When Technical Support is Too Helpful

Beakers big and small boiled with various colored fluids on top of metal tables. The small flames provided the only light in the dim room. Across the room, a woman slept on a cot with her pristine white lab coat still on. Her long pink hair covered her soft, shy face. A timer went off with a metal clang, which made the woman jump out of the cot, and crashes to the marble floor.

"Wha  ?" Fluttershy rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "This is not the vault..." she concluded after a quick scan of the room.

A door opened and she closed her eyes from the blinding light.

"Master Doctor Nais?" a man spoke to her. When her vision returned she saw two men in black suits, "We need you to come with us."

"Uh... um.. b-bu  " she stumbled. She noticed the second man turn off the burners.

"Relax, ma'am, your supervisor has given us permission to take you off base. My employer wishes to meet you," the man helped her up gently.

Fluttershy just nodded her head and hid her face behind her voluminous hair.

The men in black lead her out of the room and down a brightly lit hallway of white. People in identical white lab coats went about their busy day. Her nervous teal eyes absorbed the details of the floor. The gentlemen escorted her to a silver sedan and helped her into the back seat; the two of them sat up front.

"Wh-where are w-we going?" she squeaked timidly.

"A private institution," the man on the passenger side answered. He had dark skin and a bald head, shades hid his eyes.

"The organization we work for is a privately funded institution called the Genetics Institute of New Azaerriea," the driver informed her, blue eyes peered over his glasses to see her in the rearview mirror. He had light skin and a similar bald head which reminded her of a chicken egg.

"Oh... okay," Fluttershy replied, not understanding him.

She kept her hands on her lap and watched the scenery outside changed from a parking lot into a reddish cliff side with gorgeous trees and bushes. She ignored the fact that she was in a new place, called by a new name, in a vehicle that seemed to move on its own, and instead, focused on the beautiful coast that popped out from behind the trees to her left. Sailboats speckled the blue waters as they were anchored in the harbor below. An hour passed by and the sea was replaced by trees, then replaced by concrete. Fluttershy unstuck her face and hands from the window and sank into the leather seat. People in black uniforms carried weapons and eyed the sedan as it drove past.

The car came to a stop and Fluttershy saw a woman with blonde hair and black-rimmed glasses near a door with a guard on both sides. She smiled and waved at Fluttershy. She nearly tumbled out of the car when the driver had opened it for her.

"I will leave you in the more than capable hands of Doctor Michelle," he smiled and held out his arm in the blonde woman's direction.

"Oh... Th-thank you..." she hurried over to the woman at the door.

"Master Doctor Flannery Nais," the woman beamed and her blue eyes twinkled, she grabbed Fluttershy's hand and shook vigorously, "It is a complete and absolute honor to meet with you! The youngest ever to achieve such a prestigious title!"

Fluttershy wanted the woman to stop hurting her hand but smiled politely, "Th-thank you.... um...?"

"Oh, my manners!" Much to Fluttershy's relief she released her hand and cleared her throat, "I am Doctor Gabriela Michelle, head of this institute."

"N-nice to m-meet you..." Fluttershy hid behind her hair.

"Wow, the reports all said you were bashful, but you are just adorable!"

Fluttershy back away from Gabriela's face, "Why a-am I here?"

"Right! Come, come! This day has just been getting better and better!" she chimed and skipped through the door, dragging a reluctant Fluttershy by her heels.

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Fluttershy could not make any sense out of the colorful lines of the chromatogram   at first. The information that the graphs held was spectacular   at first. Then her mind was confused, they were just normal charts of the DNA of a plethora of animals and plants. A few caught her attention because she could not identify them. She placed the stack of papers back on the table she sat behind. She was in a small office with Doctor Michelle seated across from her with expectant eyes.

"Why did you need me again? I am sure you could have understood these. If you brought me here to help you with the last two pages, I am sorry to say that, I do not know them," Fluttershy finally spoke.

"I know!" Doctor Michelle elated, "No one does! And do you know what the best part is?"

A minute of silence went by before Fluttershy got that she was supposed to guess, "What is it?"

"That is the DNA of one specimen," Doctor Michelle exasperated as she exhaled the breath she held, "I will show you her!" The eccentric Doctor Michelle leaped out of her chair and hauled with her the curious Fluttershy.

As they walked down the hallway, Fluttershy grew more nervous along the way. What was the creature going to look like? Would it be scary? Would it bite? Where did the creature come from? Why did Doctor Michelle keep pulling her everywhere? Doctor Michelle stopped in front of a door that had a giant bank vault door. She keyed the code on a control console. Gears began to turn and the vault door clanked loudly open, revealing a long crosswalk. The doctor motioned for Fluttershy to follow. Fluttershy's curiosity won over her anxiety. The sky-bridge bridged over a deep canyon and fast flowing river; she could see a second building built on an island.

"We had to build this whole section just for her. That island was supposed to be for staff housing but the higher ups thought it would be best for her to be contained separately," Doctor Michelle spoke, "She is a very powerful entity. Stronger than at least a hundred strong men. She was responsible for decimating an entire division of elite soldiers when the Emperor gave the orders to settle to Davvenwood." She heard Fluttershy audibly swallow loudly, "Do not worry, Master Doctor, we have everything under control. She is being restrained and kept unconscious. She can not escape."

They reached the end of the sky-bridge and another vault-like door towered before the two doctors. Doctor Michelle input the code into the control console. The vault door opened into a busy room filled with displays and computers all with different data showing on their screens. They continued to walk for ten more minutes down a completely white hallway. Doctor Michelle stopped in front of the only door Fluttershy had seen.

