Haken: A Capacity for Violence Part 8

This story features forge master Haken and takes place between the events of 'Werewolves: Haven Rising' and 'Werewolves 3: Evolution's End.' 

[If you haven't read part 7, click on the Collections tab and select 'Werewolves' to find the previous chapter of this story.]

Trigger warning: This chapter contains a discussion (not depiction) of non-consensual medical procedures of a sexual nature on the main character during the last two paragraphs.

Chapter 8:

"Your vital signs were off the charts last night," Dr. Lim said as she wiped an alcohol swab along the crook of Haken's arm. "It was really quite fascinating. There you sat, not moving a muscle while your heart raced like an Olympian's." She held an IV needle up to make sure he saw it coming. "You'll feel a slight pinch."

Haken barely felt the needle pierce his skin. To his great shame, he was growing accustomed to such things. "I was dreaming," he replied simply as he shifted about in the uncomfortable examination chair. He may be getting used to the needles, but being strapped down was never going to sit quite right with him.

"Must have been quite the dream," the doctor replied. "I suppose nothing gets the blood rushing like the promise of mating after being alone for so long."

He had to grimace to keep from rolling his eyes. Was mating the only thing this woman ever thought about? He supposed that if werewolf species preservation and reproduction were his profession, he'd be thinking about it constantly as well, but it all felt so…unseemly. Like the act had somehow been reduced to mechanical production. He wondered how he should reply. Best to let her continue thinking what she wanted to think. "Yes," he said. "It's very exciting."

"Wonderful!" She smiled. "I heard that you met Alice the other day. Was she to your liking?"

"I doubt it matters what I think of her," Haken replied. "I tried to carve her a new windpipe with a pencil."

"She's experienced far worse, believe me. I talked to her afterwards. She likes you, can you believe it?"

"She called me a brute."

Dr. Lim Raised an eyebrow. "Many women like that in a man. I imagine some werewolves would find it even more alluring than human women do."

Haken snarled and lurched forward, nearly striking the doctor with the ridge of his nose. "Is this all a game to you? You getting off on playing werewolf matchmaker?"

"Hardly," Dr. Lim said. "To be perfectly frank, it's exhausting trying to convince members of your species to copulate. I'm consistently reminded of the zookeepers in Hong Kong trying to mate their giant pandas. You're both impossible."

"So you do think of us as animals."

"Of course not!"

"You just compared us to pandas!"

Lim sighed with exasperation. "I compare my eight year old niece to a little monkey, but that doesn't mean that I think she is one. It was a comparison, Haken, and it wasn't terribly flattering toward you. Don't mind me–I've already had an exhausting day and it's only two in the afternoon. Apparently there's been an incident in one of the other facilities that used to be run by the recently-deceased General Greene. It's all a big mess."

He matched her sigh with one of his own. "Why don't you just get to the point. What are we doing, here? Another test?"

"Not as such," she replied.

"What, then?"

"We're going to sedate you and collect some samples. Blood, urine, semen, and the like. A few other–"

Haken's eyes widened. "You're going to…?"

"I assure you, we'll take the greatest care to keep your dignity intact, which is why you'll be sedated for the procedure."

"I didn't agree to this!"

Dr. Lim put her hands on her hips and blew an errant strand of hair out of her face. She looked almost comical when she was pissed off. "You agreed to a breeding program but didn't expect to have your genetics tested? That we wouldn't screen you for disease or faulty genes?"

Haken tried to calm himself. He had to go through with this–the spirit he'd communed with had all-but told him that he needed to. 'Pass your strength of spirit on to the next generation,' it had said. Well, he couldn't do that as a prisoner, so either he would have an opportunity to escape or the spirit intended for him to go through with Lim's program. For now he might as well play ball and try not to dwell on his wounded dignity. "I understand," he said.

"I'm glad you've decided to see reason," the doctor replied. She stepped away from his examination chair and picked up something that looked like a mask off a shiny metal table. 

"Is it Alice?" he asked. "Is she the one you want me to…mate with?"

"She's one of them, yes." Dr. Lim put the mask back down and sat on a wheeled chair. She began tapping away at a keyboard. A minute later she reached up and grabbed hold of the screen in front of her and turned it toward him. It shifted closer on a articulated arm. The monitor featured thumbnails of several women in both their human and werewolf forms. 

He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "These are…?"

"The potentials," Dr. Lim replied. "For you to mate with."

