Dr. L grabs my hand, practically dragging me through the hallways, until we reach a large hallway, with a giant window, and what looks to be a garden inside of the window. Inside of the garden is a tree, grass, bushes, A trash can, some shelves, and a stairway leading to somewhere behind the garden.
Dr. L lets go of my arm as I see another scientist frantically rushing into the same hallway we were in, carrying a notebook and pen in his hands. He approaches the window, and glares at Dr. L. He isn't bothered by the looks of it.
"So, nice to meet you, trainee scientist. The higher-ups like Dr. L or Harry never told me your name. Mind telling me?" The scientist asks. "Jake...last name Wesson." I reply. "...Dr. Wesson..." The scientist says. Dr. L nudges my shoulder and nods. Understanding this, I ask "What's your name?" to the scientist.
"Dr. Sol." He replies, simply, turning to face the garden again. I look through the window, seeing nothing. "Ahem Wesson, you might want to prepare yourself for what you are about to see." Dr. L says. "Why is that?" I ask. "Watch." Dr. L says.
Two people in hazmats and gear carry another person by their arms, the person in their arms beginning to flail around and try to turn back. However, the guards holding them in place threaten to taze them, so the person they are carrying stops and obeys directions.
"..what is going to happen with them? I thought I was studying animals?" I ask. Dr. L and Sol are too invested watching it happen to answer me. Or so it seemed.
The two guards open a giant gate, and throw the person they were carrying onto the ground. They make a groan of pain before getting up off of the ground. The two guards then close the gate, walking into the garden with the person they threw in. The two guards chuckle to themselves.
"Pick up the damn flower." One of the guards says, slightly muffled through the thin glass and giant metal gate. "I-I don't want to! You're treating me like crap!" The person they threw in says, retaliating. "Tension is rising between the guard and subject, note that down." Dr. L says. 'Subject? A HUMAN subject? Did they volunteer for this? They're not being treated very well...' I think to myself.
I then open my notepad, writing down how the guards are getting mad at the 'subject' for not following orders. "Instead of sniffing that damn flower, I'll shove it down your throat if you don't listen to orders!" One of the guards says. The 'subject' looks at them in fear and horror, slowly picking a flower off of a bush.
I can't help but feel bad for the 'subject', they're being treated horribly!
They raise the flower up to their nose, sniffing it. Nothing happens for a few seconds, until they begin coughing violently. I write this down in my notebook hastily. "I hope you're ready for what you are going to witness, Wesson." Dr. L says.
Suddenly, the 'subject' falls down to the floor in a coughing fit, as a green gooey substance begins to form on their legs. I stand in silence, quickly writing that down. 'Oh god...what's going to happen with them?!' I think. I watch in shock as the green goo forms on the other leg, quickly moving up their torso, spreading to their arms and head. I watch as a tail is formed out from their back by the goo, and the 'subject' represents an animal made out of goo, leaves, and flowers.
I write all of this down on my notebook, as the 'subject' passes out. "Initial reaction...nothing." Dr. Sol says in a bored voice. 'They do this stuff to OTHER PEOPLE all the time?!' I think to myself. I can't help but feel bad for them. One minute ago they were a human, and now they're...a humanoid plant animal.
I watch as the two guards carefully pick the unconscious subject from off of the floor, moving them up the stairs, into a room I have not seen yet. "Eh?" Dr. L asks, bumping my shoulder. I stand completely still, mortified at the sight that unfolded before my very eyes. (1000 yard stare moment)
"Traumatized much?" Dr. L asks. "You..lied to me about what you do? Just as a cover up in case the government sees?!" I exclaim. "Alright Wesson, calm down. Also, this place is government funded, the government supports this stuff." Dr. L says. I stand in shock, not being able to process what just happened.
"You're going to watch this stuff happen every day from now on! Isn't that exciting! Anyways...that tour I promised!" Dr. L says with excitement. "I'm never going to get over the fact that a fellow human being just transformed into..whatever the hell that was. And it was your doing. You work for a place like this!" I exclaim. "Yeah yeah, I only do this for the money. You're gonna get used to seeing that anyways. It's not a very big deal." Dr. L says. I stand in silence.
"Anyways, do ya want that tour or not?" Dr. L asks. "..yeah.." I reply. "Alright, lets go then! So..in front of us is the garden! Yeah! You already saw the reception area twice, and the elevator area, also the outside, so no point in show you that area!" Dr. L says. I glance over at Dr. Sol, who now walks away from the garden, down another giant hallway.
"Follow me, and DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. For safety measures!" Dr. L says the last part with glee. I nod, and he walks over to another giant metal gate. "Mmm...you don't exactly have the right clearance to go into the crystal cave....yet. So yeah. The crystal cave is off-limits." Dr. L says.
