About 20 minutes before Carson was scheduled to perform Zev's preliminary tests, Janice stepped into his lab once again. He put on a smile for her, but it was painfully obvious how forced it was.

“Hey, Cars.”

“Good evening, Jan.” No extra pep or enthusiasm.

“You... got your directions, I take it?” Janice realized how dumb the question was right after speaking it aloud. “N-nevermind.”

“Yes, indeed I did.” Carson bit his lip, looking like he was searching for something to say.

“I'm coming with you, you know that, right? Anders told me herself.”

Carson nodded. “She told me she wasn't ready to lose someone else so soon. Not much of a vote of confidence, is it?”

“And we're not going to lose you! I'll show you how to act around Zev, and if he gets aggressive, I'll stop him from hurting you.”

“I appreciate that, Jan. I do. But should it come to that, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you while protecting me. Especially not after losing Damien too. Darn it all...” He shut his eyes for a second.

Janice carefully considered her next words. She was tempted to explain to him that if she should die defending a human, maybe others would take note of how volons aren't all monsters after all. Maybe that would change how people viewed her species as a whole. Agh! That won't be happening right now, she reminded herself.

“Listen to me, okay?” She wanted to put her hands on his shoulders to reinforce her seriousness, but, physical contact. Agh, she spoke in her head again. “Nobody's getting hurt tonight. I went in there and met with Zev. He's not a monster hell-bent on killing people. Think of him like... someone who's really moody and was never told no when growing up. You know what I mean? Maybe a misguided teenager with violent tendencies.”

She paused to collect her thoughts, wincing at the comparison she just made. “He's capable of rational thought, he's capable of emotion. And, well, yes, it's true that he has had some... incidents in the past... if you stay cool and calm, don't show fear, be assertive, he's not going to hurt you.”

Janice wasn't absolutely confident with her last statement, but if it meant helping her friend, she had no qualms saying it.

“Jan... how can you be so sure about that after just one visit with him?” Carson took a deep breath. “Not to mention, one of the other most glaring problems I have with this is it's not supposed to be my job. This is normally done by the biology department, not psychology! Ergo, I can't help but wonder why.” He took another breath. “Ever since you brought up the idea of Damien's death possibly being intended, I've mulled it over now and then, thinking, “hum, maybe it is true. Maybe he did something someone didn't like.” And now, for me to be sent into the same set of circumstances as him?”

“I don't want you to take this in an accusatory way, but... have you done anything here that someone may have not liked?”

“I don't know, Jan. You know how close Damien and I were. We did discuss personal matters with one another from time to time, but I don't recall him being involved in anything that would've warranted his death. Maybe he was a bit, well... eccentric? But that certainly shouldn't have garnered such a harsh response. At least not to my knowledge.”

Janice nodded in consideration.

“Maybe we're just thinking this over too much,” Carson continued. “There's still no proof of anything malicious actually taking place here. I might just be a big ol' worrywart.”

“You are a big ol' worrywart,” Janice lightheartedly repeated. “Justifiably so, I think, but let's look at it objectively for now! What do you need to do for these tests?”

Carson started listing off tasks, tapping a finger in his palm for each one he announced. “Topical reactions to a few chemical reagents, a blood sample if it's within the realm of “safety,”” he air-quoted, “and a communication and intelligence exam. By the sounds of it, intelligence testing will be a breeze since you've already done most of the work for me in that regard. But the others... I've got my work cut out for me. I've not a drop of knowledge on how to take blood, either!”

“Chemical reagents? What kind of chemicals? I don't recall this being done with me when I was brought here.”

“I couldn't say. It's a fairly new procedure, as far as I'm aware. I wasn't told what they were or how a volon might react to them.”

Janice thought long and hard for a few brief moments. “...Do you happen to have them here with you?”

“Indeed.”

“What if you tested them on me first?”

“Jan! These could be dangerous – hell, even lethal for all I know!”

“No I know, but... just a drop! I can't think of any sort of chemical that would seriously hurt or kill someone with just one drop on their skin, and I doubt they'd give something that potent to someone who only has basic lab clearance. Wouldn't it be better to go into this with a little bit of advance knowledge?”

“You know how fond I am of the idea of you being hurt. That said... I suppose you're right. I haven't heard of any volons in here being killed voluntarily before.” Carson paused. “But there's a first for everything in here,” he grumbled under his breath.

“What time is it now?”

“4:54pm,” he answered after a peek at his watch.

“We barely have 15 minutes before we have to be down there. Hurry, let's do this quickly.”

