Freeing Cymbal

This story was moved from my former penname Silver Wolf to RosettaMoon BTW


‘Freeing Cymbal’
By: Mandi P. Villejoin

Chapter 1
“Red alert! Red alert! All military personnel to your positions! Subject #2511920 has escaped and is on the loose! I repeat #2511920, code name Beast has escaped and is on the loose! All personnel to your posts immediately!”

A siren could be heard through out the building as the alert sounded. Red lights flashed in the hall ways as the forces rushed to their posts. The escapee ran through the hall still disoriented from his long imprisonment in a deep cryogenic sleep. His muscle just started to work them selves in his flight for freedom. Every thing around him was unfamiliar, the sounds and the lights were most daunting. Making his attempts for escape even more desperate. As he sprinted down the hallways all he could hear were the sirens and the rapid beat of his heart. A door was descending from the ceiling ready to cut off his only exit. But he wasn’t going to let that stop him.
He ran just under the door and pushed up on it with all his strength.
The metal door bent to his will and he made a break for it as the now twisted titanium door crashed to the tiling. He continued to run his breathing now becoming labored. He wasn’t use to running, to lifting or even breathing on his own. He wasn’t even used to being awake. He came to another hall way and one side was blocked off by a dozen men and women with blue military suits and huge guns. They opened fire and he instinctively dodged their shots and ran in the other direction. They pursued him down the next hall way, he could hear their screams and shouts behind him mingled with the alarm. Their words he couldn’t understand.

They soon had him trapped at the end of the dim hall way. He turned to face them all. They were yelling some thing at him he couldn’t understand. He was literally backed up against a wall, which when he pushed his back up against it turned completely around. He found him self suddenly in a different hall devoid of sirens and people in blue suits. In fact it was almost empty.
He didn’t waste time, he took off down the next hall way. He met two people in lab coats down this hall. A man and a woman. The man grabbed the woman and pulled her away from him. He glanced at them, but just ran by. The people in blue suits were soon on his tail once again. He could see a green sign over a glass door; this was his only way out. They started opening fire on him once more. A woman stuck her head out of one of the rooms, he remembered in that brief glance and he grabbed the women and held her in front of him. They ceased fire.
The woman in his arms was the only familiar thing, some how he knew her. He was sure he had never seen her before. Then as if his brain finally clicked on he could understand every thing they were saying and he could recognize this woman from profile. A young blond woman was speaking to him slowly.
“Just take it easy... And hand over Ms. Titan.” said the blond.
His brain kicked into gears once again.
He looked down at the woman and said, “Titan. Jolie Titan. Age twenty six. Race Caucasian, hair color brown, eye color green, height 5' 11'’ gender female weight...”
“Did you stick my profile in him!?” shouted Jolie half terrified and half indignant.
He looked at the other people around him and didn’t recognize any of them like he did her. His grip on her became tighter and he pulled her out side with him. He put her under his arm and held onto her. They were at the top and the edge of a twenty three story building and he got closer to the edge.
“Hey, what are you...don’t you dare! I swear if you jump!”
He jumped.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
Jolie screamed as loud as she could as they plunged from the sky down to the hard busy streets below. He pulled her on his back and he landed leaving two huge cracks in the cement where he landed on his bare feet.
“Put me down! Put me down!” she screamed.
He put her down. Then a car came right at them.
“Ah! Pick me up! Pick me up!” she jumped up into his arms and he turned around. The car hit him full force in the back, but he wasn’t thrown forward nor did he even wince or scream in pain. He ran out of the road and down a dark ally as people began to gather around the area. She was kicking and screaming in his arms so he put her down.
“Oh my god. My therapist told me I was crazy. That I was just afraid of men that this would never happen! Oh...my god.” She was backed up against the ally wall looking at him in fear. He stepped closer to her and she cowered and closed her eyes. He didn’t come any closer.
“What do you want? Who are you?” she whimpered.
He opened his mouth and looked into her eyes. He couldn’t seem to find the words on his tongue. She stood up and looked at him in the eyes.
“Your eyes.” she whispered.
You may think it odd that she would be attracted to his eyes right now, but they were quite a sight to behold. His eyes were two different colors swirled together. Lavender and turquoise. She took the rest of him in; he was tall, pale and muscular. His eyes were very fierce, but confused. His face was just as confused. His hair was black, very long and unkempt. He was maybe six foot six and almost towered over her even though she was kind of tall her self.
“This One doesn’t want for anything.” he finally spoke. His voice was deep and smooth, but he didn’t seem to grasp grammar. He was referring to him self in the second person.
Jolie looked at him harder, “Who are you?”
He replied, “This One is project number 2511920.”
“Project?” she looked down and thought for a second. No forget it she had to get help, this guy was dangerous. She had to get out of here. She looked up and slipped her hand into her pocket. It found her cell phone and she held the number two to call her work place.
“If you didn’t want any thing why did you drag me out here and jump off of a building?” she said.
He looked at the busy street, “This One does want some thing.”
She backed closer to the wall.
He looked back at her, “This One wants to be free.”

