Caged Alpha: Project Chimera

Chapter 4

With Casey on board, the General turned to address Subject 5, intending to show her an example of how things had been going to date. "Tell me, Subject 5, how does one become a werewolf? Would a person have to be bitten by one of your kind? Or are you born into it?" he asked, his eyes now cold and fierce as Casey wondered how on Earth she had ever thought that they appeared friendly earlier. The man in the cage, Subject 5, never even acknowledged the General's words. "You pick up on anything, Peterson?" he asked, hoping there was some micro expression or gesture that she had seen that the rest of them may have missed. Casey shook her head. The man hadn't moved at all.

He sighed and gestured to one of the soldiers who stepped towards the cage with a long baton. Casey heard the clicking and cracking sound of live electricity ripping through the air before she saw it, a long, black baton with a purple-blue electrical arc buzzing violently at its tip. As soon as she saw it she was convinced that this man was about to meet his end at the tip of this enormous cattle prod.

She cried out in abject horror just before the prod was thrust through the bars and pressed against the man's shoulder, jolting him violently as he grunted in pain. "Sir!" she objected, but the General interrupted her. "Specialist Peterson, I do not have the time nor the inclination to listen to your fragile feminine concerns regarding the well-being of this vicious, murderous animal. He is wild and dangerous and the sooner you understand that, the better," the General barked, his anger brimming now at Casey's unwelcome objection. "Y-yes, sir," Casey stuttered in a small voice. She looked back at the cage and noticed that the man's chest was rising and falling as he lay on the floor of the cage now, desperately trying to catch his breath and compose himself once more. A rush of relief coursed through her at the realization that he was indeed still alive, and she expelled an audible sigh.

The General continued to ask more questions. Each of them went without a response from Subject 5, resulting in more prods from the long, electrified stick as she winced and looked away each time, unable to watch the man's pain. While Casey was obviously always combat ready, she had yet to be deployed to participate in any actual armed conflict, and as a result, had not yet had an opportunity to witness the true brutality of war, nor to see what the men she knew and trusted were truly capable of when put to the test. The thought made her feel sick as she thought of her own father, a highly decorated Colonel, who saw his fair share of armed conflict before he tore the ligaments in his knee during a field exercise and was forced to retire. She wondered whether he truly was the honorable man she knew and loved, or did he also have a secret dark side like General Armstrong here.

She pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she wiped tears from her eyes, trying not to let the room full of testosterone-fuelled military men see her weakness, but it was proving to be a challenge she was not winning. She heard the General chuckle as he looked at her, "He really is one tough bastard. That voltage on that stick would kill any man you or I have ever met. Fuck... it would likely kill an elephant," he explained with a smile.

"Sir," Casey ventured, fearing that she might be chewed out again, but he allowed her to speak without interruption this time. "Have you considered the possibility that he might be deaf?" she asked curiously. The General suddenly looked contemplative. "Maybe he's not answering you because he can't hear the questions," she continued. "Now there's a thought," General Armstrong said, rubbing his hand over the stubble on his jaw. "Do you speak sign language then, Peterson? Will you be able to communicate with him?" he asked as he gave her an inquiring look. "Yes, I do, sir. But I'm going to guess that he likely doesn't, otherwise I'm sure he would have tried to sign something by now, wouldn't you think? Of course, I'll give it a try though. Has he tried to communicate in any other ways?" she asked hopefully. "What kind of other ways, Peterson? Should we be watching to see if he blinks in morse code?" he scoffed sarcastically. "No sir, but that would be interesting. What about repetitive gestures? Or trying to point things out maybe? Or even trying to spell words out in the air possibly?" she suggested, considering a few ideas off the top of her head that she might resort to were she to find herself in Subject 5's position. "No, Specialist Peterson. Nothing comes to mind," General Armstrong replied with an air of irritation.

"I have an idea, sir..." she stated tentatively as she contemplated what her first steps should be. "Well, I should hope so, Specialist Peterson. Otherwise, I'm uncertain as to what the purpose would have been in bringing you into the fold," General Armstrong finished, his tone coming off as teasing, but Casey could pick up on the underlying threat.

The General considered Casey for a moment as he chuckled to himself, then he nodded. "Well then by all means, Specialist Peterson. Why don't you take a crack at it?" he said with a smile, gesturing that the floor was now hers. She took a tentative step past the taped line on the floor. "Peterson, this is your reminder that we cannot guarantee your safety in this facility, and we absolutely cannot guarantee your safety in this room if you cross that line," he stated in a firm tone. "I understand General Armstrong, but I need to get closer. I won't be able to pick up on any micro expressions or morse code blinking from all the way over here," she explained. "I acknowledge the risks and accept them, sir," she affirmed. With that, she ventured forward another step.

The figure in the cage did nothing. There was no acknowledgment of her or her movements whatsoever. Casey suddenly had a thought. "General, is the cage mic'ed up? I see there are cameras around the room, but nothing in the cage," she asked, trying to establish how much they could monitor without being physically in the room. "It was. He destroyed everything we put near the cage. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, destroyed in seconds by this animal," the General complained with a huff of annoyance. Casey continued her journey towards the cage, taking one hesitant step at a time. She didn't want to startle Subject 5 in the event that he was deaf, but also, if he was indeed a werewolf, she was pretty sure that a startled one would be capable of causing her some serious damage at this proximity.