"I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up when your whole world black…"
London, England
7:04 AM
Grey clouds hung like a heavy shroud over the skies of London. Mist fell over the city, leaving a wet sheen on his windshield. The wiper blades of Dr. Marius Schneider's BMW swept back and forth in front of his eyes rhythmically. The chilly weather did little to dampen his spirits, however, as he drove along the London Orbital Motorway. He decided last night that he would ask the love of his life, Sarah Pomfret, to marry him. As he neared his intended exit, Dr. Schneider's mind swam with memories. His family, his childhood, his college years; yet it was the memories of the last twelve years of his life that were the most vivid to him.
As the world's leading geneticist, Dr. Schneider's groundbreaking work in cloning, hybridization, and gene editing caught the attention of a powerful man from the United States named John Bishop. Unknown to almost everyone, Bishop was the head of the US's "Earth Protection Force" or EPF: a highly classified arm of the American government; charged with protecting earth from extra-terrestrial threats.
For reasons that were still unknown to him, Dr. Schneider learned that the EPF was formed under the 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant in 1873, under the command of John Bishop. Through the years Bishop remained the commander of the government's secret agency and no one seemed to question his unnerving agelessness, mostly for fear of the answer. All anyone under Bishop's command knew was that he was not a man to be trifled with and that he was singularly focused on the task of preparing the earth for alien invasion; some would even call it an obsessive focus.
As the decades passed, the EPF had various alien encounters, most notably in 1947 with the UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico. With each encounter with a new alien race, Bishop and his team accumulated and appropriated highly advanced extra-terrestrial technology as well as biological specimens which Bishop used in a multitude of genetic experiments.
Bishop and the EPF thought they had seen it all, until twelve years ago. It was then that all of Bishop's worst fears had come true: the earth was the victim of a large-scale invasion by extra-terrestrial beings: the Triceratons.
The Triceratons were searching for some sort of cybernetic professor that went by the name of "Fugitoid". Apparently, the Fugitoid was sought after for some sort of teleportation device. Admittedly, Dr. Schneider mused, he didn't pay much attention to the reasons for why the Fugitoid was so hunted, as cybernetics and theoretical quantum physics was not his cup of tea. What mattered was that ultimately, the earth was spared, the Triceratons departed, and the earth no longer doubted the existence of extra-terrestrials.
It was during the invasion when Bishop resolved that four mutant ninja turtles needed to become EPF property so that they could significantly advance his "super soldier" program: a decades-long project he had been working on in order to combat an invasion of earth from extra-terrestrial threats. He had known of the Turtles for years through the same plethora of methods that kept him abreast of alien activity throughout the world.
During the confusion that followed the aftermath of the Triceraton invasion, Bishop was able to apprehend the four turtles for a short period of time. While they were in his custody, he was able to obtain blood and tissue samples from the mutants. However, before he could dissect them for further research, they were saved by their "father", a mutant rat called Splinter, and their friends April O'Neil and Casey Jones.
After the Triceraton invasion, Bishop resolved to double down on his efforts to protect earth from another invasion from extra-terrestrial beings. If he was obsessed before, he was consumed with his work now. Nothing would be allowed to get in his way of saving the earth from future attacks even if that meant the world's human population had to absorb some..."collateral damage". After all, Bishop surmised, the world would benefit if fifty-seven percent of the humanity simply...vanished.
Bishop's plans were temporarily put on hold after a more pressing matter emerged: the US government, upset with the inability of Bishop and the EPF's inability to not only warn of the Triceraton invasion but also their inability to do anything about it threatened to cut the funding to the EPF! Bishop, unwilling to let his life's work go to waste, schemed to create a fake invasion in order to kidnap the President so that he could understand why the EPF's work was necessary.
The fake invasion, in order to be believable, needed to be real enough so that Bishop and the EPF would receive unlimited funding from the State. That meant creating counterfeit aliens, aliens that Bishop could control. With the help of the brilliant scientist, Baxter Stockman, a small contingency of alien clone hybrids were created. The alien clones were set loose upon New York City, and according to Bishop's plan, they kidnapped the President.
