Ch. 3,
It wasn't often Madeline Fenton disputed her husband's decisions, especially when they were related to their work, however, that didn't mean she totally agreed with EVERYTHING he did. That being said, she thought that even if it was for research, Jack Fenton agreeing to take on the month long trip to the Ghost Zone was a BIT much. Just a bit.
Still, work was work, even if one didn't like some aspects. Removing the binoculars from her eyes, Maddie glanced over to where Jack was setting up the camping gear and a few of the devices they would be utilizing tonight, namely, the Ecto-voice modulator. They had made it themselves, and were quite proud of it. It even had the added bonus of doing what it was made to do: lure in ghosts by transforming different human words and phrases into the calls and 'language' ghosts and spectral entities could understand. Well, that was its primary use anyway. The other was that using the same technology, they could play and record more accurate ghost-calls then other previously used spectral recording equipment. Currently, Jack was plugging in some cables to the portable generator to power the device and fiddling with some dials on the side of the black speaker-like box.
Turning her face back to the acid skies of the Zone, she mulled over what they were here for in the first place.
It was a rather odd case, this one, and nothing if not positively strange in every sense of the word. She remembered almost laughing aloud at the intern when she received the report from the A.S.E.P. (Association of Spectral Entities Protection) of...get this... a male wraith seen caring for and raising a pup. Oh, but that wasn't the best part of it. Apparently, the pup itself was not a wraith. This time, Maddie really did let out a silent laugh; not at the thought of the impossible happening in the world of the dead where everything is possible in some form or another, but at herself for believing it to be impossible. They knew better now. Well, maybe she still held a fairly high amount of doubt about the prospect of a wraith with another entity not of its own, but at least after observing some of the Ghost Zone's finest examples of freaky, she was starting to warm up the idea.
After the report had been filed and the request for a research trip into the Zone confirmed, Jack and Maddie had spent the next month preparing for whatever they might happen across in the Opposite World. It had taken some time to fully refresh them, especially when it came to being able to identify all of the many species of ghost in the zone. It was important that they knew what they could be looking at and could accurately name them, as this would be their biggest issue in this case. The heads of their lab wanted to know what it was that was traveling with this wraith. Before agreeing to be the team that went out on this mission, theories were still tossed about in hopes to come up with some sort of evidence to decide what this thing was.
Naturally, after exhausting the most probable options, someone, (Maddie couldn't remember who it had been) had gone and thrown out the theory that had everyone in the boardroom either smirking at the mere thought, or sitting in a tense silence.
The theory was, judging by the few blurred pictures from TrailCams and behavioral observations, that a Phantom of all the species to choose from was what the unknown creature was.
Ha. That was rich. A phantom. Were they idealists, or just ignorant of past events? Everyone in the Paranormal Observations field knew that a full twenty years ago now, the species of spectral entity called Phantoms went on the Extinct species list. There were no more! (actually, she corrected herself, there were still a few dozen in special care units in the human world, but attempts to create breeding programs failed, due to the phantoms themselves refusing to mate, and due to the nature of phantoms, a female wont care for eggs without a mate, even if she lays them.) Sure, extensive search teams had been sent out to known nest sites and documented territories within the Ghost Zone, but the forests these specters inhabited were empty, and the nests abandoned. It was true that no bodies or signs of death had been recovered, but without real evidence that wild Phantoms still existed or would ever exist again, the A.S.E.P. had no choice but to list Phantoms as extinct. What a pity it was to. Maddie and Jack in particular had always been fascinated by the quirky little ghiests. She had even heard him go on about how with patience and time and if you started while they were very young, you could train them to be a house hold 'pet' as it were. And it seemed that Jack had wanted one...
Ah well, that was in that past. There were no Phantoms, and hadn't been for years. As Maddie stood to stretch her limbs and see if she could be of assistance to her husband, she considered what possibilities they hadn't thought of yet to make a match for their mysterious wraith's friend.
