Lab Rats, Chapter 1
My stories are copyrighted, so NO takee!
Lab Rats, Chapter 1
By William W. Kelso
I had always wanted to go to Med school, but as usual the lack of money was the main problem. My grades weren't quite good enough and I wasn't a minority, so I couldn't get a scholarship, my folks were poor, I was poor, and that was about it. And the fact is you just can't work full time AND go to Med school, there's just no way unless you're a genius and can get by with one hour of a sleep a day. And even working full time; with overtime, at a good job it still wouldn't have paid enough. And forget the military and the GI Bill, not my thing; I'd have made a lousy soldier. But in a way I ended up in the 'medical profession' in more ways than one.
The first was when I got a job; a rather well paying one, with a company that was one of the support services for doctors and hospitals, they specialized in medical waste disposal. You know; old syringes, pill bottles, bandages, etc. Gross and nasty kinds of stuff; and also very dangerous as I would find out personally. I just didn't take all the 'sanitary' cautions, and procedures, as seriously as I should have. My grand sounding title was 'medical sanitary technician', which was ego talk for 'medical garbage collector'. It would supposedly make you feel better to call you that, but I got news for them, it doesn't work.
I had a daily route during which I filled up the back of a large van with boxes and other containers of medical waste. The company had contracts with everything from big metro hospitals to little research clinics and private practices. My job was simple and easy, I picked the stuff up, dropped it off at the destruction facility, and went home. I don't know what they did with it, burned it, I guess. It was a good, solid, well paying, incredibly boring job. It was kind of a pain sometimes as you had to wear a special 'bio-mask', rubber gloves, and a kind of two piece smock & pants outfit all the time. At the end of the day you turned in your 'sanitary garments', and the next day were given a new set before you headed out. It wasn't so bad in the winter, but in the summer it could get really hot. As it would turn out the special clothes didn't do me any good in the end.
One of my last stops was a small clinic in a rather run down part of the old business district with the sign "GENE-TECH" out front, and that was it. For all I knew it was a black market abortion clinic, or a crack lab. I never saw the inside of the place as the sealed boxes of medical waste were always waiting at the delivery door in the rear. I knocked, a dude in a similar sanitary outfit opened the door, I signed for however many boxes they had that day, he helped me load them, and I was off. It was the last pickup of the day, and I was always in a hurry go get out of the SciFi suit, get cleaned up, and go home in time to catch my favorite show while I ate dinner. The boxes were either heavy plastic ones sealed with tape, or sometimes small Styrofoam ones. That day it was four big plastic boxes, and one of the small Styrofoam ones. I signed for them, we loaded them, and I went on my way. It was hot, I was sweating, and when I reached up to wipe my forehead I never saw the jerk who pulled out in front of me until the last second.
I slammed on the brakes, the load shifted, and I heard several boxes fall over, and I missed the creep by about two feet. He never even saw me; he was talking on a cell phone. With a curse I pulled over, and jumping out opened the vans sliding side door, and a couple of boxes fell out. One was the smaller Styrofoam one from my last stop, and it had been crushed between two larger boxes and had split wide open, and there were syringes and Petri dishes and stuff all over the damn place. Aw, God Damn IT! I thought, if something like this happened I was supposed to fill out an 'accident' report and call a 'clean-up' crew, but so far I hadn't had any 'accidents'. But I knew it would probably take hours, and there was the second half of an episode of 'Warehouse 13' that I wanted to watch that night, and it started in an hour! So I decided to clean up the mess myself. I mean, I was a 'technician', right? Biggest mistake I ever made.
It might have been OK if it had been cooler, but it was warm and humid, and I was sweating even more from being royally pissed off, and the sweat was getting in my eyes and making them burn, plus it was getting dark. So I bent over; with only the dome light inside the van to see by, and started picking up the syringes and other junk and putting them back in the box, which was still useable. I was wearing the sanitary outfit of course; which included these stupid baggy slipper things that went over my tennis shoes, and I stepped on a Petri dish, the damn thing broke, and slivers of glass went right through the thin slipper, the rubber soles of my shoes, and into the ball of my foot. It hurt like an SOB, and I hopped around screeching and cussing for a minute or two, then sat down and tried to pull the pieces of glass out of my foot. Easier said than done wearing rubber gloves, they were slick and it was hard to hold onto the glass. One bigger piece was stuck really good, and I tried to pull it out a few times; it hurt the worst, and finally, frustrated, I grabbed it very tightly and yanked it out, and it cut my fingers, went right through the thin rubber glove! I gave another screech, SHIT!!
