Post by Shingebis on Dec 19, 2006 19:09:03 GMT -5
S U B T E R R A N E A N
“Arrrrrgghhh.......” ‘Fulsamee came to right where he had been thrown, under the formerly locked door and on top of ‘Firnomee. With some difficulty, he managed to slide the door off him and stand up. One glance at ‘Firnomee told him all he needed to know. Dark red blood oozed from several cracks in the raptor’s skull. The initial impact of the door hadn’t killed him - otherwise ‘Fulsamee should have been dead as well. But when ‘Firnomee struck the opposite wall, he had been sandwiched between solid steel and flying raptor and door.
‘Fulsamee felt somewhat guilty - if ‘Firnomee had not hit the wall first, he would also be dead. He banished the thought - it was too late to change the past - and turned away from the body and said a silent prayer for his fallen comrade, one of sorrow and of promised vengeance.
As much as he would have liked to bury his friend, ‘Fulsamee knew that unless he moved quickly he would have two dead raptors to deal with - Fireclaw was gone, and ‘Fulsamee guessed he had been taken away. For what reason he had no idea, but ‘Fulsamee knew Fireclaw well enough to know that he would not have run.
‘Fulsamee’s theory was confirmed as soon as he stepped outside the building - large footprints and a drag mark led into the forest. He set out to follow the trail.
* * *
Waking did not come so easily to Fireclaw. At first he knew only that wherever he was, it was dark. Very dark. Slowly he came to realize that he was moving, slowly but steadily towards some unseen destination. He felt his feet and tail being dragged across some hard, smooth surface, by a pair of thick, strong claws, one under each arm. Then Fireclaw opened his eyes and realized that was the reason everything had been so dark. He saw, in the dim lighting, that he was being half dragged, half carried across a dull steel floor by two of the massive creatures that had attacked him and ‘Fulsamee.
‘Fulsamee! The thought of his friend snapped Fireclaw out of his half-awake state, and he tried to break free of the creatures’ grasp. He was unable to get anywhere, however, as he was held too tightly to permit movement.
There was no deviation in their footsteps, and Fireclaw continued to be dragged along, slowly, but inexorably.
* * *
‘Fulsamee followed the tracks deep into the woods, but eventually he came upon hard rock, which the creature had left no marking on, not even a dirt trail from dragging Fireclaw, which was odd, as it was a rather sharp transition from soft dirt to rock. There should have been at least a small smudge mark from Fireclaw.
Disappointed, ‘Fulsamee turned to recheck the trail and see if he had not been led astray. He had barely taken two steps when his foot slammed into a small but unmovable rock. Cursing, ‘Fulsamee examined his foot and found it unharmed. Seconds later, as he started back down the trail, the ground shook slightly, but enough that he noticed.
He knew the area well enough to realize that the shaking was not an earthquake, and turned to see a square panel outline itself in the rock. It dropped about an inch and slid away to one side noiselessly, revealing a wire mesh cage that hissed steam at ‘Fulsamee and began rising from the ground. When it stopped, he could see that the cage was about twice his height and wide and deep enough for four of him. A small panel was set in one wall of the cage, and on it several tiny lights blinked in a strange pattern.
‘Fulsamee noticed that the floor of the cage was solid steel, and on it was the dirt smudging he had expected to find on the rock. Fireclaw had been in it. He looked for a way in, and found that the side with the blinking lights also looked like it had a door in it. ‘Fulsamee guessed that the panel probably had something to do with the door - all the human mechanisms he had ever seen involved colored lights and flashing panels.
‘Fulsamee took a stab at the panel - literally - and poked a light at random. The light glowed red, he heard something click, and the door slid down into the ground.
Though no one could hear him, ‘Fulsamee commented, “Beginner’s luck.”
He stepped inside, and found that on the other side of the panel there were yet more lights. However, a couple of them had helpful markings: one with an arrow pointing up, and one with an arrow pointing down. Since ‘Fulsamee did not see any way of going farther up, he poked the down light.
The door slid back up and locked with another click, he felt a small vibration, and the cage began descending into the depths.
* * *
Fireclaw realized that his captors had halted. He was no longer being dragged across the perfectly smooth steel floor. He raised his head to get a look at his surroundings, and saw that he was now in a cavernous room, dimly lit, and full of strange tubes and boxes and cylinders. A pair of clear tubes dominated the room, each large enough to hold a Tyrannosaur. Fireclaw saw nothing in the room that he understood, and it then occurred to him to find out exactly what sort of creature had been dragging him along. He was interrupted in this search as he felt the grip on him be released, to be replaced by the cold, unyielding clench of iron. Fireclaw saw and felt that he was in the grips of a large mechanical claw. It picked him up, high above the floor, and silently moved across the room, until he was directly above one of the large tubes. The tube’s top, riddled with piping and machinery, thunked and slowly spun. After several rotations it stopped and hinged up and out of the way. The claw lowered Fireclaw into the tube, and he tried to escape but could not break the machine’s grip on him. Before he hit bottom, however, he felt something sharp stab his flank, and the world went dark.
