We arrived together on the bottom level after descending an extra-long staircase. More signs were posted on the door before us.

"Possibly psychological damage? Telekinetic field zones? Sonic beams? Concussive air blasts?" I read.

"This area is no joke, Eris. These critters are some nasty customers. Don't cross any barriers or red lines. If one of these things gets ahold of you, there's not much anyone can do." He knelt down and leaned in closer. "Stay close to me, okay?."

"Yeah, okay, I will. Like I haven't so far?"

"True enough. You've been cautious. Just remember, people have died fighting the things in here. They will kill again at the slightest opportunity."

I gulped and nodded.

We swept our bracelets together, and with a whir of retracting bolts and a a hydraulic hiss, the door in front opened, revealing an even larger area than the floor above.

"Bottom level," James said, stepping through. I followed him, noting the high ceilings. The noises inside ranged from odd whistling to whale-like calls, with barks, howls, and strange ghostly ululations interspersed. The noise alone stopped me in my tracks, terror rippling down my spine. "Crap."

"I know, right?"

Standing still momentarily, i forced myself not to lay on the ground and cover my head with my hooves. Instead, I slowly scanned the area before me. The pipes below us this time were massive, perhaps twenty feet in diameter. I could see them through the large grates in the floor. Sounds of rushing water and hisses of steam drifted up from the subfloor as well. Catwalks ran overhead and I could see several portable weapon turrets placed around the room, the green standby lights glowing in evidence. All throughout the area were cordoned-off zones with massive cages of thick transparent material and heavy steel. Blinking red hazard lights and glowing holographic warning signs flickered through the massive area. Sealing both ends of the long tunnel, I could see doors big enough to drive an armored truck through, imposing with their concrete and metal components. But most of all I could see the shadowy creatures hiding in their prisons. Glowing eyes the size of beach balls blinked at me. Claws scratched against glass. Something spat against the transparent glass of an enclosure, leaving a green sludge mark. Water running down the interior from nozzles on the top quickly washed it away. A tentacle waved momentarily above the walls of another before sinking back down inside.

I sat heavily on my butt. "Oh, shit."

"Take a minute," James said, standing so close to me I could feel his reassuring warmth. I glanced up and noticed his shotgun was no longer slung on his back. Now he was holding it in his hands at low ready position. "Take all the time you need. This takes some getting used to."

"By the way, where are the drones?" I asked, finally.

"You'll see plenty of them in the event of a containment breach. They are kept in hoppers on standby until something happens."

"I'm okay with not seeing that show."

"Believe me, so am I."

I half-smiled and took a few steps forward, my insatiable curiosity drawing me onward despite my apprehension. I knew full well this would end in more horror, but I just had to poke my muzzle in and see what crawled and slithered in this dimly lit place of danger and nightmares.

"Why the hay is it so dark in here?" I asked.

"The darkness keeps these ones calm. They are very upset in the light, and were creating quite a riot. In the darkness, they lurk quietly. See their eyes? They're looking at you."

He wasn't making it up. I could see the malevolently glowing eyes of several creatures peeking between steel bars and through armored glass. They knew we were here, and they were watching us, as a predator observes prey.

"That is so creepy," I breathed, and found myself unintentionally pressing up against James's thigh. My sideways pressure had to be making his walking a bit difficult, but he didn't push me away, and I was glad for that.

"Well, what do we want to look at first?" he asked, scowling at the yellow eyes of some shadowy thing in a stockade ahead of us. "From here on out, it's all the stuff of nightmares. Pick your poison."

Curious, I pointed at the yellow-eyes. "That one. Is that okay?"

"Don't cross the red line."

As we approached the safety zone, two human scientists approached with an armed guard. "Sup, James?" the guard said.

"Yo. Showing the new boss lady around."

The man frowned. "Good luck with that." He then looked at me. "Well, we're about to feed this creepy bastard, so if you want to lose your lunch, just hang out here for a minute."

I nodded, feeling a little sick in the pit of my stomach as I saw them pulling a rabbit out of a cage.

