Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) (2 page)

Talbot locked eyes with Tasio.

“He should not be allowed to leave the facility for any
reason, for public safety. Furthermore, he should not be allowed to contact the
outside until we know for sure that ‘Eric Watley’ is truly still alive. It
would be cruel to give others false hope.”

Tasio shrugged and vanished.

The orc director nodded. “Eric Watley, do you have
anything to say on your own behalf?”

“I’m not a grendel or any kind of monster. I’m human. If
anything, that Fog explosion inserted a monster into me. If you can help me get
rid of it, I’m open to suggestions.”

 "Mr. Watley, we are going to do our very best to
return you to your pre-mutation life, but I don't want you to get your hopes
up. You are the first person under our care to regain sapience. Our previous
successes are little more than docile pets. We are as knowledgeable about your
condition as you are. We will learn, but we need your help to do so. Will you
help us?"

 "Sure."

 "Thank you. We will figure this out together."

What followed was a battery of tests and experiments. Every
scientist in the building declared Eric the Universal Key of Mana Mutation. The
fact that he was The Trickster's Choice only convinced them further that he was
chosen by The Trickster to advance their knowledge.

One made him walk in a straight line, toe over toe, and then
recite the alphabet backwards. He had to do this one hundred times for
statistical validity and, when he tripped up, she marked him as “cognitively
regressed.” When Eric loudly demanded the researcher do it herself, he was
marked for “lingering-aggression.”

A second tried to teach him the lyrics of a song, but he
couldn’t understand them because of the man's accent. This got him pegged with
“limited memory.” When he asked for a different song, the man marked him with “classical
grendel anti-merriment.”

A third wanted to pluck his hairs and sample his blood,
and even more degrading, she requested that he be strapped down for it. It was
an understandable request, given that the woman was missing an arm and a leg,
but Eric refused to be restrained. He picked the hairs and injected the syringe
himself. Next were full body x-rays to search for changes beneath his skin.

While they waited for the results to come in, Percy
engaged him in a civil conversation about a popular sitcom. Before he could
breathe a sigh of relief, Percy asked him if he wanted to eat any of the
characters. He was about to stab the guy with his spear, but Kallen shook her
head no. So he stomped on the floor instead, cracking it with his human-like
foot.

“
I’M NOT A
GRENDEL
!"

Noticing their apprehension, he took a breath, smiled
without showing teeth, and started again. In a human voice, he said, "I do
not appreciate being treated like one. No wonder Kallen has issues with the
word 'lab-rat.' If this is how you treated her then..."

He trailed off and gears clicked in his head. His eyes
narrowed but they did not slit.

"You don't still treat her like this, do you?"

Everyone noticed the change in subject. He was no longer
concerned about himself, but someone else. Kallen would have jotted it down for
his defense but wanted to bask in the moment first. Talbot also made note of
it.

"Of course not," Percy said. "Kallen is—"

 "Not you. I don’t care what you have to say."

 A flush of happiness colored Kallen's checks. Then it
soured. "It's just a check-up every month or so. It's no big deal."

Percy walked over to Kallen and gently grabbed her
shoulder. Kallen looked up at him in surprise. The tiger man bared his teeth.

 "Correct. All we do is strap her to a table and cut
her open."

He extended a claw and drew it across her shirt, tearing
it open above her chest.

“As she says, it is no big deal.”

Grendel rushed through Eric’s veins. It moved into his
heart and accelerated its pace. It moved through his arms and legs and created
adrenaline out of nothing. It moved into his eyes and made them slit. It moved
into his brain and drove out every other thought. In the space of seconds, he
was tackling Percy. With one hand, he squeezed the tiger man’s throat while the
other chambered to deliver the killing blow. The
soiléir
crystal
extended like a claw of his own. Kallen grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“
Let go! I
must kill the threat to you!”

 “He’s not a threat! Not to me or anyone! I’m sure he has
an explanation for this!”

“THREAT!”

It took all of Kallen’s own demon strength to hold him
back, so he choked the tiger man instead. If not for Percy’s barrier, Eric
would have snapped his neck in an instant.

