Nikki slapped the side of the helicopter, signaling for the pilot to go on. She held onto her hat as her hair whipped around about her. Christian stood in front of her in the snow next to William as the helicopter took off. "Glad to be back on the ground, Boss?"
He looked around with squinted eyes, miles of blinding white in every direction, the short gray buildings being the only relief to his vision. "Yeah, and now I'm freezing," he said as he pulled his coat tighter over his chest.
"Oh, please! You haven't done anything but complain since we left." Nikki passed between them and walked towards the headquarters building indicated by two red dots over the door. "Besides, it feels great out here."
William grumbled under his breath and followed as Christian walked beside him, stuffing his gloved hands deep in his pockets. Inside they met a tall skinny man in a lab coat with thinning gray hair. He approached with a polite smile and stuck out his hand. "Commander Milord, it's a pleasure. I'm Doctor Callaway."
He shook his hand and gestured to the twins. "Lieutenant Andrews, Sergeant Andrews."
"It's great to have you all here. I have to say, I'm rather excited to share this with you."
"Listen, I don't know how much, um… help we're gonna be for you. I report back to General McPherson who will report back to President Mauntell and if I conclude that this operation isn't beneficial or stable, he's shutting you down," William said honestly.
"I understand that, sir," Callaway nodded. "But I think once you see this, you'll endorse us for further research." He smiled. "Come on. I'll let you see for yourself." The doctor lead them through headquarters, taking them through long narrow hallways that connected to other buildings on the site.
When they started passing lab rooms, Christian trotted closer to the front. "Okay, so is this thing an alien or what?"
The doctor laughed. "We don't know if it's an extraterrestrial or not. We found it frozen in the ice. It's possible it's just a very old organism."
"You said it imitates other life forms?" Nikki spoke up, keeping her place next to William.
"Precisely. Exact replicas. We discovered this when one of our birds uh…"
"Flipped out?" Christian finished.
"Something like that," he chuckled. "We had to terminate that one. Now that we know what it can do, we know how to contain it."
William wrinkled his brow. "There's more than one?"
"Oh, yes. But we're keeping the others frozen to prevent any mishaps."
"It sounds like a mishap like that would be a little more than a mishap," he retorted, forcing the edge of disapproval into his tone.
"You're right, but I can assure you everything is under control." Callaway opened a lab door. "Right this way."
William stepped in with the twins, slowing his pace when coming upon an open lab table. His eyes were drawn to what he first thought was a mangled person, though upon closer inspection he saw that the figure had seven, eight—no, nine limbs. There were possibly two heads, both of which looked as if they could have been human at one time but now was not quite identifiable. One of the faces had been scrunched into disarray as if a black hole appeared at the nose and had begun to suck in the other features but didn't finish. He compared it with images he had seen before of bodies that had been found months after death, bloated and deformed with bubbling fungus. The other was less comparable to a human and more like a slack-jawed anglerfish. Jagged teeth, stretched and torn skin, muscle and bone all thrown together as if they had been mixed in a bowl. Instinct told him to shut his gaping mouth for fear of breathing in the cause of this mutation.
"Holy smokes," Christian exhaled.
"Quite a sight, huh? Takes your breath away." Callaway closed the door.
"Yeah. In nausea," Nikki slowly walked around the table. She sharply gasped and jumped back when something raced past her feet. William's fists reflexively burst into flames as he followed the movement. Nikki knelt to where it darted under a table. An orange tabby stared back with glowing green eyes and a soft meow. "Aw! Kitty!"
"Oh, that's Dax. Sorry about that," said the doctor.
Christian snickered at William before receiving a quick backhand to the gut from him.
"Come here, Dax. I'm sorry I scared you," Nikki said sweetly, reaching her arms out. The cat came forward and she picked him up, receiving purrs of approval when she scratched his neck around his red collar with a silver circular charm.
"He's our lab cat. He can also tell the difference between our specimen and the organism it imitates. He—"
The cat hung onto Nikki's shoulder and gave a thick hiss in William and Christian's direction, laying its ears flat against its head.
Callaway turned to them. "Uh… does that."
"They've both been Touched by Scarlet," said Nikki as she soothed Dax who growled in her arms. "No animals like them."
Christian stuck his tongue out at the cat.