The Turtles became aware of the plot and nearly sabotaged his efforts. But ultimately, Bishop and the EPF were fruitful in their endeavors: they saved the President from the "invasion" they created and received the necessary funding to continue their work.
However, there was an unforeseen consequence to their plan: through the events that played out, the genetic materials that the alien clones possessed, managed to leak into the sewer system. The alien DNA that was used, along with the genetic accelerants used to stabilize and increase the speed of mutation, began mutating whatever creature the remnant genetic material came into contact with like a virus.
According to Bishop, one of the creatures that became infected with the vestiges of the alien clones' genetic materials was none other than one of the Turtles: the one that went by the name of Donatello. The alien DNA caused a secondary mutation, turning him into a savage monster! And, much to Bishop's surprise, Donatello's brothers eventually sought him out at his headquarters in the notorious Area 51.
Luckily for the mutant Turtles, not only were they working to neutralize what was eventually called "The Outbreak Virus" but he was in need of them in order to obtain an object from the criminal organization known as the Foot Clan. A tentative truce was forged: the object that Bishop needed in return for curing Donatello.
Both sides kept their word: the Turtles obtained the object Bishop needed and Donatello was cured. Bishop destroyed his command post at Area 51 since it had been compromised, and the Turtles went home to New York.
It was then that Dr. Marius Schneider was contacted by Agent Bishop and was offered an opportunity to work with the EPF. He was charged with the task of aiding Stockman in the development of "super soldiers" that would protect the earth.
A rush of excitement filled Dr. Schneider, recalling the way he felt all those years ago. It wasn't money that enticed him to work for the United States agency, it was curiosity; it was the opportunity to "play" with alien and mutant DNA.
He could still feel the adrenaline tingle at the tips of his long fingers as he turned his BMW toward the exit ramp, leaving the London Orbital Motorway. He then turned southward on A243, heading toward his own lab facilities: Curiosum Labs.
The memories of the first day he stepped into the genetics labs set up for his use at EPF headquarters, flooded his mind. It wasn't long before he was able to utilize his expertise in genetics and sharpen those talents by the way of highly advanced alien and government technology.
Dr. Schneider dove into his work, creating various combinations of human-alien hybrids for Bishop's super soldier program. Some never survived, of those that did, they were set loose upon gangs like the Purple Dragons to test their viability.
Things seemed to be going well until it turned out that one of the Turtles friends, Angel, was caught up in one of the EPF's "test runs" against a local gang. She had gone into an abandoned warehouse, known as a place where criminal drug deals could be made, in order to save a friend of hers from buying more drugs. Angel was seriously injured, and while Angel ended up making a full recovery, the Turtles were on a warpath.
As usual, the Turtles had an annoying habit of getting in the way. They hunted down the makeshift facility that was being used to coordinate the hybrid's test, and shut it down along with the EPF's "test soldier", with all the grace and precision that martial arts and a few well-placed explosions could manage.
It was after that attack that Bishop resolved to get rid of the Turtles. He had enough of their interference in his plans. He commanded any viable super soldiers to be tested against the Turtles. Yet, in each case, the Turtles prevailed. Eventually, Dr. Schneider suggested they create their own mutant turtle. Bishop agreed and the resulting creature was named "Slash".
Slash marked the first time where Dr. Schneider directly combined the DNA taken from the blood of the Turtles and the alien DNA he had been experimenting with and used a modified form of the Outbreak Virus to mutate it all together. While initial tests against the Mutant Turtles proved promising, it was quickly discovered that the alien DNA still had a detrimental effect on the mutated DNA taken from the Turtles.
Slash's cells began to break down and, combined with an accelerant used in his mutation process, the turtle's mind began to deteriorate. The creature created by Dr. Schneider became increasingly hostile and violent. So much so, that after he was ultimately defeated by the Turtles, it was decided Slash had to be decommissioned.