"Jack, darling, what if the unidentified party was a sprite of some sort? You know how the little things are, always buzzing around bigger predators looking for scraps."
"Can't be. It's too big." Jack replied standing up from his previously crouched position. "You saw the pictures." She had, a whole board room full of apprehensive and skeptical scientists had, but even so...
"Well, what about a wisp? They glow just about as brightly, and are crepuscular, which seems to be the average timeframe the sightings were made."
"Again, to big, AND it's humanoid, not paraphysical."
Maddie gave a deep sigh, not bothering to push the subject anymore. Her husband would just refute any theory she offered with, admittedly, good evidence. It seemed he was just dead set (oh dear, pun) on the entity being a thing they'd not seen for nearly two decades. Well, if she had to be the rational one this time around, so be it. And with this in mind, Maddie climbed into the Fenton R.V. and collected her hiking backpack, Trailboots, a couple protein bars, her water bottle and a flashlight with extra batteries. Seeing his wife gathering such items, Jack inquired as to where she was off to.
"The live traps we set earlier, dear. Something we aren't looking to catch may have set them off, and we need them to be fully empty and baited for what we ARE looking for."
"Oh. Need me to come along?" the orange-clad spectral enthusiast asked, hope lighting his eyes. "The machines we can set up later if you want!"
The woman shook her head and started to walk off. "I'll be fine, Jack. Besides, I DO want those machines set up now. At least the Ecto-Voice modulator please as I want to get this started tonight. I'll be back!"
After setting off in the general direction of the first trap, Maddie's mind began wandering again, and her eyes lazily took in the surrounding area.
It was quite pretty, she had to admit. The way the violet and indigo jutting rock formations looked as if they'd been compacted and morphed by the same natural forces that shaped the earth. She even thought she spied a precious gem or two in the patches of light that shined down past the crags and precariously perched boulders, but it could have been a trick of the same light. All things in the Ghost Zone, no matter how 'inanimate' some seemed held an energy all it's own, and the little flickers of color could just the canyon trying to confuse her or something. Glancing down at the small ecto-friendly gps device she kept to her person at all times in the Zone, she breathed an involuntary sigh of relief seeing her campsite and husband as a plain blue dot not yet half a mile away. Say what you would about her, being that she bit her nails while stressed, or needed far more coffee then most doctors would say was healthy to get up in the morning, but Madiline Fenton would always openly admit to being a bit paranoid every time a trip the Ghost Zone was required.
The one month expedition with naught but Jack and their communication devices didn't really help.
After another fifteen minutes and about twelve more checks on the gps, Maddie was in sight of the first trap.
Situated in a natural alcove under an embankment of stone un the canyon floor, the trap itself was a plain, stainless steel Live trap, very similar in design to the smaller ones used to capture raccoon and opossums in corn fields. The metal was pained in differing shades of lighter and darker purples to blend in with the rock hues and also to dim any glints from light on steel that may scare away or make wary their target. Because they had no idea what sort of ghost they were dealing with, they had no idea of what intelligence level it possessed, so a purple-camouflage design tarp was the final disguise for the trap, covering all that was left to be covered, save for the opening itself.
Seeing as the trap was not banging around as whatever inside it thrashed to escape, Maddie assumed it was empty and still baited. Peering into the open door, four feet by three feet, she confirmed this. In the very back of the trap, about six feet, lay tied a block of frozen ectoplasm, already beginning to drip and soak into the dirt of the canyon floor. It was standard bait, and acclaimed by many a ghost hunter (the kind who captured ghosts NOT just to study them) as the perfect draw for predators and the dream find of scavengers. In Maddie's opinion, even if she wasn't one of those kinds of hunters, bagging a ghost that was already in a trap didn't seem very honorable OR fun, but she did agree that it was a good draw for the specters. Anyway, the bait looked untouched, as far as Maddie could tell, so she stood, made sure the trigger was set properly, and continued onto the next one.
