Retired — Roleplayer Guild

Manhattan, New York City | Present Day
Chapter One | Part Eight

Garfield shoveled several pastries into his mouth at once, already reaching out for more before he even swallowed the first set. Powdered sugar made a mess of his newly borrowed shirt as he continually wiped his fingers across the material. 

"Slow down," Kitty's eyes were sympathetic but she rested a hand atop Garfield's as he reached for yet another treat. "You've already had a dozen, any more and you're going to puke." 

The boy just nodded reluctantly. He knew she was right but it had been so long since he had had a steady supply of food that once he started it was difficult to stop. Garfield's stomach had been denied in the past and now it was as if it was trying to make up for the lost time. Setting down the pastry he had just grabbed, Garfield leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his soft drink.

After their initial meeting in Koriand'r and Eli's abandoned warehouse where a loose plan had been devised, the group had made a quick detour to Elijah's home. With his family away for the day, the older teen had offered Garfield his shower to wash up in and a fresh change of clothes. Even with the t-shirt, jeans, and light, long-sleeved hoodie being several years old, they were all somewhat large on the younger boy and hung loosely. Nevertheless, Garfield had appreciated the gesture. He couldn't remember the last time he had worn something other than his former torn outfit. 

From there, the four had tracked down the Meta Solutions lab. Not entirely a difficult task given its public listing. Kitty, Koriand'r, and Garfield had set up at a nearby outdoor cafe just a block away while Elijah went alone to scout out the building from a distance. The early evening rush from passersby helped to avoid most attention, aside from several double-takes Koriand'r received. Even still, Garfield had drawn his hood close and kept the brim of a baseball cap low to hide his skin. 

Sitting between Garfield and Kitty, Koriand'r squirmed in her seat. 

"This is most delicious!" She exclaimed delightedly. Taking another sip from the clear plastic cup held to her lips, she asked: "what was it you said this liquid was named?"

"Uh, boba. Bubble tea." Kitty answered distractedly. She craned her head around for the fifth time in less than two minutes. "Anyone else think he's taking too long?"

Garfield quickly snuck another pastry from the plate and crammed it into his mouth while she wasn't looking. It had been about twenty, maybe thirty, minutes since Elijah had gone off. Like Kitty, he was growing anxious with every passing minute, though for entirely different reasons. He barely knew Eli, but Garfield had gotten the distinct impression from their brief time together that the guy was pretty no-nonsense. If it was taking this long he was sure it was necessary. On the other hand, patience was not Garfield's strong suit.

"Should I go retrieve him?" Asked Koriand'r. 

"No!" Kitty hastily responded, waving her arms back and forth in front of her. "No, definitely not. Last thing we need is someone spotting miss supermodel gladiator woman straight out of some Amazonian myth flying around. We're trying to be covert here. Subtle. Stealthy. And you are decidedly not subtle."

Leaning forward conspiratorially, Kitty lowered her voice. "Besides, don't want to give anyone any reason to suspect that you're a you-know-what. Best to keep a low profile, okay?"

"Oh. I understand. My apologies."

Garfield thought he saw the alien girl's smile falter slightly as she dropped her eyes down, embarrassed. Before he could offer any words of support, though, he noticed something over Kitty's shoulder. 

"Hey, he's back!" Pointing ahead, Garfield indicated the familiar figure walking down the sidewalk towards their table. 

Both girls turned to check as Elijah strode up. In one hand he held his phone, in the other a pair of cheap, mini-binoculars. As he approached the table, he casually tossed the binoculars onto the table and shook his head.

"Those were pretty much crap," he told them. "Could barely see anything out of 'em."

"But were you able to see enough?" Kitty prodded.

"Yeah," he held up his phone. "Just ended up using the zoom with this. Not the best of quality but I've got some pictures and videos." 

Grabbing the last remaining chair, he sat down. Glancing around to make sure no one was bothering to listen, he laid out the details of his surveillance. 

Meta Solutions was fairly small. From what Eli had observed there hadn't been many employees going in or out of the building and only a few cars were parked outside. Not entirely odd given they were an independent organization but the videos and photographs taken provided more context. While grainy, the images displayed nearly a dozen external cameras. 

