” Halken only chuckled.
“Well as you see, it’s NOT impossible.” in the time their transformation finished the plane had landed somewhere.
“Well, we've arrived.” Mike looked at Halken. Mike's voice, on the other hand, had gotten deeper, and more commanding.
“Arrived where?”
“An island group in the Pacific Ocean, the exact location is secret though. We call it Panoricia, but it's code name is Island Delta. Here we've built up a colony for those who participated in this project. And, if you agree, your new home.” They both looked at Halken.
“If we agree… you say that like we have a choice now.”
“Oh you still have. Your current change is not permanent; the finally component is still missing. This is the point where a few people who participated turned back and returned to their normal life.” He took 2 small cylinders with a clear fluid and showed them
“This makes the change permanent, there is no turning back after it, or at least no turning back without causing damage. However if you choose NOT to take this the change in your genetic code will fade away just as fast as it came and all your memories between the transformation and now and about 30 hours prior will also be lost. You’ll just awake back at your homes thinking you either never got the job offer or you were rejected. You don’t need to rush this; the changes keep up for about 5 hours before fading again. Also if you want to choose another shape it can be done after you fully return back to human but you have to make the decision in that time period. But take your time, and don’t rush the decision.” Both thought about this at first coming to the clear decision to reject but strangely this new shape seemed to appeal to them. Will had always imagined what this would be like, the feeling of his smooth, shiny scales, the long and strong tail. It was almost like he always imagined only now that it was actually true it felt much more intense. Mike had a harder time to decide, while he never really thought about this it was kinda “cool” and it felt great to him. Both their final decision came when they thought about what they’d leave behind… a stinking, dirty town, stupid underpaid jobs, people they didn’t like but were forced to be around… Will was the first one to step forward.
“I… accept!” Strengthened by the decision of his best friend, Mike too stepped up.
“Me too!” Halken nodded and put the first cylinder in the injector.
“I’m glad to hear that.” he walked over to Will and injected the fluid in his arm, then did the same to Mike.
“Mike, Will… welcome to your community.” They both felt a shiver like soft electric charges go through them and oddly their minds filled with something new, new feelings… instincts. Halken walked over to a panel and pushed a button that slowly opened the back of the plane. The view was breathtaking to both, long valleys and fields, snow covered mountains in the distance, palm forests near a long beach while the same time dense leaf and needle forests existed near the mountain regions. In the distance they could see small village town, which seemed to perfectly flow into the landscape.
“Wow… that’s awesome… this is what I always dreamed of.” Will slowly stepped outside, when the first rays of the sun touched his body he sighed at the warm feeling that was flowing through him, he could feel how it filled him with energy. Mike stepped outside as well feeling the soft wind blow through his fur.
“That’s just amazing.” new scents he never experienced before filled his nose with every breath, he could even smell the far away forests here as the wind bowed form that direction. The forest regions looked so inviting, this was the definatly the first place he’d go to after exploring the village. They both stepped down and started walking towards the village over the wide field of sand grass.

As they disappeared in the distance Halken smiled after them. He looked down on his left arm and said to himself,
“And I’ll follow soon… very soon.”

Will looked at Mike. "What do you think he meant by that?"
"Who cares. I'm going to go get something to eat. And by eat, I mean hunt."
"Why hunt? Wait for the food to come to you."
"Easy for you to say. I have instincts now, remember?"
"Fine by me. I'll go check out the village."
Will padded toward the village, but decided to test his speed. He started sprinting, and before he knew it, the world was a blur. He reached the village in about ten seconds.
"Woah, that was faster than I've ever run before. I should be more careful."
Will checked the cottages. Most were empty, but a few contained families. Couples without children yet. The mutation may have made them sterile.
"Enjoying yourself?"
Will jumped. Even with his heightened senses he didn't hear the old man coming.
"How did you do that?"
"I have an entire grid of these holographic modules strewn about. Sorry to have surprised you. I repeat, are you enjoying yourself?"