Haken blinked. Suddenly his mouth was dry. Every last one of the women in these pictures was naked. To a wolf who had never so much as seen pornography, their neutral poses were still enough to set his heart racing uncomfortably. He swallowed and tried to look away, but found it almost impossible to do so.

The doctor watched him with shrewd eyes. "Do you see something promising?" she asked.

He wasn't sure how to respond. Even Alice was there in front of him–skyclad–a smug grin the only thing she considered worth wearing.

"You're making me uncomfortable," he said reluctantly. "If you really don't view us as animals then don't treat me like one. I'm not a skin-suit filled with instincts for you to poke and prod at. I'm a person and so are they."

"Interesting," Dr. Lim said as she pulled the monitor back to her side of the bed. "I'll have to update your file regarding emotional maturity. You've taught me something today, Haken."

"What's that?"

"That it's possible to be both impressed and disappointed with a subject at the same time." She reached over to the clear drip bag feeding the IV and turned a small plastic valve. "You'll feel some mild euphoria at first," she said. "Don't try to fight through it. Just enjoy the ride."

Haken lay back and tried not to think about what this woman was about to do to him. Maybe if he focused on the blood samples she was taking, that would tide him over. He was used to human doctors procuring blood from every inch of his body by any and every means possible. He'd thought there was no shame left that he hadn't already endured, but..

"Wait!" he croaked. He was already feeling he effects of whatever drug she was pumping into his system. His words were slightly slurred and he was having difficulty forming full sentences in his head before speaking them. He'd been so distracted by Lim's promises and the images she'd shoved in his face that he hadn't had the proper time to process what she actually wanted. "You don't need to put me under to collect those samples!"

"Hmm?" Dr. Lim asked from the other side of the room. She was getting something ready, but he couldn't quite turn his head enough to see. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Haken tried to keep his breathing even and ignore the intoxicating waves of bliss that threatened to overtake his conscious thoughts. What was this drug? It wasn't the same as the last one they'd used on him at all. Not even close. "Blood… you can take blood whenever you want. Urine and semen… just give me a few minutes of privacy and I'll give it to you, myself."

"And when did I say that was the extent of my business with you, today?" the doctor asked. Suddenly she was by his bedside again, wearing a blue surgical mask. He hadn't even noticed her arriving. Just.. blink… and she was there. "Are you aware that the US government has been in the business of engineering 'super soldiers' for decades, now? And that research into werewolves has played a pivotal role in the enhancement of human beings?"

Haken tried to shake his head. "The butchers in Haven weren't quite as chatty as you are about what they were doing. Makes sense, though." He tried to clear his throat, but it was surprisingly difficult. His voice was getting rougher and rougher as he spoke. "Why else would they have drained so much of our blood over the years?" He grunted with the effort to keep talking. "I know a few of 'em are sadists, but if there wasn't a point to the whole thing they would have gotten tired of tormenting us after a while."

"So you acknowledge our differences," Dr. Lim said. "That is good. Well, in the interests of transparency, then, I'll inform you that in addition to the samples I'll be taking, I'm also administering a few injections that I'm told can be quite painful. The sedation should help you with that."

"Injections?" Haken's speech was slurred and he was having a hard time thinking. "What kind…of injections…?"

Lim's expression brightened and she patted him on the head. "Trailblazing research in the early super soldier programs revealed that many of their enhancements could be passed on and strengthened in offspring. This was excellent, but the problem was that the same enhancement procedures drastically reduced the patient's fertility. I believe that the Haven protocols had the same effect on any werewolf that participated in those experiments. That's why you have no young children. All of the Haven-born pups are in their older teens now, conceived earlier on during your incarceration. 

Haken had never really thought about that, but the doctor was right. There hadn't been a newborn pup in Haven for over a decade before his rebellion began. He tried to reply, only to find that his mouth wouldn't move.

"To the point," Dr. Lim said, "my predecessors developed a treatment that not only restores an enhanced individual's fertility, but greatly increases it. I intend to administer that treatment to you." She picked up a small tray containing a row of four needles and placed it on a rolling cart. Haken's eyes went wide as he realized where those needles were intended to go. "Trust me, Haken," she said as she brought a small plastic mask to his face and pressed it against his skin.

He tried to yell and thrash about, but as soon as he breathed in, the sweet-smelling gas had him seeing stars. Within seconds he was out like a light and the doctor could begin her work.