Have you ever wanted to read the love child of SuperJail!, Outlast, and Jurassic Park? Well friend, do I have good news for you. This is gonna be gorey, this is gonna be bloody, this is gonna be super fucked up and squicky. And you're probably gonna love every second of it. Also, don't go getting it in your head that this is gonna be a cutesy, fluffy fic, because I intended to make this the exact opposite.
Additional credit to bossykiwi and del-sin on tumblr for being the collaborative minds also associated with the story, the two I'll be bouncing ideas off of and incorporating their own ideas and such into the fic.
x-X-X-x
It's about midnight when the trucks arrived at the docks. Shay paused in his work and stared out from his perch on the boat to watch the action.
It seemed to happen every few nights or so, when a ferry type vessel would dock, and a horde of trucks would arrive to trade passengers. It was some private company that owned that particular dock, no ships or boats allowed next to it unless previously authorized. Everything that went on that particular dock all bore the same two logos, an odd triangle shape, and a pattern with three hexagons.
The odd thing about it to Shay was, the cargo from these two private companies? People. It was usually people. The people would arrive by truck late at night and be boated away. But where they came from and where they were going, he did not know. Didn't stop him from watching them intently whenever they came by, watching as if they would just reveal their secrets to him if he looked long enough. But no one was willing to talk, no one wanted to acknowledge what was going on. The only person he had to ask was-
"Boy get your ass down here and get your damn work done!"
"Coming!" Shay called back, and hurried down the boat to the deck, rushing around to pick up where he left off before climbing to the top of the boat earlier. Achilles was glaring at him from his seat, a pile of tangled up nets at his feet.
"What I tell you about watching them monsters?" Achilles questioned, eyes narrowed at him.
"I'm sorry" Shay mumbled as a poor apology.
"I keep tellin ya, mind your own business, and leave Abstergo alone."
"But those people…"
"Don't you worry about them none, they're not important. Now keep working!"
Shay didn't argue any further, but it still bothered him. Everything Abstergo did was bothersome really. It seemed like they had a hand in everything, pharmaceuticals, technology, politics, they were just all over the place. And now for the last year? Human trafficking apparently. Most likely hired to get it done by the company with the hexagons for a logo, but which company that was, Shay wasn't sure.
They clearly weren't any good, not from a morals standpoint anyway.
The two different groups worked through the night, Shay and Achilles fixing up their boat for the next day, and Abstergo unloading their passengers onto the ferry. And they both seemed to get done around one in the morning. Shay finished up in time to see the ferry pull away from the docks, and he watched as it disappeared into the harbor, twinkling lights blinking in the darkness.
"Alright Cormac, we're done for tonight. Expect you back here six a.m sharp" Achilles said, heaving himself up and hobbling along to the cabin of the boat.
"Yes Mr. Davenport…Mr. Davenport?"
"What do you want, boy?"
Shay hesitated at first, but then asked, "Where do they go? Just tell me where, I won't ask again, but where does Abstergo take them all?"
Achilles sighed loudly and paused, tapping the door to the cabin before he looked at Shay over his shoulder.
"You really want to know?"
Shay nodded.
"Give you the short version then. Hell, boy, they're going to hell."
"They're killing them?" Shay asked incredulously.
"Oh, they'll be dead eventually. But you know that old fort way out in the bay? That's where they're goin'. Abstergo's own little hell on water. Now I'm telling you this, don't you dare sail around those waters, they don't take kindly to strangers. And trust me, you don't wanna know what they're doing out there."
Shay gulped, and nodded. No, no maybe he didn't if that's where they were going. He knew what Achilles was talking about. He didn't anyone wanted to know what went on out there at the old fort-
Out on Devil's Island.
x-X-X-x
At one-thirty, the new batch of subjects finally arrived. They were herded out of the ferry, along the dock, and into the main hall they were sorted out into lines of two. And then…he was ready to get this show on the road.
"Friends!" he called out to them as he walked into the room, and he smiled a the largest, most unsettling grin he could possibly muster up in that moment. "I know it's late, and you must all be so tired, but trust me, I'm just so happy to see you all!"
He walked down the aisle between the two lines, and heads turned to follow the short man with his hands clasped behind his back, dressed in his pristine white lab coat with the Gentek emblem on the left breast, and his I.D clipped to the right, Dr. Alexander J. Mercer.
"We're going to do so much great work, all of us together," Dr. Mercer continued on. "You'll all leave this island changed men, I can guarantee you this. After all the glorious work we'll do together, you'll just never be the same again! Isn't that just wonderful?"
Dr. Mercer reached the end of the line, and turned on his heel to face his new comrades. They all seemed to be equally confused or apathetic. Dr. Mercer's cheek twitched, but his cheerful demeanor did not falter.
"Any questions before you're dismissed, gentlemen?"
"Oi, I got one"
Heads turned down the line and then up to one of the towering giants that had come with them. The giant sneered down at Dr. Mercer, an ugly scar bulging from the top of his bald head.