"Yes. But, how many of us are here?"
"Counting me, fourteen. You are the thirteenth. I have something special in mind for you. Head to the main building. It's the only modern looking one."
At that, the hologram evaporated.
"Head to the most modern building, huh..."
Will headed toward the only metal building in the village. After opening the door, Will headed to the only lit room. Dr. Halken was standing over a mixer, concocting a bluish-yellowish liquid.
"So, you've arrived. Right on time, too."
Will was confused. Why only him, and not Mike? He had a feeling he was about to find out... Possibly the hard way.
"I can sense you're puzzled. Let me explain. This chemical will let you stand on two legs with ease. I thought you might want some semblance of humanity, so I made this. You can drink it whenever you're ready."
"Wait. Why only me? Will it only work on me?"
"Yes, since you are the most genetically advanced, your DNA is easily changed. This means you are able to be augmented at will. That's why your codename is "Abeo". Its Latin for "change"."
Will was very confused now.
"So, we're all experiments on DNA? Or are we weapons?"
"You're neither. I merely gave you what humankind needs to survive. A body that compliments the human intelligence while being able to defend itself in any situation. A human is smart, yes, but frail."
The doctor gave him a smirk.
"Do you want your drink now, or later?"
The ability to walk on two legs again tempted Will, because to tell the truth, he desperately wanted some human concepts besides his intelligence. He didn't have time to answer though, because the doctor was being paged.
"Terribly sorry, but I must cut this meeting short. My supervisor wants a word with me."
At that, the doctor walked out of the room, leaving Will with the beaker of bluish liquid. Hesitating, he took a sip. It was the strangest tasting liquid he'd ever tasted, not bitter, but sour, with a hint of salt. It's texture was that of syrup, or cold medicine. Still, he downed the beaker in a few gulps, however, he did not feel any different. He still felt like standing on four legs was natural. He shakily tried standing on two legs, and, lo and behold, he could stand perfectly, without tripping over himself. However, Will suddenly heard voices in the other room. Using his superior senses, he eavesdropped on an interesting conversation.
"Is weapon XIII ready yet?" The voice was cold, calculating, no doubt evil. Maybe not even human... One of the others, maybe?
"No. But in a few months, it will be, my benevolent leader."
"It better be, or you and your precious "children" will be blown halfway to Mars. You have one month. No more. Understood?"
"Yes, my lord. Breaking contact. Out."
Will heard footsteps coming back to the room. He started to panic. What if the doctor had known he was eavesdropping? Oh man... The doctor walked back in, and spied the empty beaker.
"I see you were thirsty. And it worked faster than I expected. You are quite remarkable, Abeo. Now, tomorrow I want you to come here as soon as possible. Get some rest. It's nearly midnight."
'I've been here that long?' Will thought.
"Alright, but I'd like it if you called me Will. Being called "Abeo" feels really weird..."
The doctor thought about this for a moment.
"I see your point. Very well, Will. Now go and get a good nights' sleep, alright?"
Will started heading toward the village, picked a (hopefully non occupied) cottage at random, and fell asleep before finding the bed. It was a restless sleep, with a strange dream. He was in it, but as a human, going through tests meant to be used on one of the others. After just two tests, he died in a live fire course designed for the Marine Corps. But then he heard a voice...

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

"Hey, Will. Wake up man, you're scaring me!"
Will slowly opened his golden eyes to be staring right into Mike's icy blue eyes.
"Unnn... Mike? What time is it?"
"It's nearly 4 P.M.! You've slept WAY too long!"
Will stood up on his newly reaquired two legs, and Mike gasped.
"Is that what he did to you? Did it hurt?"
He forgot it wasn't normal here to have two legs... whoops. He dusted himself off.
"No. The only bad thing I had to go through was that foul-tasting chemical. Did you meet anyone new here?"
"Yeah. A Russian named Ziegfried. We're pretty close friends now. In fact, he wanted to see you. Come in, he's awake!"
