Chapter 3
June, 11th, 2006
When Jenni had arrived at the base, she’d been impressed. The building she walked into looked like something out of the movies. It was huge, futuristic and covered with security. It was impressive enough for her to believe that it was there was to see, but she’d been wrong.
The building on ground level was just office space. The real work, her work, would be taking place deep down below the ground. It was a huge bunker.. It ran the span of the offices above and according to her tour guide, wasn’t located on a single map that had ever been made. As far, as even the government was aware, the bunker did not exist.
“Is this where I’ll be working?” she asked the gruff voiced man, who had turned out to be her new boss, Mr. Rogers.
“Yes,” he nodded with a tired kind of smile. “This will be your lab. We’ve got a team of people who work on this floor. If you need help with anything they’ll be sure to help you., Otherwise, you’ll be left to yourself to do what you need.”
“And,” Jenni paused. This was the question she’d been waiting to ask all day. “What is it exactly that I’ll be working on?”
“Ah,” Mr. Rogers nodded. “Yes, it’s probably time for me to show you.”
Jenni followed Mr. Rogers quietly. He didn’t say anything, as they walked back through the bunker. They stopped when they reached a long line of doors. None of them had windows and they were made out of what appeared to be really thick steel. Each door had a number painted on it. It looked like a prison. “What is this?” she broke the silence.
“This is where we keep visitors,” Mr. Rogers explained.
“Visitors?” Jenni asked dubiously. “What kind of visitors?”
“The kind that weren’t invited,” Mr. Roger’s eyes opened slightly. He walked over to a door marked with the number thirty-two. “You’re going to need to step back,” he warned pulling out a chain of keys from his pocket. He worked his way through them, until he found the right one and slipped into the lock.
The door opened and revealed a set of thick steel bars. She walked over to see inside the room. It was bigger than she had been expecting it to be. She couldn’t believe that was what her mind had jumped to. She stared at the creature that was occupying the space. It was huge with bright green scales covering the entirety of its body. “Is that…” her voice trailed off.
“Yes,” Mr. Rogers nodded closing the door. “It’s a dragon.”
“Fuck,” Jenni took a sharp intake of air. “I mean, you hear about these things, but you never think they’re real.”
My Rogers shook his head. “Actually, there’s more to it than meets the eye.”
“There’s more to the dragon?” Jenni asked in disbelief.
“We have been led to believe that it isn’t just a dragon.”
“It looked like a dragon to me,” Jenni looked at curiously. She could barely believe what she’d just seen, so to hear that there was more, felt ludicrous.
“We have reason to believe that the dragon can shift.”
“What do you mean, shift?”
“We believe that it can change its physical form,” he explained.
“Have you seen it?”
“No,” he paused. “That’s actually where you come in.”
“Where I come in?” Jenni repeated back to him. What could she possibly bring to the table? She hadn’t even known that dragons like that existed five minutes before.
“Yes,” he nodded. “We’ve tried all we can to get the dragon to shift, but it’s refusing to.”
“So?”
“So, we want you to create some kind of medication that will force it to change.”
“Do you really think that’s possible?”
“Well, that’s what you’re here to find out,” Mr. Rogers stopped walking and Jenni realized they were back at the lab. “You’ll have full access to the dragon. We’ve already collected the basic tissue samples you might need to get started, so I think that’s about everything.”
“Wow,” Jenni needed a moment to take it all in. “How long do I have to work it out?” she asked him, before he had a chance to leave.
“You have as much time as it takes,” Mr. Rogers told her firmly. “It’s imperative that we learn about the shifting process and where this creature has come from. So, you’ll be on this until you either crack it or die.”
“Okay then,” Jenni gave him a small nod. “I guess I better get started.”
“That’s the spirit,” Mr. Rogers looked impressed.
“Can I ask whether my father is working on the base at the moment?” she asked him, as he turned to leave.
He turned back to her. “He’s away at the moment. He’s due back on base in the next couple of months, so I’m sure you’ll see him around.” He didn’t wait for Jenni to say anything else. She watched him, as he walked down the corridor and out of sight, before heading into her new lab.
It had everything that she could possibly want. Everything looked new and untouched. She’d never worked in a lab so high-tech. She’d never had a chance to use half of the equipment, which was now hers to do her bidding. She slowly walked around the room. She wanted to look at everything. She wanted to make sure that she didn’t overlook a single item.
She stopped, when she was sure that she knew the layout of the room and sat down at her desk. Her face was aching from the smile that it was holding up, but didn’t care. She was too happy to care about some stupid aching muscles. She had just walked into her dream lab. What could possibly go wrong?
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