It had been a week since that test run which Paul and Pat watched. They put the cat in an enclosure again and made sure to take notes of everything they noticed which wasn't much since they mentioned they had a 'deadline', a meeting which confused Pat, who told Paul once the week was almost up. They both wondered why they had a deadline, this... thing... really shouldn't have a deadline, so why did it? While thinking of this and trying to figure it out they got some information on this cat, which were definitely true based on the fact it was backed up by the staff who worked on the cat, who they had now named "prototype". It was easier then saying "The cat". The results looked like they had been summarized to it's most basic form, for enough context so it didn't look as if it was just a spew of random words plastered on to look professional but also so there wasn't much information to give anyone.

When Paul or Pat tried to ask Tord, or the staff working on the prototype for more clear information they'd never really help. They'd either ignore them, say "that isn't important" or even just say some information but so vague that it didn't even sound like an actual good response. It was shocking, honestly. Paul and Pat tried their damn best to figure it out but it was practically impossible. Normally there'd be many writings about these tests that they could look through and get their own information off of but it seemed as if Tord purposely didn't write anything, leaving all the information about it scattered and obscure. This left them with no other choice but to wait for the meeting, the so called 'deadline'. They just hoped they would reveal anything they could, to ensure it was safe. All they knew was that it was still responsive, it hadn't died due to the seemingly painful transformation and raw, dirty animals that it devoured. It seemed to be getting more responsive to the people around as well, it always growled at the staff and even Tord. It wouldn't tense up or hiss in fear however; it was legitimate anger, a fight response to them. Nothing more showed up, no more transformations or mutations. That's all they knew, everything else was unclear. Pat and Paul felt complete and utter dread creep up on them when they went to sleep that night, speaking momentarily about how this meeting could either go fine or badly. There was no in between from the looks of it. They both fell asleep shortly after, nervous about how it would go.

They both instantly regretted waking up, staring at the ceiling as their alarm rang. They didn't move for what felt like half an hour, when it was actually a minute, before Pat gently pushed the alarm, making it stop its loud beeping instantly. Pat was the first to sit up, looking over at Paul who looked like he had just experienced the worst nightmare in his life. His lips were parted, eyes were unblinking and he seemed to have a case of cold sweat. Thankfully he was wearing a loose singlet. Pat blinked and looked down at the ground for a moment before sighing. "Come on, the sooner we get there into the meeting, the sooner we leave." Pat tried to give a reassuring smile but it wasn't as effective as he hoped. Paul grumbled as he sat up, wordlessly getting up and walking to fix himself up.

The meeting started at 10:00 am, they arrived by 9:57 am, rushing. Pat looked at the time above the door as they arrived and sighed, resting his clammy hands on his knees. Paul, who was barely able to keep up, breathed heavily behind him, coughing a bit through breaths. Paul was never really the one to run, when he did he'd need a couple of minutes to recover which was more than likely due to his constant smoking. Paul balled his right hand into a fist and hit himself in the chest lightly as he coughed. Pat looked at the people in the line and realized that there was no staff members. None of them who worked on the prototype. Pat shook Paul's arm softly as he whispered this to him, which also confused Paul. Where were they? Normally they'd be all here, standing by Tord once he arrived and give him all the notes and answers. There wasn't even one in sight. What gives?

Before Pat could even properly ask the rest of the soldiers Tord opened the door, smiling. It didn't look like his normal, slightly devilish smile. While it wasn't scary, it was unnerving. It looked as if he was planning something awful, like setting off a nuclear bomb and turning the area it hit into another Chernobyl situation. Pat stared at his leader with much suspicion, more than usual. Paul also seemed to share the same feeling, looking at Pat for some reassurance, which Pat just couldn't give. He just blinked and looked down, walking beside Paul as they entered the meeting. The door shut behind them, Tord standing there and giving what looked to be a comforting smile which didn't ease their nerves. It looked so fake, forced even.

Pat and Paul sat at the front seats, just across from each other and near Tord, who they felt like was a complete stranger and a weird one at that. Tord, shortly after shutting the door walked to the front desk in between Paul and Pat. Everyone looked at the leader, waiting for him to start which he did after clearing his throat. "Glad you all came." He started but Paul instantly made eye contact with Pat, who could already tell what he was thinking. His voice. It was off.

