Everyone in the lab was still staring at Jake on the floor.
"What did he say?" Megumi asked.
"Somehow I don't think he was talking to us. He looked straight at Aku and Uka who were watching everything through the window behind us and it was if he was possessed." Brio said as he looked at the window to see that the two masks had disappeared.
"I think this is quite serious, we better ask the masks what the hell is going on." NGin said.
"I don't care what just happened, Bob! Take him to the detention cells! Nobody treats me like that and gets away with it!"
"Are you sure that's a good idea Neo, you saw how strong and angry he was when he woke up on the table think how he'll be if he wakes up in a cell." Brio said.
"The copy-ray must have made him stronger." NGin said.
"Then we shall put him in electrified chains! He is not to go anywhere! Bob, take him to the detention cells, now!" Neo demanded. Bob finally activated.
"User profile system error."
"What the hell has happened to your tin trash this time NGin?!?"
"I don't know, they've been acting up ever since this storm."
"I don't care how long it takes just sort it out!"
"I'll think about it."
"*Argh* Must I do everything myself these days?" Neo got some tac handcuffs from a drawer and tied Jake's arms and legs together while the others watched.
"Will one of you at least help me get him to the dorms?"
"Oh so it's the dorms now is it? I thought he was to go to the detention cells." Megumi said.
"Whatever, he is still to be locked in there until further notice." Brio and NGin reluctantly helped carry him to the dormitories with Megumi following behind. They took him to an empty room next to Ernest's and placed him on the floor, Megumi cut off the tacs that bound him together as NGin and Neo left.
"Nick?"
"Yes Meg?"
"Can I stay with him for when he wakes up? He's most likely going to be in a bad mood."
"Are you sure, even after the last time when he nearly killed you?"
"Don't worry. I'll use one of NGin's stunners just in case.
"Ok but we can't be sure when he will wake up if he's in a coma."
"I'll come back if it's longer than a day or so. What did he mean when he said he 'sensed you were already dying'?"
"*sigh* Meg, please don't get upset."
"You still haven't done something about that tumour have you? I thought said you were going to get it sorted."
"I will, but I need to find Aku first."
"But it's been a year now! I'm just scared your next stroke will be your last."
"I'm sorry, I'll do what I can, I promise."
Once Brio left, Megumi lifted Jake up onto the bed. She called a medi-bot to bring a heart rate monitor. After it was fitted the medi-bot waited in the room with her as she did calculations in her journal for new perfumes. Early the next morning the medi-bot suddenly moved and scanned Jake's body, Megumi got up from the couch.
"I detect mutation in the subject's DNA." The medi-bot said. Megumi looked puzzled, she went up to Jake's body and noticed his brown hair was starting to become lighter into a blonde colour. She grabbed the wall-phone and called Brio.
"Yes?"
"Nick, it's Meg."
"What is it, has he woken up yet?"
"No, but something's happening to him, you better get down here immediately."
"Ok, we'll be there in a bit," A bit later Brio, Bob, NGin and Neo came through the door. "What's happening?"
"Just look at him." Megumi said. They all stood by the bed and noticed Jake's appearance was starting to change. His hair had turned completely blonde and the bone structure of his face was moving.
"Look at his skin!" NGin said pointing to Jake's arm, they all saw blonde hair rapidly growing out of his skin all over his body.
"His face." Neo said. The four of them watched as Jake's entire body changed. His arms and legs got longer with the sound of faint cracking, the skin on the front of his hands darkened and the shape of his ears changed.
"He appears to be morphing into something." Brio said.
"What's he turning into?" Megumi asked.
"He's starting to look like a lion." Brio answered. Megumi quickly took off Jake's brown walking boots to so they would not cause any pain in case Jake woke up.
"Looks like my experiment was not a failure after all, just… delayed." Neo said. After a few minutes Jake's entire body had turned into a full anthro lion.
"The subject is regaining consciousness." The medi-bot said. Neo zapped a stun stick to life.
"Stand back Meg, we don't know what he's going to do." Brio said. Megumi went and stood behind Brio as Jake started to move. He was laying facing away from them, Neo went round the other side of the bed with the stun stick ready. Jake was now awake but he could sense people in the room so he pretended he was still asleep. Neo moved a little closer,
"You awake?" he asked. As Neo glanced to the others Jake shot out of the bed and grabbed Neo. Neo screamed in fear and dropped the stick on the floor as Jake held him up by his lab coat and pinned him against the wall.
"Now you listen to me and you listen good you yellow skinned freak!" Jake demanded. Neo nodded in fear. "Where the fuck am I and what the fuck is going on?"
"You-you're in my castle and th-the m-machine worked." Neo said feebly. Jake then noticed his hands were now lion paws.
"What the?" He saw a mirror in the en-suite bathroom, dropped Neo on the floor and quickly went up to it. "What the fuck have you done?!?" Jake demanded.
"Its ok, you're not the only one." Megumi said. He turned to her.
"What? (turned to Megumi) Megumi Bandicoot." Jake said looking a little shocked.
"How do you know my name?"
"Err *sigh* Dammit! Never mind, I might explain it later maybe. What's the full date?"
