The Doctor's Monster

The Machine

His quills rise.
He feels something strange.
Not burning.
No.
Warmth.
Eyes open.
He's not in danger, that much he knows.
The world is bathed in a warm glow.
He stands.
Clumps of snow stick to him.
They fall as he moves.
He doesn't need the quills to see this time.
His vision doesn't need to blur to see in the dark.
No thermals.
He doesn't need any of it.
He's seeing morning for the first time.
Today is his first time seeing the sun.
The sunrise captivates him.
Snow crunches beneath his feet.
It's beautiful.
Clouds form layers beneath the bright halo in the sky.
A light blue haze lies behind all of it.
Light.
He closes his eyes and sits down.
His dark blue skin absorbs the sun, the warmth.
It's a feeling he's never experienced before.
Safe.
Warm.
Loved.
He thinks to himself that Keepers was wrong.
He said there was no place for him in the world.
That the world would never accept him.
But he doesn't need the world.
He just wants this.
To bask in the warm glow of the early morning sun.
His quills rise.
Instantly he snaps around.
Bruce flinches, nearly dropping the bucket in his hands.
"Woah."
He says cautiously.
Samson visibly relaxes his muscles.
Bruce cautiously walks forward.
"I brought you some food."
He says.
Samson smells it immediately.
He's tuned his senses to detect threats and unusual smells that might try to bring harm to the Ayla family.
He didn't even notice how hungry he was until Bruce approached him with a promise of food.
Samson's body is able to heal itself from nearly any injury.
Taking a shot point blank range to the head from the cannon of a tank for example, his body can take it.
However after a large scale battle and sustaining damage as great as that, his body will need nutrients and proteins to recover from healing heavy damage.
Immediately, he begins feeding.
"I didn't know what they fed you."
Ayla says.
"I got you beef, pork, and some chicken."
He gestures to the various buckets he's laid out.
Within seconds all of the meat is gone.
Bruce stands there stunned.
"That was 200$."
He mutters.
Samson sits and looks at him with a satisfied smile.
His attention swiftly turns to the child watching him from a distance.
Realizing he's been spotted, Alan sheepishly approaches the pair.
The boy reaches out a tiny hand.
"Did you name him."
He asks.
"Samson."
Bruce smiles.
"Your mother chose it."
Samson sits in front of the boy, observing his hand.
"Hi Samson."
He says.
The creature lifts his own hand, and extends it towards the boy palm up.
Alan looks at the beast's massive paw.
It's almost human like.
4 fingers.
Even a thumb.
He reaches out, and for the first time, touches the animal.
His hand is tiny compared the the hand of the giant.
His palm is smooth like leather, and the back is course and callus.
He feels scars, small scales on the back of its hand, possibly from past battles.
Thick Scutes cover its knuckles and run down the back of its hand where they meet on its forearm running all the way to his elbow.
Samson coos lightly.
Alan looks up at him and smiles.
Bruce watches the two of them.
He never thought he would see this.
But there it is, right before his eyes.
Something scares him.
His quills shoot up.
Alan quickly retreats his hand in fear of the creature.
It grabs Alan and its tail shifts into a shield as he covers the kid with his body.
A hail of gunfire emerges from the trees.
He feels every piercing impact like hot nails slamming into his flesh.
The burst only lasts 3 seconds.
Bruce pulls his pistol from under his shirt and searches the trees for the source of the assault.
Samson pushes Alan behind him and stands.
There's the sound of jets firing off.
Leaves move with the wind, lifted from the snowy ground.
Branches snap and leaves fall as something smashes through the canopy above.
A body.
Samson stares intently as it lands.
The ground shakes.
It lands 30 feet in front of them.
There's a mechanical wirr as it moves.
It's face is blank and emotionless, save for two holes that make up its eyes.
"Alan go inside."
Bruce commands.
The boy doesn't protest.
Bruce lifts his pistol.
"Who are you?"
He demands.