More telling, though, were the two armed individuals Eli had recorded patrolling the outside grounds. Not dressed in security uniforms, the two men, both fairly large, were on alternating and opposite paths around the surrounding sidewalk. They looped around casually in typical civilian dress, circling the building in a way that allowed one to cross in front of the entrance every thirty seconds or so. Likely not noticeable to anyone going by without a second thought, but for Elijah who had perched across the street in an alley for so long, he had quickly noticed the recurring figures. On the tenth loop, he had caught the silver flash of a gun holstered beneath a jacket. 

"Now, who wants to tell me why a place doing cancer research has that much security?" Eli asked as he finished the debrief. 

"And more importantly, why they're trying to hide their security like that. Why not just get legitimate guards stationed out front if they were on the up-and-up?" Added Kitty.

"Exactly. I think we can be fairly sure your theory has some actual standing here. So," Eli glanced towards Garfield. "I think we can move onto the next part of the plan. You're up, kid."

Garfield shot up straight and pumped his fist. "Yes, Garfield Logan to the rescue!"

"Sit down," Kitty chided him. "Again, the keyword here is 'inconspicuous,' people. Let's not make a scene."

"Right, sorry." He looked sheepish as he sat back down. "Just, you know, excited to help."

"Well, we still have to wait for it to get a little darker, first. Maybe an hour? Probably should order something else so we don't get kicked out for loitering." Kitty got up to flag down a staff member. 

"An hour? Come on, no one's going to see me even if it's not dark. I can go right now and be back in ten minutes."

Elijah eyed the younger boy, a slight frown etched across his face. "Are you sure you're up for this, kid? It's not exactly a game. You have no idea how dangerous it might be inside. If you're not able to take this seriously..."

Garfield winced. He'd probably been called 'kid' a dozen times since he met these people a couple of hours earlier and it was already getting old. 

"Yeah. I know it's not a game." He said tensely, staring back with what he hoped was a stern expression. "I've got this. You did your part, let me do mine." 

Eli held up his hands, relenting. "Okay, alright. Not trying to take anything away from you, I just want this to go as smoothly as possible. If we don't deviate from the plan hopefully no one gets hurt. Or worse."

Sighing, Garfield shoved one final pastry past his lips. "Fine," he mumbled through the baked bread. "We'll stick to your plan. One hour."

* * *

Situated between a floral boutique and a twenty-four-hour pharmacy was the narrow alleyway Elijah had been using to spy on Meta Solutions. Across the street, set on a wide lot, was the laboratory. The perimeter of the lot was blocked off with metal fencing and a gate. Several of the security cameras previously pointed out could be seen aimed at the gate and only point of entry into the lot. Like clockwork, the two men from Eli's video circled the outside of the fence.

Lot of security you got there, Garfield thought to himself as he peeked from the shadows of the alley. But not enough to keep me out.

The boy began shedding his clothing and setting them in a neat pile in one corner where he hoped they wouldn't be spotted. When shifting his form, nothing he wore nor carried would transform with him, something that had caused more than a handful of awkward issues the past year. At least this time he could prepare in advance.

Shivering against the cool evening air, Garfield closed his eyes and began to focus. He had only taken this form once before and it had been a strange experience. The transformation itself, while always quick, tended to feel different depending on the animal he shifted to. Bones, muscle, tissue, even his organs all realigned rapidly and it could sometimes be disorienting. The sudden change in perspective when transforming into a creature of a significantly different size certainly didn't help with that. 

His face simultaneously shrunk and widened. Eyes expanded, shifting to the sides of his head and two antennae sprouted between them. Extra limbs sporting fine hair erupted from his torso, which itself was constricting and segmenting from the rest of his body. Finally, Garfield felt the world rush past him as his body rapidly decreased in mass. 

Where roughly two seconds previously a green-skinned, nude boy had stood, there was now nothing. Nothing aside from an inconspicuous, common housefly. 

Gross, gross, gross. Garfield thought as a wave of strange and unique sensations threatened to overwhelm him.

Something he had learned during his first foray as a fly was that their tastebuds were located at the tips of their legs. He had also learned that New York streets did not have an enjoyable flavor. 

Fluttering his new pair of wings, Garfield rose several inches into the air. Inches that now felt like a dozen feet to him in this form. He teetered slightly as he gave himself a moment to readjust. He could now see just about everything, or, at least, everything within about ten feet. But while his vision was short in range it was wide in scope. Being bombarded with thousands of tiny images, vague in color, all merged into one unfocused view was difficult for his human mind to work around. Still, as disorienting as it may be, the form had its uses.

