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Splice

Growing up, I was hardly considered a normal child. It had nothing to do with my physical appearance, or at least it was never admitted that may have been a reason. No, the reason I was abnormal was because nothing I did was normal. To me, following the norm and doing the same thing everyone else was doing was boring. You tell me I can’t, I respond with yes I can, you just won’t. I’ll admit, this outlook in life has gotten me into trouble on numerous occasions. I mean, can you really fault me for thinking I could give someone electric powers if I exposed them to over a million volts of electricity? Everyone around me says yes, I say I should have tried ten million volts.

I eventually did do something normal. Got a degree, joined the Department of Genetic Research, proposed plans that could alter the biological makeup of humans. I was told my ideas were too dangerous and considered immoral or unethical. So? How are you going to find all the answers if you don’t take some risks? To make my ideas more “acceptable,” I started to include practical elements to my proposals, because it seems you can’t just experiment for the sake of experimenting.

The Department of Defense had been intrigued by my proposal of being able to produce stronger, faster, more adept soldiers at a cheaper cost than the current cybernetic enhancements that were all the rage among the elites of the world. While cybernetics utilized machine augmentation with our biology to enhance senses, increase mental capacity, and push our muscular system past its limit, my way involved merging our DNA with that of the animal kingdom- splicing. Why create technology to mimic these traits when we could just take them from animals that already possess them? My goal was to demonstrate my results to the DOD representatives who were here for a demonstration.

I greeted nearly two dozen Generals, Admirals and other high-ranking Officers in the lobby. Their colorful uniforms made them stand out from the white-clad researchers moving about the facility. They didn’t seem to be keen on only making pleasantries. Understandable, they wanted to get right to point of this visit. I was all too eager to show them.

They followed me to a large cargo elevator at the center of the facility. I pressed the button on the bottom, B5, and began the descent. Being a rather large elevator, it was quite slow; I’d say it took an average of twenty seconds to move one floor. One of the more impatient members of the group asked why they hadn’t just used the regular elevators. I gave the answer to him bluntly; this was the only elevator that goes down to B5.

With a soft ding the elevator came to a stop. As the large steel doors opened, some of the more claustrophobic members of the group exited the elevator faster than others. I told everyone to stick together beyond this point since this floor was akin to a maze if you didn’t know where you were going. I could sense the agitation from some of them. Did they think I was messing with them? I could I only contain a small chuckle as I tried to imagine how surprised they would be at the end of this tour. Before I departed the elevator I pressed the lobby button. I figured if someone up there needed to use this elevator it would be quite tortuous to have to wait so long for it to travel five floors.

The hallways echoed with the sounds of our footsteps. As we turned corner after corner I could tell some of the younger members of the contingent were getting a bit nervous from the apparent isolation they found themselves in. Indeed, no other researchers were roaming the halls around here, a stark contrast from the floor we had been on prior. I said we weren’t far from the observation deck of the lab. I asked them to tolerate the walk for another minute.

The observation deck was a room in the shape of a semicircle. Rows of comfortable chairs were lined up on the glass floor facing the front, flat section of the room which was also made entirely of glass. The back, curved section of the room was made of concrete aside from the steel door we entered through. I insisted they all sit and get comfortable; the presentation was about to begin.

Now for what everyone came for. I retrieved my tablet from a nearby table and tapped in a few numbers. There was a brief rumbling beneath our feet which was soon replaced by the sound of gears turning. While the guests looked around in confusion I stared ahead through the glass wall. Right in front of me the floor opened outward before a glass cube slowly emerged from beneath. Inside was a man strapped face-down on a table. I couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or not due to him being blindfolded and the lack of movement on his part. He was certainly alive according to the vitals on my tablet. I clicked the dossier icon.

“Patient 751” I read out loud. “Put on death row nearly six years ago after massacring three families, including four children, with an ice pick. Acquired by our facility two weeks ago. Today marks his first test.” With the press of another icon on my tablet a buzzer rung out in the large room on the other side of the glass. Moments later one of my fellow researchers entered the large room carrying a small briefcase. Behind him were two fully armed guards. Just a precaution, you never know what to expect when working with dangerous animals.

