Unknown Parking Lot
The parking lot was empty save for a couple of cars - the sounds of the night setting a pleasant ambiance throughout the area, at odds with the discussion taking place.
A dark figure wearing a suspicious looking trenchcoat, gloves, and hat, looked at a USB in his hand, as well as a vial of liquid in a briefcase that had been handed to him by a nervous looking man.
"So" the man stated. "This is what you want us to plant, Mr. McLemore?"
Bill resisted a flinch, and narrowed his eyes at the man. "Yeah, that's the stuff. It should be a simple thing - just dump the stuff in the water supply of some place out in the wilderness, and the liquid will affect the animals. They'll find the stuff, and it'll be linked back to Eric's project. He'll be thrown into jail, and I'll be able to step up and take his place." he finished with a grin.
The other man looked at him casually. "You realize, of course" he stated "That there are a few more steps than just that?"
Bill flushed angrily, glaring at the other "Of course I know! I have everything prepared on my end to make sure it happens" he muttered. "I'm not an idiot."
The figure nodded thoughtfully, his black mask preventing Bill from seeing his smirk. "And what if a human were to become infected, if I may ask?" He asked slowly.
Bill narrowed his eyes at the man once more, looking at him suspiciously. "Part of the deal is that you DON'T get any humans infected" he growled. "I might want Eric gone, but I don't want anybody else to get hurt over this!"
The figure raised his hands in surrender, "Relax my friend, I merely ask just in case. One can't be too careful, wouldn't you agree?"
Bill relaxed a little bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right" he admitted reluctantly. "Well..."
A few minutes later both the figure and Bill separated, going into their respective cars.
Once inside, the man looked at the briefcase again and smirked victoriously while carefully taking off the mask he wore. "Oh Bill, you idiot" he said to himself. "You truly have no idea the value of that which you've given me, hehehe."
The Agency
The sound of footsteps echoed down the empty hallway as two men were escorted by a third.
The two being escorted were generals, in full military uniform. One was a tall, broad shouldered man, with a military cut gray hair. The other was shorter and weighed more, with short brown hair. Both walked in sync behind the third man. The man escorting them wore a lab coat, wild white hair and glasses.
They had already gone through two checkpoints as they walked through the underground facility, eventually making their way to a large room filled with computers and several scientists. The walls were filled with whiteboards containing notes and formulae that neither of the generals could understand. The guide nodded his head towards one of the scientists.
"Dr. Dinkley!"
"Yes Professor Kaufman?" A woman replied, her tone completely neutral as she turned and looked at the men. She was shorter than both of the men, with chin length auburn hair and square glasses.
The Professor extended his hand to each of the men. "These men are here to view the results of some of our experiments" he replied coolly. "This is General Niedermeyer" The tall, gray haired man nodded stiffly. "And this" he said, gesturing to the more heavyset general "is General Wimbley." The man tipped his hat slightly.
"I would like you to take them to view Project Elevation, as well as their trainer. I will send Dr. Mondavarious over to take over after you are finished." He stated, already moving over to his own office. "I apologize gentlemen" he stated to the generals, "But seeing as how your visit was scheduled last minute, I am afraid that I was unable to clear my schedule. Please, feel free to ask Dr. Velma Dinkley any questions you might have. I have utter faith in her capabilities." And with that, he closed the door.
Velma motioned for them to follow her, and walked out of the room through a different hallway. As they were walking, she started talking. "To give a brief history, Project Elevation started several years ago with the concept of bolstering the armed forces with a different type of combatant" she stated. "The Agency of course has numerous labs, each specializing in a different field. While we have another lab working on creating and improving robotics and designs, led by Dr. Jenkins, I was given a slightly different tasking."
And with that, they came to a door. After swiping it with her badge, they walked in.
The two generals looked around the large lab, immediately noting a windowed wall. Walking over to it, Velma gestured inside.
"Instead of working on developing AI" she stated. "I was tasked with increasing the usage and viability of animals in the field."
Both of the general's eyes went wide. Inside the area was an area not dissimilar to that of a zoo. And inside, there could be seen three Great Danes and one puppy. One of the Great Danes and the puppy were both brown in color with black spots, one was white with black spots, and the last was a pure white female. All of them wore some type of cyber ware on their heads which brought up holographic screens in front of their eyes, looking for all the world like glasses.