"Let me introduce you to her," she beamed and touched a green control panel on the door frame.

The white metallic door slid open silently which opened up into a cavernous room. Fluttershy marveled at how vast and spacious the room was. Devoid of anything except a strange, pod-like structure in the middle of the room. Dozens of tubes and pipes poked out the back and into the floor. They walked around the back of the pod and faced the glass front. Fluttershy could not believe her eyes.

Instead of a monster, a young woman was submerged in liquid with a mask that covered her mouth and nose. The young woman had two inches thick, eight inch wide restraints across her bare chest, well-defined abdominal muscles, and groin which helped her stay decent. She had three bands of restraints clamped on her toned arms and legs. Sensors were attached to her head through a forest of short, spiky, dark burgundy hair. Fluttershy noted multiple scars on the woman's body.

"We call her," Doctor Michelle broke Fluttershy's awe, "Amalgam." Fluttershy returned her attention to the young woman in the pod and Doctor Michelle continued, "Considering where she was found, she is definitely an Ancient, but none like we have ever seen. You saw the charts and that was only half the information on her DNA."

"Half?" Fluttershy remembered the two-foot stack of papers she had read.

"Yup. Her DNA is not only carbon-based, but silicon and germanium   germanium! Her proteins have normal proteins but also different amino acids not found ANYWHERE! You saw her chromatograms! We could create EVERY single organism from her DNA alone!" she took out a vial from her pocket which held an orange liquid, "This  this  is her blood! I doubt we have even scratched the surface about her!"

"Her skin is nearly impervious to anything. We noticed that a mosquito was able to draw out her blood so we ran some tests and their saliva softens her skin. We, naturally, created a synthetic type and it works perfectly, making it easier to draw more blood and a way to defend ourselves from her   if she escapes. She is just a completely fascinating specimen," Doctor Michelle awed.

"I'll say..." Fluttershy mused. She placed her hand on the pod and the amalgam's eyes shot open, which made Fluttershy withdraw. Her pale yellow eyes locked onto Fluttershy's. She immediately began to struggle to break free; her heart monitor beeped frantically.

Doctor Michelle sighed and brought out a remote, "We'll have to just put her back to sleep." The amalgam stopped and narrowed her eyes on the remote with a low growl.

"Wait!" Fluttershy grabbed Doctor Michelle's arm, "Have you tried talking to her?"

"Yes, multiple times. She has the ability to and she has the intelligence, yet she refrains from speaking. We discovered that she also knew how to read lips," she faced the amalgam with a grin, "Don't you?Poor Malcolm and Sergio."

The amalgam turned her head to ignore Doctor Michelle. She studied Fluttershy with a stoic expression.

"I can only assume she has acted in self-defense this entire time. How would you behave if your home was suddenly invaded by people who wanted to kill you? How would you behave if people held you captive and performed tests, that I know, are painful and did not require anesthesia?" Fluttershy chastised Doctor Michelle with a stern expression then focused her attention on the young woman her face softening, "You harmed a sapient being," she placed her hand back on the cool glass, "with emotions. Someone who just wanted to be left alone in peace."

The amalgam's heart monitor began to slow and quiet down as they shared eye contact.

Fluttershy focused back to Doctor Michelle, "You have to release her."

Doctor Michel scoffed, "That is not happening, Nais, not with all the money private lenders have invested in her, not with all the lives invested in her, not with my reputation invested in her!"

A rumble was felt and alarms began to blare.

Doctor Michelle touched the watch on her wrist, a holographic screen appeared with a man on the screen, "What's going on, Devin?"

"Unknown, ma'am! Several generators have gone down and surveillance is down!" he reported. His eyes went wide, "Picking up an unknown life form with similar signatures as the amalgam! It is  " the young black-haired man turned around to the sounds of metal being bent, "Saints!" he shouted, fear in his voice, "It is ripping the blast door from off its hinges!"

A flood of light filled the dark room, the guards could be heard shooting at it. A roar sounded over the sounds. Soon the sounds of breaking bones and screams of people were heard. Devin was frozen to his chair. Slow footsteps approached him. He was thrust down on his console and the bloody face of a man appeared on the screen.

Fluttershy gasped and the amalgams heart monitor raced.

Doctor Michelle cut off the feed and turned to amalgam, "You recognize him? Your mate?"

"No," Fluttershy whispered, "Her father..."

"You know that man?!" Doctor Michelle pulled Fluttershy close by her collar.

"Yes, yes I do, now it is too late for you," Fluttershy said grimly.

Doctor Michelle went pale. She let go of Fluttershy's coat and began pressing buttons on the remote. The pod opened up and the fluid flooded the room. The metal restraints fell off of the amalgam. Shade launched herself out of the pod and pounced on Doctor Michelle.

"If only I had as much time to torture you as you did me," Shade spat her hand clamped around the doctor's throat.

"I-I didn't know!" Michelle choked.

Shade twisted her hand, snapping Doctor Michelle's neck. Her glowing eyes now focused on Fluttershy.

Fluttershy immediately took off her lab coat and held it out to the naked young woman, "I-I'm not here to hurt y-you, Sh-shade."

Shade snatched the coat and put it on, "You here with that man?" she hissed.

"No, well, I mean not that Grey. I sorta just woke up in this body," Fluttershy spoke.

Shade eyed her suspiciously, "Whatever. I won't kill ya then."

"Thank y  " a punch filled her vision with stars and then darkness.