Brooklyn stirred before sunrise on the jet. He moaned but as he woke up more, he found he couldn't see anything but black. Was he blind? That got him scared. But he couldn't find he could open his mouth or even move his limbs for that matter. He tried crying out for help, but his voice was muffled. He tried to squirm. He heard voices he didn't recognize, and he heard what sounded like a plane flying. What had happened and where was he?
The humans on the jet noticed their prize moving. "He's moving, Irene." Jeff, one of the men, pointed out.
"Good. I wondered if he would come to before sunrise." Irene replied. She got up and walked over to him. "Hey, hey, hey. It's alright, Big Guy."
Brooklyn heard a woman's voice. 'Who are you?' he asked in his mind.
"You're going to be fine, Big Red. You're on your way to your new home with me." Irene declared.
Those words sent a chill down his spine. It really got him squirming even more desperately to get away, but he wasn't getting loose. He tried to talk to get her to understand that he didn't want to leave his clan, but he couldn't even open his beak to speak.
"Calm down, Red, or we can sedate you again. You're not going anywhere." Irene said. "Everything will be cleared up when we reach our destination. The sun will be up shortly, and you'll rest peacefully. I can tell you this to set your mind at ease. You won't be harmed in your stone form. We'll have introductions once we've arrived. But just nod for me, do you have a name already?" Irene asked.
Brooklyn complied.
"Good. We can talk once we get there." Irene said. "But try to relax."
Brooklyn had a bad feeling in his gut. 'How can I relax when you're taking me to who knows where and you aren't telling me anything?! I want to go home, lady! Now let me go!' His breathing was fast and his heart was fast. He struggled some more.
"I'm sorry you're stressed right now, but you'll learn to adjust to your new home. This is what all creatures go through when they get a new home." Irene explained. "But if you're wondering if you have any of your clan with you, no, they're all back wherever you all live."
Brooklyn knew he was scared and going to be even more lonely. He would have to rely on himself to get out of this predicament. The sun soon rose and froze him in place. He seriously hoped he wouldn't be crushed in his sleep.
Irene was fascinated by his stone formation. No other creature did this.
…
The jet made it to an airport in Tampa by 8 am. A special ramp was used to wheel the gurney with the stone gargoyle on it off the jet. Brooklyn was taken to a new transport truck that were going to take him to Irene's facility. The gurney was secured in the truck. Her team were already fascinated by the gargoyle.
"What exactly are we going to do with him, Irene?" One of the men, Ron asked.
"Definitely going to study him, though we can't study him in this state." Irene replied. "Let's just get him to the facility right now."
"Yes, Ma'am."
They all got into the truck and drove to the research facility. There had also been a large dome built too for Brooklyn. A large enclosure so he could be allowed to stretch his wings too but in a restrictive way. It was a large enclosure for him. The top was enclosed with electrical fencing too. Irene had gone all out to make sure that this would be a luxurious place once exams were over.
Brooklyn was taken inside the facility and put into the exam room. Now all they could do was wait for sunset. Irene did want to study the stone in which he was encased, but it first had to break apart. She wondered how gargoyles woke up. Sunset wouldn't be for several hours yet.
The researchers were told to get all the accommodations ready for their new guest. Irene had taken blood and a tissue sample and taken his vitals. With the gargoyle being male, she also wanted to study the reproductive side too, but nothing too intrusive while he was awake. If gargoyles wore clothes over their most private spots like humans did, they had some sense of decency to the human eye.
Irene and her team could make out that this gargoyle had mostly a body build of a young man. It was his head and limbs that resembled more of a meat-eating dinosaur. His wings were also like those of the flying reptiles from the dinosaur era in shape. It was like they were looking at a living fossil! It was possible gargoyles could have even lived back in the time of the dinosaurs.
"So, how long before we put him into the cage?" Susan asked.
"When we finish up our tests on him. I also aim to try my experiment on him soon too. I want to get started on that after we get him knocked out again. He can't know about it until later." Irene decreed.
"Alright." Susan agreed.
It was a long day preparing for their guest to wake up at sunset for the first time. There were no windows where Brook was, but one of the other researchers saw the sun setting. He notified his team. The human team now stood watching the prone statue to see how he woke up.
There was a growling sound. Suddenly, the stone started to turn to fragments. The stone cracked and the red male roared in a muffled way. His eyes were glowing under the blindfold too, but they didn't know that.
"WOW!" So many of the humans said in awe.
Brooklyn heard them and he started struggling in his bonds. He was also trying to yell but the muzzle wouldn't let him open his mouth.
"You better try to get him to calm down or he could hurt himself." Ron stated.