At that, a taller lizard with reddish scales and a yellow belly walked in. His features were even less human than Will's, and the most striking feature were his bat-like wings. It was pretty apparent what the animal he chose was. He walked on two legs as well. His voice was thickly accented with his native tounge.
"I am Ziegfried. It's quite the pleasure to meet you. He hasn't brought many new ones lately. I was told you two are the last ones. That's a shame. I was the first, and I didn't make a friend until now."
He smirked.
"But now I have two friends. And I finally have someone to talk to. Everyone is afraid of me, just because I was the first. They think I'm "evil" or something..."
Will smirked, or tried to, with his lizard face it was hard to tell. "You don't seem evil. Maybe sinister looking, but not evil."
Then he remembered the doc said to get to the lab ASAP.
"Oh geez! I gotta go! Nice to meet you, Ziegfried!"
"A pleasure to meet you as well, comrade!"
Will ran on all fours to the main complex, and reached there in record time.
"Will! I was expecting you to still be asleep!"
"Yeah, well, Mike woke me up."
"Yes, well... I thought you may want to see this."
The doctor held up a vial of green fluid and a vial of clear fluid.
"So, you're really going through with it."
"Yes. Is that a problem?"
"Maybe. All I can say is, you may not like it, but that's not a very good argument, is it?"
"No. But it might have persuaded a fool, if you were lucky."
He placed both vials into the injector and brought it up to his human arm.
"Before you do that, ask yourself this, 'Do I really want to give up my humanity?' I don't regret it, but you might."
"It's not my choice."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb. I knew you were eavesdropping on my conversation with the leader of this project. I had a security camera on. You are complete, but I am not."
"You really do think of everything... But it IS your choice. No one can change what you want."
"He can, he did, and he'd do it again. Besides, if I don't comply, he'll have this island destroyed. We can't have that, can we?"
"Yes, we can. Don't you have a hidden escape route he doesn't know about?"
"No. Why would I? There's no escape."
"Typical. People always give up hope before the problem has actually presented itself. We CAN escape. We WILL escape. Do you understand?"
"Even if you get off this island, he'll hunt you down and kill you. I don't want to be responsible for anyone's death."
"Then go ahead. Inject yourself with that and you'll never be truly happy. Just a husk of what you were."
At that, Will left the room. Halken looked at the needle-gun. In a fit of rage, he threw it to the floor.
"Will! Wait! There is a chance!"
"You're lucky I have better senses than a human, or I wouldn't have heard that. So, what's the plan?"
"I'd like it if you were in the room first."
Will walked in, an air of determination about him.
"I repeat, what's the plan?"
"Get the others in here first. Then I will explain."
Will left the building to look for Mike and Ziegfried.
"Mike! Ziegfried! Where are you? There's something really important the doc wants to tell you guys!"
There was no answer. Only an echo.
"No answer... Maybe I should head inside one of the cottages..."
Will headed for the nearest cottage, but the only one inside was a lizard who looked like him, except she was primarily purple and black, and her eyes were a stinging green. She spoke softly, and her voice had an air of kindness that Will had never heard before, except from maybe his parents... What would they think of him now, looking like this? Would they shun him? Only one way to find out...
"Is there something you need, my brother?"
"Yeah... uhh... I'm looking for Mike and Ziegfried, have you seen them?"
The lizard shook her head.
"No. I haven't seen them. But I will join you in your search, if need be."
Will contemplated this, and decided he needed all the help he can get.
"Alright, I shouldn't tell you this, but... We're leaving the island."
The other lizard had a look of disbelief on her face that quickly turned to shock.
"L... Leave? Then I'm not alone! Oh how I've waited for another to want to leave this wretched place... It's far too boring. Nothing happens. Every day is the same! I hate it! Let's go then, and leave this abomination of a science fiction movie!"
Will was taken aback by this outburst. He didn't know there were others who wanted to leave... Maybe they ALL do...
"Then come on. But first, what's your name?"
The other lizard cleared her throat and spoke.
