Sophia Storm's Story

Sophia blinked when she came to, yawning and stretching as far as she could. She noticed that every muscle was extremely sore, but especially her right arm. What did they do to me? She wondered as slowly sat up, flinching at the pain rolling through her. When she looked around she finely noticed the area surrounding her. God, not a hospital room. She groaned. Everything was white but blurry, the lights were harsh, and the smell of cleaner filled the air. Sophia blinked a couple more times, each time the room becoming clearer and she noticed not everything was white, but close to it, the only non white object she could see was the bed and a chair. The bed was a dark blue, and the chair a light brown.

As Sophia got around to standing she noticed her feet were cold, looking down she saw that her boot weren't on, but were over by the chair. T-they took off my shoes! She glared in that direction for a bit before slowly pulling her feet back on the bed. She sat there awhile and thought about what had lead up to this moment.

She had gotten to the air port and had been told that her plane was a privet one on some far off corner. So she began the long walk over to where it had been parked. Apon arrival at the hanger she'd been knocked out by some unseen force. And now she was here. Why do I have to be so trusting? She asked herself. At that point she lost herself in memory's again.

--

--

Sophia came back around when she heard voices outside the door she had overlooked. She set her feet on the floor again and squeaked at the cold then quickly weaved her way over to the chair and plopped. She then sat there a moment to let the blackness that had covered her sight fade before she reached for her boots, and the neatly folded socks set atop them. She noticed though that they were not her original socks, but were clean and crisp and totally without blemish white. The socks were also perfect for her foot and shoe type. "At least they got something right." She mumbled. Putting on her boots, she made sure the laces were tied extra tight, she didn't know when she'd get the chance to tighten them up again.

Walking out of her room she noticed the four men, one leaning against a door frame to her right, two talking with one another past the first guy, and one who looked totally lost to her left. Well, there's obviously a wide range of people here. She thought, she was also contemplating going over, but started noticing other things about the last guy. He seemed to be blind, and that worried her greatly. Walking over to the Crombie she stopped at the edge of his door careful to make her steps loud enough to be heard, but not so loud as to make it sound like stomping. "Hello, I'm Sophia, and your name is?" She asked him quietly.

Crombie seemed startled by the sudden footsteps approaching him, but was relieved when he heard the soothing voice of a women close by. She felt about his height, but something about her made him assume she was younger.

"Hi," he said with a brief pause looking in her general direction as she introduced herself. "My name is Cr-Crombie." He was unusually nervous. "Do -- Do you know where I am? Do you work here?" She didn't seem like it, but it was worth asking. There was something creepy and stranded about this place.

Crombie folded his hands together anxiously, glancing around as if he could see, but it was only out of habit. His shoulders fell as he tried focus on what he needed at the moment. He sighed. "I dropped my cane somewhere in there," he spoke with an indignant tone and pointed behind himself with his thumb, his other hand rubbing his face in an exhausted sort of way. "Could you help me find it?" Francis slid out of the way of the door as if to invite her in. Crombie had assumed he'd, or whoever, dropped it somewhere by where his clothes might have been.

He wondered if he should have made the bed or something, but after all, he didn't know where he was or who brought him here, so the politeness factor was almost totally gone towards this empty hospital. He looked in the direction of the other voices for a moment, then turned back to the room.

"Thank you," Crombie articulated, sticking close to the walls. He would have helped Sophia in the search but at this point he was just afraid he'd stumble again.

--

--

Bruce snorted slightly, flicking his long and tufted bullvine tail. He shook his massive head causing his long ears to flap one of which was tagged with some sort of code.

7B432: Taurus, it read.

He rose to massive hooves and began to pace on the upper floors, awaiting patiently for the arrival of the new test subjects. Taurus was a key part of the security. The subjects would be turning into creatures of unknown strength and size and unknown abilities. Any creature the regular security couldn't handle he would be deployed to forcefully subdue them with his own strength and size. It wouldn't be difficult for a massive human/fighting bull.

