The Clockwork Maze 4: The Pad Scanner

(From the viewpoint of Robert Telmar)

    I sat up. It was an awkward task due to the fact that I was trying to sit like a human. I turned to the creature who was now eyeing me curiously. A smirk, slowly spread across my face for no apparent reason and I saw a similar smile in the face of the creature. These gleeful smiles soon turned into laughter. Laughter of despair. Laughter of victory. However, I then heard a mechanical movement echo across the room from the corner. It was clear, as my ear twitched, that my new comrade hadn't heard it as he continued to laugh.

    I turned to face the corner in question to see a compact security camera pointed straight toward me. A voice echoed from all corners of the room.

"Run along now, Mister Telmar. You have work to do." sounded the slightly distorted voice of the white haired man in the same patronising tone.

    My friend and I exchanged worried glances before gradually edging through the door I had entered through. Having entered the corridor, we automatically inspected the walls and ceiling for cameras. When we were convinced that there were none, we faced each other.

"Listen. I need your paw print." he blurted out in a rather intrusive manner.

"And why, exactly, would you need that?" I responded in an equally rude voice.

"Because..." he said, sounding rather frustrated and then held up the briefcase that I had seen earlier "I need the prints of all three people on the panel to unlock this briefcase".

    I inspected the briefcase closely. It was coated in black leather that seemed to reflect any light available. The edges were highlighted with what I suspected was titanium and it gave the whole thing a more expensive air. The case itself was around the size of my transformed body and it had the faint hum of a computer. In the center of the side facing me, there was a plate made of the same metal as the edges and upon this there was three liquid crystal screens below three platforms of a green translucent substance. Upon each of the liquid crystal displays was a name, the last of the three names was flashing red: Robert.

    I thought for a moment.

"What's inside?" I asked plainly.

"I don't know but the guy on the screen said that it was important to our continued existence. So could you please just give your paw print?" he asked in an impatient way.

    I carefully lifted my paw and placed it tentatively on the green platform above my name, fearing another trap. My paw sank into what I now Knew was gelatine of some sort. As it reached the sensor beneath, I felt the gel heat up and harden. I panicked for a moment when I couldn't withdraw my paw but then, with an indescribable noise, the gel softened once again and the liquid crystal display went dark. After that there were a few minutes of silence before several panels that had been hidden within, unfolded with a smooth hiss of modern machinery to reveal a keyboard, a small monitor and a second gel platform.

    I stared at the device, for what could well have been two minutes, before I decided to take a risk. I allowed the platform to scan my paw print once again, this time however, a hypodermic syringe burst up from the pad and buried itself in one of my pads. I yelped with shock as it took a blood sample. The entire case chattered with the sound of a disc being read as it released me. Then, suddenly, the screen lit up to show the data it had collected. What the monitor displayed was as follows:



Subject: F087

Designation: Robert

Family: Telmar

Mother: Denise Telmar

Father: Arthur Richie (deceased)

Stepfather: John Telmar

Step Brother: Jonas Telmar

Species: Cat

Breed: Ragamuffin

Blood Type: O-

Age: 15

Modification Method: Oddity Cog

Volunteered For Testing By: John Telmar

Estimated Chance Of Survival: 3.68%

!WARNING! TRANSFORMATION 84% COMPLETE !WARNING!



    I felt rather crestfallen by the terms that were being used to describe me, as if I were a lab rat and had been raised to be tested. I noticed a logo that I recognised at the corner of the monitor, it was a crescent moon shape, within the hollow of the shape there were a series of dots which I recognised as the constellation known as the crux. Completing the circle of the crescent moon were two curved jagged lines to represent the sun...this was the logo of Aurora Co.



                                                                                        ***



(From the viewpoint of Jonas Telmar)

      I had known that something was wrong even the previous night (oh, how I wished I had gone to check on Robert when I thought I heard a struggle). Now my stepmother was in tears and my step brother was missing on his sixteenth birthday. I felt that I just had to go and investigate his room.

    As I touched the door handle, I received an electric shock. Upon entering, I was met by a rush of energy, the room seemed to be alive with static electricity and for a moment I had horrible yet irrational thoughts of the room actually coming to life and consuming Robert whole. I quickly blocked out such thoughts, however, and continued with my exploration. It was still at least ten minutes until the police would arrive and although I had been forbidden from entering the room, I couldn't resist. The first thing that caught my eye was a bizarre object that lay on the floor next to Robert's dresser. It looked like a clock without a face, although, the strap that was attached to it made it look like a part of an electric chair. There was a pencil protruding from an opening in its surface.

    I stooped to pick up the object. It was juddering slightly and making faint noises. I removed the pencil and the device instantly became dormant. Out of curiosity, I placed the strap around my neck. A clicking noise rang out from the device as the strap tightened. A surge of energy hit me and then...lights out.



                                                                                      ***



(From the viewpoint of Robert Telmar)

    I exhaled slowly. I was in total disbelief that a corporation adored by all like Aurora Co. would have anything to do with the dark sciences and sadistic tests that I had witnessed so far. What's more my stepfather worked for the company. I had never thought that his nature reflected the company's so completely. At least this answered one question, I now knew who exactly was to blame for my situation. Suddenly, I thought of something.

"Why don't you try?" I asked, my curiosity finally boiling over.

"Okay. Why not." he said in an uninterested fashion.

    He placed his hand upon the pad and flinched as he felt the heat of the scan. The corners of my mouth twitched upwards into the beginnings of a malevolent smile at his shock. (I am not a sadistic person but I do so love it when people are brought down a peg) the pad released his hand and the disc span round within. The monitor, once again, lit up. The information it displayed was as follows:









                                                                  To Be Continued