"November 20th 2008." NGin said.
"23rd" Brio replied.
"Oh."
"What did you say earlier, in the lab?" Megumi asked.
"It's all a blur, all I remember is waking up next to Toba and falling in front of you (looked at Brio)." They all looked at him suspiciously. Jake examined his appearance in front of the mirror, pulling at his flesh and gums and checking his teeth.
"What do you think?" Neo asked. Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breathe and started stretching looking relieved.
"How did I get this white streak in my hair?"
"Approximately five hundred million volts passed through Mr Walker's body prior to his discovery." The medi-bot answered. NGin looked puzzled and fiddled with his hand-held device.
"You must have been struck by lightning." Brio said. Jake rubbed the base of his spine.
"Hold on a sec. Medi-bot, scissors." Megumi said. The medi-bot handed her some scissors and she cut a hole in Jake's shorts allowing a tale to come out.
"*sigh* You have no idea how this feels. Is this mutation reversible?"
"We don't know. We will have to do some tests" Brio said.
"Which one of you did this to me?"
"We all did." Neo said.
"Actually it was you who used the machine Neo." NGin said.
"But they helped me make it."
"I never said it was fully ready yet-"
"You lot can quit bitching, I don't want to be changed back, I just wanted to know if it was reversible."
"Really?" NGin asked.
"Yes and I'm not going to say why either. You said a name earlier 'Tropy' what's his full name?" The four of them looked at each other.
"We only know him as Dr Nefarious Tropy." Brio said. Jake suddenly looked very tense and unwell at hearing the name.
"Where is he?" Jake asked coldly.
"Incoming call from subject: Dingodile to Dr Brio's office." Bob said.
"Re-direct the call here." Brio said. The wall phone then started to ring as Brio went to pick it up.
"Hello?... Oh hi Dingo… your boat?... Gone?... when did you notice it was gone?... really?... I think I know who took it… it was Tropy, I think he's done a runner for some reason… don't worry perhaps NGin can make you a new one… I'm sure it'll be even better than the last… ok I'll speak to you later… bye." He put the phone back.
"Yeah I'll just snap my fingers and there'll be a nice boat waiting for Dingodile at the dock won't there?" NGin said.
"How long ago did he leave?" Jake asked.
"Dingodile said he only noticed the boat was gone after he saw the lights flashing in the lab."
"How long ago was that?"
"Yesterday."
"Dammit so close!!!!! *ARGH!*" Jake roared as he punched a hole in the wall. "Where did he go?"
"We don't know, but he knows what could happen if he is found by outsiders." Brio said.
"Huh, yeah. Wait, Dingodile, is he-"
"Half Dingo, half Crocodile." Neo said.
"Wow, of course its 2008 already so that must mean..." Jake entered deep thought.
"What are you on about?" Neo asked.
"Nothing."
"I saw your plane falling out of the sky, what brought you here?" Brio asked.
"Never mind that just yet, where's Toba?"
"He was taken down to the morgue." Megumi said.
"I want to go and see him."
"You're not going anywhere! Bob, restrain him!" Neo demanded. Bob looked at him.
"No." Bob said.
"WHAT!?! How DARE you disobey a direct order! Restrain him now!" Bob just looked at everyone else, NGin pressed a button on a hand-held device that shut Bob down. "Dammit NGin, will you fix this junk already!"
"Why don't you try restraining me yourself?!?" Jake asked. Neo picked up the stun stick and turned it to full voltage but Jake noticed NGin fiddle with his hand-held device again that he pointed towards the stun stick.
"Very well." Neo went up to Jake *THUMP* Jake just stood there staring at him as if nothing happened. *THUMP* Still nothing. Jake glared at him with an empty grin.
"Pathetic!" Jake said, he then back-pawed Neo in the head knocking him out on to the floor. "Will he be much of a problem?" Brio popped another pill.
"Not really, he should eventually give up when he realises that he will never have control over you." Brio said.
"Who the hell is that anyway?"
"Dr Neo Cortex." Brio said.
"What, that is Cortex?"
"The one and only." NGin said.
"I was expecting a lot more judging by the file we have on him."
"Who are you?" NGin asked.
"It's not important who I am yet. Is there somewhere he can go where he won't be a problem?"
"He wanted to put you in a cage at first." NGin said.
"Where is the cage?"
"Well they're more like prison cells." Brio said. Jake ripped some of Neo's lab coat off with one of his claws and tied Cortex up with it.
"What are you gonna do?" Megumi asked. Jake turned to her.
"Can you take him to the cells?"
"Ok-" Before Megumi went to take Neo Bob suddenly grabbed Cortex and left the room. NGin scratched his head and pressed buttons on his hand-held device. Jake, Megumi and Brio followed NGin outside.
"Bob halt!" NGin shouted. Bob stopped. "Identify who authorised you your last command."
"Last command received from system administrator: Jake B Walker."
"What. Identify who made Mr Walker system administrator."
"Information classified."
"What, I made and programmed you! As leading Administrator I order you to tell me who made Mr Walker an administrator!"
"The information you require is not available to substitute administrators." Brio came up behind NGin.
"Bob, state user system profiles." Brio said.
