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Chapter One

A soft chime sounded as Sarah entered the building. The sound alerted the girl behind the circular counter, and the smile as she looked up became genuine. Sarah gave her a slight nod and placed her purse on the x-ray table. As the girl ran her bag through the machine, a panel in the top of the desk opened revealing a touchscreen. She took the stylus that was offered and signed her name. After a few seconds, the screen blinked green.

"Nothing to be worried about, as usual. Here's your purse, and your badge is in its usual place. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. There's a gentleman waiting in your office. Hope it's a usual Friday for you."

"Thank you. And a usual day for you as well. Maybe we'll be spared the craziness of the thirteenth this month?"

Sarah took her purse and walked through the double-paned door to the inner lobby. Posters covered the walls, displaying the past research successes. Models of the same projects, and a few prototypes of things to come, sat on rolling pedestals. The idea behind the pedestals had been hers after a group of school children had accidentally knocked over several other displays.

The security guard for the inner lobby greeted her at the staff elevator. His smile was tired, yet still cheerful. He handed her the badge that would allow her to access the elevator and the offices she had clearance for. She attached the badge to her suit and entered the elevator. To her surprise, the guard followed her inside. They were nearly to the third sub-floor before the guard spoke up.

"Miss Scott, I hate to ask this, but would you mind reviewing my files? I need to adjust some hours, and I have to find out if there's any room for it here."

"You're Jason Simms, right?" She thought for a moment. "I think your file should be near the top. Wait outside my office for a few minutes while I take care of some other business and I'll see what I can do."

The elevator stopped and let them out on the tenth sub-floor. They walked to her office as the doors closed. Sarah motioned for Jason to wait, and showed her badge to the scanner just outside her office. The scanner beeped as the door slid open. Sarah stepped through, hoping the dread she felt didn't show on her face. Her chair had been turned to face the wall. As the door slid shut again, the chair swiveled around to face her.

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Chapter 2

Jason stood against the wall, waiting as he had been told. He looked around the hall for the cameras he knew were supposed to be there and nodded to himself when he found them. All three had been set to scan the hallway, yet he had managed, without meaning to, to find the one blind spot. He chuckled to himself and pulled a small rubber ball from his lower leg pocket.

Not knowing how long he had before Sarah came back out of her office, he let the ball drop from waist high. It bounced back up to his chest before he caught it and let it drop again. The door slid open again as he brought his hand up to catch the ball. A short, hooded person walked out as the ball landed in his hand.

"It would do you well to take the day off and go home, young man. Watch your back."

Jason stuffed the ball back in the pocket and glanced through the open door. It remained open. He tried to make sense of what the person had said as he watched Sarah fall back in her chair. Seeing the normally calm woman looking troubled worried him. There wasn't much he could do without knowing what was going on, but it was a state he was used to.

"Miss Scott? Sarah? Got a minute?" She waved him in. "Y'know, it looks like you need to take the day off, not me. And I had a lecture on the nature of holograms last night!"

Sarah gave him a weak smile. "Sorry. I found your file, but there's some paperwork missing that I'm sure had to be filled out before you started working here. You'll have to redo it."

"Ah, come on. If it wasn't done before with the other novel's worth of papers, it should be fine, right?"

"No," she shook her head sadly. "They have to be done. And that means another week of filing for me."

"Look. I can understand that, but I've been working with Kerantel for a year and a half and they haven't said anything about missing paperwork. Maybe somebody's reviewing it and hasn't put it back yet?"

"The papers are there, there just aren't enough of them."

"All right. If they have to be done, I'll go ahead and get them done now, since I'm already here anyway."

Jason pulled a chair away from the desk, turned the back to the desk, and sat down facing Sarah. She placed her hand on the recognition plate atop her desk. A small, empty vial, ink pad, pen, and another scanner appeared on the desk. He remembered the routine from his first visit to this office. His hand lay on the scanner for a moment before his fingerprints registered in the system and pulled his file up on the screen on the desk.

