Perkins struggled against his bonds, but the rope bit through his skin, burning him. How many times, he thought, was it me who peered over a fella who struggled in a chair under the hot lights. I knew it would eventually be my turn in the chair, but not so soon.

And this woman, he thought. Which side was she on? How much did she know? Or was this whole affair yet another exercise to test his loyalties? The questions brought on a piercing stab at his brain and he winced slightly.

"That's quite a lump you've got there," the female voice continued. "I use much gentler submission techniques, but apparently we didn't all study at the same school." Perkins heard a clothes shuffle and footsteps approaching. "I think it's time to get that blindfold off you now. Time's a wasting."

Panicking, he lurched against the bonds that tied him to the chair, trying to jump to his feet. He felt the chair lean backwards and sideways, teetering on one or two legs for a moment before finally submitting to gravity. Perkin's stomach lurched sickeningly as his body unwittingly flipped around and crashed against a cold floor. Metal floor, metal walls, Perkins assumed, hearing the echo bounce all around him shrilly.

"Relax Gerkins," the female voice soothed. "I'm not going to hurt you, but you might hurt yourself if you don't calm down." Perkins felt strong hands wrap themselves around his shoulders, setting him back level with the chair. Judging by their size and texture, they didn't belong to the woman who spoke. So they were at least three in this room.

"I suggest you close your eyes. The lights--"

"Are bright in here. I guessed that part," Perkins growled. He closed his eyes as he felt a pair of delicate hands gently lift the blind fold. He slowly opened his eyes.

The room swam before his eyes, everything was blurry and out-of-focus. Not that there was much in the room to focus on, he thought. He could make out a woman sitting on a table before him, her legs crossed and she was peering at him intently. Glancing to the left, he could make out a man that seemed to be staring out into space, stock still.

"That'll be all Clancy," the woman gestured lazily towards the man. "Go wait out in the hall until I require your... services."

"Yesssss," the man slurred. Perkins' vision cleared up enough to see that Clancy's eyes were wide and unseeing, but he had no trouble finding the door and slipping through it. Craning his neck, Perkins glanced out the door, but all he could see was another door across the hall marked as SB26. Where the hell am I, he fumed.

"Let's get to business then 'cause I haven't got all day," Perkins noticed that the woman fidgeted nervously, glancing out the window in the door every few seconds. "Why were you following me?"

"I wasn't," Perkins grunted. "I was just going to pick up a package from a frie--"

"In a dead end street? Come now," the woman snorted, crossing her arms and leaning back. "We both know that you were tailing me. I spotted you 15 minutes before I went down that alleyway. I'll ask you again: why were you following me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Where am I anyways? I want to talk to my lawyer."

"You think this is a cop station? Ha! You're funny... In a cop station, you'd be safe. But here," she glanced out the window again. "Let's take a different tack... what do you know about the Horrap's Collective Project?"

Perkins tried to hide his recognition, but it was no good because she had already spotted it. The woman hopped down from the table and rushed towards him, leaning into him with her hands braced up on the armrests. "Aha! You do know something about it. Tell me and I'll get you out of here safely. Tit for tat. Even trade. Whaddya say?"

"You're crazy," he gasped, twisting away from her gaze. "I've never heard of such a thing. Let me go."

"Not my decision," she replied. "You may not believe this, but I'm not your captor." She pushed away from him and turned back to the table, risking another quick glance out the window. Perkins heard two clicks and the hiss of a vaccuum seal that was broken. She reached forward and turned suddenly, thrusting a package onto his lap.

One look at it and Perkins knew. He knew what she suspected and it filled him with horror. The see-through package contained a sweater that seemed stained with a liquid. But even though he was protected from it with the plastic, Perkins struggled, shaking his legs, hoping that the package would fall to the floor. A low gurgle of a scream erupted from his throat as he screeched "Get it away from me!"

The woman deftly snatched the package from his lap and covered his mouth with the other hand. "Shhhh Gerkins... So, you know, don't you? You know all about this!" She thrust the package towards him so that it was only an inch from his face. Perkins twisted away again, clenching his eyes shut, but not before he caught sight of the tiny black mandibles that were already spawning, reaching up from the sweater's material, pressing against the plastic, reaching for his skin.

Heavy footfalls resounded outside, approaching swiftly. The woman looked up in shock and cursed. She tossed the package back into the suitcase upon the table clicking it shut. She stood in the corner of the room next to the door and put a finger to her lips, telling Perkins to be quiet.

The door flew open with a crack and a hulking figure clad in black exploded through it. He glared at Perkins, looming over him, his hands outstetched heading for his throat. Perkins could just make out the expression of shock and rage on this newcomer's face when it suddenly went slack and the man-mountain pitched forward moaning "Not agaaaiiiinnnnn..."

The woman reached down to the man and removed the syringe from his neck, pocketing it carefully. "Like I said, I've got gentler means of submission at my disposal." She looked at the unconscious form and mused "That dose really should've lasted longer. I'll have to talk to the lab boys about it."

She turned to Perkins and pulled a knife from her pocket and held it before his nose. The sweat poured down his forehead. "I assume you know what this is for, right? We'll talk again Gerkins." She reached back behind the chair and placed the knife in his hands. Perkins nearly dropped the knife in shock.

"Stay or go, it's your choice. But I estimate that Boob In Black will be out for about 15 minutes. Then again, as you've seen, my estimates are sometimes off. Don't dally Gerkins... Get out while you still can." With a wink, she disappeared through the door. Perkins could still see Clancy standing and staring out into space, oblivious to all that had just occurred.

"That's Perkins. My name is Perkins," he muttered, as he desperately sliced through the rope threads.