290: A Plague of Phantoms: Lab Rats I

"Is it dead?" Bo asked as he held Gadget tightly. I reloaded my Thompson MK.4S after picking if off the ground then walked over to the nearest corpse of the creatures cautiously. There was very little left of its body, save its head, legs and part of its stomach.

The creature wasn't healing this time, in fact it looked like it was rapidly decomposing. I frowned as I looked at the creature. It was definitely a evo though I couldn't really identify what animals made it up from the remains. It's face and what was left of its upper body was human, it's lower body looked like goat hoofs, it also had thick spiraling horns sticking out its forehead along with wings out of its back.

"I think it's dead." I said then walked around the corpse and approached the other ones. None of them showed any sign of regenerating. They all had one thing in common: they're chests had massive holes where their hearts should be. "I think they all are."

"Oh thank God!" Bo gasped. I turned around and saw him picking up that ring that Gadget spat out. He looked it over for a second then slid it on his finger and looked back at me.

"We're those some of Chase's evos?" I asked and pointed to the dead evos. Bo shook his head and walked closer to one.

"No, you'd think so since they could heal their wounds but Chase doesn't have anything like that…" Bo said then looked at the evo closest to them. "…okay well he did make a evo similar to them but…it doesn't have a human face…kind weird that."

"What's weird?" I asked then walked over to Bo and stood beside him. He pointed at the evo's face and the others in the pile.

"These evos all have unique faces. They're obviously the same type but their faces aren't similar." Bo replied.

I looked closer at all the evos and realized he was right. It wasn't normal for humanoid evos of the same type to have identical faces but they weren't that unique. At most they will have varying differences in eyebrow shape, mouth shape, eye color and the like. These were entirely different faces, with different skin colors, and facial structures. Some were even more feminine than the others and obviously came from a woman.

"Yeah…you're right. I haven't seen any humanoid evos with this big of a difference in their faces. Though I'm still more worried about the fact they could heal from getting their heads shot off." I said. Bo crossed his arms and huffed.

"Yeah that doesn't make sense, Chase's evos are the only ones I know that can do that and supposedly we should be inside that ancient splicer's laboratory. Could the owner of the lab have figured something out like Chase?" Bo muttered, he froze and then looked off into the distance for a second then nodded and looked at me. "Chase wants to talk to you."

Bo pulled off that communication ring and held it out to me. I took it reluctantly and slipped it onto my pinky finger. The moment I did the etching on the ring glowed and Chase's voice filled my mind.

[Reagan? You there?] Chase asked.

"Yes…?" I replied out loud, which made Bo giggle.

"You don't need to speak out loud. Just think what you want to a say." Bo advised me with another chuckle. I frowned but did as I was told.

[Yes.] I replied again.

[Good! You got the ring.] Chase said.

[Yeah, the mouthy brat said you wanted to talk go me?] I said. I heard Chase's chuckle echo in my head.

[Yeah, he told me about you two getting attacked by weird evos. We haven't seen any where we are and neither has my grandpa, Anders, or Turak'Kahn.] Chase said.

[That's something at least.] I said.

[We'll that's the good news…now for the bad news. We are inside a very large laboratory, separated from one another, and I have no idea how to get out of here, let alone where everyone is inside this laboratory.] Chase summarized. I nodded silently and crossed my arms.

[Is it surprising you don't know where everyone is?] I asked.

[Yes, Liger shark's can see for two square miles around them with their special vision. Bone-lasher is special and can see for more than nine square miles, regardless of that I can't see anyone. Which means that everyone is father than nine miles away from Bone-lasher and me. And if you're that far away then it begs to question just how huge this place is.] Chase said.

[That's a huge problem! How the hell are we going to get out of here?!" I exclaimed.

[First we have to worry about linking up, you and Bo might have killed those evos that attacked you but if there are more it will be dangerous to have everyone scattered in groups.] Chase said. Anders familiar voice spoke up in the connection and startled me a little.

[How are we supposed to do that if we don't know where we are or where everyone else is?] Anders spoke up.

[That's the rub. I don't know. Wondering randomly would be a bad idea but that's the only strategy I can think of.] Chase said.

[There's another option 'ere, Starlight.] Seamus, Chase's Grandpa spoke up. [Find the where these evos came from. It's more than likely a lab with controls.]

[I gotcha! Get to the lab and we might be able to find a map or control panel that'll help us all meet up!] Chase exclaimed.

[Problem though, if we're heading to where these evos came from then we probably run into more of them.] I said.