Bruce walked up to the elevator and place and placed a massive dinner plate sized hand on the outer doors. They where a dull metallic set that offered a very blurry distorted reflection of the massive mutated minotaur and the glass doors behind him. Bruce listened for movement and wondered if the scientists would be upset if he went down to greet them. A deep sense of curiosity brewed in his furry form but he could already feel the painful shock he would be handed if he disobeyed. The memory alone was enough to send him into a wave of distress and discomfort. His breathing came in sharp huffs and he paced stress fully away from the elevator, giving off a low mournful moan that sounded disturbingly like an ill cow and a man that had lost someone close to him in chorus.

Crombie sighed again, uneasy about all of this. "It's fine," he stated. "I'll just be careful." He turned himself around slowly. Holding the edge of the door and guiding himself into the hall where he stood for a moment. He could feel the change in lighting, the lights were brighter out here. He heard the previous voices again, from down the hall. Two men. Soon he heard another body not far away. His bright green and glazed over eyes drawn towards the possible directions the new sound could have been coming from.

"Do you know where we are?" Asked the voice.

Crombie wondered if the man was talking to him. "I seem to be asking myself that a lot lately," he muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and pushing his hair out of the face, another simple, but common habit of his.

The fear within him still remained, though, it was much more faded than before, providing some sort of momentary relief. He felt the presence of Sophia soon join him again, and at this point he was unsure of what to do, of course, he probably looked like an idiot while contemplating this decision because he was still clinging to the wall as if taking a single step forward would lead to his certain demise. In total honesty he just didn't want to loose track of where he was.

He listened to the voices not to far away, trying to decide the length of the hall in relative to where he stood now. For some odd reason, there was unquestionable anxiety that along with moving, especially without his White Cane. Deep breaths. He removed himself from the wall.

--

“Running the show son?” Cadmus had already noticed he was still wearing most of his military regalia, which he knew better than anyone always made people act a little strange around him. There was no doubting Cadmus had an heir of authority about him. “Didn’t you know? I’m the god damn opening act!” Being mostly sarcastic, he gripped Kyle’s shoulder, sighing only in light of the fact that he didn’t have all the answers this time. “To be honest kid, I don’t know where we are. I woke up in one of these rooms just like you. I’ve never seen this place before in my life.”

Taking notice of a man (Crombie) and woman (Sophia), he rubbed the corner of his eyes before grunting, clearing his throat. “Alright, LISTEN UP!” Pausing only to ensure he had their attention, he smiled, folding his hands behind his back as he began to slowly pace along the hall. “My name is Colonel Cadmus Elijah Kavanagh. I am a soldier with the United States Marines. Unfortunately, I have no indication of where we are, or why any of us are here. I’d like to figure the possibility of all of us having been quarantined because if you look around, you’re going to notice that we’re the only ones on this floor. There are no guards, no doctors, and plenty of surveillance. Evidently we have no way to communicate to the outside world, and even if we did, we still don’t know where we are.”

He needed to “rally the troops” and raise the morale the best he knew how. This wasn’t something he could manage on his own, and keeping everyone calm was his first prerogative. “Staying here is not an option under the circumstances. But the enemy has no face. And, I don’t know about you, but I’m anxious to give it one.” It was then he stopped, Cadmus having just noticed the elevator at the end of the hall. He only hoped it was operational.

--

Sophia stood when she heard Cabmus. Oh my, here we go. She thought as she walked out of Crombie's room while keeping an eye on his progress, there was no way she'd leave him without some sort of cane for long. The moment she stepped out of the room though she almost ran into Cabmus. Sophia listened though to his little, though overly loud, speech, and pondered the kind of people that were there. So, we have Mr. Marine, Crombie the Blind, some random guy, and myself. This should be interesting.

"You needn't yell, Sir, the sound echo's enough without any help." She said walking up behind him to see what he was staring at. To her surprise it was an elevator, but something seemed off about it. From where she stood the tile pattern looked different starting about five feet from the door, and the lines matched up with the sides of the door. "And someone did a really bad tile job." She muttered under her breath.

Kyle blinked, dumbfounded by the suddenness of the Colonel's outburst. Part of him thrilled to the man's words, and he had no doubt that they held a ring of the truth, but he wasn't quite sure he was ready to gear up for war just yet. He'd been awake exactly seven minutes and the drugs in his system were still making him woozy.

