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Spoilers for the whole series! But by this point, you're probably familiar with how it ends already :)
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~~~ISAAC DENEIA~~~

“In the end, it is our defiance that redeems us. If wolves had a religion – if there was a religion of the wolf – that it is what it would tell us" – Mark Rowlands

~Several hours after the final battle, underneath several stories of debris…~

“Isaac…"

“Isaac…?"

Ugh…

Dark. Everything was dark. There was absolutely no light anywhere.

“H-Hello? Isaac…?"

Mmmrgh… Who? Wha…

“ISAAC! Isaac please, come IN! I know you can hear me… or at least I hope you can!"

That voice… Liz?

Everything felt numb. Not even numb, more like… absent. As if I wasn't even inside my own body. No sight, no feelings, and definitely no touch. Though I could faintly taste something akin to… dirt?

But I could hear something… someone…

“Isaac, just keep focusing on my voice! Your vitals are slowly improving, and so should your mental activity. You're still alive somewhere down there, and I need you to rise and shine!"

No, wait… That's not Liz; she's still… yeah…

I opened my mouth to try and reply, but all that came out was a weak moan. Though as I inhaled several breaths before trying again, the feeling began to slowly return to my body, starting with my throat. And none of it was particularly pleasant; everything from head to toe began to hurt.

“Who… who is that?" I finally managed to gasp.

As my focus came back, the voice got louder and more audible. “I-It's me, uh, Car--- er, Doctor Carly Henderson. Remember? I'm the scientist that helped you with your nanite suit…?"

“R-Right… Um, hi. Where… where am I?" It was all I could really think to say.

“Hello to you, too" she responded, with a hint of an oddly calming sweetness in her voice. “I know you're probably a little shaken up down there, so I'll give you the quick version. You're directly below us, about two hundred feet straight down, if I had to guess. Most of the facility collapsed; more like completely caved in actually, and you're close to the bottom of it all. I'm not really sure how you survived, to be honest, but I plan on keeping you alive long enough to tunnel out of there and get back to the surface. You should have your suit back on, but right now it's the ONLY thing keeping you from being crushed or suffocating down there."

On the subject of that accursed suit, it suddenly dawned on me that I was actually still wearing it, completely intact, even.

An easy thing to miss since I've been wearing it for days on end, now…

Back then, in the aftermath, I was sure that the fights between Greg, Kyla, and Stryker had completely destroyed the millions of microscopic machines that made up the armor, but now it seemed that that wasn't the case. Somehow, even though my technopathy abilities may or may not have fully returned to me, the suit was doing exactly what it was designed to do, even without my brain telling it to.

“D-Doc…" I stuttered between coughs, “The suit, it… it's completely reattached to me. How did that happen? Shouldn't that be impossible without my superpowers?"

“It SHOULD be, yes" Carly answered. “But as the person who designed the suit herself, I can tell you exactly why that's not the case. It's because I'm controlling it right now, not you. It wasn't easy, since most of it had to slowly regenerate by converting the raw material around you into more of the nanomachines and… well, I won't bore you with the sciencey-stuff. You just need to know that it's protecting you from being crushed and cycling the air around you, giving you a clean but limited supply to breathe."

So now this damn suit's being used to protect someone instead of bringing pain and death? Wow, what a fucking shocker…

“You… you designed this suit?" I mumbled weakly, still not quite back at a hundred percent just yet.

“I did, yes" she answered with a small tone of pride in her voice. “And that's why I'm going to use as much control over it as this device allows me to have, to help you tunnel out of there! You have to do most of the heavy lifting, but with your hybrid-enhanced strength it should be feasible enough. You'll get tired, but I can make the suit send small electrical impulses to your nerves and stimulate your muscles for more. If we work together, you'll be free in no time!"

I… I could?

I… no.

“Doc… Carly. Listen, I… I don't really think I want to tunnel out. I think it's best if you all just leave me down here…"

“W-What!? Why?" she stammered.

Because most dead people usually end up in the ground…

I told her what my heart had been telling me this whole time. “Because I'm just… done. I'm okay with this… I deserve it."

“You DESERVE to be buried alive under God-knows-how-many stories of steel and concrete!?" Carly shouted, sounding shrill enough to make the speaker inside my helmet buzz with vocal distortion. “Isaac, please listen to me, listen to REASON! You do NOT 'deserve' to die down there. But you DO deserve a chance to try and escape! No man can do it, but you're not an ordinary man at all! You're a hybrid, and a strong one at that. I need you… I need you to be strong, Isaac. I need you to find it in yourself to HELP yourself, and let me help you as well. You've been given a chance to go ahead and move on with your life."

“But… what if I just don't WANT to move on with my life, Carly?" I countered. “HAC and OGD are gone… My friends are gone, back to wherever, and I'll bet most of them wouldn't even want me back. And Liz… Well, at least I've finally accepted that she's gone. All that took was a fuck-ton of bloodshed and tears. Don't you get it, though? I've got nothing worth moving on to, nor can I even THINK of how I'm going to live with myself after all the horrible things I did this last few days."

For a long time, Carly was as silent as the world around me before she spoke again.

“Then… I guess the only other thing I can suggest is, if you won't save yourself for you… would you at least do it for me? For all of us, I mean."

“All of you?" I asked, suddenly realizing that if Carly had gotten out, then it wouldn't have been impossible for others to have escaped the collapsing building as well.

“Yes, ALL of us! Your friends weren't the only ones who made it out alive, silly" Carly jeered. “In fact, after we did a head-count, we realized that, in a manner of speaking, only the best of us got out. Like… all of us that don't want to be evil jerks. Mr. Stryker is gone, and he tried to take his entire company with him, regardless of any of his employee's lives. Even in death, his cruelty was undeniable, and we all see that clearly. And now, all of us survivors have only one common goal that keeps us going… the goal to rebuild. To rebuild our company as well as our own lives; to try and make a positive difference in this world now that we aren't being manipulated or kept in the dark. But it's not going to be easy, not by a long shot. And that doesn't change the fact that we need all the help we can get!"

I didn't know what to say. It all sounded good on paper, but… I'd been down that path before.

“Isaac… you don't know what the future will bring any more than we do. But wouldn't it be interesting to find out? Especially since… well, I know you said you're not exactly happy that you had to hurt people, but what if I told you that if you let me help you escape, you could wind up saving people instead?"

…I could save people?

I kept playing that over and over in my head, just to make sure I heard Carly right.

I could save people… and try to make up for past sins?

It sounds good… maybe a little too good to be true. How do I know if any of this will even work out for everyone? I mean… I don't think she's lying to me, why would she?

It's not her… it's me.

I don't know if I can trust MYSELF to not do anything stupid and horrible again.

I just…

And then it hit me:

…what would Liz want me to do…?

I closed my eyes and pictured her smiling face. Both of them; the sweet, caring human Elizabeth I had met years ago that filled a hole in my life I didn't even realize was there… and then the headstrong, powerful leopardess hybrid Elizabeth that stayed with me throughout the toughest year in human history and made every day not seem so bad.

They spoke… she spoke. And I listened.