"Why do they feed them these live animals?" I asked James, softly.

"Some of these monsters won't eat anything else. Of course we'd rather give the animals a merciful end, and we do so whenever possible. But it just doesn't work for all of them. Some refuse to eat, others get incredibly violent."

"I see. Such an awful way to go, though."

James nodded, his face set in granite. "This one is pretty ugly, too."

I watched unhappily while they hooked the white rabbit to the end of a pole.

"Hey Sticks, it's feeding time," the men called out.

I looked out into the stockade, but I only saw some shrub bushes and little trees. Oh, and those creepy glowing yellow disembodied eyes, now fixated on the rabbit. As it swung nearer, the trees and bushes shifted, forming a roughly anthropoid shape, at least ten feet tall. The saplings bent like arms, the bushes formed a hollow, donut-shaped chest and legs. The only sound was an eerie rustling and snapping as the leaves fluttered and the stalks bent into new shapes. Finally, the end of the pole went into the cage, the rabbit dangling and struggling from the end. The creature carefully lifted the kicking rabbit off the stick, and shoved it directly into the empty space where its stomach would have been. The rabbit floated in the air, continuing to kick about. After a few moments, it began to squeal in agony.

"What the-" I began, and then a shocking thing happened. The rabbit began to rotate in the air, unpeeling in a corkscrew fashion. It was as if the skin and meat were roll of thick yarn being pulled into the creature's body. Blood pooled into aerial bubbles, floating about in the zero-gravity zone at the monster's center. The rabbit's screams reached a crescendo, then stopped instantly as the lungs and organs followed the flesh, stringing off into the creature's body. The blood drops raced away, guided by the strange tidal forces and swallowed up into the brush. The creature finally made a jerking motion, ejecting the rabbit's skeleton through the bars towards me, where it clattered to a stop near the safety barrier.

I yelped and jumped back, and I could have sworn the creature was laughing at me silently as it shook and heaved. I squished up beside James even harder, pushing against his thighs. "Crap crap crap," I chanted. "Crap crap crap crap!"

"You okay?"

"Okay? Me? No, I'm pretty far from okay," I choked. "Just, crap, I need a minute." I sat on my haunches and held my front hooves up to either side of my head, then I took a deep breath, carefully ignoring the intimidating gaze of the eldritch horror sitting a few yards away from me on the other side of the stockade fence.

"You need to head out? Visit the bathroom?"

“No! I'm good now. Just had to catch my breath.“ I rose to my hooves and tossed my mane as defiantly as I could manage. "Good. Much better."

“You want to keep going then?"

"Absolutely," I said weakly. "Aw, crap. What's with the goat?" I pointed a hoof at two other men leading the animal towards another cage.

James scowled. "That's one of the reasons we don't eat dinner until after the tour."

My stomach sank. "Yeah. This is really fun." I grimaced as the men began pushing the poor bleating animal past another barrier.

"Might want to pay attention to this one," James told me. "That red line represents the edge of an induced hypnosis zone."

"A what zone?"

"Mind control. Watch."

The unfortunate animal stumbled over the red line after a hearty shove from the men behind, who quickly scrambled back. Almost immediately the goat froze into position. From inside the dark pen before it, a dull orange glow reached out and touched him. The light looked thick and vile, a baleful glow like nothing I had ever seen before. Twitching, the goat stumbled forward as if half asleep. It moved closer and closer, pulled by that awful, unclean light. When it arrived at the side of the pen, it haltingly laid on the floor alongside it.

"James?"

"Yeah?"

"This is going to be really bad isn't it?"

"Really, really bad."

A large, octopus-like tentacle slithered out between the bars. It looked to be at least half a foot wide from where I stood, and it gleamed with mucus. The goat lay beneath, trembling slightly as the tentacle descended to lay gently across his back. Almost immediately the doomed animal let out a long, pathetic bray of suffering, but the mental grip held tight, and it could not move as the tentacle lifted slowly with a great strip of the goat's flesh attached. The sounds of tearing and pain increased as another tentacle dropped across his face.

