Acidalia
By Amanda D.
Chapter 1
“Laura! Come quickly!” Sam yelled across the room.
“What is it Sam?” the beautiful young blonde asked her
frail, crippled lab partner.
“It’s Emma!” he exclaimed. “She seems to be having a
reaction to the formula.”
Laura ran over to his side a gazed down at the Plexiglas
enclosed cage containing the sickly old mother rat. The cage was completely
sealed to prevent any contamination from outside. It even had its own piped in
air supply. It had been days since the poor thing had moved so much as an inch
from it bedding, but now she was up and wandering around her enclosure.
Two hours earlier they had injected the rat with their
latest version of their formula. Their excitement was palpable. This was their
57th attempt, and this was the first time they had met with any kind
of success. Sam smiled at Laura as they watched the rat move towards the water
bowl and take its first drink in two days.
“We’re going to need to keep an eye on her for the next few
days, but this certainly looks promising,” Sam said to her.
“Yes it does,.” she agreed.
They had been working together for the last two years,
trying to find away to reverse the effects of aging and disease. As many before
them, they had met with failure after failure and were close to giving up hope.
But in just the last month they had come up with a radically different
approach. Instead of a chemical or hormonal approach, Laura suggested trying to
create a retrovirus using fetal stem cells.
Last week they had completed they had finally finished the
gene sequencing and identified the protein string that would hold the
chromosomes they were looking for. After they were separated from the rest, Sam
and Laura injected them into the viral shell.
The two of them had picked the sickest rat that they could
find. Laura studied the rat for several days, determining its habits. Once they
felt that they knew the rat’s schedule, which came down to more or less when it
slept and when it was awake, they injected it with the retrovirus.
In theory, the retrovirus should have taken several days
to get a toe hold on Emma’s system. Sam had thought that if they saw any
changes within two weeks that the experiment would be considered a success. Now
seeing improvement after only a couple of hours, he was elated.
The two of them kept up a constant vigil on Emma for the
next several hours. The rat’s health seemed to improve minute by minute. In the
space of just four hours she had gone from barely moving, to running around the
cage and eating anything she could get her teeth into. Even her once almost
completely white snout was changing back to its natural brown color.
By 10pm that evening Emma looked like a whole new animal.
Laura, who looked as if she might fall asleep where she stood, told Sam that
she was going to head home for the evening. As was his habit when working on a
particularly exciting experiment, Sam told her he was going to stay and observe
for a while more. To Laura, this meant that she would most likely find him
sleeping in his wheel chair, parked by one of the work stations in the morning.
“Goodnight, Sam,” she said as she walked out the lab’s
door.
“Goodnight,” he grunted to her as he typed away at his
computer.
After she was gone Sam went back over to the cage. To him,
seeing Emma react the way she had to the retrovirus was nothing short of a
miracle. In all honesty, he knew that the reason for his interest in this line
of work was purely selfish.
He had once been not only brilliant, but also the captain
of the high school football team. He had been tall, well built, with long brown
hair and green eyes that made all the girls in school just melt. He had been
offered several scholarships by several colleges to play the game there, but
had opted to go to MIT instead. In just 5years he earned a doctorate in
molecular biology. He then transferred right down the road to Harvard, where he
earned a business degree and got to play football for the Ivy League.
Once he’d graduated, he moved back to California, where
he’d grown up, and got a job working for a cutting edge biotech firm. It was
there that tragedy struck. One day, while taking a walk to clear his head, he
found himself down by the labs loading dock. The facility was receiving a
shipment of lab animals, mainly monkeys.
While carrying a pallet of cages, the forklift bumped a
pole, sending several of them crashing to the floor. A couple broke open,
freeing the animals. One monkey in particular, who looked to be especially
upset with his incarceration, leapt at Sam. The enraged animal grabbed Sam’s
head, and in a fit of rage, bit Sam’s nose.
Had that been the only injury Sam had incurred, he would
have been thankful and moved on with his life. However the lacerations on his
snout were the least of his problems. Within two days of the attack, Sam began
to feel a great deal of discomfort in his back.
As time passed the pain grew more persistent and intense.
Eventually, he went to see a doctor who ran him through a battery of tests. By
the time the diagnosis arrived ten days later, it was too late. He had lost the
use of his legs and was becoming a wasted shadow of his former self.
The culprit, he was later told, was a virus carried in
the monkey’s salvia. The virus had attacked his spinal column and destroyed the
nerves that controlled his legs. His body was so ravaged by the virus; it left
him looking twice as old as his thirty five years. His one act of defiance to
the disease was to keep his long hair.
At around 2am the cleaning crew arrived at Sam’s lab. The
supervisor asked Sam if it was okay to clean the lab now or should they wait
until tomorrow. As the supervisor talked to Sam, the rest of the crew milled
around, emptying the trash and such. Sam informed him that he was in the middle
of a delicate experiment and they should wait until tomorrow to do the floors.