“Okay, Doc… tell me how to get out of here."

~~~

“Ugh… GRAHHH! Oh dear, sweet merciful God, I swear my arms are going to explode…"

“Oh geez, I hope the suit's not stimulating your muscles TOO much! I only have it set to 'very low!'"

“No… what you're doing actually helps quite a lot. It's just that I don't think I've ever done this much physical activity before in my life. I'm just really, REALLY tired…"

Carly chuckled, probably thinking I was being facetious, but I was in fact being dead serious. “Don't worry, Isaac. From what I can tell, you're already more than halfway there! Maybe even two-thirds… Just don't drag the rest out for too long, though! If you take too long to catch your breath, you'll never get started up again."

I had to pause and move a huge rock away before I could respond further. “Ngh… 'hoo, boy… I'm sorry, I can't really do this while I'm talking… I need the energy to move."

“Okay… good luck, tough guy" she said encouragingly.

There was no proper way to describe the experience, other than it just being extremely physically intense. The way I moved my body felt a little bit like swimming, doing pull-ups, and climbing up stairs all at the same time… on Jupiter. The compressed, claustrophobic environment certainly felt like gravity itself was multiplied tenfold. Then there was the excavating itself. Some spots of earth were looser than others, which made it easy for me to move it out of my way, but other patches were very compacted and dense, forcing me to either go in another direction or to simply power on through it.

And in addition to all of that, I had to shimmy and wriggle every which way to get the earth I clawed at to fall down to my feet, allowing me to compact it and use it to stand on like a stepstool. I could've climbed diagonally, which undoubtedly would have been less demanding on my body, but it also would've taken way longer to do. Instead I went back and forth between methods, using the compass in my helmet's HUD to tell me which direction I was facing. But for the most part, I went straight upwards and didn't look back.

My muscles ached and cried, begging me to give up my efforts and stop torturing them. Some parts of the armor gave way and came off after a while thanks to the sheer tightness of my environment, allowing for plenty of dirt and sand to sneak into my suit and make things even more uncomfortable.

But I've come this far… There's NO way I'm stopping now!

And stop I sure didn't, in spite of it all. Little by little, with the small electrical impulses from the suit stimulating my muscles just enough to keep me going uninterrupted, I ascended higher and higher. After what felt like another hour, the large rocks began to get smaller and easier to circumvent. After what felt like two more hours after that, I noticed that my surroundings had become WAY smaller, down to mere grains of sand.

“C-Carly, it's all sand now! Ugh… That means I'm close, right!?"

But as much progress as I was making, it didn't change the fact that I was beyond just running on fumes; I was running on… on… I couldn't even think of a good metaphor. All I knew was that my body was well beyond its normal limits, which could only mean a crash was imminent. Even talking felt ten times harder than normal.

Probably because BREATHING is now about TWENTY times harder than normal! Am I finally running out of air?

“Yes, yes you definitely are!" Carly cheered into my ear, revitalizing me just enough to suck down one more deep breath and resume tunneling. “If I'm reading this scanner right, you're well within our area and only about twenty feet below! This is the home stretch!"

“Doc… my air is definitely running out, though" I moaned. “I think maybe the… sand's blocking the air… intake or something… I dunno, I just know I'm getting really light-headed."

She said something in response… but I either didn't hear it or it just didn't resonate with my brain.

I was practically standing right in front of the light at the end of the tunnel. I took one more deep breath, and began to ascend the final twenty-something feet. I shut my eyes and ears off completely and willed all my remaining strength to go to my muscles.

“Isaac, didn't you hear what I said…?"

Eighteen feet…

“Hey, Isaac, talk to me! The suit's so low on power I can barely hear anything!"

Fourteen feet…

“Isaac…?"

Twelve feet…

“ISAAC!"

Uh… seven? I think I lost count…

“No it's seven, you were right. You're so close though, baby! Don't stop now; they're all waiting for you up there!"

That voice… wait. You're not Carly, you're---

“Yep! Just wanted to pop in and help you with this final stretch of your daring escape!"

Oh man… have I suddenly died, or am I getting delusional from a lack of air…?

“The lack of air probably has something to do with it, but… eh. Don't worry about that right now. Just worry about going the final… four feet? Ugh, I think now I'M the one that lost count, hehe."

Heh, well you always said that math wasn't exactly your… strongest suit, remember?

“Technically, no… but let's not get off-topic here. All I wanted to say was that I'm proud of you for choosing to live. Whatever you do from here on out won't be easy or anything, but, you know, that's okay. Nothing worth doing ever is. All I really want for you is to accomplish something that makes you happy. And I know you'll figure out what that is."

Thank you, Liz… I'm so, so sorry for all the wrong I've done in your name… It's going to haunt me for a long time, I know it. It was all out of love… My decisions and actions were misplaced, but my love never was.

“I love you too, Isaac. So, so much… And no matter what you do with your life from this point on, you know it's true. You have the power to make things better. But please, cut yourself a break and do it for YOU, not necessarily for me. I'm just a memory… but the story of your life is far from being over."

I thrust my arm forward… and it suddenly felt nothing at all. Nothing but the empty air from the surface!

I… I made it?

I had MADE IT!

I did it for you, Liz. But you're right… now I need to look to the future and start living for myself… as soon as I can get out of here, of course.

I figured that, with my head all but peeking out from the ground, I could call out to the OGD's and let them know where I had emerged. But as hard as I tried, no sound came out of my mouth. That one final push had definitively drained all my energy. I would've panicked, if I still had the capacity to do so, though after only a few minutes I could hear voices off in the distance.

“He's in the area, somewhere close to us! Keep looking!"

“Are you sure you're reading that thing right? I don't think---"

“Wait--- THERE! He's right there, look! His arm!"

In no time at all, I could hear and feel what seemed like ten or so people running towards my location, all grabbing my hand sticking out of the ground ironically like a classic image of a zombie rising from the grave.

Maybe that's exactly what I am… in at least some ways, I think…

“Okay, one… two… three… PULL!"

It took them several tries, and only when I could force my other hand out from below did it become a lot easier. The earth around me was almost entirely sand, and it took a few minutes for the upper half of my body to be excavated. But after that point, I brushed their arms gesturing to help me aside. All I wanted to do now was try to rise and stand on my own two feet unassisted. I wasn't sure why, but it just felt like something I needed to do. Maybe to convince myself that this was all actually happening and not just crush syndrome making me crazy.

“Stand back, let him be" one of the scientists said.

Slowly but surely, I forced the lower half of my body out from the ground as the crowd looked on. From my knees, I successfully managed to stand up like I had wanted to do, even though I couldn't actually even feel the ground beneath me because I was so sore. With the only strength my body still possessed, I grabbed the sides of my helmet and tugged it off, dropping it to the ground unceremoniously. My eyes finally saw the sunlight unobstructed by anything, and it was nothing to me but blinding.

The entire world seemed to disappear around me as I looked up at the sky and took a deep breath…

“Isaac…"

…and as I exhaled, I noticed that Carly had made her way to the front of the crowd. Everyone else looked relieved and understandably very tired, but she only looked… happy.

“I'm glad you could make it" she said with a smile.

I smiled myself… and dropped to my knees from exhaustion.

“Isaac!" Carly shouted as she dove to her own knees to catch me before my head hit the ground. She wrapped her arms around me, cradling me close.

This… This feels good. I miss this…

“…Thank you… Carly…" was all I could whisper with a smile before the world went black again…

~Six months later~

I couldn't stop watching.

“Wait, no! STOP! I sur--- AHHH!"

THUNK.

I couldn't stop watching as the fully armored hybrid with the giant sword and giant arm slaughtered hybrid after hybrid in the most brutal, violent ways. He stood on a rooftop; a familiar rooftop that seemed to span infinitely, as his opponents came at him from every side and angle. But they never laid a hand on him, because he was too fast and too powerful.

“Don't kill me don't kill me don't ki---"

SCHLICK.

It was me. I was a pair of disembodied eyes and ears floating somewhere, watching myself in full nanobot armor dispatch every single HAC hybrid that came at… me. 'I' showed no mercy. 'I' took them all out, one by one, whether by brute strength or the ferocious power of the sword.

“I'll stop you! I won't let you hurt my friends!"

Oh no…

No, please, not you… don't make me watch, please!

One HAC hybrid approached the twisted version of myself, appearing to stand his ground much better than the others did. An arctic wolf hybrid. Wearing a crude set of his own armor that I knew a long lost friend of mine had forged, he raised a hand cackling with cryokinetic energy and challenged my doppelganger to a fight. His opponent withdrew his sword from the body of his latest kill… and engaged the wolf.

