Antarctic Complex Zebra Ultra
Human Enhancement Facility
Level 112 -- Rejection Room
Winter Blizzard Tango Day 2
Dr. Danst McGray awoke in his small apartment to the rage of Scandinavian Death Metal. It was morning inside while outside it was midnight with the silent snow except the occasional whistle of the in-progress Blizzard Tango. He stretched his tall, muscular, pale frame as he leapt out of the warm bunk and onto the slip of floor in front of the steel gray closet. He slid open the mirrored door to the next set of lab wear. "Illuminate."
The lights of the small room came on in stages to aid his dark eyes. He looked at the immaculate small space and sighed himself into wake. The smell of fresh coffee hit him and he realized he had no recollection of dreams. He walked to the wall of kitchenette and took the mug from the synchronized single server. He sighed after the first taste. The thump of drums really sunk in and he shook his head to fight off the scream within, but he couldn't contain it. He raged with the incoherent tongue of the singer and the knife slice of lead guitar. He shook in nakedness and felt his body react as if he were in a mosh pit of invisible hellions. He continued his screaming until only the bass played the closing notes and he relaxed. His face fell into his common deadpan as he finished his coffee and let his first erection lower to calm. He rubbed the soft stubble of his shaved head and returned to the closet for his white linen jumpsuit and light fur coverall parka. "Off."
The lights dimmed to black after he left the room and locked the door behind him.
The corridor was filled with soothing aromas of spring and light elevator music of something from the disco era. He only walked twenty paces to his right and swiped his card for the door to the second corridor to the Rejection Room. The music hit a crescendo of lameness as he strolled past scenes of summer in different international locales. He stopped at the next door and swiped the key into the last corridor. Summer rain, sound and smell, hit his senses as a woman's voice glided with affirmation.
"Good morning, Dr. McGray. Today is filled with Wonder. Today is filled with Success. Mulligan Corporation. In it."
"Morning, Tammy." The last door slid open and the chill slapped him in the face. "Illuminate."
The slow rise to light didn't stop him from beginning the morning checklist. He surveyed gauges with gentle taps and button presses.
"American Glory 725. Status. Comatose with no response to stimuli. American Glory 937. Status. Terminated. Retrieval Crew Delta filed Closure. Tempest 075. Refined. Retrieval Crew Alpha filed Progress to Lunar Complex 7. Tempest 1232. Refined. Retrieval Crew Epsilon filed Reinstatement to Afterburn. No new entries. Status Update Conference set 11:00 hours at office of Dr. Lazarus Leviathan, Commander of Antarctic Complex Zebra Ultra. Awaiting Acceptance." The mechanized voice was Australian male.
McGray completed his walk through of the Round and proceeded to the antechamber door. He slid his card and the steel door opened. The lights came on and he saw her Coma Case straight ahead of him. His erection definitely wanted to see her. She had the whole antechamber to herself now. He walked to her case and looked at the monitors. She was still asleep. Everything was normal except for lack of consciousness. He caressed the glass around her face. He intended to break protocol with her.
Mechanized Australian Personal Assistant interrupted. "Status Update Conference set 11:00 hours at office of Dr. Lazarus Leviathan, Commander of Antarctic Complex Zebra Ultra. Awaiting Acceptance."
McGray rolled his eyes after he kissed the glass above her lips. "Accepted!"
He looked at the read outs and the latest scans. She was still out and he knew that Leviathan would have her terminated if his latest report showed no progress. He had The Cough, The Sneeze, and Sleep Talk. That would be enough for another week. McGray was certain of it. He wouldn't let her go. He couldn't.
They were friends...kinda...
Summer in the Redneck Riviera
Somewhere Pretty in the Florida Panhandle
Eight Months Prior
"This is the most beautiful beach I've ever seen!" she cried out in her large blue sunglasses with her long brown hair in braided pigtails as she ran with the rest of the girls onto the whitest sand in front of the bluest water at a tucked away beach near the Florida/Alabama line.
It was July Fourth Weekend and his father had demanded that he take a vacation like all other students would that time of year. It would also fit as cover for his trip to the naval base. There was a lot to accomplish during vacation.