He walks in the same path that Dr. Sol went. I follow him, and as I glance to my right, I see a MASSIVE pool of water with shark fins swimming around. "That is the uh...that place used to be the 'aquarium', but it kinda flooded, and got out of control. So, yeah. Don't go in the water if you have a taser, you should know that already, it's common sense. Also don't mess around with those shark fins. They are not friendly, as you may have guessed." Dr. L says.
We proceed to walk down a hallway, as I glance to my left I see a giant blue laser barrier with a few couches in the room. "That is the...'safezone', as we call it. It's basically a break room, and that giant blue barrier stops any goo...gootr...gootraxians, coming through it. It kinda just...shocks them with like a million volts that won't happen if you're not infected with goo however!" Dr. L says.
"This is all..too much for me to process in less than two hours..." I say. "Mhmm...oh yeah, we also have a friendly slime pup named Abble who loves to hang around in the garden and cafeteria!" Dr. L says. "What is a..slimepup?" I ask. "Kinda self explanatory. Do I even need to tell you? Ah whatever...it's basically, a friendly little dog gootraxian. Sometimes they are brats though. I even made friends with the slimepups, so yeah." Dr. L says.
"Is a gootraxia-" Before I can finish, Dr. L interrupts. "Yep. Made of goo, like that subject that transformed into a plantix." Dr. L says. 'That explains everything.' I think to myself. "Alright, on with the tour!" Dr. L exclaims.
***
We are almost done with the tour. Dr. L showed me the storage bays, the safezone, the garden, the depths, and the toxic area. Wonder what other places he's going to show me.
"Alright, the only other places I have to show you now are the cafeteria, hotel, and...wait- That's all I am obligated to show you. Anyways, to the cafeteria!" Dr. L exclaims. He walks over to the cafeteria, and I follow behind him. We step through an automatic door into a large hallway. I can see a button door to my right, a few lockers, and a lounge area near the roof, along with another automatic door, leading into a room full of ice.
"Don't freak out if you see anything out of the ordinary, kay?" Dr. L asks. "Okay..." I reply. "Alright, lets head into the cafeteria, where you'll meet my friend Christina! And also a guard I've been trying to make friends with!" Dr. L says. As soon as I step foot into the cafeteria, I see metal tables, like ones you'd see in a school lunchroom. Someone over the counter into the kitchen catches my eye.
"Meet...Christina!" Dr. L says with joy, as he pulls her up. What I see is not a human, but a chocolate ice cream looking gootraxian. "Uh...hi..?" I ask. Christina waves at me. "By the way, she's mute. She wasn't mute before she turned into a gootraxian, but we still understand her, most of the time." Dr. L says.
"..before..what?" I ask. "Ohhhhh, yeahhh...when she was a human, she kinda got addicted to chocolate ice cream and...yeah that happened." Dr. L says, motioning to Christina. I stand in awkward silence for a few seconds.
"Aaaanyways...see ya Christina! Gotta go show the trainee his hotel room and stuff." Dr. L says. Christina waves goodbye to us as we walk back to the reception area.
Once we reach the reception area, we walk into the elevator, as Dr. L presses the 'hotel' button. The elevator doors close. 'Please don't be another 10 minute elevator ride...' I think to myself.
About a minute passes. "How..long is this?" I ask. "It should only be a few more seconds." Dr. L replies. And of course, A few seconds after he says that, the elevator doors open with a ding. I am met with an extremely long hallway, with a lot of doors with numbers near them. Both me and Dr. L walk out of the elevator.
"..room 67...room 67...here it is!" Dr. L says, motioning to a door to my right. The number 67 is written on a metal slab in the wall next to the door. Me and Dr. L awkwardly stand there for a second. "Go on, pull your ID card out." Dr. L says, breaking the silence. I take my ID card out of my pocket, scanning it through a card reader. I hear a click, signalling that the door is open.
I try pushing the door open, but to no avail. "It's a pull door ya doofus." Dr. L says. I become embarrassed at the fact that I pushed on a pull door.
I open the handle and pull the door open, revealing a neat room. There lies a bunk bed, a desk with a computer and monitor on it, a door, presumably leading into a bathroom, and a lot of small accessories, which I think are probably someone else's.
"Am I..living with someone else..?" I ask. "Yep! You're living with a guard, I think his name was Kai or something." Dr. L says. "Is that computer his?" I ask. "Nope! It's a Laminax staff computer that anyone can use!" Dr. L replies. "Cool..." I say.
"Anyways, I better go before Kai finds me rummaging around his things!" Dr. L says with glee, looking through a drawer with shades in it. "Uhh...okay..." I reply. "Oh yeah! Make sure to check out that computer some time soon! It has a lot of useful information on it!" Dr. L says, walking out of the room.
"Uhh..alright...bye!" I say as I watch him walk down the hallway back to the elevator. I then turn to the computer desk, sitting in a chair next to it, and powering the computer on. 'Let's see what's on here...'