She looked at him bewildered. It didn’t take long for them to trace her call. A SWAT team arrived at the scene. He tried to make a run for it.
“Stop!”
He stopped, because Jolie told him to. He turned around and she had a gun pointed at him like the ones the people in blue suits had, but hers was smaller. He then noticed she too had a blue suit under her white lab coat. The SWAT team swarmed all over him and brought him to the police car. Once inside he began to struggled, but they did some thing to restrain him and then drove off.
Another two cars arrived at the scene. Out of one got out Lieutenant Kelly Carlino and out of the other came out Lieutenant Ruben Mendel. Lt. Kelly was the young blond. She was a very highly thought of person and was on her way for a promotion. She was for her job and nothing else. Lt. Kelly was smart, witty and was always on top of things. She was the leader almost of the entire floor. That’s why every one called her Boss when not being formal.
Lt. Ruben was Hispanic man around the same age as Kelly. And it was all too apparent how much he liked her. He followed her around like a faithful dog, but any time he would make a move he would fall over, drop some thing or hurt him self. That’s why they nick named him Klutz. Kelly walked over to Jolie and pulled her out of the ally.
“Lt. Titan are you alright?” said Kelly checking her over.
“I’m fine Kelly.” she ran her fingers through her hair.
Ruben sighed with relief, “Good the last thing we would need to file is a damages report.”
“Who was that? He was very strange and those eyes...” she said.
“That’s confidential info, not even I know what is going on. Only General Alva has a clue.” said Kelly.
Ruben sighed, “Which means we’ll never find out. Come on. I’ll give you a ride back to the office and then you can go home for the night.”
Jolie nodded and got into the passengers seat of Ruben’s car.
He chuckled, “I’m surprised you didn’t pull any of those Tai Quan Do moves on him.”
She looked at him incredulously, “He tucked me under his arm and jumped off of a twenty three story building, then he got hit by a car. Neither one of them hurt him. I doubt flipping him over my shoulder was an option.”
He laughed, “Who ever that guys is he must be made of steel.”
He started the car, and it lifted about a foot off of the ground. He placed his hand on the joy stick and drove the car forward. She looked at the digital clock on his dash. It was 8:12 PM.
It was way too early for her to go home when they got back. It didn’t take them long to get there, but that man ran with her a little farther than she thought. Once he parked he turned off the car and it rested on the ground again. Cars no longer ran on gas or oil, it was completely powered by helium. Scientists had found a way to compress it together so tightly that it would lift a car off of the ground and a small release of it would propel it forward or backward. It was created by an engineer named Seth Domingue in the year 2025. Jolie prided her self on her knowledge, which was one of the reasons why she was given the job as head of the research and development lab at VINA corp.
Both she and Ruben got out of the car and walked to the VINA corp. building. The large puce colored sign with the company logo shown like a beacon in the dark city. VINA corp. was a company founded by General Alva Dagon’s grandfather forty years ago in the year 2959. The purpose of VINA corp. was to create lethal and nonlethal traps and weapons for the military and the law enforcement agents. Now the year was 2999 and Gen. Alva has taken over the corporation.
“You’re spacing out again. Are you gonna go inside or what?” Ruben was waiting at the door. She came back to her senses and went in ahead of him.
“You always seem to have your head in the clouds, Chief. Half the time I don’t even know where you are.” said Ruben with a small smile.
They were walking side by side down the hall way back to the lab.
She replied, “To tell you the truth neither do I. I’m still caught on that man. He didn’t even know who he was and yet he already knew me like a book. You don’t think he came from the geneticist lab, do you?”
“Who knows? But don’t go digging around. Your not a part of that branch any more.” he warned her.
She remarked, “But what if they are doing things with my notes.”
“Please what could they do with your notes? They demoted you because you thought you could make a chimera, why would they try some thing with your theories when they were sure it wouldn’t work.”
She sighed, “I guess your right.”
She didn’t believe this of course. She used to be head of the genetic engineering lab, but after trying to create a chimera they fired her saying her theories were ludicrous and that maybe she wasn’t as intelligent as they thought. Aside from being mortally offended she was mad because she proved them wrong. After they fired her she to work in her own lab and actually created a chimera. Head and torso of a lion, hind quarters of a goat and tail of a snake. She was going to show him to the lab to prove them wrong, but she grew so attached to him she kept him and named him Phelix.
It would have gotten her job back, but she was too compassionate to let them take her baby. In all truth Jolie was the odd ball around the office. She got along with the other employees, but she only had two true friends. In fact she passed one on the way in.
“Are you alright girl? I heard some man dragged you off the side of the building with you on the top floor.” said the secretary.
“Yeah, surprisingly enough we both survived the fall.” Jolie replied.
The secretary was Tiffany Noel. She was fifteen years older than Jolie; she was a large, but energetic woman. And she was her best friend, almost like her soul sister. Tiffany had two children, Kevin who was eighteen and Briannie who was fifteen. Her and her family were all African American and now and day that was rare. Interracial relation ships had been so common that now almost every person was a sort of brown sugar color. Tiffany answered the phone at the desk and Ruben and Jolie walked back to the office.
“I guess your not going to heed my advice and go home are you?” he said.
She chuckled and replied, “When have I ever?”
“Good point.” he sighed, “If you need any thing...bother some one else.”
She chuckled again, “Will do.”

