VI



Wake up……

The shocks had begun.

He didn't know what was going on. He could feel something intrude his mind. He could feel something attack his brain. He knew he was powerless to stop it.

And yet, even in that powerlessness, a new strength came. From a sealed box within his mind that Hobbes never knew he had, things began to come. In the dizzying white light, in that blackness, the hazy visions returned to the front of his memory.

It was in that memory wipe that Porcelain Tiger began to remember everything.

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"……up………Wake up……."

The memories had been fuzzy before the first time the cub had awoken. He remembered small things, unclear objects, and white. There had been green and white as far as the cub could remember, and other cubs like him, only larger.

"Good." The eyes came into focus. "He's awoken. It appears it was all a success."

The cub opened its eyes fully, looking around. There were no greens or whites in this place like there had been where he was before. There were colors the cub had never seen before - dull, lifeless colors that glimmered all around him. There was a bright light, though it had not been as bright as the sun the day he had been chased by the figures - the day he lost his freedom.

Then there was the man. He loomed over the dub in the shadows, always looming, yet far enough away so that the cub couldn't bite him. Either way, the cub felt groggy, and for some reason didn't want to fight. There were wiry things and sharp things in his body, but he was somehow too tired to care.

"The test subject is adapting well to the alterations."
"He is a cute little cub."

Suddenly, a hand came onto his head, patting it greatly, and the moment it touched him, the cub liked it. He looked up weakly to see another man - this one who was closer, and his face much kinder.

"Aah, he's a good little boy." There was another gentle pat. "See? He's a good little cub."
"Stop acting like he's a baby." The other man's voice became irritable. "It's an animal."
"But it has feelings too-"
"-and don't forget that you work for
me and the government's money is paying for you to do this. Finish up this part of your work and be quiet."

---------------------

"Memory wipe is proceeding as planned." The lab monitor pressed a few more buttons. "We seem to be having some trouble with the program, but I'm fixing it right now."
"Thank you."

Callous could not help but breathe a huge sigh of relief as workers scrambled around him with glass material. They were working to rebuild the dome, which had been damaged by the berserk behavior displayed by Calvin, the tiger's human companion. Every passing minute gave Callous more reason to take his gun out and shoot him.

"…..That boy…." Callous wiped his hand through his head. "You know, I almost regret bringing him here. It was a waste. I should have just taken the tiger from him. Unruly boy."
"He is unruly, sir." The monitor pressed the enter button. "If that was my kid, I'd kill him, sir."
"I should shoot him. He knows too much. In our line of duty that is what we do regardless of circumstances. Plus, he's asleep, so what could the brat do to stop me?" Callous shook his head. "An uncouth, unruly kindergartner. Nothing more than that. Yet Porcelain Tiger……I would think he would have retained some instinct from before. How did this child ever manage to corrupt him in such a way that turned him into a brainless baffoon?"
"Memory wipe will be complete in 5 minutes."
"That will pass, though. This will work." Callous closed his eyes. "Its 98 percent effective. The wipe will work. The boy will be out of his mind, nothing but a bad dream for my creation when this is done."

The lab monitor gave Callous a slightly uneasy look at this. For months, it had been assumed by most of the staff at the agency who knew the truth about Porcelain Tiger that the government had created him. The lab monitor was one of the few who knew the truth, but he dared not to second Callous. He knew other eyes could be watching their hasty actions.

"But sir," The lab monitor finally looked away. "What if it doesn't work?"
"…..Then," Callous turned and gave the monitor a glare. "I'll just shoot you instead."
"What?!" The monitor's yes widened. "But…I didn't make the program, sir! And I-"
"That doesn't matter." Callous turned back towards the tiger. "I'm sorry, boy, but your contract is tangible and I'd need to kill someone for these mistakes."

---------------------

There were memories, more thought coming back. More of the past.

"Ready, aim….."

The small cub looked at the man as the glimmering object was brought under his arm. The cub looked slightly confused as to the actual use of the object, just that it was shiny.

"FIRE!"

The loud, thunderous sound made the cub yelp and flee in terror at the sound. It echoed through his sensitive ears, resonating into his brain. The little cub gave a whimper.

"Nice, nice." The shadow of a man suddenly loomed over the figure with the gun. "You are the best of your kind, captain, so I'll hire you to teach the sniper skills. But look here. When I'm finished, you will see a soldier so perfect they'll put your kind out of business one day."
"Sir," There was some uncertainty in the figure with the object's voice. "I hate to sound doubtful, but
how can you teach a…..a toy to shoot?"