The supervisor turned to tell his crew to head to the next room. On the way
out, unbeknownst to Sam, one of the cleaners bumped into Emma’s enclosure,
knocking one of the air hoses slightly ajar.
After a couple of hours of sharing the air with Emma,
exhaustion finally claimed him. Sam slumped over his computer and slept. As his
head came to rest on the keyboard, he accidentally uploaded all the days’ files
on the labs main server.
Promptly at 7am Laura arrived at the lab and found him
asleep on the terminal. She pushed at his frighteningly thin shoulder and said
“Wakey, wakey, Sammy. Time to rise and shine.”
He lifted his head and could barely make her out from all
the hair in his face. I have to get a haircut on of these day’s.
Sam pulled the hair away from his face and looked
at her quizzically. “Wha? What time is it?” he asked groggily.
“It’s a little after seven,” she replied. Looking him over
she scolded him by saying “You didn’t stay here all night again, did you? You
know that your doctor told you not to sleep in the chair. Even though you can’t
feel it, sleeping like that causes you to loose the circulation in you legs.”
As she spoke, Sam became aware of a strange sensation in
his feet. They were stinging, like pins and needles. At first, he just counted
it up to what Laura had said about falling asleep in the chair. Then it hit him
like a ton of bricks. He could feel his feet tingling! It had been more than
ten years since he had felt anything at all below his waist.
So shocked was he by this development, he barely
registered Laura’s voice. He looked up at her dully and said, “I’m sorry. … Can
you repeat yourself?”
“I said did you know that one of Emma’s air tubes is
ajar?” she repeated pushing the hose back into place.
She peered into the cage and noticed something amiss.
Emma seemed to be smaller this morning that she was yesterday. “Sam, does Emma look
smaller to you today?” she asked him.
When he failed to respond again, Laura looked over at him
and saw one of his feet move. “Sam did your foot just move?” she asked.
“Yes …” he said in a stunned voice. “I believe it did.
What’s more, is I can feel both my legs, and my bladder’s telling me that I
have to go.”
“Sam what did you do?” she asked angrily. You didn’t
inject yourself, did you?”
“No! I swear I didn’t even consider it,” he answered
defensively.
She looked at him skeptically. “Then how do you explain
this?” she asked.
He had no answers for her so he made no reply. She walked
over to the cabinet on the back wall and pulled out a syringe. She turned back
towards him.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“I’m going to take a sample of your blood to see if you’re
lying to me or not,” she replied as she swiped his arm with alcohol. She stuck
the needle in his arm, feeling a certain satisfaction at the pained grimace on
his face, and drew a small amount of blood.
“Laura!” Sam pleaded. “Why don’t you just look in the
refrigerator and check the dosage count. I didn’t take any, so all the doses we
had left from yesterday should still be there.”
She shrugged her shoulders and walked over to the fridge.
She bent down and counted the doses. When she was finished she counted them
again, just to be sure. To her surprise they were all there.
While that was good news, it still left the question of
what had happened to Sam. Standing back up she told him the count was correct.
As she talked to him she noticed that he was now able to move his entire leg.
His movement had her so astounded that she almost failed to register that his
hair had turned completely brown again, instead of its normal salt and pepper
color
More confused than ever she picked up the vial of blood
and walked over to the work bench. She began to prepare the blood for
inspection under a microscope when Sam spoke again.
“Umm Laura? Could you help me try to stand up?” he asked.
She turned to him and said “Sure, Sam, let’s give it a
try.”
It took several tries, but eventually he managed to get to
his feet. He leaned heavily on her, more from wonder than any need of support.
After a minute. he was able to stand by himself. Laura took a step back and
looked him over. Something wasn’t right.
“Sam, how tall did you say you were?” she asked.
“I’m about 6’1”. Why?” he replied.
“Well you’re not that tall any more,” she told him. She
grabbed a measuring tape out of a drawer and walked over to him. “Do you think
you can walk?” she asked.
He looked at her uncertainly. Tentatively, he took her arm
and tried a step forward. At first, nothing happened. He tried again and got
slight movement. Steeling himself, he put everything he could into moving his
leg. Finally it moved.
Once the first one moved, it was simplicity itself to move
the other. Once again he leaned hard on her shoulder. Half way across the room
he let go and managed to make the last few steps on his own.
Her wonder at his walking was only slightly superseded by
her curiosity over his reduced stature. She had him stand against the only bare
piece of wall in the place and marked where the top of his head was. She had
him step away still marveling at him and measured from the floor to the mark.
“Well, what’s the verdict?” he asked.
“It says that you’re 5’ 7”. That’s a reduction of half a
foot. How can that be?” It was at that moment that she remembered that Emma had
seemed smaller, too. She went back to the rat’s enclosure and using the rubber
gloves attached to it, picked Emma up and held her up against the side.
