The Last Breath of the Beast

Note: harm against an animal.

Attempted gaslighting.

Johnny swore, he swore up and down. This was the right necklace. It had to be, because if it wasn't, then Lizzie was still in danger.

Jonathan Perzio, head administrator and top scientist of the field division at Station 12. All those titles? The medals? The status? If this got out, all of that would be gone. His entire life would be destroyed.

Lizzie would die.

The P.A. rang to life over head. "Doctor Perzio, please come to Containment One, I repeat, please come to Containment One."

It felt like the ring of a funeral bell.

Lanzarka-nicknamed Lizzie-was the last living Matrolnach still in captivity. The delicate species had yet to be successfully transported from its home in the northern hemisphere of Aldona 2. Research had uncovered that they breathe through their skin, and were highly sensitive to certain metals, like gold.

Gold, like the necklace he'd been planning to give to Mei.

Johnny dropped the yellow-tinted necklace into the trashcan. Of the three he could've nabbed on the way to save his career, he grabbed the one that was just tarnished silver. He was ruined. There was no way to get out of this now.

Maria would find out about his affair with Mei, he'd lose his job, his status as a credible scientist. He would be destroyed.

Johnny slammed the door shut as he marched down to Containment One. Perri and Mike should be on duty, they must have called him in. They were stupid, maybe he could find a way to slip the necklaces out of his locker?

A brief trot to the door, a quick swipe of his key card, and the gates of the underworld opened for him.

The room stank of illness and rot, the constant wheezing quickly becoming background noise. It looked like the gold was spreading through its system, now. There had to be a way to shift blame. He would not lose his career over some stupid alien bat.

"See you took your time, Johnny. Suit on up and get in here. She's dying." Johnny rolled his eyes and yanked his sterile suit off the wall. The locker was right there. He could find a way.

What could he do? He put on his suit and moved to put is stuff in the locker, surreptitiously plucking the necklaces out of the pile. He decided to shove them in a random locker, hoping no one on the other side of the glass chamber saw-

"High Johnny! How- oh, did you need something? I can get it for you, whatever you're looking for." Johnny barely restrained a groan at the annoying, fawning voice he'd grown to hate, no matter how many times he'd slept with it. Mei was with Mike and Perri in Containment One, a giggling quietly from inside her hazmat suit.

Aw hell, had he put them in Mei's locker? This was a terrible day.

"Oh, good morning, Mei!" He forces out a grin as he opened the sterile hatch out of the prep room and into the cage of the beast. "Hope I didn't hold you guys up! What's going down?"

"Just stop, Perzio. Now's not the time." Perri's thick voice cut through the tension like a saw. "Look at 'er."

The beast was curled up under the fake rock in its paddock, breathing wet. Its disgustingly elegant sails and light blue wings shook with each inhale, long snout and buggy eyes pouring misery. Digusting beast.

This is what Johnny's job was threatened by.

"She's so..." Mei choked, the joy of love dissipating as she mourned the pitiful creature before her. "She's just so..."

"Yeah," Perri looked at the woman in question, vaguely gesturing sympathy with a pat on the back. "Data shows necrotizing tissue in her cardiovascular structure. We're pretty sure someone's brought in something toxic. She's been breathin' it in."

Perri turned to face the group. She sighed, sliding a hand down her sterilized helmet. "As station commander, I need to interrogate y'all. We're the only people who've been on watch in the last week. Whoever did this will be held responsible."

Silence reigned, the only noise the sniffling of Mei as she listened to the monster moan in pain.

"...I trust whoever brought in the toxin will hold themselves accountable."

No one spoke. Johnny had an idea.

"With all due respect, Captain," the word felt sour on his tongue-how was she promoted before him?-"how do we know you didn't bring in the toxin?"

Perri deadpanned. "I'm not going to set a poor example for my crew. I only carry issued stuff."

"I'm just saying. You're the Captain or whatever, nobody checks on you-"

"Doctor, I have one of you check me every week. What are you trying to do here?"

Damn it. There must be some way to get out of this.

Mei broke first. "Uhm, Ma'am...Johnny's been bring... bringing me jewelry. M-maybe it was laced with something?"

That little snitch.

Who was she to tell? She wasn't smart enough to know if it was. She was going to destroy the station.

Only he had all of the access codes. Only he could take care of the hideous monster huddled In that cage. How would this station run without him? It wouldn't!

