“There we go.” The scientist murmured, as his fur covered paw grabbed the last vial and settled it into an open centrifuge. Twitching his illustrious black and white tail in time with the music playing nearby, he pressed a few buttons and started the machine. He stared at it for a few seconds, observing it with a proud smirk on his face, giving it a nod he then turned around to shuffle through his research papers. Absorbed in his paperwork the scientist didn't notice the subtle change in the sound coming from the centrifuge until it reached a loud, dangerous thrum. Realizing too late that something had gone wrong he raced to the machine, trying to shut it off in time... but to no avail. He reached the power switch just as the vials started to hit and shatter, sending shrapnel in every direction.
The first vial shattering sent a cruel shard of glass piercing into the soft flesh of the skunk scientist's paw. Recoiling he fell to the floor as more glass shards rained down, littering his fur with gleaming slivers and drops of the solutions that were separating. On the counter the still-spinning centrifuge finally slowed and came to a stop having splattered chemicals and glass everywhere. The skunk, trembling in shock as he surveyed the carnage left over by his destroyed work, finally felt the sting from the shard of glass and chemicals imbedded in his paw. Starting to panic he grabbed the shard protruding from his skin and jerked it out, instantly feeling nauseated from the searing pain. Holding his paw firmly trying to staunch the flow of blood that was already matting in his fur, he got up and took off in a stumbling run headed for the medical ward. Bursting out of the lab the frantic skunk almost took out the two security guards that were supposed to be monitoring him.
Seeing the blood-washed skunk scramble past them at a dead run, the security guards shouted demeaning obscenities before giving chase. Skidding to a halt at the doors of the med ward they saw the olive-colored, medical otter named Olivia, tending to the bleeding skunk. “What the hell ar..” The burlier of the two security guards started screaming at the shaken skunk, only to be cut off by the bustling otter. “Hey!” She shouted back shooing the guards with her claws and a menacing look, “Don't you dare come in here and yell at my patient! You can have him when I'm done, now get out! Out!!” The guards glared at her before turning to leave, grumbling to each other about the “damn animals,” Olivia pointedly slammed the door behind them to emphasize her displeasure.
Returning to her patient, Olivia began examining the gash in his paw and looking for other injuries. Not finding any she gave the skunk a long, hard look, “Honey, I don't know how you managed it but there isn't an inch of you that isn't covered in blood, glass, or... whatever this foul concoction is that is mixed in with it all. Before I can do anything I need you clean, get on over to the shower stall there and we'll get you hosed off.”
The skunk walked up to the shower stall that was designed with a seat in it so that patients could sit down while the nurses showered them off. The skunk began to unbutton his white lab coat, exposing the white fur with large black spots that covered his entire body. He tossed the blood stained lab coat to the side on a nearby counter before moving on to unbutton his pants starting with the front, unzipping them he allowed his pants to hang from his hips as he reached behind him to unbutton a strap that wrapped over his tail holding his pants in place. His pants fell to the floor as soon as the button was released and the skunk tugged on his low-cut boxers, shimmying them down into the heap of his pants around his ankles. Stepping out of the pile of clothing on the floor he grabbed his pants and boxers in both paws and set them on top of his lab coat.
He was used to being naked around others, since many of the other scientists had examined every inch of his body already, but he covered him self with his paws anyway in an attempt to maintain some essence of dignity. This was not his first time being showered off by the otter medic. In fact she had tended to the skunk several times in the past few months after various catastrophes and one explosion. The skunk now shivering more from embarrassment than the cold, stepped into the shower and glanced up at the nurse as she showered him off with a smirk on her face.
The shower was quick and to the point, rinsing away all of glassy shards of evidence from the skunk's thick fur. After she was done washing the blood, glass and chemicals off of him, Olivia handed the skunk a long shirt that tied in a couple spots in the back for patients to wear. Quickly the skunk slipped into the shirt, intentionally putting it on backwards so that he could tie it up himself. Olivia had already walked over to an examination table and readied some gauze, a bandage, and some iodine. The skunk, soaking wet sat on the table in front of her and held his paw out to her, his tail slumped over in shame that he was once again in this room. He spoke up attempting to lighten the mood and break the silence. “I'm not going to need stitches am I?” Olivia dried off his paw with a small sterile towel and took a closer look at it. “No. It doesn't look like it's going to need stitches.” Another moment of silence stretched across the room as Olivia continued to tend to his wound but was broken when she started muttering. “I thought by now you would have learned to keep yourself out of trouble. After all, I think you know this routine better tha...” “Shit! God damn that hurts!” Olivia was cut off by the skunk as he shouted in pain from the iodine being poured over his cut. He looked down at Olivia trying not to pull his arm from her. “Why the hell do you keep using that stuff on me?” She snickered silently to her self as she wiped off his paw and began to wrap it.