This was NOT going as I had planned! I wasn't supposed to actually touch any of the waste, just the sealed containers, so my sanitary outfit was NOT designed for actually handling any of the stuff, which was why I was supposed to call a properly equipped clean-up crew. But, oh no, not mister dumbass, I had to go and mess with it myself. There was a reason you called a clean-up crew! I knew I'd fucked up big time, but I decided not to report my 'accident' as I didn't want to get fired from the best job I'd ever had. When I got the job I'd been inoculated against every kind of disease you could think of, most of which I'd never heard of. Different kinds of Hepatitis, tetanus, venereal diseases, and all sorts of stuff, and I got booster shots regularly. They gave me a little book like a passport to keep a record of all my shots, and it was almost filled up. It was part of the required health and safety precautions, so I figured I was OK. They were just little cuts, and when I got home I'd douse them in iodine and put Neosporin all over them for a few days; that stuff is great. I had a roll of special sealing tape I was supposed to use if I thought a box wasn't sealed well enough, so I resealed the small box and it looked fine as I covered up the split in the side. It looked good, no harm done, so no one had to know. Dumbass, if I'd reported my 'accident' right away things might have made thing turn out differently; or maybe not. Now I'll never know.
The next day when I woke my foot and hand itched a little bit, and were slightly swollen round the cuts, but they weren't infected looking or anything, and it didn't hurt that much. I treated them with some more Neosporin, put new band-aids on them, and then headed off for work. No one said anything; and it appeared I'd gotten away with my 'breach of safely protocols". By lunch I felt a little feverish and wobbly, but after I ate I felt better, and finished work on time and headed home, and boy was I glad it was Friday. I had to work sometimes on weekends as the hospital's never close, but had this one off. I took it easy, ate dinner, and went to bed after a nice, long, hot shower. I felt pretty good overall, if a little queasy.
In the morning when I got up I scratched at my hand, and when I looked at it almost choked. It was swollen, and my fingers were all knotted and twisted looking like I had arthritis or something, and it was tender. It didn't really hurt except for a dull ache in my bones, and to my dismay my foot was the same. Oh shit, I thought, they're infected!!
I got dressed, except for one shoe as my foot was too swollen to fit, so I slipped a sock over it as that was better than leaving it exposed. Then I went over to the nearest Minor Emergency Clinic. I told the doctor who saw me; after an hour long wait in a room full of squealing babies and sick people, that I'd cut my hand and foot on some glass. Which was true, kind of, but I didn't tell him where the glass came from. He hemmed and hawed, 'uh-hmm'd, and then gave me a big shot of penicillin, a bottle of pills, and told me to come back Monday if they didn't look any better. I went back to my apartment hopefully thinking I'd be alright, I'd seen a 'doctor', hadn't I? I mean, he gave me a shot, shots cure anything. So I was pretty confident I'd be OK.
My foot and hand actually felt better by that evening; and the swelling was down, so I went to bed feeling greatly relieved. Everything was OK! Wrong. When I got up the next day I stretched and scratched at my chest, then yelped as my fingernails actually left nasty bleeding scratches across one breast. Owww, sunofa...! Then I froze as I looked at the hand that had done the damage, but it wasn't a hand anymore, not really, it looked more like a PAW! It was pink colored, and the fingers had nasty sharp claws on them, were covered in fine white fur, and had pads on their bottoms, as did the palm!! I sat back down in the bed and stared in confused disbelief. I reached up; with my normal hand, and wiped some blood of my chest, and as I did I noticed my chest was covered with a downy fuzz of white fur, and in fact my whole body appeared to be! I moaned when I saw my foot, or more correctly, another paw. The toes were much longer, the claws long and sharp looking, and my ankle was bent a little wrong now. When I stood up I found it easier to balance that leg more on the ball of my deformed foot. My ankle bent up and back, and it was a little awkward to walk as it made me a little lopsided.
Now I was no doctor; no matter how bad I wanted to be, but even I knew something was seriously wrong. I was definitely infected, but with what?? What kind of virus or bacteria gave you animal like appendages and FUR?? I knew I had to find help, but also knew the Minor Emergency Clinic would be a waste of time. I flexed my new fingers, the claws clicking, and whimpered. What had I done to myself? It had to be that medical waste from the GenTech lab; that was the only explanation! I had to go there, tell; and show them, what had happened! But it was Sunday, wouldn't they be closed!? But I couldn't wait, I had a feeling time was very important. I tried to look up their number in the phone book, and called information, but nothing! Well, I knew where the place was of course, so I got dressed and ran out to my old Subaru. I didn't put a shoe on my 'paw', no way it would fit. But I pulled a long crew sock over it; no WAY was I going to let anyone see THAT thing! I even tried to put a glove on my 'paw', but none would fit. The fingers were too long, and the claws tore them up, so if I ran into anyone I'd stick it in a pocket. As I walked down the stairs from my apartment I felt my claws clicking on the steps, and saw they'd poked holes in the sock. Great, just great!
I pulled into the small parking lot in back of the GenTech building, and ran to the back door and started beating on it. Please, I thought, please let someone be here! After awhile I was about to give up, but looking at my deformed hand I kept banging. Finally the speaker next to the door crackled into life, and a woman's voice said, "We're closed, no deliveries until Monday!"
"NO, wait!! I said, pushing the 'talk' button. I work for Triple AAA disposal services, I...we picked up some medical waste here the other day, and there's been an, an accident! We didn't have a number to call; so I need to talk to someone!! It's an emergency!"
"What?? The voice said, oh my! Hold on a second, I'll be right there!"