She walked through the rows of desks to get to her office. She passed by Lt. Tommy Seals desk. On the lieutenant floor they gave every one a nick name. Tommy’s was Over Load. He was on another bender again. He would work for days on end with out sleep or food until he snapped. He would disappear for two days and then he would show up again good as new and get to work again. They tried to get him to break this habit, but he never would. Tommy was another black man and aside from Jolie he was the master at technological weapons. Right now he was working on plans for a power core for their guns that would take years to burn out. Now that was impossible.
Tommy was around thirty eight, but he had aged a little beyond his years due to his working habit. She walked further down the hall and the door too Lt. Paul Young’s office was open. He waved to her through the door and she waved back. Paul was a huge 6' 10" black man. He was build like the Great Wall of China. In fact his nick name was Brick. Mostly he did paper work, but that was just a cover up for his real job which was using his brawn to take care of Military hindrances. He was the only person who could shoot Jolie’s recently invented Nitro Canon. It could level this entire building in one shot and he could hold onto it after the kick. But despite his size Brick was a very nice and friendly man, maybe in his early thirties.
She kept walking and looked to her left as she went. She could see into Lt. Lataura Zenon’s office. Lataura was a rather young black girl. She was twenty four and she had a very short fuse to go along with her height. She was maybe four foot nine. And when she came to work she always looked the same. She was a major tomboy and always came to work with braids in her hair. It made her look like a kid in a military suit. Right now she was lounged back in her seat turning her pencil in her hand. Jolie stuck her head through the door and said, “Get back to work!”
Lataura jumped and dropped her pencil. She looked at the door and took a deep breath.
“Shit, Jolie you scared the hell outta me!” said Lataura.
“Good that’s what I was trying to do.” Jolie chuckled.
Lataura replied, “Yeah, yeah. You stayin’ late again?”
“Have I ever gone home early?”
“I’ll take that as a no. You really gotta loosen up Chief.”
“So I’ve heard. Night Shorty.”
“Night Chief, and don’t call me Shorty.”

That was her nick name around the office though she hated it. Shorty was the master of war strategies, so her work was very small now that there was no war going on. Jolie walked on and passed by Lt. Hope Marino’s room. She sort of crept by so she wouldn’t see her. Hope was a thirty one year old white woman. She was of average size and had brown hair and eyes; she was however the biggest pain in the world. She was an optimist and even worse she was a perky one. That was her nick name Perk. But without her all of them would be like Tommy and explode every few days.
The next office on the left was for Lt. Tula Hiten. Tula was a book worm and file keeper for the VINA corp. mainframe. She wasn’t supposed to read them, but she had every file in her memory. Tula was the same age as Kelly, but she was Japanese. Tula had short black hair and blue eyes, surrounded by huge glasses. That’s why her nick name was Specks. She passed by it and she was at her office at the very end of the hall. But to the left of her door was the office of Lt. Zachary Masters. Nick name Choke.
Zach was a nice looking guy with short brown hair and green eyes. They all called him Choke because it was all too apparent that he had a thing for Jolie and every time he would try and make a move he would choke. Jolie was going to try and ask him out her self, but he eluded her when she went for him. She unlocked her office and went inside. Her office was a mess. Stacks upon stacks of papers and designs on the floor, on her desk and sticking out of her three filing cabinets.
She had received a big bonus not too long ago for a control collar meant for prisoners.
She sighed and sat down at her desk. She decided to put the strange man from her mind and get back to work. She took off her lab coat and folded it over the back of her chair. She wore the royal blue Military suit like every one else. She was made a part of this corporation when she was only sixteen and had managed to secure the head of R&D by the time she was nineteen. After picking up her pen and a part order form there was a knock on her door.
“Enter.”
The door opened and General Dygon walked in. Jolie stood up and saluted very surprised.
“General Dygon.”
“At ease.” she said.