* * *
‘Fulsamee stood patiently as he dropped further and further into the earth. After a long wait, he noticed that the walls of the shaft had changed from uniformly boring rock to steel, with thick pipes running in every direction. He assumed this marked the end or the ending part of his trip, and was proved correct several seconds later as the cage slowed to a halt.
For a moment ‘Fulsamee thought that he was stuck halfway down the shaft, but seconds later the door side wall retracted into the roof, giving him access to a long hallway as wide and as tall as the cage. Somewhat warily, he stepped out into the hall. The cage door and steel wall slid back into place, and he was alone in a silent, unfriendly place.
‘Fulsamee began walking down the hall, as it was the only way to go that he could see and seemed, at least at the moment, to be deserted.
A number of very large doors led off of this hall, and they were all handily labeled... in human script that ‘Fulsamee did not understand. Walking further, he found that the lighting improved and that the hall came to a four-way intersection, again, all marked out in unreadable script. ‘Fulsamee sighed. Perhaps...
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard humans coming towards him. Not wanting to be found just yet, ‘Fulsamee quickly searched for somewhere to hide. The voices came closer by the second. He found what looked like a decent hiding spot in the hall’s exposed rafters, and got himself up there by jumping on a clear fronted box that held a number of small, colorful bags and boxes. ‘Fulsamee found a dark corner, and silently got comfortable on his perch, or as comfortable as he could get.
A few seconds later, two humans in white clothing walked under him and stopped in the middle of the intersection. ‘Fulsamee could not read human writings, but as he listened, he found that their speech was the same as the Dinotopian’s.
“How is number one-five-eight faring?”
“Better than projected. Normal growth rates are being far exceeded - my crew hopes to have the physical accelerant off in a few hours and then to begin the mind erase and reconditioning.”
“Excellent work. See if you can’t scrub that blue stripe too, I want all of the specimens to be alike.”
“We’ll see what we can do.”
“Good. Continue your work, then.”
One of the humans turned and went back the way he had come, while the other walked down the left-hand hall.
‘Fulsamee could make a few good guesses from what they had said. One, Fireclaw was the only raptor he’d ever seen with a blue stripe. It was likely him the humans had been talking about. He was doing something well, though ‘Fulsamee didn’t like the sound of ‘physical accelerant’. And he knew that a mind erase was definitely a bad thing. So he needed to find Fireclaw, and soon.
The hall directly ahead of him looked promising, as the human who had been reporting had gone that way. ‘Fulsamee looked and saw that the ceiling continued to be open rafters for a distance, so he climbed from beam to beam to beam, moving quickly and silently.
He was forced to stop several times as he heard footsteps, some belongings to more white-clad humans and other, heavier ones to creatures like Fireclaw’s abductor. All in all, the stops made for about an hour’s worth of stopping, looking and starting moving again.
Eventually, after a number of corners and long hallways, ‘Fulsamee found a pair of large steel doors set in opposite sides of the hall. They looked like more of the sliding up and down type. The humans here seemed to have a fascination with complicated mechanisms and flashing lights. Checking to be sure no one was around, ‘Fulsamee jumped down and landed silently. The door had a single, large button next to it. ‘Fulsamee pressed it.
The door vented steam at him, lights glowed green, and the door split in half, one half sliding up and one down. ‘Fulsamee walked through and discovered that he was in a large room, full of what looked like supplies and racks of things that he really could care less about, because this room did not have Fireclaw in it. So he turned around, stepped through the door, and left it open. The other door worked in exactly the same manner, and opened readily at his touch.
‘Fulsamee took just a few steps into the room, a cavernous affair with piping running everywhere, a few scattered metal boxes, equipment, and Fireclaw, or something that looked like Fireclaw.
Suspended in a liquid-filled tube in the center of the room was a creature that looked very similar to the one that had stolen Fireclaw and killed ‘Firnomee. Except this one had Fireclaw’s blue stripe. He was curled up in what was close to a fetal position, and a number of pipes were attached to various parts of his body, what they were doing ‘Fulsamee had no idea. All he knew that was he wanted his friend back.
‘Fulsamee froze as he spied two humans in the room. They had not noticed his entrance, and were focused on Fireclaw, as the pipes running to his body detached and retracted upwards. ‘Fulsamee crept up behind them. With a small crunch, two humans fell to the floor, unmarked but unmistakably dead. A small repentance for taking Fireclaw. ‘Fulsamee walked over to and began examining Fireclaw’s tube for something akin to a release button. There was nothing on the tube, save for something in the human script. ‘Fulsamee couldn’t read a word of it, but he knew from experience that humans saved the biggest print and the brightest colors for their most dangerous tools and machinery. This particular label was written in words as big as his hand on a vibrant orange background. He snorted and looked elsewhere for controls. What did humans know about dangerous anyway?
