As Leo stepped into the room, harsh fluorescent lights flickered on with an audible buzz, casting a nearly blinding light illuminating a bland, sleek, stark white-tiled room. It gave off hospital vibes, I hated that.

Milo and I followed close behind Leo, our eyes locked onto the massive, high-tech desk that sat at the front of the room. The thing was huge, all sleek metal, with way too many buttons. Four chairs were lined up in front of the desk like they were waiting for the Power Rangers to plop down in front of it to start controlling the Megazord.

Past the desk, six large capsules, ominous-looking tubes stood at the far end of the room.

"What the hell?" I said.

Milo and Leo were already heading towards them, the capsules sat on the floor and reached all the way up to the ceiling, and it was a tall ceiling. Each capsule stood evenly apart, made with frosted glass.

I approached the capsules, and as I got closer the objects within them became clearer.

"Are they..." I began to say.

"Robots?" Leo said.

"Cats?" Milo added.

"Humans?" I said.

"There some sort of cat-humanoid robots," Milo said as he marveled at them.

We all took a step back, taking in the sight.

"A.I.?" Leo asked.

"Could be," Milo replied, his eyes wide as he looked towards the capsules at the end of the row. "Those two don't have anything in them."

I whipped my head to the end of the row, two frosted glass capsules sat empty, my body tensed up as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

"Stay alert!" Commanded Leo.

"No need to worry," a voice called from the doorway.

The three of us spun around to face the voice, my heart leaped into my throat. The robot tigers stood in front of us. Behind them, a man emerged, light glinted off his glasses as took a step into the room, his white lab coat fluttered from the breeze flowing from the room.

Leo took a step in front of Milo and me, reaching for his gun.

"I would recommend that you don't do that," the man warned as two of the cats darted forward towards Leo, only stopping when Leo's hand moved away from the gun.

Leo raised his hands his head to show his hands were empty. The room grew still, the only noise that remained was the purr of the robotic tigers.

"Doctor Purkins," the man said as he bowed.

"Doctor Purkins?" I repeated.

"Doctor Purkins. It's good to finally meet the three of you," the doctor said, forcing his lips into a smile that sent a chill down my spine.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Dr. Purkins strode towards us. Milo and I stood tense behind Leo, unsure of what was about to happen. I just hoped that Leo could talk us out of this, with our injuries we didn't stand a chance if the doctor decided to sick his tigers onto us.

I watched Leo's face harden as he stared down Dr. Purkins. "Look, we didn't come here to cause any trouble," his voice was steady despite the robot tigers eyeing us like we were Fancy Feast. "How about we call this one big misunderstanding, you let us leave, and we forget all of this?"

Dr. Purkins smirked, his eyes gleamed with joy. "Let you leave? But you just got here."

Leo's jaw clenched. "We were just doing a job. We have no idea what's going on here and we are happy to keep it that way..."

"Oh, I know," chuckled the doctor. "I was the one that gave you the job."

"Wait, what?" said Milo.

"Yeah, what?" I echoed.

Dr. Purkins sauntered over to one of the robotic tigers, petting it like you would a family pet.

"You know, you boys are the first ones to make it this far, there were some that couldn't even make it past the drones." He burst out laughing at the thought.

"First ones?" I asked.

Dr. Purkins stopped laughing. "Oh yes!"

Milo's brow furrowed, "What do you mean 'make it this far', make it this far for what?"

Dr. Purkins locked eyes with Milo, his hand still caressed the robotic tiger, scratching it behind the ear.

"For what?" said the doctor as he smoothed his lab coat with his palms, cleared his throat, and leaned in towards the three of us.

"For the opportunity of a lifetime," he whispered.

He quickly took a step back, raised his arms to the sky, and began to twirl. "An opportunity that transcends the boundaries of human limitations!" His voice boomed like an announcer for a big event.

"Are you going to try and put our bodies into those robots?" Leo said, cutting off the doctor's performance.

Dr. Purkins froze mid twirl, his smile evaporated as he stared daggers at Leo. "Don't jump ahead!"

The silence stretched on for far too long as the doctor glared into Leo's eyes.

The smile eventually crept back onto his face, his manic energy rising once again. "I want you boys to be my partners. My partners in crime. You boys do love crime don't you!"

"And is there an option b?" I chimed in.

The doctor swiveled his hips to face me, his feet remained locked to the ground, his grin vanished. "An option b?"

A moment passed as he seemed to ponder the question. Then, without any notice, he burst into hysterical laughter. His arms clutched his stomach as if he was about to burst. "Funny Newt, very funny!" he wheezed.

His laughter faded as he walked past the robotic tigers, they stood frozen like statues until he walked past them, every one he passed whirred back to life and began to wander around the room, trying to intimidate us.

"I wouldn't dismiss this opportunity my boys," the doctor said.

He continued walking around the room, weaving around his pets, his eyes gleamed with crazy.

"This is the chance of a lifetime!" He said, gesturing wildly. "Imagine the world we could create together, the boundaries we could shatter."

I could see Milo's brain ticking, he was making that face he would always make when he was trying not to say what he was clearly about to say. He had a real problem keeping quiet.

"Was it the chance of a lifetime for Project Q and R?" He blurted out.

Rage contorted the doctor's face, his crazy energy exploded into a seething rage as he jabbed a finger towards Milo. "Don't you dare speak of them!"

"I think you touched a nerve," I whispered to Milo.

"I gave them the world!" the doctor continued. "And how did they repay me? By treating their gift like it was a curse, like I had cursed them! Like I had turned them into monsters! I gave them a gift! I made them gods!"

The doctor's veins on his neck throbbed exactly like Leo's did when he was mad. The doctor panted, and then, in an instant, his mood shifted again. He pointed to the three of us one by one. A Cheshire grin split his face.

"But this time, this time will be different. This time I have you boys."

Leo shook his head. "I don't think so, you've got us confused with someone else."

Milo tread carefully to the door. "Yeah, thank you for the kind offer, but I think we're going to pass."

"Don't be silly," said the doctor. "You're going to love it!"

The doctor stepped back towards the edge of the room as his pets all surged towards us. Slamming each of us to the ground.

"Let's begin," said the doctor.