About another hour and a half later, dusk was beginning to set in, and She had JUST finished her chore.
"Goodness, Jack must be getting worried..." she mumbled to herself. Her first instinct was to reach for the cell phone she kept in her pocket, but then realized that both she and Jack had left them at home, as any cellular device ceased working as soon as it was in the ghost zone. The only communication they had were the small ecto-friendly radios, but Maddie had left her's back at Camp...
Drat! She had gone to check the traps for nothing, too. None of the five were activated, and now she had all that hiking back to do. Heaving a sigh, Maddie squared her shoulders and set off the same direction she had come. It was no use groaning about it, the sooner she left the last trap sight, the sooner she could get back to Jack and a warm dinner. Hopefully he wasn't too worried. She COULD handle herself, and she knew he knew that, but Jack was always so protective of her and their daughter. Motherly thoughts took hold of the woman as reminders to get in touch with Jazz as soon as was possible went through her mind. The sixteen year old was a good girl, and very responsible for one her age, but she was still a teen, and the parents did worry.
Nothing much happened on the way back to the campsite, which made Maddie a little less tense, but there was still that underlying current of and emotion Maddie couldn't put a name to. Dread? No, to dark. Fear? A bit to general. Whatever it was, the feeling could only be compared to what a child felt when they pulled the covers over their head in the night and called for their parents to make the monster under the bed or in the closet go away. Even now as the hunter walked along, she gave semi-concerned glances to the towering canyon walls that seemed to want to give the illusion of constricting themselves, boxing her in like a...a caged animal...
Stop. Maddie Fenton, the woman told herself with a stern expression, does not fear the Zone, or any specter that resides within it. There was nothing out here that would hurt her on purpose or without provocation. The notion giving her a boost of confidence, she dug into her pack and flicked the light on. The warm yellow-y glowing circle of light the little stick gave filled Maddie with a bit more reassurance. At the very least, she wouldn't stumble or fall over a wayward rock or something.
After what felt like a small eternity, the blue-clad hunter caught the glint of an orange light on the sides of the stone walls to her right, and the scent of chicken filter into her nose. Good old Jack. A couple more turns and there he was, stirring a small pot over a portable camping burner. Glancing up, the man smiled and pulled his wife into a great big bear hug.
"Sooo, did we catch anything?"
Groaning lightly as she set herself down in a cloth camping chair, Maddie let herself finally relax. She accepted the bowl of soup from the man and took a few hot mouthfuls before speaking.
"No, nothing yet, thankfully. I really do want to wait until we get the voice-modulator up and running, so we'll be able to speak with them. Well, somewhat."
"Yeah. I'd hate to capture a ghost and not understand that its spitting every curse it knows at me." he rolled his eyes and chuckled good naturedly. Oh, the things he'd no doubt been called...
His wife smiled. "Hm. The voice modulator is still being tweaked. The reverse speech programming is still a bit wonky. Not to mention the fact we've only had it tested on already sentient beings that can speak a form of a language. We don't know what a wild one who only makes animal like noises would sound like or even if it will register with the programming." she reminded him.
"I hope it IS sentient though. I'd be interesting to hear stories and experiences from it; we'd learn a lot. But, I don't have my hopes up, being they don't really learn to speak all that well..."
Jacks voice trailed off as he continued eating. Maddie had stopped and frowned at the comment. Really, she thought. Was the man STILL convinced what was out there was a phantom? Yes, by some miracle, it was within the realms of possibility, but if it was a phantom, why would it be here? Canyons and stones and scrubland, no matter what small prey it offered, was no territory for that species. Great old forests with high trees, strong limbs far from the ground and all the predators that loved the taste of eggs were where a phantom would be found. Not here, and, most definitely, not with a wraith of all things. And yes, this turf was a good place for THOSE bone chilling spooks. Living Shadows they were often referred to. Stories and rumors were passed around that many arrogant scientists and explorers had gone looking for the things, and never come back. The name itself made Maddie glance over her shoulder. Then again, she told herself, more often than not, those stories were from a different time altogether, like old wives tales. Science knew more about wraiths now, and it had been almost half a century since someone was even attacked by one.
