Shadow: Awakening

Shadow: My First Promise

      "Well, now that he's gone, who wants to have a little fun with Gerald's newest freak?" comments a blonde scientist, a smirk plain upon his face. Did he just say fun? What does he mean? I have a bad feeling about this...

      "Haha! Good one Perkins! I'll go get the cat toys! Hahaha!" Cat toys? Whatever for?

      "Honestly, you two are SO immature. Leave the poor thing alone!" shot back a female scientist, glaring at the two guys mocking me. Poor thing? I'm perfectly capable of defending myself, you know! She continued, "Besides, you know as well as the rest of us that Shadow's intelligent and probably watching us just as we're watching him! Suppose Gerald finds out you two were messing around with his life's work? I doubt you would live to see tomorrow! Gerald has always been a little on the crazy side, and I can all but guarantee he would send you into deep space without a second glance if you threatened Maria's only hope of survival! If you think he's edgy now, just imagine how he would react if Maria died! The poor girl has had enough hardship in her young life, and she doesn't deserve any complications now, not when her life could end at any moment!" Any moment?! I don't know who "Maria" is, but I sure hope I CAN help find the cure so that Gerald can save her life! The two male scientists who had been the target of her scolding both hung their heads in shame.

      "We're sorry," said the blonde scientist, looking towards the floor.

      "Yeah! We really are too!" pleaded the man dubbed "Perkins."

      I may have been scared of helping Gerald find a cure to a deadly disease before, I think, but now I am determined to help save Maria! Whoever she is... I know she doesn't deserve to die of a deadly disease; no one does! I start wondering how Gerald plans to use me to find a cure, but my thoughts are interrupted for the SECOND TIME today when Gerald comes back through the door.

      "Alright, now. Davies and Carson, you are going to help me transport Shadow to the quarantine area where Maria stays. Silvia, I want you to got to the engineering storage locker and program a medical care robot to perform blood collecting and analysing functions. When you have, bring the android down to Quarantine Entry Gate 2, then run it through the process of entering Maria's living quarters so that it may monitor Shadow's progress against the disease." Gerald paused, looking over at the slim-built scientist who had just picked up a pair of restraints. "For heaven's sake, Davies! You need energy shackles, not regular shackles! Do you WANT Shadow to discover an unfortunate power in the middle of the lab?! The whole point of his ankle and wrist rings are to keep his power level stable, but they don't prevent Chaos absorbance or release; that is why we use energy to block such occurrences until Shadow can be properly trained!" Gerald exclaimed, looking quite red-faced. Trained? Powers? What in the galaxy is he talking about? "Now, are you just going to stand there gawking like a dumbstruck child, or are you going to heed my advice and change shackles?" The black-haired scientist quickly headed back to the shelf and exchanged the restraints, his face burning all the while.

       Gerald took the cuffs and walked over towards me. Oh. No. He's not actually thinking of exposing me to this disease, is he...? I sigh, knowing what is about to happen, and if it's the only way I can help this poor girl Maria... I shall willingly subject myself to this disease if it means saving her life, and that's a promise!