At the main laboratory of GenTek, heads were going to roll. Dylan York, a simple labtech was nervously sweating, fearing for his livelihood, his career, possibly even his life. It had been under his watch that MYRIAD-442 had escaped, with the subject having chewed through her restraints and bolted after he had opened the door.
It was surreal. Other subjects had made similar attempts before, but none had been so seemingly well planned. Like all other subjects, MYRIAD-442 was of low intelligence and lacked critical thinking skills, and yet she had outwitted Dylan, a sanitation engineer, and several security personnel.
And now here Dylan sat, just outside the head office of Neogenic Recombinants and GMO Studies. Here was one of the highest brass in GenTek, Dr. Barnaby Mayhew. And Dylan had to explain to him how he managed to lose a multi-million dollar test subject. As the intercom buzzed, Dylan nearly leapt out of his clothes, jumping upward awkwardly before smoothening out his hair and clothes and then walking up to the door.
Making his way past the office door, Dylan walked up to Dr.Mayhew’s PA, an old CRT computer monitor attached to several audio and visual outputs/inputs. It rested on a mechanical arm that had several sections that could bend and rotate, allowing it to “face” any direction within the room. The screen displayed a smiling woman, depicted in the style of the 1950’s film actress Faith Domergue, with the arm now positioning the monitor in Dylan’s direction.
HELLO VALUED GENTEK EMPLOYEE
PLEASE WAIT FOR THE CONFIRMATION LIGHT ON THE DOOR TO TURN GREEN
Approaching the reinforced metal doors, he watched the twin lights, both green but unlit. He waited awkwardly for several minutes, the PA still pointed in his direction, making him uncomfortable. Once one of the lights went on with an audible buzzing noise, Dylan pulled on the switch in the middle of the door, causing the second light to ignite. Several mechanisms began to turn and rotate as it slowly opened, allowing Dylan access.
Dylan navigated the labyrinthian hallways, getting mixed up and lost a few times along the way. He had only ever been here once before, three years ago when he was still applying for his labtech position. Finally, after what felt like hours to him, Dylan found the room he had been told to meet Dr.Mayhew.
Room 1499:Vivisection and Study
Putting on a cleansuit over his clothes, Dylan walked through the containment chamber as it bombarded him with hypochlorite spray, followed by the floor fans turning over, drying him off. As the second door, he could hear Mayhew speaking aloud.
“…with the cecum looking normal, coloration a healthy pink. Weight is within the twelfth percentile. Digestive acids are at a PH balance of 6.7, within proper tolerance for the hindgut…”
Standing in front of the decontamination room, Dylan stood, lightly shaking and unsure what to do. Scared to interrupt, he was shocked awake by Mayhew clicking off his recorder. “Mr.York, will you please get over here?! I believe you have wasted enough of GenTek’s time and resources, yes?!” Walking within the frigid room, Dylan saw the rows upon rows of metal tables, most empty, bu some with subjects, still alive, in various stages of pre-autopsy. The subject that Mayhew stood over was a Stallion with the Unicorn Phenotype, coloration somewhere in the DNA Hexcode of #969, an off yellow. It’s ribcage had been splayed open, with it’s organs neatly displayed on an adjacent metal table.
As Dylan approached, he saw the subject’s head slowly following him, his eyes glazed over but alert. “Mr.York I am a very busy man so I will get right down to the point. How on God’s green Earth did you lose M-442?”
Not expecting such an abruptness, Dylan went pale. “Well…Si…Sir…I…I…”
“Time is money, Mr.York…Out with it you halfwit.”
“Sorr…Sorry Sir! Well to be honest, it was bizarre Doctor…it was like MYRIAD-442 was capab…”
“For the importance of saving time, just say M-442.”
“Of course…sorry…again…So it seemed like M-442 was capable of a level of thinking and critical reasoning that we simpl…”
“You, Mr.York…”
“I’m sorry, what Doctor?”
“M-442 had levels of thinking and critical reasoning that you weren’t prepared for. Continue…”
“O…ok…so M-442 was simply too…too wily for us…for me…we…I wasn’t prepared for a subject that could…that could actively plan.”
“Is that all you have to say for yourself Mr.York?”
“…Please don’t fire me Dr.Mayhew…”
“Oh if you only lose your job today, that will be a miracle indeed. As for your excuses, it sounds to me like you were lax in your duties. You underestimated M-442, and as such you thought that the bare minimum would suffice.”
Mayhew put away his recorder and walked over to a viewscreen built into the wall. “Computer, bring up supply records for April, 12th 20XX.”
After a few moments, the screen began to display the various supplies that GenTek bought and used, specifically the branch in charge of the MYRIAD Labs.
Pointing at the section labeled Subject Restraints, Mayhew looked back to Dylan. “Notice something unusual Mr.York?”
Dylan looked briefly at the screen, then to the ground, a deep look of shame. “Doctor I swear I didn’t…”
Reading from the manifest aloud, Mayhew slowly started to walk closer to Dylan. “Item:24556 Arm/Leg Restraints. Funds allocated:$25,000. Funds spent:$4,000.” As he finished he suddenly jabbed a finger at Dylan, harshly punctuating his point.
“Quite a discount you found for us Mr.York! How on Earth did you find the needed restraints for such a bargain?!”
“Dr.Mayhew if you’ll hear me out, I can explain…”
“According to the unaltered delivery receipt, you purchased subpar goods manufactured in North Korea! North Korea for Christ’s sake! And it only took corporate a few hours of digging to find your offshore accounts. Not only are you guilty of being negligent of your duties, but you are truly ignorant enough to steal from the company.”
“I…I…Dr.Mayhew…please…”
“No excuses! Your petty bid for riches has cost GenTek greatly. And you will give restitution!”
The decontamination chamber reopened, with four men in black cleansuits, each with an elongated, electrified batons. As Dylan continued to beg, slowly backing away, they proceeded to beat him, over and over as the electricity arced violently through his body. Minutes later, he was unconscious, lying on the cold laboratory floor.
“Dr.Mayhew, what should we do with him sir?” The security operative asked, as his men lifted Dylan’s limp body upward.
“Take him to Section-28. Human Testing.”
As the men left, the yellow unicorn that Mayhew had been examining began to look towards the Doctor, it’s eyes focusing as he became seemingly more alert.
“…Wan…die…”
Deciding that the subject wasn’t worth the second dose of anesthesia, Mayhew retrieved his recorder and continued his analysis.