Warning: This chapter contains violent imagery which may be too intense for some readers. While I don't think it exceeds the PG-13 rating, you can skip down to the end if it gets too disturbing.

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"The Experiment"

Chapter 7

"Frank! Come quick!" I charged into the Lab.

Frank ran out of a back room. He apparently had heard the fear in my voice. "What's wrong?"

"Something's wrong with Sandy."

"What?"

"I... I can't describe it. You'll just have to see for yourself."

A Golem stepped into the Lab, Sandy clenched in his gigantic fist. He had met me at the edge of the forest, attracted by Sandy's screams. At that very moment, Sandy had lost her grip on me, and tumbled off my back into the grass. The Golem had picked her up and carried her along behind me, while I ran ahead to warn Frank.

Sandy was screaming and writhing in agony. The Golem carried her past me as Frank directed him towards one of the labs. The Golem put her down on the table, and Frank leaned over to examine her. He immediately noticed the plates that were growing out of her hips.

"What is this?" He wondered.

"They just started growing out of her," I told him. "Sandy was complaining of pains in her chest again. Then they apparently spread to her arms. She started trying to tear her arms off, but then... THAT started growing out of her hips."

Frank lifted her arm. I hadn't noticed when I'd had her pinned down, because her elbows were towards me. But on the inside of her arm, where the elbow bent, her skin was red and angry. Cables had begun to snake out of her forearm, and into the skin around her bicep.

"What the..." I commented.

"She had a couple of these cables connecting her Henger section to her body before, but apparently now it's sending out more of them. I wonder if..."

Before he could finish, Sandy screamed, and twisted her arm out of Frank's grasp. She started trying to claw at herself again, and Frank tried to grab her. In response, she grabbed him by the shirt, and flung him across the room. He hit the wall, and somehow managed to catch himself from falling to the floor.

"Stop her!" Frank yelled. The Golem brought his massive hand down on top of Sandy, pinning her. "Get some manacles!" Frank yelled, to some of the handlers that had wandered in.

"Can't you just tie her down?" I asked.

"She'll just break rope. You saw what she did to me..."

As he walked back over to her, Sandy looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"I know." He patted her head. She closed her eyes, then tensed as the pain flooded through her again. She gritted her teeth, trying to keep from crying out, but she only held out for a few seconds. I winced at the intensity of her scream.

The handlers ran in with chains and strapped her hands down to the table. They then pinned down her legs. Frank had turned back to his cabinet and had started to mix up more of his herbs. "You," he said, to a handler. "Put something in her mouth."

"What?"

He glanced around and found some sort of measuring scale with a wooden balance beam. He grabbed the wooden part and handed it to the man. "So she doesn't bite her tongue off!"

I stood up, with my paws on the edge of the table, so I could see her better. Sandy looked at me, but then the pain made her look away. She was tossing her head from side to side, thrashing about on the table. And although her screams ended when the handler put the wooden stick in her mouth, she still groaned and gnashed her teeth.

A puddle of blood appeared on her suit, spreading away from the middle of her belly. "FRANK!!!" I yelled.

Frank turned back and saw the blood. More of it was appearing on her stomach, soaking into the fabric of her suit. Frank grabbed a knife and began to cut the suit off of her.

Sandy whined, obviously embarrassed, but none of us saw what we were expecting to see. Sandy's breasts were covered by curved growths of the tan material, which was forcing its way out between her ribs. They fit the curve of her chest exactly, both protecting and supporting her.

And her Henger Eye... the green gem had emitted cables, which were visibly burrowing their way under her skin. There was one large one that went down between her breasts. Two more went up, towards her neck. More wounds had opened up, there, the soft and delicate skin ripped open by the movement underneath.

The skin over her shoulder blades had also split open, and more of the tan covering was growing up and outward, over her round shoulders. "It's like bone..." I muttered.

Frank continued to cut open the bathing suit with his knife, revealing more and more of her belly. There was movement there, just under the skin, and it was making me sick to watch it. The blood that I had seen was coming from wounds, all over her stomach, more and more of which were opening with each second. The damage was getting worse, and worse, as Frank continued to cut downward towards her crotch. Finally, the last of the cloth fell away, revealing her hips -- where there nothing left of her flesh at all.