“Sam come here and try to get a measurement on her!” she
told him.
Sam walked over and did his best to measure the rat’s
length . “That can’t be right.”
“What is it?”
“Obviously this isn’t exact, but it looks like she’s two
and a half inches smaller now that she was when we put her in there,” he
replied, turning to the computer to confirm what he already knew. He had to tug
his pants up as he turned. “Hmm. Looks like height isn’t all I’ve lost,” he
commented.
He brought up the record of all of Emma’s physical
measurements. Sure enough the rat was now considerable smaller. He did the math
quickly in his head. “Looks like she’s lost about 10% of her body mass.” He
looked over at Laura. “Give her a good look over. See if there are any other
differences.”
Laura turned Emma this way and, that looking at everything
she could see from outside the cage. She found something else particular. “Sam
come look at this!” she called to him.
Sam stepped over, still marveling at the joy of no longer
needing the chair, and looked into the cage.
“Do you see it?” Laura asked.
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to show me.’ He admitted.
“Her sexual organs.” She stated, pointing as best she
could at the appropriate area. “Look how small they are.”
Sam squinted, but couldn’t see what she was pointing at.
When he took his glasses off to clean them, suddenly the world got much
clearer. “What the hell…?” he squealed.
Laura dropped the rat and turned to see what the problem
was. “What’s the matter?” she asked.
“My eyes!” he stated in astonishment. “I…I don’t need my
glasses anymore.”
Laura shook her head in disbelief. She looked at him
again. “Sam…you look different.” She said stepping towards him. She put her
hand on his chest and felt something that didn’t belong on any man.
“Sam, open your shirt up,” She directed.
“Why? What’s wrong?” he asked agitatedly.
“Just open it!” she told him again.
He did as instructed. After it was off he looked down at
his chest and noticed what Laura had felt. He had developed two small, but
easily identifiable breasts. “What the hell’s happening to me?” he screeched.
Laura, having no answers at all, just stood there gaping
at him. With his shirt off, other changes were apparent also. His shoulders,
while never big, were now much narrower than they should have been. His face
was different, too. His cheeks seemed to be higher, and his ears were smaller.
“Sam, why don’t you go into the bathroom and strip down.
Give your body a good once over in the mirror. See if anything else has
changed. While you do, that I’m going to take a look at the blood sample I took
from you.” She said to him.
Sam shuffled off to the men’s room, his happiness at being
able to walk, now replaced with dread.
With him out of the room for a minute Laura headed over to
the blood sample. She put a drop on a slide so she could see it under the
microscope. She then took a bit more and put it in a sealed test tube. She put
the tube in a centrifuge and turned it on.
As the centrifuge did its thing, she turned back to the
microscope. She slid the slide under it and sat down to take a look. She
adjusted the magnification until she could see the cells clearly.
What she saw astonished her. Sam’s cells were dividing and
dying off at an incredibly rapid rate, almost as if they were being replaced.
The pace of division looked eerily like what they had seen the day before when
they tested Emma’s blood . She looked back at the sample and tried to count the
number of divisions over a 20 second period. She counted twenty five. She
repeated the count two more times, just to be sure and came up with
approximately the same number.
She then stepped over to the computer and entered in the
number, Sam’s approximate weight and height. She then asked the machine to
extrapolate the cell division over a twenty four hour period.
While she was waiting for the answer she heard a scream
coming from the direction of the men’s room. She ran out of the lab and burst
into the bathroom, finding. Sam standing in the middle of the room groping at
his crotch. “Sam! Are you alright? I heard you screaming from the lab.” She
asked.
He turned to look at her. “M…My…look!” he said pointing between
his legs.
She looked to where he indicated and saw that his penis
was very small. “I take it that it was bigger before?” she asked, trying not to
sound like she was making fun of him.
His face was beet red as he confirmed her observation with
a nod. The longer she looked at him, the way he was mostly disrobed, the more
she could see he looked more like a she. Not an overly developed one or
anything. More like an adolescent. His waist was thinner than a man’s should
have been, and his hips seemed a bit wider than normal.
She walked over to him and pulled his pants back up.
“Laura! What’s happening to me?” he asked, horrified.
“I…I don’t know, Sam. I don’t know. But I can guarantee
you that we will find out. Now why don’t you get yourself together and meet me
back in the lab. I’ve begun to analyze your blood sample.” She was trying to
calm him down. The truth of the situation, if not the reason, seemed to be that
he was somehow changing into at her.
As soon as she got back to the lab, Laura went right over
to the computer. The results of the computation were waiting for her on the
screen. The computer had extrapolated that half of the cells in Sam’s body
would be replaced within 24hours, with total replacement being finished in 48.
The number seemed too incredible to be real. She reentered the information and
had the computer do the problem over again. Seconds later the same answer
waited for her on the screen.