As I heard the bolts in the door being thrown I stuck my 'paw' in my pocket, and smiled when a middle aged woman in a lab smock opened the door, a younger man in a matching smock hovering behind her.
"What happened??" She asked in concern. The guy with her said, "He doesn't look like an executive type, and he's only got one shoe on for Christ's sake Angie, maybe he's one of those animal rights nuts, or a bum looking for a handout!"
The woman looked uncertain, and started to shut the door again, but I stuck my 'paw' in it, and said, "No, wait, please! I'm the pick-up driver, the accident happened to me! Please, I got infected by something I picked up!!"
"Infected?? The woman said, by what?"
"By THIS!" I said, and showed her my paw-hand.
"Holy Shit!" The man said, the woman just stared at my deformed hand, eyes goggling.
"Please, I said, my foot's the same way! Please help me!"
"I...I, we, come in, the woman stammered, you'd better come in!"
The man took off down the hall as I entered. The woman seemed unsure of what to do, but I followed her as she walked down the hall. I could see the usual spick and span 'sanitized' looking rooms through open doors, with white walls and tiled floors, banks and shelves of medical machines and other equipment everywhere. I was impressed; the lab was well equipped for a place that looked like a dump. I felt my hopes go up, oh yeah, this looks good, I'd come to the right place.
"Please, um, wait here for a moment Mr., er...?" The woman said.
"Sorry, I replied, just call me Jeff." I sat down in a chair in what looked like an examination room, looking around nervously, caressing my furry hand with my normal one, and looked down at the claws sticking through my sock. The woman saw it too and sucked in a breath.
"Wait here Jeff, I'll be right back! She said, I need to get a few things."
So I sat and waited, scratching at my chest, but not with my paw. I felt another itch on the top of my butt crack, and making sure she wasn't coming back I gave myself a good scratch, and frowned. There was big bump at the base of my spine, and it didn't feel like a pimple or boil or anything, but it itched like crazy.
"Tim, what are you doing, I need your help, or at least your support!!" The woman hissed at the young man, looking back down the hall.
"Calm down Angie, Tim replied, hanging up a phone. I did what we're supposed to in case of an 'accident', and called that emergency number at the main office."
"Oh, damn it, Tim! Angie said, you don't know how those higher ups are! They'll freak out, be all worried about law suits and stuff, and make life Hell for us for the next few weeks! Remember that time the centrifuge malfunctioned and some serums got splattered all over the place?? They fucked with us for a whole year!! And then no one was hurt! This time we'll be lucky to keep our jobs, even though it wasn't our fault!"
"Oh yeah, right, Tim mused. But I felt we'd better; I mean, did you use that poor schmucks hand?? It looks like it belongs on a werewolf, for God's sake!"
"One of his feet is the same way, Angie said, it had...claws."
"What the Hell did he get infected with anyway?? Tim asked, I thought we eradiated any old or out of date stuff before we get rid of it."
"We do, we nuke everything, but something must have survived! As to what I have NO idea, we just store and/or incubate the cultures they send us. But I've never seen anything like THAT before!"
"Yeah, Tim said, OH SHIT! What if it's contagious??" He stared at her in growing fear; her own face equally worried. Then they both jumped when the phone rang. Tim grabbed the phone and picked it up before it could ring again.
"Hello??" Tim asked nervously. Then he nodded, "Yes sir, no, no sir. Not at the lab. What? It was an accident; he drives a pickup van that hauls off the old cultures and other waste. What? No, not really. The weird thing is he's not really sick, as in with a fever and all that, he's just...deformed. " Tim held the phone away from his ear for a second and rolled his eyes at Angie. "No sir, not like leprosy or anything, I've only seen his hand, and well, it's got claws and is covered in fur. Uh-huh, NO, I'm NOT making this up! You'll what...? OK, we'll be waiting. Uh sir, is this thing, you know, contagious? No? Only by direct injection?? Oh, thank GOD. Yes sir, we won't tell anybody else what happened. What IS it, sir? Sir?? Hello...hello?? Hello?" Tim put the phone down, and said "The jerk hung up on me!"
"What did he say??" Angie asked.
"He said he's sending some people over who will take care of everything, and to make sure the, um, infected individual doesn't go anywhere. And it's not contagious; it can only be 'caught' by direct injection or through open wounds."
Angie visibly relaxed, "Well that's good news! What is it anyway? What could cause those kind of physical changes?"
"He didn't say, Tim replied, he hung up when I asked. Maybe you'd better go and check on him, they don't want him to leave, said it was really important to keep him here."
"Who's 'they', Angie said, are they going to help him? The poor guy looks like he's terrified."
"No shit, I would be too, Tim said. As to who 'they' are I have no idea, but they're definitely our bosses. And I'm sure they'll help him, probably take him to the main research lab where this stuff we work with comes from. I'm sure they have an antidote, and can fix him right up. I think they're e more worried about being sued than anything else. Can you blame them?"
"No, not really, Angie said. Nowadays if you stub your toe you can sue somebody and win millions, so no telling what he could get if he sues the company. Of course he DID screw up; he was supposed to know how to handle that stuff. Well, I'm going to go check on him; you stay here in case Mr. Mysterious calls back."