“Eric, please stop!”

“Mr. Watley, I have an explanation,” Percy replied.

He sounded as stoic as ever; completely unconcerned about
the feral boy straddling him with a crystal claw poised to strike and a hand
around his neck. His colleagues were not so calm.

“Kill him! He’s relapsed!”

“Don’t kill him! This is fascinating!”

“Will you listen to my explanation?” Percy asked. “I was
kidding about Kallen’s treatment. I will buy her a replacement shirt tomorrow.”

“
Blood for
blood.
”

Kallen took out her own staff and made a cut on Percy’s
shirt. He didn’t react. Only then did Grendel recede. Eric dismounted the tiger
man without regret or shame. Instead, he watched him like a snake in the grass.

“I will listen to your explanation. Then I will reconsider
whether or not you are a threat.”

Percy stood up and straightened his shirt and coat. Then
he smoothed down his fur and retracted his claws. Finally, he said,

“The Emotional Memory hypothesis states that sapients lose
their memories during mutation but retain the emotions connected to those
memories. As monsters, they feel certain ways towards certain stimuli without
knowing why. In other words, the person they used to be is still present to
some degree, depending on the strength of their emotional content.”

“So it’s similar to the Ghost Residue phenomenon,” Eric
said. “Just like a spirit can leave traces in places of personal importance
and/or frequent use, so too does a sapient leave traces in the monster created
from it.”  

His answered excited everyone. Kallen was visibly
relieved. Percy was unmoved.

“Yes, it is similar. The ‘docile pets’ that Director Pluagi
referred to have long been assumed to support this hypothesis because they are
docile in the presence of people important to them, typically family. However,
this tame mindset is generally extended to only one or two people, and
sometimes not family. To everyone else, they were just another monster. Thus,
the hypothesis remains a hypothesis.”

“I’m different from them because I am fully sapient.”

As he finished this sentence, Eric realized that he still
had his spear’s blade extended from his hand. He quickly retracted it and
tightened his fist to hide it, and just as quickly loosened it so he didn’t
appear as if ready to punch someone. Percy replied as though he hadn’t noticed.

“Yes, I believe that your case is different from the tame
monsters’. Instead of a monster influenced by a human’s memories, you are a
monster who
thinks
he is human. ”

“I just told you—
I’m not a grendel!”

“Frankly, Mr. Watley, we don’t know what you are. You
don’t
look
like a grendel, but you act like one. You certainly don’t act
like a human.”

That last sentence provoked Eric’s ire. He crossed his
arms and raised the hand of his left arm. Raising each finger in turn, he said,
“You want to start a debate about what it means to be human? Fine. I find food
for myself so I can stay alive. I kill threats to myself and my family, i.e., I
protect them. I dislike being treated as though I cannot think and reason for
myself. Is any of that
not
human,
Tiger Man?”

“Very well. We will wait for the test results to come back
to continue this discussion.”

“What am I supposed to do in the meantime? My short-term
memory lasts longer than five seconds. As a human, I get bored.”

“Kallen will show you around and ensure that you are
entertained.”

“She’s to be my keeper?”

“She is best suited for the role, yes.”

Kallen grabbed Eric’s hand.

“Come with me.”

Despite the surroundings and his day so far, it was
impossible not to feel happy and peaceful when her hand was in his own.
Why
does this happen? I’m sure Grey Dengel would be able to explain it.
Despite
this, he couldn’t relax. His mind was constantly on the lookout for danger or
opportunities to eat. In addition to this, Kallen’s proximity stirred another
desire.

Eric clamped down on that third one immediately. While he
couldn’t deny that he found Kallen attractive, the last thing he wanted to do
right now was jump her. He told himself it was just the grendel talking and
pushed it to the back of his mind.

If only I could expel it like I did with Dengel….

Kallen left the testing area and her arm pulled him in
that direction. He followed without comment. The door opened for her and she
led him into one of the facility’s hallways. The cameras watched both of them.
The scientists they passed subtly raised their barriers, and the guards kept
their weapons close at hand.

