The blizzard had calmed and given way to a heavy snow which meant extraction would be a go. He only needed to make it to the extraction point. He was ready to get back to civilization where they had ribeyes and beer. It's not that he needed to eat or even felt hunger nor did alcohol have any effect on him but they made him feel somewhat human. That was hard to do when your body was in an almost constant state of transformation. On the outside and to the human eye his form seemed stable but within and at a molecular level his body was forever changing and morphing. It was much akin to a lake that seemed calm on the surface but beneath, it teemed with activity. He had stashed the head of the Yeti within the bottomless folds of his cloak along with the transmitter that he had activated to inform the company that he was ready for pickup.<br/><br/>The other Yeti had seemed to have given up the pursuit not long after the scent of their dead companion was lost within him. Izaya himself had no scent of any kind and he rarely if ever left any sign of his passing. He was virtually impossible to track unless he wanted you to track him. If you thought you were tracking him then think again, chances were that you didn’t have long left on this earth. The Yeti on the other hand had strong scents that were unmistakable once you had smelled them which was why Izaya was sure that none of them were close by. He knew it would be an easy extraction and it was.<br/><br/>The chopper never touched down as usual but hovered twenty five to thirty feet above the ground. Izaya leapt upwards as snakelike tendrils shot out from his body and pulled him into the copter. As soon as he was in the seat a secured sat phone was handed to him. He took the phone without a word between either of them and put the phone to his ear. “Yes.”<br/><br/>“Izaya, I take it that you have procured the sample.”<br/><br/>“We called you didn’t we. Get to the point. To what do we owe this pleasure.”<br/><br/>“Yes. Well, Uhm, we’ve a situation that’s developed and your talents would be useful and very much appreciated. The chopper will take you straight to the testing facility.”<br/><br/>“We don’t like the testing facility. We can’t meet elsewhere?”<br/><br/>“I know Izaya but I’m afraid that it’s necessary. We’ll try to make it brief.”<br/><br/>Izaya cut the connection and handed them the phone back. The co-pilot accepted the phone and turned back around in the seat without another word. Anyone that had been with the company long enough knew that Izaya was one that enjoyed idle chatter. It was better to leave him alone, especially at an altitude that could result in your death or cause extreme pain if you were tossed from the chopper. It had happened before, more than once, in fact quite a few times. Izaya knew that he wasn’t expendable. He was unique. They had tried to duplicate him and failed miserably over and over again. They also knew that if he decided to leave that they couldn’t physically stop him. They didn’t know how to kill him or incapacitate him, hell, they didn’t know if he could die. Izaya pretty much did and said as he pleased.<br/><br/>The remainder of the two hour trip was silent other than the sound of the blades and random radio chatter between the pilot and the base. Once they touched down, Izaya was escorted to one of the testing labs after releasing the Yeti’s head to one of the lab techs. It looked like there had been a war inside with blood splatter covering practically every surface of the room not to mention the pools on the floor. The bodies of the scientists had been removed. Izaya walked straight to the two authoritative figures in the room. One was Henry Smith, an obvious fake name but what do you expect from the head of security. Izaya figured him for an ex-spook, mostly because he was a dick, that and Izaya didn’t like nor trust him. The other was Peter Brady, a big shot in the science department. Izaya figured his name wasn’t faked because who would name himself that on purpose. He was mostly harmless. Smith was the first to speak up.<br/><br/>“Took you long enough to get here.”<br/><br/>“Yeah, Smith, fuck you too. What’s the situation?”<br/><br/>“See for yourself. Seems like you aren’t the only freak off the leash now.”<br/><br/>Izaya ignored the jab by Smith and turned his attention to the monitor. The sight brought back memories that he would have just as soon left buried. Memories of back when he could actually feel pain and was a lot less than he was now; back when he actually had internal organs. How many had they taken out of him to watch them grow back? He would rather not count. He had been subject to every inhumane test and procedure that the most insidious of minds could conceive. They believed that he didn’t remember but he could never forget nor forgive. The mask kept his face emotionless though he almost cheered aloud when she slaughtered her captives. “Looks like they pissed her the fuck off. Maybe they should have just offered pie and left it at that.”<br/><br/>“Real funny freak. Well your little freaky girlfriend is gone. She is lose and as you can plainly see, a danger. We need you to bring her back, in better shape than the Yeti if at all possible.”<br/><br/>“You like that word freak don’t you Smith. You better put some sugar on it because the day is coming you’re gonna have to eat it. We’ll save that for another time.” Izaya looked back towards the table where she was strapped down and he had notice her blood pool on the table. He walked over and touched his finger to it and brought it up to his nose. He sniffed it then his mask parted at the mouth so that he could taste it. “Back at it we see. Still trying to make another us? Gotta admit, she’s better looking for damn sure and obviously more deadly and resourceful than you anticipated.”  Every job they handed him made him sicker to his stomach than the last.<br/><br/>At first it was all DNA retrievals which wasn’t too bad. It gave him a chance to get out of the labs. Then he had to capture the escaped patients. That left a bad taste in his mouth every time. Now after watching the recording of her escape and tasting her blood that was so similar to whatever he was now, this one would take a toll on him. He knew it already but he kept it tucked down deep. He needed a bit of humanizing before he left. “We’re gonna need two things in order to successfully complete this assignment.”<br/><br/>Brady was the one who spoke up this time. It was clear he wanted his toy back. “Anything. Everything we have is at your disposal.”<br/><br/>“A thick ribeye cooked rare and a Sam Adams. It's non-negotiable just so you know.”