A Horrifying, Yet Miraculous, Absolution
Ch. 2
[x]
His granddaughter didn't understand the term 'hatred.' That was something he was positive of. In fact, she never glared, cursed, or did the other malicious actions brought upon by rage. However, not knowing 'hatred' didn't mean everything was as bright as the Earthrise: G.U.N. was something that she didn't – wouldn't – trust, and it had come out of 'nowhere.' The mystery of what was going on in Maria's head kept twisting itself into basically a pocket dimension he lacked access to. He wanted to know more – wanted to trust her words – but at the same time, that gnawing feeling of disbelief contained within him. The duality was beginning to make him feel ill.
Giving a large sigh, his picked up his pencil and continued to do the work for the evening. Although he wanted to stay with Maria longer, especially after her voice somewhat coming back, he couldn't let the quest for the Ultimate Lifeform backtrack longer than it already has. She depended on him, and the specimen was at a critical stage of its life.
Tired hands rubbed the bridge of a nose.
The Project was having an… issue.
Well, to be brutal, that was too weak of a word. A minor 'problem' was Gerald himself – he felt the eyes of them even if nothing was around. It was as if the larva was watching his every move and reporting to the strange demonic-looking humanoid leader. In fact, he had been afraid that was the case – at least until he ran enough tests to come to the [tepid] conclusion that the larva held only instinct instead of sentience. [It was partly the reason why he doubted PSUL2.018-BD was going to even achieve success. Something that Maria could depend on for the future – something that G.U.N. wanted to be smart enough to think in high stress situations – had to be something more than just a motionless doll.]
A rough snort flew from his lips. Gerald was rambling in his own mind. When did he start losing focus?
Right…
The 'issue.'
One certain scientist's eyes trailed back towards where the readings about Chaos Energy were charted. Last night, the results were within the normal parameters. Tonight, however, everything redlined to the point that the amount of Chaos Energy within the Project's body had shorted out half of the electrical devices. In initial frustration, he only received a 'general alarm' instead of the required 'master,' and, as such, had walked slowly away from Maria. A 'general' was nothing too serious: slight over pressure of the embryonic fluid; one of the backup pumps going offline; unwanted or unexpected movement of the specimen. Dr. Robotnik had kept to that almost lackadaisical pace… until he had opened the doors to his lab. Only then did he realize the severity of what just happened – the entire back half was dark, cold, and not a single sound. Honestly, when he saw it, his heart had sunk in the realization he had probably lost 2.018. Power fluctuations were things he had prepared for, yes, yet, even his backup generators were offline.
Defeat was the expected outcome. It was too young to have survived the double punch of both Chaos Energy going out of control and the life support system's utter failure. Even the Biolizard would perish when cut from her field – an embryo stood no chance. Gerald had felt that all-too-common regret of another failure when he had pulled out his scapples, lenses, slides, and knives; the new glow of the lights fluttering back as he spent three grueling hours repairing the damage to stop any rot before it set in.
When the illumination reflected off of PSUL's tube did he stand back in surprise; autopsy materials released to the floor faster than his heart reached to his throat.
The specimen was alive.
It looked like a pulsing black and red mass.
But alive.
… He thinks.
[Sleep was to be a foreign concept.]
[x]
"Grandpa!" Maria greeted him on what had to be morning some days [a week?] later, bursting through the lab's doors without warning. She must have been worried about his lack of visitation, based on the glee in her voice- [Wait. Voice? Gerald refocused midway thru a magnified close-up of the specimen's culture.] "I can talk again!"
The scientist stopped everything he was doing. Swinging around on the ball of his foot, he reached open his arms and basically threw his precious girl into a warm hug. "Oh, MARIA!"
"Once I realized the rules of my mouth, I just had to come here and tell you that I love you, Grandpa! I really, really; really do!" Her voice carried each word in rapid succession, as if she was going to be forced to stop at any second. As her hands hugged him back, he could see her hope-filled eyes. "And just as important, I can say Shadow's name."
"Why, that's just…" He gave a tighter squeeze, positive his tears were just as much about relief as they were joy. "… Perfect, my dear."
"I can do it-" And with that, Maria made a grimace. Aware that Gerald was about to send her off to the infirmary, she held up her hand. "S-Sorry, Grandpa. I got… a little too ahead of myself." The voice dropped in volume. "I wonder if I can discuss to Shadow about that…"
He was going to maintain his stress levels today as well, it seemed. "Discuss what…?"