At first, Bishop wanted the creature put down, but Dr. Schneider convinced him to keep him alive, if for nothing more than further observation and experimentation. Bishop ultimately agreed, coolly asserting that Slash was to be kept at Dr. Schneider's own lab facility, along with an EPF security team.
Dr. Schneider inwardly shuddered as he recollected that it claimed the lives of five EPF operatives in order to subdue Slash and ship him to Curiosum Labs. But, as the old saying goes, it's always darkest before the dawn, and Dr. Schneider couldn't help but feel a smile pull at the corners of his thin lips. "The Siren, our 'morning star' brought a new day…" he mused softly, his baritone voice flavored by a British accent in Received Pronunciation or, RP.
The days following the deaths of the five EPF operatives had been sobering. It was plain to him that they were spinning their wheels trying to beat the Turtles into submission. How many more lives would it take? How many more mutant animals would be sacrificed? It was no longer about playing god with genetics. Lives were at stake!
A brilliant idea hit him like a slap in the face! Dr. Schneider pulled out a notebook and pen at his desk and began to jot down his thoughts. When he felt his idea was fleshed out enough, he approached Agent Bishop and explained his proposal.
"What are you saying, Doctor?" Bishop had asked, coolly.
"What I'm saying, Agent Bishop is that it seems all efforts to use brawn has failed repeatedly with the Mutant Turtles. Perhaps, we are going about this all wrong. What if we tried a different approach?" He paused for a heartbeat, "All of the Turtles are male, correct? Well, what is the one thing that all male creatures need, regardless of their species or place in the animal kingdom?"
"Bacon!" A young agent quipped from behind Bishop, a smile on his face. To that, Bishop responded with an icy stare. The young agent's smile promptly faded.
When Bishop's attention returned to him, Dr. Schneider answered the question, "Sex."
Agent Bishop's expression soured. "I'm not interested in starting a breeding program, Doctor."
"Hear me out: how familiar are you with ancient Greek mythos?"
Dr. Schneider's mind was pulled back to the present as he approached an office complex of unimpressive, shale-colored buildings. The unassuming Curiosum Labs concealed to anyone passing by the mind-bending work that was going on inside the walls. Agent Bishop at first wasn't entirely thrilled about Dr. Schneider's labs being out in the open like they were. Dr. Schneider reassured him, "A wise man once said, the best place to hide is right out in public!" And, as the years passed, Dr. Schneider was proven correct: no one really cared to know what went on behind the walls of Curiosum Labs.
He turned the wheel and pulled into the gated parking lot. He stopped at the gate and a security guard stepped out of the small booth wearing a dull grey uniform. "'Ello, Dr. Schneider!" The older man said with a thick accent, pegging him as a "True Londoner". He smiled brightly. Scott Finnegan had worked security most of his adult life. Nearing his sixties, he was at the age that he should have been preparing retire, yet he stayed on because he enjoyed his job. For nearly 15 years, Mr. Finnegan worked for Curiosum Labs and served the genetics facility with distinction.
"Hello, Mr. Finnegan! How are you this fine morning?" Dr. Schneider's heart always warmed seeing the smiling gentleman at the gate.
"I'm doing quite well, I am! Ms. Pomfret is already 'ere this morning, sir." Finnegan said warmly with a twinkle in his eye. Over the years, his friendly personality won over the vast majority of the workers at Curiosum Labs. So much so, that he developed friendships with everyone from the janitorial staff to Dr. Marius Schneider himself. As such, it wasn't long before the older gentleman knew of the romantic relationship between Dr. Schneider and Ms. Pomfret. "Are you ever going to ask 'er, sir?"
Dr. Schneider smiled wide, "I am, Mr. Finnegan. Today, in fact. I bought the ring last night."
"That's jolly good news, sir! Congratulations!"
