by Hopeflower » Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:38 pm
In the extensive basement of a seemingly ordinary hospital, Lydia was working. When her regular hours were through, it was here she came to begin the second half of her work day. She snapped on a clean pair of gloves, pushed her goggles up the bridge of her nose, and walked with a quick and confident stride to a door at the end of the hall. Before entering she smoothed her white coat; then took the handle of the door and turned it, letting herself in. One of the men bent over bubbling solutions in beakers turned and smiled at her. "Ah, Lydia. You're just in time. Come, come! Don't be shy, go right in. He's lasted an hour longer than the others."
"A full hour?" Lydia questioned, feeling her excitement bubble up. Perhaps their solution was working at last...or maybe, he was just stronger than the others. The other scientist nodded vigorously. "yes! It's remarkable. He's in quite a bit of pain though, poor guy. A shame we can't give them morphine."
Lydia replied as she pulled on her mask, "you know what happened when we tried." Her coworker nodded again and bent over the beakers again. "Yes," he said. "That was quite....interesting. It seems they must fight out the change on their own, at least for now." Lydia left him to his work and made her way through the door on the other side of the room, down a short hall, and through yet another door.
The sounds reached her first. A mixture of screams, groans, and in some cases, weak, gurgling half-growls. All were let out in a state of complete agony. Lydia made her way past a few almost jail cell-like rooms before stopping in front of one. She peered through the bars at the man huddled on a small cot at the back of the room. He was shirtless, giving her a clear view of his back; his shoulders were beginning to distort, and it looked as if there were something growing under his skin. He was the one who had lasted longer than the others; just yesterday, like them, he'd begun vomiting blood.
"Hello, Dean," the brunette woman said. She expected no reaction and got none. She fished in her pocket, pulling out a small handheld recorder. She pressed the record button and began to speak. "Day nine; subject D34N's body is showing signs both of accepting the new genes and rejecting them. Yesterday he reportedly vomited blood and began to bleed from his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and strangely, his shoulders. However, the bleeding did not last long, and thus far it seems his lungs are not affected. It looks as if with each day, there is a greater chance he might survive this experiment." She paused as Dean coughed, gagged, and retched feebly. "But we mustn't get too optimistic, given our success rate." She paused again, turning to the cell opposite Dean's. "Subject V10L3T has shown no signs of change; and no improvement either." A small whimper from the cell made her pause yet again; Violet grasped the bars on the door weakly, looking as if she'd collapse if she didn't have something to hold on to.
"Please," she whispered in a small, broken voice. "Just kill me; I can feel it, eating my insides. It's killing me!" Her voice rose hysterically. "Killing me! You've killed me, Lydia! Why won't you let me die? I thought we were friends! I thought - I - " She started coughing suddenly, violently, small drops of blood hitting Lydia's face. She was gasping for air, eyes very wide, face very pale. Lydia did nothing except raise the recorder and report, "Subject V10L3T's condition is deteriorating. Unless a miracle happens, it is unlikely that she will survive the testing. Perhaps this genetic combination is a failure." Lydia stopped the recording before Violet started to scream.
"Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come."
"Talent is a pursued interest. In other words, anything that you're willing to practice, you can do." ~ Bob Ross
"The future is always uncertain and painful but it must be lived." ~ Unknown