Sam arrived back in the room just as the results were
coming up on the screen. “He stepped over and read them over her shoulder.
“What’s that?”
When she told him, in a strangely calm voice he asked “Have
you done a DNA comparison yet?”
“I had just put the sample in the centrifuge before I
heard you scream.” She said as she looked over at it. “Looks like it’s
finished. I want to get a sample of Emma’s blood, too. Can you prep the broken
down sample for DNA extraction?” she asked him.
“Sure,” he replied. “Why do you want Emma’s blood?” he
asked.
“While I can’t be sure until I analyze hers, I think some
how you were exposed to the serum that we gave her. Don’t ask me how, but your
blood test shows the same replication rate as hers did yesterday.”
The look on his face revealed that the he was coming to
the same conclusion. “But what about these other changes I’m going through?
Emma hasn’t changed sex, she’s still a female,” he said in a voice that sounded
a little higher than usual.
“Sam I don’t have any answers for you. Let’s just get
these tests run and see what the results tell us. Okay?” she said.
Without another word Sam walked over to the work station
and began the task of preparing the blood for DNA analysis.
The two of them worked for hours without taking a break.
The computer chugged along, breaking down and analyzing Sam’s and Emma’s DNA.
As the time passed Sam’s body continued to change. His once barely noticeable
breasts were starting to bulge out under his shirt. His voice grew higher, his
hands smaller, and his face continued to look more and more feminine.
Finally, the computer’s display came alive with streams
of data. The two of them sat in front of it and began to read the results. The
first conclusion that they could make was the most obvious. Sam’s Y, or male,
chromosomes were being deleted by the cell division and replace with by X, or
female, chromosomes. It was the Y bearing cells that were dissolving away,
obviously.
The next set of results showed that Sam had indeed been
infected with the same retrovirus with which Emma had been injected. Like the
rat’s, Sam’s physical age seemed to be regressing.
The way Sam had become infected became obvious when the
computer spit out the results of the viral comparison it had done. According to
the results, somewhere along the way of restructuring Emma’s genes the virus
had mutated slightly. It had developed a thick enough protein coat to survive
in the air for a short amount of time. The air hose that Laura had found ajar
must have been how Sam was exposed. He had fallen asleep only a few feet away from
her cage.
This last find had dire implications. If a retrovirus
capable of changing a person as radically as it had Sam ever escaped the lab,
the results would be disastrous to the population. They arrived at the same
conclusion of how to go about containing the possible problem simultaneously.
There were two things that needed to be done immediately.
Emma needed to be euthanized before she could infect anyone else and they both
needed to be checked to see if the mutated strain was active in their bodies.
Over the next couple of hours they took care of both jobs.
Emma’s body was placed in a biohazard bag and frozen, in case they needed it
later.
The results of the viral comparison showed very
interesting results. First off, Laura showed no sign of infection whatsoever.
Secondly, the viral samples taken from Sam were exactly the same as the
original strain, capable of surviving only in fluids. Apparently after
infecting Sam, it had reverted to its original form.
With the threat of mass infection put to rest, Sam’s
changes, and how to reverse them became the priority. He was looking quiet
female by this point. He had grown a rather nice set of breasts; Laura
estimated they were about a 32C. His penis had completely disappeared and the
rest of his body had curves in all the right places. He was certainly going to
turn some heads once the transformation was finished.
The next two days were a series of surprises and a lot of
pain for Sam, as his body completed its transformation. Being the owner of the
company, Sam had no one he needed to report to. And being something of a
recluse, there was no reason to worry about anyone else at work finding out
about Sam’s changes for the moment.
He wound up becoming an absolutely beautiful petite 5’4” woman
with his trade mark long brown hair and green eyes. His hair, which had been
shoulder length on his old form now hung to the middle of his back and he now
looked to be about 22 years old.
While he was somewhat grateful at not being an ugly girl,
Sam wasn’t exactly what you would call excited at the prospect of living life
on the other side of the fence. He complained about his fate constantly over
the next few days as they searched for a way to reverse his transformation.
Laura finally was forced to ask him, “Would you be happier if you were still
stuck in your wheelchair?”
That seemed to change his attitude a little. At least he
stopped complaining about his fate. ’It’s amazing what a little perspective
will do for a person.’ Laura thought to herself as she began to train Sam in
the fine art of womanhood.
“But I don’t want to learn.” he protested.
“Sam, we have no idea if we’re ever going to be able to
return you to your original form.” She told him/her. “If we can’t, there are
some things you’re going to need to know about how your body works.”
“Fine!” he pouted.
Laura showed Sam how to shave his legs and arm pits
without cutting them to shreds. She taught her about all manner of feminine
hygiene products and their appropriate uses.
She warned about the dangers of pregnancy. When he said the
last thing he wanted was to have sex with anyone, she said “You never know what
the future will bring. Pregnancy is something a woman needs to be aware of at
all times.”