Please, God… don't make me watch what comes next…

But it happened anyway. It happened in the same way it did in real life.

"Uuuh... Ugh...! HRRRK!"

Before the wolf even knew what was going on, the other Isaac stabbed him clean through the stomach. They both hung in place for what felt like an eternity; my twin staring into his opponent's eyes as he died. Wasting no time afterwards, he unceremoniously kicked the wolf in the chest so he'd be released from the sword's embrace, causing the sickening sound of metal scraping against metal and flesh to ring in my ears.

Throughout all of it, I couldn't close my mind's eye and avoid watching anything that was happening. But after that last kill, my vision went black for a single moment. A single moment of relief… but not from my own internal turmoil.

Francis… that was your name. I killed you… I killed you… Oh God, I killed you…

But once my eyes opened and looked around… things were different again. The bodies strewn across the ground were still there, including Francis', though the fully armored version of myself was nowhere to be seen. The reason why, however, was almost like a trick question. It was because I suddenly WAS him. I had merged with him and was standing right in the epicenter of his gruesome handiwork, still wearing the full nanobot suit but without a helmet. I didn't even realize until I moved my right hand that my sword was also still in this body's grasp, completely drenched in blood.

There was… just so much of it. Blood on the sword, blood on the ground… blood on my hands.

Blood on a sword that wasn't ever mine to begin with. I was so fucked up, I stole Greg's sword when I didn't even have to… because I wanted to HURT him. I wanted to add the insult to the injury… oh Lord, why did I---

“Yes Isaac, isn't that the question of the day? 'Why?'"

That voice… Francis' voice? I only partially remembered what he sounded like at all, but this version of his voice sounded lower… more demonic.

Behind me!?

I spun around and tried to listen closer; not necessarily out of a desire to do so, but rather out of instinct. But there was nobody there.

“You know, it's actually kind of symbolic---"

Wait, behind me again!

I quickly turned back around to where I started… and immediately regretted doing so.

“---symbolic, because not only did YOU turn against him, but you turned his own damn weapon against him, too. And just look at what you did with it."

The seemingly endless pile of bodies strewn across the ground… all of them had suddenly become Francis' body, all with gaping, bloody wounds in the stomach. There was… just nothing even there! I could see right through all of them! And around the edges… all the ruptured flesh and organs… All visible. Now there was so much blood that… the concrete rooftop itself wasn't even visible anymore. All I could see was only white fur and red blood…

I took a step back, clenching tighter on the sword than I already had been and using it to keep myself from keeling over. Seeing all of this at once… it felt like my eyes were literally burning in their sockets, and not just from the stench of death and decay in the air. I felt light-headed. I felt more nauseated than I ever had been!

Oh God oh God ohhh Goood… I'm… I'm g-gonna be sick… I n-need… I need to…

Suddenly, one of the closer bodies' dead eyes darted in my direction. His head twitched and his jaw clenched, spitting out more blood before slowly forming a wicked smile. “You need to WHAT, Isaac? Need to puke? Need to sit down for a moment? Need to just look away and pretend we're not all staring daggers at you? Or in this case, swords?"

He chuckled. He chuckled and it sounded just like---

“NO! STOP IT! Stop DOING this to me! I just need to… need to…"

“NEED TO WHAT, ISAAC?"

The laughing hybrid corpse slowly rolled over and got to his knees as it yelled, then rose and stood up very calmly and fluidly, as if there wasn't a giant hole in its gut that'd hinder its ability to move or balance. But through the motion, its empty, yet still harshly accusatory gaze never left my own.

“Need to apologize for killing me?"

That wasn't--- No, NO!

The 'Francis' in front of me didn't say it; it was another one of them! One of the bodies from way in the back slowly stood up itself as it taunted me, and gradually began to make its way over to my terrified form. I couldn't take it anymore, I had to get away!

Get away from me, all of you! Get a---

I suddenly realized I couldn't move my legs. Looking down, I saw that they were frozen in place by a huge block of ice!

“I was a cryokinetic, remember? Plus I understand ice is your Achilles' heel" one of my tormentors jeered.

I need… I need… I NEED TO WAKE UP!!!

“---you can't."

Wait… that voice is different. It's a girl's voice, it's---

My eyes panned back up from my legs, and saw legions of a completely different person standing in front of me.

Hundreds and hundreds of… Kyla's.

“It's meee~" they sang, grinning as widely and cruelly as the Francis-bodies did. “Remember ME, Isaac? I'm the one you were GOING to kill! Kill me, and by extension completely ruin your best friend's newfound happiness, and most likely fuck him up for life. But that brave guy back there sacrificed himself instead!"

Staring… they were all STARING at me! Staring right into my black, pathetic excuse for a soul…

“That's right Isaac, your soul IS just a fucked up mess!" the Kyla closest to me jeered. Some spoke in unison with her, making their collective voices louder and deeper, much harder to try and brush off or ignore. Others, however, just pointed and laughed. Laughed like I was the butt of the greatest joke that'd ever been told.

But the staring… they ALL were doing it. Their cold, blue eyes were impossible to un-see. And none blinked, not even once.

“You think your little snap-decision of self-sacrifice with that elevator is enough to cleanse that soul of yours? WRONG, buddy. You were GOING to kill me with your own two hands, forcing someone else to sacrifice themselves so I wouldn't die and Greg wouldn't die on the inside! Either way, you took a life. And you indirectly took even more with that suit and your powers! You killed one of MY teammates that way, one of the men I considered to be a brother! How many others were there, Isaac? One? Two? Three? Twenty!? I don't know, because you don't know, but BOTH of us are sure it was quite a damn few!"

As they talked I struggled and struggled, and the more effort I put into it, the mass of ice entrapping my legs miraculously began to weaken and crack apart. In turn, it allowed for more room to thrash and further free myself. But the Kyla doppelgangers paid it no mind as they came in closer and closer, smiling wickedly, ready to do… I didn't even want to know!

A little more… just a little more!

They were right in front me when finally, with a loud crack, I had done it! I broke the ice!

YES!

I was free! Even as the ice slowly began to reform and affix me to the ground once again, I moved quickly to avoid any more torture. I spread my arms out and shoved all the snow leopardess hybrids within arm's reach away, making several of them tumble backwards and knock down the ones behind them like dominoes. They yelped in surprise, one of them even commenting that I was hurting 'Kyla' again, but I didn't care. My only thought was to get off this rooftop and find a way out of this nightmare altogether.

Time seemed to slow down as I put all the momentum in my legs and prepared to turn and sprint away from everyone. My torso turned first, in sync with my arms, as my head began to turn and try to view my pathway to escape. Slowly, my vision focused on the seemingly infinite stretch of concrete rooftop paneling ahead.

I took one step---

SCHLICK!

---and stopped. There was a sudden flash of steel and a loud, squelching sound. Both were so intense that they forced my eyes shut for a long moment. When I opened them back up, there was suddenly a black mass directly in front of me. As my vision came back into focus, I could see it was another OGD soldier… with armor just like mine.

He tilted his head down towards the ground ever so slightly, prompting me to do the same… though I immediately wished I hadn't.

“Ughhh… nooo…"

The OGD figure had a sword of his own in his grasp, holding it out at arm's length. But the tip of the sword had been forced right into my gut, skewering me where I stood. There was no pain, no physical indication that there was anything wrong, even as I stared blankly at the steady flow of my blood trickling to the ground. My jaw trembled madly, wanting to scream out in terror but somehow unable to. My own sword, which I had unknowingly been hanging onto all this time, dropped harmlessly to the floor with a loud clanging sound.

But I knew. It was like a slice of hell inside my head. Pain or not, I knew that I had been STABBED, I knew there was a sword INSIDE of me, I KNEW that my insides were SHREDDED, I knew---

I knew it was in the exact same manner as… as…

“YES, Mr. Deneia. It doesn't feel so good to be on the receiving end of the sword, does it?"

The shiny black visor melted away, revealing the evil, unrepentant, perpetually smirking face behind it. A face that was full of fright and terror when I saw it last, but now had the tables turned back in its favor and once again had complete control over me.

“It's funny, my boy… You and I, we are not so different…"

“Y-YOU!"

“We are both driven by power and a self-stylized sense of the greater good, and have both gone to extreme lengths to gain what we desire… regardless of what the cost may be."

“No… NO!"

“And who knows," the ghostly face of Stryker sneered, “One day, you may even continue my work in my absence. I suppose you owe me that much… seeing as you did kill me…"

He started to laugh… that horrible, HORRIBLE laugh!

And I could only… scream…

