The towering, gleaming visage of the Integrated Dimension Research Group Pyramid towered over the rest of San Maria. Most saw it as some sort of modern day Great Lighthouse, beaming scientific knowledge and guidance across the world. But Mozart knew that was just the public face of the organization put on. Behind the doors of that building were horrors that would shock the world. Experiments that created the frogs themselves, along with who knew what else. If the IDRG was willing to experiment so drastically on animals, who's to say they weren't do the same thing to humans?
Of course it wasn't like the Frogs could tell anyone about it. Who would believe a group of giant, mutant frogs over a group of near universally-loved scientists?
"So we just gonna look at it all night, or are we gonna go in?" Bach asked impatiently.
"I mean I know it's a great piece of architecture and everything, but I don't want to get killed by robots tonight."He was right. They had all been staring at the building from a rooftop across the street for far too long. None of them had good memories of the place or what happened to them inside. Art could feel the trepidation coming from his siblings. They had escaped from here not long ago. Going back in wasn't any of their first choice.
"Yea, we're going in," Art confirmed.
"We didn't come all this way to chicken out.""I don't like this, bro," Ludwig shook his head.
"What if this was all just a ploy to get us to come right back here? We worked so hard to get out, and now they have us strolling right back in? I dunno.""That's not how they think," Clara denied that.
"They're scientists. We know that. But they also have hubris. Enough to create us. If that's the case, they for sure believe whatever they create will work. They're not expecting us to come inside.""Overconfident nerds," Bach shrugged.
"Makes me feel a little better about this suicide mission.""It's not a suicide mission, buddy," Art tried to comfort his brother, not wholly believing his own words.
"We didn't achieve freedom just to end back up in a cage. Now come on. We need to stop those damn things. I need a nap.""You got a point there," Ludwig conceded.
The four of them made their way closer to the front of the building, and they circled around to the side of the building where the loading docks for the labs. At this point in the night, they were quite, and most likely would be until the morning came. There was a single guard in a guardhouse, barely able to keep his eyes open.
"You'd think if they just lost us they'd be a bit more on guard," Lud commented.
"Proof that Clara knows what she's talking about," Art patted his sister on her shoulder.
"They think their robots are going to do the job. They don't have to worry.""Not to mention those are probably contractors," Clara added.
"They're just here for a paycheck.""So let's not hurt any of them too bad," Mozart nodded.
"Fine," Bach grumbled.
"Can we get this over with?"The four of them nodded to one another, and moved towards the door in silence.
**********
The baoding balls rolled rhythmically in the hand of the man behind the desk, who was looking out over the city of San Maria. It had been two decades since he had started the lab here. Back then they were in nothing more than a studio apartment. Five years later they had a modestly sized high rise with manufacturing centers across the world. Five years after that, they received a huge military contract and built this pyramid. Now he was on top of the world. This world, at the very least.
But that wasn't enough.
There was so much that was within Jordan Dyer's grasp, if only he could reach out and grab it. He had waited so long, but his goal was finally within this planet's capabilities.
He needed his creations back, of course. Their escape was only a minor setback for the overall project. Now that they knew success was possible, it could and was already being replicated. But he couldn't take the chance of the creatures becoming public knowledge. The bleeding hearts all over this insufferable globe would shut him down.
Dyer would not let them do this. Not after he had come so far.
He was a serious man, with a sharp, severe looking face reminiscent of a shark framed by small, square glasses. He was of average height, but had a stronger, thicker build than most would expect from a scientist. His drive was what moved him forward. It was nearly unstoppable, held back only by those around him.
Still, Bennett's drones would work. He had crafted a perfect hunter. The experiments would destroy their fair share, Dyer was sure. But IDRG had the manufacturing capabilities to ensure the streaming of robots at them were nearly constant. They would be back in his possession once again soon.
"Sir," the voice of Myles Bennett came over his intercom system. Dyer actually smiled as it did, a rare sight for the enigmatic scientist. Bennett was one of the few people in this world that Dyer found worthwhile and intelligent. He had helped Jordan build this place. Bennett's mechanical and computing prowess almost matched Dyer's own. Almost. He was invaluable to the ongoing work they were doing, and Jordan was happy to have him.
"My scanning instruments are picking up something odd.""What would that be, Doctor Bennett?" Dyer asked half-interested as he continued to peer over the city.
"My scanners are saying the Experiments are inside the building."It takes a few moments for the words to really sink in. They rattle around in his head for a few moments, repeating them silently. The clink of metal hitting class echoed through the now-silent office as the baoding balls left Dyer's hand.
"You're absolutely sure of this?""Yes, sir," Myles confirmed.
"I re-calibrated the sensors twice and got the same readings. They're here."A smirk crept across the face of the director,
"Very well. It's time they're introduced to their father. Make sure they don't leave."**********
Surprisingly, it didn't take them long to make it to the mainframe. Maybe it was that they came on a weekend night and there was less staff here or something. But they barely received any push back from security guards. He only had to knock out a few of the guards with his poisoned touch to clear the way. The effort had left him slightly woozy, as secreting the poison always did. But he was good enough to press on as long as he didn't need to use the ability much more.
The fact that it was so easy tugged at the back of Art's mind like a bad dream. Maybe Bach and Ludwig were right. Maybe this was just one big ploy to get them to come back. If that was the case, the trapped hadn't sprung yet. That made him feel a little bit better. It probably shouldn't have, but it did.
Inside the server room, Clara quickly went to work trying to erase their code out of the system,
"You guys are son lucky I'm good at this. Their security systems point to the overconfidence angle. These are all the defenses they trained me on. Well, implanted in my head. Whatever.""Turnout is fair play," Art responded absent-mindedly.
"Anyone feel like this was too easy?""Yea, just a little bit," Lud nodded.
"I wasn't gonna be the first one to say it, though.""Way to unleash the jinx, bro," Bach shrugged.
"Well this isn't going to take much longer," Clara assured them.
"We'll be out before they even know we're-"Clara was cut off by a loud slam against the door that they had locked behind the on the way in.
"Okay, Clara unleashed the jinx," Bach added.
"You're off the hook, Art."The pounding continued unabated. The hard metal began to buckle under the strength of the strikes. As cracks began to form in the steel, the frogs could hear the snarls of some sort of beast on the other side.
"Clara, how long do you need?" Art asked his sister, not taking his eyes off the door.
"Just a few more minutes," she responded, still working at the computer.
"Looks like we're going to have a little dance," Ludwig rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles.
"Okay, but if I get eaten I'm haunting you guys."The door finally gave under the barrage, crumpling in like a tin can. From the other side charged a humanoid lizard that was near seven feet tall. Ribbons of slobber twirled towards the floor from its snout, and a wild look rolled through its eyes and it looked from Frog to Frog. It was a kimono dragon once. Art could tell that much. But it was now nothing more than a feral weapon for the IDRG. And it rushed the three Frogs protecting their sister.
