Chapter 5: Unexpected Events II

It's been a while guys, decided to start this new story and see how it does, I'm a bit rusty.

This story is going to be revised completely into something else once I get some feedback, thought I might as well post something for the time being.

let me know what you think in the comments.

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[~June 12th, 2192~]

["Morgan, can you hear me? React if you can."]

The loudspeaker rang out once again as the mass of flesh slumped and wriggled like an infested ball of jelly. The strange green substance that it secreted covered a larger area as the restless minutes ticked by.

Despite repeated inquiries, the amorphous ball of organic mass remained unresponsive, continuing its rhythmic, almost therapeutic-looking quivers, seemingly oblivious to the outside world. It was as if it had created its own little world, separate from the cruel and much larger one surrounding it, where it felt protected and safe.

Unsure of what had happened, or the significance of the strange dark green fluid that now covered most of the room, the doctors remained outside the test chamber, safely behind the protective reinforced glass, and kept monitoring the strange, alien-like organic mass that represented their grumpy test subject, Morgan.

"Doctor Mathews, what should we do? The subject is unresponsive; from what we can tell, he may no longer be...well, active."

Mathews frowned at the question, his furrowed brows pulled down as he fixed a stern, heavy gaze on the strange blob at the center of the room. He seemed to be deep in thought for several minutes before coming to a decision. He shook his head as he spoke in a solemn, deep tone, almost as if he was concerned...but it was likely not about the poor boy's state of being, but rather about what he should report to his superiors.

"Let's continue monitoring for now. Keep everything as is and record any changes in the subject," he said before turning around and leaving for the door.

However, after a few steps, he halted and added more thoughts.

"For now, no one is permitted to enter the room. Keep me updated every hour for any changes." With that, he turned around. As he was about to leave, another man raised his gaze and asked with a weak, squeamish voice:

"Doctor Mathews...what about Doctor Sandra? Should we...what should I tell her?"

"Keep her in the dark. Tell her that the test will take longer than we initially thought," he replied before leaving the room without waiting for any further questions from the team of doctors.

As the automatic sliding door closed behind him, he turned towards the guards stationed outside. With a much colder expression, he commanded firmly:

"Under no circumstances is Doctor Sandra permitted to enter the room. This is a Code Red Order." Doctor Mathews said before turning towards the hallway and leaving with hurried steps.

Upon hearing his command, the guards immediately jumped to attention and grabbed their rifles, standing at the ready. They were shocked at the peculiar order, but none dared to question it. Code Red was the highest level of emergency signal, overriding any active duty or previous charges from superiors. It was an exceptional code with only a handful of people authorized to issue it, and even then, it required heavy documentation afterward. Doctor Mathews was one of the very few individuals with such authority.

Though unsure of what was going on and what could have made the head doctor react in such a manner, both guards immediately shook off their casual poise and stood in a much more alarmed stance.

…

[~June 15th, 2192~]

"Keep your weapons ready, but do not shoot unless I give the signal. Violators will face severe repercussions. Understood? No matter what happens, you are not to fire unless I give you the signal. Do you understand?!" Doctor Mathews spoke with a stern tone and a serious, cold expression to the group of four guards who now surrounded their team of six doctors.

After three days of observation, the team ventured inside the test chamber and transitioned from passive monitoring to a more active approach. The blob of flesh had not shown any significant changes or movements in the past three days, but kept up its rhythmic squirming, shaking activity.

Despite their attempts at ventilation, the strange dark green fluid had not dried up. Since Morgan had not responded to their repeated inquiries through the loudspeaker, they could not come to any conclusive conclusions. Was he still alive inside? Had he already died? They didn't know. Although their test subjects were unique and possessed unimaginable abilities and traits, none were quite like this. With Morgan being one of their most prominent test subjects, they could not simply declare him absent. They needed further tests with a more "hands-on" approach.

After three days, Doctor Mathews decided to take the risk. With the group of doctors assigned to the test and four highly trained and armed security guards, they decided to venture into this newfound unknown and put an end to this round of tests.