I gave them a thumbs up, and tapped my tablet to open the door to the glass cube. When the researcher and one of the guards were inside I closed the door. I only stood there and watched with the rest of my guests as the researcher set the briefcase down, opened it, and pulled out a syringe with a rather long and thick needle. At this point the guard placed his hand on the back of the patient’s head to keep it down as the researcher set the needle at the back of the patient’s head. When he gave it a push the patient’s body started to spasm. If he had been sleeping prior, he wasn’t sleeping anymore. I informed the observers that the syringe contains the DNA of an animal along with a chemical compound I developed that would force it to merge with that of the host. The needle is inserted into the Medulla Oblongata, where the contents of the syringe are administered. From here, via the basilar and vertebral arteries it is distributed to the rest of the brain before making its way back to the heart and onto the rest of the body.

Once all of its contents had been expelled, the researcher removed the syringe from the patient. As he set the syringe back into the briefcase the patient began to struggle to get out of his restraints. His screams were incoherent as his brain underwent the change. The soldier inside had his gun aimed at the patient as the researcher stood up with briefcase in hand and gave me a thumbs up. I opened the door for them. It was then that the guard on the outside aimed his gun at the entrance as the two from inside exited. Once they were vacated I closed the door. After they left the testing room I released the restraints of the patient. Almost immediately he ran to the nearest wall of the glass cube and started banging away, trying to find a way to escape the pain he was feeling, but there was no escape for him.

Eventually the patient dropped to his knees, kneeled over and grasped his body. Some of the observers stood up to get a closer look at what was going on. Dark fur was sprouting from the patient’s chest, belly and appendages. If you observed his back closely, you could spot small bumps were starting to form. The larger they got the more the patient screamed out. Suddenly, one of the bumps burst open and out of it emerged a large quill. Blood splattered on the glass behind the patient as the quill slowly emerged out his back, leaving a steady stream of blood leaking from the base of it. Soon another quill burst out followed by another and another. Eventually the glass wall behind the patient had been obscured by blood splatter. The patient soon collapsed face-first onto the floor as the quills continued to sprout out of his back. Eventually his body remained motionless in a growing pool of blood streaming down his sides, and the quills stopped growing. I looked down at the tablet and noticed that his vitals had flat lined.

“Will need to delay or remove quill emergence for porcupine DNA…” I spoke into the tablet as a recording. With a tap on the tablet the glass cube descended back into the floor. I told the audience, whose expressions varied from slightly disturbed to unimpressed, that the dead bodies are sent down to be dissected to study the organs, tissue and other byproducts of the transformation. I tell them those quills could be made into very handy weapons, perhaps they’d each get one as a souvenir.

After the cube disappeared beneath the floor I typed in another number. Again, the rumbling began. Moments later a different glass cube emerged. The occupant inside wasn’t restrained like the previous one. He sat there on the floor of the cube with a rather docile expression. His appearance wasn’t human, though. His entire body was covered with blubber and fur. Long whiskers emerged from underneath his nose jutting to the sides. I clicked the dossier icon.

“Patient 482” I read. “Sentenced to death row thirty months ago after brutally murdering and cannibalizing fourteen people he pulled off the street. Acquired by our facility seven months ago, first test followed a month later.” I looked back at the audience and told them the patient had been a very violent man when he first arrived. I had decided to administer a rather docile animal on him, a seal. I pointed out to them that the procedure hadn’t killed him six months ago and was being observed for long term effects. A notable one was that the instincts of the source animal seemed to be overpowering his human side. It’s gotten to the point that all he ever eats is fish.

“How are you doing today, 482?” I ask, my voice echoing in the room beyond the glass. He looked up and spotted me. He gave me a small smile and a gentle wave of his arm which was starting to look much more like a flipper these days. “Good to see you in high spirits” I said with a smile. “I have something special for you today, 482…” I said as I typed another number into the tablet. A familiar rumble could be felt and soon the floor next to 482’s cube opened up. A second cube emerged from the ground and was sitting wall to wall with first cube, the doors of the both touching the other. Inside the second cube was a rather skinny woman with sparse, short white fur covering her body. 482 took notice of her. “This is 313.” I said with another smile. “I’d like for the two of you to get to know one another.” With a tap on the tablet the doors of the two cubes opened inwards, connecting them.