I waited patiently, and shivered a little, it was cold in here. But I was having little hot flashes too, and every time I did the itching would get worse for awhile, and I could swear the fur was getting thicker. Leaning over I pulled up my pants legs and moaned, the fur on my lower leg WAS noticeably thicker than it had been a few hours ago, and it was hard to see my skin. What IS wrong with me!? I looked up suddenly to see the woman standing in the doorway looking at me, and quickly rolled my pants leg down.
"Um, she said; we called the main office, and they're sending someone to, um, examine you and see what they can do. I'm sure everything will be OK. We're not set up to do anything here, I'm not a doctor, just a technician, and so is Tim. Would you like a coke, or coffee, or something?"
"Yeah, I said, a coke would be great. I'm pretty thirsty." And I felt like shit too, my head was pounding like a trip-hammer. When she bought me the ice cold coke I sucked it down like I was in the Sahara desert, and it felt like the Nectar of the Gods to my dry scratchy throat. "Oh man, that was great, thanks."
"Sure, no problem, Angie said. You want another one; that one kind of went fast."
I grinned, "Sorry, I was REALLY thirsty, but some cold water would be fantastic."
"Sure, be right back, she said, I'll get some ice too."
"Bless you" I replied, my mouth watering at the thought of cold water. Man was I thirsty! And that damn itching!! I thought as I scratched at my leg.
As Angie headed for the break room to get Jeff some water she heard a loud knock on the back door, so went to answer it. When she opened it a man in a plain black business suit, wearing dark glasses, was waiting. He said,
"Where is the subject?"
"Subject?? Angie replied, oh, you mean the sick man? Third door down on the right."
Then she stood aside as the man brushed past her, followed by another man and then two more pushing a gurney. She was surprised to see a black hearse parked in the parking lot. What in the Hell?
As I heard footsteps in the hallway, I looked up as two men came into the room, which startled me a little as I was expecting the woman to return with my water. I stood up nervously, and asked,
"Are you the doctor?"
"Hold him", the first man said, and the other grabbed me by the arms, and soon had me in an arm lock, and the second man took out a case and removed a syringe. I was a pretty good sized man, and was in good shape, but that guy held me easily.
"HEY! I yelled, what the fuck!? "
"Hold still." The first man said as he stuck the needle in my arm.
"NO!! Wait, don't! I won't...I...ummm...mmm" I gasped as I slumped in the man's arms, and the lights went out.
"Why the Hell did you do that!?! Angie said from the doorway, he wasn't resisting or anything! He's just sick!"
"He might have gotten violent at any time, the man said; it's one of the effects of what he has. Safer this way, for him and us. He'll be nice and cooperative now."
Angie watched as the men lifted the sick man onto the gurney and strapped the him down securely. It seemed a little...harsh.
"What are you going to do with him?" She asked. He'd seemed like a nice guy, and she didn't care for the way he was being treated at all. She had a dislike for bullies, and the guy in charge reminded her of one.
"Take him where he can be cared for, the man said, don't worry yourself about it. You did good to call the main office; your cooperation and loyalty will be well rewarded."
Angie watched as they loaded the unconscious man into the back of the ugly hearse; why a hearse and not an ambulance, she wondered?, and drove away.
"Wow, said Tim, I thought the Men in Black were just a legend."
"You watch too much SciFi, Angie snorted, that was just some company goon. They didn't have to treat the poor guy like that."
"Whatever, Tim said, as least he'd not our problem anymore. We'd better get back to work, we're way behind."
"Yeah, I guess." Angie said.
I woke up with a snort, and kept my eyes closed at first. My head was pounding and I felt like total crap. Plus there was an intensely bright light; I could see it even through my eyelids. I tried to move, but my arms and legs were secured and all I could do was squirm a little bit. What the fucking hell? So I opened my eyes, and immediately wished I hadn't. I closed them again and turned my head, owwww, that bright light was brutally painful! Slowly I opened them again, then shut them, then opened them, until slowly my eyes adjusted to where I could at least look around, though I had to squint.
I figured out several things really quick. I was naked, I was strapped down on an examination table, heavy leather cuffs around my ankles and wrists; they even had ones across my stomach and chest, it was cold, and there was one of those doctors examining lights about two feet from my faces shining right in it. I squinted at it, it was making my eyes water, and, damn it made my head hurt!
"Heyyyy!! I yelled, what's going on!??" I heard footsteps, but was unable to turn my head enough to see who was there.
"Ah, I see our specimen is awake, a deep voice said; let's take another look, shall we."
I watched as a face wearing a surgeons mask and head net hovered into view, then two more.
"Hey, I said, are you the doctors? Can you help me; can you fix this...this thing? And do you mind, the light?? It's kind of bright."
"Oh yes, we're doctors, and we'll help you, the same voice said, my apologies for the light." And he lifted it so it was farther away, and aimed more towards my lower body. I heard him mutter, "Make a note, eyes light sensitive."
"Thanks doc, I said, that was making my head pound."