“They consider me a threat just as I consider them a
threat,” Eric mused. “Is it because I also consider them to be food?”

“Yes,” Kallen replied. “Humanoid sapients don’t consider
each other to be food. No, I should rephrase that. City-sapients, who are most
often humanoid, rarely consider each other to be food. It’s a different story
in other places.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“We can’t have a society based on nothing but food,
family, and threats.”

“There’s also ‘obstacles’...What am I saying?”

He shook his head and hit himself. Kallen gave his hand a
squeeze.

“You can’t shake the monster out. Believe me, I tried.”

“Oh yeah, I remember you saying you’d tell me about
Siduban sometime, but you always said ‘later.’ Is now a good time?”

Her grip on his hand shifted. It was too minute for a
human to notice, but someone with his heightened sensitivity to prey picked up
on it. She was defensive.

“I suppose we have time for a short version.”

Kallen drifted away from him. The absence of her hand left
him feeling cold and isolated. Clasping both of her own behind her and staring
off into the distance, she said, “My parents were the directors of the Siduban
Chaotic Research Facility. My sister and I went there for a day to watch them
work.” Her eyes transformed. “Then, a greedy little imp appeared and sabotaged
the Chaos Machine. He caused the Chaos Explosion. It mutated me in body, mind,
and soul.”

“But you’re human now, and sane. In all the time I’ve
known you, there’s never been anything ugly or monstrous about you.”

Kallen turned back to him and smiled. “Thank you, but it
wasn’t easy and….not everyone shares your opinion.”

“Getis. Getis Darwoss. Lab-rat insult.” His eyes slitted. “
A threat
.”

Kallen quickly grabbed his hand again. “Eric, please, calm
down.”

“
Why?”

Kallen grabbed his other hand. “Because you need to learn
about disproportionate retribution.”

“
What
about it
?”

“It’s going to happen to you in five seconds.”

Both behind him and in front was a wall of guards. Clad in
armor and carrying shields, they were a formidable barrier. Behind them was a
wall of mages. Brandishing spells and carrying bolts in orbit around
themselves, they were an intimidating barrage.

Eric snarled. Then Kallen gave his hands another squeeze
and maintaining it became impossible as peace flowed into him from her. His
eyes unslitted.

“Please stand down,” Kallen said. “He will settle this peacefully
with words, like a civilized sapient. Isn’t that right, Eric?”

He nodded. “Yes, I can and yes, I will. I am not a threat
to you as long as...” He shook his head. “No, I don’t want to fight you because
no one paid me to do so. I am a mercenary, not a monster. Just now, I was
recalling someone unpleasant. Surely there are people you don’t like but aren’t
going to hurt, even though they’re threats, I mean! I will not hurt him either
because no one paid me to do so. Besides, he would probably taste nasty.”

He bit his lip to stop himself. Kallen smiled uneasily at
the guards, who hadn’t lowered their shields or their spells. Eric struggled
with himself not to bring out his staff. His grendel instincts shouted at him
to kill the threats before him, but his human memories said such an action was
more dangerous.

“I didn’t mean that either! It just slipped out.”

“I’m leading him to the cafeteria,” Kallen said. “He
hasn’t had a proper meal since a day or so before mutating. I’m sure he’ll feel
better once he has food in his stomach.”

“I completely agree. I’d rather not kill my food before…”

He hit himself on the head repeatedly. The action agitated
the guards. Kallen’s mind raced for a way to calm them and then one mage fired
out of nerves. She stepped in front of Eric to guard him with her barrier, and
he registered this as them attacking her. His eyes slit once more and the
guards prepared for him to charge. Then, a pearl of laughter broke the tension.

Tasio appeared in their midst, holding his sides and guffawing
up a storm.

“Oh, what fools these mortals be!” he cried. “Neither of
you wants to fight, yet you’re about to kill each other. Ahh…” He wiped a tear
away. “I’m sorry for interrupting. Go right ahead. Don’t mind me.” He
disappeared as suddenly as he appeared.