"Come on Jack, we should head to bed. I'm tired." She was too. All that walking, even for the great outdoors woman Maddie Fenton had worn her out, and the meal of hot soup didn't help in keeping her awake. Pausing at the entrance of the giant orange tent, she glanced back to the man still sitting by the portable stove. He was still, looking up to the flickering sky and the ethereal moon, going through it's phases before their eyes, black to white, full to new in a matter of a minute. It gave her the same creepy feeling that she'd had when walking back in the dark. Just another reminder that she was in a land that followed no physical law, a place without human logic or reason. The very air around them did as it pleased, and could change from benign to malicious on a whim.
"Are you coming Jack?" He tore his gaze away from the heavens to look at his wife and nodded.
"Sure am, babe. Just gonna finish up setting the Voice modulator and turn it on for the night."
"Make sure you put on the wraith familial call. Oh! And the cameras. I want to get whatever may happen to come by later on tape. We might even get to see our mystery ghost."
they weren't planning on using the modulator for much more than a homing call device tonight. There was no reason to. they'd simply turn it on and play certain ghost calls, like a stereo.
"You got it." She ducked into the tent as he lumbered off to the equipment. Stripping off her regular jumpsuit and boots, Maddie changed into more comfortable night clothes, being some slightly worn sweat pants and an oversized tee shirt. Actually, wasn't this one of Jack's? Ah well. It was comfortable. Just as she lay down on the cot, the area hummed with such a low base note, it seemed to make the air itself vibrate, and carrying down to make her bones rattle. Almost inaudible to human ears, the sound of a wraith calling to its pup was something Maddie had heard many times now over the course of a month, but that first wave of sound still sent the hairs on the back of her neck up. It petered off, then started anew, the same call being put on repeat.
Their hope was, that by doing so, whatever wraiths may be in this area would be drawn to the sound, as wraiths tended to be territorial and solitary, not liking any others of their kind to cross the boundaries they'd laid out. Trapping one would be harder, but ensnaring a wraith was not what they had come to do. By luring in wraiths, they hoped to catch the one with the mystery ghost by its side and catch IT instead of the wraith.
They could only hope it worked, and soon, because if they still had nothing by the end of this week, their allotted time in the Zone was up, and they would have to go home, with virtually nothing to show for it. After a few minutes of the pulsing calls, she heard Jack's boots crunching over the gravely floor of the canyon towards the tent. The zipper drew back and his large form stepped into view. Being sleepy and already on the verge of non-awake, Maddies' voice was squeaky as he asked him if he remembered to turn off the stove. She didn't want it to scare off any possible candidates.
"Yep, it's all good. The perfect night for spooks of all sorts to come around."
She nodded faintly, and before he'd even finished undressing for bed, the woman ghost hunter was asleep.
To anyone who asked Madeline Fenton what the most horrible noise she could imagine was, most were expecting the answer to be something like nails on a chalkboard, or metal being rendered from itself, things like that. But, the real answer surprised most.
Maddie hated the sound of silence.
And utter, complete silence was what woke the red haired huntress in the dead of the night.
At first, it didn't quite register to her disheveled and bleary mind what exactly was wrong, but she did know something was up. Now that they were listening for disturbances, Maddies ears realized that, no, it was not true silence, as Jack's tent-rattling snores confirmed, but it was the lack of a particular sound...hm...
The voice-modulator! The wraith calls were set to repeated, right? So, why wasn't it working? Grumbling about marrying klutzes and wonky machinery that never works, the hunter stumbled out of that warm confines of her cot and out in to the cold open air of the canyon floor, but not before grabbing a flash light and a small ecto-wrist ray.