"System administrator: Classified. System administrator: Jake B Walker. System administrator: Dr Neo Cortex, Substitute administrator: Dr Nicholas Brio, Substitute administrator: Dr Nathan Ginsfield. Standard user: Megumi Bandicoot." NGin scratched the left side of his head, fiddled and banged on his hand-held device trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
"I think only Mr Walker is allowed to find out NGin." Brio said.
"But, how!?! And why?!? I know Bob is different to other lab assistants now but he's never been like this before." NGin said.
"Who's profile is Classified?" Jake asked. The bob turned to Jake.
"Required information is only available in a secure location." Bob answered.
"Ok, so take us to a secure location." Jake said. Bob then turned around and started walking down the corridor carrying Cortex. They all followed Bob through the basement to the cells when they arrived two elite lab assistants were waiting beside a thick iron door with a small flap for passing looks and food.
"Who put them here?" Megumi asked.
"I did." Bob answered. NGin still looked puzzled and just watched what was happening. His hand-held device seemed to have switched itself off. One of the elites opened the door that made it creak with a loud metallic groan. Bob went inside the cell and put the unconscious Cortex on the floor and came back out and closed the door.
"The location is now secure." Bob said.
"Good, so you can now tell me what the hell is going on?" NGin said. Bob glanced at him then at a camera on the ceiling.
"This way sir." Bob said to Jake. Bob led them back to the room where Jake woke up but this time there was another two elite-bots on either side of the door. They all went inside and the door was locked behind them.
"Audio file play back commencing in three, two, one:
"Hello there Jake," The voice was electronically disguised. "I hope my hacking skills have paid off and only you are listening to this. *fssst* I have all if not most of the information that you come here looking for. *fssst* Sadly it wont be long until the wrong people will find out. You need to make sure that Cortex doesn't discover what you're up to just yet *fsssst*. You are right in what you think about Dr NGin and Dr Brio *fsssst* I can assure you your colleagues suspicions are incorrect but I understand if you still have some questions for them plus a job to do. *fssst* Come to the *fssssssssst* before *fsssst* gets here. If the situation changes I'll try to contact you again. *fsssst*"
End of audio file." Bob said.
"Who the hell was that?" NGin asked.
"Information not available." Bob replied.
"Well whoever it was must have somehow hacked into the main system, used whatever lab assistant he had with him as a radio to another lab assistant who was used to record the message."
"Affirmative." Bob said.
"What 'job' was that person talking about?" Megumi asked.
"Ah yes this thing." Jake fumbled in his pockets before digging out a piece of paper. "Dr Brio, Dr NGin. This here is a warrant for your arrest, I'll read out what it says. 'Doctor Nicholas Brio and Doctor Nathan Ginsfield yadda yadda yadda are to be instantly placed under house arrest and face criminal charges of high treason to The Common Wealth State, damages to property of approximately five million Australian Dollars, unauthorized use of military grade technology, tax evasion…' the list goes on so I'll skip to the important bit. '…unless the suspects agree to terms of compulsory cooperation in the resolution of current global crises. Where the suspects are to assist national or allied governments by offering their service to whichever may so happen to need them until further notice or until they are no longer needed at which they shall face trial for the crimes that they have been charged with the possibility of a reduced sentence. If however the suspects agree to the terms but choose to violate them thereafter then they are to instantly be placed into custody and await trial without the chance of a reduced sentence or the chance of any appeal to the crimes at which they are charged. If the suspects do not choose to accept the terms then they are to be placed into custody and await trial for the crimes at which they are charged without the chance of appeal or a reduced sentence.' So, what'll it be, house arrest and confinement or compulsory cooperation?" Megumi was speechless with shock.
"Megumi I-" Brio pleaded but Megumi ignored him and ran out the room crying. "I-I wish she d-didn't have to hear that."
"It's better than being dragged off by masked men never to be seen again." Jake said.
"Are we wanted for the flooding I caused back in eighty-eight?" NGin asked.
"Eighty-nine" Brio said.
"I'm surprised you're honest, but save it for the questioning. All I need you from now is to sign this form saying that you agree with the terms."
"What are the terms?" Brio asked.
"Basically you two are to be constantly and closely monitored until you face trial, you are to wear tracker tags and be at my disposal. Neither one of you are allowed to have any communication from this place unless it extremely necessary at which the communication will also be closely monitored, well that's what is meant to happen but somehow I think I can trust you two so all I need you to do is inform me of everything you do or whatever information you think may be useful for me. I especially don't want to find out that you've been doing things behind my back."
"I think we choose to accept them don't we NGin?"
"Err, yes of course. Is Cortex in wanted as well?"
"Yes, the list of his offences and the charges he faces is a few inches thick compared to both of yours. Those tests, can we do them at some point Dr Brio?"
"Of course, when do you want to do them?" Brio asked.
"Err, tomorrow some time, I need to sort stuff out first though but right now I want to see Toba, then I'll be going back to the crash site."
"Ok. Bob, take Mr Walker to the morgue." Dr Brio said.
"I'll need you both to wait here until I get back, I shouldn't be long."
"Ok." Brio said and NGin nodded.