"What do you zhink you're gonna do with us, eh? We're forced here to do what? You gonna do somezhing to us, huh? Please share, what is so special about Devil's Island?" the giant asked as he stared the man down menacingly.
Dr. Mercer's cheek twitched again, as did his right eye, and he let out a shallow laugh. "Oh, you wanna know?" Dr. Mercer chuckled, and he glanced between the two lines of men. "Easy enough to answer I'm just…"
Dr. Mercer raised his arm up in the giant's direction.
"The great things we're gonna do, nothing too fancy. Just incredible advances in science and biology. We're gonna makes things that no one else has even seen in this world. Me personally? Oh I'm just-"
All the men in their lines let out horrified gasps as the giant man was thrown to the ground, a ferocious claw wrapped around his throat. The claw was attached to a long black and red tendril that led back to Dr. Mercer's coat sleeve. The good doctor himself was staring down at the giant with unmistakable glee, black and red veins popping up on the side of his face.
"I'm just gonna working with all you," Dr. Mercer said slowly. "Great things you and I, just so many great things…You're all dismissed."
x-X-X-x
"That was incredibly unprofessional" Alex grumbled under his breath as he walked back upstairs to his office.
'I thought that went pretty well.'
"The first meeting like that is not meant to instill fear in them."
'But he was soooo annoying!'
"He probably works for the Head. Vidic's gonna slaughter us if he hears we're harming his insiders."
'Maybe Vidic should stop sending them in and we wouldn't have this problem.'
Alex inhaled and exhaled loudly. Yes, it would be an utter joy if he could properly test his subjects without all of them being some liability in keeping the facility running, and fully operational, and keeping all his best toys right where they belonged. He was definitely expecting an angry phone call from Vidic tomorrow.
"You give me such a headache sometimes" Alex sighed sadly.
'You complain too much.'
"You're a literal child, don't you tell me I-"
'What's that smell?'
'Is that hamburger?'
'I smell hamburger.'
"Shut up," Alex growled. "Shut up right now."
'But hamburger!'
Alex's jaw clenched. The smell seemed to get stronger the closer they got to their office, and Alex could really feel a headache coming on. He had been expecting another subject to come on the ferry tonight, one directly sent in from Abstergo to join in on the Animus project. Instructions were to have him in Alex's office while Alex welcomed int the others, but that smell...that smell was not comforting...Oh that little-
"He's eating in my office."
'That fat bastard!'
"Where did he even get…"
'I smell onion rings.'
"Oh you gotta be-"
Alex flung the door open to the office. Desmond sat in front of his desk, lips smacking away with a drop sauce on his chin, turned towards the door, and nodded to them. The other man had "dinner" spread out across the table, a carton of onion rings on top of one pile of papers, sodas dripping condensation onto the desk, a pile of burgers in the center. It was disgusting.
"Did you know Carl's Jr is open this late, cause man, you wouldn't believe what I found out" Desmond smirked, blissful pride on his face. Alex marched in, slamming the door shut behind him and he stomped over to Desmond glower down at him. Desmond was hardly fazed, merely picking up wrapped hamburger and holding it up to him. "Hungry?"
A black tendril shot out from the side of Alex's neck and snatched the hamburger up, ripping away the wrapper and proceeding to tear the sandwich apart. Alex felt ready to explode at this point.
"Do you not have any manners?" Alex barked.
"Bro, come on," Desmond laughed. "At least pretend you're happy to see me. Sit down, let's eat, I'm starving."
Alex almost refused, but his legs moved on their own accord to move him to his chair behind the desk. Alex merely pouted as he sat down, and the tendril popping out from his neck dived into the foot to tear away paper and cardboard for greasy delights.
"See, Blacklight's really happy I'm here," Desmond said, and held his hand up. "High five, buddy!"
The tendril shot out to slap itself against Desmond's hand.
"Atta boy! Missed you too, Lil B!"
"I imagined this reunion a lot differently," Alex huffed. "And yet, I'm still unreasonably upset that this is how it's going, even though I shouldn't have expected less from you."
"Alex, you remembered me and all my disappointments! I'm super flattered!"
"This isn't a vacation for you, Desmond, this is serious, and I expect you to take it seriously."
"I am taking it seriously!"
"GETTING HAMBURGERS AT ONE IN THE MORNING IS NOT SERIOUS!"
Desmond blew a raspberry at him, but said no more and continued to dine his selection of heart attacks. Alex simmered in his seat and tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair, the tendril from his neck still aiding Desmond demolishing the rest of the food. Even when it was all gone, the rings of condensation and grease on papers still made Alex's eyes twitch.
"Here Desmond, let me show you to your quarters" Alex offered between gritted teeth.
"Youuuu just want me out of your rooom" Desmond said as he gathered up all the wrappers and stuffed them in the trash.
"The faster the better."