"I am Erica. I will assist you in any way I can, brother. So, where are we headed?"
"I don't know. How about you check this side of the area, and I'll check the other. Agreed?"
"Yes. But, what is your name, my friend?"
"Will. It's short for William, but I don't want you to be too formal."
"Alright Will. Let's meet back here in two hours, alright?"
"Sure. See you around."
At this, Erica spread a pair of wings, like Zeigfried's, but smaller, and flew off. Will ran off in the opposite direction.
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Erica wandered the village, checking cottage after cottage, recruiting others that wanted to leave. But there was no sign of either Mike or Zeigfried... she was starting to lose hope. As she checked another cottage, Mike was in it, sleeping on the bed.
"Mike! Wake up! My name is Erica. I'm a friend of Will!"
Mike woke up slowly, almost as if he was sedated.
"Uhhhhhnnn.... Whoa... Hey babe... Where's the fire?"
"Will wants to see you! Do you know where Zeigfried is?"
"Ummm... last I saw of him he was by the pond, catching fish. He said it was for something special..."
"By the pond? Then Will is sure to have found him... What's the occasion, anyway?"
"He said he was having a child soon, and they were going to eat fish the day after he's born..."
"Oh... But I thought no one liked him... It's not that we hate him, it's just that we're kind of scared of him..."
"Well, Maria wasn't. I don't know why he didn't tell you... But wait, what did Will want, anyway?"
"He's getting us off this island. And he wanted you to come with-"
Erica was cut off as Mike snapped.
"What!? Get off the island? Has he gone mental? We can't go back! Not like this! What will people think of us?"
"Calm down. It's true we won't be human, but humankind will just have to accept us. At least, I hope they will..."
"Well... There's nothing else we can try I guess... How are we getting off?"
"He didn't tell me yet... I'm sure we'll all be fine. Try not to worry so much, alright?"
"I guess... let's go to Will then. Where is he?"
"If he's a man of his word, he should be back at my house in fifteen minutes..."
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Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man... He was supposed to be back at the cottage twenty minutes ago! But he still has to find Mike and Zeigfried... He just has to!
Will checked almost all of the cottages, but they weren't in ANY of them!
"Hold on Will, calm down... Try narrowing your search to one man before looking for two... I'll find Zeigfried first, I guess."
He contemplated his situation. If he isn't in a cottage, what about the lake? Or the pond? Maybe he's in the woods, hunting... No, no, one place at a time. Time to head to the pond.
Will headed to the pond, and thank the stars in the sky, Zeigfried was there! What was he doing? No time for that now... Got to tell him!
"Zeigfried! The doctor wants to see us! But first, we need to go somewhere!"
"My friend! What is the matter with you? Your heart is beating a mile a minute! Is something the matter?"
"Well... Yeah... The doctor and I were talking and... We're going to be leaving the island. We don't know how yet. He said he'd tell me when I got everyone to the lab..."
"You are leaving? I would be heartbroken if my new friend was to leave... So I will go with you."
Will was expecting an argument, maybe even a tussle, but he was being surprisingly cooperative.
"But... You WANT to leave? So did Erica... Does anyone else want to?"
Zeigfried shook his head.
"I wouldn't know. But I know that where my comrades go, I go. I am your friend, and so, I follow you."
"Thanks, Zeigfried. Ughnnn...!"
Will suddenly fell to his knees, clutching his chest in agony.
"Comrade! Are you OK!?"
"I feel... cold... really cold... unn...!"
At that, Will's eyes closed, and he collapsed and fell into the pond.

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

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He woke up with everyone around him, including the doctor. It took him a moment to realize he was back in the lab.
"Wh... What in the heck happened?"
The doctor pushed a button, causing a full length mirror to pop out of the wall.
"See for yourself Will."
Will stood up and gasped. The reflection showed Will, as a lizard, but far more muscular than before. He looked like he could tear through a wall of concrete like it was paper.
"Wha... But... What the heck happened!? One of you explain!"
The doctor cleared his throat.