"My pleasure, the voice said, now we need to give you an exam, see what's going on."
"Um, the straps, I said, really not necessary."
"Sorry, insurance requirement. The voice said, and some of the...procedures might be a little uncomfortable, and we don't want you making any sudden moves."
"Well, OK, I guess." I replied.
"Good boy, the voice said; now we're going to be poking and prodding a bit, so don't be alarmed."
"Yes sir." I said.
So I lay there, and they definitely 'poked and prodded' me a bit, and I didn't care for it much at all as they got rather intimate a few times, but I endured it. I listened as they examined me, and while I didn't understand everything they said it was obvious they were pretty excited.
"Amazing, one voice said, according to the MRI even the bone structure is changing!! We need those biopsies back as soon as possible! This is a major breakthrough, we need to determine which viral culture he was exposed too, it must have mutated before it was scheduled to be destroyed!"
Then one of the men started to attach some wires to my crotch and balls with sticky pads, and I yelped, "Hey, what are you doing, those are cold, leave my balls alone!" Then he looped a band around the base of my cock, and I yelled, "Leave me alone you pervert!"
As he plugged the other ends of the wires into a machine, he said, "Sorry, we need some semen samples."
"Say WHAT!" I squealed, then I gave a loud grunt as my cock and balls suddenly began to tingle, and I felt myself getting an erection! "HEY, I grunted, STOP THAT!"
But he didn't, and my genitals began to throb, and I was so hard now it hurt. He held a large glass vial over the end of my penis; which was oozing pre, pressed a button, and with a shrill scream of painful pleasure I ejaculated. "UGGHHH, OH GOD, UGGHH!" He pressed the button again, "URRAAGGHHH, UH-UH, STOP IT, PLEASE!" I moaned, but he just pressed it again, my balls straining and my cock pulsing in agonizing ecstasy. "URRHHH, UH-UHHH, GRUNT!!" was all I could manage, spittle flying from my mouth as cum blasted into the vial.
"Good, the man said, we have enough." Then he removed the leads while I drooled and whimpered, my aching cock instantly going flaccid as soon as the horrible stimulation stopped. Jesus, what have I gotten myself into?? I thought, that was...was obscene! Then I just lay there quietly for awhile, eyes wide with growing...fear as I listened to them and they performed other tests. At least they left my dick alone after that horrible indignity; and my balls were sore.
"Have we determined the new genus yet? Another voice said, from the appearance it appears to be from the family muridae."
"Hmmm, changes are limited primarily to one arm and leg so far, the first voice said again, as well as the epidermal fur growth, and the tail."
"TAIL?" I moaned.
"According to the speci..., er, patient, the initial infection occurred approx three days ago, the rate of transmogrification is amazing. At this rate it will be finished in another week, maybe less."
Transwhatafication, WHAT in a week?? I thought, what the HELL are they talking about??
"Hey look, doc, docs, I asked, you can fix this right? You have an antidote for this thing, don't you? I'm feeling really...weird. Can I have some water?"
"Of course, Dr. Willis, hand me the water bottle. Thank you." Then a gloved hand held a water bottle with a straw for me, and I nearly drained it.
"Thanks, that was good." I said, licking my lips. Then I added, "Um, I need to, you know, go."
"Sorry, you can't leave, you're too sick." One of the voices said.
Another chuckled, and said, "I think he means he needs to go to the bathroom."
"Yeah, I said, I really need to pee, bad."
That got chuckles all around. "Well, I guess we're through for now, and nature calls." The first voice said. "We'll have him taken to his ca...room for now. We need to wait for the results of those tests anyway."
"Um, you can fix this, right??" I asked worriedly.
The man with the deep voice patted my shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, everything is fine, we'll take good care of you."
"Thanks doc", I said, feeling a little better despite the rather disturbing 'exam', he had one of those deep confident sounding voices. A couple of men undid my restraints, helped me onto a gurney, and wheeled it out of the exam room then down a hallway. They put me in what looked like a fairly regular hospital room, helped me get on the bed; I felt weak and shaky, one said, "Bathroom is over there", and then they left. Still naked, I got up and hobbled over to the bathroom, my infected leg just wouldn't bend right and it made walking awkward and kind of lopsided, and I made use of the facilities. Man, did I need to go!! I held my sore dick with my normal hand though, and tried to ignore my 'paw'. I could tell the 'fur' was thicker on my body though, especially my 'infected' arm and leg. I sat down to take a dump, and yelped as something poked me, and reaching behind me found the bump on my back was now several inches long!! I have a tail, I thought, Jesus! I couldn't see it, but I could feel the short stubby thing, and it twitched when I touched it.
Shaken, I returned to the main room, and looked around. Bed, stand with pitcher of what I guess was water, a couple of chairs, and that was it. There wasn't even a TV! And in one corner a surveillance camera surveyed the room, little red light blinking.
"Um, hello?? I said, waving at the camera, could I get some clothes, please??"
I tried the door, and it was locked; somehow I had known it would be. So I hopped in the bed and pulled up the covers. It was chilly, and they felt good, plus they covered up my...deformities. Guess I wasn't getting any PJ's either.