Jolie lowered her hand. The general was the most decorated war vet in the US. She received the corporation by inheritance, but she earned her position. She had three purple hearts from the WWIIII, though she didn’t look at all like a war vet. She had long red hair, piercing green eyes and the body of a super model. She always flaunted it in her Military suit two sizes two small for her.
“I heard you were taken by an intruder earlier this evening.” said Dygon in a slightly worried tone.
“Yes ma’am.” replied Jolie, “He was a very strange man, ma’am.”
Dygon said, “Describe him for me.”
“He was over six feet, he had waist long black hair, lavender and turquoise eyes, he was muscular and had chisel features, ma’am.” she answered honestly.
“I see, any thing else about him you can tell me?”
“Yes, ma’am. He didn’t seem to know who he was; he was very fast and very durable. He grabbed me and jumped off of the top floor and we both lived. Then he got hit by and car, it was smashed, but he hadn’t received a scratch him self.”
“Yes, thank you Lt. Titan. If you wish to take the rest of the night you may of course go.”
“I request to stay General.”
“Suit your self. And Titan, don’t get into this one. It is none of your concern.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Jolie raised her hand and saluted. The general did the same and then left. Jolie sighed and sat back down. She didn’t even know why she was staying tonight when she could go home. Oh well tomorrow was her day off she might as well get her work done so she wouldn’t worry about it when she was supposed to relax.

* * *


She worked very late, all the while the man from before was still nagging at the back of her head. She finally left her office and locked it behind her. She walked past all of the offices, all of them dark and deserted, even Tommy’s. She passed by the rows of desks and check the clock on the wall. It was one in the morning. She sighed and walked down the hall rubbing her eyes and the crick in her neck. She passed by the “dead end” hall. They had all been told that they were going to build another lab there, but they never did. She was about walk by it when she did a double take.

The end of the hallway was ...ajar? Yes, it was. The wall had a crack in it where some light was coming from. Jolie looked around and she walked to the end of the hall. She put her hands against the wall and pushed it open. She looked in to see an entire new genetic engineering lab. There was a huge tank in the center of it all. But it was damaged. The glass of the tank was shattered and the suspending fluid was all over the floor. It was full of computers and shelves of DNA altering chemicals. She turned slowly and then look to her left. There was a huge iron door with a small barred window on it. It had a huge iron lock on the door and a code panel.
She walked over to the door and tried to peak in, but she wasn’t tall enough. She went to grab a chair from one of the desks, but stopped and picked up a pile of papers on the desk. These were all her notes on her chimera. She flipped through them and they had been altered. Not for the form of a chimera but for the form of a human. She looked up at the tank and the man came to her mind. She dropped the papers and ran back to the door. She took down her long brown hair and used her clip to break through the iron lock and then she entered a code she had found on the desk. It accepted and she pushed the door open.
It was very dark inside, she stepped in hearing her footsteps echo off of the wall and a small rustle and a chink of metal. She searched the walls for a light switch and she found one. She turned it on and dim fluorescent lights came from the floor. Just as she thought. The man from before was at the other end of the room. He was sitting on a wooden bench with huge chains on his wrists, ankles and a harness over his chest. All of the chains were attached to the wall. Plus he had a metal mask over his mouth and nose. The two cuffs on his wrists were attached to a metal bar slung on his shoulders.
She looked him over, his body had burns on it and he was dripping in sweat. She walked closer to him and he didn’t even look up. She went closer to him; she could hear his labored breathing under the mask. Drops of sweat and blood hit the floor from his face. This was it, their project. They had made a genetically engineered and altered human. But for what, how and why? He finally looked up at her and she flinched.
His voice was muffled, but she heard him say, “Jolie...”