"You see, Will, your body seems to have gained the ability to absorb pure water and use it to create muscle tissue. If you went to go check the pond right now, it would be empty. I can turn on one of the cameras, if you like."
"Yes, please. I need some proof."
The doctor pushed a button marked "4" and, to Will's obvious amazement, there was the pond, dry as dust.
"Analysis also shows you can now expel any collected water through holes in your palms. This, however, sacrifices any muscle mass attained. But the force of that water is like getting hit with a water jet. Meaning you can tear through steel walls, provided the barrier is thin enough."
Will looked down at his hands, and to his great surprise, there actually WERE two holes there, one in each palm. Each one was roughly the size of a half-dollar.
The doctor went on.
"You can also fire your claws out by storing and pressurizing water in your fingertips. Upon further investigation, I've concluded that they can grow back almost instantly."
"This is really unexpected... Is this part of the Virus' coding?"
The doctor shook his head.
"No. This is a totally unexpected side effect of your specific strain of the Virus. No one else has this ability, or they would have told me. It must have been something in your original DNA coding..."
"Oh... well, now that everyone's here, can you explain the escape plan now?"
Halken brought up a holographic display of the island, showing the facility on top and a large complex underneath. Probably extending into the ocean.
"The complex you see underneath the island is the main lab, where the Virus and it's many strains were created. It's where "Project Zero" is held. It's also the only way to the airport. We'll head through these tunnels, avoid combat as much as possible, and escape on one of the jets there. Any questions?"
Will looked left and right, and since no one else was going to ask, he might as well.
"Yeah. What's Project Zero?"
"I knew someone was going to ask. Project Zero was the final experiment with the incomplete version of the Virus. He was also the only successful experiment with the prototype Virus. Unfortunately, the prototype caused him to go insane, and he killed twenty of the soldiers stationed here. He is now locked in stasis until his condition is stabilized. It probably won't work, but I wanted to save him."
Will just suddenly got an idea, although it was crazy, absolutely insane, but it might work.
"Why don't we get him out of stasis and have him help us? If he hates these people, then it's bound to work in the long run."
The doctor looked shocked for a split second, and then looked sorrowful...
"I don't want to see him anymore... He's been suffering for too long... He's... My son."
Will couldn't believe it. This old coot has a son?
Mike piped in, supporting Will.
"All the more reason to bust him free! If he's your son, he's bound to recognize you."
"No... He's suffered his whole life. It's better this way."
Will noticed the deep sadness in the doctor's voice. It sounded like he's been that way for years...
Suddenly, Will got an idea.
"He won't suffer anymore. The only reason he's suffering right now is because of these people, and I want to save him."
The doctor's sorrowful face turned to one of thought, then hope.
"We could get him out. We'd bring him back to where we were going to stay. But, the door to the complex underneath has a security code, and none of us can..."
His voice trailed off as he looked at Will, and in that split second, he had a crazy idea. A crazy idea that just may work...
"Will, I have a water purifier hooked up to the shower in the back. Do you think you could absorb enough to be able to punch through a 5 inch thick steel door?"
Will was expecting this from the doctor, and he delivered, all right. He cracked his fingers, then his neck, and then smiled wryly.
"Only one way to find out, right doc?"
Halken smiled and put a hand on Will's shoulder.
"Yes, I do believe you're right."
"Wait for me. I'm gonna go take a shower."
3 minutes later, Will reappeared, and his muscle mass must have tripled. He shook the extra water off, dog-style, and stood up.
"Now, where's this door? I'm itching to get rid of it so I can get you guys off of here."
Halken brought up the hologram again, this time, one of the doors was highlighted in red.
"This door. This leads to an elevator, which goes straight down. Take this walkie-talkie so we can keep in touch, alright?"
Will nodded, turned toward the door, and ran as fast as he could, going faster than ever before thanks to his new muscles. When he found the door, he pounded on it as hard as he could, and in three hits it fell, hitting the ground with a resounding "thud". Will took the walkie and held it to his mouth.
