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"I dun wanna...go to ..school.." Was the first thing he uttered when he heard that blasted alarm clock going off right next to his ear, sluggishly reaching out from beneath the covers and hitting the snooze button and going back to sleep.. "Mmmm... I think I can miss one assi-"

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*Bark! bark! bark!*

Then as if out of nowhere a brown-furred creature came dashing through the doorway and leapt six feet into the air, landing right ontop of his chest, causing him to nearly gag as the German Shepherd continued barking at him; licking him right across his eyes, causing him instinctively bring up his right hand and shield his face from the dog's vicious assault. Good ol' Benny - never failed in waking up Thomas Balvice at 5:00 sharp, and while the sun hadn't even risen yet, but that wasn't going to stop Benny who was determined to make sure he'd be up on time to due his morning routine before heading off to work at the Monterey City Police Department.

A lean figure emerged from underneath the covers, wearing blue pajamas. His name is Lieutenant Thomas Balvice. A handsome young man in his mid-twenties, who coincidentally wasn't all that good-looking at the moment, wiping the drool from his face and playfully shoving his companion off to his side, and scratching him behind the ears, "What would I do without you?" And with that brief appraisal of his companion, he hopped out of bed and changed into a pair white tenneshoes, black athletic pants and a red t-shirt. "C'mon, Benny."

About an hour later, Thomas returned home covered in sweat and proceeded through the kitchen pressing down on a white button, turning on his coffee-maker before scampering on into the bathroom with Benny, threw his clothes into the hamper and hopped on into the shower."Ah...that feels good." He said to himself as he grabbed a bar of soap and began scrubbing Benny, while concurrently reaching out for his dog-grooming kit and removed a metal comb that he'd use in removing whatever fleas that had decided to make Benny's pristine coat of fur their home. "Goddamn foreigners."

Ten minutes later, Thomas emerged from the shower in a comedically epic fashion, hands on his waist, staring up at the ceiling as if he were a superhero about to take out the villain. *Bark!* "Damn right, boy. Now don't you look all presentable?" *Bark!* "Yeah, in fact. You're so damn good looking, I bet you'd make that bitch Lassy we saw on television the other night all wet with desire!" Needless to say Thomas had a rather disturbing sense of humor; like it or not though, he made everyone at the department laugh their heads off with his antics.

After about five minutes, Thomas threw on a pair of police-boots, gray slacks, white button up shirt with blue tie over it. Afterwards he grabbed his overall holsters and slid a .45 caliber Socom pistol with a built in flashlight and laser sighting to boot, and all the other essentials he would need. The sound of running water came on as Thomas began to brush his teeth and comb his short brown hair down along his sides. He looked at his watch and hadn't realized that he had wasted almost an hour and a half, and only had about thirty minutes to get to the Monterey Marine Biology Labs near the shore. Apparently, the chief had though it to be a good idea to assign Thomas to something more "sophistocated" to cut down on his rather rambunctious behavior while at the precinct.

Thomas hardly minded though; his girlfriend Jessica had actually worked just down the street - perhaps he'd go visit her while she was on her break from rehabilitating former convicts. It was something Thomas wasn't too fond of; he may have been a joker at work, but it when it came down to it, he didn't believe in forgiveness, this wasn't to say he'd immediately go out of his way just to give a bank-robber death-row but he made sure that they paid for their mistakes with an iron-fist. After all, he had lost both of his parents in a terrible accident when a burglar had broken into their home one night and Thomas' father Adam Balvice had attempted to chase off the scoundrel and ended up getting he and Thomas' mother Rose shot dead-center in the forehead - killing her instantly.

Yep, you guessed it, Thomas had been thinking his childhood tragedy on his way to work, and went into a brief state of melancholy.. "I'll make sure he gets the death-sente-WOAH" As if out of nowhere a deer dashed right past his car, followed by a pitch-black...four-legged creature with a long tail and horns protruding from its skull. It emitting a foul shriek from its vocal chords shattering Thomas' windshield from the sheer level of sound it produced, nearly getting his ear-drums blown out. His car had come to a screeching halt, and he had suffered a few cuts on his face and hands but nothing that could be considered life-threatening. The metal-cage had separated Thomas from Benny was the only thing that had stopped the now whimpering canine from getting a shard of glass stuck in his throat that would've undoubtedly ended the poor thing's life.

He immediately hopped out of his car, armed with his Socom and began marching into the forest, while simultaneously pulling out his cell-phone and dialed Johnson's number.

"Hey, Thomas, what the hell man, you're late!"
"I know, I know, but something ran past my car on the way to work. It was strange looking, black...and had horns, it was huge!"
"I haven't a clue as to what the hell you're talking about, but from the tone of your voice, you sound pretty shaken up.."
"Yeah I am somewhat." He said before instantly dropping the cell-phone in utter-awe at what he had seen.. a hideous looking beast covered in a pitch-black exoskeleton feeding on the carcus of the dead dear... "What the hell..are you?" He whispered under his breath before slowly starting to approach the creature, maintaining a lethal aim at the creature's underside where the exoskeleton seemed to lose its density.. "TOM, IF YOU DON'T FUCKING ANSWER THIS PHONE I'M GOING TO RING YOUR NECK!"