"She has yet to say 'yes', Mr. Finnegan. Don't congratulate me just yet!" Dr. Schneider said with a chuckle.
"I know Ms. Pomfret adores you, Doctor. She'll say 'yes'."
"I do hope so, Mr. Finnegan."
"I know so, sir." Finnegan flashed another smile, "'Ave a brilliant day, Dr. Schneider!"
"You as well, Mr. Finnegan. Say 'hello' to your wife and those lovely grandchildren of yours for me!" Scott Finnegan smiled and returned to the booth in front of the gate, pushed a button, which opened the mechanized gate wide enough for Dr. Schneider to drive through. He pulled into his designated parking spot in front of the building and breathed in deeply. Yes, today was going to be a jolly good day, indeed.
He exited his car, pulled on his lab coat that hid a jewelry box with the engagement ring he bought in the right pocket, clipped his badge to the front lapel and walked toward the building with long strides. At six-feet-two-inches, he didn't possess the appearance of the quintessential "brilliant scientific mind". He had rugged good looks: wavy, salt-and-pepper colored hair and piercing green eyes.
He entered the lobby and was greeted by the security duo at the front desk, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Cardwell. "Good morning, Doctor!" The two said almost in unison.
"Good morning, chaps! Mr. Thompson, how's that new daughter of yours?"
"She can't sleep through the night yet, but the Mrs. and I aren't fussed about it! We're still over the moon!"
Dr. Schneider smiled, "Good to hear, Mr. Thompson. Have a great morning, gentlemen." He turned down a hallway and entered into a corridor of elevators. He took the first one that opened and hit the button for the seventh floor.
The chatter of Mr. Thompson's new daughter conjured up memories of the conversation he had with Bishop that led to the creation of his own "daughter", of sorts.
"I'm perfectly familiar with Greek mythos, Doctor. Get to the point." Bishop had stated.
Dr. Schneider nodded, "Of course. Ancient myths, particularly ancient Greek myths have a plethora of temptress archetypes. They knew that just like two sides of a coin, the seductive beauty of the fairer sex could also possess a darker, more sinister nature to it: it could lure men to their demise!"
Becoming excited, Dr. Schneider turned to a whiteboard positioned behind him in the stark meeting room. He uncapped a dry erase marker and began to write as he spoke. "Early Greek records state that it was believed Zeus created Helen of Troy to 'rid the world of its superfluous human population'. For three thousand years, Helen has been the exquisite archetype of an agent of extermination. She was the quintessential temptress or, the femme fatale.
"The Sirens too lured many sailors to their deaths by the power of their irresistible song. Odysseus had to tie himself to the mast of his boat in order that he may evade them. My idea is simple: we create a 'Helen' or a 'Siren' of sorts; a creature so captivating that she would be irresistible to the Turtles but, she would be trained to be our own exquisite agent of extermination! We can use the DNA from the Mutant Turtles that we have and the same alien DNA that we used for Slash-"
Bishop interrupted, "Doctor, I don't think I have to remind you that the results from combining the DNA from the Turtles with alien DNA, were…unstable."
"Yes! But, I've been thinking…perhaps if we also add human DNA to the mix…it could work as a sort of 'buffer' between the two. Particularly if we used…" He paused for a heartbeat, "…particularly if we used human DNA that has already been clearly altered by extra-terrestrial means."
Bishop cocked an eyebrow, "You propose to use mine, Doctor?"
"Yes. Your altered DNA will most likely be more agreeable to the process: I'll have a better chance at success. The 'siren' I'll create will have the strength and speed you want, she will be intelligent, loyal, physically sublime, and…I'll ensure this, she'll be sterile. So there will be no unauthorized breeding."
Agent Bishop's face betrayed no emotion, "How long will this take?" His tone hinted at the fact that he was unconvinced.
