Hybrid from Hell- The Aftermath

     This is the journal of Military Investigator Frank Carlson, ranking First Lieutenant. This journal contains a record of my investigation into the disappearance of Dr. Alice Hayden, Ph. D., of Hayden Genetics Incorporated (H.G.I.) and my subsequent discoveries regarding her fate. All records of my investigation will be filed into a report to be given to my superiors upon the completion of my mission.

Day 1: My first part in the investigation into the disappearance of Dr. Alice Hayden begins with her background. As is publicly known, Dr. Hayden was a scientist working in the subject of genetics. More specifically, her work was studying how genetic anomalies could occur in both humans and animals. Among such cases she studied were polyphalangy (the growth of extra digits in the hands and feet) and polycephaly (the growth of extra heads). She herself theorized such anomalies were tied to the evolution of limbs and other body parts in increasingly complex organisms and the genes that controlled them. Her study was in part, proven true when paleontologist Dr. Jack Horner of the Museum of the Rockies discovered the link between modern birds and dinosaurs by turning on and off the specific genes for teeth, beaks, tails and wings. She soon became extremely fascinated by the subject. Having met her personally during her contract with the military to create a biohazard suit for soldiers fighting in areas of heavy pathogen or radiation levels, I can attest to this, and she seemed more fascinated by the subject than by her work.  

Day 2: My search into the disappearance of Dr. Hayden has moved to her main laboratory. There, I questioned her interns into her whereabouts and if she had been working on anything of note. I received the same answer from all of them; Dr. Hayden was a very quiet, reserved woman who often saw to affairs personally. Having hacked all servers and computers within the labs thanks to the necessary warrants I had obtained beforehand, I could find no trace of her. Clearly, something was amiss. I have to figure out what. Perhaps the answers are on her personal computer.

Day 3: On the third day of my investigation, I moved the search to Dr. Hayden’s home, where I met someone I did not expect to find; Dr. Hayden’s mother, Margaret Jordan-Hayden. Mrs. Hayden was polite and cooperated fully with my investigation, but it is clear that she had lost track of time; she said her daughter was on a six-month sabbatical, when she’d been missing almost a year. However, I did find the files necessary to locate Dr. Hayden, but found them to be heavily encrypted; I will need time to unlock them.

Day 6: After three days of decrypting files, I have discovered a sobering and terrible truth; Dr. Hayden was not the saintly scientist we were led to believe she was. Amongst the files and emails I found on her private server, I discovered she was involved in double-dealing, illicit trades and other nefarious doings; Amongst the most vile were construction of illegal and questionable equipment, selling deadly pathogen samples to the highest bidder, and illegal genetic experimentation that clearly falls under the abuse of animals among other things. All this leads back the same project; the money made off these illicit deals was used to fund fossil digs in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Argentina. But why would someone make such money to fund the excavation of long extinct animals? Clearly, Dr. Hayden was up to something… but what? More importantly, is it why she disappeared?

Day 10: After examination of the files, I discovered the most important clues in regards to Dr. Hayden’s whereabouts; the location of a hidden laboratory in the Amazon Rainforest and the paper trails and necessary construction permits to create it. Clearly, if Dr. Hayden is in hiding, she is there. The question still remains; what was she working on? No records indicate what secret project she was working on, but clearly it must have been important for her to leave and not return. There’s only one way to find out… and I’m doing it alone.    

Day 12: After arriving in the Amazon and taking a boat upriver towards the location of the laboratory, I was fortunate enough to stop for the night and meet some local villagers in the area that were able to recognize Dr. Hayden from her picture. However, their answers were perplexing. They say that Dr. Hayden is gone, thanks to a force they say haunts the jungle. They call it “Sombra de la Muerte” or “Death’s Shadow” and believe it is a vengeful god made flesh that took anger at the intrusion of an outsider into its realm and spirited her away. When asked if they had seen it, they said that no one sees the god and lives. I don’t believe in gods, but clearly, something Dr. Hayden did has upset the locals. Whatever it is, I intend to see to it that it comes to a halt, along with her dealings.  

Day 13: This entry will be short, but during my stay in the village, I heard a sound like nothing ever heard before during the night. The family I was staying with said it was “Death’s Shadow”, staking a claim on the jungle. Whatever it was that made that sound however, was enough to chill my bones and make my blood run cold. I silently wondered to myself if Dr. Hayden was involved in this, as I lay quiet in my sleeping bag. If she was behind the sounds, she must have been experimenting on or creating something in her laboratories, because whatever it was, was loud enough to be heard from miles away. Whatever the case, I’d better make sure I go armed with my entire arsenal.  