"Shit!" he mumbled; as he looked at the cell-phone only to notice the beast staring him down and growling angrily. Thomas was frozen in utter shock, his lungs ceased to draw breath as Benny barked and growled from inside the squad-car; he had been petrified, remaining completely statuesque until the creature finally turned around and left with his meal. It took him almost a minute to regain his composure before hearing the sound of Johnson yelling over the phone, "TOM, PICK UP THE FUCKING PHONE!"

"Johnson, you wouldn't believe what the hell I just saw."
"You're right I sure as shit wouldn't, now get your ass down here right now. I can't take listening to all these nerds babble on about how whale's communicate by performing these girly seranades to one another.."
"Yeah...I'm on my way. Sorry about that."
"It's alright, just get down here already. It's bad enough Jack isn't here yet, so I have no one interesting to speak with."

Twenty minutes later, Thomas had arrived at the research facility where he let Benny out of the car to run around and do whatever he pleased. "About time, Tom. And what the hell happened to your face? Don't tell me that broad, Jessica has been getting bitchy with you."

"No, you idiot! I got my windshield shattered when some thing, I don't know what the hell it was ran in front of the road and let out this wicked shriek that was so loud it shattered the windshield. I got a few cuts on me, but I'll be fine."

"I sure hope so, because your face will be getting a lot sorer after pretending to smile at these fucking nerds all day when in reality you just wanna shoot 'em all dead."

"C'mon, Johnson leave the poor fellas alone. They're just doing their jobs." He said rather graciously, giving a few scientists a brief grin before smacking Johnson hard against the back. "Besides, I'm a Lieutenant and you're just a sarge, so I can always just report you for harassing all these hard working men."

Johnson merely grumbled, and walked over to a nearby lounge, and flipped on a television set, "Hey Tom, come look at this. Now the space-nerds are claiming they've spotted some mile long whale floating around in the asteroid belt. I hope this isn't going to lead to a remake of that movie, where instead they call it Mars Attacks Free Willy..."

The sun was barely peaking through the cheap yellowed blinds when the warden's office was flooded with activity. Ten new inmates had just been delivered, and the poor secretary could barely see over the stack of paperwork that had just been hoisted onto her small desk. With graceful speed, the thin dark-haired woman separated the large stack into several smaller stacks, attempting to distribute the weight to every edge of her desk before it collapsed under the pressure. When this task was done, which would be one of many for the day, she sat back in her old swivel chair, wondering where to start.

"Cathryn, sometimes I wonder what I'd do without you." A loud laugh echoed from the doorway behind her. Cathryn's eyes twitched at the deep voice reverberating in her ears.

You could show your love by hiring me a damn assistant.

"And I don't know what I would do without you, sir." Brown eyes focused on the old warden as Cathryn swiveled her chair around to acknowledge him.

"Of course you don't. You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me!" With that, the warden let out another hearty laugh and retired into his office, the door slamming shut behind him. Cathryn jumped when the door shut, cursing under her breath. She didn't mind her job so much; it got her pretty good pay. The warden, however, was a typical male chauvinist boss who treated her like she walked in off the streets and she owed his life to him. Her 4 years of college studying Business Management was a complete waste at this place.

After an hour of sifting through through one of the shorter piles on her desk, Cathryn stood up and stretched, attempting to regain feeling in her legs. She walked over to the water cooler in the corner of her office, the warden's version of providing sustenance for his employees, and pulled one of the tiny cone-shaped cups from the plastic holder on the side of the contraption. She filled the cup up and leaned against the wall beside the cooler, staring up at the ceiling tiles. They were the cheap kind, much like in a hospital or an elementary school. They were an off-shade of white, with little specks and holes in them. Some tiles had stains on them from age, or perhaps a water leak in the rafters above. Cathryn began to count the holes, attempting to pass the time and relieve her mind of the files that she'd been processing. The dots slowly began to move around, forming shapes of their own. This was the closest she got to relaxing, much like one might lie in the grass making shapes out of clouds.

Cathryn downed the pathetically small cup of water when guards began swarming into her office. Shift change. She straightened out her form-fitting skirt and dusted off her silk button-up blouse as she walked back to her desk. The day had barely started and Cathryn already wanted to punch someone. As she watched guards shift around her doorway to clock in or out, she wondered if Jessica was having a better day than she was.

"Non organic minerals. Seemi to react to other minerals via a process similar to nanotechnology. Technology as of now cannot explain the mysterious substance recovered by Naval Ops. I propose a possible truth to the Legend of Atlantis, or possibly the infamous chariot of the gods... [Delete] Y/N?

