Nearly a decade had passed, and a nonbinary man named Lux sat at his desktop computer, staring at the screen in horror as he scrolled. He was of medium height and had warm brown skin, and wore his dark brown hair in a sleek, wavy mohawk. His eyes were a piercing blue, and his facial hair was dark, yet soft. Lux wore black horn-rimmed glasses and a patchy neon windbreaker, and shiny metallic leggings tucked into pointy, buckled boots. He was known in underground circles for his killer hacker skills and known to his friends for his face-melting keytar solos. He had just stumbled upon a scandalous conspiracy, broken mere hours ago.

The Renfield Medical Research Facility had opened a few months prior and was almost entirely government funded. It was shrouded in secrecy, with the following being the only information known to the public:

On old church was condemned to pave way for the facility’s construction.

It was built in less than six months.

It had been open for another six.

All information regarding the practices and “research” taking place here had been classified, but there had been a leak. An anonymous user posted their story about their time inside the facility, alleging grotesque and painful experiments on live subjects, including themself. Calling the Renfield a “factory of death”, the user begged readers to question everything and to stand up to cruelties happening in their own city.

Lux called in his partner Manfred and their friend Winona. Manfred was a co-organizer for their city’s faction chapter, which Winona was also a part of. They were not a popular group amongst the local authorities and largely met in secret.

Typing the name of the medical facility into a search engine, the first link to pop up was a statement issued by the Renfield itself earlier that day. Lux clicked the link to the article, titled “Nothing To See Here...Everything Is Totally Cool”, and the three began to read:

“To the brilliant and curious people of this city—we thank you for welcoming The Renfield family into your home one year ago. Through the generosity of the government we are so very grateful for, we have been able to achieve medical marvels. With great discovery, you may often find that great controversy will often follow. One of our employees left us due to personal differences and has chosen to slander our institution, which saddens us to the core. Any action causes an equal and opposite reaction, however. Additionally, we would like to invite members of the public, journalists, and academics to step inside our doors to get an idea of what it is we do, to prove that we are about what we say we are. Tomorrow, our first monthly, free lab tour will take place at 8:00 AM sharp. Please join us for refreshments following a guided tour of our laboratory, which will feature interactive elements, so bring the whole family!”

The trio paused, gathering their thoughts.

“What the fuck is that headline?”

“Did they just threaten the whistleblower in a public service announcement?”

“Snacks and... games for children?”

“We’re about what we say we are?” Lux laughed. “They never once even said what that was!”

Winona unfolded her crossed arms and shrugged. “I should go to the tour.”

“What? Not by yourself, we could get a handful of us together, we have no idea what’s even waiting for us in there. You don’t find this fishy as hell?” Manfred raised an eyebrow. He was a few inches shorter than Lux, with pale, pinkish skin. His reddish-golden hair was fluffy and layered on top, but closely cropped around the sides. Lumpy, pink burn scars adorned his forehead, cheek, and jaw, and his nose was particularly pointy. He wore a short-sleeved button up, that was mostly unbuttoned so that you could see his chest. A small, faint scar stretched beneath each of his sweet pecs.

“I hear what you’re saying, and this place is clearly the fishiest. But the facility will be packed with civilians. They invited the press. They wouldn’t dare act out; they’ll have to be on their best behavior.” Winona retorted. “More of us going means more chances of getting caught. I’m confident I can do this. It’ll make the most sense for me to go anyway; I work in the field, maybe I’m there to meet up with some colleagues, or to make new ones. It’s the perfect cover.”

“I have to agree with her,” Lux chimed in. Manfred sighed, knowing they were right, and Lux opened a drawer next to the computer desk they were all gathered around. After putting a fresh tape and batteries in an audio recorder, he handed it to Winona.

“Take this and keep it in your pocket. Hit this button once you get inside, you should have enough tape to record for as long as the tour goes on.” He fumbled through a different drawer and produced a smaller, stranger looking device.

“This is an original creation of mine. Plug it into anything with a password and it’ll make it unlock itself. I haven’t gotten to see it out in action yet so I hope it serves you well.” Lux handed her the second device. She pocketed them both, and she drifted off into thought, preparing for the following morning.

__________________________________

Winona stood in the bathroom, checking her reflection in the mirror. Her face was framed by long, shaggy layers, and the rest of her golden blonde hair fell down in waves ending just below her shoulders. Her eyes were blue, and thick, oval-shaped glasses sat atop her nose. She wore her favorite striped sweater tucked into a pair of slacks, with her surgeon’s coat as the top layer. Tucking the devices Lux gave her into her coat pockets, Winona hugged her friends goodbye and set out on foot for the other side of the city.

Arriving at the entrance to the Renfield, a crowd was gathered of citizens, professors, doctors, reporters, authorities, and more. Winona slipped into the crowd and gazed up at the building before her. Stretching nearly seven stories, the stark white building looked like some sort of unfortunate ode to Victorian prisons. There were plenty of windows, which looked pleasant at first glance, but they were so reflective that they made the building appear invisible in parts. It was no longer surprising what the government would pay for instead of helping those in need, but goddamn was this building particularly insulting to look at.

