Paruru Festival

Chapter 2: The Experiment

Chapter 2: The Experiment

The whirring of the machine echoed through the spacious, dimly lit warehouse. Haruka stood in the telepod, her heart racing with a mix of excitement and trepidation. Jake was by the control panel, his eyes locked on the blinking lights and readouts. The air buzzed with anticipation as the telepods hummed to life.

"Ready?" Jake called out, a playful smile dancing on his lips.

Haruka gave him a nod, trying to mask the nervousness that crept up her spine. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Jake pressed a series of buttons, and the telepods emitted a low, mechanical hum. The door of the pod containing Haruka's stocking slowly closed. For a brief moment, the room was bathed in an eerie blue light, and the hum grew louder.

Then, silence. The lights on the control panel blinked off, and the doors of both telepods slid open.

Haruka hesitated, peering into her pod. To her surprise, the stocking was gone. Her eyes darted to the other pod, expecting to see it reappear. But the pod was empty.

"Where's my stocking?" she asked, stepping out and walking towards Jake.

Jake's playful demeanor faltered for a second, replaced by a look of confusion. "It should have worked. The stocking should be in the other pod."

Haruka raised an eyebrow. "Should?"

Jake scratched his head, looking puzzled. "Maybe the material... or maybe... wait, I need to try something else."

Without explaining further, Jake rushed to a nearby cage, where a baboon sat, eyeing them curiously. Haruka's heart skipped a beat.

"Jake, what are you doing?" she asked, a hint of alarm in her voice.

He opened the cage and carefully coaxed the baboon out. "I need to test it with a living organism. It might give me clues about what went wrong."

Haruka's eyes widened. "Are you serious? This is a living creature, Jake. What if something goes wrong?"

Jake, determined, led the baboon to the telepod. "Trust me, Haruka. I've run countless simulations. This should work."

The baboon, now inside the telepod, looked around curiously, unaware of what was about to happen. Jake closed the pod's door and hurried back to the control panel.

Haruka's anxiety was palpable. "Jake, I'm not sure about this..."

But Jake was already initiating the process. The familiar hum returned, and the blue light engulfed the room once more. Haruka held her breath, watching as the doors of the telepods began to slide open.

Her eyes widened in horror as the scene unfolded. Instead of the baboon emerging from the other pod, there was a twisted, grotesque figure. The baboon's body had been turned inside out, its organs exposed in a horrifying display.

Haruka screamed, stumbling backward, her eyes fixed on the abomination before her. Jake's face turned pale as he stared at his creation in shock.

"No... no, this wasn't supposed to happen," he muttered, his voice trembling.

The mangled creature let out a pitiful cry, a sound so haunting it echoed in Haruka's mind. Jake, snapping out of his stupor, rushed to the control panel, frantically trying to reverse the process. But it was too late. The damage was done.

Haruka backed away, her breath coming in short gasps. "Jake... what have you done?"

Jake, his hands shaking, collapsed onto a nearby chair. "I... I don't know. It was supposed to work..."

The room was filled with the sounds of the dying baboon, a symphony of pain that made Haruka's stomach churn. She turned away, unable to bear the sight any longer.

Jake buried his face in his hands, his voice breaking. "This wasn't supposed to happen. I just wanted to show you something amazing... something groundbreaking."

Haruka, still trembling, found her voice. "Jake... this is beyond anything I've ever seen. But... it's dangerous. You're dealing with forces you don't fully understand."

Jake looked up, his eyes filled with a mix of guilt and determination. "You're right. But I can't stop now. I need to figure out what went wrong. I need to make this work."

Haruka hesitated, her fear slowly giving way to a strange fascination. Despite the horror she had just witnessed, there was a part of her that couldn't walk away. She was a journalist, after all, always chasing the next big story. And this... this was bigger than anything she had ever encountered.

Taking a deep breath, she walked back towards Jake. "If you're going to continue... then you need to be more careful. We can't afford another mistake like this."

Jake nodded, his expression solemn. "I'll be careful. I promise."

But as Haruka looked at the lifeless, twisted form of the baboon, a shiver ran down her spine. She knew that whatever Jake was tampering with, it was something far more dangerous than either of them had anticipated. And they were only just beginning to scratch the surface of its terrifying potential.

to be continued...