She took a deep breath and swallowed. She reached forward with shaking hands and removed the metal mask. He took a deep breath of fresh air. She looked at his wearied and handsome face.
“Wh...Who are you?” she said quietly.
He closed his eyes and then opened them.
“This One is project number 2511920. Code name Beast.” he replied in a parched voice.
He looked back at the ground and closed his eyes. What ever reason he was made, she couldn’t leave him here. He was hurt and he was confused. Her compassionate side came back. She knelt down and used her clip like she had on the door and picked his shackle locks. The sane portion of her mind was screaming her for her to turn, run and never look back. But her consciences made her stay. His legs were free. She was going to do his hands next when she saw it. Around his neck, surrounded by burns was a collar. But not just any collar, the one she had made for prisoners. It was altered though. It was meant to give a prisoner a small shock during an escape and to keep him under control, but it wasn’t supposed to make burns. It wasn’t even supposed to hurt. This is what all of her work here had done. Created this man and led to his imprisonment and torture.
“Why were you created?” she asked him slowly.
He swallowed and looked up.
“This One knows not why he was created. This One woke only hours ago. This One ran, but was not supposed to run.” he replied.
“What did they do?” she asked.
“People in blue, they chain This One up and punished him for his bad behavior.” he replied.
Her breath caught in her chest.
“Why did they...punish you?” she asked
“Because This One was not meant to be free, This One belongs to Her.” he coughed and she got to work on his wrist shackles.
While she work she continued, “Who is her?”
“Woman in blue.” he said.
“Can you tell me any thing else about her?”
He didn’t respond. She got one of his hands loose and it fell to his side. She tired to lift the bar off of his shoulder, but it was extremely heavy. How it hadn’t broken his back she’ll never know. She undid his other hand and rolled it off his shoulders. She removed his harness and he sighed. He looked at her with his beautifully odd eyes.

“You take away this Ones burden, Jolie. Why?” he inquired.
She replied, “You don’t deserve this pain. Come on, we’re getting out of here.”
He tried to stand, but he grabbed his chest and fell to the ground. She knelt by him and turned him over. He had a huge stab on his chest. He was unconscious. How was she going to get him out of here with out being seen?
About twenty minutes later she was walking to the exit pushing a loaded trolley in front of her. She passed by Chuck the security guard.
He said, “Hey Jolie. I can’t believe your still here.”
She replied, “Just getting my work finished. Tomorrow is my day off after all.”
“Yeah,” he replied, “What’s with the cart?”
“Oh this,” she lied, “it’s just a part I need to take home and fix. “
He shook his head, “Your gonna work your self into the grave. Well good night.”
“Night.”
She pushed the trolley out to her car and looked around. She pulled the tarp off the trolley revealing the unconscious man. She opened the passenger door and lifted him as best as she could and put him in her front seat. She buckled him up and closed the door. She got in the drivers seat and started the car. She looked over her shoulder, backed out and headed home. She looked at him and reclined his seat back, so he could rest and so no one would see him through the window. She was very fidgety keeping her eyes on her speedometer and her street actions so there would be no reason for a police officer to pull her over.
She was starting to calm down when she jumped as a siren went off. She looked in her rear view mirror and sighed as she saw an ambulance coming. She switched lanes and let him pass. She took the next exit and drove all the way home. Her house was very far away and very secluded from the rest of the world. Reason being that she did her own experiments in her home and not all of them were legal. It was next to one of the very last woods in the world. Over population and mutilation of the planet drove people to colonize on Mars and Venus.

She parked the car in her drive way and got out. She could hear her two dogs barking from inside. Phelix had some how managed to get out and met her at the car. He purred as she stroked his head. He was only nine months old and so had no mane around his head. He was however a very large animal.
“Come on boy I need your help.”
He followed her to the passenger’s side and she opened the door and unbuckled the man. Phelix instinctively stood by the car and she sat him on his back. She brought him inside her three story house. There was only one above ground, but there were two below it. She led Phelix to a guest room and then she put the man on the bed. And looked him over. Her two dogs Minnie and Max came in and were looking on in interest next to Phelix.
She looked at Phelix, “Go get the first aid kit, boy.”
Phelix left the room and Jolie struggled to get the collar on his neck off. She only succeeded in shocking her self and boy did it hurt. She looks at her hand and there was a large red burn across her fingers. Forcing it off would engage more shocks, there didn’t seem to be any other way to get it off. No key hole, no fiber optic locks no nothing. It didn’t even seem to have a way to get it on, it was just there.
Phelix came back with the first aid kit. She opened it on the bed and she took out a pack of gauze and a bottle of peroxide. She put pressure on his bleeding chest and his brow became knitted in pain. He took in a sharp breath and grabbed her wrist. He opened his eyes and looked at her. He let her wrist go. She put pressure on his wound again.
He groaned and closed his eyes, “What ever this One did he is sorry? Please, make it stop.”
She looked at him, “You didn’t do any thing, I am treating your wound.”
He took a deep steadying breath, “Wound?”
“Yes, see.” she lifted the bloody gauze and he looked at his chest.
“This One didn’t notice.”
Before she could stop her self she said, “How could you not notice?”
“This One couldn’t decipher that pain for others.”
“Well you don’t have to worry about that any more. You won’t be hurt intentionally here. But I have to clean your wound and it will hurt.”