~~~

“Isaac! ISAAC!"

There was a sudden sharp pain on the right side of my face as the nightmare dissolved itself around me and I finally awoke back in reality. I was confused for a brief second, but looking in front of me I could see Carly standing over my bedside with her hand drawn back, almost as if she---

Wait a minute.

“Did… did you just slap me across the face?" I groaned, still extremely groggy after what I had just endured.

“Uh… well, yeah" she muttered sheepishly.

I sat up in the bed, prompting Carly to sit on the side. “No, no, I'm glad you did. I… I was in the middle of… my God, the worst nightmare I've ever had in my entire life."

“I could tell," she said. “You were screaming so loudly, I thought you were being attacked for a second! I ran over and, well… did what I had to."

“I didn't wake anyone else up, did I…?"

“Nope, I don't think so. Pretty much everyone in this hovel sleeps with earplugs in, to avoid hearing any late-night construction. But not you, you're a heavy sleeper. Maybe a little too heavy, though."

At the present, all of us were housed in a temporary shelter we had constructed right next to the former facility. Small and not very homey, it was fine for sleeping in after a long day of work, but not very good for anything else. At the very least, I had my own room with extremely basic amenities. But the walls were certainly not very sound-resistant at all, from the look of it…

“Again, thank you for waking me up" I said as I rubbed the pain out of my face. “Don't hesitate to do it again, either. This wasn't the first time I've had this nightmare, and I have a feeling it won't be the last…"

Her expression serious, Carly gently placed her hand on my shoulder. “Isaac… can we please talk about it? I know exactly what's bothering you. It's been half a year and you haven't really opened up to me or anybody else about it. But I really, really think I can help you."

She, of course, already knew everything anyway. In the six months we'd been here, I hadn't directly told anybody my story; about my capture and voluntarily departure from HAC to OGD and how I was involved in the death of its CEO and destruction of its grounds, but everyone somehow knew anyway. It didn't bother me very much, provided nobody brought it up in my presence, but I knew I was the elephant in the room from the get-go regardless.

So, for better or for worse, I recapped everything. And I meant EVERYTHING. My time with Elizabeth before Z-Day and HAC, being recruited and becoming hybrids while keeping our love a secret from our superiors, her eventual downfall and my capture… and then everything that came afterwards. Including that final battle with Stryker and its aftermath, which Carly was surprisingly not up to speed on. I talked, and she listened.

By the time I was done, it seemed Carly knew exactly what to say. “I don't think you're nearly as bad as you think you are, Isaac. Your actions may have been rather dark, but your intentions were ultimately for a decent purpose. A lot of what happened was just… outside your control. Given the circumstances and the nature of the people involved, I don't think any sane man would've deviated differently."

“Uh… thanks, I guess" I muttered.

“With that being said… I guess maybe it's time I told you what I really had in mind for you ever since you tunneled out of the ground… I wanted to wait until after all the rebuilding was done, but maybe now is better. This is something that'll either take your mind off of your guilt, make you want to work even harder to absolve it, or some weird combination of both."

“What you had in mind for me…?" I reiterated.

Smile drooping fast, Carly gazed off into the distance. “You see, Isaac… I have a terminal disease."

What.

…that is the LAST thing I was expecting to hear.

“You… what!?" I nearly shouted.

She sighed deeply, returning her focus to me. It was as if she didn't want to see the horrified surprise on my face when she dropped her bomb on me. “Yeah… it's called Huntington's disease, and I was diagnosed a couple of years ago. In a nutshell, it basically makes the nerve cells in your brain slowly break down over time, making your mind and body get progressively crazier. And… there's no cure for it, obviously. Being diagnosed is a death sentence."

Carly is… dying? She HAS BEEN dying this whole time!?

I couldn't believe we were even having this conversation. I had seen her every single day, for the last six months, and she always looked just fine! She ate right and exercised enough, she always had a happy, radiant glow and was always smiling and laughing… she overall appeared to be a completely normal, well-rounded human being. So how could she be DYING!?

“I… okay. So… how long do you, well… have left?" I struggled very hard to find the words to ask such a delicate question, but Carly paid it no mind. She undoubtedly would have known I'd be caught completely off-guard by this news, so awkwardness was probably not an issue.

“Well… a good ten, fifteen years at least," she answered. “After that… nobody can really tell. It all depends on the individual and what symptoms they show. But not long, that much is definite."

“Carly… why didn't you ever TELL me any of this?" I stammered.

She looked upset… but more with herself than with my reaction. “Isaac, just bear with me, please? I'm telling you this now because I'm trying to build up to my point; a point that's going to benefit both of us down the road."

“I… I'm sorry" I replied. “Keep going…"

Her smile gradually returned. “The point I'm trying to make, Isaac, is that even though there's no medical cure for what I have, there's still something we can do about it. Something that can only be done once we get everything here back up and running; something that we've already done for plenty of people before, even if it wasn't exactly for the noblest of reasons…"

“I think I'm starting to see where this is going… You want to become a hybrid yourself, don't you?" I asked. “Not only would it cure your disease, but it'd also nearly triple the lifespan you would've had."

Carly's hopeful expression immediately answered my question for me. “There's no way we can do it without you, Isaac. I mean, please don't think that I'm using you or anything. Yes, all of that is our intention, but the only reason why I didn't tell you any of this at first was because I wanted it to be your decision to help me once we got started. That, and I of course wanted to give you time to sort your own affairs out first. But… now you know. Our plan for the new, selfless OGD is to use the hybrid creation technology to heal anyone who needs healing, not just myself. When I told you months ago that you'd be helping us save lives instead of taking them away, this is what I meant! There are plenty of sicknesses worse than Huntington's, and the worst of them all is still out there. You know which one I mean – the one involving walking corpses biting people."

Her words made me suddenly remember something important. 