Nothing, that is, but cables, and wires, and small bits of machinery, writhing around inside her. I ran out of the room, and out of the Lab, and lost most of my dinner onto the grass.

* * * * *

I lay by the table for hours, as Frank as the other men struggled to save her. Sandy passed out, thankfully, although she continued to convulse, as the battle raged inside her body. Curtis came in and asked about her, and Frank gave him a terse reply. He said that he didn't know if Sandy would survive, and ordered Curtis and all the other gawkers out of the Lab.

He didn't mention me, though, and no one moved me.

Finally, Sandy's condition seemed to stabilize. Her thrashing stopped, and the damage that was being done to her halted its spread over her body. Frank worked on her for a while longer, but he was exhausted. Finally, he knelt down next to me.

"I've done all I can," He said. "Call me if anything happens."

"I will."

I lay there on the floor, almost dozing off myself, and then I heard her voice. She was talking to herself, delirious. Her voice was low, hoarse, almost so quiet that I couldn't hear her.

"Leave me alone. Stop talking to me."

She continued to toss and turn for a long time, crying out from time to time. But I didn't know what to do for her. I just lay there, listening to her begging whatever it was she was hearing to leave her alone.

"'Teppenwuf...'"

I put my paws up on the table.

"I'm here."

The skin of her stomach had been completely eaten away. I could see her ribs, exposed, sticking out into the air. There was some sort of structure there, a framework, where her belly used to be. I wondered if it had always been there. A black ooze had spread upward, from under her hip plates, to cover the organs inside of her body. It came up almost to her breasts, still moving, seething, the battle still raging on underneath it.

"I... hurt..." Her voice was weak, breathy. Tears were running down her cheeks. Her whole body was dripping with sweat, and I could smell the pungent scent of the medicines that Frank had spread over her wounds.

"I know."

"It won't leave... me alone..."

"What won't leave you alone?"

"The voice... in my head..."

She tensed, gritting her teeth, then collapsed again. "I'm so hot..."

I put a paw to her forehead. She was burning up.

"Leave me alone... why won't it leave me alone? ... let me sleep..."

She tossed her head, and another tear rolled down her face. "It's hot... if only... it would let up... for just a minute... let me sleep..."

I stroked her face for a moment, then took a breath. Gently, I breathed across her body, letting the air chill, not much, but enough. She sighed as the cool air passed over her, relaxing. I breathed over her again, a cloud of ice forming, and it rolled down over her body, circling. Sandy sighed, her head rolled to one side, and her breathing became gentle and more even.

I stayed there with her all night, keeping her body cool with my breath, watching over her.

* * * * *

When I awoke, I was at first frightened that Sandy was not with me. As I took a look around, however, I realized that I was in a different room in the Lab. Taking a deep breath, to try and calm my racing heart, I got up and trotted out of the door. It took me only a few seconds to get my bearings and return to the room that Sandy was in.

I found Frank there, watching over her. She was still asleep, her arms and legs still chained wide apart, but she seemed relaxed, peaceful in her sleep. As I stood there in the door, Frank raised his head. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, with the back of his hand, he turned to look at me.

"What time is it?" he asked.

I glanced back towards the double doors that led outside. The intensity of the light outside told me that it was near midday. "I'm not sure," I said. "Probably early afternoon."

I stared at him for a long moment. "Why didn't you... why didn't you let me stay with her?"

"You sleep too lightly." He grinned. "Every little noise she made would wake you up. You didn't need that. I took you into another room so you could get some sleep."

"I don't even remember..." I looked at her. "But at least she got some sleep."

He nodded. "She seems to be over the worst of it. I think it's over. It's... it's changed her. But I think it's over."

I put my forepaws on the table so I could look at her. That horrible, gaping wound on her belly was gone. The black ooze had hardened, forming a flexible covering. It was marked with streaks of red, like blood vessels or scars. That skeletal structure, the bracing that I had seen inside her belly, was now on the outside of her skin.

