By Oboroten
Late at night, Dr. Foster reviewed his notes on the Collins case in a nearly empty hospital. The whole situation was making him uneasy, especially because no one had ever figured out how the alien agent transformed humans into half-bestial things. To be sure, Jethro had once claimed to understand the metamorphosis, but he’d never published his findings. Now, it seemed to be happening again. Hearing a ring, he picked up his phone, wondering who could be calling so late at night.
"Dr. Foster? This is Officer Freeman from Capital City Police."
"Yes. Is this about the Collins autopsy?"
"No, but it could be related. There’s been a sighting of Howard Hare on the Scanlan estate. He hopped away at high speed, carrying something under his arm. We’re afraid it could be a dangerous chemical."
"So, you want me to accompany you to find out what’s missing?"
"Correct. I’ll have the squad car at the hospital entrance in a few minutes."
Twenty minutes later, Dr. Foster and Officer Freeman arrived at the tree-lined road leading up to the Scanlan house. Entering the main doorway, which was unlocked, they found the place was almost dark, save for a dim light coming from the top of a stairway. Climbing to the top, Dr. Foster saw a figure silhouetted inside a narrow hall.
"This is Officer Freeman, Capital City Police. There’s been a report of a dangerous fugitive on the grounds. It’s reported that he may have stolen something from your, um"
"From our laboratory? Don’t worry. I can assure you that everything is in order here, for I’ve been working on a project for the past hour. Alone."
"Everett Mitchell? Is that you?" asked Dr. Foster, peering into the dark foyer. "The police department is very concerned about recent events, due to certain unpublished details from the Collins case. Could I inspect the area, just to make sure nothing’s gone. Remember what you said about Howard Hare working there a few days ago?"
"Very well. I have nothing to hide."
"In that case, I suppose you won’t mind me looking around," added Officer Freeman. "Also, is it possible for me to see Dr. Scanlan? Isn’t he the one in charge here?"
"Feel free to search the entire house," replied the unseen man in the laboratory. "But Dr. Scanlan is indisposed. In fact, I’m not sure when he’ll be available again. Due to his delicate health, he decided to go away for a while."
"Jethro’s on vacation?" asked Dr. Foster, recalling that the old doctor almost never took time off. "That’s odd. Still, it’s good to hear that he’s finally looking after his own health for a change."
As Officer Freeman walked down the stairs to search the house for any signs of Howard Hare, Dr. Foster walked inside the foyer. Immediately, his nose was assaulted by foul smells coming from a nearby room. Formaldehyde? Some other preservative?
His host, who still hadn’t identified himself, opened the metallic door, making the stench grow even stronger. As Dr. Foster followed him down the next hallway, noxious fumes rose from bins on the surrounding walls. Looking inside, he gasped.
"Brains. Human brains? How did you get so many brains in here?"
"They’re needed for research. A bit messy, but it’s interesting to see how people afflicted by the alien agent are endowed with certain animal behavior patterns."
"But how did you collect them? At the hospital, we need to have authorization from next of kin before securing any organs from cadavers in the morgue. Here, you seem to have dozens. And not just brains! Heart, livers, kidneys . . ."
"All for a good cause, I assure you," replied the researcher, heading toward a more brightly lit room.
"Besides, the former Congressman Collins declared that the discarded people of Beast Town weren’t human. While we didn’t agree with much that he stood for, at least it helped our experiments."
"Our experiments? Who were you working with? Jethro? Isn’t he too ill to work now?"
Ignoring his questions, the shadowy figure kept to the edge of the room. He stopped by a table where a small bottle stood. It contained a green liquid that glowed in the dark, glimmering with an eerie emerald hue.
Dr. Foster stared at it for a second, and then asked, "Is that the chemical I heard about before? Officer Freeman mentioned seeing something like that in Mr. Hare’s apartment, but it was never turned into the evidence room. Perhaps I should go with him tomorrow morning to see if Charlie Coyote took it?"
Uncapping the bottle and dropping a whitish powder inside, the man responded by asking him a question, "Do you have any idea how much this stuff is worth? Some people would kill for it, if they knew what it could do. Would you like to know?"
The instant the crystals dropped into the bottle, it began to bubble and shine even more brightly. Its color also started to change, first turning blue and then purple. Small puffs of vapor erupted out of the top of the vial as it effervesced audibly, a few bubbles of foam popping loudly every second.
"What’s that smell?" asked Dr. Foster, coughing as he inhaled a few of the fumes thrown off by the noisy solution. Before he received a response, the bubbling stopped. The strange chemical now glowed dull red, but at least it didn’t seem to be boiling.
"Ah, that’s a scent marker," answered his mysterious host. "So we can track down what’s ours. In Beast Town, haven’t you heard of how the sleuth hounds can identify certain suspects from a mile away?"
"Yes, that’s because they have certain olfactory skills, acquired due to their canine nature. But you didn’t answer my questions. What’s going on here?"
Staring closely at the bottle, the man slowly responded, "Dogs aren’t the only mammals with an excellent sense of smell. I wanted another choice, but all Howard could find on short notice was a member of the Sus genus. Not what I really wanted, but as we’re running short on the compound, it’ll have to do."
"Sus scrofa? I’ve heard that females of that species are used to search for truffles, but I still don’t understand what you’re talking about," Dr. Foster commented, pausing as he heard some sounds from downstairs. Perhaps Officer Freeman had found something.
His attention was quickly yanked back to his immediate surroundings as the man grabbed the bottle of red fluid and quickly raised it to his lips. Before Dr. Foster could say anything, he gulped it down. All of the red fluid was gone, swallowed in mere seconds.
"I found a wad of rabbit hair downstairs," declared Officer Freeman, standing at the doorway of the laboratory. "Recently left, I reckon."