He closed his eyes and nodded. She got some new gauze and poured the peroxide on it and started to clean his wound. His fists slowly clenched, but relaxed as he lost consciousness again. Jolie had taken two years of medical before she realized she didn’t want to be a doctor so she knew how to treat him. After cleaning his wound she sutured it closed and covered it. She then took care of his burns with ointment and bandages, to keep the collar from engaging in any other way she went to her lab and got a roll of electrical tape. She slowly but surely wrapped the entire collar in the black tape. Now he just looked like a punk with a leather collar on. He was dressed in a pair of tattered shorts. And he was bare foot. She covered him up and went to the attic. The best thing she had was a pair of old boy friends slacks.
When she found out her boy friend was cheating out in a motel she went in while he was in bed with his mistress. She picked up his pants and under wear and she shot a hole in the mattress. She flicked them both off and left. She cut the crotch out of the boxer shorts, but just threw the pants up there. She left them on the dresser and left the room to let him sleep. Phelix and her dogs followed her. She sat down on the couch.
“Alright, Minnie and Max you guys have to guard the front and back doors tonight.” she told them.
Minnie and Max left to go guard the doors. She looked down at Phelix.
“Alright, I need you to make sure nothing happened to our guest.” she said.
He nuzzled her and the left to guard the door. Jolie went to the phone and made a call. It rang three times and then a groggy young voice answered.
“Hello?”
“Skip, it’s Jolie.”
“Jolie? What the hell are you doing calling at this hours, it’s two thirty.”
“I need you to come over right away. I really need your help.”
“Alright, but only if you do me a favor.”
About half an hour later she was opening the door for Skip. He was a nineteen year old boy with short spiky blond hair and he always wore a pair of yellow sun glasses. He was long and lanky, but he was also a computer genius. Jolie let him in with his two suit cases and his laptop around his neck.
“Thanks for letting me stay,” he said, “my land lady was about to kick me out. Couldn’t pay rent?”
“Maybe you should get a job then.” she replied.

He dropped his bags in the living room and said, “You have any idea how hard it is to find a job when you’re an ex-con and your only skills are hacking?”
“Obviously not.”
“So what was the big emergency that you had to wake me up at two thirty?”
She led him to the man’s room and explained to him what was going on. She knew she could trust Skip, since she practically owned him. Jolie had officer duties as well as her ones at VINA corp. She was running the bust they did on Skip. He had hacked into the VINA corp. main frame and they had traced him down faster than it took him to hack into it. They were prepared to shoot him on the spot, but Jolie vouched for him and he was allowed to live, but he went to jail for three months and now he was on parole. And Jolie was his parole officer.
Skip said, “So you really think he’s a genetically engineered human? But why would they need some one like him?”
She looked at him and smiled slightly. His face fell.
“No, no, no never! I refuse to do it again! That’s the only reason I went to jail and why you are now my warden!” he shouted.
“But I can make sure they can’t trace it. You can use my computer. Come on Skip, you owe me. There is some thing bad going on and I need to find out what. Please, do it for me.” she pleaded.
He looked away and crossed his arms. He glanced back and she gave him the sad eyes. No one could say no to Jolie’s sad eyes.
“No...n ...no stop looking at me like that! ...Damn it! Fine, but if I get caught you are so going to pay.” he warned her.
She gave him a hug, “Thank you. I’ll put in a good word for you on my next report. Let me show you your room.

She showed him another guest room right next to the man’s. She was just getting tired of calling him the man, but she couldn’t exactly call him 2511920 or Beast. They both seemed very degrading. He was after all a person, he deserved a name. She went to check in on him and he was sound asleep. Skip was also sound asleep again. She however was wide awake. She decided to run a few tests. She snuck into his room and took the dirty gauze from the waste basket and a strand of his hair and went down stairs to the first basement level. She kept her lab equipment here. She turned on the light and put the samples on the big metal table in the middle of the room next to her microscope.