[True…which is why I'm glad the party split up the way it did. Anders and Reagan you tell Bo and Turak'Kahn to summon any combat ready evos they have.] Chase said.

[Understood…] Anders replied.

[Affirmative.] I confirmed, looking at Bo out the corner of my eye.

[Oh and Reagan, tell Bo that he can use any items he and Gadget stole from me but I'm docking whatever they break from his pay.] Chase said. My eyes widened incredulously.

[You pay him?!] I exclaimed.

[Begrudgingly, he is an employee…technically.] Chase replied with a groan.

[Lucky kid…] I muttered, slightly envious of the boy. I hadn't started getting paid for any work I did until I joined the Army at seventeen.

[Oh, lads before I forget, if ya happen to see any weird doorways with clear doors ya can open them by placing yer hand on a little square panel next on the wall to yer right.] Seamus added.

[Oh, that helps, we already ran into one of those door.] I said then looked over at the door behind Bo and I.

[Be careful, everyone. Especially you Grandpa.] Chase said.

[I will Starlight, I'm not a fragile princess.] Seamus said.

[I don't think you'll find my daughter fragile, Mr. MacClery.] Turak'Kahn spoke up.

Seeing that the conversation had run its course, for me at least, and I took the ring off and handed it back to Bo.

"Chase's plan is to have everybody look for the lab that these things came from and hope it has a map or we run into one another. In the mean time he wants you to summon anything that can fight to bolster our numbers and that anything that you and your little rodent stole you can use but he's docking your pay if you break anything." I said. Bo's eyes widened and Gadget chattered angrily.

"Dock my pay! He's already docking my pay for the stunt with the gangs!" Bo grumbled. I started to walk over to the invisible door that I ran into earlier but froze when I heard him say gangs.

"What is a little kid like you doing pulling stunts on gangs? That's dangerous!" I exclaimed looking back at the little kid. Bo looked up after me then back over at the now mostly decomposed corpses of the evos he killed.

"And wandering though a ancient splicer's laboratory that's possibly filled with murderous evos isn't?" He asked sarcastically. I narrowed my eyes at the boy and sighed.

"It is, which is why I'm wondering why your father thought it would be a good idea to let you come here with us." I replied. Bo smirked cockily and puffed out his chest.

"Because I would have found my own way in anyway, even if I had to sneak in so they know better than to leave me alone anymore." Bo said proudly.

"You just admitted that you were a massive pest so it was better to keep you close to keep you out of trouble. Nothing to look so proud about." I said in a deadpan tone. He frowned then stuck out his tongue, reveling the crystal in the middle of it.

"Gargesh!" Bo exclaimed as a crystalline structure formed in front of his tongue. The structure flew a few feet away towards the crossroads and landed. The structure expanded and shattered, revealing a muscular humanoid evo, covered in green skin with thick tusks parading it's lower and upper jaw.

"You had that hidden and you chose to summon that little rat!" I snapped and pointed between Gadget and the new evo Gargesh.

Gadget chattered angrily on Bo's shoulder then threw something at me. It clicked against my gun and fell to the floor. I frowned then looked down at my feet to see what the evo threw at me and arched a brow when I saw something glinting up at me. I reached down and picked up the glittering object only to see it was a emerald.

"Did your evo just throw an emerald at me?!" I exclaimed and looked over at Bo, who'd already turned away and walked over to Gargesh. He looked over his shoulder at me casually and looked at the stone in my hand then back at Gadget.

"That's one of mom's emeralds! Why'd you steal one of them, she'll kill us if she finds out!" Bo exclaimed then rushed over and took the emerald from me and shoved it in his pocket. "Must have spat it up while he was spitting up those bullets."

'I don't know what's more ridiculous, the fact his evo swallowed a whole emerald or the fact he seems so nonchalant about having a large, cut, emerald…' I thought as Bo walked back over to Gargesh.

"Gargesh, we're in the thick of it and we need an escort!" Bo exclaimed in a silly voice. Like a child pretending to play soldier. Gargesh nodded at Bo then scanned the hallway and saw the remains of the evos Bo and Gadget killed then looked over at the heap of now useless guns without ammo. He walked over and picked up one of the Skazzas and swung it like someone would swing a baseball bat, holding the it stock end up.

"That's not how you use a gun…" I grumbled. Gargesh continued like I wasn't there and swung the gun again then rested it on his shoulder and looked at Bo confidently.

"Don't worry Boss! I'll protect you!" Gargesh exclaimed.

'I feel so safe…' I thought, then looked down at my Thompson MK.4S. 'At least I ended with the kid, if it had been Anders they'd be fucked…'