"Don't attack them." Alasdair spoke calmly in my head. "That'll just get you into hot water."
"I'm already in enough hot water as it is." I growled back. "I've had various psychedelics and meats cooked in cannabutter shoved down my throat then doused in freezing water for the past three months in order to keep me from attacking them. I'm sick of being high, wet, and cold. Now that I'm sober for once, I have a chance to retaliate!"
"But-"
As the door to my stall opened, a wisp of teal blue flame appeared over my head, and I immediately lept at the first researcher that entered my stall. Chaos erupted all around me as I dug my teeth deep into her arm; the bone shattered easily under the full force of my bite (which had been measured at 1,200 psi) and I jerked my head from side-to-side to cause more damage.
"Someone tranquilize her before she kills Emma!"
"Anyone have a tranq gun?!"
"Negative."
"She was still supposed to be feeling some of the effects of P6! I didn't think-"
"Well, surprise."
I could feel the shock and awe from Alasdair over our link, which let me know that he was- at the very least- listening to what was going on. I could sense the fainter feelings of confusion, panic, and even encouragement from the other equines that were currently being held within the Beta Sector's stalls.
Meanwhile, my victim was whimpering pathetically in pain and fear as I backed up to the back wall of my stall and dragged her with me. I was practically daring the other scientists to come in and try to take her from me. Wisely, they didn't move; as they knew that they could very easily end up as my next victim. Instead, they simply stood outside of my stall and could do nothing but look on helplessly as I stood over my victim, released her shattered arm, and very quickly sunk my teeth into her neck and began to apply pressure; slowly at first, and then more sudden. With her airway now crushed, my victim's movement became less and less before she stilled completely; suffocating to death. With the recently dead scientist still in my jaws, I rose my head and looked at the remaining scientists with a challenging, almost defiant gaze. No one- Human or animal- said a single word to break the cloud of deathly silence that had fallen over the building.
After about five minutes, one of the researchers managed to speak up.
"She.. she just..."
There was a waiver in his voice.
"Killed Emma. Just like that."
"We had been relentlessly drugging this thing since it was born, and you're surprised that it had attacked and killed one of us once it was lucid?" A new voice said with a dry laugh. "I would do that too, if I was in the same situation."
"It was actually more of an instinct regarding territory rather than a conscious decision. 'Kill any intruders' and whatnot. As it currently is, the stall is her territory. We are seen as intruders." A male voice replied. "While she has shown intelligence, it was about on par with that of a wolf; which was to be expected, given her DNA makeup."
I had become very good at hiding my true intelligence.
"It was very unwise of Emma to go in to the stall without the subject being incapacitated first. What did she think would happen?" Silver sighed.
"That it would greet her like a puppy dog who hadn't seen its owner all day? There's not a single strand of domestic dog DNA in the subject. Dire wolf, salamander, and a small pinch of eagle and grizzly bear DNA, according to the lab results from the saliva sample that we took last week. The eagle and bear DNA wasn't supposed to be there. There was cross contamination during the metaforming phase, most likely. Someone was careless." A female voice sighed.
The flame that hovered above my head burned brighter and with a more intense heat than before as it attached itself to the back of my neck and spread down the entire length of my spine before engulfing my twin tails completely. The dead researcher remained hanging limp in my jaws as I stared down the remaining researchers with complete contempt and anger. As for the general mind link in this building, it still remained silent. The others were probably listening to the scientists speak as well.
"...Well, that's a new threat display..."
"Now is not the time, Andre!"
"She has been drugged up basically since she was born," A different voice reasoned. "So we didn't get the chance-"
"Will you three shut up?" Silver snapped irritably. "We have to figure out how we're going to get-"
I think that I got my point across. With a jerk of my head, I tossed the limp, broken, bloody body of the female researcher back over to the scientists and it landed in front of them with a sickening thud. The scientists quit talking amongst themselves and looked to me with puzzled expressions as the fire on my body re-condensed into a floating ball over my head before it dissipated. I lowered my hindquarters to the ground and began to groom myself as if nothing had happened. The female researcher's blood that had gotten on my fur and feathers was fairly easy to clean off, despite having dried completely. All it took was a few licks and a little nibbling. Did I feel bad for the scientist who I had just killed? The answer was 'no'. I had lost all respect and pity for the scientists since day one of being in this damn facility. If they didn't pity us, why should I pity them?