Yes, it was the same usual Norwegian accent, the same tone, the same wording but...it was off key, it didn't sound right, it didn't sound like him, their leader. They quickly had to make eye contact again since they didn't want to make it obvious that first, they were very suspicious and unnerved since Tord seemed to sense that out rather fast and secondly, that they were basically talking to each other during a meeting. Not verbally, but through other methods.

Tord then started with a question. "I'm sure you've all heard of Prototype by now, so I don't need to explain what they are and what they do. Correct?" He seemed to hiss that last part, almost as if he'd kill anyone who'd say no. Everyone nodded at Tord, who straightened up his posture. "Good." Paul noticed the tiny eye twitch Tord did and he stared in worry but quickly fixed his expression so Tord wouldn't call him out. Thankfully, it seemed as if Tord didn't notice his momentary stare of worry.

Tord then started to explain about what they found, what the results showed however, it was still vague. It annoyed Paul, which Pat noticed since Paul was squinting his eyes ever so slightly as Tord explained. If he could, he would've put his arms out, gesturing a "what?". Pat decided to advert his eyes for a moment and noticed that they weren't actually the only ones, everyone else looked extremely confused. One guy even looked as if he was pissed at how vague this was; however, no one could ask questions at this stage until the end since Tord didn't like being interrupted.

After twenty minutes of just vague explaining he stopped and his smile fell. "Any questions?" Which made Pat almost widen his eyes as a response. He never started this early, he'd start after the entire explanation. This wasn't the entire explanation, he could somewhat see on his notes that he was supposed to go onto the next subject of "what good this would for for the army" why was he asking this now? Paul was more wondering why his smile fell until he saw Tord's eyes look slowly over to him, seeming to constrict. He was asking because of everyone's expressions, he knew. The way Tord stared at him was the same stare he'd give if he knew something that they'd not want him to know. He knew. He could tell they knew it was vague, that they didn't understand anything about the results about this prototype, especially the ones who weren't his two right hand men who witnessed it. Suddenly, Tord spoke.

"You look like you have something to say, Paul." Paul froze, he felt like he was being called out in front of the entire army for a moment. Paul tried to think, should he ask one or stay silent? He didn't seem happy. This might be a trap, he was definitely the type to do those. He looked at him, regaining his composure. "No sir. Not right now." Tord stared at him, squinting his eyes a bit at him. Paul made sure to keep the same, flat expression when really he was panicking inside. There was no reason to, he was probably overreacting; but the way Tord said his name, the way he was staring at him. He knew that he knew that Paul was lying. Nonetheless, Tord took his eyes off him and stared at everyone else who seemed to get the idea collectively that maybe they shouldn't ask questions right now.

Tord's smile came back. "Good, we can continue." Everyone had a massive, mental sigh of relief as he went onto the other subject. What good this would do for the the army. He seemed more ambitious about this one, less vague about how it could help. He explained how it would give them an advantage, physically and mentally. He said how this would make a normal person become fearful of the sight of them, with their sharp claws, sharp rows of teeth and overall monstrous appearance. This could lead to more surrenders, therefore less of his soldiers have to die. If they didn't back down they would have half of them wiped out rather quickly since they would be faster in speed, quicker with their kills, heightened senses so they can sense the ones hiding, having no hesitation to kill someone in cold blood and overall it was more effective then sending soldiers out who could show mercy to the enemies, ones who could get caught up in traps or miss anyone, leaving survivors. To Pat however, he didn't just seem excited and happy to tell the pros of this. He seemed more, eccentric? Manic even? It sounded more like something a mad scientist would say in a movie. It put him off, he shifted just the tiniest bit in his chair, not wanting Tord to call him out next.

However, he didn't seem to be as good as listing off cons. The only ones he could really say was that one, it would probably hurt the soldiers; but then immediately backed that up with saying that they at least wouldn't die and they could also be given strong pain killers which would also require a health check since they don't want them to have an allergic reaction. Two, the soldiers could devour other humans and like the last one, he backed that up by saying that was for an animal. A stray one at that. Which could mean they have less conscious then a human, who had a moral compass. This could mean it could help the human, making them able to kill without any mercy but having enough of a conscious to not cannibalise the ones they kill. At least purposely. Three, they would need to be isolated and have to wait for possibly a week in pain while the mutation spread. Like the last two, he backed that up by saying again, the pain killers and how that it would be safer to keep them enclosed instead of letting them roam around. Besides, they would be able to talk to the staff still so they weren't completely isolated.