"Well, Dr. Sebastian said, according to the biopsies the strain of mutagen virus infecting the specimen is from the genus 'Rattus', to be more specific, species norvegicus', in short, a Brown Rat."
"A lab rat." Dr. Willis murmured.
"Exactly, Dr. Sebastian said, and as far as we can determine the culture came from Batch 79-C, Strain 42. Initial tests seemed to indicate it was failure, but evidently it mutated at some point after testing was concluded and it was scheduled to be destroyed. This is unfortunate, we can duplicate the culture, but we're not sure what caused it to mutate, but hopefully the samples from the subject will be of some help if the virus will remain viable outside of a host. It could any of a number of factors, or a combination. We may never be able to duplicate it exactly, which is what makes our, uh, 'volunteer' much more important. Hopefully we can isolate the strain from his blood once it reaches full saturation, and the change has run its course."
"What about the patient, Dr. Spencer said; surely we'll do all we can to find an antidote for him? I mean, we can't just let him turn into an animal if we can stop it, a rat, for God's sake."
"I doubt we could in time, Dr. Sebastian said, and even if we did the physical modifications are permanent. Besides, his contributions to our research will be very important and of immeasurable value. This is the chance of a lifetime, and we already have a 'volunteer'."
"You mean, as in money?" Dr. Spencer said, with some distaste.
"Well, yes. He'll save us decades of research, and experimenting on lab rats and other animals. So far the change is fairly benign and painless, if it runs to its conclusion without any permanent trauma, well, the applications are endless."
"But what about him? Dr. Spencer said, what about the mental trauma, and will his mind be destroyed? Will he have the mind, as well as the body, of a rat? In essence the part that of his mind that makes him human may 'die'."
"It is unfortunate, yes, Dr. Sebastian said, and I'm sure he will suffer some, but we will make him as comfortable as possible. It's a moot point anyway, there is no way we can stop the process before its completion, and you know that. It would take months of research to come up with a possible vaccine, and once the change is over its irreversible anyway. It was a foregone conclusion the second he infected himself, so it's his fault, not ours. We will merely benefit from it, and in the long run so will the human race. And of course we'll take care of him and make him as comfortable as possible, he'll want for nothing."
"How convenient." Dr. Spencer muttered.
"Yes, it IS, Dr. Sebastian retorted, and we would be fools to let this opportunity go to waste. What else could we do, anyway? Put him on display as a freak of nature? Besides, from what we've found out, he's nobody. No family left, single, he doesn't even seem to have a steady girlfriend or any real friends. He won't be missed.
"I'll bet he doesn't think he's a nobody", Dr. Spencer said.
"Well, he's definitely somebody now, a very important somebody, Dr. Sebastian said, as both man AND rat, and he'll go down in scientific and medical history as the biggest breakthrough since penicillin. But for now I propose we keep this quiet, keep the knowledge of this development limited to the persons present at this table and a few research staff. Then once we've had time for additional research we can break the news to the scientific community, and then the world. Gentlemen and ladies, we will all be famous. Do you concur?" He smiled when everybody, including the much too emotional Dr. Spencer, all nodded without hesitation.
"Let me OUT!! Eeeekk!!" I screamed, as I clawed at the door, my sharp claws; on both 'paws' leaving deep scratches in the hard wood. I'd been here three days, and despite numerous shots; and more poking and prodding including the daily 'rape', nothing was working, it was getting worse. My other hand and foot had followed my others, my fingers and toes cramping and growing sharp claws, my skin turning pink and furry, and my jaws were starting to hurt, and my tail was several feet long now, the horrible thing touching the floor. "Why aren't you helping meee!?! Eeeeek! Let me out!!" I sobbed, finally slumping against the door. "Please, eeekkK! It hurts!!"
After a few minutes I got up and staggered to the bathroom, my claws clicking on the floor. I turned on the sink to get a drink; the water pitcher had been taken away after I threw it a doctor, and tried not to look in the mirror. I knew what I'd see, a too large wet rubbery nose, comically large ears, and worst of all, fur on my face. Thin now, but getting thicker. I took a good long drink, and staggered back to the bed, and curling under the covers I tucked my now much longer tail between my legs, I could control its movement some now. Why aren't they helping me?? I thought, they promised! My whole body ached, the worst being in my joints. Every now and then I felt a bone or something else shift and/or pop, and would give a soft squeal of pain. Please help me, I thought, make it stop!
"Hmm, the doctor said, watching the 'specimen' on the surveillance tape. I'd say it's time to increase the security; he's getting more and more...disturbed. Have him transferred to one the large animal holding pens tomorrow."
"What about facilities, they're just large cages, they don't have any toilets and only have a trough for water." Another doctor said.
"That will be sufficient from now on, I think, the doctor said, give him a mattress and some blankets, oh, and make sure the straw is kept fresh."
"Yes doctor." An assistant said.