482 remained still as he just gazed at the cube across from him. 313, however, gazed over at 482 and slowly stood up. My, how much weight she has lost since I had last seen her; I could see the outlines of some of her bones. Well, I guess that’s what happens when you don’t receive anything to eat for three weeks straight. Her body must be going mad just to get some food. I let out a soft chuckle as 313 falls forward onto her hands and knees. The white fur starts to cover more of her body as her face starts to extend out, her teeth grow longer and sharper. I gaze over at 482. His body was shivering as remained frozen in place out of fear. I smirked in amusement as I gazed back at 313. Her appearance barely resembled anything human at this point. If everyone here hadn’t witnessed her transformation they would think she was a normal polar bear. A normal, hungry polar bear. Back to 482, his fear heightened with every step forward 313 took into his cube. I wonder, 482, what is driving your fear right now? Is it your human side reacting to coming face to face with a dangerous animal, or is the seal in you reacting to one of its natural predators? I’d ask you, but I doubt you’d even be able to answer.

I could hear many gasps of breath behind me as predator attacked her prey. 313 made good use of her teeth and claws to subdue 482 who was now flailing about in a bloody mess. The glass of the cubes and the observation window helped to dampen the sound that reached our ears. My guests were spared the vocal details of 482’s screams of horror and agony, but I wasn’t. Having better hearing than most isn’t always a beneficial trait.

Some of the observers weren’t too pleased to have been witness to this demonstration. They demanded to know why I was showing them all of this. They asked if I had some sick sense of humor. Now, while I’d be the first to admit I have a rather morbid and ironic sense of humor, everything I’ve been showing them hadn’t just been for fun. They needed to witness for themselves how painful the procedure can be, and how animal traits can compel a person, especially when under extreme stress. I was merely showing them the risks. They didn’t seem to care though. They just sat in their chairs in frustration and told me to get on to what they came for. Whoever said with age came patience certainly never met these grumpy old men.

A murmur filled the room as they all focused their attention again on what’s beyond the glass. 313 had been in the process of tearing into 482 with her teeth, tearing chunks of blubber and muscle and consuming it with gusto. By the time my attention was back on her, she had practically torn off all the meat from 482’s torso. She suddenly stopped feasting. Perhaps her animal side finally realized she only had a human-sized stomach? Her behavior became erratic, she began to sway side to side, letting out moans of pain before she collapsed on the ground, her breathing heavy and strained, her body twitching. Someone, either out of having some humanity or perhaps just curiosity, asked what was wrong with her. I brought up 313’s dossier. “Patient 313. Put on death row five years ago after poisoning the food at a soup kitchen, leading to the deaths of 22 individuals.” I asked them if they knew blubber was toxic to humans. No matter how much our appearances may change on the outside, we’re still just humans on the inside.

The doors closed and the two cubes lowered into the ground. As they disappeared from sight one of the generals asked me all if all my subjects had been on death row. I informed him that one person was a volunteer. He remarked that you’d have to be crazy to volunteer to be tested on. I agreed with him, but I certainly wasn’t going to argue against the results I got from it. They’d see what I mean soon enough.

I once again typed three numbers into my tablet. The usual rumble and grinding followed. As the cube slowly emerged from the ground we could see an ordinary man sitting on his bed rubbing his dark, baggy eyes. One might think he’s been kept up for days, probably for some sort of testing on my behalf. Yes, I do study the effects of prolonged sleep deprivation on many of my patients; thirty-six of them are undergoing it at this moment, but patient 254 wasn’t one of them. This one didn’t need my help to stay awake. With his tired, blood-shot eyes he focused on me for a few seconds before looking at the group seated behind me. He slowly stood up from his bed and approached the glass wall of his cube which faced us.

I enabled communications between us and 254’s cube. “Sleep well?” I asked. His expression remained that of exhaustion and disinterest as he leaned his head against the wall, eyes transfixed on me as he spoke. “Doctor…” his weak voice echoed in the observation room. “How much longer do you think I need?” I gave him a smile as I responded with “This is the last time, I promise.” A smile crept onto his face. In the eighteen months since he’s been here I have never once seen him smile. He was looking forward to what was to come. I was too, but for a much different reason.