A row of panels facing Fireclaw’s tube looked promising, and was also close by, so ‘Fulsamee checked it first. He noticed one panel with a red symbol on it. The symbol looked just like the things humans used to keep cage doors closed. With the hope that it opened the tube, ‘Fulsamee pressed it. The symbol changed to green. ‘Fulsamee grinned. Success!
But nothing happened to the tube. Instead, four large blast doors slid down over the room’s entrances, including the door he had come in by.
He thought, “Oh well. At least I won’t be bothered now.”, and continued his hunt for the release button.
After several minutes of poring over undecipherable, quickly scrolling words and unlabeled buttons, ‘Fulsamee gave up. How did humans make sense of all this anyway? All the writing was only visible for about a second, then it was gone, and all the controls were blank. How did they work it?
“If I were a human.... where would I put the release?”
‘Fulsamee bowed his head in thought, and saw an angled piece of metal set in the floor. He stepped on it, just because.
Every light and panel on the board went bright red, and ‘Fulsamee took a step back and swore. Blue steam poured from vents around Fireclaw’s tube, and ‘Fulsamee saw the liquid within it begin to drain. A minute later, the stuff was gone. The tube’s top spun around, then hinged up and off. Beams slid down and gripped the tube, then lifted the entire thing into the ceiling, leaving one damp, seemingly unconscious Fireclaw dumped on the floor.
‘Fulsamee said to no one in particular, “Talent, that’s what that is. Pure talent”, and stepped out from behind his newly mastered control panel, and Fireclaw stirred.
‘Fulsamee froze for the second time in five minutes.
Fireclaw got his legs under him, and stood up, giving ‘Fulsamee his first really good look at his friend.
What had been a fairly average raptor was now a massive creature, twice ‘Fulsamee’s height. Fireclaw’s excellent and well-maintained physique had been grossly exaggerated - muscles bulged out of proportion to his size, large as it was. Claws larger than ‘Fulsamee’s hand dug into the steel floor.
Fireclaw, or what had been Fireclaw, turned to see who had released him, and the only other living creature in the room was ‘Fulsamee. Three huge steps closed the gap between them, each ripping up steel floor plating and exposing sparking wires. Fireclaw looked down on ‘Fulsamee, who was exactly where had he been when Fireclaw had woken up.
“Good to see you again, Fireclaw.”
Fireclaw said nothing, but lowered his huge head so he could look ‘Fulsamee in the eye.
‘Fulsamee was uncomfortably aware of how many teeth had also been lowered to his level, but managed to say, “You’ve had quite an ordeal here. I think it’s high time we got going, back to the surface.”
Fireclaw continued to stare at him, then, in a rumbling bass, said, “What happened?”
“Good question. It’s also not one that I can answer. I have ideas, but not facts. And...” ‘Fulsamee glanced left and right. “I think we should be plotting our escape. The sooner the better.”
“True. You know who to get out of here? I was half-conscious when they brought me here.”
“I do. And the first step involves this colorful mess of human junk.” ‘Fulsamee indicated the control board.
“Then let’s get moving.”
‘Fulsamee did not reply, instead settling for a press of the lock control. It went red, and with a less-than-subtle clunk, the blast doors slid back up and out of the way.
“Here we go. There’s humans and creatures, well... like you... all over the place.” Giving Fireclaw a once-over, he continued, “We will not be able to sneak out of here. We should go fast. Follow me.”
E S C A P I N G R E T R I B U T I O N
The door that ‘Fulsamee had opened had not closed with the blast door, and remained open as the duo ran through it. ‘Fulsamee paused a moment in the hallway, thinking which way to go.
That moment cost him dearly. Yet another human, this time dressed in gray and green and holding some metal device, spotted them, and without hesitation, slapped a large red button on the wall. The ceiling lights flickered off and rotating red dome lights came on. Klaxons blared through the halls.
“Oh great! The way out is beyond that human.”
Fireclaw looked unimpressed at the human that was now standing, watching them, with his device leveled at them.
“It’s just one human. Your turn to follow me.”
And without waiting for an answer, Fireclaw charged off down the hall. The human stood his ground as the huge raptor ran closer and closer to him, then suddenly the device in his hands spat fire. Streaks of red appeared all over Fireclaw, but he continued running into the onslaught.
Seconds later the human was marginally more than a messy red stain on the polished floor. ‘Fulsamee gingerly stepped over the remains and ran after Fireclaw, who was making excellent progress with his much longer stride.
“FIRECLAW! Do you know where you’re going?”, yelled ‘Fulsamee.
“No idea!”
Fireclaw skidded to a halt, creating deep gouges in the floor, as they came to a three way intersection. The sound of many running boots echoed from both halls.
“Someone here either wants you in or me out. We’re going to have to fight our way out, or turn around.”
“‘Fulsamee, do you know another way out?”
“No.”
“Then I suppose we’re fighting out, aren’t we?”
