The Rabbit Problem

“Poe, do you think this is gonna work?”
“I- um… yea.”
I wasn’t convinced. I began to pace the floor of Poets lab nervously, glancing her direction every few seconds. She was twisting something into place on the platform. I didn’t bother to ask how it worked, I knew it would go over my head. I absentmindedly began to gnaw at my fingernails as I watched her lay Hedge’s lifeless body down on the platform.
“I mean, it worked on Aqua before so it should work again right?” I pleaded.
“Well… theoretically yes but…”
She paused.
“…..but?” I pressed.
“Well, that was years ago, Sofie.” She looked up at me with worried and fearful eyes. “And, at the time, it was kind of an accident. I am not sure if I can replicate the process-“
“Never mind.” I didn’t want to think about the consequences. “Let’s just try it. It will work.”
Poet looked as if she wanted to speak again, but looked back down at the panel in her hand.
I kept my eyes on Ma’sha’s dead rabbit, and prayed silently to myself that he would be moving again in a few moments.  I didn’t think I could bear the look of disappointment she would give me if she found out. I looked back at Poet. She fiddled with the switches on the panel for a moment before looking up at me.
“Now, lets hope I got all the settings right... you might want to stand back.”
I followed her as we both stepped away from the platform.
“Okay,” she began.” One… two… three.”
She pressed a button.
The platform that held Hedge’s body was suddenly glowing violently with electricity. I had to throw up may hand to shield myself form the radiance. The concussive sound only grew in volume as the glow became more and more vibrant. I was able to hear one sound over it all.
“…. Um...” Poet said.
The chaos grew and grew. Something wasn’t right.
“Poet, turn it off!” I hollered.
She flipped the switches on the panel and twisted knobs but there was no effect.
“Poet!”
At that moment, something exploded. Poet and I ducked out of the way just in time to shield are faces. And just as suddenly as it had come, the sound was gone. It was as if all of the air had been sucked out of the room. I spun around to face the platform, my heart beating fast. But when I looked, the space the Hedge had previously taken… was quite empty.
My heart fell. Poet and I were silent for a long moment.
“I…” she stuttered. “I… I don’t know what…”
“We…. Incinerated him.” I said dully.
“I must have put the settings wrong.” She said miserably.
I rubbed my temples as I thought of telling Isha. She would be destroyed. I was almost on the verge of tears, when something caught my attention. I looked up at the sound of a table moving, as if something had bumped into it. Was it Nav? I looked to Poet. Nav was still circling her head frantically, as if he were still flustered. I looked back at the table quizzically. I took a step forward only to spin around once more. The table a few feet away shook from contact. I frowned and put my hand on my sword.
“Poet…”
She didn’t answer. Another table shook.
“Poe.”
She looked up. I nodded for her to look out. She frowned at me quizzically. Just then, machine parts at the other end of the room fell from being propped against the wall. We instinctively moved to the center of the room and stood back to back. We looked everywhere, but we could not see what was causing the ruckus. It was silent for a few moments. Then, I was on the ground.
Out of nowhere something had jumped on me and knocked me down on the stone floor. I dropped my sword in the panic and immediately scrambled to get up. I was stopped by the giant muzzle of an animal. It pushed me back to the ground, all I could do was crawl backwards. The creature took giant steps forward and perused me until I had my back against the wall. Devoid of my weapon I felt around on the ground until my hand closed around on a metal rod. I raised it above my head and prepared to swing-
“SOFIE NO!” Poet cried.
Had she not grabbed my wrist, the rod would have come down. The creature had stopped moving. It was sitting, yes sitting, only a few feet away from us. It looked at me directly and cocked its head to the side. I now had a chance to get a good look at the creature. It had enormous front paws, a long bear- like snout… and the longest ears you ever did see.
No way.
Poet and I simply stared for a moment before I choked out “…H- Hedge?”
Then, as if it had been called, the creature bounded over to me and rested its giant head on my lap. I looked up at Poet, who was just as slack- jawed as I. All we could do was look down at the monster Hedge we had created.
“I think,” she said at last. “I may have been off a bit…”