The command line blinked, the old report still waiting to be sent or deleted. "No, this is crazy talk. I'm already a joke here, only still working because I somehow manage to give good reports to the boss. I know though, damnit, this is the one. Its not like the Marfa lights, this is REAL!" He slammed his fist down, attracting a few stares and giggles from the other researchers.

Daniel Alam was a joke. The twenty five year old had excellent grades, a PHD in Geology, and a Masters in Oceanography. He was the perfect man for this project. However, he was known to believe in conspiracy theories, an ironic thing from a man who worked with the government proper.

"Well, at least this thing can give me some fame... project A-LU will be noted, and this information is somewhat important.... saving....."

The lanky man, a tall ,thin, olive skinned male, paced for a moment, placing his hands in his thick, almost greasy hair, as he sighed. This did not make any sense. Minerals weren't supposed to act like the nanotech that Japan just finished. Minerals were slow, not rapid, and this discovery blew him out of the water. It was as if God himself had slapped the man as a joke, the discovery impossible.

Police reports, prison records, photographs, and all that would fill a typical case file lay scattered on Dr. Jessica Lynn's wooden desk. Her green eyes scanned over the contents of the file for at least the hundredth time. She was trying to learn everything she could about Billy Warner's case. Jessica and Billy's lawyer had been trying for the past two years to get the boy in the Monterey Rehabilitation Center and out of the main prison system. Jessica had spoken to the boy a few times in prison and after reviewing his case she felt that there was hope for his future.

Bringing the stryofoam cup of deluded black office coffee to her lips the girl while picking up a police report with her other hand going to glance over the details of the case just once more...

Three years ago the robbery of a local pawn shop left an elderly couple dead on the floor of their own business. A thousand dollars was stolen from the cash register, some jewellery, and lastly of all a cherry apple red Gibson electric guitar. The later was Billy's undoing, apparently the guitar had belonged to Billy's dad who was killed by a drunk driver seven months before the robbery. The seventeen year old later told police that his mother had sold the guitar to the pawn shop simply because she couldn't stand seeing it any more. Billy on the other hand couldn't see a way of living with out the musical instrument, and he so he stole it. Little did the boy comprehend that behind the sales counter of the shop was a loaded shot gun. Nor did Billy even think that when the he pulled out his dad's little revolver a badly written western gun battle would ensue. On one side would be the slightly intoxicated old couple fighting for their 'American Dream' and on the other would be a scared child refusing to let go of his dead father's guitar. In the end two shots would determine Billy the temporary winner of the gun war that left the pawn shop in ruins.

Clearly the sounds of gunfire would bring attention to the shop, and sadly for Billy his mom didn't let him borrow the car that morning so he had to run. Several witness' caught sight of the boy running down the street with the bright red guitar in his hand, and even one stopped Billy offering to buy it. The kid was no mastermind at crime at least yet and he had never killed a thing before in his life. So not knowing what else to do the seventeen year went home, hid the guitar under his bed along with the loot, and took a shower. Later that night after super the police came knocking on Billy's door.

The boy was charged with the crime and convicted as an adult. Jessica always hated it when teenagers were treated like adults. Perhaps she was too soft, but hell what do you really know about the world when your seventeen? Billy's lawyer had come to Jessica for help in getting the kid out of prison at least. It would be a bad place for a pretty blonde haired boy who knew nothing of defending himself. Thankfully because of him listening to them about the rewards of 'good behaviour' he was able to get out and sent to the center.

“Dr. Lynn?”

Jessica blinked slightly startled by the sudden male voice breaking into her thought process. She glanced up from the contents of the file to the security guard standing in the hallway outside her office. “Yes James?” The woman asked giving him a soft smile before going to put the file contents back into the folder.

“The bus is here with the new guy.”

A wide grin appeared on the attractive light pink lips of the woman as she stood up, “Wonderful. I'll be there in a minute.” Reaching over on her desk Jessica flipped Billy's file shut almost knocking over the frame photograph of her and Thomas. Dr. Lynn paused looking over the picture with a sentimental sigh remembering the day it was taken in Disneyland as corny as that was. She had convinced Thomas to take her there, and he to pose for a picture in the spinning tea cups. How they actually got such a good picture of them together while spinning rapidly around in circles was beyond her, but well it was just adorable. Thomas was gnawing on Jessica's long strawberry blonde hair as it blew across his face as she was kissing his cheek with her arms wrapped around him.

James coughed trying to cover up a smirk as he watched her with his arms crossed, “Are you alright?”

Inwardly blushing the woman went to stand up, “Yeah. Well I could use some coffee.” Leaning over the woman grabbed Billy's case file going to leave her office with James. As the guard lead Jessica to lounge she started to wonder what Thomas was doing at that moment. She should call him on her lunch break.