That vision of Elizabeth I had, right when I was scraping at the surface of the ground… She told me I needed to try and improve myself FOR myself… Not for her, for ME. To try and ease my guilt away…

But with this opportunity, it doesn't HAVE to just be for me. It can be for me, and for…

Right at that moment, everything suddenly became completely clear to me. Then and there, all my prior confusion and doubt faded away, and I knew what my new purpose in life would be from then on out.

“I accept."

“Y-You mean…?" Carly gasped.

I gently placed my hands on her shoulders, pulling her close to me. “Yes. I accept the duty and responsibility of helping to save your life and as many others as we can. I couldn't save her, Carly… I couldn't save Elizabeth from death. But now I have a second chance. I was told once that I should try to better myself for my own sake, not for the sake of who I lost. Except… now I realize that that person needs to be my example, not my drive. I can't bring back the people I killed or had indirectly killed, so the one thing that would cleanse my guilt would be to try and prevent anyone else from dying. Starting with you, because… I need you in my life."

Her hands wrapped around my waist as she pulled herself even closer to me, hovering just inches away from my face. “Isaac… I need you in my life, too. Not just for the reason I said, but for so, so much more than that…"

We stared into each other's eyes briefly… and then we kissed. Soft as a whisper, but full of passion.

When we eventually broke apart and recollected ourselves, both of us had an embarrassed smile and a deep red blush to match. But… we both knew it meant something. Something special.

Carly was the first to break the silence after a moment. “Hey, um… I know it's silly of me to ask, but would you maybe… want me to sleep here tonight, with you? N-Not in a romantic way, of course, it's just that cuddling with someone after a nightmare usually---"

“Y-Yes. I'd like that very much" I interrupted.

She smiled wide. “Great."

She removed her shoes and climbed into my bed, taking the portion of the sheets I offered her with silent gratitude. We both knew we would talk about what we just did in the morning and try to rationalize it… But for now, neither she nor I wanted the moment to end.

“Mmmh… This is nice…" Carly crooned as she snuggled tight against me, rubbing her hands all over my chest and back. It felt amazing. “Can I tell you a secret?"

“Sure."

She giggled as she finally found her comfort zone, deciding on spooning up against me. “I've wanted to cuddle up with a hybrid for a long time… And now that I am, I'm glad it's with you."

“I'm glad it's with me, too" I whispered with a smile as I wrapped my own arms around her waist and held her close as we both fell asleep.

~Over a year later~

From that moment on, the horrible nightmares all but ceased. Every now and then I would find myself back on that rooftop when I shut my eyes and went to bed, but I was always able to wake myself up before things got bad. I knew it was because, new lease on life or not, the underlying guilt in the back of my mind would never completely go away, no matter how much good I did to make up for it. But in a way, that was a good thing in itself. I needed that one little spark to motivate me in my new endeavors; a fuel for my internal fire. It no longer haunted me; it drove me. And I was just fine with that.

Over the course of the next year, motivate me it most certainly did. The previous six months had been dedicated to simply cleaning up and drawing blueprints; to prepare ourselves for the long road ahead. But it was worth it. Thanks to the super-powered contributions of me and the few other OGD hybrids that survived the collapse, rebuilding the facility to an acceptable degree was actually a lot easier than we thought. Between us we were our own living welding torches, power tools, and heavy-lifting machines. The new facility was much smaller overall, but it was more than suitable for everyone's needs. Plus, we had designed it to be perfectly able to expand at some point in the future, to perhaps one day reach its original size.

With us hybrids restoring the foundations, Carly and the other scientists worked around the clock to restore the insides, where all the 'experimental magic' would resume. It had turned out that most of the important equipment we exhumed was in working order, albeit a little banged up. For everything that did require a major repair, my unique abilities proved to be a real godsend.

Finding enough food and water to support ourselves wasn't actually as much of a problem as it seemed to be, thanks to the efforts of several foraging parties we sent out periodically to nearby areas. Crossing the desert was never a pleasant task, usually taking an entire day in itself to do, but the closest former civilizations turned out to have more than enough supplies to keep us going. Not even just food; more vehicles, appliances, raw materials, and ESPECIALLY books, movies, and other means of entertainment; something literally every one of us desperately needed after a year and a half.

“Dude, Isaac, check this out! We raided a GameStop and took EVERYTHING! Now we got enough games and shit to never be bored again! Power to the Players, right!?"

Once all the rebuilding, rewiring, and reassembling was done, the next step began – everyone returning to their real, actual jobs. Particularly, restarting the hybrid program to serve our new, nobler purposes. Being one of, if not the smartest person there, Carly oversaw most of the work herself. I chose to help in the one way I could; by once again using my abilities to assist in making the machines do what they were supposed to do.

In the end, all the tests and experiments we performed delivered very, very promising results. But as with any scientific endeavor, we would never know for sure until the real test was complete.

Eventually, after a serious amount of consideration and planning, Carly had decided on the perfect species to assimilate- ailurus fulgens, known more commonly as the red panda. I had truthfully never seen one before and only known about them in name, but after Carly showed me a picture of one I could see why she had chosen that particular animal.

Simply put, it was because they were so goddamn CUTE.

“I've actually always been kind of a furry, even back when I was a girl. It's part of the reason why I got into zoology and biology in general, even. My expertise in mechanics and robotics came from somewhere else I guess; a prodigy can get bored with just one field of study. And it seemed like fate that I'd get headhunted by OGD right out of college to help them work with the hybrid program. But now… to actually become a hybrid myself… to become something that a part of me has wanted to become for such a long time… I've gotta be honest with you, it's like a dream come true. The part where it's going to cure my terminal illness is just a bonus."

She had gone on to explain that Stryker knew all about that very terminal illness from minute one, and that apparently it made for the perfect leverage to keep Carly in line. 'Pledge your loyalty to me, run every experiment I require regardless of the ethics behind them, and perhaps one day YOU can be the recipient of a new, sickness-free body.'

In addition, it seemed that her former employer's selfish hidden goal of using the nano suit to sample my DNA and synthesize my technopathy ability would also go to serve a new, better purpose – giving Carly the same superpower as me. Being a pacifist, she immediately expressed her distaste in shooting fire or ice out of her hands, and instead wanted an ability that would aid in her scientific research and development. In both of our opinions, there was no better candidate.

“If I had to pick something other than operating the nano suit, I'd say the most advanced thing I've done with my abilities was piloting a helicopter for a good four hours. No break, no landing, just me in the cockpit with my hands on the dashboard. It got me, Liz, and Brian to our drop zone for another week-long zombie-extermination mission as smoothly as if a regular pilot was flying it. I'm pretty confident that once you get the hang of technopathy, you could even do the same thing."

As for our personal lives… that first evening we spent together acted as the pilot light for something much, much brighter. There wasn't even a lot of buildup to it; within that same week we both admitted that we were attracted to each other. And that was it, it just… happened. I had a girlfriend again. Just like that, my most heartfelt wish had been granted and I had someone in my life to love and receive love from. I almost broke down in tears after reaching that epiphany…

Even amidst all the construction and experimentation, as time went on the two of us still found time to go out alone and try to live life as a normal, happy couple. We went on long walks, we picnicked in some of the nicer parts of the surrounding desert… we even spent a night on the new facility's rooftop lying back and gazing at the stars in the sky.

Carly could point out every constellation with ease. She truly was the smartest person I had even known.

Every moment we spent together made me realize that I was in the exact same situation as Greg was when he met Kyla, from my understanding. Carly fulfilled the same role that Kyla did for him; the woman who brought us back up from our lowest points after a personal tragedy with losing a previous loved one. They provided so much care and support for us that suddenly the world was a brand new, less apocalyptic place where anything was possible… and a new, stronger true love was right under our noses the whole time.

