"Soluton V-3, containing 1:2:10: [v/v/v] perfluorooctane / (PFTBA) perfluorotributylamine / perfluorodecalin is prepared and oxygenated by bubbling oxygen gas through the mixture for thirty minutes to fully saturate the solution. This point can be detected by the noticeable change of colour from opaque, deep cobalt to a light lilac solution, and a change from gel to viscous solution.

A sample was treated with approximately 200mL of this solution and gently rolled back and forth to acclimate the sample and ensure full saturation...

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A dizzying tumble of textured black paw pads and the cerulean surface of the linoleum whirled around him as the immense hound rolled the vial back and forth beneath her paw. A cyclone of violet tinted objects flashed around him. It spun and cycled, before pausing with an abrupt halt that threw him against the side of the glass prison with a body-flattening thump. Before he could so much as recover, it the entirety began spinning up again to sweep back the other direction. His claws scraped out at the surface - trying to find something to grab onto. Something to still him. Something to halt the nauseating vertigo for just a moment. He could feel his claws dig into the rigid surface only to be torn away by the angular momentum - or just hurled across the tube when the dog stopped.

His body had long depleted the meager mouthful of air he'd held in his lips. The chalky, bitter taste of spent CO2 welled in his mouth, coating his tongue and the back of his throat. His lungs protested the pleading promises his mind made - to just hold back a moment longer - as unsubstantial to the overwhelming oxygen demand. His flailing struggles only worsened the feeling. Arms and legs weighed down by a terrible fatigue, burning with plaques of lactic acid that seemed to sear at his very soul he twitched and convulsed. The gnawing sensation stung at his sides until at last he screamed into the horrible fluid around him - watching his breath explode from him as he clawed at the bubbles. But they broke on his finger tips, rising away from him as another spinning wave sent him tumbling away.

Unable to hold back any more, he drew in a breath - feeling the fluid invade his nostrils and forcing his mouth open. Like a wave of lukewarm grease plunging into his maw, the slimy unpalatable texture was somewhere between phlegm and gelatin. The revolting flavour of untempered solvent immediately triggered his gag reflex - and try as he might to vomit, the horribly dense solution caught the fluid in his throat and forced it back down. He kicked and flailed. Squirmed and spasmed - trying to push his head above the solution, trying to spit it out, trying to get away but no relief came. It wormed into his lungs and he gagged and flailed - unable to make the terrible sensation of invasion stop. Unable to keep the infiltrating fluid from penetrating his oxygen starved lungs. The dread overwhelmed him. The inability to get something out from inside him. Deep inside. He scraped at his chest, trying to pull it out - but it was all for naught as his body demanded he breathe again and defeated so utterly, he complied.

Immediately the inferno in his chest calmed. The sensation was relieving and horrible at the same time - feeling the viscous solution drag down his throat and lungs - but he could breathe. He wondered if he was delusional for a moment and experimentally exhaled again. The thick broth in his lungs resisted - it did not want to leave - it clung and stuck and had to be dragged up and out with a convulsive coughing heave. He watched the dark, thick, blue-black mass gush out of his mouth - clouding the solution in front of him. It hung there a moment, before diffusing into the clear violet. He hesitated to breathe in again knowing that would be what came out. But he had to - there was no choice - and the sudden surprise of another twirling tumble made him inhale sharply. He felt the slimy texture drag along his fangs - working deeper into him, turning into that terrible tar at the point of contact. He could feel it deposit inside of him and it made him shudder - eager to heave it out again. It came easier this time - perhaps if he did not hold his breath so long, he wondered. He hoped.

---

Notebook updated she set down her pen and streeeetched in her chair. The muffled crickle-crackle of some wandering vertebrae popping back into place felt fairly pleasant. The little tube under her foot scraped a bit against the floor - reminding her of her subject. Eager to see the results she leaned forward and retrieved it, observing the feline inside clawing at its chest as it forced out breaths. She frowned at the those blue trails that billowed from its lips like smoke and the struggling apparent in that tiny chest. She had added the PFTBA to make the damn mix smoother - and now here it was depleting the oxygen content much too quickly.