She turned to look at the room around them before she settled back to Gerald. "… Secret. Sorry, I… truly am." Maria held her hands together, forced the undercurrent of fear and seriousness to slip away, and gave a little jump. "But don't worry, Grandpa! I know I'll overcome this temporary setback! And you'll be-" One could see her mind work, as if she was trying to find a loophole. [Of what?] "-able to hug me for more days. You just… need to stay happy! OK? Strategically away from G.U.N. … p-personal. You. And Shadow. Both of you." A deep, haggard exhale. "Whew. I did it."
She certainly did. Forget his Project for an hour. He was going to entertain her.
[x]
[What did Maria mean by 'rules?']
[x]
A young girl's reflection played on the glass of the tube. "Why is he a squid?"
Gerald cleaned his glasses for the third time that day. Mentally, he congratulated himself for running more benign tests. The odds of her running into the lab had only increased dramatically since her incident. "Only recently, my dear," he addressed, coming to the conclusion that Maria had blessed 2.018-BD as a 'person' instead of an experiment alone.
Her eyes never left the container of PSUL. "He's… so different." She had that strange look of enthrallment; awe in the sublime degree.
"Well, the Project actually is a quite a tricky one. Its physical form is running all over the place. For about six hours, PSUL-"
Maria's interruption was quick, but not cruel. "'Shadow,' Grandpa."
Shadow? Yes, this was Project: SHADOW, but he was suddenly struck with the fact she meant something else. Now he was going to be in serious trouble if the specimen passed away… [If it could pass away? It had survived his armada of caustic tests of regeneration and without power, unlike a previous 2.006-BD. That was such a positive sign for healing…!] "Apologies, Maria. Shadow, if I may," as he was greeted with a large grin, "spends six hours a day in this form before returning back to the shape of a hedgehog. I honestly haven't found the cause of it quite yet, but I have a feeling it has to deal with the sheer ridiculous amounts of Chaos Energy it – ah, he – is made of."
Basically, the specimen was Chaos in the shape of a mammal. He had run enough tests to come to that conclusion – the strange conglomerate of energy and biomatter was so foreign and alien [hah!] that he had trouble translating it into something useful. PSUL didn't have the appearance of the deity in the Angel Island's ancient carvings, so at least Gerald didn't accidentally unleash an ancient God. Hah… G. U. N. would have probably wanted that instead-
"He changes?" mouthed Maria, placing her hands back onto the glass. "I can't wait to meet him! There's so much to talk about!"
Gerald felt himself flinch again. "My dear, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Shadow," he felt strange as he uttered the word, "may not be able to communicate." He didn't have the heart to say aloud that the brain of 2.018 was in a tragic state. As a hedgehog-shaped infant, Gerald had manipulated its DNA to have one in the embryotic stage, but once it collapsed into that strange mass, the nervous system congealed into a more primitive state: a neuron complex. [And it honestly wasn't even neurons. The strands that were equivalent to nerves were black, which was in sharp contrast to anything 'from Earth.' Instead of electrical pulses, which is how mammals of all types used, the neurons and nervous system of PSUL used Chaos Energy to send signals of movement. It was quite a shock, as well as the source of his sheer and utter exhaustion. At the same time, the implications and the wonder of such a being was beginning to form strange thoughts in Gerald's mind.]
Her blonde locks swayed as she swiftly turned her head. "Grandpa, Shadow is going to be fine. He's your greatest creation." A nod as she waved her thin arms wide. "And I gotta be here when he awakens! O! I have to go get some of the best snacks from the cafeteria! I'll go get them right now!"
"Hold on, Maria!" Gerald gently reached and grabbed her shoulders. "Even assuming Shadow has vocal cords in his hedgehog form, he's nowhere near ready." Because he lacks a mind. "So, why don't we just have a quiet dinner together and we can watch the mass turn back into mammal together…?"
Her face had a mischievous glint. "I'll go get the food right away for that, then! I'll be back, Grandpa! Nothing can break your super important concentration today. I'll make sure to help you."
It wasn't until he went back to run tests on the 'squid,' letting his mind reenter analytical mode, did he realize that today was the day G.U.N. was supposed to visit his quarters for their report. Maria had never stopped him from having those important meetings before [in fact, she would break in to remind him he had to go] – she understood that the reports were critical to funding, of which he was burning through…
He stared out into the quiet lab.
