I shuffled the photo to the back of the group and examined the next one. This shot was closer to the mysterious gray monolith in the water. Just what is that? I asked myself. It looks like a door. Why would there be a half-submerged gate blocking the entrance to a lagoon?

I leaned back and stared at the blank ceiling. Unless…what if…it’s not to keep something out, but rather to keep something from leaving?! A slight shiver rolled through my body. What would they possibly keep in a massive lagoon? The third photo was concerning. The gargantuan doors were bent outward toward the open ocean. A considerable gap loomed between the metal halves. This shot was from a different angle than the first two and showed a series of low white buildings on a ridge in the background. They were nondescript structures… few windows and no visible signs. I set the photo down.

I held the final picture up to the light. It was a black-and white photo of a capsized ship that washed up on Cinnabar Island three weeks before I boarded the cutter. The photo was grainy, but one could clearly see immense holes in the hull, nearly three feet across. The gaps were ragged, yet seemed almost symmetrical… Bite marks, I thought. But Christ, what could have made those? I focused on a small area below one of the dislodged boards. The resolution wasn’t great, but I could make out an object sticking out from beneath. My hands trembled slightly as I stared in disbelief. A child’s foot was partially exposed in the wreckage.

I dropped the photo in disgust. After clipping the pictures back together, I finally picked up the mission briefing. A light blue logo sat in the top corner.

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Classified Information, Clearance Level Bravo

From the PRI Genetics Division, Waninoko Atoll:

On the morning of the third at 0315 hours, subject G-Leviathan 2 succeeded in breaching the main bay doors and escaped the confines of Waninoko Atoll. Previous attempts to flee the premises had been thwarted, and the gates were slated to be reinforced within the next five days.

The G-Leviathan series has been created in the PRI Gene Manipulation Lab (GeMLab) at this installation. The details behind this project are classified under Alpha level clearance. Participating parties should be aware that the surviving specimen, G-L2, is of heightened intelligence and exaggerated size. Extraordinary caution should be exhibited at all times.

G-L2 has traversed a seemingly random path since its escape. Detection systems, sightings, and related incidents have placed it in a stable range of radius thirty miles from the southern tip of Cinnabar Island. Current estimates locate it between twenty-three and twenty-five miles from shore.

On Day One (D1) of G-L2’s escape, no confirmed sightings were reported. At approximately 1200 hours on D3, the first incident occurred. A fishing trawler was attacked by an unidentified entity thirty miles from Waninoko Atoll. No fatalities were reported.

Between D5 and D6, G-L2 destroyed a small sailboat five miles off Okutan Cove. There were no witnesses, but evidence gleaned from wreckage that washed ashore five days later points to the creature. Remains of three persons were recovered and two remain missing. The cause of the attack was at the time undetermined.

On D8 at 2213 hours, G-L2 attacked research vessel Elissa Mae fourteen miles from the mouth of Squirtle Lagoon. Using Hyper Beam attacks, it carved channels through the ship and slowly sank it. From a crew of nearly fifty, twenty-eight were salvaged. Victims either drowned or were eaten.

G-L2’s motive was thus revealed. It has discovered an abundant source of sustenance in seafaring humans. By crippling or completely wrecking vessels, it preys on the people within. After this revelation, recovery efforts were immediately amplified, contracting the help of the Navy.

The test subject exhibits one unusual physical trait, which was engineered as to distinguish the G-L series from regular Gyarados. The naturally occurring yellow spots that trail laterally on the body of normal individuals have been removed in G-L organisms. Unfortunately, this causes the dorsal skin of the specimens to be entirely blue, camouflaging them from airborne reconnaissance. This also proves fatal to marine captains, as they can never see “The Blue Death,” as the media has dubbed G-L2, until it is too late. As the G-L series was intended to perform outside the atoll only under government direction, what previously could have been an aid to our forces is a serious threat to society.

On D-26, Navy cutter Tiburon will depart from Cinnabar Island to the present location of G-L2. Four civilian personnel will participate in the mission, comprised of three current unofficial operatives and a well-known Gym Leader. The objective is to capture G-L2 and return it to the secured facility at the Waninoko Atoll GeMLab for recalibration. If this directive becomes unattainable, orders are to terminate the test subject immediately. A project of this magnitude should never have become public knowledge, and we must avoid further media entanglements. This effort shall be known as ‘Operation Ryujin.’

______________________________________[signed]

______________________________________ Matthew Greylin, Ph.D., GeMLab

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I recalled my Shinto mythology. Ryujin was the dragon god of the sea, who had a very large mouth. Gyarados, I thought. Perfect.

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