Desmond laughed again, but they were out the door and down the hall in no time. The upper levels of the facility were quiet this time of night, the windows offering looks into a serene and peaceful courtyard on one side, and the bay on the other. It hardly looked like a place meant for great scientific research, but after all, that was the whole point of moving in in the first place.
Alex led Desmond to the wing where all the other subject's of Desmond's kind resided. Desmond's room was at the far end of the hall, room number seventeen. The man in question laughed when he saw the number stenciled on the door.
"Alright asshole, you win this round."
And Alex smirked at that.
"It's what you get for being added on to the project so late. Your things have already arrived, feel free to unpack at your leisure, you're gonna be here a while."
Desmond nodded and opened the door. But he hesitated going inside, and then he turned back towards Alex and suddenly hugged him.
"Desmond what-"
"Hey come on man, I missed ya. I haven't seen you in how long? Don't tell me you forgot how to say hi to an old pal."
Alex was tense at first, but he felt himself being forced to relax and he returned the hug.
'I missed Desmond 'lots, I want him to know that'
"Blacklight says he missed you too" Alex murmured. Desmond let out a small chuckle. They remained in the embrace for a while, all to comfortable to be in each other's arms again. They didn't break until Alex's pocket suddenly began beeping, and Alex groaned. He reached down into one into his pocket and pulled his profiler out. He had a message from the labs.
It was time, another batch was about to hatch.
"I gotta go," Alex said quickly, and he shoved Desmond off him. "Important science things I gotta oversee, you know how it is."
"Aw," Desmond pouted. "Come on boss, five more minutes?"
"I really gotta go," and Alex was already inching away. "We'll have to catch up later Desmond, okay? I'll come see you in the morning, fill you in. We're gonna do great things, you and I! You'll see!"
"Ohmygod, gooodniight Alex, catch you later bro!"
And they went their separate ways.
x-X-X-x
As opposed to the top levels of the fort, down below the surface is an entirely different story. Down in the labs is where the real magic happens, why this old fortress island has become infamously known as "Devil's Island". Those on the mainland said that the devil moved into the fort and brought all his demons with him for a big ol' party of sin and witchcraft.
And well, those mainlanders weren't entirely wrong.
Alex strode into the labs like a king walking into his court. This particular lad be walked into was the Hatchery, a term that could be used loosely around here. A row of ten subjects locked up in their own little air bubbles, their bodies serving as the breeding grounds for generations of blood thirst and monstrosities.
One such subject had been pulled out of his bubble, strapped down to a table by the arms and legs. He looked down frantically at himself, letting out cries of terror every time the giant mass that was his chest and stomach bulged ever so slightly. Alex softened at the sight, shrugging off his pristine lab coat to pull over some pale blue scrubs that was handed to him by one of his many scientists that worked on this project with him.
He loved being here for these times, he always made it a point to welcome the children into the world before he handed them off to their Mother.
"Oh look at this, just so precious" Alex cooed at the bulging mass, totally ignoring the subject that stared at him with wild eyes. "Almost here, almost ready to see the world. So many big plans for them, they'll never be without direction or purpose. My lovely little pups, gonna be big nasty killers one day."
'Do you think they'll live this time?'
"Of course they will," Alex reassured, lifting a hand that blackened and elongated into claws. He gently laid his hand along the subject's belly, and lovingly caressed the mass. The subject groaned in agony as his stomach shuddered violently. Tiny pin prints suddenly ran across the underside of the skin, miniature nails poking at thin membrane that they could so easily rip apart.
"Come on little ones, don't worry, Daddy's right here to see you," Alex encouraged, pressing a finger down and tearing open a small hole in the subject, who screamed when he did. All at once, mass movement could be seen migrating towards the small opening, and entourage of small bodies were suddenly clamoring to be free.
"Thaaat's it, thaaaat's it! Come to Daddy, come here little ones, come here, cooome here. That's it, one at a time, you'll all get your turn. There we go, that's it. Come on…Come on….Theeere you are! Oh, look at you! Aren't you just gorgeous? Someone come grab this one for the standard tests, I want these to Greene by the end of the hour."
The lab frenzied, scientists scrambling around to pull out weights and such, taking pups from Alex as he pulled them out and whisked them away for testing. And once the last one had been freed from its prison (an incredible number of seven pups, one of their largest litters yet), Alex finally acknowledged his pale faced subject.
"Thank you, dear friend," he smiled down at the subject. "You've done me a great service today, and you have my eternal gratitude. You'll make a fine meal for our children, they need their nutrition. Thank you for your time and effort, you're dismissed."
The subject started sobbing, spitting curses at him as he was carted away to the basement with the Hunter pups, and Alex waved him off, that wide smile still on his face.
'What a great way to kick off a Wednesday morning!'
"Oh I agree. We have so much incredible work to do today, it's going to be fantastic."
x-X-X-x
I recall that night, my every breath,
And, step along the way.
Closed my eyes, walking,
As danger paved the way.
The devil, and the darkness
Let her evil wander free
And, here on Devil's Island,
The final stop for me.
-Devil's Island, Megadeth