They had managed to handle Doctor Sandra's growing concern for the time being, but even their temporary solutions were running out. With the pressure increasing, they knew they owed her a proper response. She was already on the verge of breaking protocol and charging in herself after all…

Doctor Mathews then turned his attention to his team of doctors and addressed them with a similar stern tone.

"Do not let your guard down at any point. We do not know what is truly going on inside or if the organic object inside the room is still Morgan or something else entirely."

The doctors gulped audibly at his words. They were shaking, visibly stressed, and scared. They were scientists, researchers, and doctors who needed to be properly trained to handle such a situation. Yet, the circumstances had forced them into such a predicament. They could only nod as they firmly grabbed the tablets in their hands.

"The subject may or may not be hostile. Try not to agitate it. We do not know how it will react. Our goal is to confirm if it is still Morgan or something else entirely…"

With these grave words setting the appropriate atmosphere, the doctor signaled the leading two armed guards to open the double doors so they could begin their most dangerous experiment to date. The team's visible anxiety didn't settle even after they ventured inside, nor when they eventually approached Morgan's pile of goo at the center of the room. While the guards kept alert and spread around them, the doctors slowly approached Morgan.

"Morgan, are you there? Can you hear me? Respond however you can," Doctor Mathews voiced the question he had asked through the loudspeakers probably hundreds of times in the past three days.

However, just like every other time in their past attempts, there was no visible reaction from the blob. It kept ignoring any outside noise and retained itself in its own little world.

Thus, the team of doctors began their tests for the next several hours. Each was marked as a failure, as no matter what they tried, the blob never responded or reacted to their attempts. Still, from the scanning device, they could confirm without a doubt that this organic residue was still very much alive, at least to the closest scientific definition they could come up with. The cell structure maintained its homeostasis, and it continued to grow and slowly develop while reproducing at a controlled rate. Though they failed to get a response, no matter how much they tried to rouse it with audio-verbal stimuli of any kind.

Even when they tried to agitate it with more aggressive sounds, such as predator noises or loud blaring horns, or even with loud gunfire played from the loudspeakers, they failed to produce any reaction.

"Sir…" called out a young doctor as he came to a decision. He looked at Doctor Mathews with a hesitant tone, unsure of how the head doctor would react to his rather dangerous theory.

"Yes? Speak your mind." The old head doctor sighed, showing signs of exhaustion after spending several hours without showing any positive results. He was close to giving up and marking the test subjects as deceased in his report. Though he knew he would face the board's wrath afterward, there was nothing he could do at this point.

"D-Doctor Mathews, I may have an idea…" stammered the young man, glancing at the sidearm of the nearby guard. He focused his attention on his taser rod as he spoke meekly. "I-I think we… erm… we should use… a more direct approach."

"Hmm? What do you mean-" The old doctor frowned and asked. However, as his eyes followed where the young man was looking, he immediately understood. He pondered for a moment before nodding and turning towards the guard. "Give your taser to him. I will repeat it again, DO NOT fire unless I specifically order you to do so," he said, repeating the firm order he had given before they had all entered the room many hours ago.

'M-me? Why me?' The young doctor felt apprehensive about being the one to carry out the dangerous action, solely because he came up with the idea. However, he could not express his concerns and could only show a troubled expression as he accepted the short black plastic baton and turned towards the unresponsive blob of flesh.

As he approached the organic mass, he became increasingly nervous. The closer he got, the colder the air felt, and the more he sensed danger surrounding him. All of his senses seemed to be screaming at him to escape, indicating that his life was in peril. However, he dismissed his feelings, believing that his heightened level of stress and anxiety was causing him to have distorted perceptions.

The young doctor hesitated several times as he inched closer and closer to the pinkish-colored blob with the baton in hand.

The atmosphere was so tense and tangible that it could almost be cut with a knife as the young man touched the blob's surface. For the first few seconds, he simply maintained contact, slowly and gently nudging the gelatin-like surface.

