Taming The Tiger Man - Genma Series #1

Angelina’s wall clock struck eight in the morning just as Fonda walked in and spread a sweet fragrance from her body. She seemed to have a Gothic theme today, where her eyelid colored in black and purple, not to mention her dark red lipstick, while she wore a tight black suit covered with a doctor’s coat.

“Finished breakfast yet, Doc?” Fonda looked at the pile of wet dishes Angelina had just washed. She glanced at the damp edges of her partner’s clothes before looking the other way.

Angelina’s cheeks felt warm with embarrassment. Fonda seemed to be criticizing her habit of drying her hands with the hem of her shirt. This time her victim was a short-sleeved blue shirt paired with black cloth pants. She took her doctor’s coat from the bed and wore it before leaving the room. “I’m ready to start the orientation.”

Angelina ignored the resigned sigh from her partner. She looked at the empty corridor and asked in a loud tone as Fonda closed and locked her room.

“Doctor Fonda, where is your room ….”

Angelina stopped talking when she received a glare from the woman with the contact lenses. Fonda grunted and walked ahead of her coworker. “Come on ….”

Angelina’s lips pursed. Fonda didn’t appreciate her attempt to be friendly. She duplicated Fonda’s frozen expression as they walked on the dark red carpeted hallway, heading for the elevator located central to the floor.

They spent five minutes to arrive in front of the only elevator that opened wide. A gigantic man—190 centimeters tall—dressed all in brown, resembling dried leaves, stood there. From his dark brown skin color and black ponytail, he was Indonesian.

Is he a mixed Asian-European race? Angelina thought to herself. She didn’t even realize that she was staring at the man’s body muscles until she got a grin from the man.

“Good morning.”

The heavy voice, as if holding back laughter, made Angelina’s self-esteem fall to the lowest point. She even planned to fake a seizure. However, Fonda’s words saved the day and even surprised her.

“Mr. Nixon, this is Doctor Angelina. She will replace me.”

“Huh? Where will Doctor Fonda go?” Angelina shocked. Even though the woman beside her had a pungent smell and a sour face, she was Angelina’s first friend in this new place.

However, Nixon responded before Fonda answered Angelina’s question. “OK. Doc, congratulations on the promotion.”

A twitch, indicating a smile, glimpsed on Fonda’s red lips. The woman stepped inside the lift and said in a commanding tone to them. “Come on. We’ve wasted too much time.”

“Go ahead, Doc.”

Nixon’s words made Angelina rush into the elevator and stand on the right side of Fonda, who stood in the middle.

Angelina’s eyes widened as she saw a revolver hanging from Nixon’s waist while the man swiped a white card with green trim into the machine, then pressed a button labeled 15.

Why does the hospital need a bodyguard with a firearm?

However, she did not dare to ask. The elevator went underground to the area where the researchers were.

The elevator stopped before the iron doors opened wide with a robotic female voice coming from hidden speakers. “Tiger Floor.”

Angelina blinked in confusion. Why did they name their wards with animals’ names?

“Come on,” Fonda exited the lift, tailed by Angelina and Nixon. They passed through a hallway whose interior reminded her of spaceships in action movies.

Angelina’s curiosity sparked as she heard the melody of Keroncong—Malay—music from the left hallway. However, she didn’t want to bump into Nixon and decided to chase Fonda. That woman had stepped far into the right hallway.

Dead end.

Angelina’s brow furrowed as Fonda stopped in front of the white wall that blocked their path. The floor plan was indeed weird because since they walked from the elevator, she did not see doors or pieces of furniture, only a CCTV on the ceiling with red flashing lights.

Why are we here?

However, before Angelina could ask, Fonda tapped her thumb on a box-shaped machine that looked like a light switch on the right side of the wall making the artificial wall lift.

Angelina’s breath caught when she saw the room hidden behind it. She saw a row of glass cages on the left side and tools for animal care with no doors or barriers on the right side. She found a metal bed, cabinets, tables, sinks, strollers full of medicines, and an X-ray machine to examine animals.

“This is your workplace,” Fonda said in a formal tone. “You must be here by eight in the morning. The fingerprint machine to open the door is also an attendance machine. Lunchtime is eleven to one. Mr. Nixon will show you the cafeteria. He will escort you to your room at four in the afternoon.”

However, confusion caused Angelina’s forehead to wrinkle.

She could feel the cool air as her eyes examined a gap the size of two human bodies between each cage. The floor and ceiling were white, the same as the rest of the room. She commented while observing the surroundings. “Doctor Fonda, why are there so many cages? If it’s just for research, this is too much. This place is like a zoo.”

However, before she got an explanation, out of the blue, a cat leaped out of the grass inside glass cage number 01. Angelina screeched back in response. The woman’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw the reflection of light on its golden fur. “I-is this a golden cat?”

“Doctor Angelina, you are knowledgeable,” praised Nixon, who stood near the exit.

“B—but they are almost extinct and are protected animals.” Angelina’s gaze did not flicker as three golden cats peered at her. The woman’s surprise grew when she realized something else. “They’re kittens?”

“Genetic manipulation.” Angelina turned her body to stare back at Fonda, who looked bored. “They’re nothing special in this place.”

“Is there anything else?” If Angelina could widen her eyes even more, she would. She loves animals, furthermore when they are unique.

“Liger? Tigon? You name it.”

Angelina was no longer surprised when Nixon replied. An over-sociable bodyguard and a cynical companion, what a team.

“A pair of golden cats produce two to three cubs within one to two years,” Fonda explained. She kept walking, causing Angelina and Nixon to follow her.

Questions swirled in her mind. Something was wrong with the hospital.

The cubs filled six cages on the left side, separated from their mothers, except for two nursing babies.

“Sixteen golden kittens, two adult females, and one male,” Fonda continued without turning around. Angelina’s confusion turned to awe when she saw a Liger and a Tigon in person for the first time. Tigon is an animal with a lion’s head and tiger stripes on its body, while a Liger is the opposite, with a tiger’s head and a plain lion-like body.

The trio stopped at the end of a dead-end hallway, where Fonda opened the wall in front of her with a faint smile. “Your main job is not to take care of those tamed cats, but him …. "