"Wait a minute. That's the complete file? Two pages?" Jason sat stunned.

"I'm afraid so, Mr. Simms. It appears that you failed to complete the rest. I..shouldn't mention that it also appears that there may have been parts...altered on these pages."

Jason stood up and started pacing. A buzzing across his chest brought him up short. He checked his breast pocket and found the extension for the front desk on his pager. Sarah picked up her phone and entered the number. After a moment, Sarah mumbled a phrase and handed him the phone. The voice of the girl at the front desk came over the line.

"Sorry to have to interrupt your interview, Mr. Simms, but the boss wants to see you. He'll meet you on the second floor."

"Thanks for the heads up. I'll be there as soon as I can."

He hung up the phone and started for the door. He looked back at Sarah and gave her a crossed-eyed grin. She chuckled slightly as he left the room. The elevator swished open as he approached, not even waiting for him to show his badge. Jason shook his head and looked back at the door he had exited, expecting to see it closed. It remained open.

Five minutes later, he found himself on the second sub-floor. A large, muscular man stood waiting for him. Jason was waved forward into the labs. He had only visited the labs once before, on his first day. No one had been able to give him a layout hologram, and he had gotten lost looking for Sarah's office.

Now that he had the chance to look around freely, he could see at least five rooms with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The man led him past the five rooms to another set without windows. Beyond those, were a series of doors with glass set between mesh wire. Jason found himself drifting towards one of the doors, while the man ahead of him remained in the center of the hall.

"Stay directly behind me, Mr. Simms. You don't have the keys for any of these rooms, but they don't know that."

"What?" Jason was puzzled again.

People behind protected doors? He almost asked what was going on but held his curiosity in check. With a great deal of conscious effort, he made himself walk in the center of the hall. It took concentration to remain in the center and keep up with the man in front of him. The pull from the doors was lessened, but the hall wasn't quite wide enough to prevent it completely.

At the end of the hall was an ornate marble pedestal with the standard scanner set within the surface. The other man took a small metal piece from around his neck and fitted it into the marble above the scanner before placing his hand delicately on the scanner. A crack appeared in the wall, slowing widening to show the door on the other side. Jason swallowed hard as he was ushered into the room.

"Welcome to my office, security guard Jason Simms. I'm sure you have many reservations, but let me assure you I don't fire without very good reason, and I don't bite. Come in, come in. And, Willis, turn the lights out in the cells. Someone forgot to set the timer this morning."

Jason stepped forward and felt a curtain of cobwebs cross his face. He reached up to brush them away and could see the office he had entered. The walls and floor were a surprisingly grassy green while the ceiling was painted a stunning blue. A small desk sat in the corner of the office, though no one was sitting at it. A man of muscular build and tall statue was standing in front of a large bookcase, browsing the titles.

Though he hadn't been motioned any further in, Jason found himself entranced by the sight of genuine hardbound, leather and paper books. He had only ever seen these antiques in the museums, and to find himself facing not one or two but more likely thousands was fascinating. The man hadn't moved except to take a tome down and open it.

"So you find my collection interesting?" Jason nodded. "Browse them if you wish. I'm sure many of them are ones you've never even seen in the holo's, much less the museums. But that's not what I called you up here for. I'm sure Sarah already told you parts of your paperwork are...lacking." Another nod. "Do I need to remind you that all paperwork is vital to this company?"

"No sir. I know it's a pain to keep up with hard copies, like these, but I did all of that. It took a week to get rid of the cramp from writing everything done and then entering it into the cyberworks."

"I know you did. However, it still stands that it is missing. There's a single job within this company that only requires what is left of your information. Curious?"

Jason caught himself before nodding. There was something strange about the man in front of him, but he wasn't sure what it was. He still hadn't gotten a good view of his boss's face. Though he was trying to be cautious about it, he couldn't help but wonder if it would add a bit of excitement to his day.

