Chapter Three

"The test subject appears to be in genetic hibernation," a tall woman in a laboratory coat spoke as she glanced towards a large computer that had many numbers and charts on the screen. She stood perfectly straight and held her chin up high. She was extremely slender, insomuch that she did not look human. In fact, it seemed as if some outside force was holding her thin frame erect.

"I concur," said another scientist, a short pudgy man with abnormally sized glasses hanging on the end of his nose. The man was old, evident by his many wrinkles and bald head. He was staring through a one way mirror into a room in which was filled with smoke. In the center of the room lay a man face down on a large metal table. This man appeared to be six feet tall, but was hunched over so it was impossible to tell. Steam was rising from his back and into the thick and smoky air. His attire was not the most beautiful either; he was adorned in charred cloth and melted plastic. The man was also panting, and anyone that was to look upon him could have seen that he was exhausted.

The entire room reflected his appearance. Charred walls, smoldering blankets, and ruined ashes were all over the room. The door seemed also to be a victim of the terrible fire, as it lay charred and twisted on the floor. Yet there was one odd thing about the scene. Even though everything in the room was destroyed, the man himself had not a single burn upon him. In fact he looked perfectly healthy other than his current exhaustion. After a while his breathing slowed and he drifted off to sleep.

Behind the mirror the two scientists stared at the scene. As they were gazing inward, a large metallic door slid open behind them with a swishing sound and the two scientists spun around quickly. The lights dimmed throughout the entire room, and the temperature felt as if it had dropped a few degrees. There were no footsteps, but the two scientists knew that someone was about to enter the room. It was The Messenger.

A thick fog of darkness seeped into the room behind the shrouded figure of The Messenger. The mist slowly flowed towards the two scientists and wrapped slowly around them. Because the fog was so dense, they could not clearly see the true details of The Messenger, but they also knew they didn't want to see him, especially his face.

The hood of The Messenger moved ever so slightly, as if the face inside had just risen upwards to look at the scientists. Then, in a soft but piercing voice he asked out loud, "The Director is not pleased." The tall woman cowered and the short man turned away. The Messenger spoke again in his same voice, "Give me a full report on the events of the experiment which took place last night so that he might have mercy on you." The mist continued to wrap around the scientists, chilling them to the bone.

The tall woman was the first to speak, her frame drooping more as the mist wrapped around her. Through stuttered speech, it was evident that she was terrified, but she was more frightened of what would happen if she failed to report the exact truth.

"Th-the experiment was c-conducted p-perfectly," she stated. "The s-serum was in-injected five weeks ago and our instruments d-detected that the test s-subjects cells had mutated p-perfectly. And, as p-predicted, as we applied stress on the individual, his b-body completed the c-combustion cycle which had also been predicted."

She bowed her head and stepped backward, seemingly ashamed. The short pudgy man then stepped up, but it was easy to see he was terrified. He spoke clearly, but fear was in his voice as well.

"Then, something completely unexpected happened," the man said, "Although we knew that the transformation creates high levels of aggression and hostility, we never could have predicted that the experiment would attack his own pokemon, a small Poochyena." The man began sweating profusely. "The experiment pursued his pokemon into the woods behind the laboratory," the man turned away, not in fear, but towards a large computer screen.

"Computer," he said to the screen, "show satellite surveillance of the events which unfolded last night." The computer beeped and the screen began to glow. The screen showed the entire world, but it was centered over the middle of the ocean. After a few seconds the computer began humming and the screen zoomed in. As the earth came closer a small island in the ocean appeared and began to grow larger. It was a long, thin island, with one large rocky mountain surrounded by a thick forest. The camera from the satellite continued to zoom in onto a small concrete building in the middle of a grassy field.

The building was seen only from the top, but because of the length of the shadow one could tell it was very tall. The camera stopped as the entire building filled up the screen. It had three smokestacks on the top that were spewing out a white fluffy smoke. There was a large chain-link fence that surrounded the entire building as well, with only one entrance in or out. At the top was an observation deck which sat above the entire complex.

Instantly the video footage began rolling. A small dog-like pokemon ran from out of the main entrance at an extremely fast pace. It shot into the woods like a bolt of lightning. Nearly two seconds after the Poochyena had disappeared into the woods, an enormous fireball exited the building in pursuit of the creature. Even though the satellite was miles above the earth, it focused in such great detail that every movement of the test subject was monitored.

The three watched as the fire creature caught up with his pet and prepared to destroy it. As a fireball was raised above the experiment's head, the little dog bit the trainer on the leg and escaped. The dog then ran off and the experiment could no longer pursue. The flame around the experiment began to dim until it was completely extinguished. The man fell to the ground, exhausted. Even though he was fatigued, the computer showed the man was weeping.

The pudgy man, still shivering, turned the computer off. "As you can see," he remarked, "we failed to keep the experiment under permanent combustion and control. We have no idea what went wrong. Our instruments have revealed that his cells are still mutated, and to turn him back we need only apply the same stress to his body as we did before, but whether the same thing will happen again we have no idea."

The mist began to withdrawal from the two scientists and slipped behind the door, leaving The Messenger standing completely alone, devoid of the fog. His form was now easy to see, dark robes strung loosely over a tall body. However, the cloth did not touch the ground. Because the robes were so dark and thick, it was impossible to see his body.

"You fools," The Messenger said, and he raised his head to gaze upon the two scientists, which made them both shudder as they looked upward. Just under his hood was a terrible mask where his face should have been. It was cruel looking, a mask depicting a terrible devil-looking creature that was completely black. Words came again from behind it, "The Director will not be pleased with this." The two scientists began to shudder uncontrollably and the sunk to the floor.

The Messenger glided towards them, as if he didn't touch the ground. "He has put up with your inadequacy until now, and has asked of me to give you punishment. However, I am more forgiving than The Director is, therefore I will give you one last chance. You remember the last punishment I gave to you, and as I recall you could not stand it." The Messenger raised a gloved hand and touched his mask slightly. "You would not want to gaze upon this face again would you?"

"No!" the two scientists said in unison with terrified voices. They stared into the empty eye sockets of the devil mask, knowing well of what lie just under them.

The Messenger removed his gloved hand away from his mask. "Good," he replied. "I will return in one week's time. By then I trust you and your staff will have your experiment not only in complete combustion, but also under complete mental control. If you can not do these simple things, then I will have no choice but to reveal to you what you do not want to see. Until then, adieu."

The Messenger turned and glided out the doorway, pulling the dark mist along with him. The two scientists, shaky but relieved, got to there feet slowly. The lights began to glow again and the room appeared exactly as it had before. The tall slender woman walked towards an intercom on the wall and said, "We need the entire staff to report to room 284 for more experimentation. And I also believe that Mister Thorpe is hungry, so bring a meal as well."

The charred room was soon full of people in white laboratory coats. They began sweeping the ashes and scrubbing the walls, trying to make it as clean as they could. The man on the table went completely ignored by most, but after a few minutes he was approached by the short pudgy man.

"Mister Thorpe," he said while he aroused his sleeping frame. "Mister Thorpe! It's time to wake up!" Slowly the sleeping man opened his eyes and rolled onto his back. He saw the scorch marks on the ceiling and the ashes on the floor. He sat up quickly and saw the door lying on the floor off its hinges. It was then that he began to remember the events that had unfolded last night.

Thorpe lay back down on the cold metal table that he had been laying on. Everything felt cold to him now, the air, the light, and even his emotions. He felt inner anguish for his soul, for he had betrayed his dearest and best friend.

Slowly his hands rose to his face, unable to stop the tears welling up beneath them. "Dear God," he wept, "What have I become?"