254 took a few steps back until he was at the dead center of his cube. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he braced for what was to come. A sudden snap echoed throughout the room. It startled some of those behind me, but it didn’t faze me; I have grown accustomed to the sound of bones dislocating, breaking and then reforming to make a new shape. Unlike the previous demonstration, everyone could hear in full detail what was going on in that cube. 254 was taking it like a champ as his limbs continued to shift. It was only then did 254 drop to his hands and knees and finally let out a moan of pain. His skull started to elongate to form his muzzle, the teeth in his mouth were forced out as newer, sharper teeth replaced them. To accentuate how painful this must be for 254, there was a steady stream of blood flowing from his mouth, his nose and from his eyes. At this point he resembled a naked, disfigured dog. It didn’t take long, though, before white and gray fur started to rapidly grow from all over his body. He looked presentable now.

Eventually the groans of pain had been replaced with heavy breathing as 254 pushed himself back up to his feet. His mouth was quivering with pain and sensitivity, his eyes were burning as tears of blood flowed down his face, staining his white fur as it rolled over. He looked at me with those sad, puppy dog eyes with expectation. Don’t worry boy, I’ll give you your reward. “Once a week…” I spoke. “Once a week, every week, for the past eighteen months you demonstrated your transformation for me. As promised…” I said as I tapped on my tablet. The sound of something shutting echoed out. “This was the last time.” With one more button tap, the sound of hissing air could be heard. While those behind me looked around in confusion, 254 smiled as he sat down on the ground. His smile returned. “Thank you, Doctor…” he whispered. And thank you for being a most helpful patient, 254.

As the hissing continued I pulled up 254’s dossier. “Patient 254…” the hissing sound stopped and all went silent on the other end. “Twenty months ago he strangled his wife in a fit of rage…” 254’s breathing started to become shallow. “In a panic, he smothered his four year old daughter while she slept.” 254’s breathing became strained and was starting to wheeze. “He had planned to commit suicide afterwards, but didn’t have the guts to carry it out so he turned himself in.” 254 was grasping at his throat as his body started violently convulsing. “He plead guilty and requested the death penalty. The jury were all too happy to oblige.” 254 collapsed to the ground. “We acquired him only a week later.” We all watched as the last of 254’s spasms ceased and he laid there lifeless. “He was content with being experimented on” I smirk. “He saw it as a means of suffering for what he had done, and for redemption.” I didn’t know anything about redemption, but I was sure he suffered every week for eighteen months.

A few clicks later and the cube started to vanish. I turned around and faced the group with a smile. “I used the results of 254 to produce a more refined version. I’m afraid, though, I don’t have any more patients to demonstrate to you so I’ll conclude this portion of the presentation. I hope you all got some valuable insights from all of this. Any questions?” The level of frustration permeating from my guests was so thick I could practically smell it. Some of the more vocal members of the group had gotten out of their seats and were hurling insults at me. They called me all sorts of names ranging from a scientific fraud to a sick psychopath. I’ll have you know I won’t take that kind of slander. Being called crazy is one thing, but a phony? That’s where I drew the line.

I politely told them to calm down. Alright, I actually told them to shut their obscene cursed mouths. They didn’t take too kindly to that, though. All of a sudden one of the lower-ranking officers grabbed me by the wrist, and boy did he have quite the grip. I looked closely at his eyes and noticed a brief glint. Really? They actually brought someone with cybernetics to my presentation? How rude! You don’t see me bringing one of my patients to a cybernetics demonstration. Of course, most of my patients would go on a killing spree if they were out in the open, but what can you do? They’re animals!

So now I’m being told that I failed to deliver on my promises and that I’m being taken into custody for misuse of government funds, human experimentation, murder, etcetera, etcetera. I had quite enough of this farce. I grabbed the cybernetic freak by his wrist and squeezed. He gave me a look of shock from the force I was applying to his wrist. He let go of me when the pain became too much for him, but I wasn’t done with him. The moment he let go I grabbed him with my other hand and hurled him across the room, slamming him into concrete wall at the back. The room went silent in an instant. The emotions on their faces ranged from shock to confusion to even slight fear, but they were all on me. Oh good, now that I had their undivided attention again…

“You all seem to have been under the misconception that my entire presentation was over. Oh no… I saved the best for last.” With just a simple mental trigger, my body felt like it was on fire as every one of my cells started to alter themselves. Soon, the familiar sound of bones cracking filled the room. My body felt itchy from the black fur growing all over my body, and soon I could see the muzzle jutting out from my face. My teeth elongated, and soon the blood started flowing. The pain I felt was immense, despite the pain suppressant I had added to the serum, and I couldn’t stop the blood from flowing from my eyes. No matter how much I tried, the bloody eyes was one trait I could never remove from any patient test. I consider these my own tears of failure.