"Oh, I see. Well, as far as we can tell, the specimen's cells imitate every cell of a host organism. And it essentially becomes a parasite until the host is completely consumed and copied. And as we've discovered, it takes a remarkably short amount of time. However this particular specimen seems to have been in the middle of its transformation. The others are very similar. Not quite dog, not quite human." He walked around the table and used a pen to tap flesh that was still partially frozen. "Though this species could be very old or very new, this one is not. As you might have noticed, a human was its victim at some point, we're guessing around sixty years ago." The doctor looked back at them with a wide smile. "But isn't it fascinating? The closest we've come before this is—octopi and chameleons! We've never encountered an organism that has such a flawless imitative defense mechanism!"
Nikki still held Dax against her chest, having successfully calmed him. "Actually, you have."
Callaway looked in her direction and blinked, confused. She gave a sideways nod to William. The doctor turned to him. "You know another organism that imitates perfectly?"
"Uh—it's—" Christian stuttered and pointed at his commander. William bit his bottom lip gently and raised a lazy hand.
He opened his mouth in silent awe. "… You—a Special Ability?"
"I thought you knew," William replied dully. He was certain that his unique gift had reached every ear on the planet by now due to his status unfortunately surpassing military commander and more closely paired with celebrity. "I can imitate physical skills as well as other Abilities but only if they are being used to cause me bodily harm. Not really for changing appearance."
"Well, sometimes." Christian added.
"Shut up," William mumbled.
"That's brilliant! You may have something in common with this species! Have you…?" His eyes shined eagerly.
"Yes, I've volunteered for research and testing and I'm not gonna do it again," he replied sturdily.
Callaway withdrew at his tone. "Oh. Well, I'm sorry to hear that. It would be great to have more information that we could have more control over. But I understand. Well, uh… we're ready to close up for the evening. Tomorrow you will be escorted wherever you want to go and whatever you want to see. Mr. Pritchard will show you all to your rooms."
William thanked him and left with the twins after Nikki had said goodbye to Dax. Upon leaving the lab they were met by Mr. Pritchard, a short plump man with rosy cheeks and beady eyes. "Howdy, guys! How does this weather suit ya?" he chuckled. When only Nikki replied with a polite chuckle of her own did he turn and beckon them. "Come on, I'll show ya where you'll bunk for the night." He walked on ahead of them with a sharp gimp in his step.
Nikki stayed beside William and spoke up. "Are you all right?"
"Oh, yeah, honey! I got a full hip replacement and it ain't sittin' right. Godda go back and get it fixed."
"Eh, okay. Good luck with that." She gave William a wide-eyed look with a crooked mouth.
Mr. Pritchard stopped between two doors and gestured to each of them. "One for the fellas and one for the lady. The mess hall is the way you came. We'll be having supper soon. See you there!" With that the stout man left and the group went into their rooms to rearrange their luggage that had been brought ahead of them. In the mess hall they sat together among the other scientists and doctors and researchers. Though the conversation revolved around normal chitchat, these people were raw and odd in ways William was accustomed but he wasn't so sure the twins were. He had little to say even when he was addressed though he noticed the twins seemed to perpetuate conversations. He knew better though. It was best not to be apart of it.
When they were finished eating, they went back to the room William and Christian were staying in and sat in a circle with wooden chairs in the middle of the floor next to the cots. William had opened his flask and shared it with Christian and it was already half gone between the two of them, though Christian took several breaks until he was done coughing. They had left the door cracked and now the lab cat Dax squeezed through the opening and trotted quickly to Nikki and jumped in her lap. She ran her fingers through his soft fur and looked up to the men. "Is it just me or are all these people really weird?"
"They've been stuck inside with each other and frozen shape-shifting monsters in the Arctic for months, Nik. You'd be weird too."
"Still," Nikki said as she scratched under Dax's chin. "Didn't you have a collar before?"
"He has a point. But maybe they weren't normal to begin with." William had a swig from his flask and spoke past a grimace. "And that's why they're here."
"Yeah, you fit right in don't you, Boss?" Christian gave his shoulder a punch. He shrugged in reply. "They seemed to be interested in you though. At least Callaway was."
"They're not going to make me a lab rat again. I try to do something nice for the field of science and research and they nearly exhausted me to death. They won't get any more kindness out of me."
"William, wasn't that a publicity stunt? So people would like you more?" said Nikki.
"Yeah, but it was a really nice, selfless publicity stunt." He turned his flask up to his lips again and Nikki shook her head at him.
"Well, is anyone else freaked out by this? This thing that can shape-shift like some mythical beast… Is this not, like… disturbing?"