While odd, what had the generals actually surprised was watching as the two brown haired dogs play some kind of card game, gambling with dog treats, while the female dog browsed through a magazine. The last dog remained sleeping in the corner.
"These dogs are the result of several experiments, the goal of which was to advance the neurological pathways found within the left prefrontal lobe, the left temporal cortex, and the left parietal cortex." Velma continued smoothly. "Later experiments have included more stimulations of the 'Brocas Area', which has led to a further increase in language capabilities"
For the first time that evening, General Wimbley spoke up, "Alright, so what's up with the weird glasses they all have on them?" he asked, eyes narrowed at the strange contraptions.
Velma nodded at the question "During the early phases of the experiment, we needed a way to help gauge how much the dogs actually understood. Those devices connect directly to their thoughts, and help them communicate with us." She brought up a tablet and brought up some schematics, showing the device. "Ever since the dogs gained a certain level of intelligence and communication, we added a function within the device to project a hologram screen in front of their eyes that provide a function similar to Smart Glasses, allowing them various means of entertainment."
At this, both generals looked at Velma disbelievingly, "You gave the dogs Smart Glasses?" General Neidermeyer asked.
Velma collapsed the schematic on the tablet and looked at them calmly. "We increased their intelligence to that of a human." She stated calmly. "Without means of entertainment, they'd probably go crazy." They looked like they were about to say something, but she quickly headed them off, "The device does not connect to the internet, and simply provides them access to a secure database that we provide." She collapsed the schematic on her tablet and brought up a list to show them. "With this connection, they have access to books and games to keep themselves occupied." She adjusted her glasses after that, though the generals continued to look skeptical.
All of a sudden, the door slammed open and another man ran in.
"Yo! Dr. Velms! I heard that we had some bigshots coming in and wanted to quickly, uh..." The person slowed down and went pale when both men turned around and stared at him. Velma's face remained impassive, though inwardly she was cringing.
The new man was very different from the usual people the generals had seen thus far. Instead of the professional lab coat that they were accustomed to seeing, this guy had a green t-shirt and brown pants. His hair was unkempt, and he wore a goatee.
After a couple seconds of silence, the man yelped "Zoinks!" and stood at attention. "Trainer Rogers, here to, like, inspect the dogs sirs."
Velma gave quick mental sigh, before speaking up. "This is Trainer Rogers. He was hired by us to assist in the training of the dogs."
"Their training?" General Wimbley asked in his rough voice, "Why would you need a dog trainer if you're increasing their intelligence?"
Velma shrugged. "We gave them the capability to understand" she stated. "They still had to learn everything on their own. Mr. Rogers here" she nodded towards the man still standing at attention, "Is not only capable of training dogs, but teaching kids as well. That made him a logical choice."
"Yeah, Mr. General sir" the man said, chuckling nervously. "And they've all made, like, a lot of improvement compared to when they first started sir! Did you, uh, want to meet them?" He asked hesitantly.
After a brief pause, the older general gave a quick nod, and the trainer quickly leapt forward and swiped his badge, opening the door.
Once the door opened, all of the dogs immediately perked up, and the puppy jumped forward. "Finally! That took forever Uncle Shaggy! So what'd you bring to eat?" He asked eagerly, ignoring Shaggy's desperate arm waves. He fell silent however once the Generals stepped in, and the other dogs stood up with the exception of the white and black spotted dog, who just opened his eyes.
"So!" Shaggy said with forced cheer, "Here we have the dogs. This little rascal," He pet the puppy, who immediately growled and resisted being pet, "is Scrappy. Over there," pointing at the female dog, who joined the rest of them with a smile, "is Dee. Over here," He quickly sped over to the dog that was laying down and forced him up, "This is Dumm. And then lastly" he said in a fond tone, "Is Scooby Doo." His smile and posture slowly going more relaxed as he talked about the dogs.
Each of the dogs slowly walked over till they stood in front of Shaggy, carefully staring at the new people.
After a few seconds of observation General Neidermeyer spoke up "What are their current capabilities beyond that which regular dogs can do?" he asked.
Before Shaggy could say anything, Scrappy spoke up in an enraged tone, "What! Oh c'mon, how can you compare us with regular dogs? It's obvious that we're way better, especially Uncle Scooby! Just give us a test, any test at all, and I know that he'll UMPH!" He was suddenly cut off as Scooby quickly pushed him down, giving a nervous smile at the Generals.