Just because a machine was malfunctioning didn't mean it hadn't been tampered with by less than human hands.
Rounding the bend of the embankment they had set up their machinery behind, Maddie was met with a sight she knew she would never, in all her life forget or remember in less the perfect detail for the single second it took to brand into her psyche.
Smoking metal was strewn everywhere, some even embedded into the sides of the canyon behind it. Little glowing and charred lines of hand crafted cables and wires, some with what was left of the plethora of decoding microchips still attached to them lay melted into incomprehensible globs of aftermath. And everything glowed. It seemed there was not a surface not covered with slimy, dripping, toxic green, pooling onto the rocks, soaking into the greedy earth, making the very sight look like something out of a b-rated horror film. But it wasn't. This was real. Oh, lord, someone...someTHING more like, must have heard the voice-modulator and deemed it worthy to destroy...and in turn destroyed itself when the unstable device exploded. The thought that something powerful enough to cause this much damage had been not a hundred feet from them while they were sleeping made Maddie blink back tears. They had been stupid, and they had been lucky.
"God," Maddie mumbled, "that glow... so much... what in heaven and hell could have..." she trailed off as her eyes lit upon something else, blown farther away by the force of the blast no doubt, which Maddie's analytic mind was beginning to question why she had not heard.
Upon first glance, one would mistake it for nothing more than a dusty and rather stained pile of old rags, had the keen eye of Maddie Fenton not been there to determine that no, the rags were attached to something. Namely: a body. A small, twitching body with two human arms and two human legs; the used-to-be-white boots they had sported now a coal black with grime and burned fabric.
Time must have ceased to be, or at least stopped or something, because Maddie would never know how long she stood there, simply staring at the beaten little figure before her, it's front pressing into the soil and stones eagerly lapping up its lifeblood pouring from to many cuts and scrapes, it's face turned away from her and covered by matted hair, a color she couldn't begin to make out. It...the child-like apparition... no. It couldn't have. The explosion was obviously to big, it should have been destroyed! But it wasn't. For the first time, it crossed Maddie's mind to go over and see what it was. What harm could it do now? It was out cold. At the very least, she could gather if it was female or male. Her mind snapped into action then, going from scared and alarmed bystander to rationalizing and focused scientist.
Right, so she had a wounded person here. She could worry about who or what it was later, but only after she made sure it was still 'alive' to examine.
Racing over to the specter speeder, which was parked a few yards away and seemed to have suffered no ill from the blast, Maddie rummaged around in the front compartments, mindful of all the dismantled live traps still in the back. There! The little red vinyl pack with the white cross on it. Running back outside to the mangled frame of the ghost, Maddie began to wonder if it was wise to wake Jack first. He'd want to know that his work had been destroyed, and at the hands of this..um..thing. Then again, he was sleeping; it would be near impossible to roust him, AND get him coherent enough to be of use in time to do anything. She was on her own.
Stepping up to the body, the first thing Maddie took note of was the aura. Or, more precisely, lacktherof. At first it worried her. Had it 'died' while she had been debating? No...if it was 'dead' it would be dissolving into pure ectoplasm now, not just laying there bleeding. Besides, there had been no aura in the first place. Speaking of, it was still hurt, and by now, Maddie's curiosity could no longer take the wait. Slipping her bare arms underneath the thin, oh so thin ribcage, she braced herself and pushed.
This was insane.
It was the only rational thought Maddie could think of in this situation. Completely, totally, most very definitely. Insane. Jack had been right. All along. There was no use denying it now, looking into the actual FACE of this young enigma. Or, more precisely, phantom. It was so clear now, just looking at the little thing. A rookie would have mistaken it for just another ghost that had died as a young teen, but there were signs one had to look for, signs that experienced ghost hunters like Maddie knew right off the bat.