It took Garfield a couple of minutes to fly towards the lot, orienting himself by memory more than sight, but eventually, he landed on the front door to Meta Solutions. Locating a crevice wide enough to accommodate his size was fairly simple and he slipped inside the building. 

This had always been the easier part of the plan, Garfield knew. Gaining access for someone like him was never going to be difficult. It was the next portion that would pose a problem. None of the group had any idea where to search once inside and so Garfield was now mainly left to stumble around in the hopes of finding some clue or link to the abducted children. Kitty had thought it unlikely the kids would be in the lab itself, instead suggesting to search Zabo's office for anything that could tie him or Meta Solutions to the kidnappings. If he could find the office, that was.

After another ten minutes, Garfield had finished what he believed to be a complete sweep of the first floor. Which, as far as he could tell, was the only floor. He had found half-a-dozen personnel plugging away data at various desks just past the lobby, and multiple branching hallways leading to rooms with a scant handful of others present and doing who-knows-what with various lab equipment. He had even located both the cleaning supply closet and the bathroom, courtesy of his foul scent-detecting antennae. Yet no sign of a stairwell or elevator leading to another level. Which, he supposed, made sense as the lab appeared to be a single-story construct, but everything just seemed so limited to him, so shallow, like there had to be more to it all.

Determined, though, and knowing the others were relying on him, Garfield continued his search. After all, he realized, it was likely he had missed something with his fly-vision. 

Upon nearing the conclusion of his fourth lap around the building, each more frustrating than the one before, Garfield was readying himself to give up. His wings kept tiring out every so often and each time he was forced to land on a surface it tasted of disinfectant. The prolonged time in this form was also taking its toll on him and he could feel himself grow queasier each passing minute due to the unfortunate inability to close his eyes and take a break from the compounded vision. 

Alright, this is dumb. There's nothing here and I think I'm going to throw up. As a fly. Ew. Garfield reoriented himself and began making his way back towards the entrance. We'll have to try something else.

Just as he was closing in on the door, it swung open. A tall figure strode through, and although Garfield couldn't make out many detailed features he was able to discern that it was a man dressed in a long, white outfit. A lab coat. Deciding to take one last chance, Garfield followed the man from up high. 

The man walked with a purpose and barely cast a glance at any of the others present. They, in turn, kept their heads buried down and avoided eye contact. Except for one, a rotund woman at a desk who looked up long enough from her computer monitor to utter a single sentence.

"They called again for you, doctor, regarding the latest shipment." 

The man stopped momentarily and seemed to consider this. "Was there an issue I should be concerned about?"

"I'm not sure, doctor. She only said she wished to speak with you immediately." 

"She called directly, then?" The doctor seemed taken aback by this news. "Yes, that is a concern. Thank you."

With that, the man continued his stride, albeit slightly faster now. Garfield followed along, trying to remain unseen and unheard as best he could. Walking down one hallway, then branching down another, the man entered a room that Garfield had explored several times already. About ten feet by ten feet, it wasn't much to look at. It had a small sofa, a water cooler, and two vending machines. A break room it seemed. 

Garfield watched inquisitively as the man ignored all of these accommodations and approached the rear wall. Brushing his fingertips against the tiled surface, he leaned forward and spoke with a clear, over annunciated tone. 

"Zabo."

A tiny light somewhere between two tiles blinked and a dull auditory ding answered the man. Then, there was a hydraulic gasp as, to the left of the man, a portion of the wall unsealed and rose up to reveal metallic doors. A second later, they too parted and revealed a small elevator. 

Dude! Of course there's a secret elevator. Duh.

Garfield zipped forward and joined the man, Calvin Zabo he assumed, in the lift, landing on the back wall.  

Okay, you've gotta be hiding something down here, he told himself, feeling his excitement rising once more. Secret elevator leading to secret underground lab where secret evil experiments are being run? Got you now.

He couldn't tell exactly how many levels the elevator traveled but the trip was fairly short. Garfield also hadn't spotted any sort of controls or buttons, so he figured it must only have a single stop. Either way, as the doors slid open once more, he was hit with an immediate din of activity not present on the above floor. Down here he could hear multiple instances of chatter, heavy footsteps, mechanical and digital whirls and beeps, and much more. 

