Chapter 44: Dr. L Meets His Maker
1088 Words
According to Dr. L, The Eternal Bug was an Amoeba, and it was an amazing creature. It could replicate itself and it could rapidly heal. The doctor hadn’t said anything about halos, though, and Richard couldn’t help but wonder if the different colors represented the quantity and quality of a person’s bio-energy.
Oh, my god! – thought Richard – If that is true, my eyes have turned into a biometric radar! Would this mutant skill, potentially, be called, Magic Eyes? If so, he felt like he had won a grand prize. He was hesitant to celebrate, though. In his last life, more and more mutant human beings came into that world as time went by, and all kinds of strange mutant skills randomly appeared. Among these skills, the perception was the rarest. He wondered if, perhaps, a person needed to have a brain to get a perception skill. That made sense to him because the brain is the most complex organ, and it was the hardest to mutate.
There was still one thing that Richard did not understand. What was the Giant Eye? – he wondered – Was it even real? Or was it the result of an oxygen deprived brain? He forced himself to calm down, and then he turned to look at Dr. L. “Let me ask you something,” he said. “Is The Eternal Bug good for anything other than its ability to rapidly recover?”
“You can't kill me!” Dr. L shouted as he struggled with the handcuffs. “I am the leader of the Macro-Biology Search Institute of the United States of America, and I am an important man!” He could sense Richard's intention to kill him. Thus, he had no intention of answering his questions.
Richard: “I’m going to ask you one last time. Does The Eternal Bug enhance mutant skills, or is my transformation the result of the injections?”
Dr. L: “Let go of me and I will tell you everything that I know. I am one of the highest-level researchers at the Macro-Biology Search Institute. I have extremely useful data in my lab – data that the whole country needs! You can’t kill me.”
“I can’t kill you?” Richard scoffed. “I can do what I want.” He was losing his patience. “It’s time for you to meet your maker.”
Dr. L’s face turned white and the crotch of his pants darkened as he wet himself. “No, no, no…” he cried. “You can't kill me, oh…!” And those were his last words.
Richard grabbed Dr. L’s neck, made a fist, and crushed his throat. There were a crunching sound and another of tearing, as he crushed the doctor’s windpipe and dug his fingers into his flesh. What happened next was more like a Finishing Move from Mortal Kombat than anything any of them had seen in real life. Richard tore the man’s throat out, and blood sprayed everywhere.
Dr. L’s lifeless body slumped to the ground, and the room went uncomfortably silent. A minute passed, and then Wayne said, “You shouldn't have killed him. The man was special. You'll be in big trouble.” He had only just regained consciousness, and Dr. L’s bad ending was the first thing that he had seen upon opening his eyes. He was appalled and he began to retch and gag.
Richard looked out the window quietly. “I’m not concerned about trouble from the likes of him,” he said. “There are much bigger things to worry about…”
Lily: “Like the mutant police dogs…?”
Richard: “Yes, Lily, like the mutant police dogs. I am confident that I can fight them, though. As for the other mutant creatures; the ones waiting outside our door, we have nothing to worry about.”
Lily gave Richard a skeptical look. “Why is that?” she asked.
Richard smiled, and as he let Dr. L’s throat drop to the ground, he said, “I have a plan!”
***
Richard dealt with Dr. L’s body, but it was impossible to hide what had happened. There was blood all over Richard’s office and the doctor was nowhere to be seen, and as the news came out, everybody responded differently.
Janet, for example, seemed unfazed. This wasn’t surprising, though. After all, she had big breasts and a large appetite. She had no interest in such trivial matters. What she wanted was breakfast.
When Marry saw her at the table, she brightened up and said, “Hi, Janet! Good morning. It’s good that you’ve still got your appetite. I was about to make some hamburgers. Would you like me to make an extra one or three for you?” She laughed heartily at her own joke.
Janet chuckled and said, “Thank you, and good morning to you too.” Then, in a voice that was very serious, she requested six burgers. “I don’t know why I’m so hungry.” she continued. “Aren't you hungry, Marry? Oh, my god… I wonder if I’m going to have my period?”
Janet patted her stomach. She didn't care about the embarrassed looks people were giving her.
“It's normal for you to be hungry,” Marry replied. “It is a good thing. It means that your mutation is going along smoothly.”
Richard had just joined them, and Janet nodded in his direction. “Can you expand on that?”
Richard shrugged and said, “Why not? It is quite simple, actually. The activation potion was made to counteract Radiation D. As a side effect, some people get mutant skills. You didn’t get any, and neither did Lily or Wayne, but Janet did.” As he explained why, then, Janet needed the extra food, he watched their halos. They were all yellow. In his opinion, this was because they were “normal” people. Anthony’s halo was different, though. It was Fire Engine Red.
I wonder what Anthony’s skill is – wondered Richard. He remembered that, in his previous life, Anthony was unnaturally good with guns. Perhaps, like Richard, he had a perception skill…
Richard watched Anthony with interest, but Anthony seemed to be unaware that he was being put under the microscope. He was about to ask the man a question, but then Janet pushed away her empty plate and called his name.
Richard,” she said, “I have a question for you and Marry. If you guys do not mind, would it be okay if I stayed here?” As she waited for an answer, she accepted another plate of food from Wayne. This dish was baked chicken, potatoes, and corn. She snatched up the chicken leg and bit into it with relish.
- Writer
