A.2:E1491514

A long haired man enters the dimly lit lab, making is way toward a glowing tank. As he nears it he spots a young woman in a lab coat, immediately recognizing her as the chief scientist of the project, as well as the only one who had been assigned to it from day one. He walks up beside her and reads the steel label on the front of the tank. "E1491514 Species: Hedgehog Age: 17" The young woman stands at a control panel, reading the data scrolling down the screen. A bit of light shines off her name tag, which reads "Dr. Ashion."

"How is this phase of the experiment progressing?" the man asks, his voice resonating through the lab.

"Much better than anticipated, Director Lamoure," Doctor Ashion replies. She keeps her eyes glued to the screen. "She's responding well, as always."

Lamoure smiles slightly. "Perfect," he says, his gaze glued to the tank.

He could remember the day she was born--a tiny, tan, humanoid ball of fur. She had started out like all the other lab rodents. She was kept in a small life support cell until her quills grew in, at which point they started to run basic tests on her and the others. But unlike the rest of the subjects, who eventually weakened, E1491514 remained strong. She was eventually moved to a secluded lab for more advanced experiments. Over the years she stole a special place in Lamoure's heart. Now, seventeen years later, he smiles at the adolescent creature in the tank before him. Various cables protrude from all over her purple, quilled body, tan fur sprouting from her skin in those places where her quills do not. Each of her long, dark strands of hair is suspended in the fluid that surrounds her, oversized ears protruding from each side of her head. Long eyelashes curl out from her closed eyelids and her dark, animal nose is tipped with pink.

"My little Nion," he whispers. Dr. Ashion rolls her eyes. She had always respected the Director. An intelligent man, he had always been passionate about his work. His passion for E1491514, however, seemed to have become an unhealthy obsession. He had even gone so far as to name it. She knew as well as Lamoure that E1491514 had always been exceptional, but Dr. Ashion had never allowed her feelings to get involved with her work. She glances at the tall, well-dressed man staring into the tank before returning her eyes to the scrolling data. She does so just in time to see an abnormality in the system's feedback. She touches the screen, freezing it.

"That can't be right," she thinks. She taps the screen to set it scrolling again and the abnormality repeats itself, progressively taking over the data. Dr. Ashion taps at a few keys on the control panel, never taking her eyes off the data. Lamoure is brought out of his trance. The sound of typing during an experiment meant a problem--a rare occurrence with E1491514. Usually he wouldn't worry about it, but this phase of the experiment was far too important to ignore anything abnormal. Lamoure glances over at Dr. Ashion.

"What's wrong?" he asks, calm. Dr. Ashion curses silently—she had hoped he wouldn't notice

"I'm not sure," she admits. "The data is reporting increasing amounts of energy inside the tank."

"Well, fix it," Lamoure demands, his eyes back on the tank.

"I'm trying, but everything seems to be in order," Dr. Ashion explains, still clicking away at her control panel.

"Then it's a defect in the equipment?" Lamoure inquires.

"Impossible, all the equipment was inspected a few hours ago, and I just ran a diagnostic test to double-check. Everything is functioning properly. The only explanation is…" Dr. Ashion hesitates.

"Is what?"

"The only explanation is that the energy is coming from the test subject," Dr. Ashion states. Lamoure frowns.

"Dr. Ashion," he begins, "you know as well as I that that is not possible," he tells her. Dr. Ashion looks at the data to avoid responding.

"Director, the energy level in the tank is continuing to rise," Dr. Ashion says. "Regardless of what the cause is, the tank is going to explode at this rate. The echo of her words fades away and the lab falls silent.

"Do whatever it takes to reverse the energy buildup," Lamoure orders.

"Yes, sir," Dr. Ashion obliges, already knowing that she can do nothing. The two of them remain silent while Dr. Ashion desperately works at the control panel. After several minutes the data stops scrolling and a red message flashes on the screen.

"WARNING, ENERGY LEVELS DANGEROUSLY HIGH!"

Dr. Ashion gets to her feet. "Director, we have to evacuate, there's nothing I can do."

"We must remove her from the tank," Lamoure states, remaining motionless. Sirens sound around them, warning them of the impending explosion.

"We can't. Any disturbance to the tank will trigger the explosion," Dr. Ashion tries to explain. A computerized voice sounds in the lab.

"Twenty seconds to explosion."

"I'm not leaving without her," Lamoure states. Dr. Ashion looks at him before running toward the evacuation chamber, entering her personnel code upon her arrival.

"Ten seconds to explosion."

The chamber opens and Dr. Ashion enters, not knowing what to expect. As the door closes behind her she is enveloped in darkness. She feels her stomach lurch as the chamber drops deep into the ground. She is thrown into the wall as it races horizontally toward the main lab.

She pictures the Director--her co-worker and supervisor of many years--still standing in front of the tank. His decision to stay behind was not surprising, and she closes her eyes and tries to shake the thought of the explosion out of her mind.

"Five seconds to explosion."

Lamoure stares into the tank at his beloved Nion. "Nion," he whispers. She had been his most successful project, and he would have no reason to live if she was to die.

"Four seconds to explosion."

"I always knew…"

"Three seconds."

"You were…"

"Two seconds."

"Special."

At that moment, Lamoure witnesses a sight he had only ever dreamed of E1491514's lashes flutter up and two mysterious brown eyes stare back at him.

"One second to explosion."