The clock struck eight and within seconds the doors opened. The crowd fell silent and a small woman dressed cartoonishly like a scientist stepped out, followed by a pair of identical, incredibly beefy men dressed in all black. Addressing the crowd in an uncomfortably cheerful tone, the woman trying to look like a scientist dropped all sorts of nonsensical jargon and vague statements and failed to say anything of actual substance. It was the same sort of talk as yesterday’s article, and though most of the crowd nodded and said “wow” and “cool”, Winona saw the sham for what it was.

Wheeling around and re-entering the building, the pretend scientist gestured for the crowd to follow them in. Winona pressed the button on the recording device in her pocket, and the trio led the crowd down a long hallway. As they walked, the pretend scientist described the five floors they would get to see on the tour today.

Reaching the end of the hallway, the trio lead the crowd into a large laboratory. On the surface, everything sure seemed totally normal. Various scientists and researchers stood around long workstations featuring microscopes and centrifuges. They were pouring colorful substances from one test tube to another, using pipettes to drop samples into containers, and doing other fun and flashy things like that. Everyone wore proper eye protection and gloves, and the visitors were all given their own. It was nothing more than smoke and mirrors, a clearly manufactured experience.

Everyone was allowed to walk about the lab and ask the scientists questions. They gave vague, rehearsed answers to everything, and always had the perfect weird medical term to pepper in for good measure. Peering around the room, Winona began to notice that many of the researchers seemed to have two-toned eyes, but their goggles made it hard to tell for sure. One of them suddenly approached her, reminding her in a chillingly positive tone to put on her goggles for her own safety.

“Yeah, of course, sorry,” Winona smiled awkwardly. The goggles barely fit over her chunky glasses, and thoroughly hindered her vision. She walked around quietly, trying not to bump into anyone or trip over any children. She ducked out of the room and back into the hallway they came through, and took off the goggles, letting them hang around her neck as she shook her head.

Winona wandered around a bit, dodging random staff members and their grunts, until she came to an elevator. There was a basement, as well as a sixth floor—conveniently left out by the pretend scientist earlier. She pressed the button for the top floor, and it brought her on up.

Exiting the elevator, Winona made her way down the hallway and found a door labeled “MAXIMUM SECURITY CLEARANCE ONLY”. There was a keypad, which she plugged Lux’s device into. The screen flashed green and she unplugged the device and tucked it back into her pocket. No turning back now, she thought as the doors slid open and she walked on in.

The room was even larger than the laboratory on the ground floor, and rows upon rows of giant, cylindrical glass tanks filled the space. There were naked bodies suspended in glowing teal liquid, all unconscious, and many of them looked alike—just like the people downstairs. There were tubes hooked up to all the bodies, pumping in nutrients and hormones and who knows what else. There were plenty of humans amongst them, but the bodies were mostly canine. They were tall and muscular, regardless of gender, and looked as if they had been sculpted from marble.

The person floating in the tank nearest Winona woke up suddenly, pounding on the glass and crying out to her. They had two different colored eyes and razor-sharp teeth, and no matter how hard they pounded on the glass, it was entirely impenetrable.

Winona gasped, backing up and turning, and darted towards the door to some kind of office.

She shut the door behind her and rushed towards the desktop computer and turned it on. The light from the monitor illuminated the dark office somewhat, and she was aghast at what she saw.

Human and animal heads alike were mounted trophy-style on the walls, the fear of death sealed permanently onto each of their faces. Filling out the shelves was an assortment of organs in glass jars, and strangely bent body parts positioned in odd ways. She gagged as she looked down at the desk and noticed a human hand being used as a paperweight.

The computer was passcode protected so Winona once again used Lux’s ingenious hacker device to get in. There were different views of the building onscreen via live security feed. She saw the laboratory on the ground level, and the tour group moving up to the second floor. Winona saw a large, ambiguous, dark shape heading down the hallway towards the room she just came from.

Winona, thinking on her feet, pulled up the internet browser and hastily typed out a message to send back to Lux.

“L--

Everything we feared is true. There’s some sort of horrific cloning project going down here, and nobody seems to know or care. I think something terrible is about to happen, so if this is my last message: DESTROY THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS!!

--W”

Whoever or whatever the dark shape was came storming into the room full of clones, and Winona’s heart fell into her stomach when she heard the footsteps quickly approaching. After sending the message, she wrenched open the desk drawer to find something to defend herself with and gasped. Amongst the junk sat a photo of herself from nearly ten years ago; her hair was tied back, and she was frowning. She couldn’t believe what she feared it could mean, but she had to think fast. Swiping a letter opener and turning off the desktop, Winona slipped under the desk to hide.

The door opened and the lights flicked on. Although she could not see the figure approaching, an uncomfortably familiar dread began to creep in.

“I always knew you would return to me in the end,” said the same guttural, grinding voice from all those years ago.

The letter opener clattered to the floor.