He embarrassedly thanked her for the advice and quickly
tried to change the subject. “I do have one little problem that I need your
help with.” Sam confessed.
“”What would that be?” she inquired.
“All my clothes are too big for me now, and I have no clue
what size I would need now. Never mind what kind of other things I would need.”
Samantha said, unable to look Laura in the face.
Laura, understanding how hard it must have been for Sam to
ask her for help with a new wardrobe, repressed a smile and told her that she
would gladly help out.
They left work early that day and spent the afternoon
shopping. The first stop they made was the lingerie department to get Sam some
proper under garments. As Laura expected, Sam looked only at the frumpiest
underwear in the store. Knowing what felt good against female skin, she coaxed
Sam over to where the more feminine garments were displayed.
“Do you like these?” Laura asked, showing Sam a dark blue
silk bra and panty set.
She walked over to Laura and inspected what she was holding.
“They feel so soft. Do you think they’d be comfortable?” Sam asked.
Laura smiled. “Yes, Sam, they are very comfortable,” she
replied.
She helped Sam find a set in her size. Laura then sent her
into the dressing room to try them on. When she was finished trying the
underwear on, Sam came out of the dressing room with a big smile on her face.
“How did you like them?” Laura asked.
Sam pulled the collar of her shirt a side enough to show
the bra’s strap. “Yes. They feel very nice.”
“Sam!” Laura whispered. “What are you doing with those
still on? I’m not going to let you steal them!”
Sam gave her a confused look. “Steal them?” she repeated.
“Oh. No I wasn’t going to steal them.” She reassured Laura with a laugh. “I had
some trouble with the bra and asked the attendant for some help. When she was
in the room with me she saw the tighty whities I was wearing and told me that
if I promised to pay for the new set, I could keep them on.”
“Oh.” Laura said. “I’m sorry for …”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sam told her as she headed for the
cash register to pay for the underwear.
Once that was taken care of, Laura tried to guide Sam
through the art of shopping as a woman. She helped her find out what styles Sam
liked, and which looked right on her. Laura tried to show her how to
accessorize with shoes and other such things, doing her best to teach Sam
everything she could about how to dress like a woman. Some of the advice Sam
took. Other things she let go, either because of lack of understanding, or lack
of interest.
The one think Sam absolutely refused to even look at was
makeup. Laura tried her best to explain that it was pretty much expected of a
woman but Sam wouldn’t budge on the subject. “I don’t care what I look like on
the outside, I just can’t wrap myself around the thought of wearing makeup,”
Sam explained.
After four hours of shopping, and more money than either
of them wanted to contemplate, Sam was all done. Her feet hurt and she was
exhausted. Laura drove her back to Sam’s apartment and helped her carry the
bags of clothing inside.
Once inside, Laura looked around the place. She was taken
aback at the way the apartment, which was designed to be convenient for someone
in a wheelchair, was so hard to get comfortable in. All the counters, the sink,
even the dining room table were all so low to the ground they were almost
impossible for a non-handicapped person to use.
Deciding to take a chance Laura said “Sam…I know this has
been your home for a long time…”
“Yes it has,” Sam replied. “What of it?”
“Well…you have to admit that it’s kind of hard to get
around here on your feet.”
Sam looked around and said, “Well, it is a bit hard
sometimes, but I manage.”
“I have an extra room at my place and could use some help
with the rent …so if you were interested …” Laura said.
“You mean you want me to move in with you?”
“Well, not that way. But yes. I’d love to have you as a
roommate. And it would be good for you, too. I could help you get accustomed to
your situation. And if you has questions or needed advice, I’d be right there
for you to ask,” Laura blurted out.
Sam took another look around the apartment. He had to admit
that Laura was right the place was a bit hard to deal with now. But on the
other hand this had been his …err…her home for the last ten years. Ten years he
had spent in a wheel chair. That last thought made the decision for her. While
it had been his home, it wasn’t really hers now. While the thought of living
the rest of her life as a female still didn’t sit well with her, she would
rather have this body than go back to the chair. That would be a death
sentence. For if it did happen she would have to kill herself. “I think I just
may take you up on that offer.”
Once Laura left for the night, Sam looked through the
clothing she’d bought. She’d wound up buying jeans, a few tee shirts, some
dress slacks and some nice blouses to go with them. She now also had shoes that
fit her feet, sneakers mainly. Laura had insisted on Sam purchasing several pairs
of dress shoes and couple of purses to match the dressier outfits she was now
the somewhat proud owner of. The last two things that came out of the bag were
the two dresses that Laura had insisted the Sam buy.
She had tried to protest but it was to no avail. “Every
woman needs to have at least a couple.” She had told him, and would take no
more argument on the matter.
Several days later at the lab Sam came across what she
thought might be a possible explanation for her transformation, and called
Laura over. “I think I may have found something here.”