His sister turned her head to him. "Christian, we're fighting an evil Ghost with magical powers. Shape-shifting beasts kinda ride in the same boat."
"I know! I mean, what's next? A vampire infestation?"
William lifted a finger. "You know, there was this one guy—"
"Na-ah-ah! I don't wanna know!" The blonde put his hands over his ears.
"It is kinda neat, though—that these things can disguise themselves perfectly. It must be quite the actor, too. Ya know?" Nikki fluffed the fur on Dax's chest.
"It can't be perfect. Like Callaway said it can only copy the cells of an organism. So, it can't, like, copy clothes or anything," William responded.
"But it's smart enough to put the clothes on. Remember what they were talking about in the cafeteria?"
Christian now moaned and climbed out of his chair and into his cot where his bag was, desperately searching for his music and headphones.
"Doesn't matter how smart it is. It can't disguise everything."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, what about inorganic material that you can't just slip on? I mean it obviously can't apply to everyone but what about surgical implants?"
"Oh right! You could tell if I was one. I have a filling in my tooth. See?" Nikki hooked her lip in her finger and stretched it out enough to show a silvery cap on her back molar. "C doesn't have any."
"I still have stitches though," he tapped his chest with a couple knuckles. "I think we'd be out of luck if it turned into you, Chief. You're all scar tissue and that's organic." He lay sideways on his cot with one hand propping up his head and the other fishing through his MP3 player for a song.
"I have two porcelain teeth." He took another drink from his flask.
The twins looked at him in unison. "You do not," Nikki argued.
"Yeah, I do. This one and this one." He pointed to a tooth behind his upper canine and one on the bottom.
Christian blinked. "Why do you have fake teeth?"
He scoffed and rolled his head. "I thought it would be fun. I don't have the real ones anymore! Why do you think?"
"What happened?"
William sighed. He should have known better. "I tore one out with pliers and the other got knocked out."
"Were you drunk," Nikki said dully.
"Why the hell do you always assume I was drunk whenever I tell you something about myself? This is exactly why I don't tell you anything," he said while crossing his arms over his chest and perching his ankle over his knee.
Christian chortled. "Because you always are!" Nikki started to laugh too.
"Well, that doesn't give you the right to assume. For the record, I was only drunk for one of—"
Suddenly Dax yowled and jumped off of Nikki's lap and into the middle of the floor. Christian leaned back when the cat went on screaming with its back arched. Soon, its growling turned to an angry gurgle and began to raise in pitch. Its furry body started quaking and its head started to turn and vibrate. Nikki scooted back in her chair in shock. William stood up and cursed when its head twisted one hundred and eighty degrees and a bulge began to grow at its neck. With a spray of blood the bubble popped and the cat's neck split open down to its chest while the backwards head emitted an eerie mix of yowls and screeches. The split skin spread like a carnivorous prehistoric flower and the muscles and bones that lie therein began to shift and turn until it was a gaping rancid smelling cavern, dripping fluids onto the floor. Christian screamed and climbed up into his cot, standing on the mattress with his back against the wall. Nikki stood and tossed her chair aside and William had seen more than enough.
He struck out his hand and doused the thing in a solid jet of fire. When the flames struck, an eardrum-bursting shriek shocked everyone back. It darted towards William, leaving a blazing trail behind it. He jumped out of the way and blasted it again. "Nikki, my gun!" When it darted through the fire at him for a second time, he lifted his foot and brought it down sharply on its back, the fire singeing the leg of his pants while Nikki rifled through his bag for his nine-millimeter. It squealed and wriggled under his shoe and the awful smell started to intensify as it burned. He cursed at it and bore down harder on it while searching his pocket for his knife.
The base of William's skull throbbed. Before he could retract his foot all the way, fleshy tentacles shot out through the flames and snapped to his leg, tightly wrapping around his calf and shin. He instinctively swung his foot about but the creature stayed attached and some foreign set of jaws clamped down on the toe of his shoe. He tripped back into the other cot and tried to stab it with his switchblade. "Nikki, any time now!"
"Got it!" She loaded his gun and whirled around, firing five shots at the blazing beast. The grip it had on his leg began to loosen until it fell off. William gave it a sharp kick into the far wall where it smoldered and staggered. Nikki shot it two more times until it finally became still and the flames died, leaving it as a blackened mess of fur and flesh on the floor.