The Reason For Our Sorrow, Part 5
Written by Dante

*
Clrauss cried in pain as the scale was ripped away, exposing the fragile flesh underneath. Tears streamed down his face, as he convulsed against the iron binding; only to have the pain be greater. He let out another scream. as hands grasped him, prying open his tough skin.

Clrauss felt the hands withdraw, but he still writhed in agony, still felt the horror of having his weakness exposed. He screamed on and on, beyond words or any other communication. Terror and fear racked his body as he strained, with quickly fading strength, against the clasps that bound him.

"Now!" His senses echoed the shout into an endless hell of noise. Clrauss screamed in burning pain as a sword,infinitely thin and long, was driven in to his side. He squirmed horribly, beyond any expression of thought. He felt it thrust into his body, blood-thirsty and damning. He screamed.

The point was withdrawn after an eternity of pain. He yelled, rage channeling itself through him. Clrauss clawed at anything around him, twisting his own body into inhuman shapes. Hands grabbed him, mocking and taunting, those of demons. He saw nothing in the glare of the blinding light, but for when the darkness came upon him....

*
"He's growing worse everyday." Williams lifted the cup to his lips, sipping at the steaming drink. He grimaced, and looked up towards the face across from him. Adamson watched him, with a cold and calculating look. "As you well know." Adamson scowled.

"It wasn't my decision to import the subject from his normal habitude." Williams stood up quickly, spilling coffee across the small table. "Stop using your damn fancy words, Chris! We're talking about a living being!" He threw the cup aside, and shoved his chair in.

Adamson drank from his own cup, with the faint traces of a smile. "Please try to control yourself, Mr. Williams. Actual emotions are not necessary for this project." Williams slammed his hands on the table, staring straight at Adamson. "Damn you!" He stared, but without result.

Williams lifted his arms, and sighed. "Just wish you could accept it-, damn, no, him for what he is." Adamson's head jerked up, his face serious. "We are aware of sentience, and the worth of that sentience. But at this point, the variables have not been defined." He resumed his drinking.

Williams growled, and stomped away. Near the door to the break room, he saw Livinger, who beckoned him with a wave. Glancing back for a moment, Williams moved over to him. Livinger looked confused. "Hey, what are you doing? We still got fifteen minutes left!"

Williams nodded. "Yeah, I just felt like looking in on him." Livinger stared at him, puzzled, before realization dawned. "Oh! You mean the scaly?" He looked at Williams. Williams glared at him for a moment, then stomped off into the hall. Livinger shrugged. "Wonder what got into him?"

He sat in the chair for a minute, musing about this turn of events, when someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around. "Wha-"

Adamson grabbed his collar and pulled him up. Livinger struggled against the other man's grip. "Wha-what is.." Adamson slammed him against the wall. "Never." Livinger hit the wall again. "Never!"

"Never what?" Livinger gasped, forcing his breath out. Adamson looked at his coolly for a moment. "Never assume superiority over what you don't understand." He dropped Livinger to the ground, and straightened his clothes. "Is that clear?"

Livinger scrambled at the ground, catching hold and raising himself to a stand. He looked fearfully at Adamson "Y-y-yes....yes sir!" Adamson pointed out the door, and Livinger shot out, running at a steady pace. Adamson scowled, glanced back into the empty room, and left.