Day 07

C.R.O.S.S. LABORATORIES

Aves Department

Section 3

Earlier that day...

was finishing up with Subject A 43 for the day. Preparing him to retire for the night, she filled a syringe with his routine dose of melatonin. Being that the subject is housed inside a closed facility for the majority of the day, he never got the chance to see much sunlight except for during his break in The Observatory. Thus, despite the subject's usual protest of the pricking part, she continued the dosage of melatonin to keep his biological clock in check.

Turning to face the subject, she cringed at the sight of cold steel trapping his arms and legs against the cold examination table. He usually didn't put up a fight, but for days like today, he made too much of a fuss and had to be strapped down.

Uncapping the syringe, she held the needle up to the light. It's long thin body glinted under the fluorescent lights as she pushed a test droplet out of the shot, tapping it a few times to make sure there were no air bubbles before approaching him. The subject noticed her approaching and began to struggle against his restraints, his biceps bulged against the cold steel in a fruitless attempt to get away. Her heart clenched. She didn't want to be the bad guy, but sometimes she felt like she had no other choice.

"Shhh," she cooed. "Just one more prick and you will be done for the day," she said as she came up beside the subject. She felt him relax slightly and with her free hand, she reached out and brushed some of his raven hair from his forehead. She took her hand away and positioned the needle at the crook of his elbow. Pressing forward, she winced when he let out a soft whimper as the needle pierced his flesh.

When she finished, she applied pressure on the spot before tossing the syringe. After a few minutes, she saw the subject's eyes begin to soften and blink with sleep.

Unstrapping the subject from the testing table, she led him out of the Testing Room and back into his glass cell. When he realized she was leaving without providing him with dinner, the feathers on his wings prickled. She retreated faster when he began fluttering his powerful wings and striding towards her. She just managed to close the door behind her when he body-slammed it.

Pushing away from the door, she let out a shaky sigh. She couldn't look him in the eye as she left the room, ignoring the sound of his fists banging on the glass.

Walking towards her office, she thought about the subject's behavior. Like many other days, he acted poorly during all his testing. Throwing a fit, he flat out refused to cooperate for his training or when it was time to collect him from the observatory. In the past, this type of rebellious behavior could be attributed to his teen years and could thus be corrected with some psychological intervention. However, despite growing older, he has only become more defiant and aggressive.

As an example of his growing aggression, today when a Section 3 researcher dared get close enough to pluck one of his feathers for testing, the subject grabbed him and flew him to the top of a tree in the observatory. He left the frightened scientist up there and flew around the dome ignoring Dr. Pierce's pleas to come down.

Eventually, a group of specialized high-security guards came with rope and electric nets to subdue him. After some struggle, Dr. Pierce closed her eyes as the subject was caught and dragged out thrashing and screaming at the shock nets blanketing his body. She was too busy trying to block out the sounds of his pain that she didn't even notice her fellow scientists had taken out a ladder to help the man in the tree down.

The guards dragged him to the Testing Room and strapped him down on the examination table for her. She couldn't bear having to do it herself. She hated that he hated her, but his behavior as of late had been abhorrent. So, she hoped that a night without dinner would be a light enough punishment to teach him a nonviolent lesson.

The sounds of his fists banging on the door tormented her mind. She tried telling herself that it was for his own good. That if he didn't cooperate and if she didn't get results from him soon, Dr. Richard Grant would deem his existence too risky and terminate him. After all, he had other projects he deemed to be more worthwhile.

Richard may have created him, but she raised him and she would be damned if she let him die. She wouldn't let that happen, she just couldn't. He could bang all he wanted, nobody would hear him. Or so she thought.

~Later that day~

Dr. Grant was furious.

"You let her see the Subject!" his voice seethed through her desktop monitor. A security guard had reported the footage to him before she could cover up her mistake.

She sighed, "Well it wasn't purposeful, I-"

Dr. Grant cut her off, "So you're telling me that an intern just waltzed into one of the highest security facilities we have?"

She felt the back of her neck begin to prickle with beads of nervous sweat, "N-No sir!" Then she thought for a moment "...well kind of..." she swallowed when she noticed his steely grey eyes narrow at this and she tried to ease his bubbling anger, "Miss Hall found Dr. Simmons security badge and used it to gain access to Section 3. Don't worry, I have already fired them for their incompetence. It won't happen again sir, I swear" she finished, hoping that it was enough to convince him she had this under control. He entrusted her with this project a few years back after he decided to focus on other things.

He huffed. "Better not, I've trusted you with the subject. I don't have time to come over there and clean up your mess. Do not let me down again or I will be forced to terminate your little program" came his menacing voice. Even though a screen, his cold voice sent shivers down her spine.

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for her next few words. "Sir, actually I think we could use this situation to our advantage" She said, pausing when she saw his face knot together in scrutiny before adding, "If you saw the footage, surely the subject's interest in the girl is something we cannot overlook."

"Of course he is intrigued by her! He's on the cusp of manhood and Miss Hall is the only girl he has seen who isn't 40+ years older than him. It's basic biology." He huffed before pausing. "Though now that you mention it...perhaps you are right, maybe we can use your little mishap to our advantage. I've never considered the possibility of reproducing the subject, but the results would certainly be worth researching..." he said, his voice trailing off in thought.

Jeanine's eyes widened. "Well, that's not exactly what I mea-"

"Good," he suddenly stated, cutting her off again. "It's settled. She has already seen the Subject, so I am leaving it up to you to have her understand why she should keep her mouth shut."

"Of course sir. Miss Hall won't tell a soul, I'll make sure of it" Dr. Pierce promised, her voice portraying more confidence than she felt.

"Very well. Have her transferred at once. I think it's time Mrs. Hall is introduced to real science don't you?" He added with finality that silenced any thought she had about refuting him. The last thing Dr. Pierce saw was his face contorting into a crooked smile before the monitor went black, signaling that he had hung up.

"Yes sir" she mumbled to the dark screen. With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair and let her mind wander to the new intern who was either too curious or too stupid for her own good.

"Oh Miss Hall, you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into" she whispered ruefully to the walls of her lonely office.

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Hey beautiful people!

Got a Dr. Pierce POV chapter today which I feel is long overdue.

My friend designed a new book cover. Let me know what you think :)

Stay safe everyone and happy reading!