Danst laughed at her enthusiasm as well as enjoyed the sight of her large breasts heave against her light blue swimsuit. He had taken up his roommate's offer to adventure with a few chicks from a university two states over. There was Bed-who seemed to hold enthusiasm for everything in curvy brunette style, Queen-who had the base location secured and fought the blonde out of her hair with crazy rinses, and M-who kept it sweet and dangerous with her slim, mysterious, foreign ways. Blake and his frat brother, Jared, buffered the women for Danst, who was a pale outsider to the whole relationship with women sphere.
Danst fell for Bed the first night they met. He couldn't thank Blake, his roommate, enough, so he didn't.
They stayed on that beach for the rest of the day. Sandcastles, crazy swim matches, naps in the sun, hilarious picnic lunch, the salty breeze, the enormous heat and humidity, the cool kiss of the water; he knew then he would taste the memory for years to come. Bed couldn't swim, but she had a long blue noodle that she floated under her arms. Danst was a champion swimmer, but he stayed with her to talk about her hobbies, like nuclear and astrophysics. It was the way she described her research on Chernobyl that made him kiss her, suddenly, in the water. She gripped him and her noodle as if her life depended on them. . . . .
Office of Dr. Lazarus Leviathan
Commander of Antarctic Complex Zebra Ultra
Surface Level One
Winter Storm Tango Day 2
"Dr. McGray, I believe nothing more can be done for American Glory 725. We must terminate." Dr. Lazarus Leviathan stated in his large black rimmed glasses on his brown, skeletal face as he sat behind a large black desk in a large black chair. He read the small progress report, pushed it aside with a sigh and smile, as he looked at the pale, young, angry doctor before him.
McGray kept his panic down and tried hard not to tremor in the steel chair in front of the commander. "I must disagree, Dr. Leviathan. This is no different than a drug study with neurotransmitter malfunction. She is making progress. I believe it's a protein I am missing."
Leviathan shook his aged bald dome. "Danst, you must understand, you have killed her. You killed her eight months ago in Florida. This charade has gone on long enough. She was declared dead six months ago at Pensacola Medical. Her family and friends have moved on. Why haven't you?"
McGray held steady even though he wanted to scream and beat the shit out of the old man determined to remind him of his mistakes. "She is not dead. She breathes on her own. Her brain is active. She is not awake-that is the only problem."
"Your father is a great and very well connected man, but I must stop this madness with the girl. Let her have peace. Leave her be." Leviathan shook his head again at the boy; such a star pupil to mentor, all destroyed by a vacation with some flippy psychology major from Mississippi.
"I cannot kill her for real. Lunar Dust overdose is one thing, but real murder is another. You all got your research -- the dose, the execution, the reaction, the symptoms, the coma-you have the Intel on your poison-"
"Our!" Leviathan interjected with a sneer. "OUR poison, Danst. The poison YOU gave her!'
McGray retreated and looked down at his clenched fists and fought the tremor.
Leviathan sighed. He could not let this genius burn to the ground. "I will do this. She will be removed from the Circular and placed in Private Study. That will give you a month, BUT it also allows her to be studied by any other curious doctor in this complex. How will you protect her then?" A skilled white brow rose to the junior who sweated it.
McGray rose to the occasion with a possessive doctor style. "SHE IS MY PATIENT! I will treat her in private study and no one else can have her. If someone tries, they will regret it."
Another sigh, but a determined tone, answered,"Be that the case, but you have a month. If you cannot resolve this, then maybe another from Research and Development has a better shot."
McGray stood quickly and braced himself to keep the tremors from full eruption. "I will RESOLVE this. You WILL NOT send her to those fiends."
"Watch me, Young McGray. No improvement, then she will be sent to a more experimental stage of the Lunar Dust Analysis. In the end, Bedelia Strong is dead, but American Glory 725 shall live on in whatever state we wish." Leviathan closed the file and tapped it to end the discussion. "You are excused to leave on your borrowed time. If she truly means so much, then you should figure it out."