The unwilling patient and medic both twitched their ears toward the door when they heard a familiar voice coming from a radio on one of the guards standing outside. One of the armed men stepped into the room and ordered the scientist that he needed to “Come with them”. Olivia quickly finished wrapping up the skunks paw and gave him a small smile that he knew meant “good luck.”
Snatching up his pile of clothes, the skunk trudged out of the med ward into a long corridor. As he came through the door, one of the two guards stepped out in front and led the way while the other followed close behind. “Damn skunk” One of the guards scoffed, loud enough to be sure that the scientist could hear him. The other guard then chimes in “His work stinks as much as he does.” Both the guards snickered as they continued the trek toward a large, elaborate door at the end of the hallway.
The guards stopped and stood to each side of the door as the skunk entered the room and closed it behind him. The room was a neutral beige color, filled with books from floor to ceiling along all the walls, almost a calming setting... if the skunk didn't know what was coming. In the middle of the room was a heavy pine desk, the imposing man sitting behind the desk looked up at the scientist and motioned for him to have a seat. Slowly the skunk walked to the empty chair and sat down, feeling like he was walking to the noose rather than a soft red chair.
“What happened this time?” The man asked. “I don't know. Something happened with the new centrifuge, it just went crazy.” The skunk murmured bowing his head in shame. The man at the desk sat silent for a moment, flipping through a file on his desk, already aware of what was in it. “This is starting to become a regula-”“Look, I'm doing eve-” The skunk cut in, trying to defend himself. WHAM! The man slammed his hands on the desk. “Stop right there! Let me make this perfectly clear to you. Just because I dress casually and mingle with your kind does not give you the right to interrupt me. I am still your superior and you will respect me as such.” The man yelled, a large pulsing vein standing out on his forehead. Reigning in his temper the man took a moment to sit back and take a deep breath, he then pulled out a signed contract. “As we both know, you have volunteered for a life term with this project. We gave you a maw, fur, and a tail among many other things.” The man slid the contract towards the skunk as if the skunk had forgotten that he had signed it eight years ago.
The man then pulled out three more contracts, each unsigned. “I don't have much time as I have many others to speak with today. Here are three options for you. As you know, we have several labs working on the same project that your lab has been working on. A few of them have succeeded. Soon you will see just how many others there are like you and that many are even more advanced than yourself. The military believes that some of these products will make better soldiers and wants us to release the project to the public so that the military can start using some of our subjects. In essence, your life term is being cut short. You will return to society, and you have a few options.”
The man slid the first of the contracts to the skunk. “This one will release you into society for you to try and live what ever life you can. We will check up on you regularly, and if we feel we must, we will recall you.” He then slid the second form to the skunk. “This one will enlist you into a military branch of your choice. It's a guaranteed job and you will receive the same benefits as any one else who is enlisted.” The last contract he picked up and tore in half. “You don't qualify for this one since your lab failed to produce any thing useful. Our conversation here is classified. You may not speak about this to any one until all personnel have been briefed. Now take your contracts to your room and get your wet ass out of my office. You're making my chair smell like wet dog.”
The skunk stared at the two contracts that lay in front of him in disbelief. “Yes sir!” He quickly snatched them up by the corners and walked out of the room. As he emerged from the room his “escorts” fell in tow. “Oh look here. This one blows up a lab and gets reading material for his private quarters.” The two guards chuckled as they continued toward the skunk's room. As they approached his quarters, one of the guards opened the door for the skunk with a grin on his face, suddenly the other guard snatched one of the contracts from the skunk's paw. The wet corner tore free, making it an easy catch, the guard then put a boot to the skunk's lower back and pushed him into the room, closing the door and quickly locking it.