Carson walked over to the far end of the lab where a long countertop stretched from one side of the room to the other. On it rested a small, wooden test tube rack, holding two vials containing a minute amount of dark, grungy-looking liquids, and a small collection of miniature lab tools on the side. He walked it over to a table near Janice.

“You're sure about this?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at her as he set the rack down.

“Yes, let's do it.”

Carson sighed. “Just a drop of each, okay? Nothing more.”

“That's fine.” Janice rested her arm on the table next to the rack.

Visibly hesitant, Carson picked up a dropper from the tools on the side of the rack, and removed the cap from one of the vials. “I feel as if I should have safety equipment while doing this...”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Y-yeah...”

“Unsurprising that they'd refrain from supplying me any.” He dipped the dropper into the tube and sucked up a tiny amount of the fluid. “If anything happens, speak up, would you?”

“'Course.”

The first liquid Carson dropped on Janice's arm soaked into her skin rather quickly, but left a small yellow blemish on her skin. No pain or weird sensations.

The second liquid that Carson administered stung.

“Ow.” Janice winced. She inhaled sharply. “Ow!”

“Ah, darnit!” Carson grabbed a nearby cloth and thoroughly wiped the area. “Is it any better?”

“Mmmhh... you're kind of spreading it around... but it's a bit better. The pain's wearing off.”

Carson removed the cloth and squinted at the spot he'd dropped the liquid. No visible marks or anything of the sort.

He shook his head. “I'm dearly sorry, Jan.”

“Hey, I was the one who volunteered! You're fine.”

“Just what are they expecting from these concoctions?”

Janice shrugged. “Whatever the case is, at least we know what to expect.”

Carson was busy putting the dropper back into the lab rack. “I suppose so. Not that I'm particularly eager, but we should get going.” He picked up the rack.

Wiping her arm a bit more, Janice took a moment to reply. “Yeah. Let's go.”

Carson walked to the front of the lab and pushed the door open with his hip. He beckoned his two guards to follow along, leading the way down the hallways.

“Hey, couldn't you bring your guards inside Zev's room?” Janice asked, not far behind.

“For whatever godforsaken reason, they're not allowed inside.”

“Mmm.” They value volons more than humans, Janice concluded. “Oh, wait, hold on.” At a junction in the halls, Janice suddenly changed direction, heading towards the cafeteria.

“Janice? We don't have much time.”

“This'll be quick! I have an idea to help keep Zev sated. He likes food, right? Tell your guards to stay there for a sec.” Janice hurried Carson over to the sandwich dispenser she often got her food from. “A distraction might be our best tool.”

“Not too shabby,” Carson remarked, sounding genuinely reassured.

Janice hit every button on the side of the machine. The dispenser rumbled and clanked as several premade sandwiches of every variety fell down to the bottom of the machine. She leaned down and began collecting the sandwiches as they came, eventually cradling at least a dozen in her arms.

“Okay, let's go.” Janice led the way from there.

“Remind me – how come we aren't given any tranquilizers to work with? All these rules to follow, but they can't even give us simple safety measures?”

“Probably to protect the volons. They don't seem to hold human life in high regard here.” Janice mumbled her disdain. “S-sorry. Whatever the reason is, we have to work with what we've got! So, let's get this done.” She made a note in her mind to ask Anders about the lack of anesthesia if she got the chance to.

After another minute of walking, the group arrived at the volon containment chambers. 92, 93, 94, 95. Janice eventually stepped up to Zev's door – 97 – and peered inside through the window.

Zev wasn't in sight. Is he hiding in the window's blind spot to the side? For all she knew, Zev could be waiting to ambush anyone who came through.

“Zev?” she called through the door. “Can you hear me? It's Janice.”

No response, but she thought she heard some shuffling somewhere on the other side of the door.

“I'm coming in, okay?”

Zev angrily huffed and continued shuffling around, but still couldn't be seen.

She turned back to Carson. “Okay, let's do this. I'll keep Zev distracted while you do what you need to do, okay? I'm with you.”

Carson pursed his lips and took a deep breath. He stepped up beside Janice and opened the door.

Janice quickly looked towards the door's blind spot near the eastern wall as she walked in first. Zev was lying on the floor, perhaps 15 feet away, lying face up on the floor with their limbs spread out on the ground. However, they quickly got up to their feet as the two came in.

Janice quickly remembered just how huge Zev was as they stood up. Damn! These sandwiches will hardly last! She'd have to get creative.

“Ah, ah! Has Janice brought me food?!” Zev called out.

“Yes! I have these sandwiches here for you.”

Zev wasn't looking at the sandwiches. They were looking at Carson, who was trying to walk off to the side, away from Janice.