‘Fulsamee considered this, watching the rotating lights alternatively show the way, then plunge it into darkness.
“Point taken. It’s left-left-straight-right and then straight to the lift.”
“Okay then. That machine fire hurt, but I’ll be fine.”
Together, the raptors turned the first corner and ran smack into about a dozen more gray green humans, all armed with those machines. Fireclaw roared and ran forward, ignoring the streaks of blood the machines were causing. As he approached, the humans scattered and he ran through relatively unimpeded. ‘Fulsamee took a moment to silence those humans that had survived Fireclaw’s passing, and relieved one of his weapon.
Examining it, he found nothing understandable except for a grip sized for a human’s hand. Running after Fireclaw, ‘Fulsamee hefted the device, pointing it like the humans had done, then wedged his hand into the grip. The machine barked and fired. He quickly pulled his hand back out and the noise stopped. He then noticed a tiny lever, which must have activated the weapon. ‘Fulsamee gave the lever an experimental nudge and was rewarded with more noise and fire. He held on to it - if it could do so much to Fireclaw, just think what it could do to a human.
‘Fulsamee picked up his pace, trying to catch up with Fireclaw, who seemed not to have noticed that ‘Fulsamee had dropped back. He was easy to follow - his foot claws left unmistakable rents in the flooring.
Several seconds of hard running brought him into a widened hall and the scene of a battle between Fireclaw and another creature very similar to him, though slightly smaller. Fireclaw was doing well from ‘Fulsamee’s point of view - and he was not much worried, given Fireclaw’s proficiency at sparring. But a number of humans were advancing on him, and ‘Fulsamee knew that with their weapons they could make a mess of Fireclaw. So he ran in and used his stolen machine to cut down several humans. He was turning the fire on a fifth when suddenly he heard a loud click, and his weapon stopped firing. Frantically, ‘Fulsamee pressed the activation lever, but each time he heard only that same click.
Dismayed, ‘Fulsamee flung the machine at the human, knocking him over, and finished him using only what he had been born with - claws and teeth. He then turned his attention to the remaining six humans, who by now had opened fire on Fireclaw.
Fireclaw was still grappling with the raptor-like creature, and was unable to do much about the blood streaming down his flanks. He roared in pain, threw his adversary to the ground, and jumped on him, in the process slamming into the ceiling rafters and bending them out of shape. A single, quick slice cut his enemy’s throat, and then he and ‘Fulsamee were free to deal with the weak but extremely annoying humans.
A minute later, the two stood in the midst of the half-destroyed intersection, bloodied but unbeaten.
Fireclaw said, “I can’t go much farther like this.”
“You’ll have to go only a little farther - the lift is at the end of the next hallway. Then we can take a look at your injuries.”
Fireclaw grimaced and replied, “Alright. Let’s go before more humans arrive.”
He turned down the hallway and ran for the lift, but just a bit slower this time - the loss of blood was taking its toll. ‘Fulsamee followed right behind him. No more humans pursued them nor blocked their path, and it was with extreme ease that ‘Fulsamee opened the lift’s door, stepped inside with Fireclaw, and tabbed the up control.
Fireclaw groaned and settled down, taking the strain off his shredded legs. ‘Fulsamee turned his back to the control panel and gave his attention to his companion.
“Alright. I have none of the proper supplies to patch you up, Fireclaw. So... I’m not really sure what I can do about your injuries.”
‘Fulsamee examined the extent of Fireclaw’s wounds, and found that they were many. The human weapons had made dozens of small but deep gouges, all of which were.. not bleeding?
“How’s that work?”, ‘Fulsamee said, only half to himself.
“How’s what work?”
“You’re not bleeding anymore.”
“What?!” Fireclaw looked and saw that the many wounds had indeed stopped bleeding, though he was still covered in coagulated blood. “Well, that’s great! No worries then, hmm?”
“Well.....” ‘Fulsamee was no healer, but he didn’t think that anyone should be able to lose that much blood and still walk around. But maybe there was more to Fireclaw’s transformation than just size and strength.
He continued, “It’s not right in my mind, but there’s no question that you’re not bleeding out. You feel alright?”
Fireclaw got back to his feet, head scraping the ceiling, stretched a bit, then said, “Excellent.”
“Not dizzy or anything?”
“Not at all.”
‘Fulsamee shrugged. “Take what you can get away with, I suppose.”
Fireclaw grinned. “Whatever works.”
The two stood in silence, waiting for the lift to reach ground level. A few minutes later, they felt it slow, then stop. A grinding sound came from the roof, and they watched a panel retract to reveal sunlight, blinding after their time underground. The lift started again, and climbed the last dozen feet to the surface. The door opened automatically, and ‘Fulsamee and Fireclaw stepped out. Immediately, the lift sank back into the ground, the panel slid back over, and there was nothing left of the device.
‘Fulsamee took a deep breath of the clean, cool air, and said, “That was fun. Now let’s get back to the pack.”
