Chapter 8 It's Alive ?

Dr. Scott Bayley looked down at the lab table and saw this creature laying on its side motionless as he looked the first thing, he noticed was that it was not covered by fur anymore it looked like it was covered by an armored shell with spikes coming from it. It appeared that there were blades sticking from it at its joints. There was not a vulnerable spot on it anywhere that he could see. Making sure that he didn't touch anything with his gloved hands he was an artist with the tools that he had at his disposal but the suit that he had to wear was definitely big bulky and in the way. At this time his main purpose was to get a sample for analyses. It was a good thing that he was such an expert he thought but this thing definitely creeped him out a little. If this was not such a sensitive mission. He would have stayed behind the glass in the other room, where he knew that he would be safe. But it is what it is he thought and all that he knew is he wanted this over with and if it needed a more personal touch then that is what it would be.

Scott picked up a pair of scissors and prepared for the worst. The lab tech held the thing down with very long-handled tongs making sure to grip it tightly. As the doctor prepared to cut off a spike, he was not sure just what to expect. The bio-suit that he had on was made for maximum protection, but he knew that it really would cut down on his mobility. Something hit him as being so strange as when he was just about to make the cut it shifted and fell out of the cutters. He looked over at the tech annoyed. "Stop moving it make sure to hold it still." He demanded.

Even though the tech was shaking he didn't think that he was shaking bad enough for that to happen. But as he watched the creature. Its leg twitched and moved again. In a panic, the tech dropped the tongs and started for the door.

This outraged the doctor and he asked, "Just what do you think you are doing?"

The tech pointed at it and said, "It moved it moved on its own." His hand was trembling as he watched the thing turn and slowly roll on its side.

Scott took a better look at it at first, he frowned as he saw nothing, and he was just about to start yelling at the incompetence of the tech. But as he watched his eyes opened wide in shock as he saw it start to move. At first, he was too stunned to move, they both knew that it was dead it had been limp and lifeless for days and in cold storage.

As they watched it its front legs started twitching and then moving in an uncoordinated movement but slowly it started to move together. By that time the tech was out of the room cuddled in a corner waiting for the outside door to open. As Scott watched the front paws started moving and the hind legs first straightened and then kicked hard which sent the rat inches along the table. This woke Scott up and made him try to think just what he should do.

It was not taking long for Scurvy to regain some of his coordination and once he had all four feet moving together it started rocking trying to regain its footing. Its ears seemed to turn to look for noise. While its teeth snapped hard together making chattering noises. Its pale eyes opened, and it moved its head back and forth trying to find anything that was there. As Scott took a step toward it scurvy made it to his feet and turned in his direction but it paused. Just waiting for another movement or sound. The doctor looked closely and studied it without moving. He noticed that its eyes were completely white so the best it could do was see some kind of movement in a haze. This gave him an idea of the tongs that the lab tech had dropped they were laying on the floor, but they were out of reach. He quickly looked around the room to see if there was anything that he could use to help protect himself. There was nothing within reach, but he did notice that the light that would most likely give the rat a sign that someone was there was over his right shoulder. He carefully held out his hand making sure not to get his hand between the rat and the light. When he thought that he was ready he waved his hand higher making sure the shadow fell on the rat's face.

Scurvy jumped at the movement with his teeth chattering or at least what it thought was the movement. It stopped suddenly and turned as soon as the doctor's foot touched the floor the sound echoed threw out the silent room. The doctor froze immediately as soon as he saw Scurvy turn around. He was within reach of the tongs. He knew he only had one chance to do this correctly even though the rat was not moving fast, its legs were made for jumping, he knew that it would jump again, and this time it would fly off the table. He needed to make sure that when it jumped that it would at least miss hitting him. He thought to himself if he was anywhere but this lab there would be something that he could use but not here there was nothing to fight this thing. In any other place, there would at least be a few things on the table but no not here everything was too far out of reach put in its proper place, and locked away. There was no use in crying about it or hoping things would be different it is what it is and he had to deal with it.

The best he could hope for was to be able to grab the tongs and catch the rat before it left the table. He thought that maybe if he missed grabbing it, he could use the tongs and bat it away then leap up on the table before it could react and jump at him again. The worst would be if he missed grabbing it and then missed knocking it away and having it land on him. The suit would protect him only for a second and he knew that it would puncture the suit long before he could knock it off. This fucking suit he knew that it was going to slow him down no matter what he did. He had his mindset he just had to grab it as it moved toward him and hold it securely. That was going to be the only way to get out of this.

He took a deep breath and cleared his mind, the only thing he wanted to be thinking about now was capturing the rat. He quickly swiped the tongs off the floor and this started scurvy coming toward him just as he thought that it would. The rat leaped into the air, and he was super lucky he managed to grab it by the midsection. Scurvy thrashed wildly and to the surprise of the doctor, the spines that were coming out of the rat easily pierced threw the tongs.

He almost lost control and dropped them as he jumped back from the shock, but he managed to keep his wits and a tight hold on the rat. Scurvy was struggling and tearing the tongs apart. Scott yelled to the tech to get back in here quickly and fill the vessel with alcohol, so he had a place to put that thing. At first, the tech didn't move, he was too scared to leave the corner that he had run to. Scott yelled, "Just what do you think will happen if you do nothing and this thing gets free, I'm not the only one that is trapped in here."