He glanced up and down the corridor, confirming the man's analysis. No doctors, no windows, no fire exits. Something did not feel right, for sure, but he wasn't sure if the term 'prisoner' quite fit the situation. Prisons were more confined, less sterile, and a good deal more crowded. He'd seen prison. This wasn't the same.

Questioningly, he glanced over his shoulder, and was startled to see a pair of newcomers. He realized that he'd been treating them to a full showing of his exposed back half, and reacted accordingly, scooting back into his room with lighting speed. A moment later he poked his head around the corner and offered a tight-lipped smile.

"Hi there," he said awkwardly, staring at the female. He froze, unsure what to say in such a situation. "Glad you're awake." He kicked himself mentally, unsure why he'd said that. It had been a dumb thing to say, but it had been all he could think of. "Uh, I'll just put some clothes on." He darted inside and shut the door quickly behind him.

Cadmus would be forty this year, an indisputable truth that he had almost overlooked. Near everyone in this hall was old enough to be his son, or daughter, and it made him only wonder where their parents were – surely they were worried. He’d seen these scared unsure faces before at almost every command he had ever held. New recruits, enlisted just out of high-school, their whole life ahead of them and ready to throw it all away for a few medals and some glory to their name. They’d all be disappointed at one time or another. But these kids, they never asked for this; they were forced into this, a war they never asked for.

Not a single bullet had been fired, and Cadmus almost wished it had because the whole situation stunk. For a moment, he almost considered his sanity; wondering if this were all but a dream… or a nightmare. Little did he know this was only the beginning because things were destined to get even stranger.

“It got your attention, didn’t it?” In regards towards the woman, who he had yet to even learn her name. A part of him thought it might be best he didn’t because there was always the possibility that they might not live to survive. It would have been best to sever any attachment, but his humanity wouldn’t let him.

Just as Kyle retreated to his room, he sighed, rubbing his arms on account of them still being quite sore. They must have had him hooked up quite extensively; more than just the aftermath of a hot dose of anesthetic. “You’re all welcome to stay here if you like. I’m sure the hospitality here will be just splendid.” Grimacing, he walked towards the elevator, figuring it wouldn’t be that easy.

There were no buttons nor indication of any means of gaining access. He knew that whomever was watching probably didn’t expect them getting out (at least anytime soon). If Cadmus didn’t know any better, he’d started thinking that a slight case of claustrophobia was coming on. He needed fresh air, and he needed a plan. And furthermore, why did he have this strange appetite for small rodents… wait, what?

Varin sighed, keeping his head down as he started to wander about in an effort to get he feeling back in his legs. The feeling of pins an needles was starting to get on his nerves. Through the ocean that was his thoughts, a storm of negativity crossed his mind. It felt like a mental asylum here. And the pain in his arm didn't help the thought of it either. He twitched his head a bit, feeling the crick of stiffness. Though this stiffness made worse by his instictive head jerk upon hearing the sargent's rally.

Oh how he hated the loud ones. People who where loud naturally annoyed him to the core. However, this seemed more like a call to arms if anything else. "I doubt the hospitality is any better than being dragged out of the sea. Besides, it feels closterphobic in here. Like my skin's getting to tight for me." He said as he looked on the other end of the hall. He didn't see anything in particular, but something was telling him that something was there.

He walked slowly down the hall, looking from left to right, looking for anything that look like a door to the outside. It felt like something was on his head, twitching or trying to feel around as if he couldn't see himself. He muttered to himself, something about wondering if anything was even right anymore.

As he turned the corner, he felt a presence...and then a sence of fear that he hadn't felt since he was a child. In there was something there...something that looked like a shaggy man-bull. A minotaur from the greek myths that he read from time to time. His face paled from this and cause him to turn on his heel right back into the more populated hall in a cold sweat. "D-d-don't go down that hall. Just don't." he said as quickly as he walked past everyone in terror.

OOC: Taurus is upstairs on the ground floor Kyuu.

"Most of them are up now." One of the guards murmured as he leisurely sat back with a cup of coffee using the security console as a footrest. He was dressed in a gray uniform with a pistol armed with tranquilizers at his hip along with a heavy baton meant for a more forceful approach to riot control.

