Animal Testing
AIM RP
AIM RP
Chubbs was curled up in the corner of the room which he knew as his home for what felt like months. He wasn't quite sure how he got here in the first place, but it had to be something bad to end up in this...cell. All he remembered is fleeting images of the jungle and the changes happening as he ran from his duplex, and then he woke up here. The walls looked a mess, the were padded, well what was left of the padding. Seems he decided to rip it off the walls and make a pile of it to sleep on, again, he didn't remember doing it. For now lay there, staring at the corner of the room, and wondered when he might see Aubery again, even if it was only to stick a needle in him.
The distance sound of footprints signaled that someone was on their way. A few someones, actually. Dr. Lockheart swiped her badge and pressed her thumb to the reader panel next to the entrance to Chubb's observation room. The door opened and she stepped through, flanked by both sides by burly guards. One of the guards pushed a simple cart with Chubb's rations and parked it over near the man. Aubrey stood by the door for a moment until she could gauge his mental state.
Chubbs' ears perked up, and even through the sealed door the familiar smells of perfume, chemicals and Moreau wafted towards him. It was Aubery, someone he thought was something of an angel in hell, it was just a pitty she sided with the devil. Chubbs heard the door open, and as usual her guards were with her. With out fail his body tensed up again and his lip curled, and he tried his best to not growl.The guards always made him edgey, and no matter how he felt, he always had the nagging impulse to jump them.
Chubbs sat up slowly, let out a depressed sigh and turned around on the spot. It was probably injection day, something he hated. For the last what seemed couple months they had been jabbing him with all sorts of crap. He had no idea what they were doing, but some of them were horrible. One time he fell over and started seizuring, he wondered if today's dose would kill him.
" C..can you...grr.. send them outside... please?.. They make me a bit...testy"
The two men looked at her for a response, and after a moment of consideration she nodded her head slightly and motioned towards the door. She knew they would be waiting right outside. They looked uncertain but did as they were told.
Aubrey took a few steps forward, taking the plastic glass of water off the cart and holding it out towards him. "How are you feeling today?"
Chubbs looked up a little and lifted both his hands to hold the glass. He'd lost a bit of his gripping capability and fine manipulation with the change of his hands. Drinking was also a challenge, his muzzle made a mess of drinking from a cup, Chubbs had to lick the water out with his tongue. He pondered over Aubery's question, and considered how he'd been feeling.
" Much as a hybrid freak can feel?... bit iffy round some.. and ah.... well... broken.. just dunno... sad"
Aubrey nodded and gave him a sympathetic frown. "Do you think you would be able to handle the outside..?" She asked the question carefully, not wanting to make it sound too hopeful, but at the same time not like she was tryin to give him false hope.
Chubbs looked up lightly with raised brows, the outside? was he finally getting out of here? He looked back down at his glass and tapped a claw on it rythmically. Much as he wanted to be free from the cell, he was worried what he would do if he was out again. Chubbs looked along the white walls of his cell, and viewed the distructive nature of his animals, could he really let that back out with the others?
" I.. I want to.... but I'm scared"
She nodded, chewing slightyl on her lower lip. "Thank you for being honest."
She paced a bit in the room, her fingers fidgeting with an object in her labcoat pocket. "I know you want to. But if you're not sure... its a delicate situation."
Chubbs nodded and just stared at the floor. Maybe a couple of months ago he would have abused this situation some how, done something to escape. But now he knew he wasn't meant for anywhere else but here, and it killed him inside. Chubbs let out another deep sigh and had to ask the question that had be nagging at him for weeks.
" Am I... gonna change.. again?"
"Yes," Aubrey said softly. It was simply the honest answer, she had no reason to lie to him. "We've done a lot of reworking with your serum. Why you'll change, ya know..physically," she paused and looked him directly in the eyes, "you should be better off mentally." Should being the key word. It was highly experiemental, but they had done everything they could think of to stabalize the mental effects.
Chubbs nodded softly again, if just to say he understood, he didn't want to go through it again but at least they now realised what they were doing to him. He took another drink, lapping at the water and looked himself over once more, as if to say goodbye to what he used to be and looked up at Aubery.
" Then not yet... I don't want to be out there when it happens"
Aubrey nodded again and gave him a small smile. They probably wouldn't have let him out before anyway, but at least Chubbs could recognize why, and it gave him the illusion of a choice in the matter.