"Doc, I've gotten rid of the door. Get everyone else here, I might have tripped something."
Will could hear footsteps, running, coming from the tunnel. After ten more seconds, the footsteps stopped, and standing in front of Will was a whole platoon of soldiers, wearing sinister looking gas masks and fingering a large assortment of weaponry, from an MRL to the basic pistol... All aimed at him. One of the soldiers, who had gold trim on his armor, took one look at will and fired a shot. The shot went wild, missing Will by mere inches, and Will fired a projectile of his own... One of his claws. It hit home, hitting the commander right in the forehead, cracking his visor and causing a muffled shout before he went silent. Will could see blood trickling down the visor, showing that the commander was dead. However, the battle was far from over. All the other soldiers immediately opened fire on him, and Will held his hand out, expecting to be shot... Only to be surprised at what he had done. He had made a large wall of water right in front of him, which stopped all the bullets and other ballistics inside of it. He pulled his hand back and pushed, and the wall came crashing down on the platoon like a wave, dispersing them and killing a few. The survivors took one last look, sputtered a few curses, and ran. Will heard the sound of an engine, and a couple jeeps, one driven by the doc, the other driven by Mike, showed up. Mike got out, and so did all the others in the cart, two birds, one wolf, and two more lizards. In Halken's jeep, there were three birds, two dragons (one of them Ziegfried), and Erica.
Mike took one look at the dead soldiers and sighed.
"I thought you would have saved some for me. Heh, if you can control water, what's going to happen next?" He held out one paw as if ready to use Will's water blast...
And was stunned as he saw flames shoot out.
"Ahhhh! I'm on fire! I'm on fire!" He closed his paw and the flames stopped.
Will looked at Halken.
"Another side-effect?"
"Looks like it... Remarkable..."
Mike held his hand out again, and flames shot out again.
"Huh... Cool. I wonder what Zeigfried can do..."
Zeigfried looked at Mike and held out his hand, and gasped as his entire body turned to crystal.
Halken stood, stunned, unable to speak.
Will piped up.
"Wow... I wasn't expecting that... What about you, Erica?"
Erica concentrated hard, and a few seconds later, a few rocks were floating in the air.
Halken found his voice and spoke.
"I... I can't believe it... I think the virus gave you these powers based on your personalities... Will, you can be as calm as a still lake or as furious as a tsunami. Mike, your attitude is ferocious, just like a roaring fire. Zeigfried, you stand strong and unwavering, just like pure crystal. And Erica, looks like your intense concentration and fortitude is what brought about your power. It truly is spectacular..."
All of a sudden, a huge wailing siren cut through the air, and Halken looked toward the noise.
"Oh no... They're sending out Project Titan...."
One of the birds, a silver female, looked confused.
"Project Titan? You mean super-soldiers, don't you? I've played enough vids at home to know what 'Project whatever' means."
"You're precisely right, Gloria. But these aren't just any super-soldiers. These are mutants, like you, but enhanced cybernetically."
Will looked worried now.
"So, mutant cyborgs? Oh great... Just great..."
"But, they have one fatal flaw. They're prototypes, so their power cells are external. Take out the power cell, and they shed the armor and become normal mutants again."
"Normal non-hostile mutants, right?"
Helken thought for a second.
"Possibly... I haven't done much research on them. We can hope, I suppose..."
Zeigfried stepped forward, and shifted back to normal.
"Hope is better than the actual proof sometimes. And sometimes, we must take risks. This is one of them. When we take this risk, it will show them that we are more than just animals! We are people as well, and we will find our way! Together! Let us go, comrades, and fight for the glory of freedom!!!"
At this, the entire crowd of 13 cheered, literally in the face of danger.
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You want more of the action? Check out more in the sequel, "Zero Tolerance", coming soon!

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

Alrighty then! That took a while. So, what are you guys' opinion on it?

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

Y'know, I'm starting to wonder whether people even CARE about sci-fi anymore... At least TRY to read it, people!