WARNING: If it is illegal for you to be reading these stories or you find them disgusting or immoral, please refrain from reading further. Must be 18+ to read! Any characters, places, or people depicted in this story is entirely in the fantasy and imagination of the writer and in no way reflects his/her personal morals or beliefs when relating to relationships between minors and adults. Any people, places, or actions depicted in this story that reflect real life events or situations is entirely by accident or coincidence.
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Chapter Seven
Sometime in the predawn hours, our computer terminal chimed and a flashing blue light appeared. Something's changed. I'm getting up and the lights aren't blinding me as I walk to the terminal. I jiggle the mouse and the screen comes to life. A popup window front and center announces "New message from Rene Laurent, Facility Manager"; I click the link to the message.
To: Henry Miller and Michael Davis:
Due to exemplary behavior, your privileges have been expanded.
You will notice the motion detectors have been disabled, as have
the automatic door locks. These are conditional on your continued
pattern of acceptable behavior.
You retain use of the levels you currently access and additionally
Levels 31-35 have been opened to you, as well as a one-day
pass to my office on Level 10. I'll expect you here on your lunch
periods today. -RL
I walked back to the bed and sat down, looking over at Michael. Wolf eyesight in the darkness is something I'm still not used to; especially given the fact we'd been abruptly woken every morning to blinding lights. I leaned over and gently kissed Michael on the forehead before nuzzling my face in his neck fur. I sat back and watched as his eyes fluttered open.
"What happened to the lights?" he asked.
"We've apparently been granted new `privileges' from our `benefactors'" I replied "we're also allowed to come and go without permission, and granted access to levels 31-35, although, I'm not sure what that means to us. Oh, and we're to have lunch with somebody called Rene Laurent today. It seemed to be more of an order than a request."
"What time is it?" Michael asked. I looked at the clock on the terminal taskbar.
"Only 3:30" I said "we have time for a quickie or more."
"Too sleepy after our forced sex session last night, I thought those were over" Michael said.
"I imagine whoever was on duty needed some masturbation material" I told him. I turned the monitor back off and crawled back into bed. Michael grabbed my arm and pulled it over him and slowly we drifted back to sleep. Two and a half hours later the alarm went off; still no blinding light, just the sound of the next song I'd queued up. Roger Daltrey was singing my feelings for me; although I highly doubt he'd ever imagined my situation when he recorded the song.
I'd gladly lose me to find you
I'd gladly give up all I had
To find you I'd suffer anything and be glad
I'd pay any price just to get you
I'd work all my life and I will
To win you I'd stand naked, stoned and stabbed
I'd call that a bargain
The best I ever had
No words were spoken as we got up to get ready for our day. Michael was well aware of how our game with the wake-up songs worked. He simply sent me warm, loving vibes which I immediately increased and reflected back to him. I smelled my pits and decided I was good for another day. Michael had washed due to his sick stomach, so we just dressed and got ready for breakfast. It was actually strange, not having to ask permission to leave our quarters. I turned the door handle, half expecting it to be locked, however it opened with no problem. We went and grabbed a quick bite of breakfast, then continued on to our work cubicles. I was not accompanied by Vasily today for some reason, only a blank screen and an message with a link to my work assignment for the day. As usual, I was so focused on my work that when Michael came to collect me, I was startled. We made our way to the lift and I inserted my now, more powerful key. We stepped in and I pressed 10, the lift jumped up, leaving my stomach on Level 30 for a moment until the brake kicked in and we slowed to a halt.
When the doors opened, we were greeted by a pair of armed security guards. We put on our best submissive act and followed the gents to a very ornate door with the title placard `Facility Manager' hanging on it. One of the guards opened the door and waved us in, then the two stood on either side of the door in guard positions.
"Come in, come in, mes amies" our host called out. In front of us was a large walnut conference table covered with what appeared be a feast.
"A great deal of food for just the three of us" I said.
"Oh no, I will have more guests later, but help yourselves" the man, who I assumed was Laurent, said.
"May I ask why we've been called here?" I asked.
