| Human Error By Scott W. Gage |
| Chiemi glanced around the room, trying to avert her attention from what was happening. She took comfort in the familiar sight of the white-washed tile walls, gleaming in their cleanliness. It was to be in rooms like this that had given her inspiration to be a doctor. Operating rooms, saving lives, working miracles. But what was happening around her was not what she had envisioned. Not at all. As she looked down, she saw what she always had hated about this room. The blood. Although tiled and originally white like the rest of the room, the floor had slowly turned a dirty brown from all the blood spilt on the floor. Smears of multicoloured blood and various other stains spoke of horrors she dare not think about. But she would have to, it was her job. "Dr. Alisand! Pay attention! We need your hands here!" The harsh voice of the director cut through her. Snapping to attention, she forced herself to look down at the operating table, surrounded by medical instruments of all shapes and sizes, and behind them at least 6 other doctors, all dressed in scrubs which were stained with blood. She looked down at herself, her own gloves and scrubs covered in the substance. It made her feel dirtier then words could describe. "Alright, now that we're all back on the same page, I'm going to complete the fusion. Alisand! Pass me the welt sealer." The director of the operation, one Dr. Recirn, was a cold, intelectual man, absorbed in his work. As Chiemi handed him the small laser like device, she had to swallow her fear as she moved her hand bare inches from the thing on the table. The monstrosity. Although it had yet to gain conciousness, the creature the surgical team were operating upon still terrified Chiemi. The fact that they had somehow made it look just like any other person (apart from a few small imperfections) did not comfort her in the slightest. It's dark blue hair was splayed out on the table, its female form beautiful by human standards, and stunning by the standards of Palmans. Being able to resist the comatose creature's beauty was easy for the only female present. The other 5 doctors seemed to love the creature, despite its never having moved. Chiemi could see clearly the lust in their eyes as they worked on its naked form, toiling day after day to create something new and erase the mistakes of the past. The welt sealer sparked as Recirn traced it along the various incisions on the creature's body, speeding the healing process even as it seared the flesh together. The sickly stench of burning flesh filled the room, and Chiemi ran outside, making it to the corridor where she vomited on the floor. As she took in deep breaths, she realised that she had vomited out of fear. If they were sealing it up, that would mean that they would be animating the body soon. Very soon. As she gasped for air, Chiemi made her way across the coldly lit hall, her feet echoing off of the tiled floor, to use the water fountain close by. As she spat out the horrid taste of regurgitated food, she heard voices being raised in the operating room. Moments later, the automatic door slid open and Dr. Clem stepped out, having removed his scrubs and thrown on a lab coat. He sidled over, his hands in his pockets, looking sheepish as Chiemi continued to rinse and spit. Leaning back against the wall, he sighed and began to speak. "You don't think this is a good idea, do you?" Chiemi spat out a final burst of water loudly to emphasise her coming point. "I never did, Dan, and you know it. How many failures has it been now, 10, 20, 50? I hardly know anymore. I would've thought that there would be better things to do on this voyage then play God." "We're not playing God, Chiemi, we're ensuring our safety once we reach the new world, you know that. We're only days away from a planet filled with hostile races and if we're going to survive this time around we need to take the next step in evolution..." "Oh, cram it, Dan! You know about as much as the new world as anyone else on this godforsaken ship and that's jack shit!" Already rattled, Chiemi was beginning to get really upset. Dan was just as blind as the others. "But don't you see? We're going to succeed this time! I know none of the others survived the animation process, but by cross engineering this woman with one of the strongest form of biomonster we've ever encountered, Nei should survive the animation process and be stronger then any other ever created!" Dan's eyes lit up as he spoke, his hands waving excitedly in the air. "We won't be playing God, we will BE God, Chiemi - you and I and the others! Aren't you excited? Breaking new ground in medicine is what you became a doctor for, is it not?" "So, you've given it a name, have you? I thought you'd just call your plaything whatever you wanted, like a dog." Ignoring Chiemi's disgust, Dan continued to sing the praises of their creation. "It means the human who is not human, Chiemi, an old Japanese term. And as we speak, Recirn should be taking the DNA samples so there will be many more Neis once the animation process is completed!" Sighing, Chiemi looked away from Dan, tears welling in her eyes. "There's no convincing you, is there? You'll just ...." Suddenly, they were interrupted by an inhuman roar coming from the operating room. Stunned into silence, the two doctors could only stare as the OR's door was sent crashing to the floor, followed moments later by the creature, or Nei, as Dan called it. However, this wasn't the creature Chiemi had seen on the operating table. A quarter of it was, but the rest was... Monstrous. Walking on four pincer-like legs, Chiemi gasped as she recognised the hindquarters and body of a Locusta. The top half of the human body hung off of the creature like a rag doll, while half the Locusta's head and body were missing, creating a gruesome siamese twin effect. Swinging it's one claw, it caught Dan right through the stomach, lifting him off of the floor, his blood falling with a slapping sound. Sprayed with blood herself, Chiemi dived back into the operating room, and was relieved to see the creature scuttle off down the hall, it's business in the O.R. obviously completed. Sprawled on the wet floor, still in her scrubs, Chiemi began to calm down and take stock of her situation. The floor was wet because it had been given another bloodbath. This time, however, it was the blood of the doctors rather than their creations. Of the 5 doctors that had been with Chiemi in the operation, 2 were slumped on top of each other in the corner, one had been eviscerated and dumped on the operating table, one had been thrown into the cabinets on the side of the room, impaled on various instruments, and Dan lay out in the corridor where the Nei/Locusta had thrown him. All, it seemed, were dead. Except for Chiemi. Her dream of helping to heal people lay shattered around her, as a creature she had helped create however much she had protested, had already taken 5 lives, and considering how the ship's alarms had yet to go off, might take many more. Frightened, alone, and suddenly filled with grief, Chiemi did something she hadn't done in years; cry. She sobbed out loud and buried her face in her hands, letting her professional mask slip into the nether. Despair overwhelmed her. Unbeknownst to the depressed woman, the 2 corpses in the corner began to move, the bottom corpse shoving the top one to the floor and grunting with the effort. Covered in blood, Recirn got to his feet, shaken but still alive. In his hand he clutched a syring filled with a blood sample from the raging creature. Slipping it into a pocket, he limped over to Chiemi, placing a hand on her shoulder. Chiemi screamed in fright and dived forward at the contact. Rolling to face her attacker, she calmed as she saw that it was only the director. "Wha-what happened?" She asked, trembling. Recirn snorted derisively. "Yeah, I'm glad to see your still alive too." Not noting the sarcasm, Chiemi simply stared at her boss. "The subject animated itself before we even attempted to give it life. It mutated at an unprecedented rate and showed not only the strength to survive the animation but a will to do it as well! We must replicate this DNA as soon as possible; for we have made a major leap here, Dr. Alisand!" Recirn proffered his free hand to the stunned Chiemi and sighed. "But of course, we have to neutralise it first for further study... " He sighed suddenly. "This never would have happened back on Earth." |