There was a moment of awkward silence. Finally, the other shadow spoke, its voice lowered more dangerously.

"If that's all you see," the shadow grumbled. "Then I see no reason to keep you on the project. Be sure to expect a transfer our of the Biochemical Agents…."

The tiger cub tuned the shadow - the mean man, because he recognized his voice - out of his mind. Rather, he had his eyes on another, one who was passing through the hall. As quietly as he could, the cub scampered out of the room - labeled "SHOOTING RANGE" - to follow.

"Why….hello!" There was a hint of surprise in the kind voice as the cub quickly nuzzled up to this new figure's leg. "You are looking good. Are you finished with watching the guns go off?"

The cub gave a nod in reply. Awkwardly, it stood up on its two hind legs, just as the kind voice had taught him. He swaggered along, trying to keep his balance, as if trying to impress the kind voice.

"Oh, you're walking better today!" The kind voice suddenly had a hint of sadness to it. "Yes, you're getting much better…."

The cub tilted his head in confusion, giving a meow as he did. He didn't know how to talk, though he knew the kind man would one day teach him, because the mean voice had said he had to. He would have asked what was wrong; he could sense that something was amiss. But the sadness passed the kind voice after a moment, and the cub forgot his foreboding sense.

"Come on with me." The figure of the kind voice gestured. "Come - I think you might want something to read?"

Curious, the cub scampered behind the figure until they reached a small room near the end of the hall. Opening the door, the figure entered into a small, cold room, one that barely had room fir the two of them to get into. It was filled with papers on a desk that took up half of the office space, and the areas that were not covered in papers - which had odd little numbers and squiggly lines on them - they were filled in with various books and pamphlets.

"I thought you might be interested in reading something." The man took a book up. "Just like last week. Would you like to continue Don Quixote, Or do you want to read a new book this time?"

The cub scrambled up onto the kind voice's chest. He didn't care what book they read; he loved how he read all of his books, regardless of which one it was. To make the choice easier, of course, the cub nudged the kind figure's right arm.

"Aah….aaaaah!" The kind figure laughed. "Very well. Don Quixote it is."


--


"And one…..two……three!!!"

The sound of the exploding gun sent the tiger cub on its heels. It was time for another obstacle course.

"Go, go, go!" He heard the voice shouting. "Go on! You can do it! Three minutes!"

The cub raced like a cheetah out of the gate, flying through the tires. Originally, it had had trouble going through the obstacle course - he had been very, very small, and they only had him practice his running. Now, fortunately, he was a little bigger, and the tires were finished in less than five seconds.

"There you go!" The little tiger cub threw himself into a pool situated behind the tires. "You're doing a very good job! Go!"

The tiger cub gave a sputter before he began to swim. His arms flailed a little bit, and tiger instinct told him that he shouldn't be in the water. However, he was wired, he was altered, and most importantly, he thought - or was made to think - that he was human. Despite the mean man's constant yelling at him, that was how he had always thought; he was human, just a little furrier.

After several seconds of uncertainty, his human instinct kicked in, and he lunged across the water, swimming with a breaststroke as the men - the men that called themselves "seals" - had taught him to do. He got out of the water after a minute, soaking wet.

"Hurry!" He heard the kind man's voice again. "Three laps!"

The cub was on his hind legs before the kind man even spoke the last of his words. With a great leap the cub was on his way down the track, running as fast as he could. He had trained on running for so long, he barely broke a sweat as he leaped across the finish line, jumping into the man's arms.

"GOOD BOY!" The cub gave a growl - his way of purring - as the kind voice proceeded to rub his head. "You are doing well, my friend."

There was a laugh from the kind voice as his face was licked. The cub could see him, the man with the kind voice, clearly that day, though to an older tiger his face was clouded by the loss of this memory. He was an older man, one who wore large glasses, and had silver hair, and wore a white lab coat and a dark green shirt and khaki pants.

"Two minutes and forty seven minutes." The old man looked at his stopwatch. "Well, you are doing very well. I think now is the time to take some time out to read some books…?"

The kind man's voice trailed off. His eyes widened, and he took several quick steps back.

"Oh, I…"
"Books?"

The cub also stiffened at the sound of the voice. He knew who it was. The shadow fell over him, and slowly, he turned around to see the mean man staring at him.