Dr. Schneider sighed, "It will take time. But," he paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully, "Respectfully Agent Bishop, but you've commanded the EPF for nearly 200 years. It would seem to me that 'time' is a commodity that you have an abundance of." He paused again, studying Bishop's face, "But I think that you're a man who can appreciate taking the time necessary in order to make sure that a plan is successful, instead of rushing headlong into various situations, only to absorb failure.
"When the 'siren' is ready, we can have her serve as a spy of sorts: have her infiltrate the Turtles - and they will want her to infiltrate them! I'll ensure that by engineering her genetics in such a way that she will be physical perfection! She could then administer some sort of tranquilizing agent or poison and…you'll then have either unfettered access to the Turtles for further experimentation or, you can have her get rid of them completely!"
Bishop's dark eyes narrowed behind the tinted lenses of his wire-framed glasses. His mouth was fixed in a near-expressionless manner, breathing deeply, his broad chest expanded under crossed arms. Bishop turned on his heel and walked slowly toward the exit, then stopped. He turned back to Dr. Schneider, and slowly moved toward him. "The bulk of your focus will remain on my super soldier program, Doctor." He paused, "Create your 'Siren'…but don't let it interfere with your primary objective. This 'siren' of yours is only a contingency…" He turned and started toward the door, "Take what you need to your Curiosum Labs facility in England. I'll send an extra security team for your project. If you are successful in the creation of the female, we'll discuss her training and education."
True to his word, over the next year, the bulk of Dr. Schneider's progress was focused on the super soldier program, while spending the rest of his time flying back to England and working on what he called, "Project Siren".
Using his expertise in genetic cloning and hybridization, Dr. Schneider and his team at Curiosum Labs took the DNA from one of the Mutant Turtles and combined it with Bishop's altered human DNA. Alien DNA was then inserted to fill in the gaps, and, using an improved and modified version of the "Outbreak Virus", they mutated it all together in a controlled manner. The process was repeated 486 times before a viable combination was found. When it was, the entire team erupted into a celebration! The first – and only – mutant turtle, human, and alien chimera had been successfully created! Had he not been a man of science, he would call it pure magic: the creation of new life by mixing species! The celebration didn't last long, however. Dr. Schneider and his team dove in and began the gene editing process to determine the female's physical appearance.
The precision used to direct the Siren's attributes was near artistic and the results were nothing short of miraculous! After informing Bishop of their success, Dr. Schneider was then instructed to find a capable tutor to teach the creature in the seductive ways of a courtesan. Meanwhile, Bishop would provide a martial arts instructor until the siren's mind had grown enough to sustain a bio-data transfer which would inject all of the Agent's memories and martial arts training into her psyche.
Their search for a tutor in seduction led them to an adult film star, Sarah "Honey" Pomfret. Over the years, her working relationship with Dr. Marius Schneider blossomed into a full-blown love affair. The oddest of odd couples: the brilliant geneticist and the former adult film star. Their happiness was infectious and it wasn't long before the entirety of Curiosum Labs desired for the two to exchange marital vows.
The elevator arrived at the seventh floor, as he absently fingered the jewelry box in his pocket. The doors opened and he was greeted by a bespectacled, bronze-skinned woman in her late thirties, possessing long, black hair and wearing a lab coat. "Good morning, Dr. Gouyen." Dr. Schneider stated with a sigh. "I do hope to one day learn how you became so adept at knowing precisely when I'd step off the lift."
Dr. Kushala Gouyen, made headlines in the United States ten years ago as the first Apache woman to win The Gruber Foundation's "Genetics Prize", which was presented to a leading scientist in recognition of groundbreaking contributions to any realm of genetics research. Shortly after that, Dr. Schneider, impressed with her intellect, hand-picked her to work with him at Curiosum Labs.
Dr. Gouyen ignored Dr. Schneider's statement with a shake of her head, "Doctor, I was hoping that we could revisit our conversation from earlier…"
"If you're referring to our subject's training, we've discussed everything that there is to discuss." Dr. Schneider turned to his right, and began to walk quickly down the busy hallway; moving past multiple laboratories with engaged, lab coat-clad scientists, working on various projects.