Brooklyn struggled with all he had in him. Then a voice came from his right. "Hey, hey, hey! Calm down there! You're alright, Red. I know you're scared but I promise, you're safe and nothing is going to harm you." Irene went over to try to soothe her guest.
Brook calmed down just enough. "I take it you can understand me?" The woman asked. Brook nodded. "And you want the muzzle and blindfold off?" He nodded again.
She continued. "I can grant you getting rid of the muzzle for us to talk, but if you start trying to bite, it goes right back on. But for now, until we're done with your tests, I'm going to have to insist the blindfold stays on. But we will take it off soon. Now hold still if you want the muzzle off."
He then felt movement near his face and the muzzle was undone and it was pulled off his beak. He gave a big breath of air. Ron held the muzzle in his hands.
"Whoever you are, let me go!" Brooklyn demanded furiously as he tried to get loose again.
"Calm down, Red. We will let you go, but not right now. First off, what's your name?" Irene asked.
"Brooklyn." Brook replied.
"Interesting. More of a female's name but okay. Brooklyn, what you are doing here is that my team and I have some research we are conducting on gargoyles as a special project, and we need you to help complete it." Irene explained. "I take it you are a young one?"
"Yes. What does that have to do with anything?" Brook demanded.
"Just means that you'll have the strength and energy to deal with what I need from you." Irene said.
All this talk of an experiment was making Brooklyn uneasy. "Just what are you going to do with me?" he asked nervously. He knew he was completely vulnerable right now, flat on his back and tied down.
"Our research is going to take some time to complete. We will soon move you to the area where you'll be staying, and it should be quite comfortable. Don't worry. We will feed you and take care of you, and the more you can cooperate with us, the easier it will be for you." Irene explained.
"And if I refuse?" Brook asked.
"In some aspects, then sedation might be required to do what we have to do." Irene replied.
Brooklyn didn't hear quite a coldness in this woman's voice as he had heard in other humans' voices. It sounded to him like she cared. But no matter what, he was still going to try to escape. He hoped his clan would save him though, or he would get loose on his own.
"What is it you want to know?" he asked. He was willing to be compliant if they would let him go.
"After we heard about gargoyles living in New York, being what we are, we had to find out more about your kind. We saw some videos on the news and wondered if you truly are what they say you are." Irene explained.
"What the news says is all wrong, lady. We aren't the monsters that so many make us out to be." Brooklyn began his explanation.
"Interesting. Go on."
"My kind live to protect others is what we do. I know our looks can make us look frightening, but we don't randomly attack people. We just fight the bad guys, you know, like robbers, burglars, gang members that try to hurt or kill the innocent civilians. Those would be the ones that say we attacked them. We try not to kill anyone, just disarm or knock unconscious to stop bad guys to make sure they get what they deserve, to be off the streets in prison." Brooklyn explained.
"And the Quarrymen?" A man spoke up.
"The Quarrymen are exactly like what we take down. They say we are evil when in reality, it's the opposite. They want to kill us and wipe us out. My clan is working hard to try to change humans' minds to accept us." Brook explained.
"Did you have a role in your clan?" Irene asked.
"Yes. I was the Second in Command." Brooklyn replied. "Please, you need to let me go."
"I'm sorry, Brooklyn, but this research is too important. You were the only gargoyle we found. We need you to stay for a little while." Irene proclaimed.
"My clan is willing to help people who respect us to deal with certain things, though I know I'm not one to deal with science." Brooklyn replied. He tried shaking his head to see.
"Well, right now, we need you to be. Brooklyn, I need to do some more tests on you like this before removing the blindfold." Irene declared.
"What sort of tests? Are they going to hurt?" Brook asked with some dread.
Irene grinned. 'Males. They just can't seem to take pain at all.' "Just a little sting of a needle," she replied.
"Is it something you're injecting me with or a sedation?" Brook asked desperately.
"Sedation. You'll be fine." Irene replied.
"No, please! Don't do this!" Brooklyn cried out in distress. "I don't need sedation!"
"I'm sorry, Brooklyn, but for these kinds of tests, yes, you do need sedation." Irene declared.
"I don't want it!" The gargoyle tried to get loose again. He couldn't see what the humans were doing but he could make out movement in his hearing. Then he felt hands on his left arm. "Let go of me!" He ordered.
He felt some prodding on his arm, but he wouldn't hold still and when he wouldn't cooperate, some more hands held him down before strapping another bond over his chest to keep him down. He still kept struggling about but soon, he felt an injection into his bicep. It made him yelp in pain. It made his struggles cease. He calmed down and the needle was put into his hand to allow for sedation.
Once he was out again, Irene knew they needed to get to work fast.
