A/N: Hullo! Wassup! Iron Rose in the House! Whoop! Whoop! Yeah, I know. You're not actually excited to see me. I could blame it on school but I'm not. I like to be original with my excuses. Thank you very much. Anywho...
This is my goodbye - Thanks. It is designed to be funny.
Chapter Song: Drumming Song by Florence + The Machine
Enjoy!
Neither Ana nor Jack had ever been inside one of Central's State research labs. They were large and domineering. The only windows were on the bottom floor. Lori reminded them to stay near close. Some of the alchemists here would not take kindly to being bothered.
The laboratory itself reminded Ana of a mental institute. Steel doors lined bleached white wall and Lori's shoes clicked as she walked on the cold grey floors.
"Come along," commanded Lori. "We're almost to the bio-labs."
The bio-labs were just as white and grey as the rest of the building. Ana wondered how Lori even found her way around this place. There were no signs pointing to exits or even to other sections of the building.
"Here we are. This is my personal lab," said Lori as she pulled open one of the doors.
Inside the room, many tables lined the walls. Various lab equipment was strewn about the tables. The only equipment Ana recognized was a microscope and even that was more complicated than any she had ever seen. However, the most interesting feature of the room was the glass wall.
Behind the glass was an entire jungle of plants and biological wonders. There were trees, vines, and even a waterfall could be seen in the background. It was like a zoo, but without the animals.
"This is amazing," said Ana, stunned.
"I've been working on it for the past five years. It the home of my prize experiment," explained Lori proudly.
"What's the experiment?" asked Jack.
"I'm attempting to recreate the evolutionary missing links."
Ana and Jack stared at her in disbelief. "How?" asked Ana.
"By creating chimeras," Lori stated smugly.
"Can we see it?" Jack asked excitedly.
At that moment another woman entered the room. She wore a light pink blouse, a black skirt, and of course a lab coat. Her hair was a natural red and her eyes were a pale green. Her name tag read Ruby.
"Dr. Alter, the bio-lab board requests your presence," she stated.
Lori groaned in annoyance. "Fine. Make sure these kids get out of the building."
"But we didn't-" started Jack.
"And you're not going to," Lori said as she walked out of the room. "Ruby, get them out of here."
And with that Lori was gone.
Immediately Ana and Jack turned to Ruby.
"Can you let us see the chimeras?" asked Ana.
Ruby took a step back in fear. "N-No."
"Please….?" asked Jack.
"Dr. Alter said no," Ruby said timidly.
"So? She's not here. We won't tell," Ana promised.
"We just want a look," said Jack.
"Well…."
"Please," said the teens in unison.
"Ugh. Fine," Ruby said, giving in. "But just for a minute."
Ruby unlocked the door and let them inside.
"This is amazing," said Jack.
"I've never even seen half these plants," said Ana.
"Well that's because most of biological life in here is all chimera bred," explained Ruby.
The two teens stared in wonder at the chimera jungle that surrounded them. It was the most colorful place Ana and Jack had ever seen. There were at least eleven different types of flowers as well as multiple flocks of multicolored lizard-birds. Jack heard a rustling behind him.
"Hey did you guys hear that?" he asked cautiously.
"No. What are you talking about?" asked Ana.
"Nevermind. I guess it was nothing," he replied. All of a sudden, something jumped on Jack's back and he screamed like a little girl.
Ana spun around to face him, bursting out laughing at he sight of Jack attempting to get a small, furry, brown creature off his back. Ruby pulled the creature off of Jack. She cradled it in her arms and tickled its stomach. Ana approached, curious.
"What is he?" asked Ana.
"Homo sapiens and Pan paniscus," said a voice behind them. "And the chimera is and 'it' not a 'he'."
Ana, Jack and Ruby turned to find Lori standing there with her hands on her hips. "I call it project Ian. It is my life's greatest work. Human crossed with our primate ancestors. A scientific miracle."
"Why have we heard about it?" Ana asked. "Something like this should have been in the papers."
"The project is still in its beginning stages. This subject was my first successful breed," Lori stated.
"Um…. Can I ask…. Uh, what's a Pan pan cus?" asked Jack nervously.
Ruby laughed. "Pan paniscus. It's a chimpanzee."
A few days later, Ana and Jack were telling Savon and Naomi about Lori's work.
"There's little chimera there and his name is Ian," said Ana.
"What's his cross?" asked Naomi.
"Lori said human and….chimp? I think," said Jack.
Savon's face contorted into an expression of confusion. "Are you sure? Because that's illegal."
"What do you mean?" asked Ana.
"My dad banned all human based chimera experiments 17 years ago," Savon stated. "This chimera shouldn't exist."
"How come the board hasn't found out about this?" asked Naomi.
"I don't know. Alchemists who work in the State labs have to register all experiments, equipment, and supplies, that includes specimens," said Savon.
"I'm telling Colonel Rackem," said Naomi as she stood up.
Jack grabbed her arm. "No! You can't. What would happen to Ian?"
Naomi sighed as she peeled Jack's hand off her arm. "And what about the children she's already hurt with her experiments? You didn't think that Ian was the first kid she did this to?"
Ana's eyes shot open in horror. "Wait, you mean she's made other human based chimeras?"