"Well, we need to discuss it again! She's-"
Dr. Schneider abruptly stopped and turned toward her, "It." He stated. "Not 'she'. It. We created it and its training is bleeding necessary!" He sighed and shook his head, "I truly admire that you've channeled your maternal instinct into this, I really do-"
"Oh come off it, Marius! This has nothing to do with my being a mother, and everything to do with ethics! We're training a child to-"
He interrupted her, "It's not a child. It's a prepubescent chimera that, again, we've created." While Marius Schneider should have winced at the familiar use of his first name, over the last nine years Dr. Gouyen had been on his team, he learned to overlook such minor offenses if it meant keeping her on his payroll. He understood long ago that her brilliance was only matched by her compassion.
Dr. Schneider stood akimbo in front of her, speaking in a hushed tone he said, "Need I remind you of the men who lost their lives, trying to contain the creature in the basement of this building? How many people must needlessly die? How many families must have loved ones never return home? How many more creatures, like the one in the basement, must I create in order to eradicate those mutant turtles?" He took a deep breath, then exhaled, "And what of the creature below? It is now a failed experiment whose sole purpose now is to be subject to further experimentation until its condition claims its life. Is its life less valuable than our Siren?"
Dr. Gouyen folded her arms over her chest, "Sonseeahray. I named her Sonseeahray."
"Yes. Which, as you've told me, means 'morning star' in the Apache language…" Initially, he would have preferred a Grecian name like "Sappho" to be given to the siren. However, the chimera had become partial to the name given by Dr. Gouyen. Through the years, he came to like the less pretentious moniker of "Sonseeahray".
Dr. Schneider shook his head again, turned and continued down the hall, Dr. Gouyen following after. "I picked you to be on my team because of your brilliant mind, Dr. Gouyen. Might I suggest that you remove yourself emotionally from the work that I've given you? Sonseeahray, as you call it, has one purpose and one purpose alone..." He stopped short in front of a large, reinforced steel door that was flanked by two heavily armed EPF agents. Turning his attention back to her, "That purpose is to infiltrate, seduce, and eliminate the Mutant Turtles. Don't forget that." Dr. Schneider turned his attention to a keypad on the wall, located to the right of the door.
Before he could enter the code, Dr. Gouyen spoke up, "Could we at least consider bringing on a psychologist in order to ascertain that no permanent damage is being done to her, psychologically?" They starred at each other for a moment before Dr. Gouyen finished her thought, "The last thing we need is another 'failed', and psychologically unstable, experiment contained in the basement."
Dr. Schneider sighed, "Alright. I'll see what I can do. But no promises." He entered a four-digit security code into the keypad by the door. It slid open with a soft, "wooshing" sound as he continued, "Agent Bishop and the EPF have already sunk a lot of funding into Project Siren, with no concrete results as of yet. I'm not sure he'll be up for paying for yet another expert on our staff."
Dr. Gouyen followed him through the door, "What do you mean, 'no results'?! We literally created an intelligent, self-aware, chimera that can claim no kinship to any creature on earth! That's something!"
The pair proceeded down a stark corridor that gave way to a honeycomb of expansive laboratory rooms, all encased in a clean mix of steel walls, reinforced windows, and white floors. Dr. Schneider glanced toward Dr. Gouyen before a pair of sensor-activated glass doors opened before him, "Yes, but we still are not rid of the mutant turtles! They've prevailed against every test subject thus far."
They entered a room filled with computers where several scientists were tapping away on their keyboards. To their left, was a massive door made of reinforced steel, and locked with an electronic code that changed every hour. Behind that door, there were the specimens of numerous test subjects and a small container that housed blood and tissue samples, one from each of the Mutant Turtles. To the right, there was another hallway leading to another set of rooms all housed in reinforced glass. One of those rooms was used for medical checkups, another larger room was used primarily for physical exercise, another was filled with books on various subjects, and finally, a room that contained a bed and a small dresser belonging to the chimera named Sonseeahray.