The team got to work on first getting their semen sample for analysis. They were impressed with Brooklyn's manhood stuff but weren't going to do much. They just collected sperm with a needle. One man took it to look under the microscope.
"So, you think that you can create some viable embryos using his genetic code?" Irene asked.
"I am a geneticist too. I am the best in my field." This man, Hagan, replied.
"Good." Irene replied.
Then came the x-rays. Irene hadn't wanted any of Brooklyn's seed damaged before x-rays commenced. In case of any injuries, the scientists wanted the anatomy of all Brooklyn's bones. Arms, head, legs, feet, hands, wings, tail, ribs, pelvis, and even the abdominal cavity.
The skull was fascinating in shape. But more of what Irene was after was the gargoyle's abdominal cavity, wanting to see the internal organs. The organs weren't quite as visible as what the bones were, but she could make out what was what. Between stomach, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, small and large intestines.
Irene could see there was no food in Brooklyn's digestive organs. She would see about feeding him soon, but he first needed more time to settle in. Then she went over to Hagan to see if he could figure out how to create what she wanted.
"The gargoyle has lots of good sperm in his sample. I don't see why he wouldn't make lots of good specimens." Hagan decreed.
"Good. I want it to be started tonight." Irene proclaimed. "We have done such experiments on other creatures. Surely, it could be done on this gargoyle too."
"Yes, but they were always female." Hagan stated.
"Well, we're lacking females at the moment. We'll have to settle on this male to carry some." Irene decreed. She was firm on this matter.
"Alright, just give me a little more time and it could be done probably in a few days, but I do have that artificial womb you wanted created while you were gone." Hagan said.
"Good. I want it implanted in his belly tonight!" Irene decreed. "But take the time you need to create some viable embryos using his genetic code. Since we don't have female gargoyle egg cells, and I want the embryos to be pure gargoyle, not human."
"Very well, Boss." Hagan agreed.
The man finished up the analysis, then put the sperm sample away for safekeeping. Hagan did what his boss wanted him to. He got into Brooklyn's lower belly, just above the pelvic bone and implanted an artificial womb into the belly wall. There was a small way that would suck up nutrients in it. Right now, the womb was empty. But after some embryos were created, they would be implanted right away.
When he was done, he got Brook's belly patched up. "It should be ready to sustain a pregnancy soon. Just let it settle inside him until my job is complete." Hagan insisted.
"Of course, but I don't want to keep Brooklyn tied down for that time period. I also want you to look at this piece of stone skin too that I picked up earlier too." Irene ordered, handing him a piece of stone skin.
"Yes, Ma'am." Hagan replied. "I'll do the fastest I can do to get the code finished and created. But just how many embryos are you planning to have the gargoyle carry?"
"From what his body build is, much like ours, I should just make it be one, but there is a chance that it might not make it. It needs a spare. Two." Irene explained.
"Very well." Hagan declared.
And so, it began to get the genetic code studied and finished with the project goal of creating some embryos. Some stem cells were also collected from Brooklyn while he was sedated.
…
After all the tests that were done, Irene had the red gargoyle taken to his cage to wake up. It was nearly sunrise by the time they took him in there. He was still asleep.
It would take a few days to get everything completed but the first part of Irene's plan was set in motion. Brooklyn was still one hundred percent male, there was just a small addition to his body plan for the time being that he hadn't been born with. But the most vital part was over of collecting certain cell samples.
Once in the cage, Brooklyn was lifted carefully onto the bed in there. He was completely loose. The blindfold was removed off his eyes too. He just had to come out of the sedation. Irene also looked at the incision one last time before putting his belt back over it. She smiled. She couldn't wait to carry out this experiment.
Irene knew that there was one animal group on Earth where it was the case: the seahorse and sea dragon family. They were fascinating too, and she had studied them as well. But this time, she wanted something totally different.
As for the current situation, Irene planned to have Brooklyn impregnated in a few days when the research was finished. Until then, Brook was free to be loose in his cage and she planned to let him go to the dome to fly too.
Sunrise came again and he once again turned to stone.
….
At home, the clan had gone looking for Brooklyn when he didn't come home that night. They were now worried for him. Something was wrong.
Owen checked the cameras and he saw Brooklyn take off towards the south. He reported it to Goliath and the clan had something to go on.
They searched all through the southern communities and found no signs of the red second. They hoped he wasn't hiding from them. Why would he need to hide from them? But more than likely Brooklyn was captured. If he had been hurt, he would have returned to them after sunset. His stone sleep healed most injuries.
The clan wouldn't give up hope on finding Brooklyn anytime soon. David, Elisa, and Matt would also put their best efforts into finding him too. Even the Labyrinth Clan was notified too.