Day 14: Having gone alone into the jungle, I set off towards the laboratories coordinates. As I trekked through the dense foliage and along the game trails, I began to notice something very ominous: there were no birds and no animals calling. It was too quiet. That wasn’t right. Having trekked through the jungles of various other countries during my tour of duty, I can attest to this fact. Usually it means danger, and thus I kept my M16 out and loaded at all times. Stranger yet were the footprints; partway to my destination, I encountered a set of giant three-toed footprints, like a bird’s but bigger. I’ve never seen anything like them before, and I fear to think what made them. Perhaps what has been said about this “Death’s Shadow” is somehow true. True or not, It’s not my concern. My concern right now is to find Dr. Hayden and bring her in for questioning.

Day 15: Having found the laboratory, I made camp the previous night and entered in the morning. What I found astonished me; a gargantuan hole had been made in one side of the building, and the three-toed tracks, set too deep to be filled, led out from it. Cautiously, I entered, gun at the ready. The building looked abandoned. Foliage was creeping into and onto the compound. Clearly, it had been abandoned for some time, both by the humans that once staffed it, and whatever this thing was that escaped from it… Or so I thought. As I made my way deeper inside the laboratory, I noticed something: the giant footprints. I looked around, and to my horror, I saw blood smeared across walls and ceilings and floors alike. It was like something out of a horror film. There was no doubt the blood was human… handprints told me that much. If that weren’t enough, there were skeletons too. But these skeletons were not intact. Bits of someone there… another person here. Nothing left but various bits of bone and a few skulls. I counted twenty skulls on the first level. Another twenty-five skulls were on the second level. I’m thankful the lights, however bad they might be, still worked on the lower levels. Steel doors had been ripped off their hinges by whatever this creature was. Clearly, it wanted out. Then I found a third level; and it was here that I discovered Dr. Hayden, or what was left of her. There wasn’t much left to ID. But the ring she had always worn on her right hand was all I needed. Whatever it was that killed these men had killed her too. When I found her office, I took whatever notes and research I could find, photographed the evidence, and got out of there. Whatever made its rampage through this lab was not something I wanted to see first hand.

Day 16: As I sit in my tent, I have been going over Dr. Hayden’s research and have come to a horrifying truth. The scientist so adored by the public was a fraud, a hypocrite, a liar and above else, a madwoman. She was an actress: a monstrous, amoral being, no better than the worst sort of criminal… an animal in all but skin. She had no interest in any projects we in the military or the public gave her unless it was instrumental in funding her true goal; showing that man could create life superior to the forces of nature. The product of this goal was the result of her dealings; a genetically modified hybrid created from the DNA fragments extracted from the fossilized blood of three dinosaurs; Ceratosaurus, Carnotaurus, and worst of all, Tyrannosaurus rex. A living, breathing dinosaur, created specifically to prove man was a better creator than evolution... And worst of all, we never suspected it because of how well she covered her tracks. We never would have known if I hadn’t uncovered her trail. But now I have a new and far bigger problem. This creature, designated as Carnotyrannus haydeni, is out there in the jungle, and, having killed its creators, is likely to kill again. I have to alert the military, local and international, because if this monster enters a heavily populated area, the results would be devastating. I have to get back to my superiors and warn them and then lead a unit of Special Operations soldiers back here to hunt this creature down. I should also warn my superiors to look into Dr. Hayden’s other laboratories. Who knows what else Dr. Hayden could have been creating in secret?


• 1st Lieutenant Frank Carlson’s report was never sent and Carlson himself never returned. A team sent to retrieve him uncovered only his journal, his destroyed tent, his weapons, and his laptop, which was soaked with blood. DNA analysis indicated the blood was his along with minute traces of saliva that come from no known species of animal. Officially, Lieutenant Carlson and Dr. Alice Hayden’s deaths were attributed to a man-eating jaguar and no second attempts were made to search for them. Hayden Genetics Incorporated was later shut down due to bankruptcy and re-launched by private investors as Terra Firma Global, a scientific research facility that looked to harness clean energy and prevent pollution. Tales still come from the Amazon of a creature known as “Sombra de la Muerte” or “Death’s Shadow”. Its identity has not been confirmed and it is believed to be a local legend based around the deaths of Lieutenant Carlson and Dr. Hayden. Sightings continue three years later.