One: Lack of internal Bone structure. Pressing her palm to his ribcage, Maddie felt the small ridges the bones made under her hand. Most types of ghosts ahd a rudimentary Bone structior that remained solid most of the time to give the ghost shape, but would bend under pressure, being made of naught more then condensed ectoplasm. Pressing down on the slightly abused ribs, she noted they did not give way. Thy remained solid, holding against her much like a human's would. Alright...
Two: Eyes type. Most ghosts and even specters had plain colored eyes, very different from humans; most notably common was the kind with no sclera or pupil. Moving to the two eyes of the boy, carefully as to not harm him, lifted up one eyelid; human. VERY human. The only thing wrong with the picture being the pupil was slitted, like a cat's, and the faint luminescence to the pure green iris.
Ok. So it it wasn't a true ghost but...there was one more thing. One more thing that she HAD to see to really believe; some part of her still being in denial. The last thing she needed to check was the hands. Well, not the hands specifically, but fingers on the hands, and what was between those fingers.
Spinners, like those of a human world spider. Hidden when not in use, the spinners of a phantom were located between each finger where the finger connected to the rest of the hand, appearing to be mere slits in the skin. It was how a phantom constructed its nest, using the natural ectoplasmic secretions to spin something akin to a giant spider web in the tops of trees, the nest itself being a huge hammock-like construct. Taking the bleeding, cut up right hand in hers, she moved her thumb to the space betwixt the index and middle finger, and squeezed lightly on the skin. A tiny drop, no bigger then a pea really smeared on her fingertip. Glowing lightly, when she pulled away the drop was stretched, being stuck to both her and the boy, creating three or four beautiful, fiber thin threads of spider-like silk, glinting like in and out of visibility in the dark.
Her mind was blank, her eyes blinking rapidly trying to make this scenario fit into any place with what she and the rest of the spectral enthusiast world knew to be normal. A phantom. I real phantom. Here! ALIVE! She felt lightheaded, giddy, and so totally...well, NOT Madiline Fenton-ish. Calm, she told herself. Focus. Looking back down at the face of the little creature, she observed it in greater detail. Male, by the facial structure, but juvenile by lack of fiery mane of hair, black sclera or simply it's rather puny size. And letting out breathy, almost undetectable keens of pain. Oh! Right! Stupid, Maddie, stupid! The woman scolded herself fiercely for her inaction. First aid, well...first, worry, hypothesize, and possibly celebrate later! The find of the decade had to be saved before becoming the find of the decade after all.
Unzipping the little red pouch, Maddie's hand immediately went to grasp the tiny white bottle plainly marked PAINKILLER but hesitated, wondering briefly if adding medicine would help, or be detrimental the boy's health instead. Letting go of the plastic container, she moved to the rolls of sterile gauze and bandages. She would worry about that later. Shock, in many cases was not an issue with certain species of ghosts, but she couldn't remember if Phantoms were one of them. She hoped not. But what would kill the little creature now was blood loss.
Alright. So, there's a three inch laceration running parallel to the collar bone, just below it, a patch of badly scraped skin on each of the palms that didn't look to deep, but was bleeding profusely, then a multitude of smaller cuts from shrapnel and being thrown to the ground adding to all the glowing green fluid congealing over the boy's body. She didn't have the materials on her at the moment to suture the wound on the collar bone, but if she could bind it tight enough, the phantom would be able to hold out to be transported to a spectral 'vet' so to speak, and receive proper care.
Wetting a clump of cotton balls with rubbing alcohol, she swiped it over the cut, clearing away a good amount of the spilt ectoplasm, and hastily cleared away the rest before laying a strip of gauze over it and binding it into place with the bandages, over the shoulder. The shoulder moved. Oh no. Darting her gaze down to the face of the creature, she saw he was moving, the muscles in the limbs contracting and pulling the hands, the fingers curling. Taking more rubbing alcohol, she cleaned the hands and wrapped them, hoping the phantom was mature enough to have the sense to not just pull them off the second he awoke. She doubted it though. If this was the mystery ghost she and Jack had been looking for all this time, then the phantom fledgling would have been living with a wraith, and it would not have cared if the child was harmed, let alone teach the boy to leave alone what was for his own good, like bandages.