"Ah...very direct, concise, straight to the point you are" he smiled, "I am Rene Laurent gentlemen, I run this facility. However, I am number four in the grand scheme of things. The star of the show, so to speak, is our benefactor Ilya Rostovich, the multi-billionaire philanthropist. Before I go on, let me assure you, due to my position and the nature of what goes on in this office, we are not being monitored."
"In that case, it was my belief that Rostovich is the leader of the Novyy Poryadok" I said.
"Well, yes...that as well. Exciting isn't it, dual lives" he said.
"We probably shouldn't be talking about such things" Michael said.
"Nonsense" Rene said "once again I assure you, you are not being monitored here."
"Why should we be expected to trust you?" I snapped.
Leaning over the table, in a very quiet voice, Laurent said "Gentlemen, I am working for Interpol at the behest of the government of France. I was sent here to find out what manner of things our comrade, Mr. Rostovich, is up to. It began as a series of strangely similar reports of deaths in countries all over the world; all with uncannily similar in circumstances."
"Let me guess. All were top scientists, most in genetic research, dying in situations where the body was destroyed and the families only got back ashes" I said.
"You win the cordon bleu" he said, "so far we've identified a hundred such cases, yourselves included."
"You're missing quite a few" Michael said "you haven't spoken to Diego yet, I take it?"
"No, you will probably pass them on your way out" he said, raising an eyebrow, "how would you know that there are more?"
"Let's just say, our research says there are a total of 200 as of yesterday" I answered.
"In this facility alone, you number 20" he said, "thus the access I granted you to the other floors. Two couples per floor, L30 – L35. Not all of your brethren are based on the wolf model. Don't be shocked when you meet them. Another thing, all the research being done here is not limited to the genome, you will find much more interesting things being worked on. Speaking of...I've liberated you from your duties for the rest of the day so you can go meet and greet."
I finished up the delicious steak I'd been working on and chased it down with the remainder of my goblet of Cabernet, as did Michael.
"Well, Michael, it sounds like we have an adventure ahead of us. Shall we?" I said.
"Absolutely" he replied.
"Is there a way we can reach you if need be?" I asked Laurent.
"Fire up your terminal, open the messenger app. For the To:, type in this code" he slipped a business card across the table and I pocketed it.
"Thank you" I said.
"Yes, thank you for the finest meal I've had in a long time" Michael said "I certainly hope we can trust you and that this meal wasn't our last."
"Here is the thing for you to ponder Michael" Rene said "I have as much to lose if I can't trust you. If you told your captors that I work with Interpol, I would be another mysterious death."
There was a knock on the door, as it opened Lukas and Diego came in. Michael and I greeted them mentally and I sent that I think he can be trusted, but that we still didn't let him in on our having `extra' abilities.
One team of guards remained at the door, and a second team escorted us back to the lift. They made sure we were securely onboard. I inserted the key and when the screen came up, I punched 31. I hated the lift. Every time, it made my stomach churn. We were very apprehensive getting out on this floor because we had no idea what to expect. The first thing that struck me was the freshness of the air. Beyond the door of the lift, greenery was everywhere. Directly across from the lift was an apple tree with fruit ready to be picked. Michael and I looked around, somewhat astonished.
"You must be Henry and Michael" a voice to our right said. This specimen seemed to be hybrid with a species of bear. He was shirtless, golden brown fur, around 200cm tall and I'm sure in the vicinity of 150kg. He lumbered over in our direction, causing me to cautiously step back.
"Don't be afraid, I am gentle bear" he said. "You may call me Vadym. I see you appreciate my partner's work."
"Yes, it's quite amazing" I said.
"Let me fetch Kaz, he will like to meet you." Vadym disappeared into a hallway between the plants and a few minutes later reappeared with another bear. This one was similar size to Vadym, but his fur was more varied, blonde colored on his head then turning to nearly black farther down his body.
"Kak dela" said the bear. "I am Kazymyr, welcome to my world."