On hearing that the tech jumped to his feet and then carefully looked in the room. He saw the doctor struggling to keep control. He noticed that the tongs were being shredded so he knew that there was not much time. He quickly ran to the shelf and pulled out a large aquarium and started dumping gallons of alcohol in it. It was a good thing that all of it was already here to collect the specimens.

"Hey! Bring it over here, and use the hose it will fill faster," Scott yelled.

The tech nodded as he felt dumb, and he brought the tank over. As soon as he could Scott lowered the rat into it making sure to keep ahold of it. The rat was flailing wildly trying to get free but once it was submerged in the alcohol it lost its ability to move and started to kick its feet as if it was swimming.

The doctor set it free once the tank was half-filled. Even though the rat was kicking with its back feet trying to go up to the surface it never made it off the bottom. The new body and weight had to have been factors as well as the things lungs must have filled with water when it died. The doctor could relax now, it seemed like the rat was reliving something maybe its last memory. It was not that important now the priority was to fill the tank and seal it. The rat didn't seem to be able to move easily in the fluid. It had lost all its power and was more or less helpless. The heavy spikes all over its body were nothing but an Anker now keeping it trapped on the bottom. The thing that amazed the doctor the most was that it never stopped biting at the movement. With it under the surface of the fluid, it shouldn't be able to see. The doctor thought that with its eyes like that the best it could hope for was to catch some kind of movement or maybe an outline.

Well, he thought he didn't get a chance to collect a sample but now he definitely had something he could study. Once the tech had the tank filled, he slapped a lid on it and sealed it tight. His hands had not stopped shaking and he was more than ready to leave the room. He looked up at the doctor that was in a trance just watching the rat try and swim. The tech made a coughing sound in order to get the doctor's attention, but it had no effect. He tried once more but to no avail finally, he came right out and asked to leave.

Without looking up the doctor waved his hand and dismissed him without a thought or even looking up from the tank. He was completely entranced by it. The first test that he ran was to check its vision. Just as he thought it was mostly blind it seemed to see things that were between the light and it as well as it seemed to notice movement but that was limited.

The doctor thought that he would have plenty of time for thorough testing, but he realized that it wouldn't be long before others would be brought in. Then the testing would be conducted around the clock. He knew the first thing he needed was samples that could be looked at under a microscope. Before he got that started, he figured that he needed to contact the general of the base and fill him in on everything.

The general had just finished another press conference and then was told there was an important call waiting on a secure channel in the conference room. When the room was cleared the general locked the door and went over to the computer that had the video call. Doctor Bayley was on the other side and very excited and could hardly contain himself.

"Look, look it's alive well kind of it can't be alive cause it's not breathing but it's moving on its own." Said the excited doctor. Then he turned the camera toward the tank.

"What the fuck is that!" The general exclaimed. "I thought the reports were that thing had been killed and you were in the prosses of dissecting it for study." the general continued.

"We were, but before I could collect any samples the thing started moving." The doctor said with a huge smile on his face showing just how excited he was.

All the general could do was shake his head in disgust and disappointment. "So, what is the status of that thing and the base?" The general asked.

"Well on the positive side, the creature is 100% contained. It is in a tank filled with alcohol and at this point, it is completely docile. It appears to have limited vision to the point it is more or less blind. Only by seeing things blocking the light source or some movement there is no pupil response in it. It does seem to be able to hear but as you can see it is not breathing and not trying to.

The general's eyes almost started to glaze over he was not really that interested in what that thing was doing and whether it could see or not. The only thing was how to destroy it and maybe if they could use it as a weapon. Finding a way to destroy it was his priority because even if it was a weapon, he wanted a way to stop it first.

He asked the doctor. "Is there a way to stop it if it was loose?"

The doctor almost looked wounded at the thought of trying to stop it, then he picked up the tongs and held them in front of the camera for the general to see. The general looked at them they were completely shredded with a bunch of holes that had been pushed through. Doctor Bayley said, "Those are the tongs that I happened to grab it with. As you can clearly see its spikes smoothly penetrated the stainless steel, I believe it would have done the same thing if the metal was doubled or even quadrupled."

The general didn't like the sound of that at all. So, he asked, "So what is making it so docile now if it can easily slice through steel?"

"I have a few thoughts on that the best one is that all the surfaces are smooth and made out of glass and the fact that it is in a fluid gives it no traction. It seems like the rat's last memory must have been swimming and it is trying to re-live its last moments or at least that is my take on it. It was far more violent before it was submerged in the alcohol."

The general asked, "Could the alcohol be affecting it in any way?"

That is fairly unlikely the effect was way too fast and there are no signs that it has ingested it at all." The doctor replied. "As for destroying it at this point, there is nothing that has shown any signs of affecting it. But I am still testing and will work on that end to see what we can do. The first thing I am going to need is some samples to really study it," he said.

This didn't make the general very happy, but he knew if there was a way to make it happen the doctor would do it. The doctor had never let him down before and he was sure this time would be no different.