[x]
Dinner consisted of a kale and potato soup. The sausage and cream additions made the dish quite palatable, and it warmed him up inside. His hands had begun to cramp from writing so much of his analysis, and the heat of the bowl helped to alleviate that. Idly, he wondered if the true completed specimen could cure arthritis after healing Maria. [And he did give a small chuckle at that.] Whatever the case, the duo had a makeshift table by 2.018's area. Like before, Maria had brought three meals on their metal serving plates, but this time the 'special guest' slot was for PSUL.
She had done an excellent job at keeping him away from the weekly meeting, but he had to give a report at some point. Perhaps skipping a singular week wouldn't be too tragic – Maria did not need to enter into another frantic state, and while G.U.N. was incessant, they were understanding that their wants for an update were only trumped by the specimen itself, or Maria's prognosis. [A worried and distraught lead scientist left for a terrible end result, after all.]
There was movement again from 2.018-BD's pod. The slag of bio-mass was no longer slop on the bottom of the container. Rather, it was stretching into genetic swaths large enough to prevent seeing the other side of the glass. Gerald kept his eye on the Chaos sensors as Maria stared onwards at the sight. The energy readings seemed to follow a cosine wave pattern, but only for the moment. At any second the output would ascend to beyond charted maximum for 0.124 seconds before crashing back down into-
POP!
The duo descended into darkness.
A certain black and red mass, once again, shorted out the power in the rear of the lab – despite having added more interference protection, but at least nothing exploded this time around. Finally, on this occasion, he was prepared – Maria wanted to see the transformation, so some glowing sticks were already in place around the area. Not using a method of illumination that would be overpowered by Chaos, they continued where modern science had failed.
Gerald wondered if the conversion was… painful.
But only briefly.
The 'squid' bounced from the top of the tube back to the bottom; the sounds of something moist echoing in the back area of the room. It shot out tendrils that recoiled against the barrier; the two humans spell-bounded in their sight as the limbs rotated back onto themselves. The rest of the mass went haywire soon afterwards: contorted seizures would have been the correct word to use if this PSUL had a brain left to comprehend such…
Eventually, the ooze faded in a few areas. Crimson – a deep, rich red that Gerald had no idea where it originated from because the hedgehog motif he had pulled from was more a gold than anything else – streaks, black quills, a tanned lower mouth, and the smallest hint of white soon took over the exact location where the squid had once been. The specimen was back into a 'mere' hedgehog.
That was not all.
"Shadow…," his granddaughter whispered slowly as her voice carried disbelief married with confusion. Despite that, it was her that was the first to recover. "Since when did you have wings…? This… is new…"
Forget the wings-!
[Forget!?]
Why was his embryo… no longer in its infant stage?! It was at least complete in Mobian size! Where had this growth come from!? Assuming the normal rate of pod fluid injection, this was not supposed to happen for quite some period even underneath the forced acceleration timeframe!
[And WHY did it have WINGS!?]
Gerald didn't have much of a stretch to comprehend what was going on before he realized his hair started to rise up. In fact, his clothes were moving against gravity on its own – as was Maria's. The instinct to protect his granddaughter took over and he forced the girl to backtrack from whatever was about to happen. Her cry of surprise filled the air as he spun around – his right foot almost tripped against the edge of the makeshift table – her head still looked back towards PSUL as the scientist yanked her – the dull glow of the other side of the lab felt like miles away-
His body could feel it first.
Rage.
Anger.
Utter hatred.
Miasma caught in a focal point- Corruption, the same taste he had in his mouth when that thing appeared before him- So much utter Chaos that Gerald could understand the bitterness- Could feel his body start to go numb as the energy begun to assault a nervous system not compatible-
His eyes could see it.
A golden streak. It was as brilliant as the sun itself; crafted out from thin air; hovered before the two Robotniks. It took the shape of a needle – a lance – a spear – with a sound effect Gerald would never forget – of what he could only label as 'mesocyclone.'
It simply moved through the air.
Rocketed off towards their side.
A weapon.
Judgment.
This was it. Cruel reality gripped as he had no time to even say goodbye to Maria-
The spear exploded through the glass container of the larva, impaled right into the eye of the disgusting creature, turned supernova, and then… everything became washed in white…
And stillness…
The only clue that he was still alive was the ringing in his ears…