The mass responded as expected, with its surface wobbling and sending ripples originating from their point of contact. However, it did not react in any other way, and its chemical reactions remained unchanged.

Feeling more at ease, the young man pressed the button on the handle of the stun baton, activating the electric currents at the tip. Immediately, as the light bluish sparks attacked the strange blob, the surface began to writhe violently.

"Quick, move aw-" Doctor Mathews screamed out, sensing the danger. However, he was already too late. A large mass of flesh suddenly shot out from the blob's surface like a boneless tentacle, latching onto the young doctor's hand, which was still holding the non-lethal armament.

Before the doctor could scream out in fright, six hard-tipped tentacles pierced his body and violently pulled him forward.

"Oh God, please no!"

The young doctor attempted to struggle against the tendrils, but he was pulled straight into the blob and swallowed up in the next instant.

Shocked by the rapid turn of events, all the guards raised their rifles and aimed them at the creature, ready to fire. But knowing the firm direct order from the head doctor, they remained guarded and did not react.

"DO NOT FIRE! Fall back! Get out of the room… NOW!" Doctor Mathews shouted, pulling on the nearest doctor who was rooted to the ground due to fear and sheer terror, and bolted towards the exit instantly.

His action caused a chain reaction, and the rest of the team was jolted into action and followed him in the next moment, frantically rushing out, afraid of the next attack from the strange entity.

After closing the test chamber, the team returned to the monitoring room. They kept looking at the numerous devices with a newfound surge of data streaming through them.

After reading for a few minutes, Doctor Mathews' expression eased up, and even a small, barely perceptible smile began to emerge. This felt rather out of place, considering one of his direct subordinates was just murdered in one of the most brutal fashions imaginable. Yet, he didn't seem disturbed by it.

Silently, he sat down at one of the chairs and continued focusing on the various screens, ignoring the frightened, scared looks of the group of now only five doctors.

…

Around an hour or so later, a change emerged inside the room, instantly catching the attention of Doctor Mathews. In the past hour, besides the blob growing several times its size, nothing much had happened, but now, suddenly, its surface began to shake violently once more.

Like before, when it attacked with the strange organic appendage, its surface showed a similar reaction.

"It's... heating up?" Checking the thermostatic device, the older man muttered to himself as he saw the numbers rapidly climbing.

A cloud of vapor, steam, was released from the mass of flesh's pores, covering its surroundings, and Morgan, who was observing the experiment from within the room.

The surface of the blob continued to writhe and shake aggressively while slowly changing shape. At first, it began to condense, shrinking down to around a quarter of its size before it began to grow once again.

This time, however, it was no longer an amorphous blob-like shape. Instead, a familiar humanoid figure, though somewhat larger, began to emerge. A young teenage figure appeared in place of the previous mass of flesh.

After around ten minutes, the biological reactions began to calm down, and the steam was aired out through the automatic ventilation system. The team of doctors was stunned to find themselves face-to-face with a now-naked Morgan.

The mass of flesh was nowhere to be seen, nor was the unfortunate young doctor that it swallowed up just a bit more than an hour ago.

Confused and frustrated, Morgan gazed straight in the direction of where the head doctor was sitting and muttered something to himself that looked more like grumbling. He then walked to an auspicious corner of the room and sat down, deep in thought.

Still, he continued to ignore the loudspeaker, but this time, Doctor Mathews didn't mind it. On the contrary, he seemed excited at this turn of events, scribbling like a madman as he began to jot down everything that had transpired during this prolonged test.

He was no longer fearful of the board of directors. No, on the contrary, he was looking forward to his report.

[~June 16th, 2192~]

Reunited with the worried and somewhat scared Doctor Sandra after being informed of the incident, the pair sat around the dining table and enjoyed their rather large breakfast.

Doctor Sandra still didn't know how to react or what to say. Hearing of the violent scene had scared her somewhat, and she was becoming more and more uncertain about these tests. However, she didn't know what to do. She could only sigh as they slowly finished their meal and hugged each other for a temporary goodbye as she left for the day.