Everyone stared at Tord like he was actually insane, as if he was speaking full gibberish. Pat stared at Tord as well before realising Paul was looking back and fourth, to Tord and Pat. Pat instantly made eye contact and already knew what Paul was wondering again but now it was because they were both thinking the same thing. What the hell? What kind of idea is this?

They couldn't vent to each other though, since this was a meeting. They could only wait, which would take a while since when Tord finished he put his hands on the desk and asked. "Any questions?" He kept the smile this time, meaning that he was being sincere with this and not asking because of everyone's facial expressions. It was more than likely because he did it after every meeting. Instantly everyone got loud, bombarding Tord with them trying to get their questions which didn't seem to phase Tord at all, he stood there while everyone kept talking one over another until he put his hand up, which made everyone go silent and sit back down. "One at a time." Tord said as he pointed to one of the men, who looked pretty pissed. "You, ask." As soon as Tord said that he stood and slammed a hand on the table.

"Firstly." He started, his voice being more on the brisk side. "What if the human conscious doesn't work? For an animal, sure, you can make the excuse that it has a lesser conscious, like that prototype but this could snap the human mind like a twig! There's a possibility that they could devour our enemies, we haven't tried this on a human!" He finished, looking bewildered as Tord stared, his smile was gone but it wasn't because he was angry, it was something else, that something else was unclear, no one could tell. Tord folded his arms behind his back, staring for a moment before answering. "If a soldiers mind 'snapped like a twig' it would've happened much earlier, this isn't a low class army." He raised his head a bit at the male. "As I'm aware, all the soldiers here can take a lot. There's a low chance they'd break like that." He snapped his fingers. "But-" "I've answered your question, sit down." Tord demanded to the male, who huffed and harshly sat down on his chair. It was so hard it looked like it'd hurt if someone repeated the action.

Tord pointed to another solider, this time it was Alex. "You, ask." He ordered. Alex stood up, stretching his arms a bit. "I get this would be a good weapon, but it seems like it would be too painful or terrifying for the soldiers." Alex folded his arms in front of him, inhaling before continuing. "I don't think a soldier, especially a new 0ne, would like to be treated as some experiment, isolated and only able to talk to the staff, plus the pain. Sure, pain killers could help but they can wear off much later which will cause the pain to come back. If we kept injecting them they could overdose, especially if it's supposed to be a higher dosage. How would they sleep with the pain as well? The prototype hasn't slept at all since you injected it, right? What's stopping that from happening to the soldiers? What if they develop some form of fatal insomnia, you're basically killing their mind for a week! It doesn't matter how strong they are, it will cause their minds to be fried. This also means that Liam is right." He pointed to the male who asked the first question, who seemed like he had more to say. "By doing this this could potentially lead into them not having a proper conscious, leading to them actually feasting on the enemies. Do we really want to risk all that to make the soliders look terrifying to them?" Alex slowly exhaled, which showed that he finished.

Tord rubbed his chin, actually thinking about what he asked and about the cons he listed off. It outweighed the pros, really, the pros now didn't even seem like pros. He looked down at the desk for a few moments before answering. "We could use anaesthesia or sleeping pills instead, that could be used when the pills wear off and we can't give another because it's so strong." He replied simply. "That'll stop their mind from making them less conscious when the mutation finishes." Alex was about to ask the unanswered questions since he didn't think that was the best answer but he knew he'd be told to sit down so he just did, sighing.

The rest were shorter, such as "why would anyone want to look like a monster? We cant reverse that!" "What if they become hostile to us?" "What if it doesn't work and kills us?" To those he gave a vague response, to satisfy them until they left and realised how bad of an answer it was. However, the ones who didn't ask yet were seeing how stupid these responses were. Finally, Tord decided to have one more question. It seemed his patience was wearing thin with all the people telling him it was a bad idea, when he wanted to go through with it. Suddenly, someone shot up. Tord stared at them as they gave a hateful glare. "If you're so sure about doing this then who's gonna do it first? Who's gonna be your little test rat?" He asked, growling at the end of it. Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded. When Tord failed to answer, he talked again. "Well? You can't think of one, can you?! That already shows it's a bad idea!" Everyone looked over at Tord who stared directly at the fool who asked this. Maybe he was stupid since Tord could literally blow his head off if he wanted to for even acting in that manner. Before he could speak again, Tord responded.

