FOUR: and a city of lights

19

Two entire months later...

Raxen was monitoring his many cameras, which were fixated all over his facility. From his central hub he was able to see some of the area that surrounded the bunker topside. But more importantly, he was able to monitor what went on inside his bunkers and the multiple floors it had inside it. He was currently fixated on one of his creations, that had mistakenly escaped years ago. As his evil gaze fell over the girl in her room, he found himself longing for better creations.

"Sir, everything alright?" Axel appeared from the room beside the central hub, and peered over the man's shoulder. "How's her progress with the new treatment coming?" He turned to look at Raxen, who was still fixated on Stardust.

Rax shook his head. "She's not responding to the treatment whatsoever. I don't think it's any use." He sighed, and pulled his glasses from his eyes, cleaning them.

"What were you trying to do with her? Perhaps I can help." Axel suggested, more concerned as to just what the fuck he was trying to do the girl in the first place.

"It doesn't work like that Axel. Some bodies just aren't capable of transforming. Thus unfortunately caving in on themselves. It's going to be a bit of a painful end I'm afraid." Raxen watched the large monitor, that was showing Star throwing up in the room sink that she was confined to. She had horrible bumps over her body, as well as boils and various injuries over her thighs and legs. She was in nothing but a tank top and underwear, so that they were able to see her rather clearly. "Such a waste, tsk." Rax muttered.

Axel swallowed, and attempted to remain calm. "And how about your other subjects? Any news? I'm sure this one is just a simple fluke." The red-haired lad knew that there was nothing he could do to save Star, but perhaps he could intervene with the rest. Or at least attempt to. "How's the Cowboy? I thought he was making progress, yes?"

Raxen ran his fingers beneath his chin thoughtfully. "Well yes, I do suppose so. He's very strong now. Though I haven't really messed with his actual DNA, I have simply just cloned and adjusted the clone's strands. I didn't really see the need for working on a human. His copy however, is showing some rather... interesting results. It might be the first creation to fully mature in the coming weeks..."

Axel hid the fact he was nervous, and smirked. "I see. You're making so much progress so quickly. I admire a man with a taste for hard work." He looked over the screens, and found the rest of their familiar faces, the feeling behind his gaze a rather dark one. He sighed a bit solemnly, then turned to Raxen.  "Would it be okay if I were to let Siax out now? He really doesn't like small spaces... and he's been in there for a whole two days now..."

The blond looked at the red-head and gave a slight nod. "Sure thing. Just do well to keep him in line next time. I don't like him screwing with my projects Axel. Your boy needs to learn to keep that nose and tail of his out of my office."

Siax had been locked away in a cell the furthest beneath the ground with other victims who defied Raxen. Or if some of the creations he made, weren't able to be controlled, they were also locked away. It was a rare occurrence, but Rax was really just punishing Siax here for having misbehaved. Star had shown signs of illness, and he had attempted to change her dosage in hopes she'd get better, against Raxen's wishes. And thus he was locked away for a little over 48 hours now. Raxen just felt like tormenting the poor boy, who had rather serious claustrophobia. And with the cell room being dark, small, and without any sort of kindnesses to it, Siax was surely not having a pleasant time down there.

"And Axel..." Raxen paused from their conversation, adjusting his glasses and looking into the man's reddish eyes. "When you're done, I would like a full report on our new war beast."

The other male grabbed a clipboard, and simply nodded. "Not a problem, I'll get it done." He quickly headed for one of the elevators, desperate to free his mate from the dark confines of an actual Hell.

"Siax?" Axel called out, flicking a light on in one of the white rooms. He had just brought his lover back from the disgusting pits of darkness that Raxen had put him in, Siax out cold on the floor when he'd been found. Axel immediately put him into one of the hospital beds, and began to check for injuries or any signs of severe distress. "Siax, wake up!" He demanded, then remembering that Siax probably had also gone without his medication for the whole duration of his stay down in the basement level of the facility. "Shit."

Axel immediately fumbled around in the drawers of the room, checking everything for medications that could be given for his condition. He didn't think Raxen would have gone that far, but thinking about it right then, he blamed himself for not sneaking Siax out of confinement. When he found the medication he rushed over to his boyfriend, jabbing him hard in the chest with it, pushing the whole amount deep down into his heart where it was required.

Siax did wake up, however he was rather sickly. He would not be returning to work any time soon, and Axel really needed to find a way to keep Raxen away from him for a while. He scrambled his brain for ideas, also worried that his new possibly allies, were in danger of the same accord. Already Star had been crossed from their invisible list, already considered dead despite the fact she still lived, hanging by a very short thread of life.

Raxen had watched Axel and Siax for a while, but grew bored with them as he tended to. They were once interesting subjects, but he now had something greater. Saving Jhin and Angel's observations for last, he turned his current gaze to the screen that had Umbra on it.

"My, my, what have we here?" The scientist wondered. He peered closer to the screen, his findings rather morbid now.

Umbra had been forced into a strict containment cage. Nothing in nor out, as the creature had become a hazard to himself as much as he had others. His current state was a demented one, the strange wolfboy currently chewing on his own left arm as he sat there in a corner against the wall. He had began to pick at his skin for the last week straight, eventually starting to consume his own flesh after the strange new medications had been given to him. Raxen was attempting to reverse whatever he had done to that one's mind, but it was beginning to look like a slow fix, if there even was such a way. The creature was suffering from some kind of strange lack of sleep, a side effect of what was administered by the scientist to see how he'd react to it. Hoping to make the boy stronger, he had actually given the lad something that kept him awake 24/7, to the point his mind slipped from realty and vanished altogether.

"Uh, sir, this is starting to look like the old world Sleep Project. I think it's time to sedate and flush his system. He's actually eating his own flesh, this needs to be stopped if we're going to test him against the other projects in waiting." One of the men said, approaching Raxen for his daily reports. "D-4 supplies have returned as well, by the way." He added, presenting his clipboard with a list of things they had received. 

Raxen rubbed his eyes, somewhat frustrated. "Good update, I'll have to check more into it later. Just have them put things away and go from there. Also we're going to need to gas that room to knock Umbra out. I fear his mind is too lost for ordinary sedation. It would be a risk to ourselves if we attempted to go into his cubicle."

"Right sir, I'll send for one of the teams to come down and get it done for you."

"Appreciate it." The man seemed satisfied with report, and turned back to watching his captives. There were still two left he hadn't laid eyes on. The two that were different from the rest.