"Let us inside, Elliot! Now!" Tober yelled.

The blonde-headed senior was red-faced and rough, as he pounded on the bulwark door to the Pathology Department. Without waiting for an answer, he threw another fist into the metal barrier. Huffing and puffing, he flexed his arms and heaved his chest. Perspiration sprayed off his face and hair, staining his torn and grungy clothes. For Tober, there wasn't any more time. He'd already warned Elliot that the animals were too dangerous, too barbaric to deal with. He already knew there would never be peace. Elliot just wouldn't listen. And now Tober's patience had worn-thin, like the layer of skin over the explosive in his chest. His life was on the clock.

Behind the senior, a crowd of younger students foreign to the Pathology lab had followed. They were wary of its reputation as a dark and creepy dungeon, where only weirdos took study tracts. The students stood, staring; all of them wide-eyed and fresh-faced, and to whom Tober had promised the capture of a monster amongst them. The mixed group watched, half-anticipating a straight-off gaff and glom, but also half-hoping the flying creature might display his razor sharp wings. Most of them hadn't seen the fight against the giant copper snake, but those that had had only spurred on further excitement and interest. They pressed their fragile bodies forward.

Meanwhile, Tober stirred in his stance, his muscles twitching, his punching hand hammering the door with a buoyed conviction.

"We all know you're hiding him, Elliot! You can't protect him!"

Tober glared at the security scanner above, its red lasers flashing over his face and skin. He clobbered the door once more, red-faced at his overt rejection.

"You can't hide, Elliot!"

At once, the outer door to the lab slid open, revealing a second barrier, clear and transparent. Behind it, Elliot stood in plain view.

"What are you doing here, Tober? What do you want?"

"You know damn well what I want! Hand him over! Hand over the monster!"

Elliot's eyes darted over to the many faces of the crowd.

"Under whose authority?"

"We're here on behalf of the entire science community, you gimnot!"

"Then why are there only junior students here with you?"

"Don't get technical with me, Elliot!"

"Look, Everyone, everything's under control," Elliot called out over Tober's head. "I've already talked with Dr. Tomas, Dr. Stone and the other faculty. We've all agreed to hold Alessandro in the lab until further notice. Aless is fully cooperating with the plan."

"Plan! What plan? That freak endangers all of us! We've got to get rid of him! Now!" Tober punched the clear door with his fist.

Elliot had seen Tober angry on several occasions before, but this was by far the worst state in which he had ever seen him. His face had small scattered scratches, with bruising and swelling at his right eye and cheek. His lower lip was fat and bloodied.

"Alessandro is not a monster, everyone," Elliot said to the angry group. "Go back to your sections."

"That's not true, Elliot!" a person in the back of the crowd yelled. "You saw what he's capable of! What if he attacks one of us instead? What if he cuts off someone's head?"

"If he were dangerous, he'd have killed me a long time ago," Elliot reassured. "I've spent the most time with him since he's arrived. He's not going to hurt any one of us."

"Come on, Elliot!" Tober pressed. "You can't know that! What if he threatens your girlfriend? You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"

Elliot ignored the shifty remark. "Everyone, go back to your duties! Finish your evacuation preparation!"

"You can't do this, Elliot!" Tober yelled. "You've lost your mind over this whole thing!"

"No, I haven't," Elliot responded. "If anything, things have become a lot more clear for me lately."

None of the crowd dispersed. They rumbled in the background, shooting looks at one another and talking amongst themselves.

"Can't you see?" Elliot addressed the gathered crowd. "Alessandro is no different from the animals we treat every day. We cannot continue to fight and kill out of fear. Otherwise, we'll never find peace with God's creatures!"

"What the -- ? You are friggin' brainwashed!" exclaimed Tober. He turned to face the junior students. "Don't you understand? The mongrels are looking for that monster! They will kill every one of us looking for him!"

Elliot froze.

The murmuring quieted.

"How do you know the mongrels are looking for Aless, Tobie?" He moved closer to the barrier. "Tobie?"

Tober breathed hard, the bruising at his red face more prominent now. He choked out an emotional gasp.