It couldn't be helped. The clothes would have to come off. They were burnt and ripped, nearing falling off the form of the child. Sucking in her breath, Maddie reminded herself, there was nothing underneath said clothes that she was unfamiliar with, whatever gender the creature was. After all, she may not have worked with phantoms before; they'd gone extinct ( or so they thought, apparently) before she of Jack had gotten their degrees, but she did have experience with other humanoid entities. Taking what used to be the black jacket and slipping it past thin muscled shoulders drew a shutter from the body below her. He was waking faster than Maddie'd hoped he would. Either that or the fact he wasn't wearing any form of shirt under the jacket was making him cold, but she highly doubted that. A common trait with almost any kind of spectral entity, save for a great few, their natural body temperature was at least twenty degrees below human average. Moving quicker, but still gently as to not disturb him, she had a bit of trouble with the boots, but managed to untangle the laces and pull those off. Pausing to muse lightly over who had tied the shoes in the first place, she moved to the pants. Actually, those didn't look to bad, just stained and greatly ripped in places. They could stay, for now. There seemed to be burned remnants of what could have been gloves on the hands, but she paid them little mind. It WAS a bit odd, Maddie admitted. Wraiths don't need actual clothing as their form was incorporeal most of the time, and clothing was a construct of the wraiths mind when they did take physical form. So how would a phantom, obviously raised by the other predator, know how to use clothing properly? Perhaps it had not always been with the shadow creature? Maybe. But then, why would a wraith want to actually raise a phantom pup which hadn't been with it since hatching instead of just killing it? The two were natural enemies, much like a hawk and a mouse, although, said mouse could easily be compared to a crow or other small scavenger. Shaking her head, Maddie supposed it didn't matter now. They wouldn't let this one go. A wild phantom, found in the ghost zone was to important to simply release again.
With that in mind, Maddie stood, checking to see if the boy had stirred because of the movement (he hadn't) and ran back to the Specter Speeder. There, she located one of t he smaller live traps they'd brought along. It was simple in design, much like the others, but this one was only about 4x5x5. The phantom wouldn't be able to stand up in it and there wasn't much room to move, but for his predicament now not moving was the best thing for him. Maddie was going to make sure that when he woke up, he would not be able to cause more damage to himself.
It took a few minute to unfold and screw the trap into place, and in that time, it seemed Maddie couldn't keep her eyes off the boy. A testament to the resilience of nature, he was. Well, if what had killed off he phantoms in the past was a viruses or some new predator no one knew of, that was. And, the fact was, they didn't know. This fledgling, however, could help them solve that mystery! Tests on his dietary habits, instinctual urges, even mating preferences would tell them so much. Could this phantom be an offspring of a mate-group that hadn't been killed off by the wipeout, or undiscovered by any of the research teams sent out to find them? Maybe perhaps, much like the Tarpan or Prezwaltski's horse, it was a newer species with an older genetic code? Maddie didn't know, and that made her all the more enthusiastic. There was no way she'd be sleeping again tonight!
With the trap set up, she walked over to the little being, mindful of his injuries, and looped her arms under his, around the chest. Trying not to drag too much, Maddie laid the phantom male down inside the trap, and quietly as she could, closed and locked the door.
With nothing but left to be done but wake Jack and clear away the wreckage of the destroyed machine, Maddie drug the occupied cage to the side of the specter speeder, pulling out a tarp and draping it over the trap. She'd heard laying a cloth over cages with feral animals like cats and dogs in them helped calm them, and she had little doubt there would be a very NOT calm phantom within the trap come morning. That didn't really matter though, because come morning, Jack and Maddie would be leaving, taking the phantom with them whether it was calm or not, and unknowingly changing so many lives in the process.