“What do you have?” Laura asked.
“I did a DNA sequence on the stem cells we used as the
basis of our formula. I found a minute amount of female DNA in it.” Sam
explained.
“But I thought stem cells weren’t supposed to have any
secondary sex chromosomes.” Laura retorted.
“That’s what my experience has always been when using
them. But this one does, for some reason.” Sam replied.
“Where do you think it can from?” Laura asked.
“I don’t know.” Sam thought the options over for a moment.
“I think the first thing we need to do is check one of the vials of formula and
see if we pick up the same traces in it. If we do, then we have a possible
explanation. If we don’t find it there, then our stem cell sample got
contaminated here in the lab somehow.”
“Okay. I’ll test the formula.” Laura volunteered.
They worked diligently for the next few hours testing and
retesting until the conclusion was irrefutable. The serum and the base cells
both had female DNA in them. It wasn’t possible, but there it was. “What do you
want to do now?” Laura asked, looking up from the microscope.
“Two things. First, I want to compare the DNA in the
serum to ours. Just to make sure it wasn’t something we did in this lab.
Secondly, we need to repeat the test on the serum in one of the other labs to
confirm that it wasn’t compromised by anything in here.” Sam told her.
“Which one do you want to do?” Laura asked.
Sam walked over to the refrigerator containing the serum.
“I’ll retest the serum.” She answered as she walked out of the lab.
Sam walked down the hallway and went into what she thought
was a deserted lab. As she strolled in, she heard a woman say, “Can I help
you?”
Sam looked up to see Carla Ryson standing at one of the
work stations. Carla, a tall exotic looking black woman was the head of genetic
research. Her position in the lab was second only to Sam’s. Without even
thinking she said “Oh, Hi, Carla. I didn’t know you were back yet. I was just going
to do some tests on this sample.” She held up the vial for Carla to see.
“Excuse me? Do I know you?” Carla asked.
“Carla! It’s me,…uh,…I mean,…Hi nice to meet you. My name
is Sam …antha. I am doing some research work for Dr. Grayson and Dr. Wayne.”
Sam stuttered as she realized that there was no way Carla was going to
recognize him the way she looked now. Carla seemed edgy, but Sam chalked it up
her new appearance.
“You’re working with Sam and Laura?” she asked. “When did
you start? I don’t remember Sam saying anything about hiring a new girl.” She
looked Sam over. “Where is your ID badge?”
Unable to admit that she knew Carla had been away for
several days, Sam stuttered “I ...uh…haven’t got one yet. I just started last
week.” She hoped Carla would buy her story.
Carla walked over to her and grabbed Sam arm. “Come with me.”
she said as she dragged Sam out into the hallway.
“Let go!” Sam yelled as she pulled her arm free.
Carla gave her a stern look. “Would you please come with
me?” she said condescendingly.
Sam grumbled under her breath and then started to follow
Carla again. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“We are going to go see Dr. Grayson, so he can vouch for
you.” Carla replied.
“But he’s not here today.” Sam hollered to her as Carla
went into the lab where Laura was working.
Surprised by Carla’s sudden entrance, Laura squeaked,
“Carla!” Jeeze you scared the hell out of me. When did you get back?” She saw
Sam standing next to Carla. “Is there something I can help you with?” she
asked.
“Yes there is.” Carla said with an attitude. “Do you know
this woman?”
“Yeah. Sure I do that’s Sam …” Laura stopped herself short
realizing what she was about to say. “Why?” she asked meekly, trying to figure
out how to cover Sam’s butt without screwing up whatever story Sam had already
told Carla.
“Well she burst into the lab I was working in, without an
ID badge. Claiming that she was just hired By Dr. Grayson. Sam never mentioned
hiring a new assistant to me.” Carla said snidely.
Sam looked helplessly at Laura, wishing her transformation
had included telepathy.
“Yeah. Sam and I were working on something that we needed
a number cruncher on, so he hired Samantha last week. Since you were away,
there was no way to tell you.” Laura said, hoping she got the name right.
Carla wrinkled her nose at the sound of Laura using Sam’s
first name and said “Well you need to make sure Miss…?” She looked over at Sam
for a last name.
“Um…Kent.” Sam injected.
“Kent, then. Miss Kent gets a badge today.” Carla
demanded. “By the way where is Dr. Grayson today?”
“He called in sick.” Laura told her. “Now unless you have
some more questions, I need to get back to what I was doing, and Samantha needs
to get going herself.” Laura said dismissivly. To Sam she said “If Carla’s
using lab two, why don’t you try four?”
“Okay.” Sam said as she slipped out the door.
After Sam left Carla said “Dr Wayne, may I remind you that I
am in charge when Dr. Grayson isn’t here? So I would appreciate it if you would
show me at least that much respect in front of the hourly employees. Also,
could you remind Miss Kent that we have a dress code for our employees, and
blue jeans are not part of it.”