"In addition to being in good physical condition" Velma cut in, "Each dog easily has the ability to walk through enemy territory without suspicion and can find and report anything suspicious that they may find. Additionally, they can easily eavesdrop on conversations."
"Huh" General Wimbley grunted. "What about those fancy glasses of theirs? They kinda stick out a bit."
"Uh, glasses?" Dumm asked with a blank look, "What glasses?"
"Correct" Velma stated easily. "Which is why the obvious nodes can be removed, and the others can be hidden by their fur."
"Good, very good." General Neidermeyer stated. "And what about combat effectivity?"
Had they not been staring at Velma, they would have seen all of the dogs (sans Scrappy) and Shaggy flinch at that question, while Velma didn't even twitch.
"Beyond that of a regular Great Dane, they are able to show increased tactics as expected from their increased IQ. Additionally, each has shown physical capabilities that are off the charts when the occasion demands it, far exceeding anything a normal dog could accomplish. However, experiments of that nature have not been fully conducted. We will need to conduct more extensive testing before a firm conclusion can be given." She said with a straight face, which both Generals accepted with a frown.
The Generals stayed for several minutes longer, conversing with each of the dogs and asking several more questions regarding their capabilities, before another scientist walked into the lab. Middle aged with short, dark curly hair and wearing a lab coat. He walked up to the General's with an eager smile. "Good evening" He said brightly, "My name is Dr. Mondavarious. Professor Kaufman asked me to walk you through some of my tests next, if you are done here?"
A few minutes later, and the generals left, with the group sighing in relief.
"Like, thanks Velms for the save back there." Shaggy stated, grinning at her, and Dee walked over and brushed against her fondly.
Never breaking from her professional look, she nodded at Shaggy. Though she hated his butchering of the English language, and his lackadaisical attitude in general, she could never deny his faithfulness to his dogs.
"I told you before" she said calmly. "My experiment, my responsibility. And I intend to do my best to take responsibility."
With that, she walked off, feeling more nervous than she let on. She hadn't to the generals... Not really, anyways.
The truth was, despite the amazing success that she had achieved with these dogs, they would be considered a failure in the eyes of the military. While having spies behind enemy lines was always nice, she knew that what they really wanted was superior combatants in the field capable of following orders.
One of the hurdles that they would come across was in the physical capabilities. She wasn't lying when she said that some of the results of the tests were off the charts. The problem was in the occasions in which they were exhibited.
Surprisingly it was Dumm that first showed what they could do. Usually the laziest out of them, Shaggy had been attempting to get him to do something to work out. After failing, he did something to scare Dumm awake.
It took a while for her to explain to her superiors why there was a dog shaped hole in the steel door.
Scooby Doo and Dumm were the most similar in this regard. After some experiments, it was discovered that both could perform at a much higher level when they were frightened, or when they were going after food. Scrappy, however, soon showed that he could perform with this "boost" when he was excited. While he was able to demonstrate it most often, it was always in smaller bursts. Dee had yet to show such capabilities, but she was also the most intellectual out of all of the dogs.
While this sounded promising, further testing had shown that this "boost" failed to exhibit itself in any of the combat simulations. Which actually led into the next, and main, issue she had discovered.
When she was first given this assignment, she hadn't considered all of the ramifications behind that. She had worked with Mr. Rogers with these dogs and watched as their intelligence grew. At some point, she came to the realization that their intelligence was... Like a human. Which sounds odd, since that is what they were going for. The problem was that they now had opinions.
And none of them wanted to fight.
Well, she thought to herself. Scrappy is always down for a fight, but even then, he has no desire to kill.
Their trainer, Mr. Rogers, wasn't even the one that inspired this attitude in them, it was something that they had already believed when their intelligence was elevated.
To experiment on them further would be like experimenting on a human. To force them into that lifestyle would be like slavery.
If the generals had been aware of that, then they would demand that the subjects be scrapped, and the experiments started over with different animals. It didn't matter how amazing it was that they accomplished what they had, or the implications. The Agency was part of the government, and they had started Project Elevation with a specific purpose. They wouldn't fund any money to take care of the dogs if it wasn't in line with that purpose, and the advancements made were too confidential to just let the dogs go. They would see termination as the only solution.
She would not allow that.
She was often called a robot by her peers. Emotionless. But that was far from the truth - she just hid them better, and preferred to think logically.