Within the marine biology lab a voice echoed down the hallway to Balvice and Johnson, “A space whale, you say?” Jack Theomen said with a small smirk on his face, walking down the hallway, already in labcoat. In his right hand he held a cup of espresso (hence his caffeine addiction) and cradled in his left arm was a clipboard of god-knows how many senseless scribbles, “Maybe this is Independence Day we’re talking about, instead of ‘Mars Attack’.”

Jack had good taste in his dress, a pair of charcoal slacks with a fine leather belt securing them, dark shoes and a blue button-down underneath a white labcoat. On the coat there was his name badge which had in plain blue lettering [JACK THEOMEN] and a picture of him underneath it. As he walked down the hallway, he nodded and smiled to a group of scholarly looking fellows and then made his way to Balvice and Johnson. “How’s the lady?” He said, to Balvice, but his facial expression changed as he saw Thomas’ appearance, he was rather pale, almost shaken. What in the world’s wrong with him? he thought, but the look of concern clearly spoke just about as loud as his thoughts.

“Heyyyy, Jack!” Johnson said, with a grin. “You, Me, Balvice, we should all go to Swanky’s and grab a drink after work.” Jack kept his eyes focused on Balvice for a second, then responded with a simple “Maybe”. Jack had gone for a drink with Johnson, before, the guy was noisy, loud, and obnoxious than most drunks when he started, but maybe it’d be different with Thomas there, he had a bit more self-control, And hopefully… Jessica will be there, too. “You know what, Johnson? Swanky’s, was it? I’ll be there.” Johnson grinned, “Great, see ya there.”

With that, Jack turned and walked off, he knew if Johnson had Jack there, he’d probably try to convince Balvice to go, and if Balvice went he would probably bring Jessica. Jack almost felt giddy, passing by an open room with a fellow passing by who seemed rather frustrated. “Found The Predator, yet, Alam?” Jack said, with a smirk on his face as he stepped into his office, just next to Alams.

((OOC: Hope I can join in ;P))

The girl sat quietly on the steps of the small townhouse building, her seat the step on the bottom so she could lean back against the top, her arm back to support her weight. She brought the smoke held between two fingers in her free hand up to her lips and inhaled, savoring the taste and letting her mind relax. She'd hated cigarettes, the taste, the smell, everything about them not long ago. It had been the same with drugs and alcohol, but once life got hard, and the stress began to pile up, it didn't take long for her to change her views. Resting her hand on her bare leg again, she stared out at the road, counting the cars as they passed. A green one... a black one... another black one.... a beige one... every once in a while, a police car. Every time one of those passed, the driver would glance out at the young woman, giving her one of those famous, "I'm watching you", looks, and every time, she would wink and smile sarcastically, and they'd keep on driving. Damn pigs... She hated cops. She couldn't see a bigger waste of space and taxes.

Taking one last drag, she flicked her smoke to the cracked, dirty sidewalk and ground it out with the heel of her boot. She supposed she could understand why they looked at her like that; a black tank-top, cut off denim shorts and worn out combat boots, and a pair of old dog-tags on a chain around her neck. Her hair was straight and went down to her shoulders in choppy, blonde layers, accented here and there with a bright crimson streak, and her eyes were a fiery bright blue. She was short and slender, and her expression spoke volumes about her so-called "attitude problem". She looked like your stereotypical fuck-the-world eighteen year old girl. She supposed in all fairness, that's exactly what she was.

She stood up, stretching her arms above her head, and turned to look at the clock mounted on the wall through the open window of the house she was sitting on the stairway to. She had ten minutes to meet up with Josh. Dusting off her shorts, she turned and began walking idly down the sidewalk, not acknowledging anyone that she passed; she didn't have time to stop and talk at the moment. She came to an intersection and turned to the left, continuing down that street for a while. Every once in a while, someone she knew passed by and nodded or raised a hand in greeting, and she did likewise. She was still slightly hung-over from last night; she'd taken a couple of Aspirin but her headache wasn't quite gone, so she was in a tad of a bad mood already. Party had been good though, so it was worth it.

After a while, the girl came to a little convenience store. The sign above the door was cracked and a big piece was missing; the light had long ago gone out, and apparently no one cared enough to bother fixing it. The movie posters plastered on the window were outdated and fading, and the windows themselves were poorly cleaned. In this part of the town, it was to be expected; the moneybag dicks all lived in the other end. This area was more unkept, and no one with much money to toss around lived here anyways, so why bother keeping the storefront presentable? Hell, there was no one around anyways. Well, except for some car parked across the street, but it looked like the driver was passed out anyways.