The skunk scrambled to his feet and checked the door handle. No such luck, he was locked in. With the remaining contract in his paw the skunk made his way over to the curtained window. He pulled the curtain open revealing a lit screen displaying a sunny outdoor scene. Due to the high security nature of the facility and his room actually being several miles underground there were no “real” windows in his room. He pulled a wet pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the pocket of his stained lab coat. Looking at the aftermath of the day's work in disgust he then threw the lab coat to the floor. Turning his attention back to the cigarettes in hand, he noted the cellophane had kept most of the cigarettes dry this time. He pulled one from the pack and lit it up, blowing the smoke into the exhaust vent located under the “window.”
Savoring the soothing taste of the cigarette and finally starting to relax, he then began to read through the one contract that he's managed to keep his paws on. It was the one that he would sign to join the armed forces. The contract gave him the option of many different fields to go into. It looked like any ordinary military contract, giving him full military benefits with just a few changes. One of those changes being that he could be recalled back to “The Project” at any given time. It also stated that if he left the military to enter a civilian life it could only be done with the civilian contract that the guards had taken from him earlier.
Just as he was thinking the military contract would be his only choice, there was a knock at the door. The skunk turned around to see a paper being slid under the door. He quickly grabbed it to find that some one had delivered a new copy of the contract that had been stolen from him. Glancing through the new contract, he settled back down by the “window.” It seemed that he would be given five thousand dollars, three sets of clothes, and a plane ticket to an undisclosed location. It would allow him to get an apartment, a car, and a job. He would be given a new identity and a new social security number. He would not be allowed to make contact with anyone from his past and would have to start over from scratch.
The skunk sat for a moment, letting the options sink in. It was a lot to take in. He quickly finished smoking his cigarette and dropped it down the sink drain then grabbed a towel and began drying himself off. He let his mind wander into the past, thinking about how he came to this point...
I used to be a zoologist. One of the best. If it had any thing to do with animals, I loved it. About eight years ago someone gave me the chance to join an underground project to create human/animal hybrids. Of course I jumped at the opportunity. At that time I never thought I would become a hybrid myself.
About six months into the project they asked me to volunteer to be one of the test subjects. At first I was given genetically altered fur “plugs” all over my body. The plugs gave me a permanent fur coat that would keep me warm in extreme colds and was one of the most important parts to looking like a spotted skunk. After that I received facial reconstruction followed by skin grafts and more plugs to give me a maw. The maw also came with razor sharp teeth that allowed me to easily rip through food.
From there things got more difficult. They were able to graft me new ears, reconstruct the ear canal, and of course more fur plugs. As you could easily guess, this made me more sensitive to loud noises, but I could hear things that no one else could. They even took the bones from my legs and feet, reconstructing them into digitigrade/plantigrade hybrid legs. This took a lot of getting used to. I had to relearn how to walk, but I could easily get down on all fours and run at amazing speeds for long periods of time.
They even replaced parts of my eyes. It was decided that I would receive nocturnal eyes so I would be able to see with little to no light. I was not happy with that decision and was able to talk them into giving me skunk like eyes so that I could see in the dark without becoming sensitive to light. They further modified them so I would not become short sighted like skunks are but was able to keep a more human range of vision. I was also given twenty digital pads, four metacarpal pads, for my forepaws and rear paws, and carpal pads for my forelimbs. This allows me to be able to tackle rough terrain without shoes for protection.
There were other test subjects as well. Olivia the otter medic was one, some of them even opted for claws and paw shaped hands and feet. I opted out of that simply because it's easier for me to work with my human shaped hands.
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, they were able to successfully give me a tail that I could control. It took a lot of learning and practice, but my long, thick, fluffy skunk tail is my pride and joy. During my daily wash I use a massive amount of conditioner on it and I let it sit for a long time before rinsing it out. I am proud to say that I have the softest tail that I know of.
None of the test subjects, myself included were ever allowed to go outside for fear that we would be seen or hurt. This in turn limited my ability to study zoology in the field. This is why they threw me in a lab where I had no idea what I was doing. I am about as close to being an animal as cosmetic technology would let me get, though a couple of the other labs have managed to create genetically modified hybrids. I've only been able to see a couple of them and the sight of them is nothing short of miraculous. I don't think I've ever seen anything that would interest the military enough to cause them to shut down our underground project and release it to the public though. I wonder how well our kind will be received in society...
Pondering the future and what tomorrow would bring, the spotted skunk crawled into bed and drifted off to sleep. His dreams wandered through hopeful scenarios and into nightmares of what could come to be.