"I don't know what you're doing with him," The voice was slow, almost menacing. "But his times are suffering."
"S-sir?"
"I hired you because I thought you were the leading genetic specialist in the field of animal physiology." The mean man looked up at the kind man, a glint of hunger in his eyes. "I thought you could give me the perfect soldier. I didn't know you were trying to turn him into a scholar and reading him Tolstoy. That's
not your job, doctor."
"W-well…." The kind man seemed fearful. "I, um…..I thought, perhaps, a proficiency in scholarly endeavors could help him when he gets bigger…..to learn language….to study such things that-"
"QUIET, old man!"

There was an air of anger in the man's voice, and the cub began to shake. He knew what the mean man could do. The mean man was bad. Anyone who didn't do what he wanted were sent away, and the cub never saw them again.

"…..But….you have a point." There was slight irritation in his voice. "I'd rather have a soldier that can read instructions in Russian than have a brainless animal. But
I will choose the material. Remember," The mean man began to walk away. "I am your boss. This is my project. And this will be a privilege for him, not for you. Remember. And," He turned back around for a moment, the hunger in his eyes greater. "I want that time down to two minutes by the end of this month. So start getting a move on it, doctor."
"….Yes, sir……."

It was at this point that the cub began to comprehend that all the fuss, all the things that the mean ma was doing, was centered around him somehow. He wasn't sure why, but he had the feeling he was apart of something big. And regardless of whether or not he liked it, the mean man was the boss, and the cub would have to get used to it.

"……Come…." The sadness was back in the kind man's voice. "Let's get back to this…."


-


"Now," The cub looked up at the shadow as it handed him a large object. "I want you to shoot that object right there."

The cub looked down at the object he was handed. It was a large, silver gun. He knew what it was because he had seen it before. In the videos that the man made him watch. He did not like the videos, and he did not like the man.

"You have a mission." The man looked down at him with those hungry eyes. "Yours is a mission of death. You are to give death to those you are ordered to give death to. Those men are the enemy of the state. You are a machine for death."

The cub looked at the man blankly. None of the words were ones that he really understood, at least not in the way that the man was telling him. Something about the way it was said was….
evil.

"Go." The man looked as evil as his words. "Shoot the target."

The cub began to shake. His fear was risen by the sight of what the target was. It was the man that had been shooting before. He was reddened with blood, and his eyes were filled with fear. It was then the cub knew what he was being asked to do.

He was being asked to kill someone.

"Go on." The man's voice bored evilly into his mind. "Go on if you care about him. You care about him, don't you? Then learned to fight. Learn the instinct to fight, to hit, to punch and kick and shoot. To kill."

Then, within the memory, Hobbes woke up. He saw the face of the man of the past, and it resembled a face from the present - a face that was all too familiar. It was Callous.

It was in that memory that everything began to change.

"Do it." In his memory, the cub had no choice. He took up the gun and aimed. "Shoot."


-----------------------

Dun dun dun dun dun duuuuuun!!!
The cinematic images were fuzzy in Calvin's mind. He saw Hobbes, and Callous, and the large machine, though they were dim and only through delirious eyes. But even in his delirium, he saw one thing very clearly.

Calvin, the Spy, his mind ran a very strange cartoon. Found the sacred cheesecake, and was to bring it back to base before the evil men found it!

Somehow, in all of the things that Calvin had gone through in the past hours, in all of the danger, it was secretly one of the two constants that kept him going; Hobbes was the other. For Calvin, though, dessert was taking precedence over friends and memories in his subconscious dreams. His mind registered that he had not had a good cheesecake in two whole months, and the dream he was having was the odd result.

Suddenly, out of the blue came CALLOUS! Callous in Calvin's dream was completely wet, going along with his hair. Then, it began to rain, and Calvin was also wet. The evil spy that hates Calvin for his goodness and his curiosity! He swam across the English Channel to get the cheesecake for himself, and he won't give it up without a fight!

Naturally, a six-year-old such as Calvin would have naturally seen the Matrix movies - both of them, because the third one wouldn't come out for six more months - and his mind incorporated everything it could into the illusion. Soon, Callous was being played by Hugo Weaving, and Calvin's head was seemingly juxtaposed onto Keanu Reeves' body.

Bullet time! Calvin dodges all of his bullets! Calvin gave a satisfied snort in his sleeping. Callous starts to spread like a virus into the computer system, but Calvin - code-named 'Killer' - easily defeats him! The fighters of Zion cheer as Killer Calvin returns with cheesecake for all! Cheesecake with whip cream….and strawberries…..and cherries……and sauce…….mmmmmm…..

"…….activating the agent."

The echo of Callous' voice jolted Calvin out of his delicious dream, though not completely out of dreaming. He heard the voices, but could not jolt his eyes open.