She walked past this store to another intersection, this one much less busy than the other, where a lean, tall young man was standing, his pants a bit too loose, same as his sort-of-dirty t-shirt. He glanced up, his eyes dark, and raised his hand in a greeting. The girl did the same, and stopped when she came up to the guy. "Kira," he said with a nod, fishing through the many pockets of his jeans now. "How's it?" The girl shrugged and brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face. "It's there, same as always. Here," She said, producing a rolled-up wad of cash from her jeans pocket. "Now hurry up, I'm tired as shit." "Yeah yeah, keep your damn shirt on. Or don't. I'm fine either way." The boy commented with a snarky grin before bulling out a bag of weed. "Fuck you, Josh." She said, returning the smile with one of her own as they traded. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a couple of rolling papers. "So what the hell you up to nowadays? Still screwing that bitch?" As she spoke, she passed over a fresh joint to her companion and started making one for herself. "Shit no." He responded with a laugh. "Got sick of her breathing down my neck, she's gone." Kira made a sort of a "Huh" sound as she sealed up the bag and put it into her pocket, lighting her joint and taking a deep drag from it. She liked cigarettes, sure. But she definitely preferred this.

"Well that's great anyways. I'm going to go pass out. See ya." Her friend nodded and turned and walked away, around the corner; she heard the sound of a car door closing and an engine starting, then the sound of wheels pulling off. Weird, since when the hell does he drive? She thought for a moment as she took another drag, then shrugged and kept walking, deciding she didn't care. Next thing she knew, she heard another engine start. She glanced behind her to see the car parked across the street starting and beginning to drive up the street. Thinking nothing of it, she turned and kept walking. Until she heard it pull up close behind her. She turned and glanced around, seeing a lady and some guy get out of the back seat and start heading towards her. Oh, shit..

As soon as she realized what was happening, she turned and began running back down the street, hoping she could find an alleyway or something to turn in to. "Hey stop! Freeze!" Came the shout from behind her, and the next thing she knew, she was being overtaken; the woman had caught up with her easily and grabbed her, restraining her as she cuffed her hands behind her back. "Hey fuck you, let me go!" Kira yelled, pulling hard. she was being arrested for drug trafficking or something... what the hell. Next thing she knew, she was in a police car being towed off. And her headache had just gotten five times worse.

Thomas heard Johnson's generous offer and grumbled underneath his breath, can't he ever come up with something interesting to do, besides see who can stay sober the longest? He was more interested in that obscure "whale" thing that Johnson had described; running into a big bad beast of unknown origins had been known to brew up some paranoid thought-patterns after all. He got up out of his spot on the couch and took a relieving stretch coupled with a long-winded yawn and proceeded out of the room and down the hallway, gesturing over to Johnson who lazily followed behind. "So you comin' tonight or what, Tom?" Johnson said somewhat impatiently, "I got other things on my mind. Like washing all this blood off my face, so Jessica doesn't get too worried when I see her at lunch."

"You only got cut up... why would she worry about that?"
"We're talking about someone who's in-love with fixing people, Johnson."
"Yeah, so what?"
"So, I'm saying she'll take me to the emergency room every time I so much as sneeze."

The whole conversation had been going on as Thomas and Johnson made their way over to the front of the building where he placed his overcoat on one of the hangers mounted on the walls. "I s'pose I see what you mean now. I could only imagine what would happen to my face if I let one of these nerds near me with their mutation-inducing concoctions." Thomas suppressed a laugh and continued on with Johnson down the hallway and back towards the lounge, "You know what I could really use right now?" "What's that, Tom?" For about twenty seconds both cops were staring at their reflections - idly trailing their fingers up and down a pane of glass that cut them off from an assortment of snacks and beverages, "You and your sweets.." "You and your beer..." A brief chuckle was shared between the two, and Thomas inserted a two one dollar bills in; he purchased a Dr.Pepper, a Twix, and a Butterfingers then stuffing each in his pockets.

"C'mon, Tom, let's go back and watch some television."
"Hold that thought, Johnson."
"Now what!?"

The two of them proceeded westward towards the back of the building, Johnson continuing to produce more snide remarks about the scientists as the foul stench of chemical mixtures and marine-life autopsy reports were being studied and filed into cabinets for future evaluation. After about forty seconds of walking, they came to a small white staircase layered in a light-gray padding - should some idiot happen to drop a turtle on its backside and by some miracle end up cracking the ridiculously hard shell ..at least they had some type of safety-measures set in place here.

"Hey, Tom, did I ever tell you about that time when some of the divers here were trying to drag a Squid up the stairs?"
"No...and I can't imagine why you'd be so interested in this stuff all of a sudden."
"Shut up and listen. So I'm walking down this same hallway over here, and they're tugging on its head as hard as they can, seeing as how the suction-cups are like...WOAH in the way they suck."

No doubt that when Thomas heard the "WOAH" part of his story and "way they suck." there were some naughty thoughts brewing up in his mind. Jessica and Thomas at disney land doing God-knows-what in the Tea-cup Merry Go-round, followed by the lassy comment he made to his dog Benny back at home while they were showering together. "Mmm... thath's so daumn.. gooud..." Johnson couldn't help but stare in bewilderment, wide-eyed and everything. First Tom's rambling over the phone about some monster running around killing dear, now this? *TSH!* Was the sound that echoed through the hallway followed by an audible pop as Thomas opened up his Dr.Pepper and began guzzling it down.

