The Great Green Apple

Ch1, The Man the Bear

It almost became a common practice to fiddle about and stir in chairs or anytime Erix sat down "keep still!" with a small nudge of the strange man's boot made Erix freeze. "Is the sack and the cuffs really necessary" Erix spoke through the sack he now wore over his head and face while he felt the bumps and movements of the vehicle. "Yes, now shut up!" Erix frowns, it doesn't matter the sounds around him alerts the man who takes in the chances of an approaching base. 

"I doubt we had met before, I'm Erix Calaway and you are?" Once again, he was nudged but by a different boot "keep your mouth shut" Erix frowns and looks up at the voice. "I'm going to guess we're heading to a... base of some sort" no one replies instead the vehicle stops and rustling could be heard. A pair of gray scent lines "Ghost, Soap climb in we'd catch you up" two men enters the back with Erix who turns his head and waves.

"Let me guess Makarovs little rat" Erix huffs and shuffles on his spot on the floor of the car "I like to say scientist but rat... can't you come up with something better Scottish man". "Don't pay attention to him, hand himself over early this morning alongside the evidence we need to bring Makarvo down for good" a chuckle came from the Scottish man. 
"This would be a walk in the park" Erix shook his head "not if you can't find the underground fighting rings" silence erupts the car. 

"Don't say you don't know what I'm talking about...you guys are stupid" Laswell groans and looks in the rearview mirror. "What are you talking about!" Erix points an index finger in the air "I don't feel a bag of pretzels so no answers until we arrive to the base". Erix is jabbed by a finger "What underground fighting rings!" another British accent surfaces. 

"Pretzels then I'll talk" Laswell hands two bags of pretzels from the front with one hand on the steering wheel. "Erix out of the bottom of my heart I'd give you two and you give us answers" the ginger ponders and nods "I'll take it". Struggling to open the bag with little huffs "Oh, fiddle sticks... give me my pretzels" Erix frowns "now I'm starting to believe I been scammed". Someone takes the packet and pops it opens "There Bobs your uncle now tells us about the underground fighting rings".
"I don't know a guy named Bob, now the fighting rings. Makarov has all sorts of fighting rings; man, fights man and animal fights animal... there is a catch" Erix hears grumbles. 

Erix munches on his pretzels while he frowns with the blind fold in his view of closed eyes "he is pumping them with drugs, that's the chemical in my bag" Erix gestures about. "Pumping them with drugs?" Erix nods and keeps munching his pretzels "yes, now sometimes he changes things up yeah. Animal against man or woman doesn't matter, if the person wins, they are awarded with the animals.... genetics and if the animal wins welp dinner for two".

"You got to be kidding me" Laswell mutters while Erix gestures to the roof "for example a hawk is paired with a person. Their animal traits are taken and injected into the very person like a vaccine". Low murmurs of disgust can be heard "the drugs are meant to stable the host and separate themselves from human instinct". Once again disgusted and gruff huffs are passed about "a hawks vision and many other things would be passed to the very host". 

"Makarov wants the rewiring of DNA to enter the gene pool and population of humans of...his choice of course" Laswell tries to wrap her head around this. "And you discovered this how?" Erix shook his head and dumped out left over crumbs from his first pack of pretzels. "I don't feel like for pretzels anymore and besides we are already here" silence and disrespectful comments are passed around.  

Erix is harshly tugged out of the vehicle and planted his feet on solid ground "take him to his quarters, we'd regroup and discuss our next move" pulled and shoved in all sorts of directions. Taking in a deep breath a hawk flying over view became Erix eyes, bonding oneself to another animal for mere surveillance is seen as 'pathetic' and 'troublesome'. 
Erix watch as he is dragged away deeper into a neighboring building, Laswell is accompanied by a man bearing a beard. Trucks, armed men and women, a tall well-built man who wears a mask of some sort and a male who choice of hair style is a mohawk.