My gaze was almost curious now as I watched the remaining scientists for a reaction once I had finished grooming myself.
"Someone go get a cart to take the body over to one of the medical bays for dissection and analysis. Family is to be told that her death was the result of equipment malfunction and that the body will be cremated." Said Silver without missing a beat, shockingly. "Notify Boss of the loss and see about expediting the transfer of subject DC6429 into the biodomes. Maybe section BF4 instead of TF11."
"Yes sir."
I didn't move from my spot as a group of two male scientists- one with curly blonde hair and the other with shaggy light brown hair and a bit of scruff- stepped forward and carefully took the dead body of their coworker between them. One kept his focus on me while the other had his full attention on the task at hand. Still, I didn't move and my gaze never once left the scientists; which seemed to make them incredibly uneasy.
"I don't like the way that she's watching us." The guy with curly blonde hair- who I decided to call 'Golden'- said with a shiver as he took a hold of the corpse's ankles. "It's very... Human."
"Relax." His companion- who I decided to call 'Scruffy'- replied as he supported the body by its armpits. "It's just your mind playing tricks on you. She's just a dumb animal."
My own laughter echoed darkly in my mind. Fools. If only they knew... The snort that came from Alasdair's stall let me know that the Kelpie had heard what Scruffy had told Golden and found it just as amusing as I did.
"Are you sure? 'Cuz it's really unnerving."
"Of course I'm sure, you idgit."
"But, they all look at me like that! Especially the carnivores! Ugh."
"Again. They're just a n i m a l s. Maybe lay off of the drugs on the weekends, yeah?"
"But I don't-"
"The body needs to be removed before it starts to rot, not after!" Silver barked impatiently.
"Yes sir." Golden and Scruffy replied while they lifted the body from the patch of blood-stained hay that it had begun to leave.
The group of scientists that stood at my stall door parted to allow the body-bearers through to the cart that had been parked behind them. Once the body was draped across the cart, a female researcher peeled away from the group to push the loaded cart off to a pre-determined destination, and Golden and Scruffy followed close behind. The group that had once comprised of around six scientists was now down to two: Silver and a guy with fiery red hair and blue eyes; who I decided to call 'Fireball'.
"What now?" Fireball asked with a look over to me.
"Start organizing the evening food rounds. I'll go talk with Boss about this,"
He paused and looked over to me.
"Nuisance."
"Yes sir, right away." Fireball replied with a nod.
After Fireball had left to go complete his assignment, Silver remained where he stood; regarding me with a contemplative eye.
"You sure are something." He told me with a shake of his head. "Outright attacking and killing one of us like that. I'll be amazed if Boss lets you live. Then again, Emma did go into your space without the needed precautions."
He sighed sadly.
"I've always told her that her negligence would get her killed one day. I guess that day was today, huh?"
The man brought a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes briefly with an amused, quiet chuckle.
"What am I doing, talking to an animal? It's not like you can understand what I'm saying, right? It's a shame you can't verbally communicate to us like the Chimeras can; though, maybe that's a good thing. You'd probably just complain about not getting enough food, how much you hate being confined, and how badly you want to rip our throats out. That's all the Chimeras say to us, anyway."
So, the Chimeras can verbally communicate with the scientists? Interesting. I blinked twice and tilted my head at Silver's words. He saw my actions and smiled, though the smile didn't reflect in his brown eyes.
"Y'know something, Ziel?"
Ziel. I shuttered at the mention of the name that Band Lady, er, Leah had given me. I guessed that he had probably looked at the notes that had she had recorded about me during my first day. I stood up and slowly made my way over to the stall door as I fixed Silver with a curious gaze. I found myself stopping within an arm's reach of him; he could reach out and touch me if he so chose, which he thankfully didn't do. Since the stall door was still wide open, I could've easily bolted; and yet... I didn't. It was like some unknown force was keeping my paws rooted to where I was currently standing. Perhaps it was sheer curiosity or... pity. Or maybe it was because I knew that there was nowhere that I could possible go.
What was Silver possibly going to tell me that I already didn't know about this place? Whatever it was, it must clearly have some sort of heavy emotional toll on the man. I thought as I watched him sit down on the concrete ground with his back up against the open, metal-framed, wooden stall door. The researcher closed his eyes and let out a shaky sigh before he continued on.
"I was the one who found you for the Amri when you were still Human."