"Hey! Stop sucking on that damn Twix like it's a popsicle and listen to my story!"
"Faun, Ah'm listenin', Jofson."
"So they're dragging him up the stairs, right."
"Yah, aund, hurry up already. Thif stuff ith like ecsasy to me, Jofson."
"If you'd stop pretending to be Jessica giving you a blow-job with that Twix acting as your fucking penis, then maybe, just MAYBE I'd be able to tell it to you already. Jesus Christ, man. ..Anyway! It's suction cups get stuck on the gray-padding and next thing you know, it starts SPEWING INK OUT THE GODDAMN A-HOLE."

The loud burst that came out of Johnson's mouth carried enough cacophony to travel straight down the non-sound-proof hallways, back to where Jack and Alan were at, and even into the basement where the scientists kept local sea-life in cold-storage. Not to mention the high oxygen content just oh-so amplified it to the point that a few fish jumped up out of the water, landed on the floor and suffocated to death; truly a disturbing story.. "But that's not all that happened, Tom. I was there when it happened, and the ink hit the floor just as I was starting to walk down the stairs. At first I thought I was in a nightmare, you know, and those scoobadivers made me think I was trapped in the black-lagoon since they were all covered in sea-weed and shit." "And you said I was crazy, Johnson." Said Thomas having finally swallowed the first half of his Twix.

"But that's not all, Tom. Before I knew it, I was unloading a clip into that thing. There was BLOOD AND SHIT EVERYWHERE!"
"I'm starting to think you may need to see a doctor, Johnson. First you're talking about space-whales getting attacked by Mars, and now launching assaults on squids."
"Anyway the fucker died, and I got to laugh as the other nerds cried their eyes out at the loss of their beloved slime-ball."

Now that Johnson's shenanigans were through with, they could finally continue down that extremely small flight of stairs and walk out through the emergency-exit that thankfully didn't work, saving the various employees a load of trouble from their now-disturbed mind-states. Thomas couldn't help but stare in complete awe at the unusually eerie weather outside; the sun - blotted out by a massive cloud that produced quite the thick fog, settling over an oddly mirror-like surface of that vast ocean. It was almost as if the water had been transformed into liquid-metal, and it was damn nerve-racking - especially when he saw Johnson's expression.

"Is it just me, or did we get transported to fucking Dimension-X?"
"You got me, Johnson. Reminds of that movie The Mist..except without the forest and an ocean..of metal."
"I swear..if I get attacked by a giant fucking bug with pincers... that bites me in half..I'm going to punch Jesus right face."

Thomas took another guzzle of his Dr.Pepper and shoved the second stick to his Twix in his mouth and began chewing very slowly as he noticed some bubbles coming up to the surface. The bubbles appeared were inflating in a semi-viscous manner, then sluggishly overlapping one another... and collapsing.. almost like molten rock..? Thought Thomas to himself, utterly bewildered by how the situation had shifted from comedic transparency to a mind-boggling shift in weather.. "Global warming... it's a bitch, ain't it, Tom." "This is not Global Warming, Johnson... ..I have to find Benny." Thomas began clapping his hands together, while whistling simultaneously for Benny to return to him. He was getting worried, as thoughts of that beast he had seen earlier began to pervade his mind; those sparkly shards of glass plummeting into his face; that ear-splitting shriek that ravaged his mind until the inevitable crescendo was delayed by the loud barks of Benny emerging from the depths of the ocean before them.

"Phew...that was close." Thomas said with relief before placing a hand on Johnson's shoulder and shaking him lightly, before laughing rather nervously to himself at the next sound he heard. A dark obscure figure began to make its presence known. There were four square-shaped objects reflecting the light that the clouds had absorbed in a translucent beam that nearly blinded both Thomas and Johnson..

"I told you Mars was going to attack Free Willy, Tom. But no, you sure as shit didn't listen to what I had to say."
"Just shut the hell up okay. You didn't listen to me when I told you I ran into a massive beast.."

Both of them were distraught from Benny for lack of a better word; the blackness that the figure seemed to be enveloped by was hard to make out partially because there was a third-light right in the center, much larger than the rest and very circular in its shape. At first Thomas thought he was about ready to be confronted by that beast again, however, it seemed that reality decided to give Thomas a break this time around, and he felt damn relieved when he got the news.

You guessed it again.

Just two scoobadivers attempting to make their way back to shore through the heavy fog that had accumulated in the skies, and was now lingering just a few feet above the water's edge. Thomas gave a sigh of relief and waved to the men, figuring that he might as well try to be at least somewhat helpful, providing them with a decent spot to park the boat, should there happen to be a few jagged rocks threatening to sink their boat.

