Story

Though it is a multi-faceted medical research organization, MRC holds a particular interest in the study of longevity and life prolongment. To this end, many of its experiments and procedures revolve around the intersection between life and death. Ostensibly the purpose of these studies is to yield knowledge that can be used to stave off death's inevitable grasp on anthros, although, for MRC's PETT test subjects who are used for the conduction of these studies, the studies' conclusions can yield quite the opposite immediate result.

PETT LE-447 was brought into one of MRC's cardiology examination labs to undergo testing for just such a study. She was a female coyote, who held herself with the noble, dignified, but distant stance typical of PETT clones. She was dressed in a tight black sleeveless athletic top and matching shorts-- MRC's standard uniform for female PETTs. Upon arriving in the lab, LE-447 was greeted cordially by two technicians. She was asked to disrobe to her shorts and to lie on her back upon an examination bed, an order which she obeyed without compromising her regal bearing. One of the technicians, a young vixen orderly, proceeded to tightly strap the coyotess to the bed, fastening durable pre-installed belts around the PETT's neck, arms, waist, and ankles. The supine pose, adopted without the benefit of a headrest, pushed her elegant chest out acutely. Since there was no concern that the PETT would disobey instructions or even attempt to escape, the belts were not intended to constrain the coyotess but were merely a measure to help restrain her body from involuntary movements during the more intense parts of the procedure to follow.

The other technician, a slightly older lupine monitoring specialist, completed some final adjustments to the array of equipment alongside one of the walls. He unspooled bundles of wires which were plugged into the machines, and, with the help of the vixen, began the job of attaching them to the PETT's bared chest. Myriad pads and sensors were applied, starting with EKG leads centered over her heart. Against the left side of her chest was attached an echocardio probe, aimed at her heart's apex. The coyotess looked down as two defibrillator pads were affixed to the front of her chest. She showed little apparent concern regarding this foreshadowing of the nature of the testing ahead of her.

Taking advantage of her momentary preoccupation, the wolf retrieved a needle and used it to insert an IV line into the side of her neck. The PETT jerked her head slightly at the tiny prick of pain, but the vixen soothed the coyote kindly, stroking her paw. The wolf moved to the other side of the bed to apply a second IV line to the other side of the coyotess' neck. This time, she seemed not to care. The neck was an unusual IV application site compared to the wrist or inner arm-- however, it provided a more direct internal route to the heart, which was advantageous for the experiment at hand.

Satisfied with the setup arrangements, the wolf returned to the row of equipment, flicking on the machines one by one. The PETT's eyes darted up, as the array of dark screens above her illuminated brightly with her vital signs. A neon line paced across one screen, tracing the rhythm of her heartbeat on a digital graph in time with an electronic tone that signaled each beat, while on another screen, the glowing shape of her heart itself, its throbbing chambers and valves clearly revealed to the outside world as if by magic, pulsed sedately. A large dish on the ceiling, pointing down at the PETT, lit up as well, as it initiated the emission of an invisible continuous scan that passed through the coyotess' entire supine body. Above the coyotess' head, linked to the scanner, a screen lit up with the outline of her body, in which her pulse flow was portrayed as gentle waves radiating outward from her chest. There, a throbbing concentration glowed prominently on the screen.

The technicians seemed pleased as they monitored the screens, analyzing every aspect of their cloned patient's vibrant heart. The coyotess herself rested quietly, seeming to pay no heed to the office-like murmur of the technicians examining her from above, nor to the gentle beeping and humming of the machines around her.

The PETT's heart was, of course, in perfect health-- a chief advantage of using cloned PETTs, after all, is that they are perfectly-formed anthro specimens-- although the assertation of that fact-- an experimental control-- was a crucial starting point for the next phase of the experiment. With a nod to the vixen, the wolf turned to the first of the two IV bags hanging next to him. With a careful turn of a tiny drip valve, the bag's ominous-looking solution began the slow decent through its line to the coyotess' neck. The coyotess' throat twitched involuntarily as the fluid entered her body, but if the sensation caused her physical pain, she made no comment.

From her throat, it was a quick journey to her heart. On the echo screen, a subtle green flash marked the entry of the foreign solution into the coyotess' right atrium, and in another instant, it filled up the ventricle as well. At this the coyotess did gasp, as her heart jerked within her-- a curious phenomenon which the technicians watched on the screen with interest. A few beats later, and the unsettling fluid could be seen flowing into the left side of the pulsing organ as well, filling the last of its chambers-- and, as intended, the organ began to increase its rhythmic pace perceptively.