With a dismissive waive of her hand Laura said “Sure,
Carla. Anything you want.”
Laura smiled as Carla stormed out of the room in a huff.
The two of them had never gotten along. Laura hated Carla’s snobby attitude,
especially towards the people that worked under her.
Carla, for her part, knew there was nothing she could do
about Laura, because she had been hand picked by Sam as his assistant, and she
hated Laura for that. Laura showed her none of the respect she thought she
deserved, and that bothered her even more. Now, she was outraged because Sam
had hired another one without consulting her.
Sam slipped into lab four, grateful to see it was
deserted. ’That was close.’ She thought to herself. She wondered about
Carla’s behavior. Did she treat everyone the way she had treated Sam? Sam was
going to have to ask Laura about it later.
Then Sam looked at the vial in her hand. With everything
that had just happened, she had almost forgotten what she needed another lab
for in the first place. Deciding to split the sample up and do one test in an
isolated atmosphere she walked over and put the vial into the air lock of the
sealed testing chamber. She opened it up and started the laborious task of
checking it for genetic material.
A couple of hours later Laura came into the lab where Sam
was working. “Any answers yet?”
Sam looked over at the computer monitor. “Nope, nothing
yet.” Turning to look at Laura she said, “I wanted to ask you about Carla. Is
that the way she usually acts around the rest of you here?”
“Yep.” Laura replied.
“Hmm. I’ll have to talk to her about that.” Sam said more
to herself than to Laura.
“Sam.” Laura said putting her hand on Sam’s shoulder “How
are you going to do that? Carla will never buy that you’re really who you are.
We just told her that you were a new employee. Until, if, we can change you
back, she’s essentially your boss. As a matter of fact, she wants you to dress
more appropriately around here from now on. That means no more jeans.”
Sam frowned at her and let out a loud sigh. Laura was
right, and there was nothing that could be done. “Oh well, looks like it’ll be
another trip to the mall this weekend.”
Laura smiled, but before she could say anything, the
monitor came to life and began displaying the results. Reading over Sam’s
shoulder Laura said “Sam, something must have gone wrong. The computer has
doubled up the results.”
As she continued to read Sam replied “I ran the test in
the isolation chamber too. She pointed at the second column to indicate which
one had been done in isolation.”
“Oh. Okay. Good thinking,” She said, ruffling Sam’s hair
with her hand.
As they studied the results a worrisome conclusion began
to appear. The isolated serum showed no contamination, but the one that was
done in the open air did.
“Sam, if these results are correct …” Laura began.
“I know,” Sam replied.
Laura grabbed Sam’s arm “Come here.” She said as she
dragged Sam across the room. She pointed to a machine that looked a lot like a
breathalyzer that the police use. “Breath into the tube,” she ordered.
Sam did as she was told, scared to death of what she
believed the results would be. Laura made a couple of adjustments on the
analyzer and then they both held their breath as they waited for the results.
It took only a minute for the machine to confirm what they
already feared. The retrovirus in Sam’s system was capable of surviving in the
air again.
“Sam. We’ve got to get you into isolation.” Laura said
with a distinct edge of fear in her voice. She started to pull on Sam’s arm
again.
“Laura! Wait a minute. You’ve been with me almost
constantly since my transformation and nothing has happened to you, yet.
Perhaps…”
“SAM!! How can you even think like that? We need to get
you isolated right now! If the tests we run afterward show that you pose no
danger to anyone, then you can get out. But for now …” Laura yelled, nearing
the edge of panic.
Sam looked at her, the fear on her face there for all to
see. “Y…yes…of course you’re right. Isolation is the only way to go.” She took
a deep breath and let it out trying to get a hold of herself.
They hurried down the hallway to the level four
biocontainment labs. The lab was completely self-contained. It had its own air
supply and filters designed to prevent the escape of even the smallest biological
material.
Laura hit the button that activated the labs airlock. The
outer door cycled open and Sam reluctantly stepped inside. Laura pressed the
button again, closing the outer door while opening the inner. Sam then stepped
through that one and closed it from the inside. She then activated the labs
decontamination system which sprayed a fine mist of bleach over everything in
the room between the two doors.
Once that was taken care of, Sam activated the
communications system to the outside. “Laura, you need to get a hold of all the
hospitals in the area. See if there have been any reports of people
transforming like I did.”
“I will, Sam.” She said sullenly.
“You’re going to need to get Carla in the loop on this
too. Tell her the truth. Show her everything you need to. Just get her to
believe!” Sam ordered.
“Is there anything else?” Laura asked.
“Pray.” Sam replied. “Pray that we’re wrong.”
A few hours later Laura returned. She looked as if
someone had shot her dog. They both put the headphone/ microphone set that
allowed private communication from the lab to the observation room.