“Agreed.”
“Arrrrrgghhh.......” ‘Fulsamee came to right where he had been thrown, under the formerly locked door and on top of ‘Firnomee. With some difficulty, he managed to slide the door off him and stand up. One glance at ‘Firnomee told him all he needed to know. Dark red blood oozed from several cracks in the raptor’s skull. The initial impact of the door hadn’t killed him - otherwise ‘Fulsamee should have been dead as well. But when ‘Firnomee struck the opposite wall, he had been sandwiched between solid steel and flying raptor and door.
‘Fulsamee felt somewhat guilty - if ‘Firnomee had not hit the wall first, he would also be dead. He banished the thought - it was too late to change the past - and turned away from the body and said a silent prayer for his fallen comrade, one of sorrow and of promised vengeance.
As much as he would have liked to bury his friend, ‘Fulsamee knew that unless he moved quickly he would have two dead raptors to deal with - Fireclaw was gone, and ‘Fulsamee guessed he had been taken away. For what reason he had no idea, but ‘Fulsamee knew Fireclaw well enough to know that he would not have run.
‘Fulsamee’s theory was confirmed as soon as he stepped outside the building - large footprints and a drag mark led into the forest. He set out to follow the trail.
* * *
Waking did not come so easily to Fireclaw. At first he knew only that wherever he was, it was dark. Very dark. Slowly he came to realize that he was moving, slowly but steadily towards some unseen destination. He felt his feet and tail being dragged across some hard, smooth surface, by a pair of thick, strong claws, one under each arm. Then Fireclaw opened his eyes and realized that was the reason everything had been so dark. He saw, in the dim lighting, that he was being half dragged, half carried across a dull steel floor by two of the massive creatures that had attacked him and ‘Fulsamee.
‘Fulsamee! The thought of his friend snapped Fireclaw out of his half-awake state, and he tried to break free of the creatures’ grasp. He was unable to get anywhere, however, as he was held too tightly to permit movement.
There was no deviation in their footsteps, and Fireclaw continued to be dragged along, slowly, but inexorably.
* * *
‘Fulsamee followed the tracks deep into the woods, but eventually he came upon hard rock, which the creature had left no marking on, not even a dirt trail from dragging Fireclaw, which was odd, as it was a rather sharp transition from soft dirt to rock. There should have been at least a small smudge mark from Fireclaw.
Disappointed, ‘Fulsamee turned to recheck the trail and see if he had not been led astray. He had barely taken two steps when his foot slammed into a small but unmovable rock. Cursing, ‘Fulsamee examined his foot and found it unharmed. Seconds later, as he started back down the trail, the ground shook slightly, but enough that he noticed.
He knew the area well enough to realize that the shaking was not an earthquake, and turned to see a square panel outline itself in the rock. It dropped about an inch and slid away to one side noiselessly, revealing a wire mesh cage that hissed steam at ‘Fulsamee and began rising from the ground. When it stopped, he could see that the cage was about twice his height and wide and deep enough for four of him. A small panel was set in one wall of the cage, and on it several tiny lights blinked in a strange pattern.
‘Fulsamee noticed that the floor of the cage was solid steel, and on it was the dirt smudging he had expected to find on the rock. Fireclaw had been in it. He looked for a way in, and found that the side with the blinking lights also looked like it had a door in it. ‘Fulsamee guessed that the panel probably had something to do with the door - all the human mechanisms he had ever seen involved colored lights and flashing panels.
‘Fulsamee took a stab at the panel - literally - and poked a light at random. The light glowed red, he heard something click, and the door slid down into the ground.
Though no one could hear him, ‘Fulsamee commented, “Beginner’s luck.”
He stepped inside, and found that on the other side of the panel there were yet more lights. However, a couple of them had helpful markings: one with an arrow pointing up, and one with an arrow pointing down. Since ‘Fulsamee did not see any way of going farther up, he poked the down light.
The door slid back up and locked with another click, he felt a small vibration, and the cage began descending into the depths.
* * *
Fireclaw realized that his captors had halted. He was no longer being dragged across the perfectly smooth steel floor. He raised his head to get a look at his surroundings, and saw that he was now in a cavernous room, dimly lit, and full of strange tubes and boxes and cylinders. A pair of clear tubes dominated the room, each large enough to hold a Tyrannosaur. Fireclaw saw nothing in the room that he understood, and it then occurred to him to find out exactly what sort of creature had been dragging him along. He was interrupted in this search as he felt the grip on him be released, to be replaced by the cold, unyielding clench of iron. Fireclaw saw and felt that he was in the grips of a large mechanical claw. It picked him up, high above the floor, and silently moved across the room, until he was directly above one of the large tubes. The tube’s top, riddled with piping and machinery, thunked and slowly spun. After several rotations it stopped and hinged up and out of the way. The claw lowered Fireclaw into the tube, and he tried to escape but could not break the machine’s grip on him. Before he hit bottom, however, he felt something sharp stab his flank, and the world went dark.