Doctor Zabo was already out of the elevator before the doors had fully opened. As Garfield trailed behind at a safe distance, he noticed easily triple the amount of personnel here than above. And he could tell from the surrounding cacophony that there were even more elsewhere. This, he realized, was the true Meta Solutions laboratories. 

It took less than a minute and several turns down alternate hallways before Zabo arrived at his apparent destination. The nameplate just to the right of the closed-door suggested this was the doctor's office that Kitty had thought may hold vital information. 

Jackpot. Garfield thought.

Producing a keycard and sliding it through an electronic lock, Zabo stepped through and swung the door closed behind him almost immediately. Garfield, dashing forward, could feel the wind ruffle his wings as the door nearly clipped him. For a second he was concerned his target might have heard his telltale buzzing as he had been forced to come within inches of Zabo, but the man seemed intent on his thoughts and goals.

On one wall hung various awards and accolades the doctor had received over his lifetime. Several news articles were framed beside these and often depicted photographs of Zabo shaking hands with others in his field. Garfield couldn't see a single picture that included the man smiling. Nor could he spot any other personal photographs of the doctor's family. 

Set in front of this wall was a large oak desk. The surface of which was mostly sparse aside from the twin monitor desktop and phone. It was the latter of these Zabo reached for. 

Garfield landed and hung on the ceiling directly above the desk, momentarily cringing as he tasted the unclean surface. He tried and failed to make out the entire number dialed, but judging from the first three digits he didn't believe it was a New York area code. 

After a few moments of silence, Zabo finally spoke into the receiver. "Transfer me to the director. Yes, I am aware. Yes." 

It was another two minutes before he continued, evidently having been put on hold.

"Director, I understand you called for me earlier. It is unusual, to say the least, to hear from you personally. What is it that I may help you with?" 

Garfield could see the man's eyes narrow and hear his jaw clench as he forced some civility into his tone.

"Yes. I personally oversaw the development of the latest batch and if that charlatan is claiming there are any defects in the supply then he is a fool. 

"Yes, well, the man claims to be in touch with higher powers so I am not entirely inclined to believe every word spewed from his mouth. He has no background in any scientific field and has no place to—"

Even without being able to hear the other end of the conversation, Garfield could tell from the way Zabo stiffened and bristled like an angry cat that things were not going entirely in the doctor's favor.

"I understand. Yes, of course. I will ensure the latest batch of the growth hormone to be pure. Yes, Director Kane." He said in barely controlled contempt. "In fact, my men have brought me several new test subjects in the last week. All young and viable, I assure you."

Garfield's attention snapped to those words. Young test subjects? It has to be...

Zabo continued, "I could increase the production schedule, of course, but I wouldn't recommend—" Gritting his teeth tightly, he listened for a second before slowly acquiescing to the director's apparent demands.

"Of course. A shipment for the West coast can be prepared for next week. Yes, Director, I'll prepare the harvest immediately. I am sure you will be most satisfied with our new prototype product. Yes. Tonight. Yes. Goodbye."

Zabo slammed the phone receiver into its cradle with unbridled fury. "Insufferable woman!"

The doctor stayed hunched over his desk, his breath heavy and exasperated. He gripped the edge of the desk tightly until his fingers began to go white, and Garfield was sure something was about to be thrown across the room. But after another minute Zabo seemed to calm himself, at least outwardly, and reached for the phone once more. 

This time he hit only two buttons. "Klaus, the schedule has been moved up. We will be performing a harvest tonight. Prepare the children."

Hanging the phone up more calmly, Zabo swept his hair back from his face and readjusted his clothing. Once he seemed satisfied with his appearance and composure, he strode back out of his office.

Crap, crap, crap! Garfield cursed to himself as he buzzed along behind the doctor. That's definitely the proof we wanted and it sounds like those kids are here, but how the Hell do I tell the others before these creeps do whatever it is they're going to do to them?

As Zabo rounded a corner, Garfield could see the elevator that he had come down on. For a moment he hesitated, debating on whether or not he should continue following Zabo to where the kids were located, maybe do something to free them himself, or head back up to the surface and get the others. Then, a sudden realization hit Garfield like a flyswatter. 

Oh... shit. The elevator is voice-activated. I can't get back up.

If ever a fly could look both horrified and confused, it was at that moment. 

Garfield quickly did an about-turn and once more darted toward the doctor's departing form. 

Okay. This is fine. This is fine. I'll think of something.

This is fine...
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"Hayao Miyazaki"

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