I had long been a student of hands. Although true that there was no direct correlation between finger size and the size of...ahem...other organs. What I had found to generally hold true, is that usually if a man had short, thin fingers, then...you know. Kazymyr's fingers were long and quite thick; however, the loose-fitting shorts he had on made it difficult to confirm my theory outside of a bump that appeared as he took steps.
"All of this is your doing?" I asked Kazymyr.
"Well, me and Prajna, to be precise" he replied. He punched a button on the com and asked Colin and Prajna to come to the hub. A little later, a reddish-brown bear appeared, wearing a kilt. The tartan was a field of greens with crosslines of burgundy and violet; the tartan of the Blackwoods.
"Finally, a fellow countryman. Mr. Blackwood, I presume" I said, putting my hand out.
"Aye, good eye for the tartan. You may call me Colin" he said.
"Henry, Henry Miller" I replied.
"Prajna" said the smaller, rather shaggy, black bear who followed him in. I shook his hand and said "Pleased to meet you."
"Have any of you discovered our gift?" I thought to the group.
"Yes" came four voices into my head in unison.
"Has Kaz shown you the arboretum?" Prajna said quickly.
"No, we just got here" I answered.
"We don't need to speak mentally in the arboretum. It's not surveilled" Prajna sent to me. We followed them down a very long hallway and when Kaz opened the huge wooden double-doors, it was amazing. The arboretum must have been well beyond the reach of the corresponding hallways on the upper floors; the ceiling in this room was at least 100 feet above us. There were full grown trees and all manner of smaller plants and flowers. Our group walked toward the middle of the space where there was a small clearing with park benches.
"Have any of you met with Rene Laurent?" I asked.
"Yes" Kaz said, "let me clue you in, friends. You are the newcomers; Level 30 is the break-in period. After they feel you are performing properly, you will be moved down. Since you now have `visiting' privileges, it shouldn't be long now. I assume you will be on L36. The levels below 30 are all self-contained; your living areas, work, training, everything will be on the same level. We are allowed to associate with each other, but rarely are we allowed upstairs anymore."
"How long have you been here?" I asked.
"About three years" Prajna answered.
"Have you ever been to any of the lower levels?" Michael asked.
"No" Kaz said, "however, Vadym has picked up what he thinks are voices down there, but they speak in a language none of us has ever heard."
"And they feel different" Prajna said, "When I am exposed to people, there is a temperature associated with them. Among all of us, there is a feeling of warmth. Same with good `normals', like Rene. `Normals' like Sebastian give off a coolness. Gregor vacillates between cool and cold. With those...things...down below my gauge is useless; blinding hot to permafrost and back in an instant.
"Aliens, if you ask me" said Colin.
"Vadym, do you hear thoughts or actual voices?" I asked.
"I am a distance hearer, I can hear conversations people are having far away, not thoughts" he said.
"We need to get Diego down to L35" Michael said, looking at me.
"My thoughts exactly" I said, then in explanation I told the group "Diego is similar to Vadym, except he picks up thoughts at long distances."
"We'll have to work on getting Lukas to accept his new life. He's the holdup on the two of them getting cleared for privileges" Michael said.
"What other types of chimeras are on the floors below us?" I asked.
"L32 is cats" Kaz said, "leopard and panther hybrids. L33 appear to be infused with raccoon."
"Be careful on L34" Prajna warned, "they are based on domesticated dogs and part of their nature is to be loyal to their masters."
"L35's occupants are based on otters; apparently the navy of the group" Colin added, "their water park provides water for all this."
"So this area has no counterpart on 32-34?" I said.
"No, if you noticed, the hallway we came in on was at a slight slant" Kaz said.
A loudspeaker somewhere in the ceiling chimed, then our disembodied voice said "Dinner will be served in 10 minutes, visiting time is over."
"That's our que to go" Michael said.
We said our goodbyes and walked back to the lift for our ride back up. "This whole situation gets stranger and stranger" I flicked at Michael.
"I'm beginning to think your idea of a chimera army is not so far-fetched" Michael replied.
Lambodara 10/9/20
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