((Had this idea bubbling in my head... and submitted it to see if it has any potential. Feel free to branch off from it if its not liked. The idea is still vague I admit))
Tom the ladybird (honestly why are they called that? He wasn't a lady!) worked tirelessly in the laboratory. The Dome-room was a masterpiece of engineering, with enough controls to simulate practically any environment on Earth- and some beyond. From icy peeks of mountains, to the wet caverns...
The only thing it couldn't simulate were the depths of a deep ocean, although it was certainly large enough to do a watery environment when all the seals were in place. Vacuum pumps were available to simulate an airless environment... though not the radioactive elements of space. It was quite an impressive piece of engineering.
The only issue, was that it took several days to truly simulate an extreme environment. Not that they had any plans to subject an actual person to harsh elements- but it was going to be very useful, to see if environment played a part in what a person transformed into. A crystal was installed, selected for its particular refractive abilities... still, there was something about the crystal that made him nervous.
Wasn't it supposed to be clear? He glanced at the green-
Clear
The clear crystal... yes it was translucent. Why was he thinking it to be anything else? He then looked at the readings. The conductivity detector must be off. It shouldn't be that high-
low
That... low? Hm... weird. He turned the dial to put more electrical energy into the crystal. He felt slight alarm as it started to hum-
nothing is heard
As... nothing was heard. Perfect. It was time to put a cellular sample in there. Tom rather liked getting his hands dirty in science... even if he didn't quite have the brain to be a full researcher, performing the actions was something he took great pride in. He went into the locker in another room, and took out various samples comprised of plants and people... transformed and untransformed... cells rarely changed by themselves, but it was always good to make sure it would still be the case with the crystal.
He took out a sample-
This one
He took out a sample... weird. How did that get there? It was an unlabelled vial of white hair-
labelled
Labelled with something he couldn't quite make out... He returned to the experimental room and delicately placed the strange sample onto a raised platform in the center, then sealed the doors. Right now the dome-room was running on artificial lighting. But a push of a button would let the sunlight through the installed crystal.
more power
Tom looked at the crystal parameters... weird. It still needed more power. But it was already at maximum! clearly something was wrong with the-
nothing is wrong. more power
Maybe a fuse was gone... he kicked in the backup generator systems. The humming was getting louder-
silence
The silence was deafening! He gritted his teeth, as he activated the dome, with all cameras trained onto the sample. Suddenly, the room was awash in black light...
"What the hell?!" Tom said alarmed from the perspex glass shielding him- though shadowy tendrils seemed to be trying to pick at the barrier. The scientist was in panic. That shouldn't happen! He tried to close the dome, only to hear the crystal starting to crack...
It didn't know how it came to be. Shadows... and darkness, so much black but then, she was that black as well. It had a form, vaguely... an understanding of what it was.
"Minus Four"
The ghostly creature, disappeared taking the dark with it...