As they helped me out of the bed I clung to the man's arm, and begged,
"Please, I have to get out of here, ee-eeek, find some help!! They aren't doing anything for me!! Please, it hurts, I don't, eeeekkk, want to be like this!! I'm...it's getting worse, please, squeeaakk! Please, please, ee-eeek, help me!"
"It's OK, the man said, we're taking you somewhere else we're you'll be more, um, comfortable."
"Thank you, I said, eek, eek, thank you!!"
I looked around uncertainly as we entered a corridor with a painted concrete floor, I could smell chemicals, and a barnyard smell. My nose was incredibly sensitive now. As the men 'helped' me along I'd felt hope at first as this was an area I hadn't been in before, surely they would help me now?? They had to help me along as my legs had been cramping painfully and it was hard to walk. But now I was getting nervous and worried as we passed what could only be large cages with bars on the front. When we stopped in front of one of the cages I started struggling as one of the men unlocked the door, but I was too weak and unsteady to do much, my deformed legs making me unsteady and wobbly. I sagged in growing fear, and they dragged me inside.
"NO, NOO, E-eeekk, please! I squealed as they forced me through the door, I'm not an animal!! Please don't! Eeeek!"
They dropped me on a bare mattress, and as they left one threw me some blankets, and said, "You'll be better off here, now calm down."
I got up and gripped the bars, and squealed, tears running down my bulging distorted face. "Pleasssee, don't leave me here!! E-EEEKKK!!! I'm a MAN, not an ANIMAL!! E-EEEKK!! Oh God, pleasssee-kkkk!! Don't leave me like THIS!! Eeeeek!"
"Has he seen himself lately, one man said as they walked away, he looks like an animal to me!"
I sagged against the bars, Oh God, noooooo!! "Pleeaassee, Eee-eeeek."
The next several days were ones of growing horror as the changes progressed steadily. I was terrified to go to sleep, knowing when I woke up I'd be even less human. The fur thickened and spread, soft and white, my tail pushed out to where it was as long as my body, scaly and pink colored. The worse though was my face as it continued to push out into a well developed muzzle, my mouth filled with nasty little fangs and large chiseled front teeth. My ears got bigger, cupped and pink with a thin velvety coat of fur, and my eyes moved back and to the sides of my head, and my vision changed. It got poorer, and colors started to look washed out, but I could see better in the dark though, and my hearing and sense of taste became incredible.
I cried when I saw what was happening to me sexually, my balls growing and becoming larger oblong shapes in a tight leathery scrotum that moved back between my legs and partially onto the base of my tail, a thick sheath forming as my penis retracted into it, and my penis turned dark red and slick, the tip pointed, the shaft fluted and strangely shaped, and it was WRONG, so horribly WRONG!! And I begin to get erections constantly, my penis sliding out of its sheath, and it felt semi-hard all the time; and it was as a strange; but not unpleasant, feeling to feel it still partially erect even when it was inside me. My posture shifted as my spine changed, my hind legs thickening and becoming more muscular, hips swelling, my arms becoming legs as well as I was forced forward and became a quadruped. I can still sit up and shuffle around on my hind legs, but it's much easier, and more 'natural' to go on all fours. I can get a better look at stuff, and pick up more smells that way too. And I would find my attention span drifting if I tried to concentrate on anything for very long, and I was terrified I'd have the mind of an animal too.
But the ultimate horror was I knew what I was becoming, and I had known it for quite some time. When it ended I was a rat, a huge white rat, there was nothing human left, nothing. My eyes were the last to change, slowly becoming the large eyes of a rat. Except for my mind, my human memories and awareness remained intact, thank God. I was still ME, but I also had the instincts and needs of my new body. I was an animal now, an intelligent animal, but still an animal. And after the fifth day I couldn't talk anymore, though I tried to desperately for a few more days, listening to my squeaks and squeals in horror, before finally giving up in resignation. I was a rat, rats can't talk. At least my front paws were still fairly dexterous, I could still pick up and handle things easily. Sure beat hooves! And it was obvious nothing would be done for me, except to let the horrible changes continue.
And that was days ago, maybe weeks, it's hard to tell time here. I'm fed, my cage is cleaned, and I'm taken for tests and exams almost every day. Needles are stuck in me, fluids taken out or pumped in, tissue samples taken, they look in my eyes, attach wires to my body and skull attached to machines, and I'm helpless to do anything but cooperate. But the worst are the almost daily milkings for my semen, my rigid aching cock pumping and pumping as I fill large vials, bucking and squeaking from the horrible pleasure. What they do with it I have no idea. Non-cooperation results in being darted, and then they do what they want anyway. After being darted a couple of times I decided to cooperate.
They treat me pretty much like any other lab rat, only a big one. And it's hard and degrading to be treated like an animal when your brain is still human, or at least your intelligence is, but since I can't talk I can't tell them that. If only they'd treat me as an intelligent being, instead of a stupid rat!! They do run some intelligence tests, but they're a joke. The 'maze' is the stupidest. They actually stick me in one end, and put a big chunk of cheese in the other! Are they kidding?? They seem to have assumed I'm not much smarter than a 'normal' rat for some reason, so I played along. It might work to my advantage. I was determined to get out of this horrible place one way or another, to find help. I didn't want to stay like this! Surely there was a way to change me back, to give me back my humanity! So I acted just like what I looked like, a big, dumb, happy, rat. Give me a piece of cheese and I was happier then Hell. Motherfuckers.