And that brought the two of us to the present; lying naked in bed together after yet another night of fun and passion on the morning of the… procedure. I had been awake for a good while before the alarm was to go off at 7:00am sharp, so I did the decent thing and turned it off a minute prior. I wrapped my arms around the petite, beautiful blonde, resting my head on her shoulder and teasing her earlobe with my teeth. It was something I frequently did that she absolutely loved. I especially wanted to get my fill this morning, however, since before too long she would no longer even have those fleshy little earlobes at all. A small, trivial price to pay, she understood, if it meant curing her Huntington's disease.

But that's in a few hours. Right now I just want to lay here and savor Carly as she is right now.

In the time leading up to this, we had taken plenty of pictures and recorded a lot of video to preserve the memory of 'human Carly.' I knew a part of me would always miss the original form of the woman I had fallen in love with, just as it did with Elizabeth, but most of me was very excited to see what the new-and-improved Carly would be like.

Plus, coppery-red just happened to be my favorite color.

Slowly, Carly began to stir in my embrace and giggled softly, enjoying my teasing. Her gaze found mine as she looked into my eyes with a happy morning glow in her own.

“Heeeeey, you" I smiled.

“Mmmh… good morning, sweetie" Carly crooned, cupping my cheeks and coming in for a slow, passionate kiss.

Heh, good thing she didn't say 'good morning sunshine,' bad things tend to happen when people say that…

“Today's the big day… Are you ready?" I asked after we both came up for air.

“I think I am… No, I know I am" Carly replied. “This isn't going to be a big day for just me, though – it's going to be a big day for ALL of us… especially you, Isaac." She kissed me again; longer and with more fervor than before. There was so much joy in her eyes, and not just from the lazy early-morning making out.

“Especially me? Why?" I mumbled to the best of my ability. A little hard to do with the extra tongue in my mouth.

Coming up for air again, Carly giggled enthusiastically as she wrapped her arms around my waist and ran her fingers through the fur on my back. “Because, you big silly, THIS is your big day as much as it is mine. Yours, mine, and everyone here at the new OGD. We've already rebuilt our home and workplace, but this is the day where we start actually making a contribution to the world around us instead of unwittingly destroying it. If everything goes smoothly with me today, just imagine how many people in this country--- hell, around the world, we can cure! Plus we also owe it to the human race to repopulate, so why not repopulate it with something more?"

Seriously, though… this can cure diseases, repair crippled limbs, even stop the spread of the zombie virus if it's early enough… all for noble reasons instead of creating an army of mind-controlled slaves.

And I helped make it all possible. My God… I really WILL make a positive difference in this world after all!

“I will say though, as much as I'd love my own coat of warm, fluffy fur, I'm gonna miss the feeling of yours on my bare skin… But you know, small sacrifices."

She looked so hopeful, so… radiant. Any why wouldn't she? This was going to WORK; this new-and-improved process was going to cure her Huntington's disease and allow her to live as long as I would! All the work and testing everyone did, all the number crunching and solution synthesizing… All the signs were there, saying that everything would work just fine.

But even so… What she's going to have to experience beforehand… that's completely unavoidable. I remember HAC, I remember some of the horror stories I've overheard about the process. I came out of it okay and I'm sure she will, too… But I can't get it out of my head…

“Isaac? What is it?"

Only then did I notice that Carly saw the look in my eyes. But I didn't want to leave her in the dark.

“Carly, it's just… Ugh… I'm not too worried about something going wrong or anything like that, but… You probably know this already, but this process; this transformation from a human being into something much more complex… it's not exactly the most fun experience. I mean… it's going to hurt. A LOT. Like… I've heard some HAC hybrid women saying that childbirth has nothing on this. Others, men or women… let's just say it took them a while to make a full psychological recovery. There were even rumors that one or two others went completely insane from the pain and had to be euthanized. I'm not trying to scare you or anything of course, but as someone who's gone through it himself, I just feel like I can't NOT tell you in advance."

She sighed deeply, tightening her grip on me. “No, I understand. And I appreciate you trying to warn me beforehand… but I'm not afraid. It's just one bad moment that'll pay off by making my life expectancy go from forty to a HUNDRED and forty. If you could describe it, though… what was it like?"

