Creature (Flash Fic)
“Is that,” the assistant took a gulp and finished “supposed to happen?” The scientist studied themselves in the mirror. Their face was an abomination; part dog, part scorpion, and still a smidge of human. “Brehhighfh.” They attempted to respond.
“Is that a no?” The assistant asked The scientist attempted to clear their throat, releasing a small cloud of flies. The bugs flew for a moment and then liquefied, burning tiny holes in the floor. “Nnnuuh” the scientist managed, their many eyes now fixated on the floor.
“Ok well, assuming this isn’t some horrible nightmare, we need to find a way to handle this. Are... how do you feel?” The assistant pressed. The scientist turned their head in contemplation. Everything felt new. What pains were normal and would fade? What might kill them?
They reached a lobster claw of a hand and patted their stomach. It was queasy. How would it react to Pepto Bismol? So many things could kill this body. Suddenly the stomach pain ended as a fountain of tentacles erupted from the chitinous armor now covering it.
“So when do you think you’ll stop doing weird stuff like that?” The assistant said with a smirk. The scientist shrugged their four arms. Mutations would probably keep occurring, depending on the threats their genes detected in the environment. Becoming human again was unlikely.
“Alright well,” the assistant paused, considering their next words carefully “guess I’m your number two then.” The scientist furrowed their entire face in a gesture that seemed to indicate confusion. “We both know you won’t stop evolving. We both know you’ll be hunted.”
“And eventually this will either kill you outright, something I highly doubt, or you will become a superior being and rule over the planet. I’m just hedging my bets here. I’ll probably spend the rest of my life in jail, or worse, for scientific negligence anyway.”
The scientist sprouted wings and their brain size doubled then. This made sense and really, did they have any choice at this point? If they tried to fight the mutations or their destiny, their morals would simply be evolved out of the equation. Sane world domination it is then.
“Glad to see you’re on board.” The assistant said with a smile. “Do you want me to use your old name? Maybe ‘High Lord’ would work?” Three mouths smiled and the scientist extended one human arm to shake on it.