LE-447 felt the internal change that had been wrought upon her at once. Subconsciously she evened her breath, as if by doing so she could control the pace of her increasingly rapid heart rate pounding in her chest, but of course there was nothing she could do to temper the effects of the accelerant now racing through her system. She looked up, following the technicians' gazes to the screens, whose glowing tracings now darted with rapid, violent peaks. The galloping echo image of her heart seemed to throb monstrously on its display as, unknown to her, her heart's pace exceeded dangerous levels. The wolf gave an interested 'hmm' to the vixen, jotting down some readings on a clipboard, studying the image on the screen carefully through wire-rimmed glasses.

At last, after letting the PETT's heart race frantically for some time while compiling appropriate data, he gave another nod to his colleague. He gave a quick glance to his patient, who eyed him back blankly, before turning again to the IV stand. With a precise touch, he opened the second IV line. After checking to see that the flow rate was acceptable, he resumed his study of the screens. The coyotess on the bed gave another instinctive twitch as the new, insidious liquid entered her body-- and there was little doubt that this fluid had a sting to its touch. She noticed that she could feel it racing coldly down her veins, towards her racing heart... when she felt her heart give an alarming jerk.

The technicians noticed this, too. As the dully-glowing liquid reached the first of the throbbing chambers on the echo screen, the rhythm of the pulsing image was suddenly, momentarily broken-- only for the tormented organ to slam back to life a second later, harder, and even faster. Nearby, the neon trace of the coyotess' heartbeat peaked in time with the violent anomaly, and the monitor emitted an erratic extra beep in its hitherto even rhythm. Now, it was only a matter of time. As her heart pulled the new cocktail through the rest of its chambers, the disorienting extra beep sounded again.

The vulpine orderly turned her attention to the supine coyotess. LE-447's eyes were wide, but, not breaking character, the coyotess remained silent. Her eyes flicked from screen to screen, her breath becoming more rapid and pronounced, her breasts rising and falling quickly under the many wires attached to her chest. The vixen placed her paw on the coyotess', smiling down at her. The kind gesture conveyed a tiny sense of comfort that registered in the mind of the thoroughly vulnerable PETT.

It was, of course, just a gesture. Another erratic beep sounded, quickly followed by two more. Then, a sudden string of at least a dozen. The coyotess felt the arrhythmia rock the inside of her chest, and she gasped-- her heart was failing as she laid on the lab bed. On the echo screen, the shape of the coyotess' heart flopped in prolonged lapses of contorted twists, and the trace of her heartbeat grew more and more jagged and erratic on its neon graph. The vulpine turned to watch the screens, although her paw remained with the PETT's, as the increasingly-interrupted normal rhythm of the coyotess' heart gave way altogether, replaced by a string of rapid-fire beats that filled the room with an alarm-like series of staccato beeping. The echo image showed the coyotess' heart flopping uselessly inside of her chest. The vulpine squeezed the coyotess' paw. The disrupter solution had run its course. This was it.

LE-447 blinked. Although hardly in pain, she noticed her vision going blurry, and her mind growing dim and sleepy. She felt the unsettling fluttering sensation in her chest begin to die away-- on the screens above her, the glowing outline of her heart had given up its chaotic convulsions, now merely showing an occasional, unenthusiastic twitch on the screen. The panicked beeping of the monitor had gone quiet, and the waves of the coyotess' pulse had faded to a tepid stagnancy on the pulsometer screen. The coyotess closed her eyes. She took a shallow breath, and, lacking the energy to take another, refrained from the effort. Her proud chest fell still.

The young fox gently let go of the coyote's paw, and she and the wolf turned to each other. They conferred briefly, and it was agreed-- the first stage of the test had gone exceedingly well. The head office would certainly be eager to consult the data that they had obtained regarding a heart as it goes into cardiac arrest.

This sentiment of self-congratulations settled, the wolf moved to a small machine to the side of the others. He flicked a switch, causing a new screen to light up and filling the room with the sound of a charging electric buzz. The vulpine stepped away from the lab bed. When the buzz reached a high, constant pitch, the wolf pushed a red button on the machine's console. The coyotess' body jerked violently on the bed, restrained only by the strong nylon straps, as 1000 volts of electricity slammed through the defibrillator pads into her bare chest. Her body fell back against the bed, her chest rising and falling deeply. A familiar, steady, electronic beeping filled the room again. The technicians resumed their rounds of business-like work.

The testing conducted on LE-447 for this study was not classified by the MRC as "terminal." LE-447 was scheduled to survive it. When the coyotess finally re-opened her eyes several moments later, the technicians were already busy preparing for a repeat of the entire experiment. Before this testing session was to end, LE-447 was to be induced into cardiac arrest and re-animated several more times, to allow for as much overlapping data obtainment as possible. The long-term effects of this violent treatment on the coyotess test subject's heart were not considered relevant.

Still, if all went well, LE-447 could look forward to a return to the MRC rec room when the testing was finally complete, where she could rest in leisure and comfort until being called upon for some other purpose. And that, for a PETT relegated to medical testing, was a small miracle.