Once they made it onto shore, the two of them removed their face masks and gave Thomas a friendly smile. "Thanks for the assistance, man." "Anytime, besides I figured with this fog and the irregularity of the weather that something had to be up." "I heard that. Looks like we're settled in fucking Dimension-X." "He's got the right idea, Tom. You could learn a thing or two from him." Replied Johnson in jest to the light chit-chat that the two were making.

"So what'cha got there?" Asked Thomas curiously, eyeing their container that was sitting in a corner.
"Those are rock samples that Daniel Alam has asked us to retrieve for him. Apparently, the guy thinks that they can mess with the weather given a specific radius, hold certain types of energy and even expand their mass by absorbing other minerals that they come into contact with."
"Sounds like somebody's been watching too much damn Anime..again." Johnson replied with a smug look on his face, evidently unrelenting in his quest to insult every scientist in whatever way he could. Johnson truly was something else.
"Say, would you guys mind helping us lug some of this stuff into Daniel's office for us."
"Yeah, I don't mind at all. I wouldn't be the Lieutenant of Monterey, California if I just sat on my ass and ate these candy bars all day."
"But it sure would be damn fun." Johnson replied once more, his smug expression growing ever wider, and even more cocky.

Thomas smiled cheerfully and took a brief few minutes to greet Benny who had been jumping up and down, clearly overjoyed to see his master return to him.
"Impressive German Shepherd you got there, bud. Looks like he's in great shape."
"Yeah, I know. He'd probably have an easier time trying to decipher what the hell those rocks are anyway."
"All Dan has told us about these rocks is that they have these strange diamonds or crystal shards embedded along their surfaces."
"Sounds like you could make a lot of money off it." Replied Johnson.
"Yeah, but imagine how much money you could make if you sold it to the military. Imagine having a crystal that can literally absorb energy, hell even disperse it outwards! You could create some pretty wicked explosions with that kind of technology if it were to ever become weaponized." Replied the diver.

--

Startlingly clear yet crackled voices echoed throughout his mind as he honed in on the electrical signals that were traveling through the air only to be intercepted by his sapphire lense, and channeled into his internal ears for interpretation. As his sapphiric eye focused in on his targets, the lightning formed bodies of Thomas, Johnson, and the two scoobadivers sparked with their every movements; the sound waves were becoming more monotone in the way they entered his brain.. at first just a single, solitary voice that soon began to shatter into a thousand different voices all combined into one.

Alright, you two get on this side and grab the two handles...me and my partner will be sure to keep everything secure..

A voice..inside his head..?

One...two..three LIFT and try to put some backbone into it..'less you're a weakling who still sucks on his mother's bosom!

Let's just get this thing to Daniel before his thirst for knowledge overwhelms him and sends him into a state of rock-lust!

I know you want to help Benny, but you're just not suited for this type of thing, you know. Besides I'm stronger than you, anyway.

And then the voice was gone as were the four men, seemingly erased from reality - banished to back to the eternal chasm - to be sealed away by the might of his father.

---

Thomas, Johnson, and the two scoobadivers opened up the door back into the facility and began walking up the stairs. "Careful walking up these stairs, boys. Some jackass actually shot a squid right in the fucking face because it squirted some ink on his shoe." Both Thomas and Johnson suddenly burst out laughing, barely managing to keep a firm grip on the container's handles as each one grabbed onto a railing and began pulling themselves up the stairs. "Hey man, that's not funny, I had to clean that shit." "I can only imagine how horrible it must've been for you." Replied Thomas and Johnson simultaneously, still laughing like a pair of school-girls.

"HEY JACK, DANIEL! Move it, we got those extra samples you wanted delivered pronto!" Shouted the scoobadiver, aiming to catch both men's attention.

"After a day like this, Johnson. I think I could use a drink."

--
*SNATCH!*

*ERRRRRAAAAAEEEEEEEAAAAAGGGHHHHHGGGHHHGHEEEOOOOOWWW!*

--
Pathetic...

"Oh sorry Jack," The man begun, as he cleaned his desk, the novels, manga, and a half complete robot parting ways. "Its not the predator, but more like some sort of alien battery. It appears to have properties that no other rock can do. I know the computer says it acts as a battery, and has some sort of internal heat, but oddly enough, it emits low radiation signatures. It is as if God himself is modeling with these rocks. but that's just me being a nerd..." The man blushed, as he turned down to the desk, a picture of three girls and a woman smiling his prime reason for dealing with this nonsense.


"Hey, 'Daniel' "Its David" "Whatever, anyway was it, we got your crystal skulls, or what not" The researcher drove his hand through his hair again, and said, "They are not Crystal Skulls, they are Alant... er um, type 9 unknown storage agents, probably some undersea chemical process which we will figure out..." The other diver dismissed the man's rant, saying "Yeah yeah, just get these things from the container so we can go back and do a real man's job!" With that last comment, the two men exchanged high-fives, and headed back to the marina, the container in hand.

"Fucking bastards," David muttered, before placing the container in the secure storage chamber, the area meant for storage of conventionally harmful materials, such as radioactive wastes, and now this, these minerals that had bizarre powers...