Dr. Foster barely heeded the policeman’s remarks for he was mesmerized by what was occurring in front of him. The figure staggered forward, dropping the empty bottle onto the table. While his face still wasn’t visible, his neck was now illuminated, revealing dark hairs bursting upwards. Thick, black hairs, like the bristles on the back of a boar.
"Mr. Mitchell, this is highly irregular," advised Dr. Foster, becoming more frightened with each passing moment. "Has this compound been approved for human use?"
"Nothing for you to seeee," squealed the transforming man, as his ears began to elongate. After making some grunting sounds deep in his throat, he slowly turned toward Dr. Foster. Terrified, the physician backed up against the wall, raising his arms in front of his face to ward away the approaching half-human monstrosity.
"I’m coming in here to investigate," stated Officer Freeman, wondering if Howard Hare had any accomplices loose in the Scanlan estate. "What’s that smell? This place must be in violation of several city codes."
"Don’t come in!" warned Dr. Foster, looking straight ahead at a horrific image. The face on the approaching thing at first appeared largely human. Then it started to blur, as the features seemed to melt and blend together. With every passing moment, the awful visage grew darker, as thick hairs sprouted all over it. But there was some white also, two ivory-pale and sharp points protruding further and further out from the black mass.
"What the hell is that!" yelled Officer Freeman, moving slowly forward in the darkened hallway. "It’s got ears like a damn pig."
"Pig! How dare you call me a pig!" said the beast-thing, now finished with his transformation. "Pigs are domesticated, inbred slaves of man, worthless degraded things which deserve to be eaten. You must respect the might of the boar."
"Watch out!" screamed Dr. Foster, seeing the monster pushing tattered leather remnants of shoes off its cloven hooves. "He’s about to charge!"
As Officer Freeman reached down for his gun, the boar-man rushed forward, slamming him across the chest. Tilting his head down, he drove his tusks down into Freeman’s legs, violently shoving them against a table. As the policeman moaned, he was struck again, the force of the impact throwing him up into the air.
Dr. Foster hid in the corner, hoping he would not be gored. What could he possibly do to defend himself against a bipedal pig-creature? But, to his relief, he could hear sirens outside. Evidently Officer Freeman had called for assistance after finding the rabbit fur.
Grunting wildly, the boar-man tossed Freeman’s body aside and ran down the stairs. Dr. Foster followed slowly, wondering how he could explain this. Bits of tattered clothing could be seen at the top of the stairwell, some torn off of Officer Freeman’s uniform, and others discarded by his porcine foe in his haste to flee. Looking down, to his relief, Dr. Foster saw that Officer Freeman was still breathing.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Border Street, two ferocious beast-men were talking to Howard Hare in a dingy alley. While hyena and tiger-morphs usually had no respect for herbivores, they’d all heard about how this rabbit had killed a prominent human and gotten away with it. No carnivore gang had ever achieved such a feat.
For the past day, Howard had openly advertised his shocking deed to the predatory thugs. After all, he believed in emulation, letting it be known that there would be plenty of chances to win rewards by following his example. If a mere herbivore could throw human society into a panic, couldn’t the carnivores lead a revolution?
"So, who are we waitin’ for?" asked the tiger-man, feeling impatient.
"I can’t be seen near Border Street," replied Howard, "At least not yet, until we seize control of the city. There are too many many armed humans there!"
"I sure wanna get back at that coyote," snarled the hyena-man. "He snitched on my last deal to the cops. That shipment was worth thirty thousand credits."
"You’ve gotta wait for Boss Boar," added Howard, "Go outside of Charlie Coyote’s place and wait for the pig-man there. He’s gonna make sure the stuff’s still in the apartment."
An hour later, the two carnivores were still waiting impatiently outside the door. Inside, Charlie had an unpleasant dream, thinking about what Officer Freeman would do to him if he ever found out that he’d stolen that bottle. No, he hadn’t stolen it, Charlie thought feverishly, he’d really intended to return it.
"That’s a lie! You’ll be punished," said a black hooded figure. "Punished severely!"He felt himself being stretched out on a rack, nails pinned down by screws. Some sort of medieval torture device, he guessed? It was pulling at him, tearing at his innards.
Knock! Knock! The pounding was getting louder. Was it from his heart? The pain was so intense, for his arms felt like there were on fire, being twisted this way and that.
Knock! Again, he heard a rapping sound. No, this wasn’t a dream. The ghastly images stopped as he started to wake. The sound was coming from his door.
"So, is the stuff in there? What’s it supposed to smell like, Boss?"
"Just a minute, ‘cause I gotta make sure. It’s worth millions."
"I ain’t gonna stay here all night. The cops got my stripes on file from my last arrest. If they see me near Border Street . . ."
"Yeah, it’s definitely here. But I smell something else too."
Now quite awake, Charlie listened carefully to this conversation. One of the voices he recognized as Sid Hyena, a local trafficker for a canine gang. He could see the door by the moonlight, but it somehow looked different than it had earlier in the evening. Was he drunk? He just didn’t feel right.
"Enough," yelled the tiger-morph, as he kicked open the door. As he struggled to break the wood fragments off his arm, Charlie gasped as he saw the bright orange and black stripes. The vivid orange color was startling, something he hadn’t seen in years.
"Wait! Just a moment," snorted the boar-man outside. "That place reeks of human! We can’t go in there."
Continuing to smash down the door, the tiger-morph growled in reply, "Yeah, there’s a stupid kid in there. He’s no more than five foot six. Looks like a human teenager."
"No human brat’s gonna stop us when we got a job to do," snarled Sid Hyena. "I bet he’s a damn narc left by that lousy coyote. Who cares! No scrawny human can stand up to us. Let’s go clobber him."