Night of the Animal

Promises

As I ran through the forest, feeling the adrenaline in my legs run about like little mice scurrying for a piece of cheese, I noticed cameras, everywhere, all staring at me accusingly.  I stopped abruptly, bringing up dust and rocks, and leapt for one of the cameras.  My mouth closed over its visual center and I tore it from its source, falling from the tree it was clamped onto.  I viciously hurled the electronic into trees, and tore it apart.  Soon, only fragments were left, and I was reduced to the option left: to run.  My feet seemed to glide over the green grass, and the wind battered my face soothingly.  My chest heaved and started to throb, but I still had all of the energy in my system, making me want to keep on going. 

So, I kept on running, and jumped over logs, feeling my legs strain to make myself go faster.  The smell of human touched my nose and I stopped, sniffing the air.  I saw it then: a human was squatted behind a tree with what looks like one of those dart guns pointed at me.  I turned, and started to run the opposite direction, but felt the dart penetrate my side, and then more sent my way.  I roared angrily, then felt the sleeping medicine collide with the adrenaline, making my head throb.  There was too much medicine in my system, and a lot of that adrenaline had been used up, so I fell to the forest floor, my eyes rolling in my head.  Everything was a foggy blur after that as my body was carried away on some kind of an open car, big enough to lay my body down and have a few humans sit on the side. 

I saw Doctor Weiss taking my pulse, recording data, and start to clean off my body with water and slow movements of his hands.  When the truck finally stopped, I was lifted out of the truck and carried to a medium-sized cage.  The cage was half shaded and half open to sunlight, and I was placed in the shaded part.  As I regained my ability to move around, I smelled meat placed near my head, and I sluggishly got up and walked carefully towards it.  My head felt like it had been hammered in, and I wanted to be at home, where home once was to take some medicine (normal medicine) and just sleep in my bed.  I whined softly, wishing I were back home, then started devouring the meat.  Men who were outside carefully observed me with plain expressions on their face, not daring to come anywhere close to me. 

Doctor Weiss was seen walking out of one of the buildings with a collar, leash, and muzzle, and walked towards my cage with a depressed expression showing on his face.  "Crypto, I have an offer for you, but for me to tell it to you, you must change into a dog," he explained, digging in his pockets for the keys, bringing them out and a taser.  Wondering what it could mean, I conjured the energy I had regained and thought up a dog, opening my eyes and seeing the men who had been observing me look on with surprised expressions.  "That is a wolf, but I guess it's close enough," the doctor said, closing the door behind him, and locking the door.

The doctor came closer, and he held up the muzzle first, tying it to my face, making me feel restricted a bit.  "Standard procedure for what are considered 'wild' animals," he explained as he finished typing the muzzle to my face, and then attached the collar and leash.  After wrapping my leash around his wrist a couple of times, I was led out of my cage.  My paws felt heavy without the extra energy I was given yesturday, and I was amazed at how I wanted human blood the day before.  At the moment, I felt that it was an unruly act of cannibalism, and very nasty.  I did not want to be given whatever it was that was injected into me to make me want to rip the flesh apart. 

The doctor stopped in front of a particularly large building, opened the door, and I was led inside.  It was nice and air conditioned, making my warm skin cool down under the drafts that were sent down by the vents.  The floor was slick and cool as well, making my nails clink with every step I walked.  There was a door to one side that was marked "conference" and this was the door Doctor Weiss stopped at and opened making various cologne waft out from a couple of men who sat at a long table.  I walked inside feeling the stares from the men lock onto my body as I was led to one side, and tied to a pole that was placed at the very end of the table.

"Now, concerning Crypto," Doctor Weiss boomed among the twenty men in the room.  "She has been a subject to the government's testing, and has endured many terrible experiences while under our care."

"It's just an animal!  Why do we have to hold a conference about an animal?" a clean shaven man questioned, squinting his eyes towards Doctor Weiss.

"Well, first, she is considered a human still.  Originally, she was a human that the government abducted to make a part of our test for the better.  I took part in the experiment and calculated what would should be injected and made her what she is now.  I forgot what her actual name was, but she is still human under all of those animal faces.  I have had a call that came from your general, that we were about to fight a war against Mexico, and we would need all of the help we can get.  Crypto can fight and be an advantage in the war.  If I work on this injection a little more, I can give Crypto the ability to have constant strength and a little change of mind like I had the first day she arrived to give her the mental and physical push to fight."

"It will attack our people!" someone cried aloud indignantly.

"Not if we give her a reason to help us win.  That is why we have to give her some sort of a deal, then she wouldn't feel the need to go for our people," Doctor Weiss explained carefully.  I sat straight, staring at the soldiers who contemplated the Doctor's words.

"Well, what deal are we to make?" the clean shaven man wondered aloud.

"I propose that we offer to make her human, and return her to her normal life, suspending her abilities and scheduling regular appointments with me to make sure she stays a normal human.  Her father and siblings are still alive, believing she has been lost and was declared dead two years ago.  They will be immensely happy to find her alive and coming with lots of extra cash for taking her away and performing the experiments.  She will take part in school, and lead a normal life," the doctor announced, getting raised eyebrows from around the room.

"Well, what if we have a war that is very big and need her again?  Would we be able to take her again?" a man with a short mustache asked.

"We will talk about that part later, right now, I should test the human gene into her system again and turn her into a human so she can walk about and not be in a cage.  She shouldn't be too big of a problem," Doctor Weiss explained.  The men in the room looked around at each other, nodding their heads, except one who looked on grumpily, not wanting this to happen.

"What if it turns into a killer animal and goes after one of us?" the grumpy soldier asked.

"She won't because if she does, she will not have the opportunity to lead a normal life, and I will be glad to perform more experiments on her.  There is a whole list.  I can not turn anyone else into what she is because in a fire, I had lost that section of notes because it was relatively new, but I have most of the files on what to do next that I have performed on my own computer at my house.  She will comply," Doctor Weiss assured the soldiers.

"Okay, Doctor," one of the soldiers stood and nodded towards me as I continued staring at them with an uplifted expression showing on my features, "you had better start turning her back into a human.  We want to get her into training as soon as possible, and build her up as strong as possible before the troops get into this battle."  Doctor Weiss nodded, and then untied my leash from the post, walking me out of the room and into the hallway.  I was happy to be able to go back, but then contemplated other ideas.  My father had lost me, and then he lost my mother.  Also, it had been two years since I was away, how come it only felt as if it were not even a month I was away?

My thoughts went away as I stepped into a medical room that had the overpowering smell of medicine in it.  How much this will hurt... Again, my molecular structure will have to be changed, but slightly this time.  I had not realized I was shaking until I was lifted onto the operating table.  "It's okay, Crypto, now I will take off your muzzle and collar.  When you wake, you will be a human.  I can't change your eye color to a normal shade, though.  I don't know how I changed it to purple, but I can't change it back to brown or else I will most likely blind you.  First, I will have you sleep so that you do not feel anything.  It will be a breeze for you," Doctor Weiss assured me as a needle slid under my skin.