The young researcher smiled, as he checked over the odd rocks, the mysterious elements reacting like his pulp novel said they would, the computer backlogging the data that came in from the grid of sensors surrounding the first sample. "Test 1. Energy Storage. This test will send a short burst of..." God damn this is boring, he said, as he watched the tests go by, each sign proving that these rocks had more potentiality than nano-technology could possibly provide.

"This is Daniel Alam in log entry 20-2. I have concluded that the Red pole is a sort of positive function, as the blue one serves as a negative. Combined together, they hold an awesome power, rivaling our most advanced atomic power generators. If I am given more funding, I could attempt to crack the mystery of the AL-U rocks."

"Well, with that done, he thought, "I'll wait here, get a drink, and relax. The testing machine is automatic, I'm good, and I get overtime. Life is sweet..." The young scientist had it all, a good job, and now this, Life was excellent....

"ALERT! ALERT! Contamination in Bay 4. Please Remove Source of Contamination..."

The dull sound of the computer was a frank one, which lead to him turning to Jack. "Er um Jack, you may want to put on the biohazard suit. Somehow, the rocks are turning the air inside the chamber, or at least... this can't be right... " Daniel put down the paper, the holes on the ancient printer's feedstock stating that the water in the air was a rain of heavy metals, which was leading to the warning. "Yea.... this isn't very normal..."

Another hour of miserable work had past and Cathryn felt like even more of her brain cells had fluttered away with the breeze that the half-working air conditioner created. Flipping her short, black hair back away from her face, the young secretary stamped the last file of one of the stacks as COMPLETE. She picked up the stamped paper work and slammed it onto the floor, not noticing a few papers falling onto the floor from between two of the folders. Cathryn reached across her old desk and dragged another workload towards herself, cracking her knuckles as she began to file through the pages. After completing another handful of folders, lanky hands heaved the stack onto the floor with the rest, her pale green eyes finally noticing the strewn papers on the floor under her feet. She quickly gathered them together and sat back up in her chair, looking through the contents.

Billy Warner...Billy Warner...Oh!

"He's our new arrival!" Cathryn exclaimed to herself. "And if I remember right, he's scheduled to see Jessica first when he gets here."

"Cathryn! Is my ten o'clock here yet?" came a booming voice from the other side of the door behind her.

"No sir!" she yelled back. "But I have to step away from my desk for a few moments. I'll be right back!" Without waiting on a reply, her legs quickly carried her out of the room, shutting the door to the lobby behind her with a slam.

The halls were empty at the moment, as shift change had already occurred an hour before amongst the guards. The sound of Cathryn's heels were amplified against the hard, stale surfaces of the floor and walls, carrying from one end of the corridor to the other. This particular hallway was long, and the colors of the walls, floors, and ceiling all coincided, making it appear that it would never end. Finally, Cathryn reached a stairwell, hopping down it happily, savoring the break from the ceaseless corridor she had just come from. The new hall was lined with doors on both sides, rooms used for questioning and psychological evaluations. Each door had a small panel of glass in it, reinforced with steel wire. Cathryn peeked into each room, trying to find Jessica on the off chance that she was working on a patient. When they all proved to be empty, her heels clopped along to the office on the end, her friend's name labeling the door.

Just as she lifted her hand to knock on the door, it opened, revealing a guard behind it with with Jessica in the back of her office. Cathryn held up the small stack of papers, smiling at the psychiatrist. "I think these go in Warner's file."

Jessica blinked suddenly hearing Cathryn's voice at her door. Quickly standing the woman faced her best friend , “Oh! Cathryn! Hey there! And thanks!” Turning on her heels Jessica made her way to the secretary while opening the folder in her hand. “Your really angel you know that? The Warden doesn't know how lucky he is to have you.” Putting her coffee on top of a file cabinet she went to take the stack of papers from her friend. “I can't believe he actually let you out of his sight to come out here.” The woman smirked a bit looking through the paper work shaking her head, “Wow, I would have been completely lost with out these thank you so much Cat, really...thank you.”

Slipping the papers into the folder Dr.Lynn's green eyes flashed for a moment to James, the guard, who was currently checking out her friend. The woman smirked snapping the folder shut as she went to grab her cup of coffee, “Oh this is James...Cat. He's a new guard. And I owe you one.” Jessica smirked looking back at the now flustered man who knew by now she had caught him. Before the woman could get out another word he coughed clearly unsure of what to do,

“Umm...Nice to meet you...uh Cathyrn...but I'm sorry Dr. Lynn the new kid is waiting.” James shifted a bit before going to move out of the office and past the two women. The man wanted to be out of woman's territory for the moment.

A grin flashed across the woman's face nodding, “Yeah,um...Can you walk with me Cat? Please?” Jessica nudged against the other woman motioning towards the hall. “Or do you think the warden will lose his mind with out you?”