Her neck, too had given way to that black material. The cables stood out like tendons, running from her shoulders up into her head. I wondered what those cables carried. Did they carry blood, food, up to her brain? Or... did she no longer have... no, I shook my head, to force that thought away.

Frank had begun releasing the straps on her arms. As if his touch had awakened her, Sandy's head began to move, lifting slowly from the hard surface of the table. She moaned, slightly, and then her eyes fluttered and opened.

"Unit SD-dash-7784 activated."

Sandy's eyes widened in shock. "WHAT THE F*** DID I SAY THAT FOR?!!!"

Frank turned to look at her. "Don't panic, Sandy. That's... that's something Hengers sometimes say."

"DO YOU MEAN I'M GONNA HAVE TO SAY THAT EVERY TIME I WAKE UP?"

He stroked her arm, trying to calm her down. "I don't know, Sandy. I... don't know."

But Sandy looked startled, her eyes once again growing wide. "No... I can turn it off."

"You can?"

"I can... alter... the... startup message. Or turn it off." She swallowed.

"How do you know that?"

"I... don't know." Her voice trembled.

Frank turned back to her arm, freeing it. He then released the other, and helped Sandy sit up. She stared down at the table, holding one arm in the other, rubbing her wrist.

Frank moved down to the bottom of the table and undid the straps that held Sandy's legs. Then he stepped back, as she turned and sat on the edge of the table. Frank stroked her hair. She seemed to relax at the touch, to lean into it. "I... I'm hearing... something..."

"What?" He asked her.

"I don't understand what it's saying. Something about... systems status."

"Is it the voice you were hearing before?" I asked her.

She nodded. "What voice?" Frank asked, looking at me.

"She was hearing voices, last night."

Sandy put both hands over her ears, shutting her eyes. "It's asking me questions. It won't stop!"

"What questions?"

"'What are you? What is your function? Please explain the purpose of the physiological imbalances.'"

I looked at Frank, but he just shrugged.

"What's speaking? Ask it who it is."

"Operating system of unit SD-dash-7784. Integration with organic neurological system has been completed."

Sandy burst into tears. "What am I saying?"

"It's all right, Sandy. It's all right." I put a paw on her leg. "Sandy... let me speak to it. Go ahead and let it speak to me, through you."

She was silent, so I addressed it. "Please explain why you attempted to destroy yourself."

"This unit was malfunctioning." Sandy's head came up. Her lips trembled, as understanding sank in, understanding of words that we had yet to hear. She broke down crying, cradling her head in her hands.

"Let him... it... speak, Sandy. Don't fight it."

Sandy nodded, still sobbing. "This unit was malfunctioning," she said. "It was releasing chemicals, which caused the organic components to begin growing at a greatly accellerated rate, and in a chaotic fashion. This unit attempted to regain control by destroying the organic components responsible for generating the chemicals."

"That was no malfunction," Frank said. "They were required for your... organic components... to transform into a stronger and more useful form."

"This unit understands that now," Sandy said. Although her voice was slightly muffled by her hands and her sobs, it was still calm and matter of fact. "The inorganic system has begun to try and replace the function of the organic components that were destroyed."

Frank looked at me. "A truce?"

"... a truce." She said.

"What is the purpose of this?" He tapped the covering over Sandy's right breast.

"The organic portion of the system contained a number of inefficiencies and vulnerabilities. The system has attempted to repair that."

"But you stopped."

"The damage to the organic components was threatening a system-wide shutdown." The voice paused, for just a moment. "This unit is not programmed for self-destruction."

Sandy sobbed into her hands, and it was the only sound in the quiet of the Lab for a long time.

* * * * *

The day passed slowly. I just had returned to my stable for the noontime meal when Frank ran up to me. "Steppenwolf!" He shouted. "I need your help!"

"What's wrong?"

"Somehow Curtis convinced Gene to put Sandy on the Dodge Bags." He said. "I only just found out."

"What! She could get killed!"

"I know! She's in no shape for training! I may need you to to talk to her, she may have convinced herself that she's ready when she's not."

That wasn't why he wanted me with him, and I knew it. He was afraid to confront Curtis alone. "I'll take care of her, don't worry. And you can explain it to Mr. Curtis."

