In fact, there was a whole preparation to shut down the system called Cocoon, which completely enveloped the guinea pig. But suspecting that this guinea pig might be bringing something that Dr. Carlie wouldn't report right away, her boss, Ramisk Duller, took preemptive action and, being strong, grabbed the guinea pig in mid-air. Unfortunately, to his surprise, the guinea pig was covered in **** all over its body, which ended up dirtying the boss who cursed and lamented the incident:
"What crap is this?" I should have waited for my personal assistant, Bear Darki," he complained.
"Emergency personnel, report to sector Alpha. Guinea pig 1 is likely injured. Please, cleaning sector nurses, attend urgently. This is not a drill. It's an emergency call for medical assistance and organic cleaning. Please report to sector Alpha for guinea pig 1."
Suddenly, the place was filled with the loud noise of sirens and absurd medical orders. This was because no one knew exactly what was going on. And the worst part was not the general boss of the entire department shouting at the top of his lungs, but rather the project owner himself, Mr. Ramisk Duller:
"I don't want guinea pig 1 to be part of the 'Searching for Health' project insertions team anymore. From now on, he's no longer involved in this project."
Dr. Carlie still tried to argue:
"You can't do this, Mr. Ramisk. He is the main guinea pig of our experiments and, compared to the others, he is at the most advanced level in this project. Stopping him from continuing in these experiments will hinder all the progress we've made so far. Please reconsider, Mr. Ramisk."
But the big boss seemed unlikely to change his mind, as he still fumed with anger because he was completely covered in human waste.
"I'm urgently heading for decontamination and a bath, and I don't want to discuss this any further."
Taking advantage of Mr. Ramisk's departure, Dr. Carlie took charge of the situation and ordered:
"I want a team of three nurses with me right now. We need to collect these samples. For now, forget what you've heard. Guinea pig 1 may not return to the project, but as long as he's here, we will take very good care of him. We still don't know what happened and we have no idea what he went through, but regardless, he is our most promising guinea pig and we cannot lose him."
"Lowo was suffering, even after taking the medications prescribed by Dr. Carlie, terrible pains plagued his abdomen."
"Where is that filthy fellow? Haven't they removed him yet? I didn't want to have to repeat what Mr. Ramisk said. But he's no longer part of the guinea pigs in this facility. And under Mr. Ramisk's orders, I am authorized to announce that those who ignore my orders will be dismissed, along with him."
And looking at his boss's personal assistant, Mr. Bear Darki, with disdain, he returned the gesture, giving the impression that she would be next to be fired.
"If what I said didn't convince you, then let me make this situation a little clearer. If anyone on the team, any team, overrides my orders, they will all be dismissed."
Suddenly, all researchers, doctors, and collaborators felt threatened by that warning. After all, the scientific facility known as CPF (Pharmaceutical Research Center) paid a high salary, even to simple collaborators, as long as they stayed until the end of the project.
Dr. Carlie lowered her eyes. She knew that if she continued this attitude of confronting the house rules, she could cause unemployment for many collaborators who were part of her team. Soon, if she continued to argue in favor of guinea pig 1, it would probably result in the dismissal of many. This was definitely not something she wanted to do.
"Mr. Ramisk has ordered the three nurses from Dr. Carlie's team, Kylie, Keith, and Khantie, to start cleaning procedure on Cocoon 1. And let Dr. Carlie handle the patient's cleaning, or rather, guinea pig 1, by herself," Bear Darki ordered.
At first, after those orders, Dr. Carlie threatened to abandon the project never to return to that place again. But as Carlie began to take care of guinea pig 1, she realized that this was nothing more than her job. Calming down a little more, she remembered that she participated in that project not only because of the excellent salary she received, but also because of the affection she had for Lowo N'air, guinea pig 1.
Having direct access to all the information about guinea pig 1, she felt sad every time she read it. He had been abandoned since birth and raised by strangers, suffered abuse, and there was no one, except a friend nicknamed Smiling, who had helped to take care of him since he was 5 years old. This was already too much for Carlie to feel sorry for him, and adding the way everyone at CPF treated him made that picture even sadder.
All other guinea pigs were called by names created according to the functionality of the project, but only Lowo N'air was treated roughly as guinea pig 1. And Carlie became even sadder. Bear Darki ordered and reluctantly she had to dismiss Lowo N'air in a not very pleasant situation. All she could do was provide first aid, do a good cleaning to collect that organic material, and then give him a warm bath.
Poor thing was so skinny and small that even at 14, Carlie gave him a bath without any embarrassment. For her, it was almost like giving a bath to a son. Afterward, she dressed him in good clothes. So far so good, but he was dismissed without a penny to buy anything. She knew it was pointless to argue with the boss or his personal assistant, as many people were watching her following their orders.
till, she didn't mind and gave him a long, tight hug as he was being sent off to his fate on the street.
"I have a piece of my snack that I managed to hide in my blouse pocket. I'm sorry about this, Lowo, but for now, it's all I can do for you."
"Don't worry, doctor. You take care of me better than my mother who abandoned me. At least you're not doing this of your own will."
Tears filled the doctor's eyes, and she made a great effort not to cry right then and there.
"If you could ask me for anything, anything at all, what would you ask for?"
Lowo found that question amusing, considering his life had been filled with deprivation. How many times had he had to walk around disguised so as not to show that he was still just a helpless boy? And how many times had he followed people who were eating snacks and other treats from afar, just to see if someone would throw away even a piece in the trash for him to eat? How many times had his stomach roared like a dragon while he slept, with hunger disturbing him even in his dreams?
Meeting that doctor was a joy, as she fed him things he didn't even know existed. Serving as a guinea pig at CPF brought him much pain, even greater than he had already suffered in his life, but in return, he could eat as much as he wanted, as long as he wasn't inside the Cocoon.
He looked at the nurses, all very beautiful and nice. There was Kylie, Keith, Khantie, and sisters Nay Lee and Miah Lee, one on leave and the other transferred from another department.
"What's wrong, Lowo? Missing someone? Would you like to have one of these nurses to take care of you? Come on, tell me what you would like as a gift."
"I'm sorry, Dr. Carlie, but what I want, you cannot give me."
Somewhat embarrassed, Carlie tried again.
"At least tell me what it is."
"To meet my mother... Just to ask why she left me so alone in this life."