So here I am, a bipedal black wolf in a lab coat with tears of blood flowing down my face staring into the very souls of these frightened men who only a few minutes earlier were threatening me but now are trying their hardest to contain their inner bodily fluids. And I could tell some of them were failing at it! I gave them a smirk. I informed them that I do, indeed, have a serum ready for them. This serum is the one I used on myself, and would provide the same results.

Rather timidly, they congratulated me and asked when the serums would be ready to be shipped. I raised my right hand, or rather my right paw. The ones closest to me flinched when they saw my large claws. I wagged my index finger at them. “Not so fast,” I told them. “I’m not just going to hand the serum over.” If that had been my intention I wouldn’t have bothered with the first three presentations. “You’ve all seen the risks involved with this process; possible death after injection, personality takeover, and painful transformations. Trust me, it’s no day trip to the spa!” I bare my teeth, showing off my new razor-sharp incisors and canines to crowd. Even the most composed members among them were starting to back away towards the exit. I raise my tablet and quickly pressed a button marked with a key. A loud clank echoed throughout the room. Upon hearing it some of the men ran to the door and tried in vain to open it. The only key to their escape laid within the tablet I held in my hand. As panic started to set into my guests I could only groan in frustration as I realized I would need to replace this tablet with all the scratch marks on it now. These things aren’t cheap you know!

One of them asked what I planned to do with them, if I was going to kill them. I could only laugh at the suggestion. I didn’t have any intention to kill them. Well, more so I had no plan to intentionally kill them. “It’s so easy…” I said with a chuckle. “It’s so easy to make dangerous decisions when you’re standing at a safe distance, isn’t it?” I pose to present myself to them. “You make decisions that affect every member in your services, and I make decisions that affect every patient in this facility. Unlike you, however…” the tone of my voice started to turn more bestial. “I’m not always standing on one side of the glass! So before you decide to release this onto hundreds or even thousands of your own people you damn well better know what you’re signing them up for!” My shouting echoed within the room for a moment before it was replaced with silence. I noticed my vision was starting to become blurry with rage, so I took a deep breath. One… two… three… exhale. Focus returned to my vision as I calmed down.

“So sorry about that” I said with my usual smile. “My animal instinct was getting the better of me, so I shooed it away and called it a bad dog.” I let out a howling laugh. I noticed no one was laughing with me. Tough crowd. “But to answer your question… I want each and every one of you to experience this project first hand. So if you all want the serum that badly you’ll need to prove it.” I tapped the window behind me. “Experience the other side of the glass.” They immediately protested that I was insane and that the process could kill them. Oh? So that part of the demonstration only has meaning now that it’s their lives at risk? My goodness, not even my patients complained this much. “Shut up!” I barked at them. When I could hear my own thoughts again I cleared my throat.

“If that doesn’t suit you… then I’ll let you experience one more thing on this side.” I tap a lightbulb on the screen, sending the observation room and testing rooms into darkness. Only a dim safety light shone above us. None of my black fur reflected any light, so from their point of view they could only see the reflection off my eyes. Speaking of which… “Look down” I ordered them. Their gazes slowly focused on the glass floor beneath their feet. It took only a moment for them to notice the dozens of pairs of glowing eyes that were staring right back at them. “If I press this button…” I presented the screen of the tablet to them. I hovered a claw over a glowing red button. “The door in the rear will unlock, but so will the cells beneath us. You can take your chances and run, though I’d give you two, three minutes max before my patients start roaming the halls outside that door.”

I gave them an excited smile, allowing all of my teeth to be reflected in the soft light. “One way or another, gentlemen... you will get first-hand experience with my research. So which will it be? Experience the splicing, or experience the spliced? Either way, though, it will be an experience you won’t soon forget.”

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Originally wrote this back in February for a short story contest I ended up not entering. Thought it would be best save it for Halloween to be posted. Can’t remember the last time I wrote something under 5,000 words (It was a prerequisite for the contest).

Well, hope you enjoyed the read and Happy Halloween!