Chapter 4: Science with a Heart
At the other side of the facility, there was another lab. In this lab there were four chamber-like devices located on the far side of the lab. There are rows of tables situated in the center of the lab with lab equipment. There is a large computer terminal that sits on the adjacent wall to the chambers. On the other side of lab, a cage sat against a wall.
Inside the cage resided Ice Blaze, who is still unconscious. The tiger remained motionless for a few more minutes until he began to open his eyes. He scanned the area and realized that he was inside a cage. He stood up, but he banged his head on the top of the cage. The cage he was in was just big enough for him to fit but not to move around. He realesed a snort and laid back down, taking in his surroundings.
While he was surveying the room, the door to the lab opened up, and a scientist entered the room. The scientist is a white male, who is probably in his early twenties, with dark brown hair and well built body. He wore a white lab coat with a white shirt and jeans underneath the coat. He also wore a pair of lab boots. The tiger watched the scientist as the scientist sat down at a table. The scientist looked through a file that was sitting on the table and let out a sigh.
"I can't believe I'm even doing this," said the scientist sadly as he continued to look through a file. "I thought…"
The scientist paused in mid-sentence as he got the feeling that someone was watching him. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that Ice Blaze was watching him. He stood up and went over to where the cage was sitting. Ice Blaze saw this and started to growl, warning the scientist to stay away from him. The scientist stopped for a moment as the white tiger growled at him, but after thinking for a moment, he resumed his walk toward the cage. Ice Blaze continued to growl and started to show his teeth. The scientist stopped a few feet in front of the cage and crouched.
"Poor thing," he said. "They got you locked up in such a tiny space. I know that tigers need a lot of space."
The tiger stopped growling and flashing his teeth as he heard what the scientist said. The scientist took this opportunity to get closer to the cage, and he held out his hand. Ice Blaze tried to move back as far as he could from the scientist, but he couldn't.
"I know you probably don't trust me," said the scientist. "But I'm not going to hurt you."
He continued to coax the tiger, and Ice Blaze finally sniffed the hand. While he was sniffing the scientist's hand, the scientist placed the other hand on the tiger's head and began to scratch behind the tiger's ear, making Ice Blaze purr. The scientist smiled and stood up. He moved to the front of the cage and unlocked the door. Ice Blaze pushed the door open with his muzzle and crawled out of the cage. He limped over to the scientist, who was crouching down, and licked him in the face. The scientist chuckled as he was getting licked.
"This is the first time I have actually encountered a white tiger," said the scientist, scratching the tiger's head. "Applying for a job here was huge mistake on my part."
Ice Blaze looked at the scientist with a curious look on his face. The scientist saw the tiger's perplexed expression, and he then looked down and noticed the dried blood on the tiger's paw.
"I'll be right back," the scientist said as he stood up and headed toward a cabinet.
He opened the cabinet and retrieved a bottle of rubbing alcohol, antibiotics, cotton pads, and bandages. He closed the cabinet and came back to Ice Blaze. He sat down in front of the tiger. He took the rubbing alcohol and placed some onto the cotton pad, and he took Ice Blaze's injured paw in one hand and applied the cotton pad onto the paw. Ice Blaze growled from the burning pain of the alcohol.
"I'm sorry about that," the scientist apologized. "But I had to clean your wound."
He placed the cotton pad on the ground and applied antibiotics on the wound. He retrieved the bandages and wrapped the tiger's wound. After he finished wrapping the paw, he placed the paw back on the ground.
"There you go," said the scientist.
Ice Blaze looked at his bandaged paw and then at the scientist, and he licked the scientist's face as a thank you. The scientist laughed and patted the tiger on his side. The scientist heard footsteps coming toward the lab. The scientist began to panic, and Ice Blaze realized that he needs to get back into the cage before whoever it was on the other side came in and saw a tiger in the open. The scientist scrambled with the medical supplies and disposed the used items, while Ice Blaze entered the cage in reverse. Once the scientist replaced the medical supplies into the cabinet, he goes back to the cage and locked it so that no one will know that the tiger was ever out his cage. He returned to his workstation before Khalil entered the lab.
"Jeremy," Khalil called to the scientist. "Get the canomutator prepared for the tiger."
Jeremy turned around on his stool and looked at Khalil and says sadly, "I will."
Khalil turned around and headed right back out but stops. He looked at Ice Blaze with a sadistic smile on his face.
"In just a few hours," Khalil began. "You'll no longe' have your free will, n' you'll be servin' in General Parvo's army in world domination. You'll be the fiercest of 'em all. Parvo may even conside' you as one of his second in commands."
He turned back toward the door and left. Jeremy sighed and got up from his workstation. He walked over to Ice Blaze's cage and crouched down to the tiger's eye level. He reached in and gave the white tiger a gentle. Ice Blaze understood the dilemma that Jeremy is in.
"I'm so sorry," Jeremy said with a sigh, looking sadly at the tiger in front of him. "If only there was a way to…"
He stopped for a moment and got up from his spot. He walked over to the computer began to do something. Ice Blaze watched the young scientist from within the cage.