“What wrong?” Sam asked worriedly.
Laura let out a disgusted sigh. “Carla wouldn’t see me,
and now she’s gone. I tried to call her cell phone, but I got no answer.”
“How did you make out with the hospitals?” Sam inquired
hoping the news would be good.
“I called eight different ones in the area we discussed
and two of them reported having patients with symptoms similar to what you
experienced during the initial stages of your transformation,” she admitted
glumly. “County Memorial wouldn’t give me any specific information on the
patient, other than to confirm that it was a man that was infected. City Hospital
on the other hand, because of your relationship with Director Batson, was much
more cooperative and faxed me over everything they had on the male patient they
had.”
“Only two men? No women? Hmm. Well it’s better than it
might have been. What places have they visited in the last few days? Will they
allow you to let some of our people to look them over?”
“Once again, County wouldn’t give us any information. When
I talked to Director Batson, he said that he was going to call director Prince
over there and see if he could help us get a look. In the meantime, I’m heading
over to City, with Donna Troy, as soon as we’re done here.”
“Well don’t let me hold you up,” Sam urged.
“I have these for you.” Laura said, holding up a folder.
“This is all the information City had on their patient. Look it over and call
my cell phone if you get any ideas.”
“Okay.” Sam said. Laura put the folder in the slide tray
and sent it into Sam. Sam picked it up and started to thumb through it as Laura
headed towards the door. Sam stopped her by yelling into the intercom “Laura!”
She turned back and looked at Sam. “Be careful.” Sam said nervously.
With a wan smile Laura said “I will, Sam, I will.”
After Laura was gone, Sam began looking through the data
from the hospital. She became so involved in reading that she lost track of
time. When the phone in the lab rang, Sam jumped. She walked over and answered
it.
“Sam, it’s Laura.” She heard. “The problem is much worse
than we were led to believe. After calling County, Director Batson made calls
to several other area hospitals. Though his connections we now know that there
are at least fifteen confirmed cases of infected men. No women however, which
may only mean that there is a longer gestation period in females.”
Sam was speechless. ’Fifteen cases? What have I done’”
she thought to herself.
“Sam, are you there?” Laura asked, her voice once again
edged with panic.
“Yes Laura, I’m here.” Sam replied flatly.
“What do you want to do?” Laura asked.
“Are all the cases in isolation?” Sam asked her.
“All the ones here are being moved as we speak, and
Bill,…I mean Director Batson is calling the others and asking them to do the
same.” Laura responded.
“How much have you told him?” Sam asked.
“I told him that we were aware of the problem, and have been
asked to look into finding a cure. I don’t think he really believed me, but he
hasn’t brought it up since. Do you want me to give him everything?” she
asked.
“No. Not yet anyhow. Just get every scrap of information
you can and get back here. Make sure you get blood samples from everyone that’s
been infected. See if you can get samples from any women that came in contact,
too. I don’t like the idea there aren’t infected females. And find out where
all the cases were over the last few days.” Sam ordered.
“Yes Sam.” Laura replied as she finished writing down
everything she needed to do.
“And Laura? … We need this yesterday,” Sam added.
“Okay.” Laura said, hanging up the phone. She looked over
the list. It was going to take a lot more people than just her to get this done
quickly. She picked the phone back and tried to get a hold of Carla again. Once
again she got Carla’s voicemail. “Carla, where the hell are you?” Laura
wondered to herself as she got up to start gathering the information Sam needed.
Sam was scared shitless. She knew this situation could get
beyond their ability to control very quickly, if it hadn’t already. She needed
some answers. She paced around the lab, trying to decide what to do next. The
information Laura was gathering was going to take hours to collect. The more
time that passed, the harder the truth of the situation hit home. It was
becoming hard to not succumb to guilt.
Finally Laura called back. “Sam, I’m going to be sending
you all the records we’ve got from the various hospitals. I’ve got everyone I
could get my hands on doing recent history interviews. You need to go through
all the reports and see if there’s any common denominator.”
“How many cases do you have?” Sam asked.
Laura was silent for a moment. Sam could hear her
counting. It seemed to be taking a lot longer to come to a total than it should
have. “Okay, I got a number. Are you sitting down?” Laura said without so much
of a hint of humor in her voice.
“Laura!” Sam exclaimed impatiently.
Ignoring her Laura continued “We’ve now got thirty
confirmed cases.”
“Wait a minute, did you say thirty?” Sam interrupted.
“Yes Sam … thirty.” Laura snarled. “The more we
investigate, the more cases we find.”
“Oh. Lord …” was all Sam could think to say. After a
moment she asked “Still all male?”
“All male. Or at least that’s how they started out. We’ve
got at least three that are more than half way through their transformations. I
gotta tell you Sam; this is starting to scare the hell out of me.” as she said
it, Laura started to cry.
“Me too,” Sam confessed.