"That's it, isn't it? Something's happened! What's happened, Tobie?"

Tober began to sob, both hands grasping at the smooth glass door. He purposely banged his head against the pane and hung his head.

"Tober, tell me what's going on!"

Tober looked up, grimmed face and with tears running down his cheeks. Without saying anything, he ripped his shirt wide open.

Gasps came from the crowd.

What is that?

Elliot stared at a rectangular device beneath Tober's skin. Dried blood and coarse black stitching bordered a strange implant; evidence that the foreign piece was placed without care or precision. Separate green and orange lights could be seen illuminating through his skin.

Elliot looked at Tober's face, only for Tober to stare back with wet eyes. Nothing more needed to be said. Elliot knew the device hadn't been placed agreeingly.

The junior students in the back began to murmur when Elliot cut them off with a couple of strong waves of his arm.

"Kaulo," Elliot spoke, calling out one of the junior students present. "Take the other students to Section 6... now."

'Section 6' referred to the bomb shelters several levels below.

"Also, have Dr. Wilem come to the department right away."

"Yes, Sir!" Kaulo responded. He corralled the students out of the department until only Elliot and Tober remained.

"Don't worry Tobie, we're getting help."

Elliot glanced at the glass door between them, and touched the clear confines.

Brrrmmmm-mmmm... boom, boom...

In the background, a low rumbling occurred, accompanied by a couple of explosions, muffled in nature.

Tober shook his head. "It's too late, Elliot. I can't be helped," he said. He leaned sideways against the clear door and sank to his knees.

Beyoo! — — Beyoo! — —

A first level alarm began to sound off.

Mouthing the question as silently as possible and pointing to the recorder, Elliot asked, "What is that?"

Ba-thhooommm! Boooommmm!

A couple of bombs outside the Center detonated, startling a jumpy Tober, as if to answer Elliot's question.

Beyoo! — — Beyoo! — —

"It's a recorder, set to an explosive," Tober said.

"What are you--?"

"It's the mongrels, Elliot. They're coming. They're coming for Aless! They're going to kill everyone!"

Elliot's eyes bugged out. He took a step backward.

Boooommmm! Boooommmm!

"It's too late! The mongrels are listening! They know everything!"

Elliot looked about the lab, then back at Tober. "We've got to remove it, Tobie!"

Beyoo! — — Beyoo! — — Beyoo!!

The alarms moved to a higher level warning.

Was the explosive on a timer? Elliot's mind raced. Set off by remote? Could an electronic signal pass through the depths of rock?

"Elliot!" Tober called out. "You cannot make peace with the animals! You hear me? It's not possible!"

Elliot ran off to a storage room -- antiseptic, a scalpel, some sterile towels...

Meanwhile, back at the clear door, the recorder at Tober's chest now blinked a rapid red.

"Nooo-ooo!!!"

Tober hyperventilated and screamed. He tore at the stitches at his chest.

Boooommmm! Boooommmm!

The explosions above ground were occurring more loudly now, and Elliot peered at the shaking ceiling above.

Pfoooommm-mmmm!!!

A different-sounding explosion went off nearby.

No! Tobie! Elliot gasped.

He raced back to the entryway, only to find the clear door cracked. On the other side of the pane was a steamy, splattered view of blood and smoking tissue; the slumped over remains of Tober. The chest explosive had detonated, killing him instantly.

Boooommmm! Boooommmm!

The quarters trembled with more explosions. The alarms overhead changed to a higher, more urgent pitch.

Bwerrrr! — Bwerrrr! —

As ominous as it was specific, the higher level alarm demanded immediate action and attention from all Anderson personnel. Every underground level was to begin lockdown procedures. All available physicians and senior residents were to report to the main floor for further direction.

Bwerrrr! — Bwerrrr! —

Boooommmm! Boooommmm! Boooommmm! Boooommmm!

Elliot spun around in space, each alarm and explosion sounding more urgent than the last.

Elliot couldn't think straight. Was Tober correct? Were the mongrels coming for Alessandro? Was it the cause for the high level alarm? Elliot only knew that everyone's lives were in danger.