I had a brief impression of eyeballs popping out of their sockets as the optic nerves stretched behind, and I looked away quickly, retching. I felt James put a hand on my back while I gagged. The terrible noises continued, seeming to go on forever, and I swallowed hard at the hot acid in my throat. "James?" I asked faintly when I could breath again.

"Yeah."

"Can we just look at some monsters that aren't eating for a bit, please?"

"Okay, sure."

"James?"

"What?"

"Did I do something to piss you off? You seem, I don't know, like you don't want to be around me."

"No. You didn't do anything wrong. Sorry."

His curt manner confused me, and I felt even more alone as we proceeded past cages of winged four-foot centipedes, acid-spewing fungus behind armored glass, some ugly meat-eating plants with "TRIFFIDS" scrawled on their containment unit, and several things which had no name and which I was warned not to observe too closely.

"Remember the psychological damage sign?" James asked me as I moved around the perimeter of a draped cube, trying to sneak a look. "There is a curtain around that cage for a reason."

I changed my mind about wanting a peek.

By the time we neared the end of the tour, I had reached a level of horror that made my nerves buzz.

"James, you showed me all this, but I don't think I am in any condition to take a test. It's too much at once."

He looked at me, and I couldn't read his expression. Fear? Loathing? Anger? I didn't understand.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

He shook his head. “This is the last stop,” he said, then he answered a call on his ARHUD. “Yes, Director? Okay, hang on a moment.”

He looked down at me. “Go on in, Miss Sky. I have to take this, and they're expecting you.”

“Oh, okay, see you in a few,” I said, faking cheerfulness, dreading being alone, confused by his abruptly stand-offish manner. I looked back briefly and his eyes were on me, but he quickly glanced away as soon as he saw me staring at him. With a heavy feeling in my heart, I passed through the large, open doorway in the concrete wall. Inside, I saw a large chamber. Several feet away was a group of scientists, human and pony, watched over by a couple humans and a pony carrying rifles. Towering over us all was a hideous creature, like the nightmare combination of a spider and a pitcher plant. The creature thrashed and hooted through the pitchers, evidently interested in my arrival. I could see tentacles and teeth inside each pitcher. The thing was restrained against a giant table assembly, heavy tie downs over each of its legs.

I wavered in the entryway. “Oh my goodness.”

The security pony approached me, stopping a short distance away. “This is your final test, Miss Sky,” he said. “There's no glass between us and it, now. This is the reality of our job. Come closer, take a look, if you can stomach it. Otherwise, you can just leave now. We won't judge your for that.”

I ignored the offer to leave, and instead I walked forwards. As I neared the activity, one of the scientists walked towards the beast and stabbed a syringe into its leg, drawing out a green liquid. Enraged, it kicked harder and hooted.

“Those bonds will hold it?” I asked the security pony.

“Don't worry, those straps could hold an elephant down.”

As he spoke confidently, one of the straps snapped, and the monster threw the scientist with the needle against the wall. I could see he was dead from the way he fell, his neck twisted awkwardly beneath him.

“Oh fuck!” One of the others ran to the wall, slapped a button, and suddenly the entire room was bathed in flashing red lights.

“CONTAINMENT BREACH. CONTAINMENT BREACH.”

The loud female computer voice and klaxons were drowned out by the roar of the monster as it destroyed the remaining restraints, dropping down amongst the terrified scientists. My heart leapt into my throat. I turned and saw the open door behind me. An abrupt burst of gunfire made my heart jump again.

“Help! Please help!”

I turned back, the pleas burning into my soul. Several more of the scientists lay on the floor, unmoving The security pony who had spoken to me was down as well, along with both human security guards. Two human scientists and an Equestrian were trapped behind the monster. It moved towards them. “Help! Please don't leave us!” one of the humans shrieked in terror, beckoning at me.
Turning my back to the door, I drew my pistol and ran forwards. I fired at the monster again and again, distracting it. The scientists took the opportunity to make a break towards me. “Keep going for the door!” I called out as they passed. The monster blew its pitcher horns at me, sounding like a runaway freight train. I saw the razor-sharp tooth-disks spinning inside them all too clearly, and then I felt something warm running down my leg. I had just pissed myself, maybe shit myself as well.