Aubrey slipped her hand back in her lab pocket and pulled out a small steel box. About six inches long and two inches wide, it had a small thumb panel on the top. She placed her thumb in it and three small electric beeps later, the top of the container opened. Inside was an alcohol wipe and a syringe full of a murky reddish liquid. She leaned down on her haunches and displayed the contents to him, looking up at him...almost if asking permission.
Chubbs heard the beeps and the hairs on his neck stood on end. It was the needle, god he would never get injections again if he ever got out of this place. He tried not to look at it but Aubery came into view and he winced lightly. It had to be for his own good, if they were trying to kill him, he'd be dead months ago. Chubbs just hung his head and held up his arm. At least he wasn't mauling people more.
"It's almost over," she said. It was a weak assurance, but it was all she could think to say. She remover the syringe and pulled the cap off with her teeth. She stepped closer to him and gently parted the fur on his arm. She was almost disconcertingly gentle, like a mother tending to her child's wound. There was something different in her touch, how she was carrying herself, how she spoke. Chubbs might even notice that she almost seemed to smell different.
Fur cleared and alcohol applied, she gave an awkward small smile, almost an apology, as she pricked his skin.
Chubbs didn't flinch, only did he expose a couple of teeth. Much as the fear of the injections have a hold on him, the pain was simple to handle. He sat watching Aubery for a while, she was very motherly to him. Thoughts began to work in his head like cogs twisting. Was she afraid and trying to be nice to be safe, or was it that she liked him? Chubbs blushed a little and shook the idea out of his head, surely she wasn't like that. Then he remembered something, she acted alot like his mother use to. He sniffed at Aubery a little, trying to make out her smell, then suddenly the words flew from his lips.
" You pregnant?"
Aubrey jerked in surprise as she was finishing up the injection, causing her hands to move suddenly and the needle jabbed further into his arm rather painfully.
She tried to recover quickly when she realized she was jabbing him, jerking the needle out. She fumbled with it for a moment before it clattered to the floor.
"Wh.wh..what?" she stuttered, leaning down to pick it up. One of her hands went to her stomach as she learned down, though if it was to tell if she was because she was doing it because he mentioned pregnancy, or if because she was trying to told her labcoat closed.
Chubbs' eyes winced and he bit his lip and groaned rather loudly as the needle jammed into his arm. He knew he startled her but god that hurt, there's a point where the pain from a needle is unbearable. Holding his arm after she pulled the needle from it, Chubbs looked down at her hand and back to her face.
" Just a guess you know... owww"
Aubrey was quickly busying herself with getting the syringe back into the box, and holding her labcoat closed around her. "W..w...w..why? Why would you say that?"
Chubbs raised a slow brow at her reaction and blinked. She wasn't was she?he didn't expect her to be, it was just, it clicked. Chubbs thought he should explain before Aubery got too freaked out.
" You... ya just... well...being really caring...I know ya nice.. but uh... I didn't think ya were bein nice.. well was cuz of me.. right?"
Chubbs wasn't sure, but he felt embaressed asking that.
" That and well... ya got a different smell"
Aubrey cleared her throat as she stood up fully, running her hands through her hair. She glanced up to where she knew the cameras were and lowered her voice low. "I don't know for sure yet," she said, barely above a whisper.
Chubbs followed Aubery's glance and wondered what she was looking at. It wasn't until the whispering happened hat he realised she was trying to be hush hush about it. Chubbs made an "Oh" face with his mouth and held up a finger and motioned Aubery towards him, trying to lean in to whisper.
" If you do.. I get to be Unkie Chubbs"
If there was one thing Chubbs loved, it was kids.
Aubrey chuckled softly and patted Chubbs on his arm. "You bet."
It was all so surreal for her to even think about such things...she couldn't decide she was excited or just incredibly frightened. "If," she said after a moment with a small nod. "If."
Chubbs gave a half smile and nodded. She really seemed to be hanging onto that if. He would have thought that with the facility they had, she would know by now, but... not if you were too scared to find out. Chubbs sighed a bit and stil rubbed his arms some.
"So... when's the.. the next change?"
Aubrey tucked the box away back in her pocket and backed up a few paces. "By tomorrow morning..."
Chubbs nodded and took some more water out of the glass before handing it back to Aubery. Chubbs rolled over on his pile of cushioning and tried to get comfortable again. It was quietly he spoke to her then, if only for her to hear.
" If something goes wrong.... do what you have to"
"Everything will be fine," she said. She walked back over to the door and tapped to indicate to the guards she was ready. "Good night... Unkie Chubbs."
