After lunch, Anton went back to work where he continued cleaning and drying beakers and tubes. He stayed away from Artur the whole time since he clearly demonstrated his dislike for Anton. So, naturally, when the workday was done, Anton waited patiently while Artur cleaned his equipment and left without looking at Anton. 

Sighing, Anton walked into the washing room and began cleaning. Halfway through cleaning and drying, he felt a presence behind him. He turned around to see Flaviu walking toward him.

"How was your first day, Anton?" Flaviu asked him while clamping a hand down on his shoulder. 

Anton smiled. "It was good."

"I hope no one gave you too much trouble."

Anton shrugged and looked toward the door. "Only one, but I can deal with it."

Flaviu studied him. "Don't do anything you might regret, all right? Artur just got promoted to working in experiments, so he has a big head right now. Don't pick a fight, understood?"

Anton nodded. "Yes, sir."

Flaviu nodded, satisfied, and left. Anton shrugged his shoulders and continued to scrub a beaker. Finally, when Anton was done scrubbing and all the equipment was in the dryer, he left the lab and headed down the hallway toward his room. Surprisingly, he only got lost once before he came to stand outside his door. He took out his key card and swiped it across the doorknob. Once unlocked, he opened the door and fell onto his bed. 

Looking back on the day, it wasn't that hard. It was just tiring. Boring.

Anton sat back up and walked into his bathroom to get ready for bed. When he had his sweats on and he was brushing his teeth, a knock came from the front door. Anton spit in the sink and walked over to the door, opening it up to see Flaviu standing there. Flaviu looked nervous with his hair messy, and he was winging his hands. His eyes darted back and forth as if he was watching for someone. 

"Mr. Arterberry," Anton exclaimed. "What a nice surprise. What do I owe the pleasure?" Anton opened up his door wider, motioning for Flaviu to come in.

Flaviu scurried into Anton's room and looked around for a moment frantically before turning toward Anton. "Something's happening, Anton." His eyes never met his. Instead, they were darting around, never settling. 

"Sir? What are you talking about?" Anton took out a chair from his desk and motioned for Flaviu to sit down. "What's going on?" he asked slowly. 

Flaviu shook his head quickly at the chair and started to pace back and forth across the room. "They want more, but I can't give them more. There's only so much you can do with an animal. They are going insane!" He reached up and started to pull at the ends of his hair. 

"Who are?" Anton gripped the back of the chair. 

"The Morphers," Flaviu spun toward Anton. "Get dressed, boy. I have something to show you." His eyes were wide. 

Anton saw the wild look in Flaviu's eyes and decided to just do as he was told. He walked over to his dresser, grabbed a pair of jeans and a black shirt, and walked into his bathroom to change. Once changed, he followed Flaviu out of the room and down the hallway. The hallways were pitch black making it hard to see. Anton began to have a strange feeling deep down in the pit of his stomach. He kept following Flaviu down the many corridors until they reached the doors to the lab. They then proceeded to go through the doors and into the back where the Morphers were kept. Once those doors were opened, a flood of animal noise came from the enclosure. 

Flaviu whirled at him. "Don't you see? They're going insane." He flung his arms out to the side. 

Anton looked around at the many Morphers banging their paws and fists against their cages while some were trying to tear through the ground. "Why? What's causing them to act like this?" 

Flaviu laughed manically. "Because the experiments have finally gotten to them. I used to be able to help them go through this cycle, but I have done all I could, and the lab has rejected me from ordering more of their medicine."

"Why are you showing me this?" He eyed Flaviu while looking around the cages. 

"Because, my dear boy," the smile on Flaviu's face turned cynical. "The lab needs more Morphers. Ones that were born in the wild. 

"I still don't understand what that has to do with me?" Anton took a small step back from Flaviu. He was getting the weird sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach again. "I'm just cleaning right now."

Flaviu rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You really don't get it, do you?" He took a step towards Anton. "You don't know a hint when it's being thrown into your fucking face. Anton, I need you to come with me to the jungle of Scoj Bren and bring back another Morpher."

Anton laughed nervously. "This is a joke, right? I thought you were against the Morphers being used as experiments? That you already learned as much as you can from them?"

Flaviu sighed as he took out a piece of paper from his back pocket. He waved it in front of Anton's face, "Money speaks powerful words, Anton. Money can tell you to do one thing while all you hear is telling you another and it will win every time." He stuffed the piece of paper back into his pocket and laid a hand on Anton's shoulder. "Come with me, Anton. I know this is what you wanted, and I assure you, it will be a safe journey. The other scientist and I have been doing this for years and we haven't had one incident." He paused, surveying Anton. When he didn't respond, he continued, "Think about it, all right? You have three days to think about it because I'm leaving in three weeks, and it takes a long time to prepare. I'll take you back to your room."

Flaviu took his hand off of Anton's shoulder and walked out of the enclosure and out of the lab, not even waiting to see if Anton followed him. Anton stood there for a moment, gawking at Flaviu, before scurrying after him. When they arrived at his door, Flaviu slowly turned to Anton. "Remember what I told you, son." He waved a finger in his face. "Think about it." With that, Flaviu left Anton staring at his door. 

Anton ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. He walked into his room and over to his bed where his sweats were still lying and changed into them. Once in his sweats, he laid down in his bed and stared up at the ceiling. 

What am I going to do? he thought to himself. 

Yes, Anton did want to be able to work with Flaviu, but not like this. He wanted to work with the Morphers, but not like this. He realized now that he needed more time to get used to the lab and how everyone and everything worked. He couldn't just go and hunt for Morpher's now, could he? He didn't know. 

He thought that Flaviu respected the Morphers and didn't want to do any more experiments on them. Yes, the Morphers were ruthless creatures, but that was what he had been told in school. Seeing them in those cages sitting in a ball in a corner, he could see now that they weren't really ruthless. They were just humans with the ability to turn into an animal of some kind. 

Anton rolled onto his side and stared at the book lying on his nightstand, The Characteristics of the Morpher Brain. He sat up and grabbed the book. He now felt like he doubted whatever was written in any of the books Flaviu Arterberry had written. Why would he agree to write and perform experiments on creatures that he claimed to respect?

Money speaks powerful words, Anton, he thought to himself as he rolled back onto his back. He still clutched the book in his hands. Money can tell you to do one thing while your heart is telling you another and it will win every time.

How could money change a person's mind? Why would it Money had never been a big deal for Anton and his family. They weren't rich, but they weren't poor either. They just got along with the money they had. 

He decided that he needed to talk to Flaviu first thing in the morning about it. He was confused about what side Flaviu was on. Was he on the side of the Morphers, or was he on the side of science? Sighing, he placed his book back on the nightstand. Anton closed his eyes and forced himself to stop thinking about Flaviu and tried to get some sleep. 

Anton fell asleep and dreamed of him and Flaviu walking through the jungles of Scoj Bren hunting the ruthless Morphers. Flaviu kept on repeating, "Money speaks powerful words, Anton. Money can tell you to do one thing while your heart is telling you another and it will win every time," over and over. 

Thank you all for reading!

Let me know what your thoughts on what Flaviu wants Anton to do? Is he really a good guy and cares for the Morpher's, or is he just doing it for the money? Let me know! :D