"I know." He said, which caught everyone off guard. Maybe he actually convinced Tord that this wasn't a good idea? Pat slowly looked over and saw a smile creep up on his face, which made him realise that he was not convinced. He had another idea. "If I can't find a solider, I'll just use someone else." "And who is this 'someone else'?!" He asked, slamming his hands on the table as he kept eye contact. Tord suddenly grinned and laughed a bit making everyone slowly back down in their seats. This unnerved them, even the fool who seemed to be tough enough to shout at Tord was unnerved, slowly hunching. "Me!"

Everyone paused before they all collectively shouted. "WHAT?!" They were shocked, sure Tord made some questionable decisions but they made some sort of sense. This was a dangerous experiment, it has too many cons and possibilities that could possibly cause the army's downfall. They truly never grasped how desperate Tord was for this, how desperate he was to finally have something to grow his army and take over. He would've sacrificed a few soldiers for the sake of testing really, through manipulating but he wasn't even going to attempt it?! He was just gonna go off to the deep end and make himself the rest rat?!

Paul quickly stood up, pat starting to quiver and cringe already. "Sir, are you insane?!" He shouted, waving his arms out. "You cannot do that! It's too dangerous, you're aware of how many risks are involved, right?!" "I am." He looked over at Paul who didn't back down at his stare this time, he was standing his ground. "Then why even try?! That idiot doesn't actually understand what he's fucking saying!" Pat stood up as soon as Paul finished that sentence. "Paul! Language!" He shouted, being surprised by how loud it was. He intended it to be softer than that. "No, Pat! You and I both know how stupid he's being!" Tord never took his eyes off Paul, not changing his expression yet. Paul would've said more before Tord spoke, a snarl appearing on his face.

"I am the leader, I can make whatever choice I please. You have no say in this, I'm going to test it myself and that's final." Paul seemed to hunch down, realising he probably should've just listened to Pat. He knew he was right, this was a terrible idea; but Tord was also correct. He was the leader. He could really do what he wanted as long as it wasn't illegal, which this technically wasn't. If it was, he wouldn't even be able to set up this meeting. Tord leaned a bit forward, his silver eyes squinting. "Am I clear?" Tord asked slowly, scowling as he said it. Paul looked down, almost as if he was guilty and slowly sat back down. "Yes sir." He replied back, softer then he expected. Pat bit the inside of his cheek, fully recoiling as he he sat back down. While it was stupid of Paul to act like that he still felt bad for him. He intertwined his hands together with a strong grip which actually caused a dull pain. Everyone went silent, not making eye contact with their leader. They were all sitting and holding their breaths, hoping he didn't go off at them.

He didn't, thankfully. All he did was sigh and rub his temple. "I'm going to start the test, I'm putting Pat in charge while I do it. Don't disobey." Tord raised his head. "Now get out." He glared. As soon as he said that everyone got up, practically rushing out the office. The door frame stretched a bit, straining as it let everyone stumble out. Paul was shortly behind and automatically walked off, not being the type to run. He needed a smoke, he wanted to calm his nerves from that confrontation. The entire meeting was uncomfortable but that snarl Tord gave him, the fact he made Pat basically the leader when Paul would normally be the first option. It made his legs just feel weak. Before he could really get outside he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. He turned his head a bit to make sure he knew it was him and it was.

Pat had managed to catch up with him, possibly being later then he would've liked since it was crowded everyone left. He had to push through and run at what he had to assume was the right direction, he had the possibility of being wrong but he thankfully wasn't. He breathed heavily, being exhausted and also hot from being near so many people who were practically squashing him. Paul sighed and looked at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. "Hey.." Pat started softly.

"Sorry about that.. I just didn't want him snapping at you." He patted his shoulder. "I also find it stupid." He chuckled a bit, trying to lighten the mood but Paul stayed silent for a few awkward moments before answering. "I should've listened." he mumbled, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You were angry, that's reasonable." Pat smiled at Paul, a friendly smile which he always carried. "Let's just hope it goes well." He patted his back before sighing. "I have to go, I need to check in with the staff and Tord. I'll see you later, okay?" Paul nodded, not responding verbally as he moved his shoulder away from pat's grasp, walking away from him. Pat did a small wave, even though Paul wouldn't have noticed and turned around, walking the opposite direction with a smile still on his face, yet a grim expression along with it. He really hoped it would go well.