Tournament of Darkness: Interrogation

  -Southern France-

 

     The sounds of the private zoo outside are muffled by the soundproof walls of this chamber. Prof. Frad is surrounded by a series of ten monitors each displaying the face of a different head of a different branch of the Foundation. He knows why they have called him, to once again ask him about his Caribean facility. They pestered him about how it happened, what he was planning to do about it, and once again Sharon; last name not important as she changes it every few decades, has asked him the typical question; what happened.

 

  “As I said before,” says Frad, “A good friend of mine Prof. O’Bleck was in the area looking for Hyperborean ruins and stumbled upon a previously unknown cephalopod like organism. He brought it back to my island, where it got loose and nearly destroyed the facility forcing an evacuation. Many of the specimens were either killed or got loose themselves thanks to the creature’s abilities; I didn’t have time to study it properly, opening the enclosures. My spies still on the island tell me,”

 

   “Tell you what?” asks O’Bleck showing up beside Elaine Maximof of the East Coast Foundation Branch, “that you are a liar? That the creature is now in complete control of the island, or how it turns two of my collegues, whom you used as bait, into two new types of creatures…”

 

  The Central American television changes from the man who was on it to Alana the glowing green Keracoptera, “or how about your acts of forced breeding involving creatures and humans?” she asks.

 

  Frad *laughs* under his breath, “Elaine, Pamela, Sharon, Elizabeth, and Atlach, along with you five I helped found this foundation. Our purpose has been the preservation and study of unusual, abnormal, paranormal, and supernatural life forms. I have always been a breeder of these rare organisms. Given how dangerous Keracoptera are do you think I should have awoken one from what was likely an ancient civilization’s prison capsule before sampling its DNA…which by the way the capsule was designed to do. The creature, the Psionic Biomorphic Cephalonoid released this…individual, as well as many very dangerous creatures. I lost good men in that lab, O’Bleck you lost all four of the people that came with you. I fully intended…”

 

   “To never let us leave,” accuses O’Bleck.

 

  “Sharon, Pamela, Elaine, and Atlach,” he ignores O’Bleck and Alana, “do you really want to go this route with me? My resources, my connections, those loyal to me are far greater than your own. Who else has secured samples from Irag and Iran? Who else has friendly ties in Nigeria and Sudan? Most of you have enemies where I have friends. So I was growing Keracoptera fetuses, so I was keeping an Alraune sexually active so that a…and I stress one of a kind sample of a Demon Wasp slash Legion bee Queen was kept fed, and yes the Breeder Cockroach was a bit much, but we have so little data on the effects it has on human subjects, especially those that travel from the hive. Or the effects of Devil Wolf genetics on humans, which was a volunteer I should stress.”

 

  “What about the catgirl?” asks O’Bleck

 

  “Oh that,” says Frad with a slight smile, “that was not intended as part of the tour. I didn’t inform you at the time but I did reprimand that guard. You see, that was a very rare Shadow Stalker, a very dangerous and aggressive creature from the Congo. Apparently that guard had developed some relation with it somehow without my knowledge, with seventy different facilities worldwide I can’t check every minute of every security tape, and he was the head of security. Seems he didn’t think I would be around, with the one way mirror he had no idea we were watching.”

 

 

  “I believe this comes to a vote,” says Elaine, “regarding your future in the foundation, among the founding members.”

 

  “What?” says O’Bleck, “he’s a criminal!”

 

  “Which is why,” says Elaine, “I am issuing a vote of no confidence, that your facilities and staff as well as yourself receive psychological treatment and be restaffed as soon as possible with more checks in place regarding your own actions. Clearly from what I’ve heard you have convinced normal people you are some kind of god or immortal high priest to fictional deities and can’t be trusted to look after your own affairs, so long as they are tied with our own.”

 

  “I agree,” says Pamela, “I also second some new oversights being in place. However this will apply to all of our facilities.”

 

  “No,” says Atlach, “I am fully against any oversights beyond our selves. Frad’s crime is not what he was doing, but rather that he did not put it past us first and receive the board’s approval.”

 

   “In that case,” says Elizabeth, “a punishment only for him, say for instance no recovery attempts being made for his Caribbean lab, and left as a red zone.”

 

   “I can accept those terms,” says Alana.

 

  “Agreed,” says Sharon, “however I would amend that a census team be sent to study which specimens have survived and may even be thriving on this island. We have talked for years now about having a creature island.”

 

   “Our own Jurassic Park as it were,” says Pamela, “yes, loss of the island, and a census team to study the population. I can live with that.”

 

  “We are in agreement then?” asks Sharon much to a confused O’Bleck on what is going on.

 

 They each press a button that brings up a green light, except for Elaine and two others not in the founding members group, who are outvoted seven to two.

 

  Frad thinks to himself as the screens shut off how he’d want to be on the census team, but it’s far too soon to bring that up. Besides this was simply a meeting, any real progress will depend on other interoffice affairs of business and legal wrangling.