The scientist that sat behind him in a considerably more comfortable looking chair stood and walked over to peer at the cameras. "Notify Taurus and open the elevators, it's time to let them out."

"You sure it's a good idea to let them see him first? They'll probably freak out and attack him."

"He can handle it, and it'll get an important lesson through if they're stupid enough to do so. Especially if he manages to subdue Cadmus. He may not be a problem now but chances are he'll figure out how to be and it'd be better if he's forced to understand that he belongs to us now." The scientist straightened up and crossed his arms. The security guard flipped the switch to activate the elevator and down in the lower levels it whirred to life. The small group would hear that and notice the elevator doors where sliding open seemingly just for them. With no controls, just a key hole. Tranquil elevator music played tauntingly at them with smooth jazz that echoed across the tile as the up arrow blinked invitingly.

"It's risky though. Taurus isn't exactly stable....he could kill them." The guard murmured

"That's why he wears the collar, Jim."

Jim pressed the call button on his walkie. "Taurus, they're headed your way."

Taurus grunted and took his spot in front of the bench between the two glass doors leading to the outside. He stood there and waited, hunched, and with his tail swaying from side to side.

The shout sent Crombie pressing himself harder against the wall than before. Spooked by the echoes, which rang loudly in his sensitive ears, he found himself unable to find the source of the sound. Looking left then right then left again. Soon the voice grew quieter (maybe not-as-loud would be a better description) and he found that it was one of the men who'd be conversing earlier. He had a certainly authoritative sound to him so it wasn't hard to believe he was a colonel.

Crombie edged forward again, towards the other voices. He listened to his own footsteps and those around him, cautiously dragging his hand across the wall. He was certain the worry was clear on his face.

"Staying here is not an option under the circumstances." Francis frowned. Where were they going? Where could they possibly go!

Listening closely, he tried to pick out and count how many people were in the room, but there were just too many. His head ached and longed for some sort of clarity surrounding all of this. Crombie rubbed his face again. "Damn this," he muttered covering his eyes with his hand in an attempt to calm himself a little more. He was much paler than before, just praying something good might come of this, though he would doubt himself a little more as each minute passed.

His mind frayed around the edges, trying to make sense of what was happening. The colonel continued to speak, other mentioning an elevator, but Crombie didn't want to move, he stood and listened, awkwardly moving his head towards where most of the others occupied.

Something happened. The big mouthed militant was muttering something when the elevator opened abruptly, and he seemed to have gone in. Did anyone else go? How many others were left? Why did he leave?

Bruce straightened up some when the elevator doors opened, or as much as he could with his hunched body, he huffed and sized Cadmus up with his big doe eyes. To be honest he wasn't sure what he had to do now. He was told to meet the subjects but nothing beyond that. His vocal cords and sinuses had been altered completely so even if he was able to form a string of words into a sentence he wouldn't be physically able to do much but let out a baleful mooing sound. He moistened his lips, a mere habit from his human form and used one deformed hand to point to the word security patched to his long gray shorts, his only article of clothing due to his sheer size and the degree of his deformity.

Down several floors the scientist, now joined by several others and some curious doctors crowded around the security screens watching the confrontation. The head scientist pulled a microphone to access the intercom. He pressed the button and his voice echoed through the halls.

"Welcome, subjects, to your new home. Those of you who have volunteered for a position at our lab we thank you kindly for your contribution as well as those of you who where acquired through less than willful means. The beast you see before you is Taurus, formerly Bruce Fryler and he will be the iron fist you will face should you disobey and become unruly. We have but a few simple rules for you to follow. Do not kill each other, do not attempt to escape, and DO NOT harm the people working here. The entire island is your backyard and the living quarters you have previously seen are yours to take advantage of. Think of it as an impromptu vacation that will last indefinitely. We do hope you enjoy your stay."

The transmission ended with a click and the scientists chuckled and cheered as the first stage of the experiment went off. A bottle of champagne was opened and they took a short break before resuming their research. The one security guard in charge of that cluster of cameras turned to the scientist. "Should we warn them about the other subjects....the....you know..."

"No. Leave some of the fun to chance at least."

~~