* * *
She put on a pair of rubber gloves and grabbed some cultures and clean slides. She went over to her microscope and put the blood on the slides and slid it under. It was so powerful she could see his DNA. The helix under the glass was incredibly strange. She went and got her human sample and compared the two. The only way they were alike was in one small area, other than that there was at least a seventy percent difference. She had never seen any thing like it. If he wasn’t human what was he? She put the hair under a slide and then put hers next to it. Not human hair either. It was much too fine and soft. She went up stairs and got a fur sample from Minnie and one from Phelix. His hair was actually more like Minnie’s.
She went ahead and compared their DNA. She found a small similarity. Minnie was a wolf hound and they had a similarity in her wolf region. She was getting even more interested. She slid Phelix’s under and found a similarity in his snake and lion portion. If Jolie didn’t know any better she would say that he was put together by different animals. And she had a feeling that was it. His DNA was clearly unstable and how they got it to stick together she would never know. She left her lab and went up stairs. She looked inside his room; he was standing up looking around. She tried to step back, but some how he heard her and he turned very quickly. She opened the door and stepped inside.
She asked him, “How are you feeling?”
He replied, “This One is confused. Where is this?”
“This is my house.”
“Jolie took this One away from the lab?”
“Yes.”
“This One is very grateful to Jolie. Jolie will not bring this One back will she?”
“No, I’m going to try and keep you out of there.”
“Jolie is this One’s master.”
“Master?” she looked at him incredulously.

“This One was told he must have a master. You take care of this One and so you are this One’s master, are you not?”
She blinked a couple of times, “No, you don’t have a master. You are free. That’s why I took you out of the lab to make sure that you could be free.”
He touched his neck and felt the collar.
“This One isn’t free. Not yet.”
He sat down on the bed still looking around.
She stepped closer, “Do you have a name?”
He looked up and thought a while, “This One has not been given a name.”
“Maybe you should choose one.”
He thought a while and then looked at her.
“This One is thirsty.”
“Oh, come on. I’ll get you some water.”
He followed her out of the bed room and into the kitchen and poured him a glass of water and handed it to him. He looked at it for a little while and then chugged it. He really must have been thirsty. He placed the glass on the table. And looked around the kitchen taking every thing in.
“Jolie... has a nice house.” he said.
“Thank you.” she replied.
He looked at her again, “Can this One stay here?” he asked.
She smiled at him he was so innocent and so naive, even though he jumped off of a building with her; she didn’t know how he could be a threat.
“Yes, you can stay here as long as you like.”
He smiled back at her and started to look around her house. Phelix was following him around. He stopped and turned to Phelix and knelt down. He observed Phelix and then stroked his head.
I said, “That’s Phelix he’s a...”
“A chimera.” he said.
She looked at him, “Yes, how did you know?”
“This One thinks he was made the same way. Jolie has other animals too.” he said.
“Yes, I have two dogs, how did you know?” she asked.
He replied, “This One can smell them.”

Smell? He did have all that animal DNA, but could that have heightened his senses? Maybe they were trying to make some sort of super human. Phelix purred and yawned showing his huge k-9's. The man opened his mouth and touched his teeth. He had just as long fangs as Phelix did. She looked at the hand on Phelix’s head and it had very long sharp nails. He got up and walked over to her and he looked her up and down.
He said, “Jolie isn’t like this One.”
He lifted her hand and compared hers to his, then he parted her jaws and looked at her teeth, he looked at her eyes, her hair he was about to go to gender differences and that’s where she stopped him.
She said, “No you’re not like me. I am a human and your well...I’m not sure what you are.”
He said, “This One is a beast.”
He said it rather harshly as if he was angry about it.
She said, “You’re not a beast. You’re just not human. Beasts are evil and brutal; you aren’t any of those things.”
He stood up and walked through the rest of the house. Both she and Phelix tailed him. He went right to her music room. She completely sound proofed this room even though she had no neighbors. She loved music of all kinds and she learned how to play every instrument in that room. There was a piano, a sax, a violin, an acoustic and an electric guitar, a set of drums, a clarinet, a trumpet, a flute and a harp. He was looking at all the instruments.
He was looking at the drum set, “What is this Jolie?”
She said, “That’s a drum set. It’s a musical instrument.”
She sat down behind the drums and took up the sticks. I played a small beat and hit the cymbal. He touched the cymbal and tapped it twice.
“What is this one called?” he asked.
She said, “That one is a cymbal.”
“Cymbal... This One likes it...This One wants that to be his new name.” he said.
“Cymbal, huh? I like that. Alright, from now on you’re Cymbal.” she hit the Cymbal and he smiled. He walked around the rest of the room observing the instruments further. He reached the piano and he lifted the key guard.
“What is this?” he inquired.
She got up and sat at the bench and motioned for him to sit next to her. He did.

