More Tales From The Village

     “It’s not good enough!” No.221 said looking at the job in hand.
    “Isn’t it, what’s wrong with it?” No.221b asked.
    “It’s not good enough.”
    “Yes I know, you’ve said that, what’s wrong with it that’s what I want to know.”
    “It will have to be done again that’s all.”
    “Done again, it can’t be done” 221b protested.
    “And why not pray?”
    “Because it can’t be done, besides there’s no time!”
    “That’s always the thing, a question of time!”
    “That’s because it’s lunchtime.”
    “Is it?”
    “Yes.”
    “What about after lunch?”
    “Oh there’ll be plenty of time after lunch, so we can do it again then.”
    “Good, and let’s get it right next time or Number 2 will not be best pleased.”
    “I tell you what; I don’t like the look of it!”
    “It looks malevolent.”
    “As if it would do one harm if it could only escape!”
    “I think it’s that we’re dealing with synthetic membrane, now steel and fibre glass, well you know where you are with those materials.”
    “But it didn’t work, did it?”
    “No, and I’m not so sure about that……..thing!”
    “Well let’s have our lunch and come back to it this afternoon.”
    The thing contained with the class tank was perpetually moving in water, like heated wax in oil in one of those astro lamps. It had the ability to divide itself into smaller segments, but then all the segments joined together in one large sphere of synthetic membrane. It then began to increase its size until it completely filled the glass tank until it began to exert pressure on the reinforced glass case in which it was contained. Then there was a crack in the inch thick glass, and water began to trickle out, and the crack split wider until one side of the glass tank shattered and water spilled out onto the bench and down onto the floor and the amorphous membrane thing with it. What caused to grow in size is anyone’s guess, but by the time the two bio-chemists, 221 and 221b returned from lunch they were greeted by a membranic sphere of some 6 feet in circumference. It seemed agitated, and it made a nose, something like the cross between a bicycle pump, Gregorian chant, and someone breathing through an aqua lung! Both the bio-chemists backed off, 221b reached for the yellow ‘L’ shaped intercom, while 221 fended the thing off using a broom, which was effective as the membranic sphere acted like a balloon, in that it offered no resistance. 221b managed to raise the alarm the while 221 had been backed into a corner. Then the thing turned its attention on 221b, who backed away to the door, but it was too late. The thing was on him in an instant, a blood curdling roar filled the laboratory, 221b tried to fend the thing off with his arms, but membrane covered his face, he screamed oh how he screamed until his lungs burned with lack of oxygen. And then the membranic sphere began to absorb 221b, the white membrane began to take on a reddish ink hue as it absorbed and digested the man inside. 221 watched the obscene and awful sight that sickened him to his stomach. He made a bolt for the door but too late, the membrane was upon him, he too was being absorbed and when the security guards appeared on the scene only and arm protruded out of the membrane, and a hand reached out. It was a horrid and ghastly sight to behold, a white gloved hand of a security guard grabbed the hand, but it was no good, the hand slipped out of the gloved hand and was absorbed into the white membrane. The two security guards backed away from the awful thing and the laboratory was sealed.
    In No.2’s office the grey ‘L’ shaped intercom began to bleep standing by his desk he picked it up “Yes what is it?”
    “Supervisor here sir, there has been an incident in the laboratory.”
    “An incident, what kind of incident?”
    When it comes to funerals they are not always possible, you see you need a body! However a memorial was held for 221 and 221b. As for the membranic thing in the laboratory, it was subdued by the use of a nerve gas agent. It was then transferred to a containment area at the bottom of the sea and held there until a controlling agent could be developed so that the Guardian as it was to be known could be released from the containment area in order to serve and protect the community of the village. The Guardian is a fearful thing to behold, it could be described as a guard dog, Rover you might call it to give a dog a name. It also has the quality of a sheep dog which goes about rounding up stray sheep that deem to escape the confines of the village. And yet it’s just as much a prisoner in the village as anyone, worse, a slave trapped and confined at the bottom of the sea.
   A number of divers had been selected to construct a containment area at the bottom of the sea. Amongst their number was No.10, an ex-British Royal Navy diver who had been recruited to work for the village. However seeing the village for what it is, had been biding his time for such an opportunity as this. He checked his air gauge and estimated he had about 10 minutes of air left in the tank strapped to his back. And while his diving buddies were busy he swam away as fast as he could on a bearing towards the shore and at a depth of 80 feet. Of course his non-presence at the underwater site was soon detected. The matter quickly reported to No.2 who decided that no action should be taken other than the introduction of the Guardian; it would be its first field test.
    By this time No.10 only had enough air to last another five minutes, his idea being to break the surface and swim for the shore and from there make his way inland, but just at that moment something large came at him out of the gloom, a white amorphous thing. He swam round to try and avoid the collision, he turned this way and that, but the Guardian countered his every manoeuvre, and all the time he was using up more oxygen. He swam upwards, kicking out at the thing as he broke surface. Then divesting his goggles, and air tank he swam for the shore…….but the Guardian, having also broke the surface was close behind, he began to swim towards the shore, but the Guardian was too swift and was on him in a moment. The membrane covered his face, he screamed………..his body left floating in the sea as the Guardian returned to the watery depths.
 

Be seeing you