Soap - Book 1 - "Should've listened to Joe" - Kaiju Paradise

Chapter 8 - "Unusual Fever"

"Kat? Kat?" Kat heard a voice and opened her eyes. She looked up to Joe shaking her awake. "Oh, she's awake! Yes!" Joe said. "Kat, are you okay?" Chelsea said, looking rather worried. "Wh- What- Happened-" Kat said, getting up slowly. Almost immediately her head hurt like hell. Kat looked around to see that she was in a medical sector of the facility.  "You kind of just- uh- fainted-?" Joe said in an anxious voice. "God, Everything hurts-" Kat said, putting her paw pads to her temples. The Nurse was a few feet away, looking at a high tech computer, seeming to be analyzing something- most likely Kat. "Kat, Maybe you should stay here, in the medical sector for a while... you don't seem alright." Chelsea suggested, putting a paw on Kat's shoulder. "No, I'm fine. We need to work on the cure." Kat said, lightly pushing Chelsea's paw off. Kat would proceed to leave the room, stepping out. Chelsea and Joe followed closely behind her.

"Testing for subject 012. Dr. Kat, Dr. Kaleo, and Dr. Fawna, Please report to Panther Containment." The Announcement said.

"Ah, Not that idiot again-" Kat scoffed. "Are you sure you want to go experiment right now? I mean, you-" Chelsea began. "I said I'm fine!" Kat interrupted her and stormed off to the containment. It only took a few minutes before she reach the High Facility Containment Area, where the Panther was. Last interaction with the Panther was horrible, and Kat wasn't expecting this one to be better. She watched the guards bring the Panther out. It was... oddly less resistive. Panther's always struggle from the guards- this was... weird behavior. The other scientists seemed to notice this as well. The Panther was taken to a testing room, while Kat and the scientists stood on the opposite side of the glass. The three of them went in the room with Hazmat Suits on, as a glass wall was filled in between them and the panther, but to get closer and a better look this was better then the room to observe. Kat looked at her pages, and realized today was... oh god. The test she absolutely hated experimenting on Gootraxians. Only 3 species of Gootraxians could withstand it... and live.

But this was her job.

Now that she was like the Gootraxians, she felt bad... as if she were torturing her own kind. But she had to do this, for... experiments... Kat went over to a button near the wall and pressed it. The Panther's eyes widened and looked at her in despair. This made it much worse now. The room where the Panther was in started filling up with acid. The panther screeched in agony as  it tried to climb the walls with it's sharp claws to get away from the acid... 

Something rushed threw the hallways and to the High Facility Containment Area. Kat and the other scientists looked around in alarm. Just then, the lazy, strange Carneline came barreling in  and broke the best glass they had in pieces. The acid went all over the room and drained while doing so. "What the hell?!" Kat said as 5 Security Guards came rushing in. They took the Carneline and Panther back to their containments. But Kat's attention wasn't on them. She looked down at the knee of the hazmat suit. It had a hole in it, and it looked acid had gotten in it and touched her knee... but it didn't hurt whatsoever. I mean, maybe it stung a bit, but...

Minutes later she blacked out and woke up in the medical facility again.

Kat looked down to see her knee wrapped in bandages. She looked over to Joe and Chelsea who were sitting down. "Did I really black out 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?" Kat asked. Joe nodded. She sighed, slowly getting up. Oddly, the nurse was nowhere to be seen. "What even was that?" Kat asked. "I have no idea. The Carneline never acts like that." Chelsea said, thinking. "Anyway. Maybe we should go keep studying that weird crystal... maybe that's the reason the Carneline was acting weird, and I have this unusual fever." Kat suggested, getting up fully now. "I know I should probably rest, but..." Joe got up. "It doesn't seem like we are gonna convince you, so alright." he said. The three of them walked out of the medical facility and to the crystal caverns. It took a little time to find the right crystal again, but finally after a few minutes they found it.

But something wasn't right.

Kat could feel it.

All three of them sat down and thought for a little while. The crystal didn't have any visions, which was weird. But Kat noticed something. It wasn't just the inside of the crystal- it was the entire crystal... it seemed as though... it was... glitching? Joe widened his eyes as he noticed this, as  well. "Woah." He said, standing up. Chelsea then noticed it too. "Well, THAT sure is new."

The crystal stopped glitching. "What was that?!?" Kat said, staring at the blank crystal. "'Aight, we need to go see the crystal samples we have- C'mon, lets go." Chelsea said, already walking off to the lab. Joe and Kat followed her.

They were as confused as Kat was. The crystal samples were... gone. "W-Where did they go!??!" Chelsea yelped, frantically looking around for them. "The way the crystal was glitching back there... maybe they disappeared because of that?" Joe suggested, sitting down. "Well, obviously Joe!" Chelsea said, obviously panicked.

 "THAT WAS OUR ONLY OPTION TO MAKING THE CURE!" Chelsea said.