Shudders

Chapter 4 - The Tests

    Three weeks have passed by since the new Keeper was hired, but Castor Labs hadn't changed much.

    A few new demons were brought in but unfortunately, two had to be eradicated due to the lives of one Scientist and two Capturers being taken by it. I9 was returned to its cell after a week of experimentation, and to Blythe, she was reluctant on resuming her work with the demon.

    During these three weeks, (Y/N) got to learn more about her demons. Even noticed some changes with them. She's been trying to have a friendly approach with them and it seemed to be working on Ki. He's been getting more relaxed around her and hasn't been as anxious as when he tore apart his side of the cell. Akai however... seemed more irritated. She assumed he began realizing his predicament and became more snappy about it. He's tried several other times to break his way out but the walls were just too sturdy.

    After her first week, she was given a checklist sent by the Researchers to perform small tests on her demons. The tests ranged from their physicality to their abilities, then their mentality. This was all to prep them for any future experimenting by the Scientists, but it was basically (Y/N) handling the first steps for them to make their jobs easier. At least, that's what she thought. 'Lazy Scientists...' Her job was to watch and observe Ki and Akai and record all the things they did. Not tests them, even if the tests were small, she found that sort of strange.

    From what she learned afterward, Akai is very stubborn. He wouldn't go through with the majority of the tests out of spite. He found her frustration with him funny though. (Y/N) let it slide with the optional tests, but she had to resort to using her cross to make him do the required ones. She only had to hold it up towards him and he begrudgingly did what she asked.

    If it wasn't for that cross around her neck, he would've been took her out and grabbed the keycard off her body.

    Ki, on the other hand, was really cooperative and did everything she said with no complaints. He was confused about some but understood after she explained more. It was refreshing after dealing with the stubborn blond demon, (Y/N) had to literally treat him like a child which said demon also found amusing.

    From what the Keeper learned overall, Ki and Akai were very different from each other.

    For physicality, Akai was the better one when it came to strength, which didn't surprise (Y/N). She didn't have any weights or heavy equipment to use, so she resorted to her desk after she removed the computer and other stuff from it. The desk was heavy and took four men to carry it in, Akai simply lifted it up like it was nothing and even walked around with it over his head. He did drop it on purpose though which annoyed the Keeper. Ki on the other hand didn't have much to do in his humanoid form but once he shifted, he became even stronger than Akai and way faster too. The blond took that as a competition and tried one-upping Ki which led to the dark demon becoming agitated... then a tussle between them... and almost a full on fight if (Y/N) hadn't threatened to use her cross on them.

    For abilities, she didn't really have to ask much and filled in the information she already learned, like Ki's teleportation and Akai's use of fire. She did ask Akai to transform his body to its limit so she can fill in an area on the checklist. What resulted was... disturbing.

    Akai was unrecognizable, but still him... sorta. He grew multiple bony arms that sprouted out of his back along with some of his spine, a long red tail that split off into two at the end, two huge red horns that illuminated against the artificial lights, his rib cage popped out of his chest at awkward angles, and he grew a second head that wasn't responsive or seemed to not have its own conscious, it just laid limp like it was dead. His actual head's mouth was brokenly wide open just like when he scared (Y/N) on her first day. His eyes were rolled back into his head but he grew a third one that kept staring at (Y/N), making her more uncomfortable than she was. It didn't help that he also grew twice his size, so he was huge and leaning to the side due to being off-balanced with the new limbs. (Y/N) had to ask for a replacement jumpsuit after he tore his open beyond repair.

    After that whole experience and Akai was back to his normal, less horrifying self, (Y/N) prayed for a solid 5 minutes to get that image out of her head. She was sure she was gonna have nightmares that night. She had to shut the large windows so the other workers won't have to witness the monstrosity also.

     Lastly, for mentality, (Y/N) had to ask a series of questions concerning their lives before being brought to Castor Labs. The way they answered would determine their way of thinking and how they are.

    Ki was very open and answered honestly but did hesitate on anything concerning other demons on the surface. He didn't want to hide anything about him from his Keeper, he trusted her enough but he wanted to forget about any of the demons he once knew before getting captured. Just didn't seem like something to waste time thinking about to him. Someday, he hoped to learn more about her though, it was only fair.

    For most of his life, Ki lived in the abandoned sewers underneath the city. He grew up with a group of nocturnal demons before leaving due to fights breaking out between them. Ki did his best to avoid violence and confrontations but at times had to defend himself from others. He stayed in the basements of buildings and anywhere else that was dark for a while till he stumbled across a dense forest with tall trees that blocked the sun all hours of the day, which was perfect for him. Since the forest was being fought over at the time, Ki simply teleported the demons to places that killed them. A riptide, over a cliff, a broken tree he used to impale their bodies. If they lived and came back, he easily got rid of them with not much trouble. He lived in the forest for many years, isolated from demons and humans and surrounded by the animals that lived in the forest with him. He enjoyed the tranquility the forest brought and preferred it over the company of other demons any day. 

    But over the years he grew bored. He loved being by himself but at times he did think about having companions. But all of the demons he met weren't up to sharing. Then one day, a group of humans came into the forest, he assumed that they wanted to explore so he watched them from the trees curiously. He wasn't aware that he was also being watched. It was too late to run because a Capturer in the trees surprised him with a collar that prevented him from teleporting and weakened him greatly. Ki hasn't been around humans much, he only encountered them maybe twice in all of his life, so his curiosity about them got him captured. The last thing he remembers is being dragged out of the forest in a cage before the drugs they gave him eventually knocked him out.

    With his honesty and the way he described his life, (Y/N) deduced that Ki is very peaceful and avoids being involved in any violence. She did feel sorry when he described the moment he got captured. She understands that Capturers have to be quick when detaining a demon but the way Ki described it sounded like overkill. Especially when he made no attempts at attacking them.

    Moving on to Akai, of course, he was the exact opposite of Ki. Akai was very defensive about most topics, like where he came from or where he grew up. But when asked about his interactions with other demons, he simply said that he started fights on purpose. He started a fight with a group of Capturers when they came near to where he was, he had taken a few out but some big guy came with an electrifying pole and jabbed it into his side. He was down for the count after that.
Him wanting to start a fight with the Capturers led to him getting captured, he was drugged the whole time after that and faintly remembers Ki getting loaded on as well after they stopped a mile away from the forest.

     That was all she can get out of him. He refused to answer anything else. Akai really tested her nerves for the two weeks she was testing them and hoped she would never have to do this sort of task again. She really did wanted to know more about him, but she was too exhausted to push him for answers. She'll just have to gain his trust more until she can hear his full backstory, however long that would take.

    At the end of the week, she reread her checklist and revised some parts to sound more professional, then submitted it to the Researchers. She was then told that if the Scientists are pleased with the results of the tests, her demons will be taken in for their first experimentation. Depending on how difficult her demons are, the experiments should only take a few days, maybe more if they prove to be a problem. This did make the Keeper a bit worried, she wasn't informed on how the experiments are or what the Scientists actually do to the demons. She feels accomplished on finally being done but a small part of her regretted submitting the list, it was her job and she is only following orders so she has nothing to worry about. Ki and Akai will be fine and will come back as they are.

Still, it felt wrong to submit that list...