"Soon, all thoughts from the past six years will be erased." There was something in Callous' voice that was venomous, even evil. "We should be able to easily reprogram Porcelain Tiger as he was before without the memory of the boy's influence."
"Um…." There was a sudden tone of fear in the technician's voice. "Sir, we seem to have a problem with the program-"
"Fix it." Callous' voice was sharp. "You're a computer technician, you can fix it."
"Actually, sir, it's a little more than that-"
"Never mind." There was now a growl in Callous' voice. "Just do what you have to."

The next sound Calvin heard from the two made him wake up when, before, he could barely move. It was a strange, chinking sound, followed by a click. Calvin knew, from all the late night TV he secretly watched, exactly what the sound was.

It's…… Calvin's head jerked up. A GUN!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!

The sudden jerked movement of the boy's head caught the computer monitor's eye, and he gave a shout. Calvin, in turn, stared at him with wide deer eyes, still clinging to Hobbes like an old girlfriend.

"Sir!!!! SIR!!!!" The lab monitor quickly fished through his pockets for a gun. "SIR! The boy is awake!!!!!!!!!!"

At this, Callous turned, his eyes bearing into Calvin with sudden, unspeakable hate. With no other real way to reply, as he had no gun, Calvin simply thumbed his nose in contempt at the man, sticking his tongue out as he did.

"NYAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"

-----------------------------

"RUN!"

The wind was flying through him. The memories, the explosions, everything. He had to fight, for he could feel the blackness of oblivion starting to creep in his mind.

He had no choice but to run.

"Run from it!!!" The words echoed through his mind. "Run, run forever, run from this hell, but whatever you do, don't let them catch you!! They will make you kill him!"

Suddenly, as the cub ran - he did not remember why he was running, but only that they were going to make him kill someone he had never met - he felt something bump into him.

"YOU!"

The cub cowered briefly in fear, remembering the evil that he was made to do. The fear of what would happen, however, was fleeting. The instinct, the fighting instinct that Callous had driven into the cub, the instinct that was genetically implanted into him, kicked in almost instantly.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"

He remembered everything full well of that moment. He had risen up, and with a snarl on his face, he had raised a hand against the bad man. He could remember the screams, the cries, every sound that came from the bad man as he fell, his face nothing more than a bloodied shadow of a horror movie circus clown.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It was the only time the cub ever truly enjoyed overseeing an act of bloody violence wrought by his own hands.


-------------------------

"SIR!!"

Then, suddenly, to the dismay of everyone, there was a loud popping sound just as Callous moved to take a retaliating action.

"SIGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!"
"Huh?!"

Calvin's eyes widened as his eyes set upon the main console. There were sparks and jolts of electricity that surged through the monitor as the dome lights suddenly flickered on and off, and as the computers towers themselves seemed to fail. The computer itself, which had actually started buzzing when Calvin was waking up, whined and smoked for several moments from whatever had happened before setting off a small explosion with one final pop.

"GEORGE!" The lab monitor gave no reply, falling instead to the floor, dead. "Look what you DID, you little BASTARD!"
"WHAT?!?!?!" Calvin's eyes widened. "I DIDN'T DO IT!!!!"

Callous opened his mouth to reply, and raised his gun to accompany his reply. However, another sound came into the room, echoing through the four ears still functioning in the room.

"Ooooooooh……."

Calvin's head whipped around, his eyes widened. The tiger's eyes were beginning to flicker.

"Hobbes!!!" Calvin grabbed the doll, shaking it. "HOBBES!!!!!!!!"

The Porcelain Tiger was waking.

-----------------------

The events outside of the factory compound could not have been more different than the scene within the lab. All around, there was little more than the sound of humming generators and fences, and there were few guards milling around the buildings that lay within as the midnoon sun began its journey towards the horizon - its signal of sunset.

"This is it, boys."

One man stood up in front of the group that was gathered around the complex. All of them wore black, and all of them had guns. They were all hooded, and on the back of their bullet proof vests were the letters "F-B-I".

"This is our one shot." The man, older than most, but still in his early fifties, looked at each and every gunman with a determined look. "We know what he's up to. We know who's he's been dealing with, what he's been taking from them. And we all know who he's got captured in there. We have to rescue him."

The gunmen looked at each other nervously at this. They knew what they had to do. Even though they knew the evil that was within, they all knew that it was nevertheless dangerous. The man whom they were dealing with was nothing less than dangerous.

"For the sake of our country, and for our future generations, lets stop the terror." The man gave a motion towards the building. "Let's move out!"