Orcille had arrived in the Capital Region. It took a little longer than expected. He got off the train at the first stop. He then switched to the agriculture line. Orcille was concerned that Pardi would send his staff to search the trains. The agriculture line trains were considerably slower, held fewer passengers, and avoided the large regions.
Once in the Capital Region, Orcille went looking for a Carvaress employee he could impersonate. Anyone who lived alone would do. It did not take him long to find someone. He followed several young scientists to a juice bar. Orcille shapeshifted into an attractive female Sapien. He decided to become friendly with the scientists.
A scientist named Daily was drawn to Orcille. He was single and lived alone. Orcille managed to get himself invited to Daily’s apartment. Once inside Daily’s apartment, Orcille bashed Daily over the head. This knocked him unconscious. Orcille tied him up, gagged him, and placed him in the bathroom. Orcille felt tired, so he slept in Daily’s bed. He found the bed very comfortable compared to what he had slept on at the facility.
The next morning. Daily was awake. He was banging around in the bathroom, attempting to free himself. Orcille shapeshifted back into the attractive female and went into the bathroom to talk to him.
‘Listen, I don’t intend on harming you,’ said Orcille. ‘You just need to cooperate with me.’
Daily continued to struggle as his face became redder.
Orcille left the bathroom. He returned about ten minutes later, holding a plate with a waffle and a knob of ice cream on it.
‘I have something for you,’ said Orcille. ‘It’s my way of apologising.’
Orcille pulled the gag down so Daily could speak.
‘Who the hell are you?’ insisted Daily in a raised voice.
‘I told you last night. My name is Yassmeay,’ replied Orcille.
Orcille grabbed the spoon and dug into the waffle and ice cream. ‘Open up,’ said Orcille.
Daily opened his mouth. A few minutes later, he had eaten all the food on the plate.
‘Is this like some kind of kinky game?’ asked Daily.
Orcille pulled the gag back over his mouth and left the bathroom.
Orcille shapeshifted into Daily and put on his clothes. He headed over to the Carvaress laboratory. Orcille needed to find a way to stop Pardi’s project of replacing Sapiens with Linap. He knew this task would be extremely difficult given the security and secrecy of this project.
Orcille knew that Pardi would also have the support of most of the Linap in the Business Sector. He needed to do more than just expose his project. He needed to end it somehow. At this stage, he did not have a plan but was hoping he could be inspired by the information he found at the laboratory.
Orcille had no problems accessing the laboratory using Daily’s identity. He was pleased to find out that he could access most of the floors in the building; this would make his search a little easier. Orcille decided he would first visit the computer terminal to see which folders and files he could access with Daily’s security clearance. It appeared that most folders could be accessed without additional passwords. There was no information on the computer regarding access to basement levels. It was as if they did not exist. Orcille remembered that the lift to the basement was in a secret room. Pardi used both retinal and fingerprint scans to access the lift. Orcille would not be able to replicate either of these.
Orcille decided to search for information about Arville. Orcille could still remember his test subject number. Daily had sufficient clearance to access information about this subject as well as the tests that were performed on him. To Orcille’s surprise, Arville was still alive. It seemed like Pardi was doing everything he could to keep him alive so that he could continue torturing him. Many of the tests linked back to the same test subject.
Orcille searched for the test subject’s number. He did not have access to these folders. They were protected by a password.
Orcille thought for a few moments. This test subject was probably one of the reptile-like creatures. He thought the password could be linked to a legendary creature he had heard about. Orcille typed the word ‘Sentray.’ It was incorrect. Orcille typed the word ‘Sentray4.’ It was correct. The folder opened. There were dozens of folders that contained dozens of files.
Orcille skimmed through the headings. In one of the folders, there were several videos. Orcille played a few of them. They showed the creatures being dissected. In many of the videos, the creatures were not even sedated. In these videos, the creatures screamed in agony as parts of them were removed.
Listening to the creatures' screams gave Orcille an idea. Their screams were high-pitched. Some parts of the scream may have reached beyond the frequency that Linap or Sapiens could hear. He took out his phone and recorded the screams of the creatures.
Orcille wondered if any research had been done on the hearing of these creatures. He searched the folders for information. He discovered that several tests had been conducted. The tests revealed that the creatures were able to hear higher frequencies than both Linap and Sapiens.
Orcille believed he could isolate the parts of the scream at a frequency that only this creature could hear. He also considered altering the entire scream to this higher frequency. This would enable him to use this scream as a way of calling these creatures. He believed many of these creatures could be very close to the southern coastline. He believed they would be searching for their missing babies.
Another scientist called over to Orcille. ‘Hey, Daily, we need you on the fifth floor. A new test subject has just arrived.’
Orcille quickly closed the folders. He needed to continue with his job, as Daily would have done. Orcille worked until the end of the day. He had little opportunity to explore any further as he was given plenty of other tasks to do.
On the way back to the apartment, Orcille picked up a takeaway for himself and Daily. Orcille put the food on a plate. He shapeshifted back into the attractive female and entered the bathroom to give the food to Daily.
Daily was crying in the shower cubicle. Orcille pulled the gag down. ‘Here’s dinner,’ he told Daily.
‘Please let me eat in the other room,’ sobbed Daily.
‘Promise not to try anything funny,’ said Orcille.
‘I swear, I won’t,’ replied Daily as he quivered.
Orcille grabbed Daily by the arm and dragged him into the dining room. He untied his arms so that he could eat his food.
‘This is really good. Thank you,’ said Daily. Both Daily and Orcille ate the food in silence.
After they had finished, Daily looked across at Orcille. ‘Why are you doing this to me?’ he asked.
‘Just thought I would teach you a lesson,’ said Orcille.
‘Did I do something wrong?’ asked Daily.
‘No, just foolish,’ said Orcille firmly. ‘You don’t know me, but you feel comfortable inviting me back to your apartment.’
‘You seemed nice,’ said Daily.
‘That’s the whole point, isn’t it?’ Orcille said in frustration. ‘Being nasty isn’t going to get me into your home. Predators don’t work that way.’
Orcille took the plates and cutlery over to the sink. He opened the freezer door. ‘You have chocolate ice cream,’ said Orcille. Orcille put three scoops in a bowl for Daily and used the tub for himself. They went over to the sofa.
Orcille turned on the television. Lily’s arrest was the main headline.
‘She got arrested for being a conspiracy nut,’ said Daily, chuckling a little.
‘Shut up and eat your ice cream,’ said Orcille angrily.
Orcille was deeply concerned with the accusations.
Next up was the Adoy and Jeed tragedy. It was an extended special report. Both Orcille and Daily were silent as they watched the special. Tears began to trickle down Orcille’s face.
After the special report, Daily reached to put his hand on Orcille’s shoulder.
Orcille promptly interrupted him. ‘Touch me, and I’ll do something unimaginably horrible to you,’ said Orcille harshly.
Daily quickly backed off.
Orcille flipped through the main stories from the past few months. He had a lot to catch up on, as he received no news or information while in the prison cell. Orcille’s anger towards Pardi and the leadership in the Capital Region grew as he scrolled through all the events that he knew they were behind or had influenced.
After several hours of reading, Orcille felt confident that he knew what was going on. He looked over to Daily. He had fallen asleep. Orcille picked him up and carried him to the bedroom. He gently placed him on his bed. He pulled the covers over him. He then tied both his hands to the headboard.
‘I’m sorry. I promise I will look out for you,’ said Orcille softly.
Orcille left the bedroom. He curled up on the sofa to go to sleep.