"Of course," said Savon, rolling his eyes. "It takes hundreds of thousands of tries to create any type of chimera. He may be her first successful cross, but he wasn't her first."
Ana looked at the ground. "Fine. Let's tell Rackem."
"Colonel Rackem," Naomi saluted as the group of four entered the office. "We have something to report."
Rackem gestured for them to sit and Ana began the story. Once Ana was done speaking, Rackem said, "Interesting. It's true that her experiments are illegal, but it's not the first time human based chimeras have been created. I know there are many such people in Creta-"
"But alchemy was banned in Creta," interjected Savon.
"I know, but that hasn't stopped a black market production of chimeras for gladiator game and such," continued Rackem. "Anyway, we do have safe places for these people. Once we arrest Dr. Alter, Ian can be taken to one of these places."
"So then, what's the plan?" asked Ana, determined.
Rackem, Jaroue and the rest of Rackem's squad were waiting outside the third lab with Naomi, Savon and six other soldiers, making up the strike team. It was almost nine o'clock and Lori still had not left the building for the night. Ana and Jack were already inside, ready to grab Ian once Lori was safely locked away.
"Reed. Are Iron Rose and Helios in position?" Rackem asked.
Naomi turned on her comm set and spoke, "Ana? Are you ready? Over." After a few seconds she received a reply. Naomi turned to Rackem and nodded.
"Now we wait," said Rackem.
Ana and Jack were playing with Ian in the jungle room when the glass wall shattered. The three just stood there for a second, then Ana broke the silence.
"Jack, hide Ian. I'm calling Naomi."
Jack picked up the chimp-boy and ran. Ana picked up the comm set and said, "Naomi? Something's wrong. The glass wall just broke. We need help. Over."
For a few seconds all she heard was static. Then she heard Naomi's voice, "Copy. We're coming in. Over."
Ana shut off the communicator and ran to find Ian and Jack. As she ran she heard a woman voice. It was not Lori's or Ruby's. Ana did not recognise it. She did know, however that the woman was calling for Ian.
Ana ran into a clear patch of space just in time to see Ian run out from behind a small clump of bushes.
"Mommy!" shouted Ian with glee. He scampered towards the woman with his arms outstretched.
The woman fired her gun.
BANG.
Ian fell to the floor. Blood pooling around his small body.
"How could you…." Jack growled. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!?"
Jack charged the woman, but she used his momentum to grab his wrist and pin it against his back.
"He was an abomination!" she screamed, enraged.
"He called you MOTHER! He was your SON! Your CHILD!" Ana screamed through her tears. She held Ian in her lap, cradling the limp body.
"He stopped being my son when that woman turned him into a monster!" she screamed back.
"He could still feel. He still loved. Ian was human! There's no excuse in the world that could justify you!" Ana yelled. She clapped her hands and pressed them to the floor. The ground under the woman's feet swelled and threw her into the wall. Unfortunately, it threw Jack as well and he broke the woman's fall, knocking him out.
"You State Alchemists are all the same. You don't care about anything besides following orders and throwing your weight around. There's a reason you're called dogs. It's because you take out anything that gets in the way of your goals," the woman shouted.
"That's not true anymore. Mustang changed all that," Ana said quietly.
"Don't get me started on the Fuhrer. He's no better than Bradley," she hissed.
That was when Lori and Ruby rushed in.
"Ana! What's going-" Lori started to say, but when she saw Ian she screamed. "No! NO! This is my life's work! You bitch!" she screamed at the woman, but she was already gone.
"What happened?" asked Ruby calmly.
"She…. That woman…. She shot him," Ana sobbed.
Ruby felt for a pulse. There was none. "That's it. He's gone."
Ana cried even harder. Jack woke up and picked himself off the floor. "Ian, I'm so sorry. I should have done something. Anything. I-I-I-" she cried.
Ruby took the body away and Jack came over and wrapped his arms around Ana. She clutched his shirt and buried her face in his chest. Ana wailed even louder, pouring her tears into his shirt until it was soaked.
Jack looked up at the ceiling. "This is my fault. If only I had noticed the gun sooner. Or…."
Lori interrupted him, "Jack, Ana, neither of you are to blame for this. It's that woman's, Reyna's, fault alone. You shouldn't blame yourselves. There wasn't anything you could've done. What you need to do now is find Reyna and give her the justice that she deserves."
"No. You're the one who needs to be brought to justice, Dr. Alter," said a voice from behind them.
They looked up to see Savon, Naomi and Jaroue. Savon was the one who spoke.
"What you did to that child is unforgivable. It's against the law and we're bringing you in."
Lori stood up, shock written all over her face. She turned to Ana and Jack. "You reported me!" she screamed. "How dare you?!"
Lori pressed her hands to the ground and the plants around them started growing and moving. The transmutation circle tattooed on Lori's back started glowing and green lightning arched off of her, traveling to the plants. Lori sent the plants at the three new arrivals, but Savon grabbed a fist full of plant. He raised the water temperature inside of the plants to the boiling point. The plants expanded and exploded. Steam filled the room but by the time it cleared Lori Alter was gone.
Okay, World, I need a favor...
For the next chapter I need a name for an apartment building/hotel, where Ana and Jack can stay at. I, personally, am all out of ideas, so if anyone has any I'd love to hear them. Thanks. Iron Rose out.
