//------------------------------//
// A Breakthrough! 
// Story: A Deal With The Devil 
// by Dimitri2278 
//------------------------------//

Jul 29th, 2029
Mossad Headquarters, Tel Aviv, Isreal
1600

Lieutenant Ahiram Cohen sat in a chemically sealed lab staring at the test tube filled with florescent blue liquid before him as he had for the past 10 hours. "What are you?" he asked himself as he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said without looking.

Lt. Cohen heard the sound of the heavy door open and close and heavy footfalls on the concrete floor. "Sir, I was called to check on you," said the muffled masculine voice he recognized as Sargent Peretz as he turned and saw the man wearing a hazmat suit similar to the one he wore. "Have you made any progress?"

Lt. Cohen shook his head as he turned back to the test tube. "I'm afraid not," he began as he scrunched his eyes, even though Sgt. Peretz couldn't see his face. "As I've been up since this morning trying to find out what the heck this is," he stated with a sigh.

Sgt. Peretz then walked up to the desk until he was shoulder to shoulder with Lt. Cohen. "What even is this stuff?"

"As I just said, I don't know. What we do know, however, is that this Rainbow Dash had it on her when she was captured," he began as he started running through his previous tests in his mind. He had tried matching it to any known substance, even going so far as to use the dreaded ponification serum as a reference and even still, he was drawing a blank. For, while it held pony DNA, he couldn't decipher what it was or how it was used, though it was assumed drinkable as they had found four bottles with similar residue in her saddlebags and only one was filled. This being the one that was emptied for study. But, the only thing he knew was that it was nothing like anything he had seen in his 25 years in the IDF. 'I will find out what you are- Wait...what if- Yes, that's what I'll do!' Suddenly, he turned to the other man. "Sgt. Peretz?"

"Yes, Sir?" He responded, somewhat startled by how quickly Lt. Cohen had turned.

"Get me a guinea pig. I have a hypothesis to test,"
-

Jul 29th, 2029
Mossad Headquarters, Tel Aviv, Isreal
1630

After a full hour of setting up, four rats were placed in three glass tanks, one with two inside and the others placed individually. Each tank was equipped with a hamster wheel, a food bowl and a water dispenser, though the latter was absent. "I wonder what it will do to them?" Asked Sgt. Peretz as he was having a staring contest with a white rat.

Lt. Cohen, meanwhile, was finishing pouring the liquid into their dispensers. "Well, soon we won't have to ask that question," he said as he carefully connected one to the same cage. "Shouldn't be long now,"

So, the two waited with bated breath as they watched the same rat give the dispenser a sniff. At first, it seemed to recoil, even going so far as to back away in fear. But then, it began to act...strange. Its eyes became seemingly mesmerized by the substance, and it began to advance towards it, only stopping when it was directly in front of the straw and began to suck on it. At first, it drank only a little, but soon, the rat drank faster and faster. As it did, however, they noted it began to vibrate violently, as though it had been electrified, and its eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks. Then, without warning, it launched itself from the straw. And, in the blink of an eye, it was running on its hamster wheel. As the rat ran, it began spinning faster and faster and faster until..."SPLAT!" It decelerated until it stopped, with nothing remaining of the rat apart from splatters of blood and meat that ran down from the wheel and the walls of the cage. Once he had finally recovered from the gruesome scene, Sgt. Peretz turned to face Lt. Cohen. "W-What in God's name is that stuff?" He asked in a shaken tone as he tried to keep from vomiting.

Lt. Cohen, on the other hand, felt he couldn't look away. "I have no idea, son, but, whatever it is, at least we now have a pretty good idea of what it does," He said as he stood up and began walking away. "Come on, Sargeant, let's get the cleaning crew,"

"C-coming..." He said as he turned to leave...only to find his eyes drawn to the other two water dispensers that were still on the desk. 'No, I am NOT doing that! I've seen what that stuff can do! But, maybe just a little couldn't hurt?' At that moment, he quickly snatched up one of the dispensers and tucked it in his suit before running to follow the Lieutenant.