"Well, if I say I am, does that mean I have to take that job? Or will I have to do all that writing again if I don't like it?"

The man laughed. "It would be best for you if you take the job. I like the work you've done for us so far, and it would be a shame to lose you. We have, regrettably, locked the system for an overhaul. Meaning that unless the right information is there, we'll have to let you go. And that wouldn't be good for your record nor your...financial...situation."

Jason felt a shiver run up his spine as the man continued. "If I recall correctly, you asked for a raise not long ago. Tuition go up again?"

"Well, sir, it has. But that's not why I asked for the raise. I just thought, maybe, I could use a bit more money for rent."

"I see. The position would, of course, be above your pay grade now. As my assistant, you would still guard the facility, but at the same time, you would help me make sure the research is going as planned. Interested?"

Another shiver ran down Jason's spine at the prospect.

"Very interested, sir. But, what exactly are you researching?"

"Genetic restructuring, the possibility of growing crops in a space environment, and underwater experimentation. And of course, a few things you'll have to oversee personally. Mental manipulations being the least of them. We have a few teams that operate outside the labs, and you will go with them once a week."

The man finally turned with an extended hand. Jason accepted and looked the man in the eye. A firm grip on his hand kept him from leaping back as he got a good look at the man's face. Lightly stenciled scales covered the left half, while the eyes he was looking into were deep red.

"Worried you may have just made a deal with a demon? Don't worry about that. All the demons here have been locked behind sealed and protected doors. You'll be working for me exclusively now, and compensated fully for it. Congratulations. You've just doubled your salary."

"So, you specialize in mind reading, huh? Ah, if I may ask..."

"Don't bother. I can read your face, and that much was evident. I am not a demon, but these are real. Not drawn."

"So the rumors I've heard about the head of this company possibly being non-human are true? Interestingly, that doesn't surprise me. I've started feeling like the waking dead myself!"

The man laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "It'll get better. Trust me. I'm a werewolf, and no one's questioned me until you. That's more than fifty years. And it had better be at least that much longer once you leave this office."

"So the scales are...some kind of...genetics experiment you did on yourself?"

"Oh, you are quick. Of course. I wouldn't have continued if they hadn't been successful." The man laughed at him again. "Why do you think I keep the demons locked up?"

Jason felt himself get light-headed and sighed. It was going to be a long Friday.

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Chapter 3

Jason fought the dizziness that filled his head. There was something else he was missing about this man he worked for, and it felt as if it would kill him if he didn't figure it out. He struggled internally and shook his head hard enough to throw the shorter strands of his bangs across his forehead. With a slight pop, the dizziness vanished.

"You're strong-willed. Good. Now the answer?"

"What? Ah, sir?" It took a moment for Jason to remember what had been asked. "Oh, the demons...wait, you mean..."

"Go back down to Ms. Scott's office and tell her to activate Delores, Rodney, Valka, and Hayd. Once you've done that, you may resume your post at the front desk."

Jason nodded and started back out of the office. He managed to ignore the draw from the rooms by focusing on what he had been told, and what hadn't been said. At the last room before the labs, he stopped and went straight to the door. There was a break in one of the wires covering the window, though the break was on the outside of the door. The man who had led him down the hall exited the lab closest.

"Mr. ...Willis?" The man turned to face him. "There's a break...the wire...ah, you probably already know about it. Sorry to bother you."

There was a tense moment when Willis' frowned at him. Then what he had said must have sunk in, driving Willis to his side. Jason didn't know what had changed the man's mind, nor did he think he had the time to ask. He had to get back downstairs and give Sarah the cryptic message from the werewolf.

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Chapter 4

Sarah sat in her chair. The hundreds of memos and applications had been done for several minutes, giving her a chance to sit back and wonder about the director's visit. The genetically altered cat-man hadn't been seen around since the last Friday thirteenth. When she stopped to ponder it, the director seemed to delight in only showing up on that specific day. He had, after all, voluntarily added the genetic signatures of a black cat to himself.