* *
*
Rated: EVERYONE
I paused a moment in my thoughts to think about what Susan just said.
It was not the first time I had thought that Susan was just my own inner thoughts - and yet, sometimes she said things with such profound clarity it frightened me into believing it was more than just that.
The light in the bathroom winked out and a new light appeared, but this time it was hands-length level and not so much as a light but a green floating button.
We walked over to it and saw it to be an elevator button, and it was facing down. I looked to see if there was one going up but there wasn't.
I guess this was an indicator that I would indeed be delving deeper into my memories in search of - well - whenever that fateful event occurred.
Back with Tricia, she was in some type of control room - and she wasn't alone. There were 2 other people in there working with her. Tricia at the moment was reading a computer screen which showed my blood pressure, pulse, breathing rate, body temperature, and brain activity. All listed within nominal and normal ranges.
She suddenly stood up to go to check on a monitor and found the girl beside it was doing her nails.
"What are you doing, Marci !?" she yelled at her.
The girl rolled her eyes, "Trish ! It's not like he's going anywhere. Jeez, you have him in a room surrounded by 96 inch thick cinder block walls. I honestly don't know what you are expecting to get from someone sleeping as deep as he is."
Marci flipped a hand up in exasperation, "And you've got him breathing in a derivative of Methoxyflurane. It's a wonder he's still breathing at all with the high dosage he's receiving. He is NOT going anywhere !"
Tricia ignored her and looked to the screen beside her. It showed me on a gurney in a small room with wires hooked up to my head, arm, chest, and sides.
Aside from the very slow movement of my chest breathing in and out, I appeared all but dead on the screen. I was laying on my back, I had one leg curled and the other straight on the gurney, and I had Susan in my hands from up front. A gas mask was connected to my face and you could hear the whirring of it in activity.
Tricia was just getting ready to say something when there was a sudden spark on the camera. Then the picture winked to black.
"Wha - what just happened ?" Tricia asked.
Marci was already typing on a keyboard adjacent to determine the fault. "Ah, it's probably just the wiring. You know how old this thing is. Gimme a sec will ya."
She busily went and checked more values on an adjacent computer screen showing camera data, all zeroes. Finally she scratched her head. "Hmm, I dunno but we have a backup camera. Let me try that."
She hit a button on the keyboard and the room was seen again, but something was different. Whereas before Susan was clutched in my hands, now she was standing up on my chest with her furry arms in the air and her eyes shone of LIFE.
And what was more interesting is SHE or =IT= was staring right at the backup camera with a sentient look of what could only be described as - ANGER.
* * *
The bear seemed to stare right at Tricia through the camera. "Oh my god !" she said. "Lockdown, gimme a total lockdown NOW, Marci !"
"Lockdown lockdown !" Marci repeated into a microphone causing a slight echo in the speakers, "We need a total lockdown now ! This is not a drill !"
Apparently this wasn't the only control room monitoring the event as busy activity occured in rooms outside this one. Suddenly the single door leading out where I was expanded with a rubber grip showing an airtight seal to protect against airborne contaminants.
The purpose of my room was now known. It was for containment.
There was another flash of light in the picture and then all the cameras went down.
A soft alarm could be heard chiming in the distance.
Marci was now as nervous as Tricia, "We - we're on total lockdown, Tricia. Nothing can get in or out. I'm certain of it."
As if in defiance to these words, the lights in the room then went out save for a dull flashing red one above the ceiling.
Marci looked to the screen, "What the hell !? We're getting a power reroute command here !"
"From where !?" Tricia yelled, she was not used to losing control like this.
"I - I can't isolate it ! The power is being sent - well - everywhere - no - it's - wait - oh wow - look at this, the power is being sent to where you've got the subject !"
Tricia wiped her sweating forehead, "There's nothing in there for it to - " then her eyes widened, "There's a power plug in there. Can you get me a reading on that ?"
"Just a moment - wait - okay, here it is. You know with that kind of power it should be shorting out and burning the - "
"Save it - just tell me, where is that power going ?"
Marci paused to read a meter on the active computer screen, "It's being drained off !"
"To where ? There's nothing in there that can - unless - is that - BEAR - somehow feeding off the electricity !?"
Marci laughed frightened, "Do you know how crazy that sounds ?"
Tricia darkened her tone, "Marci, we are under a full LOCKDOWN, I think we're beyond the state of crazy at this point."
Suddenly one of the screens winked on. There were cracks in the lens, yet you could clearly see the bear was pulling electricity from the wall plug with one furry paw and directing it superheated with the other at one side of the room, and despite being concrete cinder, a hole was forming in the glow.
There was a bright flash directed at the screen and it too winked in a burnout. A moment later a computer beneath the table sparked and shorted out with an acrid smell of electricity.
Tricia stood up for a bit straightening her back. "Record it. All of it. Before our systems go out. We can't lose this event. Record what you can, and keep that lock down active !"
"What about the air in the room ?"
"What ?"
"The air you have David in. A total lockdown means he's in an airtight seal and the mask he has on is disabled now. He'll suffocate !"
Tricia shook her head, "That's the least of our worries. He's got enough air for awhile. Don't let this THING get out, whatever you do."
"I'm going down there with a team. This thing likes electricity does it ? Well we'll turn water on it and see how it likes that !"
"What about the subject, David ?"
Tricia nodded, "We'll try to spare what we can, but I can't have this thing getting out. This is precisely what we've been waiting years for. Contact. Certainly alien in origin. We've got to contain it ! Study it ! Analyze it ! USE IT !"
With that Tricia left the room and ran down a dark corridor. The chiming of the alarm could still be seen. She was suddenly met by 3 fully armored guards with gas masks.
"No bullets," she told them. "I have no doubt this thing is bulletproof. We're not taking chances. But since it likes electricity, it may be sensitive to water."
The guards left and Tricia followed them. They went into the weapons lab and found armor-piercing weapons that used powerful streams of water that could cut through feet-thick steel, advanced technology not yet on the market.
"Bring a few M-79 flamethrowers too just in case, it's got fuzz, it has to catch fire. We'll burn it if need be."
One of the guards spoke in a muffled voice since he was still wearing heavy headgear, "Madam, aren't you trying to salvage the host ?"
She nodded, "Yes, but if for some reason we can't contain it, we need to destroy it. Those were the orders given me when we started this assignment. We can't let it get out now that it's activated."
"Yes ma'am." he nodded.
Tricia nodded, "Then let's go, now, before it gets loose !"
Her and the soldiers stormed out of the room with the new armaments and headed towards a flight of stairs leading down.
END
OF CHAPTER 33
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