Feral.
Date:
Location: Kaho‘olawe Island Research Facility, Hawai‘i
Events: New staff orientation day / safety and instructional review for security, hazmat teams, and research associates.
“Welcome to the Kaho’olawe
The tinny voice echoes through the steel halls, sending a shiver up the old guards spine. “I can’t stand it – they have the money to replace that shit, why don’t they ever bother?” He mutters as you scan your card to enter. No dice. “Dammit, it’s not letting you in either, is it?” He rolls his eyes, and puts them to the retinal scanner. “Well, lemme use mine… system’s been buggy for the past week. Manager’s been climbing the fucking walls over espionage, even though…” The door slides open. “I’m sure they already told you about Kaho’olawe. Some of the things I’ve seen here I never would’ve dreamed of, back in the eighties when I was a teen. Sci-fi movies and whatnot… kinda makes me wish I’d gone to college myself.” He ushers you in. “Well, I’ve gotta stay here and wait for the others. They’re likely to get stuck here too – just go on ahead and wander around ‘til you find the right place – the employees here are pretty nice, I’m sure one of them will help you. Hurry on now, the alarm will sound if I leave the door open too long.” He stands back at the door, waiting for you to enter.
Moments later, you enter another narrow hall – in seconds, the room fills with a clean, alkali scent – gas surrounding you, before the door across slides open. On the other side awaits a gentleman in casual clothes – some twenty-odd years old. “Good morning, sir / ma’am. I just got word back from the lab – there’s a new containment pathogen that’s being developed, and well, they don’t want to take any chances. I’m going to have to ask you to report to the medical facilities pronto for your shot – you can’t start work without it, but once you’ve gotten it, you’ll be all set.” He rolls through a list, pulls a pencil from behind his ear, and checks off your name in one of the squares.
Choices, choices. Well, regardless of who you are, you are a professional, and you need to get your shots if you want your paycheck. Besides, if you’re working HERE, you must have had plenty of them before. So…