* * *
‘Fulsamee stood patiently as he dropped further and further into the earth. After a long wait, he noticed that the walls of the shaft had changed from uniformly boring rock to steel, with thick pipes running in every direction. He assumed this marked the end or the ending part of his trip, and was proved correct several seconds later as the cage slowed to a halt.
For a moment ‘Fulsamee thought that he was stuck halfway down the shaft, but seconds later the door side wall retracted into the roof, giving him access to a long hallway as wide and as tall as the cage. Somewhat warily, he stepped out into the hall. The cage door and steel wall slid back into place, and he was alone in a silent, unfriendly place.
‘Fulsamee began walking down the hall, as it was the only way to go that he could see and seemed, at least at the moment, to be deserted.
A number of very large doors led off of this hall, and they were all handily labeled... in human script that ‘Fulsamee did not understand. Walking further, he found that the lighting improved and that the hall came to a four-way intersection, again, all marked out in unreadable script. ‘Fulsamee sighed. Perhaps...
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard humans coming towards him. Not wanting to be found just yet, ‘Fulsamee quickly searched for somewhere to hide. The voices came closer by the second. He found what looked like a decent hiding spot in the hall’s exposed rafters, and got himself up there by jumping on a clear fronted box that held a number of small, colorful bags and boxes. ‘Fulsamee found a dark corner, and silently got comfortable on his perch, or as comfortable as he could get.
A few seconds later, two humans in white clothing walked under him and stopped in the middle of the intersection. ‘Fulsamee could not read human writings, but as he listened, he found that their speech was the same as the Dinotopian’s.
“How is number one-five-eight faring?”
“Better than projected. Normal growth rates are being far exceeded - my crew hopes to have the physical accelerant off in a few hours and then to begin the mind erase and reconditioning.”
“Excellent work. See if you can’t scrub that blue stripe too, I want all of the specimens to be alike.”
“We’ll see what we can do.”
“Good. Continue your work, then.”
One of the humans turned and went back the way he had come, while the other walked down the left-hand hall.
‘Fulsamee could make a few good guesses from what they had said. One, Fireclaw was the only raptor he’d ever seen with a blue stripe. It was likely him the humans had been talking about. He was doing something well, though ‘Fulsamee didn’t like the sound of ‘physical accelerant’. And he knew that a mind erase was definitely a bad thing. So he needed to find Fireclaw, and soon.
The hall directly ahead of him looked promising, as the human who had been reporting had gone that way. ‘Fulsamee looked and saw that the ceiling continued to be open rafters for a distance, so he climbed from beam to beam to beam, moving quickly and silently.
He was forced to stop several times as he heard footsteps, some belongings to more white-clad humans and other, heavier ones to creatures like Fireclaw’s abductor. All in all, the stops made for about an hour’s worth of stopping, looking and starting moving again.
Eventually, after a number of corners and long hallways, ‘Fulsamee found a pair of large steel doors set in opposite sides of the hall. They looked like more of the sliding up and down type. The humans here seemed to have a fascination with complicated mechanisms and flashing lights. Checking to be sure no one was around, ‘Fulsamee jumped down and landed silently. The door had a single, large button next to it. ‘Fulsamee pressed it.
The door vented steam at him, lights glowed green, and the door split in half, one half sliding up and one down. ‘Fulsamee walked through and discovered that he was in a large room, full of what looked like supplies and racks of things that he really could care less about, because this room did not have Fireclaw in it. So he turned around, stepped through the door, and left it open. The other door worked in exactly the same manner, and opened readily at his touch.
‘Fulsamee took just a few steps into the room, a cavernous affair with piping running everywhere, a few scattered metal boxes, equipment, and Fireclaw, or something that looked like Fireclaw.
Suspended in a liquid-filled tube in the center of the room was a creature that looked very similar to the one that had stolen Fireclaw and killed ‘Firnomee. Except this one had Fireclaw’s blue stripe. He was curled up in what was close to a fetal position, and a number of pipes were attached to various parts of his body, what they were doing ‘Fulsamee had no idea. All he knew that was he wanted his friend back.
‘Fulsamee froze as he spied two humans in the room. They had not noticed his entrance, and were focused on Fireclaw, as the pipes running to his body detached and retracted upwards. ‘Fulsamee crept up behind them. With a small crunch, two humans fell to the floor, unmarked but unmistakably dead. A small repentance for taking Fireclaw. ‘Fulsamee walked over to and began examining Fireclaw’s tube for something akin to a release button. There was nothing on the tube, save for something in the human script. ‘Fulsamee couldn’t read a word of it, but he knew from experience that humans saved the biggest print and the brightest colors for their most dangerous tools and machinery. This particular label was written in words as big as his hand on a vibrant orange background. He snorted and looked elsewhere for controls. What did humans know about dangerous anyway?