She explained, “This is a piano. You hit the keys to make noise. This is my favorite of all instruments.”
He pushed one of the keys and looked back at her.
He said, “Can Jolie play?”
She smiled and cracked her knuckles. She played a little of Beethoven’s Moon Light Sonata. He smiled.
“Cymbal likes this instrument. Can Cymbal try?”
She took her hands from the keys and nodded. She scooted over and his hands began to dance across the keys. She watched in awe as he began to play an entire concerto at lightning speeded. He ended it and she was just staring at the keys. She looked up at him and he was waiting for her to comment.
She blinked and said, “That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Have you ever played before?”
He shook his head. She placed the key guard down and got up. His ability for learning must be ten times as great as a human’s she noted. He went over to the harp and he plucked a few strings. She went over to this one. And sat behind it and leaned it up against her shoulder.”
“This is a harp; it makes some very beautiful music also.” She started gliding her fingers across the strings and they made a noise like many seraphim angels. She saw him close his eyes as he listened to the music. She ended the piece.
“The harp is beautiful, but Cymbal still likes the piano best.” he remarked.
She heard his stomach growl and he looked up at me again.
“Cymbal is hungry.” he said.
“You must be,” she replied, “You’ve been running from the military all day.”
She noticed she was still in her uniform. He was looking at it all the time. They both went into the kitchen and he finally voiced what he was thinking.
“Jolie is part of the military?” he asked.
She said, “Yes, I’m a lieutenant.”
He said, “Then how come Jolie isn’t after Cymbal like the others.”
She thought for a second, “I don’t know why the others are after you. They had some reason to make you, but I’m not sure why.”
“If Jolie angers Her, Jolie will be in danger.”
There was the mysterious her again.

“Who is her?”
He wouldn’t answer her again. She sighed and made him a sandwich.
“Eat while I go change.”
She went to her bed room and took off her suit top and pants. She started to dig around in her drawers looking for a pair of pajamas. She pulled them out and looked at her vanity and held her clothes up to cover her self. Cymbal was standing right in the door way watching her.
“What are you doing!? Get out of here!” she shouted.
She must have startled him because he jumped and hurried out of the room. She was already feeling guilty for yelling at him. He didn’t know it was wrong. It was almost like taking care of a child. She put on her pajama’s and stepped out side. She walked into the living room, not there, nor in the kitchen, or in the music room. She went to his room and he was sitting on the bed.
“Cymbal is sorry. He did not mean to misbehave.”
Oh my god, now she felt like the worst person on the planet.
She said, “You didn’t misbehave Cymbal. I’m sorry I yelled at you, you just... surprised me. Most women don’t like men to see them naked.”
He looked at me bewildered, “What means naked?”
She said, “Not wearing any clothes, bare. There are only certain times when a man can see a woman naked. It was an accident so it’s ok.”
“Cymbal is not in trouble?” he said.
She said, “No. Now why don’t you get some sleep, you have to be tired.”
He nodded, “Cymbal is exhausted. Cymbal will go to bed.”
She got up and went to the door. He had already lain down and closed his eyes. She looked at his sleeping form. He had the body of a man, but right now he was no more than a child. Until he learned more he would remain that way. She wondered what kind of man he would be when he finally thought like an adult.

For some reason it scared her. She compulsively touched her left upper arm. There were four long scars there. But her fear ebbed away. Cymbal wasn’t like that. He was innocent; he probably didn’t even have the capacity for evil or even anger. She sighed and left his room. She was very tired now her self. It was almost four o’clock. Phelix was asleep out side his room. She stroked him as she passed by. She went down the hall and went to her room. She closed her door behind her and went to her bathroom and brushed her teeth. After that she washed her face and put her hair back in a pony tail. She was a very old fashion person. She lived in a Victorian home with out too many modern conveniences other than what was under her house.
She turned off the light and went to her bed. She opened her window and got under her sheets and ran her hand over her scars once more. She laid back and closed her eyes. She had the dream again.

To be continued...
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RosettaMoon: Hope you like. If you wnat soemthing more sexual check out my other story 'See Into the Eyes of a Medium' and thanks to my fan Sonyasha. Please review. ^-^