She turned the vial upside down slowly, watching that figure squirm disoriented, confused, before righting itself. Reaction time was certainly unaffected - and those pulses in its chest were getting more regular. Less blue in the solution. Maybe an effect of the concentration? She hummed to herself, scribbling a note about it down on the page before her. The white lined surface was a battleground littered with calculations and comments occasionally obliterated via a strategic strikethrough or non-descript X. She underlined the newest addition for emphasis, before standing slowly to proceed with the experiment.

The lab was fairly empty - which afforded her the luxury of a lazy saunter over to the other hoods. Usually the bustle rustle of someone running here or there or dragging a bottle of solvent demanded she press against the wall or let someone by - but it was nice to be able to do work at her own pace for once. With that in mind she reached over to the chiller and dialed it down slowly - waving the vial in front of it to test the temperature with her finger tips until it was suitably cold. Smirking down at her subject, she met that desperate gaze, tapping a little hello against the side with a digit as she felt the chilling surface sap the heat from her fingerpads.

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Breathing equilibrated; he pounded on the glass as the dog collected him again. Why she was doing this he could not comprehend, but as she inverted the tube he struggled to maintain his gaze on her. The tapping of her finger distracted him and he slapped his open paw against the side to wordlessly voice his discontent. Of course, that meant he was not paying attention to the open mouthed tunnel blowing icy wind across the tube. It meant he was inattentive of the rapid change in temperature. He probably wouldn't have noticed it at all, blood boiling at it were - if not for the sudden icy bite that snared his foot.

Snapping his gaze down in surprise he was shocked to see the broken-mirror reflection of his own face and leg staring up at him. At first he was worried the vial had shattered - but as those crystallite tendrils swallowed up his leg the reality of the situation dawned upon him. The liquid was freezing; his foot was already numb and the tingling absence of sensation was worming up his leg. He looked up helplessly at the attentive, smirking face of that hound and yowled in dread - trying to pull his leg free to no avail. He wanted to kick down and smash himself free, but the growing forest of shards tempered his rage with a fear of paw-perforation.

In his hesitation the icy growths enveloped his other leg, and he stabbed claws into the vial around him. Trying to push himself up, pull himself free - get his entrapped limbs out of that reflective cacophony of crystals - but they refused to budge. Desperate, he turned towards that cap and punched it. He swung through the rapidly chilling solution - feeling the heat of the impact on his knuckles and the teflon coating bend under his swings. Again and again he pounded it - feeling the numbness crawl up his chest. As he began to lose feeling in his tail he swore he felt the cap bulge out. His chest felt tight, and his breathing bubbled out more shallowly as he pushed his hand up - trying to wedge it free, trying to unscrew it from within.

---

As the surface of the vial clouded with perspiration, she lowered it down and wiped it off on her lab coat before lifting it to her gaze again. The myriad of crystals finished their colonization of the vial. Just a few more spaces to fill with twinkling residents - but she did not have enough patience for that. Resuming her slow saunter, she paused to tighten up her lab coat ; the cold room was fairly chilly. It took a firm, hard yank to pull that door open - and she was sure to affix it open with a large metal chair. The thought of being trapped in the icy-place made her shiver.

White plumes billowed from her nostrils as she sought out an empty test tube rack. It wouldn't do to have someone mistaking her sample for something else. Towards the back, in some dark unlit corner she spied the red-pink of an ancient (and more importantly, unused) ceder holder. Gently slotting the sample in she checked it would remain upright before lifting a notepad out of her pocket. Shuddering at the cold she mussed a moment before laughing to herself, "Ha... the 90 day point would be around July 17th," she grinned to herself. ".. I think that was your birthday wasn't it, M1-L0?..should make for a merry time to thaw you out and see if the solution works, won't it?" the dog chuckled, scribbling in the date and hurried out of the frigid area. The chair was kicked aside with a sweeping shuffle - letting the heavy metal door close on its own. The light inside the room thinned, before vanishing entirely as the "shwumph' of the room sealing under its own vacuum filled the air. The dull hum of the refridgerant pumps sang a silent symphony of clicks and electric buzzing, before dying down in a quiet, deathly still silence.

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Don't cry, don't shout,
Relax, breathe in and chill out.

Artwork is credit  skonk
Subject  aliclan

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