A row of panels facing Fireclaw’s tube looked promising, and was also close by, so ‘Fulsamee checked it first. He noticed one panel with a red symbol on it. The symbol looked just like the things humans used to keep cage doors closed. With the hope that it opened the tube, ‘Fulsamee pressed it. The symbol changed to green. ‘Fulsamee grinned. Success!
But nothing happened to the tube. Instead, four large blast doors slid down over the room’s entrances, including the door he had come in by.
He thought, “Oh well. At least I won’t be bothered now.”, and continued his hunt for the release button.
After several minutes of poring over undecipherable, quickly scrolling words and unlabeled buttons, ‘Fulsamee gave up. How did humans make sense of all this anyway? All the writing was only visible for about a second, then it was gone, and all the controls were blank. How did they work it?
“If I were a human.... where would I put the release?”
‘Fulsamee bowed his head in thought, and saw an angled piece of metal set in the floor. He stepped on it, just because.
Every light and panel on the board went bright red, and ‘Fulsamee took a step back and swore. Blue steam poured from vents around Fireclaw’s tube, and ‘Fulsamee saw the liquid within it begin to drain. A minute later, the stuff was gone. The tube’s top spun around, then hinged up and off. Beams slid down and gripped the tube, then lifted the entire thing into the ceiling, leaving one damp, seemingly unconscious Fireclaw dumped on the floor.
‘Fulsamee said to no one in particular, “Talent, that’s what that is. Pure talent”, and stepped out from behind his newly mastered control panel, and Fireclaw stirred.
‘Fulsamee froze for the second time in five minutes.
Fireclaw got his legs under him, and stood up, giving ‘Fulsamee his first really good look at his friend.
What had been a fairly average raptor was now a massive creature, twice ‘Fulsamee’s height. Fireclaw’s excellent and well-maintained physique had been grossly exaggerated - muscles bulged out of proportion to his size, large as it was. Claws larger than ‘Fulsamee’s hand dug into the steel floor.
Fireclaw, or what had been Fireclaw, turned to see who had released him, and the only other living creature in the room was ‘Fulsamee. Three huge steps closed the gap between them, each ripping up steel floor plating and exposing sparking wires. Fireclaw looked down on ‘Fulsamee, who was exactly where had he been when Fireclaw had woken up.
“Good to see you again, Fireclaw.”
Fireclaw said nothing, but lowered his huge head so he could look ‘Fulsamee in the eye.
‘Fulsamee was uncomfortably aware of how many teeth had also been lowered to his level, but managed to say, “You’ve had quite an ordeal here. I think it’s high time we got going, back to the surface.”
Fireclaw continued to stare at him, then, in a rumbling bass, said, “What happened?”
“Good question. It’s also not one that I can answer. I have ideas, but not facts. And...” ‘Fulsamee glanced left and right. “I think we should be plotting our escape. The sooner the better.”
“True. You know who to get out of here? I was half-conscious when they brought me here.”
“I do. And the first step involves this colorful mess of human junk.” ‘Fulsamee indicated the control board.
“Then let’s get moving.”
‘Fulsamee did not reply, instead settling for a press of the lock control. It went red, and with a less-than-subtle clunk, the blast doors slid back up and out of the way.
“Here we go. There’s humans and creatures, well... like you... all over the place.” Giving Fireclaw a once-over, he continued, “We will not be able to sneak out of here. We should go fast. Follow me.”
E S C A P I N G R E T R I B U T I O N
The door that ‘Fulsamee had opened had not closed with the blast door, and remained open as the duo ran through it. ‘Fulsamee paused a moment in the hallway, thinking which way to go.
That moment cost him dearly. Yet another human, this time dressed in gray and green and holding some metal device, spotted them, and without hesitation, slapped a large red button on the wall. The ceiling lights flickered off and rotating red dome lights came on. Klaxons blared through the halls.
“Oh great! The way out is beyond that human.”
Fireclaw looked unimpressed at the human that was now standing, watching them, with his device leveled at them.
“It’s just one human. Your turn to follow me.”
And without waiting for an answer, Fireclaw charged off down the hall. The human stood his ground as the huge raptor ran closer and closer to him, then suddenly the device in his hands spat fire. Streaks of red appeared all over Fireclaw, but he continued running into the onslaught.
Seconds later the human was marginally more than a messy red stain on the polished floor. ‘Fulsamee gingerly stepped over the remains and ran after Fireclaw, who was making excellent progress with his much longer stride.
“FIRECLAW! Do you know where you’re going?”, yelled ‘Fulsamee.
“No idea!”
Fireclaw skidded to a halt, creating deep gouges in the floor, as they came to a three way intersection. The sound of many running boots echoed from both halls.
“Someone here either wants you in or me out. We’re going to have to fight our way out, or turn around.”
“‘Fulsamee, do you know another way out?”
“No.”
“Then I suppose we’re fighting out, aren’t we?”