“Zev, that's my friend. He's just going to be checking out the room for a few minutes. You're not allowed to hurt him, okay? I brought these subs for you,” Janice explained, trying to pry Zev's attention off Carson.

“I'm so hungry, Janice.”

Janice glanced at Carson, who was quickly looking more terrified with every second. “Here!” she continued, “check this out. They're loaded with meat and cool flavours.” She dropped most of the sandwiches on the floor and held two of them towards Zev.

Finally managing to distract Zev, the giant volon crouched down and briefly inspected the sandwiches before snatching them from Janice. They immediately tossed them into their mouth and swallowed without a single bite.

“W-wait, you're supposed to unwrap them first,” Janice said, cracking an anxious smile.

Zev tilted their head in consideration. “More,” they exclaimed, reaching down for the rest of the sandwiches.

“Now, wait a moment. Why don't you try eating them slowly? I can show you.”

“Because I'm hungry.”

“But you're missing out on all the flavours! You need to savour your food.”

Zev grunted and leaned against the wall. “First you tell me I'm not allowed to eat humans. Now you tell me how to eat my food. Janice.”

Janice clasped her hands together. “Well... uh, you don't have to eat slowly, but I just want to show you how you can get a lot more flavour if you do. You might enjoy it more. Try it with me!” She handed Zev another sandwich while picking up another for herself. “Come on, we're friends, right?”

In the corner of her eye, Janice noticed Carson standing just behind Zev, preparing his tools.

Distraction... keep Zev distracted...

“Friends,” Zev scoffed. “Give it to me.” They yanked the food from Janice's hand.

“Okay, now, before you eat it, try unwrapping the plastic first.” Janice did just that, demonstrating it to Zev.

Zev grimaced in frustration, but tried picking away at the plastic wrap regardless. However, their hands were far too large to do it effectively, and their frustration quickly peaked when they snarled and bit the sandwich in two, plastic and all.

But, to Janice's delight, Zev was actually chewing their food, at least for a couple moments.

“See? Now how was it?” Janice asked.

Zev bit into the rest of the sandwich. “Slow.”

“But... does it taste good?” She had no idea what ingredients that one had (not that Zev would care).

“Mh.” Zev grabbed a few more sandwiches and repeated the process, ignoring the plastic wrap entirely.

That's as close to a yes as I'll probably ever get from Zev. Janice thought.

Carson was about to begin some sort of topical examination on Zev, judging from the dropper in his hand. Janice had to keep it up.

“Uh, so, have you been doing anything in here..?” she asked, scrounging her thoughts to bring up some form of distraction.

“What do you think,” Zev growled between bites.

“Um... sorry. Dumb question. Maybe... is there something you can tell me about yourself?”

“I'm hungry. I'm always hungry, Janice.”

“I-I know, but, like... do you have any hobbies? Other than, well, eating.”

Zev tilted their head up a bit, sitting down with their legs crossed. “Ah, I had friends...”

Janice was shocked, albeit in a positive manner. “Tell me about them!”

“No! NO!!” Zev suddenly snapped in agitation, lurching closer to Janice.

“Okay! Okay, sorry!” Needing another quick distraction, she handed Zev another sandwich. Zev grabbed it and fell back into their old eating habits.

“Never! NEVER again! I'll chew my way out of that place!” Zev jumped to their feet.

“U-um! Zev, it's okay! It's okay! I'm here, Zev!”

With a sharp screech, their right arm began transforming into a knife-like shape and they slammed it into the wall, piercing through it like butter.

Janice stepped back and looked at Carson. He picked up his supplies and started running towards the door in a hurry.

Janice tried to raise a hand to tell Carson to slow down, but it was too late.

“HUMAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Zev screamed. “YOU WERE MODIFYING ME!!” They lunged towards Carson.

Janice jumped at Zev and intercepted them. She grabbed hold of their leg before they could reach Carson, yanking them hard enough to send the giant volon crashing to the ground.

“Oh, shit,” Janice exclaimed. He's going to be pissed! Her immediate reaction was to run to the door with Carson, who was almost out of the room.

Another fell screech pierced through the air as Zev voiced their explosive rage. Zev leaped forward again just as Janice hustled out the door with Carson, crashing into the wall beside the door.

Janice hurriedly shut and locked the door.

The armed guards beside the door had their guns at the ready, even with the door closed. Zev pounded on the door and continued screaming, but to everyone's relief, the door wasn't budging.

“Jan,” Carson breathed, looking at her in disbelief. He didn't follow up with anything else.

Janice wasn't entirely sure what to say either.

“Are you unharmed, professor?!” One of the guards asked, voice muffled through their helmet.

Carson put a hand on his head. “Yes, I... yes, I believe so...”