The dogs were her responsibility more than they were Mr. Rogers. It was her that gave them intelligence. And as she said to Mr. Rogers, she would take responsibility of that as best as she could. Being emotional about this wouldn't solve the problem. She needed to think of a way to get the government to see the value that the dogs presented.
She finally made it to her office, closing the door and logging into her computer.
Unfortunately, it would not be easy to help them.
Especially with some of the other projects that were going on within the Agency.
She shuddered.
Experiments of highly questionable natures were happening in some of the other labs. Some actually involving human experimentation. Deplorable perhaps, and stepping over lines that she would never cross nor condone, but they were getting results.
She opened up her emails quickly as she continued to think about the problem, going through various schemes in her mind. Absently, she started deleting a few ads that had managed to make it through, ignoring the majority of them.
Her eyes passed over one in particular before deleting it. It was one that had been making the rounds lately. While she didn't know much about them, she could admire their persistence.
Jones & Blake Investigations
Investigative Journalists
Daphne Blake & Fred Jones
County Museum
The halls of the museum were empty, the moonlight filtering through the windows and throwing shadows on all of the items on display. In the office of the curator, a short, balding man with round glasses rubbed his temples in agitation, attempting to get rid of the headache that had started to grow after receiving some bad news.
He stared at his computer and ran through various situations in his head, trying to think of the best path to take, when a cough behind him caused him to jump out of his chair in shock. Spinning around, he sees a familiar figure, and glares at the masked newcomer in annoyance.
The figure smirked at the startled man, "Good evening, Mr. Wickles" he said, eyes glittering behind the mask. "Long time no see. How's the art business been?"
Unknown Parking Lot
Previous Conversation
...
The figure raised his hands in surrender, "Relax my friend, I merely ask just in case. One can't be too careful, wouldn't you agree?"
Bill relaxed a little bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right" he admitted reluctantly. "Well...the serum acts weird to humans. It's not exactly permanent, see? Eric made it by accident, his goal focused more on recreating a super soldier serum. He used data gained from several of the other Projects, like Project Elevation and Project Eden. With animals, it creates a more monstrous version of said animal." He licked his lips, eyes darting from side to side. "On humans though? Our minds our substantially different. Eric's not sure how it happens - the results we're seeing are a mess. But see, it messes with a persons minds a little bit. It latches onto something important in their mind, and enlarges that desire. Then, the persons body goes through a lot of changes, similar to if it was done with an animal, but the end results were extremely varied. The best way to classify them would be to call them monsters."
Bill flinched, thinking about what happened to some of the subjects. "But, see, instead of them becoming a monster permanently like the animals would, they change into it periodically, with the focus being something that the human part desired." He explained. "So if you really wanted money, or jewelry, then when you changed into the monster version, that would become your obsession and you might go commit robberies. The monster form will actually change to suit the obsession. It would be a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type thing. Whether or not the subject remembered what happened while transformed seems to vary from person to person."
"Hmmm" the figure hummed thoughtfully. "That sounds... Interesting."
"Well, uh, I guess" Bill said uncertainly, "B-But it seriously screws with your head man. A-and remember!" he said quickly, "I do have stuff on you as well, so if you try to change the terms of our deal, then I can cause a lot of trouble for you!"
"Hehehe, don't worry Bill" the figured said easily, "I am fully aware of our current standing with one another." He stood up and put on his hat. "I better be off. It's been a pleasure as usual. And stop worrying about me, and just worry about carrying out your part of the bargain." Bill licked his lips and nodded uncertainly.
And with that, both the figure and Bill separated, going into their respective cars. A few moments later, and both cars drove off.
The moon hung in the sky and the crickets chirped merrily. The world at large not realizing the sudden changes about to happen.
Authors Notes:
Hey there! This will be the second story that I have started posting on this site. I had this idea bouncing around my head the other day and wanted to get it out. Please let me know what you guys think of it, and if you have any recommendations. The next chapter will be about Daphne and Fred.
I'm not sure how frequent I will post chapter to this story - I would actually like to still focus on my other story, but I don't want to leave this one in the dust. Unfortunately, I only have so many hours to work on writing, and having a job does take precedence to this hobby. Anyways, I'll do by best and see what happens.
Hopefully everybody enjoyed reading this, and I'd like to thank the three sisters of mine who helped beta read this chapter and provided insight and thoughts :)