‘Fulsamee considered this, watching the rotating lights alternatively show the way, then plunge it into darkness.
“Point taken. It’s left-left-straight-right and then straight to the lift.”
“Okay then. That machine fire hurt, but I’ll be fine.”
Together, the raptors turned the first corner and ran smack into about a dozen more gray green humans, all armed with those machines. Fireclaw roared and ran forward, ignoring the streaks of blood the machines were causing. As he approached, the humans scattered and he ran through relatively unimpeded. ‘Fulsamee took a moment to silence those humans that had survived Fireclaw’s passing, and relieved one of his weapon.
Examining it, he found nothing understandable except for a grip sized for a human’s hand. Running after Fireclaw, ‘Fulsamee hefted the device, pointing it like the humans had done, then wedged his hand into the grip. The machine barked and fired. He quickly pulled his hand back out and the noise stopped. He then noticed a tiny lever, which must have activated the weapon. ‘Fulsamee gave the lever an experimental nudge and was rewarded with more noise and fire. He held on to it - if it could do so much to Fireclaw, just think what it could do to a human.
‘Fulsamee picked up his pace, trying to catch up with Fireclaw, who seemed not to have noticed that ‘Fulsamee had dropped back. He was easy to follow - his foot claws left unmistakable rents in the flooring.
Several seconds of hard running brought him into a widened hall and the scene of a battle between Fireclaw and another creature very similar to him, though slightly smaller. Fireclaw was doing well from ‘Fulsamee’s point of view - and he was not much worried, given Fireclaw’s proficiency at sparring. But a number of humans were advancing on him, and ‘Fulsamee knew that with their weapons they could make a mess of Fireclaw. So he ran in and used his stolen machine to cut down several humans. He was turning the fire on a fifth when suddenly he heard a loud click, and his weapon stopped firing. Frantically, ‘Fulsamee pressed the activation lever, but each time he heard only that same click.
Dismayed, ‘Fulsamee flung the machine at the human, knocking him over, and finished him using only what he had been born with - claws and teeth. He then turned his attention to the remaining six humans, who by now had opened fire on Fireclaw.
Fireclaw was still grappling with the raptor-like creature, and was unable to do much about the blood streaming down his flanks. He roared in pain, threw his adversary to the ground, and jumped on him, in the process slamming into the ceiling rafters and bending them out of shape. A single, quick slice cut his enemy’s throat, and then he and ‘Fulsamee were free to deal with the weak but extremely annoying humans.
A minute later, the two stood in the midst of the half-destroyed intersection, bloodied but unbeaten.
Fireclaw said, “I can’t go much farther like this.”
“You’ll have to go only a little farther - the lift is at the end of the next hallway. Then we can take a look at your injuries.”
Fireclaw grimaced and replied, “Alright. Let’s go before more humans arrive.”
He turned down the hallway and ran for the lift, but just a bit slower this time - the loss of blood was taking its toll. ‘Fulsamee followed right behind him. No more humans pursued them nor blocked their path, and it was with extreme ease that ‘Fulsamee opened the lift’s door, stepped inside with Fireclaw, and tabbed the up control.
Fireclaw groaned and settled down, taking the strain off his shredded legs. ‘Fulsamee turned his back to the control panel and gave his attention to his companion.
“Alright. I have none of the proper supplies to patch you up, Fireclaw. So... I’m not really sure what I can do about your injuries.”
‘Fulsamee examined the extent of Fireclaw’s wounds, and found that they were many. The human weapons had made dozens of small but deep gouges, all of which were.. not bleeding?
“How’s that work?”, ‘Fulsamee said, only half to himself.
“How’s what work?”
“You’re not bleeding anymore.”
“What?!” Fireclaw looked and saw that the many wounds had indeed stopped bleeding, though he was still covered in coagulated blood. “Well, that’s great! No worries then, hmm?”
“Well.....” ‘Fulsamee was no healer, but he didn’t think that anyone should be able to lose that much blood and still walk around. But maybe there was more to Fireclaw’s transformation than just size and strength.
He continued, “It’s not right in my mind, but there’s no question that you’re not bleeding out. You feel alright?”
Fireclaw got back to his feet, head scraping the ceiling, stretched a bit, then said, “Excellent.”
“Not dizzy or anything?”
“Not at all.”
‘Fulsamee shrugged. “Take what you can get away with, I suppose.”
Fireclaw grinned. “Whatever works.”
The two stood in silence, waiting for the lift to reach ground level. A few minutes later, they felt it slow, then stop. A grinding sound came from the roof, and they watched a panel retract to reveal sunlight, blinding after their time underground. The lift started again, and climbed the last dozen feet to the surface. The door opened automatically, and ‘Fulsamee and Fireclaw stepped out. Immediately, the lift sank back into the ground, the panel slid back over, and there was nothing left of the device.
‘Fulsamee took a deep breath of the clean, cool air, and said, “That was fun. Now let’s get back to the pack.”
“Agreed.”