The monster charged, and I realized we weren't all going to make it to the door.

“Keep running!” I shouted as I stayed put and tried to hold off the beast. I threw up a protective magic barrier. The monster charged me… and went through my field like it wasn't there. I thrust out my pistol again, and it made only a pathetic clicking noise. I had only enough time to wonder how the supposedly magic-enhanced magazine could be empty already, and then it was upon me.

I screamed as it closed in, throwing my hooves in front of my face, then i slipped and felt myself falling to the floor, where I landed with a splat in something gooey. I had definitely shit myself, and now I had gotten a face full of it. For some strange reason it bothered me a lot to die covered in piss and shit, but then my ears were full of the sound of roaring and hooting, and everything went dark as I screamed and screamed until I passed out.

“Eris. ERIS! Please wake up.”

I opened my eyes slowly. I was still on the floor of the testing room, but it was now completely empty. Not even the equipment remained.

“What happened?” I asked in confusion, realizing I was in James’s arms. Also I had not imagined pissing and shitting myself. I reeked. And so did James, because he was holding me tightly against his chest.

“You took your final test,” he said.

“Wha- what?”

“This was your final test.” He pointed towards the top of the room, and I looked up to see holographic projectors mounted around the ceiling.

“You mean they weren't dead? And the monster...?”

“It wasn't real, it was all a simulation.”

Suddenly I was furious. “Let me go, you fucking bastard!”

“Eris, please!”

I was too outraged to listen as I pushed away from him and staggered back, only to slip in my mess and fall gracelessly onto my sticky butt. “You sick pervert! I really thought I was going to die. I shit all over myself! You… you humiliated me! Oh my gosh, I'm covered in my own… in my own… Oh dear."

My eyes welled up with tears. I hadn't felt this betrayed and humiliated since I got stood up on my first date in high school. I waited for thirty minutes hoping the colt would show, then the asshole rode by in a carriage full of other mares and spat beer in my face out the window. I stood their soaked in spit and beer, and I though my life couldn't get any lower as he pointed and laughed hysterically at me. Up till now, that had been one of my most embarrassing memories. Of course this elaborate hoax easily surpassed it.

“Go ahead and have your fun,” I finally said, as I let my head sink down and my messy, tangled mane fell over my face. The stress and terror and betrayal had worn me out completely, and the shame was too intense for me to withstand any longer. "Oh my," I breathed tremorously, trying to blink back the tears. "Ohhhh. I'm so disgusting."

“You're not disgusting,” James said quietly. “You're beautiful.”

That wasn't the response I had expected. The emotion leached out of me, and I just sat and stared at him blankly through my nasty mane, realizing for the first time just how miserable he looked. Then I was distracted by footsteps in the hallway.

“Nobody is laughing at you,” Director Stephens said, his tone businesslike and professional as he strode into the room. “I assure you, this scenario was not intended to haze you, nor is it a joke at your expense. We have all been through this hardship, and not all of us behaved as admirably as you did.” He took a knee near me, and bored into my mind with that sharp gaze of his. "This is a necessary psychological test, and your responses are well within acceptable parameters. Come and get cleaned up, Miss Sky. If you still want to work here, you have completed all requirements to do so. That being said, I also give you my word we will not subject you to anything like this ever again. So be aware, if you hear the containment alert sounded again in the future, it is the real deal, and life and death will hang in the balance." After a brief pause, he continued. "So about working here. Do you need time to reconsider? We can-”

"I'm in," I said softly, and I was surprised by my own lack of hesitation.

"Excellent." He reached out his hand to me, and I held up my hoof automatically, forgetting I had just stepped in my own shit. He shook it earnestly nonetheless, ignoring the foul-smelling personal waste that squished under his fingers. He didn't flinch, or so much as blink as he held me locked in his steel gaze.

"Welcome to the team, Security Advisor Sky. I couldn't be more proud to have someone of your caliber onboard with us."