It just stares right at Samson.
Samson stares back, his thick tail swings behind him in anticipation.
The machine stands at 10 feet.
It's here for a fight, they all know it.
Samson's fighting style has always been reactionary.
Never calculated.
He never needed to be.
His opponents were always easy for him to defeat.
With no warning the rockets on its back fire off, boosting it forward.
Samson roars as he charges forward to meet it.
It's metal fist draws back as it nears him.
They collide.
There's a sickening crack.
The sound of metal and bone crashing together.
The impact of a steel fist slamming into the side of his head sends him staggering back, stunned.
The Machine is relentless.
Another punch to the ribs has Samson reeling back.
It follows with another punch, this time to the lower jaw.
It moves impossibly fast.
Its fourth blow lands square in his chest.
He stumbles back farther.
It boosts forward once more, closing distance between them fast.
A metal fist slams into his head once more, this time knocking him to the ground.
Bruce, Grace, and Alan are stunned.
The machine stands over Samson.
It's foot slams into his stomach, flipping him onto his back.
Samson waists no time getting back up.
He rolls onto his stomach just as a big metal fist sends dirt flying everywhere.
His tail slams into its metal head.
Keepers watches.
The machine stands as Samson puts distance between himself and his new enemy.
"Show him what we got."
Keepers says.
It lifts one leg and slams it on the ground in a threat display.
The speakers on its neck blare loudly.
The sound is like heavy bass being played but with no rhythm.
Bruce covers his ears.
Samson falls to his knees, his quills shake violently.
The sound to him is blinding in a way.
He can't sense what's around him, his senses are now strictly limited to his eyes and nose.
The machine takes a step forward still playing that awful sound.
The forearm on its left side folds back, revealing a weapon hidden within its arm.
It raises the weapon.
Samson fights through the burning pain in his head.
It's as if the sound is piercing his brain.
It's sharp and unrelenting.
He gets back up and charges.
The hard light cannon fires off.
A beam of golden light goes right into his eyes.
They burn.
It's like staring directly at the light of a thousand suns.
Like getting water sprayed directly into your eyes at high power.
He falls to his knees in front of the machine, clutching his head.
The machine draws back a fist.
The thunderous impact knocks him to the ground once more.
The sound is relentless, still blasting and loudly disorienting him.
"Good."
Keepers smirks, looking at the tail.
The limb, made of the rarest material on the planet.
Metal fingers grip the half organic limb.
A bullet rips through the air.
Another gunshot.
Bullets bounce off the machines head.
Keepers growls.
"I knew he would be a problem. Stupid fool why didn't you get your family and run?"
Keepers says angrily.
"Grab him while you have the monster on the ground."
The machine turns to Ayla.
"Grace Run!"
He shouts at the top of his lungs.
He tries to run but by the time he's turned it's already upon him.
A metal hand wraps around his chest and lifts him into the air.
With no hesitation it turns.
It's other arm is turned to their vehicle.
The hard light cannon is fired.
Grace's car explodes into flames.
She ducks, shielding Alan from the blast with her body.
Bruce lifts his gun and unloads his magazine into the back of its head.
The bullets fail to pierce its armor.
The machine turns back to him.
"I'm giving you a chance, Captain Ayla."
Keepers voice comes through the speaker.
"Surrender your loyalty to me, and you and your family may live. Alan can live a normal life. Grace gets a new car. And you have a job."
Bruce looks at his family.
His wife stares back at him.
She shakes her head.
Unbeknownst to any of them, Samson rises.
His quills emerge from his back once more, regrown.
His eyes open, now fully healed.
He shakes his head, trying to rid himself of the dizziness.
Bruce's eyes drift just beyond the machines gaze.
Keepers catches on immediately.
"Think about it."
He says simply.
It's fingers crush him, dislocating several joints and cracking 2 ribs.
He's dropped to the ground.
The machine turns just as Samson lunges into the air towards it.
"Round 2 it is."