“Well… like I said, it's reeeally not fun" I answered." Your eyes feel like they're going to pop, your ears ring louder than any sound you've ever heard, and your skin feels like it's on fire as the fur rapidly grows underneath and forces its way out, one needle at a time. The part where your tail grows in is just plain uncomfortable, since you're rapidly growing new bones while the existing ones change. Also, all your teeth are going to fall out and new ones will painfully replace them, so… don't swallow your old teeth."

~~~

My heart was pounding so fast and hard, I felt like it'd explode out of my chest.

In our newly-dubbed 'Observational Experimentation Room' stood me and the entire OGD staff; scientists, doctors, and hybrids alike. The room was just barely big enough to fit everyone into the viewing area, sealed off by a pane of thick glass. This was a momentous occasion, one that nobody here wanted to miss for even a second. Most of them had clipboards and notepads, ready to record any and all observations.

And lying on the operating table, wearing only a thin hospital gown and thick leather binds on all four limbs, was the woman who was all set to become the first, hopefully of many new OGD hybrids. The woman who had given me everything… and whom I was ready to give everything for.

My Carly. And after the next few minutes, for better or for worse, she would never be the same.

I sat to her side, right at the controls as I carefully inserted an IV drip into her arm and secured it in place with a Velcro strap. No tape, since it would painfully impede the growth of her fur. The IV drip was the final one in a series of four; one on each limb in major arteries. The leather bands were in place to prevent her from thrashing too much and disconnecting them, as well as preventing her from simply falling off the table.

Because she's GOING to thrash… a LOT.

My right hand rested on the machine and the other slowly reached for Carly's, interlacing her fingers with mine and holding tight.

“I'm ready if you are, Doc" I smiled.

She smiled back. “I'm ready, baby. Do it."

This is it… No turning back now.

With my hand firmly touching the control panel, I willed the program to begin running. The LCD screen confirmed my command. The indicator light turned from red to green and a few seconds later Carly's IV drip began to fill. All around us, on the other side of the glass, the entire staff began to scribble their notes.

Now began the hardest part. Waiting.

…One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi…

An entire minute went by.

Two.

Three…

God, this is killing me…

Fo---

“Isaac."

Carly clutched my hand slightly harder than she already was. I quickly shifted my focus from the machine to her.

“Y-Yes?"

Her tone was serious, but that warm, hopeful look on her face that I had come to adore so much remained. “I just want to let you know---"

“I love you, Carly."

I blurted it out. I couldn't help it.

…I just… But it's true. One hundred percent.

I did it; I found true love again. And it's her. I just hope she feels the same---

“I just want to let you know… that I love you too, Isaac" Carly replied with a big smile. “I wanted to say it earlier, but I didn't want to ruin the--- oh God, oh--- GAAAHHH!!!"

The chemicals finally started to kick in and the transformation began. And so did the screaming…

“GYAAAH!!! U-U-UHHH--- ISAAC!"

Trying my hardest to remain calm despite my emotions having to quickly take a U-turn, I firmly gripped her hand in my own. “It's okay, it's okay… It'll all be over soon, I promise!"

“YAAAAAAGHHH!!!"

As if her body were possessed by a demon, Carly began to convulse and thrash madly; giving the bands securing her limbs to the table a real run for their money. All over her body her white skin was turning red, though it was from sheer heat rather than the fact that she'd be growing red fur momentarily. Plenty of sweat followed, quickly staining her hospital gown along the neck and under the arms. This continued for several minutes; all the internal changes to the body. Organs shifting, bones audibly thickening and reshaping, brand new organs growing… I could swear I saw it happening in detail underneath her skin.

She screamed. Oh, how she screamed… it hurt so much to hear her like that.

I knew this was coming, though… I have to be brave, for her and myself…

The first major exterior changes began on her head, specifically her ears. Underneath her hair, I could see her human ears slowly shrinking away, almost melding into her skull itself and closing off access to her ear canals. At the same time, two fleshy nubs began to sprout from the top of her head, growing into two little triangle shapes at the exact same rate. Her blonde hair didn't impede the panda ears' growth at all; rather the skin parted to the side to allow a smooth conversion. I had no idea if that was deliberate or not on the scientist's part, but I assumed it was.

“It's okay 'hun, you're doing great!"

I tried to sound reassuring, but I wasn't even sure Carly could hear me, let alone anything other than the intense ringing I mentioned would happen.

While her ears changed, her nose and mouth went through their own crazy metamorphosis. Her nose began to grow wider and longer, rapidly becoming more… bear-like, I assumed. I knew pandas weren't exactly like bears, but it was the best guess I could make. Her mouth changed right underneath, bulging forwards to form a small muzzle rather than a flat human mouth. On the sides, white whiskers began to grow out as well, ten in total, stopping after about four inches. Though she continued to scream in intense pain, her voice didn't change at all.

“IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HUUURTS!!! OH GOD OH GOD, I--- ACK!"

She looked like she swallowed something painfully…

Oh shit!

I grabbed her throbbing head and turned it to me with my free hand. “Carly, it's your teeth! You've gotta spit them out or else you'll choke! Do you understand!?"

She couldn't find her words, but her head nodded in a 'yes.'

“Okay, uh… just try and spit them out into my hand! I need to count all thirty-something left!"

Several at a time, Carly did as I asked. She came close to accidentally biting me a few times while some teeth were still attached.

“Okay… okay, that's twenty-seven… And you swallowed one, so twenty-eight? Wait, what about---"

“Nnnnngggh… No… wisdoms… since fourteen…" Carly mumbled, answering my question to the best of her ability. I could even see that inside her mouth, amidst all the blood, her new set of sharper, pearly-white hybrid teeth were growing in already.

I tossed her old teeth aside and wiped my hand on my leg, reinforcing my grip on her hand with my other. “Don't worry; you're still doing just fine. It's almost over, I promise." Though still in pain she spat the excess blood out and looked at me with hope in her eyes, knowing that I was telling the truth.

And on the subject, that was the next part that began to manifest on her changing body. I could feel her hand changing shape to become something more animalistic; a little broader and more muscular. Her palm started to puff out and harden into a pad, as did the flesh on the underside of her fingers. Peering down, I could see the same thing happening to her feet. It wasn't so much that the hands and feet turned into paws once someone was transformed; rather they remained human but gained extra features. The last of which, of course, were the claws. One by one, Carly's nails grew ever so slightly in length and dulled in color before becoming narrower and sharper, resembling those of a proper red panda. Her new sharp nails slightly dug into my hand, but not hard enough to break my skin. Even if they did, I wouldn't have cared.

Carly suddenly thrust her body upwards with a more… surprised look on her face than terrified. I couldn't see it because of the gown blocking my view, but I knew what was going on under there.

“T-T-T-TAIL!!!"

Indeed it was. Long and fleshy, a tail began to peek out from under her gown, twisting and thrashing as madly as the rest of her body was. We had estimated it would grow out to at least three feet, and it seemed that that prediction was mostly accurate.

In the meantime, other smaller changes occurred. Her muscles became slightly more pronounced and toned, several bruises on her skin faded away… her breasts became noticeably larger…

That only left---

“ISAAAAAAAAAC!!!"

Oh God… here it comes…

At long last, the final phase of the transformation began, albeit the most painful one from my own experience – the fur.

And boy was there a LOT of it.

“Nnnng… grrruh… ga---AHHH!!! AAAHHHHHH!!!"

All over Carly's body, from head to tail to toe, her flushed-red skin started to turn red, dark brown, and white as the tips of the hairs poked out one by one, growing ever-so-slowly into a rich, fluffy coat. Her front side was mostly dark brown and her back side mostly coppery-red, with thin lines of white separating the two other colors at each spot they intersected. Her face itself was almost entirely thinly white-furred, save for two thick brown streaks from below her eyes to her neck. Though compared to her face and body, the fur that began to grow on her tail was at least ten times as thick. Much like a raccoon, her tail became puffier and puffier until it was nearly as wide as her body. Several times it smacked me in the face due to her uncontrollable spasming, but I paid it no mind.

The whole ordeal was almost beautiful to watch, though only to an observer. I knew all too well what Carly was feeling all over her body, evident by how her hand was squeezing mine tighter and tighter by the minute. She probably didn't even realize it, but her hybrid-enhanced strength was already starting to kick in and made her hand feel more like a vice.

God, Stryker literally SET ME ON FIRE months ago, and it still wasn't even comparable to what she's going through now and what I went through way back when…

Eventually enough, her wails died down and became more like uncomfortable moans, and her twitching and spasming began to stop. The heart monitor showed that her heartbeat had returned to normal and that her vitals were identical to someone merely asleep or passed out.

“…Carly? Are you okay? Are you… wait---"

…because upon closer inspection, it looked like she had passed out. She came close to enduring the entire experience, but in the end it still seemed like nobody could do it. Her newly furry hand was limp in mine, despite the healthy pulse I could feel in her wrist.

The fact remained, though - it was finally over. She was complete.

Dr. Carly Henderson had become a red panda hybrid; the first new, 'clean' OGD hybrid we had created on our own. I heard plenty of clapping and cheering in the background from the observing doctors and scientists; this was a big deal for them, too. Many of them had contributed in one way or another; some of whom I found out had worked on the original hybrid project years ago, making their input extremely valuable. Knowing that all their hard work had paid off was a perfectly justifiable cause for celebration.

I wasn't about to get up and start dancing around or anything, but internally I was just as ecstatic as they were. It felt like the full weight of our success hadn't completely sunken in for me yet, though I had a feeling it would once Carly woke up. I smiled and leaned in to brush several strands of blonde hair out of her face, taking my time in appreciating the doctor's new, beautiful form.

Not that she wasn't beautiful before, but… wow. I mean, just… wow!

It appeared that as a result of the transformation, Carly had gone from a slim, petite figure to a slightly taller, more neutral-sized one. Like all hybrids her facial features remained almost exactly the same, but her arms and legs now appeared to have more definition to them underneath her new coat of red and brown fur. I couldn't exactly see underneath her surgical gown, but from the way it covered her torso I could also see that her hips and shoulders were now more rounded and curved, and her smallish breasts had gone up by about a size and a half. Finally, I carefully opened her mouth and observed her new teeth, all of which had grown in completely straight, even the wisdoms.

Whenever Carly came to, I was certain that she would be beside herself with joy and admiration at the fruits of her and our labor.

I guess my only hope now is… is she okay? I mean… the process clearly worked on the outside, but the inside… I don't know. I have to let her sleep it off…

But there IS one thing we can do even now…

As the observation party finished recording any last notes and made their way over to Carly and I, I asked one of them to draw a sample of her blood and have it analyzed. If the Huntington's disease inside her had been fully eradicated, I at least wanted to see it for myself in black and white, and I was sure Carly would feel the same.

With some assistance, I carefully undid the binds on Carly's arms and legs and removed the IV drips. I powered down the machines, save for the heart monitor, and clamped the sensor onto one of Carly's fingers. It began to flash and beep in a healthy rhythm, bringing a smile to my face and a sigh of relief to my lips.

With nothing else to do, I sat back in the chair next to my girlfriend and waited for her to wake up…

~~~

“Ngggh… Isaac? Is… Is that you, 'hun?"