As Dr. Schneider and Dr. Gouyen walked down the hall, they noticed a blonde woman, her hair pulled up into a loose ponytail, dressed in plain clothes in the exercise room. She was flanked by two men in lab coats, and behind them, two men wearing the uniform of EPF commandos.
"Your Sonseeahray's training in the sensual arts may be our best chance to save lives, Dr. Gouyen. Bishop's super soldier program will protect our planet from another alien invasion, but it all starts with destroying the Turtles. They have a nasty habit of getting in the way of our work! Sonseeahray's beauty and sensuality may succeed where brawn has failed."
He gazed through the glass door at the young chimera they created. Their 'siren' of Project Siren. The young creature held a banana in outstretched hands toward the blonde woman, a smile on its face. A hint of the Siren's future exquisiteness already beginning to shine through her underage features. He sighed.
They were interrupted by a young scientist with brown hair and eyes racing toward them, "Drs. Schneider and Gouyen, we just got word from the security team in Hades, project Slash has died!"
Dr. Schneider nodded solemnly, "Alright. Have a team confirm Slash's passing. Once that's done, move him to the morgue and have them start preparing his body for dissection tomorrow morning."
"Yessir." The young scientist vanished as quickly as he appeared.
Dr. Gouyen frowned. "At least he's no longer in pain…" her voice trailed off.
The majority of the employees of Curiosum Labs called the basement "Hades" for good reason: Slash was housed down there. The often violent, hulk of a creature had a propensity of lashing out at various scientists and EPF security personnel. He terrified everyone in the building.
Dr. Gouyen knew that Slash's debilitating mental state was due, at least in part, to the condition that stemmed from the alien DNA in his system attacking the mutated turtle DNA. Yet, she was overwhelmed with sympathy. She had seen for herself the extent to which that condition plagued him: his skin started to die and rot off of his body. At first, small pieces. Then, larger chunks of rotten flesh would fall to the floor, exposing raw tissue or, in some cases, bone. A pale yellow ooze would flow from some of the open wounds and a heavy stench of rancid meat filled the air around him. Eventually, one of his eyes turned an opaque white, then promptly rotted out of his head, leaving only a vacant orifice behind. Surely, she surmised, the pain he must have been enduring only exacerbated his mental instability.
Her hypothesis became evident when she approached one of the scientists observing Slash. The massive creature was strapped and chained to a steel table in the middle of a lab surrounded by surgical equipment, scientists, and armed security. He began to smell the air, drawing in deep breaths through his nose like a bloodhound. His one remaining golden eye, suddenly sprung open, "Siren!" He managed to spit out in a sort of blood-chilling, gurgling roar. He began thrashing uncontrollably against his restraints, threatening to break free!
"Siren! Siren! Siren!"
Slash kept screaming. The EPF security force raised their weapons, zeroing their sights on the mutant turtle that was frantically trying to free itself! Slash took several shots of a sedative from the scientific team before he quieted.
Dr. Gouyen ran out of the basement and hadn't gone back since that day. There was something about how violent he became and how he roared "Siren" that chilled her to the bone. How did he know about Sonseeahray? And why did he react so turbulently when he picked up on her scent? Dr. Gouyen shuddered inwardly and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Slash was the first non-human creature I created for Bishop and the EPF…" Dr. Schneider sighed, pulling Dr. Gouyen's attention away from her thoughts. "Let us hope that Sonseeahray will be the last. If her skills are needed, as I fear they will be considering the failure of the Reaper's test, the fate of humanity will rest on her success! If she completes her purpose, eliminating the Turtles so that we can have unfettered access to the entirety of their biology, we will be able to create a soldier capable of saving all of humanity from another Triceraton invasion…or, something much worse." Quoting from Homer's Iliad, he whispered, "On us, the gods have set an evil destiny, that we should be a singer's theme for generations to come…"