"He's not responding well."
Nathan ducked his head, knowing where they were placing the blame. The new people not only proved to be worse than Yuma and Arata, but were methodical with their actions. Things went from being uncertain about what each day would bring, to knowing exactly what would happen, none of it good.
The woman frowned down at him. Nathan had been expected to bring this thing to heel, to make it useful again, but the beast only responded to him, snarling when anyone else came near.
"You realize what failure means, right?"
"…yes, ma'am." Nathan scrambled to recover lost ground. "H-he just doesn't understand, and he won't if you don't-"
"It understands you well enough, does it not?" She sneered at him as she passed, rapping against the metal bars of the containment area. "Though if all it will respond it is a mutt like you, how much understanding is really going on?"
"I don't—"
"I'm not looking for a pack mentality," She scolded sharply. "I'm looking for something that will follow orders, real orders. If it doesn't follow simple commands within the month, we will take what we need and put it down. We don't need a drain on our resources. Am I clear?"
Nathan flinched, but nodded all the same.
It wasn't until she had finally left the room, returning to her duties, that Nathan approached the bars, gripping one with a shaking hand as he tried to control his fear. He rested his head against the cool metal, looking inside at the curled up form. He was docile now, but the handler that had been part of the demonstration would need stitches.
"You've gotta listen to them…" Nathan's voice was strained, and even he questioned how much his brother could understand at times, and how much was simply inferred from the situation. "You have to…"
His voice failed, and he allowed himself a moment of weakness. No one would see, and his brother wouldn't… couldn't tell. Nathan's breath came in gasps, and he shook when a ruined hand reached through the bars to rest on his head, a deep whine echoing from the other side.
After leaving the beast and the mutt behind, Kouri entered another room, approaching a young woman, who was perched on the table, waiting to be seen.
"I trust there have been no further complications, Elizabeth?" Kouri asked as she filed away the record of the earlier failure.
"It's Eliza." The redhead scowled over at Kouri. "And nope. Pain's gone, just like you said."
"Yes, well your father was very insistent that this be resolved, so if you would care to demonstrate?"
Eliza hopped down from the table, bowing irreverently before she began to shrink, fire licking along her skin until it covered her entire form, which shifted, molding into a new one. It seemed the superheating worked to ease the transformation, for after a matter of minutes, a large red fox sat where the woman had stood.
It stared up at Kouri with intelligent eyes, waiting.
"And now back?" It would be almost useless if she got stuck that way; they already had one failure.
The fox tucked her tail around herself, fire branching from her core, allowing the reversal. She stood there unashamed as Kouri handed her the fallen gown. They would need to work on a fabric that could morph with her, but for now…
"Perfect."
