7:00am.
The last subject had been a difficult one. Sonia could still remember the woman's pain as she returned to her cell each day with a different part of her flesh burnt and blistering. Her colleagues in the testing level would mock her for considering a "bloodsucker," as they called them, to possess a gender, but their opinion on the matter was irrelevant.
Subject 756V was gone now. Her legacy, if it could be called that, was a 220-page report detailing the psychology and physiology of female vampires. Sonia couldn't take credit for the entire publication, yet she had researched a lengthy section that detailed the subject's metabolic responses to the ingestion of both animal blood and human blood. It turns out that animal blood, regardless of the source, tastes like piss to vampires and inhibits their neurological responses to sensory stimuli. Still, the stuff keeps them alive, albeit a bit cranky.
Sweeping a pile of breadcrumbs off of her desk, Sonia set down her laptop and briefcase, and then collapsed into her chair. "Coffee," she muttered monotonously. Her assistant, Remy, swiveled around in his chair to regard her.
"Christ, you look tired. You sure you want coffee, though? I thought it made your hands shake..."
"... coffee," she replied, a little louder this time. Remy sighed in submission, and then shuffled to the other end of their cramped office to deliver her request. As the aroma of roasting beans filled the room, Sonia summoned enough energy to power up her computer, waiting until the screen had fully loaded before opening her email client. Two new messages. The first, which was from the janitor bitching about all the half-eaten peanut butter sandwiches lying around on the floor, she quickly deleted. The second message she could not delete. It did, however, make her want to throw her laptop across the room.
"Damn... You just finished writing up a friggin' novel about vampires and they've put you on another subject? Merciless bastards."
"Remy! How many times have I told you not to look over my shoulder?!" Sonia kicked her feet against the desk, pushing her chair back into Remy's gut. He staggered backwards, chortling in delight. She turned and faced him, his short cropped hair bouncing as he giggled hysterically. When he finally saw the look on her face, he stopped short.
"Yeah... I'll get that coffee." He shuffled away, dragging his feet like a dog drags his tail after being reprimanded by its master. Sonia refocused her attention on the email, noting the cell number, the pass-code to gain entry, and the profile of the creature she would soon be taking care of:
"Subject 218-3A: Found in a city park. Responsible for several civilian deaths. High threat; easily provoked. Requires constant restraint. Height: 9'6". Weight: 320lbs. Four arms, claws, and teeth. Highly intelligent, and is needed for psychological assessment. Report on subject's assets in four weeks."
Frowning at the unusually vague description of her subject, Sonia shut her laptop and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes and stretching her arms out. Remy set a steaming cup of coffee down beside her and then scurried away, fearful of provoking the beast.
Two hours later.
The elevator music was a sheer mockery to the panic building up inside Sonia's chest. She was always nervous when being introduced to new subjects, since most would rip her head off if they had half a chance, but the coffee was making the whole ordeal worse. As she stepped out of the elevator into sector three, her heart was pounding and her hands were quivering. An armed guard greeted her with a suspicious nod, then thrust an open palm in front of her face as if expecting something.
"So, by sticking your arm out like that I'm assuming that you require some sort of toll for using the elevator?" Sonia interrogated, crossing her arms. The guard sneered, but did not move.
"ID, please," the man grunted.
"Well at least we're using our words now, aren't we?" Sonia hissed as she wrenched her identification card from her front pocket. Instead of placing it in the guard's hand, she waved it in front of his face and then walked around him.
"Bitch," he muttered as she passed, but she didn't care. Normally a pleasant individual, Sonia was appalled by her own temper this morning, and needed to take a few breaths to calm herself down before making her way over to cell 3A. The overhead lighting shone brightly on the white steel bars that caged subject 318. Taking another deep breath, she stepped up to the bars.