Perri sighed. "Mike?"

Mike, braindead as ever, stood there confused. "What?"

"What do you have to say about this?"

"Oh! Yeah!" He fumbled with the switches to the cell. "Yeah, I've seen Johnny and Mei, uh, sneaking around, and he's given her some stuff. Yeah."

Lizzie coughed, breathing weaker than before.

"Oh, Lizzie!" Mei cried, running up to the glass. "Please! Please let me in!"

"Mei, you can't-"

"No- please! I need to see her." Mei begged grabbing a fistful of Perri's suit and lowering her head. Perri sighed, and gave in.

"Mike."

Mike flicked a switch and the door creaked open, just enough for Mei to squeeze through and collapse onto the suffering beast, sobbing ugly tears.

Johnny scoffed. Perri glanced at him. "Mike. Pull up the cameras."

Uh oh.

"Well- now, why would you need to do that?" Johnny argued, "Clearly, Mei was stupid enough to leave laced jewelry in range of that thing! We have an answer, there's no need to-"

"So you confirm it was laced?"

Johnny paused. "...I... confirm that there may have been a chance of a presence of toxic metals."

Perri marched into the cell. "Mei! When was the last time Johnny gave you somethin'?"

Mei sniffed, caressing the neck of the beast. Lanzarka nuzzled into the pets weakly, a frail purr signifying comfort. "Two weeks ago... he gave me a ring. It looked like gold- but it never entered Containment! I swear! I never let it leave my room!"

"Mike, go check lockers."

"On it, Cap!" With unusual speed, Mike, hurried into the prep room and started looking through lockers.

Perri stayed facing Lizzie. Johnny had another idea.

"Mei is-"

"What was your endgame here, Jonathan? What were you thinking?"

"Captain, I'm merely exercising my right to-"

"You've poisoned Lanzarka, Johnny. Our one subject. She's the only one that's lasted this long, she's the only one friendly enough to last thing long." Perri turned sharply, hands balled up. "She's a living creature. She means something to the crew, they care for her. And you're killing her, for what? For- for some simple fun?"

Mei whined into the thinly scaled flesh of the creature, sobbing harder.

"Well, it wasn't me that brought the necklaces in here! Mei must've left them in her locker, or something! She has culpability!"

Mei perked up slightly. "Necklaces...? Ma'am, Johnny never gave me a necklace...just rings and-and earrings."

Busted.

"She's lying. Clearly, she's lying."

The room's P.A. clicked on. "Cap, Mei's locker's got some necklaces in it. They look yellow."

Perri reached for a button on the wall to respond. "Get them outta here, ASAP. I want you to review the footage of the last hour."

"Captain, you can't seriously think-"

"Zip it. Sit down."

Johnny sat down.

The hour was hell on earth. Each second was punctuated by the shallow breath of the beast, or the cries of Mei, or the pacing of Perri. He couldn't believe it. He'd spent so long building up his career, just cor it to get ruined by some floozy and a bat? How was he to blame here?

What did it matter if he brought in the gold, or propositioned Mei first, or even that he hated that critter? He was important here, he deserved to be treated as such. What did Perri know?

An hour came and passed. Lizzie's breath grew weaker and weaker, hollow and rotten. Mike finally stepped in.

"Uh, Cap? So, I looked through it, and when Mei came in, she went straight to her locker and put what looked like a snack tin in there. Johnny went to his locker, took out some dangly stuff, and put it in Mei's."

"Is that so?" Perri asked, devoid of any actual curiosity. "Johnny."

The bat's breathing grew ever weaker, almost gone, now. Johnny reluctantly stood up. He knew what was about to happen.

"Under section 4.6 of the Active Study Accords, I'm placing you under arrest."

What? Arrested?! No! He was only supposed to get fired! Not fully arrested! How would his image ever recover!?

"You will be places in the cabin hold until return, at which point you will be tried for your crimes under the..." The rest of Perri's speech was turned out a Johnny growled, pushing her away to make a break for it. He was fast, almost making it to the prep room.

Perri was faster.

He was tackled onto the ground. Mike yelp to his left as Perri slammed handcuffs onto his wrists. The Captain yanked him by his shoulder toward the prep room.

The last he heard before he left Containment One for good was Mei, wailing over the beast's last breath.