We ran towards the training grounds. The Dodge Bags were three large sandbags, suspended from a scaffold, over a set of short posts set into the ground. Sandy was standing on the first of the posts, preparing to jump from one to the next, while dodging the sandbags. Gene and Mr. Curtis watched from the other side of the course. Curtis had a whip in his hand.

She made the jump easily, but my ears picked up her cry of pain as she landed. Her body was still sore, aching from the ordeal she'd been put through. Fighting to control my rising anger, I sprinted forward, outracing Frank as I hurried to stop her.

As I neared, Sandy was trying to gauge the moment for the next jump. Two other Pixies, to either side of the scaffold, were swinging the bags. Behind her, one of the Pixies adjusted the swing of the bag she'd just passed, guiding it into a wider than normal arc. As Sandy made the leap past the second bag, the first one swung out of its path and struck her in the back.

The Pixie giggled as Sandy cried out in agony. She fell sideways, landing sprawled in the dirt. She cried out again, trying to get back to her feet, but the pain was too much for her. Her back arched, her wings drawing taught as her muscles contracted, instinctively, in response to the pain.

Curtis stepped forward, and to my astonishment, he began to whip her. "Get up!" He yelled. "We don't put up with weaklings on this ranch!"

Somehow, Sandy managed to get up on one knee. "She caught me off guard... sir..." She said, her voice strained. "I wasn't..."

"You expect an opponent to warn you when he's about to attack?" He whipped her again. Sandy screamed, putting up a hand to protect her face. "You expect him to just sit there and wait while you get back up?"

I leaped between Curtis and Sandy, turning to straddle her with my back legs. My lips curled back in a snarl as I met the human's eyes. "Do not whip her again," I growled.

Curtis looked shocked. Then he looked enraged. He brought the lash down on me a few times, but I didn't flinch. He could not cut into my leather-hard skin with a mere whip -- but then, it was not the physical pain that was hurting me.

"I could have you destroyed!" He roared at me.

"Be that as it may... you will not whip her again. At least, not today."

Frank had finally caught up with us. "Mr. Curtis! Sandy is in no shape for training, much less your brand of 'discipline'." He was unable to keep the anger out of his voice, and Curtis glared at him. "Her body has not yet healed from the transformation..."

"Oh, quit coddling her! Monsters have fought injured before, and they'll do so again..."

Sandy coughed, and a trickle of blood ran out of her mouth. She doubled over, groaning.

"Look at her!" Frank was almost screaming. "She's probably hemmoraging internally! I've got to get her back to the Lab!"

Frank helped Sandy up, supporting her under her shoulder. Curtis frowned at them, but the blood had gotten his attention. He looked like he was torn between anger at being proven wrong, and embarrasment that it had happened in front of others.

"How..." he paused a moment, to take a breath. "How long before she's ready to train."

"One, maybe two days," Frank said, a little distracted. Sandy was hanging onto him, her arms wrapped around his neck, unable to support her own weight. But he turned and looked at Curtis.

"Look, you've got the only Pixie/Henger in the world, here. You've spent untold amounts of money to create her. She's gotten further than any of her kind have EVER gotten before, and she's within sight of making all of that pay off... royally."

He looked Curtis in the eye. "Do you really want to throw it all away now?"

Frank turned and continued on to the Lab, talking gently to Sandy as she limped along beside him. Behind me, I could hear the Pixies whispering to each other. Curtis just stood there, next to me. He wasn't saying anything, but I could SMELL his anger, his humiliation.

He looked down at me. "This isn't over between us, Gray Wolf."

I struggled to keep my breathing under control. Every muscle in my body was tensed, and that red haze had come up behind my eyes again. But my voice was calm as I spoke.

"You made me... ME... A TIGER... challenge the actions of someone with authority over me. You beat me... When I have NEVER disobeyed an order in my LIFE. You have taken something AWAY from me... something that I will NEVER get back."

"If you want me destroyed, just go ahead... You cannot do any worse to me than you have already done."

I walked away, leaving him to fume, and Gene and the Pixies to gape in astonishment.