Apparently, it didn't take very long for her to come to at all. I smiled and moved my chair closer to Carly's bedside, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. It had been a long time since I had kissed another hybrid, let alone felt that warm fur-on-fur contact, and to say I missed it was an understatement. “It's me, love. I never left your side after you passed out. I'm impressed, though; you almost made it to the end of the process. From what I've seen, only one or two people have before."

“Guess I'm special, huh?" she mumbled weakly, still in clear discomfort even after several hours.

“I guess you are! You're extra special" I laughed.

However, discomforted or not, Carly wasted no time in getting around to the main event. “Isaac… hand me a mirror or something. I wanna see it… the new me."

Luckily, I had thought ahead and already had one on hand.

“Let me hold it in front of you, since you might drop it in shock" I joked as I brought it just close enough to her face that she could see her head and neck. Once she got a good look at her new face, her jaw dropped in complete disbelief. Her hands rushed to her head, fondling it all over from her nose to her ears, taking in all the new sights and sensations. The look in her eyes was absolutely priceless.

“Oh. My. God… I'm so… so…"

“So furry?" I chuckled.

“YES!" she shouted with glee, “YES! I'm so… God, I can't even think of another word! IT WORKED! Oh my God, Isaac, I'm so happy! I'M SO HAPPY!"

I removed the mirror and gently took Carly's hands in my own. “Not just you, I'm pretty damn happy, too" I said. “The only thing we don't know yet is if you've been cured of your disease, but I've got someone working on your blood right no---"

But before I could even finish the sentence, the doctor I had asked to evaluate Carly's hybrid blood entered the room with a stack of papers. But more importantly, there was a big smile on his face.

Does this mean…?

“Good news, Dr. Henderson. According to the lab results, you now possess a completely clean bill of health" he said, confirming my thought before I could even complete it. “No sicknesses, no allergies, and one hundred percent NO Huntington's. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say your life expectancy is now about the same as Isaac's; a hundred and fifty to sixty years. We did it, ma'am!"

Carly's head snapped back to mine. “Isaac… do you realize what this means?"

“It means that you and I can live a very long and very happy life together?" I stammered as the overload of good news sunk in faster than a bowling ball in a swimming pool.

“Well YES, obviously. But it also means that… well, you did it. Without your help, love, and support, this would NOT have been possible. You saved my life, Isaac Deneia."

I held back a tear as I leaned in and kissed my beloved red panda hybrid for the first time; the first real kiss, long and deep and full of emotion. Somehow, it felt even more right as it did hours ago. “And you saved my life, Carly Henderson. You saved my life in more ways than I can count, and now we can both live out those lives as new, better people. But I want us to do it together. Will you marry me, Carly?"

That time, I MEANT to say it.

“Oh my God, yes" she gasped. She didn't even need to think it over.

~And so, the years went on…~

“Okay babe, here's your final test. Grip the Nintendo DS firmly in your hands, and command it to power on. Focus on the battery inside, and use the ability to make the signals flow."

“Okay… it's on!"

“Great! Now turn it off."

“Off."

“Now back on again."

“Aaand…on again."

“Now make it load the Super Mario game."

“Give it a second… Okay! It's-a-loaded!"

“Ha! Now… Let me think, give yourself 99 lives and make the timer stop."

“Okay… It's kinda tough, but… oh my God, it's working! I'm just thinking about it, but it's happening! I can even make Mario start breakdancing! My brain's literally reprogramming the game on the fly instead of just changing values!"

“Congratulations, Carly. You're a genuine technopath now."

~~~

“Oh my God, babe… It turned blue! IT TURNED BLUE!"

“So this means you---"

“Mhmm! I'm pregnant!"

“I'm… a dad?"

~~~

“So… how does it feel?"

“A little different… but not in a weird way, it's actually in a pretty good way. I'm not sure how to describe it, but I feel like I'm in even MORE control of my body than ever before."

“That is to say, your MS is completely gone?"

“Oh yeah… it's more like 'no sclerosis' at this point. You don't know how good it feels to finally be able to stand on my own two feet without crutches. I don't even know how to thank you for giving me this gift, Isaac."

“You don't have to thank me, Jason. Just promise me that as the head of OGD Security, you'll do everything in your power to keep us all safe. You and Carly are the first two new hybrids, and it's through both of your shining examples and good works that we'll guide those to come."

~~~

“Doctor?"

“It's a girl, sir. Congratulations."

“May I… may I hold her?"

“Of course."

“Hello, little Bethany… I'm Isaac, your father. I… I honestly don't know what to say… Except that, I love you. I love you so much… and I'll tell you the same every single day."

~Until finally…~

“All right, pack it in! We're done with hand-to-hand training for today, Beth."

My daughter looked surprised as she delivered her hundredth blow to her training dummy, though she showed absolutely no signs of exhaustion or fatigue either. “Awww, whyyy!? I feel like I'm THIS close to punching a hole right through this guy!"

Unlike her pacifist mother, Beth was a true fighter at heart and a strong one at that. Carly and I were hybrids created from normal humans, but with our child thrown into the mix, we realized that children born as hybrids had the potential to become way stronger than us. And with Beth, it certainly showed. But just like her mother, our daughter was a red panda hybrid and nearly a spitting image of Carly, only lacking the white lines separating her dark brown fur from the red. I had black fur; it could've come from me for all I knew.

“Well, I'll tell you why" I said as I walked over to her. “The reason I'm cutting today's training short is because I've got something even more important for you. Your mother and I have been talking, and… well, today's the day. Today, you're going out on your first real, actual mission."

Her slight slightly annoyed pout gone in a flash, Beth's jaw dropped low enough to hit the ground. But a second and a half later, she began cheering and jumping up and down with sheer ecstasy.

“DADDYYY!!! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOOOU!!! Oh boy, I can't WAIT! I can't---"

I laughed at her excitement; it was when she was at her most adorable. “Oh, don't start thanking me yet, fluffball. I didn't even tell you the best part yet…"

She stopped in her tracks, eyes widening even more than they already had. “T-The best part…?"

I smiled as I reached down and ruffled my daughter's blonde hair; the same style as her mother's. “The best part is where this mission is. You're going with Jason to the Human Advancements headquarters. And you're finally going to meet my old friend, the guy you've idolized for so long. It's time to let him know what his old friend has been up to."

~~~

~~

~

Thirteen. Thousand. Words. And then some. I daresay that's a new personal best for submission length :D

It's appropriate I uploaded it today; the day after the one year anniversary of when I completed the main LITA story. I admit, it would've been MORE appropriate to be uploaded yesterday, but things don't always work out for me like that -_-

Still, I hope you all enjoyed reading this powerful slice of character development as much as I enjoyed writing it these past few months! I was *going* to work on Kyla's LATA chapter and have this one be the surprise third addition, but I made so much more headway with this that it made no sense to wait. So stay tuned for the third and final(?) LATA chapter next!

Rate, Comment, and Watch! :D