"Well, Dr. Sebastian, Dr. Willis said, how it our prize specimen doing?"
"Oh, he's quite at home, Dr. Sebastian replied. He seems to have settled down nicely, though we had some behavior problems at first. He was fairly violent for awhile, but we attribute that to mental trauma as his brain changed during the last stages. He seems to be content now, and is quite cooperative. The staff have grown quite fond of him, and he's getting fat from all the treats they keep giving him. The MRI's and other scans show he's 100% physically a rat now, including his brain structure. The brain wave printouts are a little different from a normal rats, but not unusually so. The intelligence tests have been a big disappointment though, and we doubt much human level intelligence remains, if any. It's unfortunate, but I doubt he even has any memories of having ever been anything else; his simpler brain is incapable of handling human level thought processes, he's just a very large rat now. There are a few other differences from a normal rat; his heart rate is slower for one, but we attribute that to being due to his size. There are also some interesting adaptations to his bone structure and musculature in relation to his size, he's immensely strong. And his sperm count is incredibly high, he's extremely virile. There is still much more research to be done of course."
"Poor bastard, Dr. Willis said, but that's probably for the better, I doubt a human mind could survive in a rat's body anyway, at least not without going insane. At least he'll make a huge contribution to the world. The tests on his tissue samples and blood have produced incredible results, his antibodies are incredibly effective; they attack and destroy ANY viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens to which they're exposed. Even AIDS, Bubonic plague, Ebola, and the Hantavirus! He simply can't get sick, the minute the antibodies encounter a foreign body they swarm and destroy it in seconds. Simple amazing! Of course on the downside that means any attempt to return him to human form would fail, the antibodies would destroy the new virus."
"Well, that's not a consideration anyway, I doubt his mind, or what's left of it, would survive another change anyway. He could end up as a man with a rats brain, so he's better off like he is", Dr. Sebastian said.
"The main reason I wanted to see you though, Dr, Willis said, is we heard from Dr. Strangelove today (their codename for their special 'operative'), we may have a bit of a problem."
"Oh??" Dr. Sebastian said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, it appears one of the research personnel at the cultures lab has been making something of a fuss. She's threatening to go to the authorities unless we let her see the, um, specimen. She's very adamant. She won't take our word for it that he's, er, just fine."
"I thought we paid them off??" Dr. Sebastian frowned.
"Oh, we did, or so we thought, Dr. Willis replied. The young man is a player, his promotion and transfer to a much more prestigious facility has been beneficial to both himself and the company. He's quite a bright fellow, and we're seriously considering him for senior management. The woman, on the other hand; despite a generous raise and offer of transfer to another lab of her choice, has been less then cooperative. She seems to be a good person, but in this case that is not...desirable. There was some questioning concerning the man's disappearance from the authorities; but of course we denied having any knowledge of him even existing, but we're afraid she may get in contact with the police. She's convinced there has been foul play; that we have 'done away' with him to prevent being sued. She refuses to listen to reason."
"Well then, Dr. Sebastian said, give Dr. Strangelove a call, and tell him to bring her in to meet our prize specimen. That should take care of any potential...problems."
The man frowned as he listened on the phone, "I understand Dr. Willis, but you need to realize I will have nothing to do with...terminating a problem, I don't go that far. I do have some ethics you know. Yes sir. Very well, if you just want me to 'collect her' without leaving any traces as to her destination, that I can do. When? Immediately? Very well, but it may take a couple of days; these things must be handled...delicately. A rush job is not recommended. Yes sir, as soon as possible. Good bye doctor." What an asshole, the man thought, as he hung up. But the pay was outstanding.
I hated this part of the tests they routinely ran on me; they did it about once a week, sometimes more often. I was strapped to an examination table on my back, legs secured, muzzle on, and they wired some probes to my balls and thighs. Then they pressed a few buttons, there was a pleasant tingle, my weird penis slid out of its sheath, they slid a tube over it, another stronger tingle, and I ejaculated, my body arching as I squealed in pleasure. It didn't hurt really; it actually felt pretty good as I'm sexually frustrated as I always seem to be horny, it was the degradation that made it so horrible, that I was being milked like any other animal they needed a sample of cum from. And they did it three or four times in a row, leaving me sexually exhausted for awhile. I hated it, damn then, I WASN'T an animal no matter what I looked like!! I wonder how they'd feel if it was done to them.
"YOU LET ME GO, YOU SONS-OF-BITCHES!!" Angie shouted angrily, as the two men frog marched her into an office, forcibly seated her in a chair, strapped her arms down, and left. She stared around, fuming in anger, and fear. The two creeps had just grabbed her in the parking garage of her apartment, threw her in a van, and taken to wherever the Hell she was now. They hadn't said one word the whole time, their eyes unreadable behind their dark glasses. She'd recognized one of them, the same man who'd helped take away that poor sick man a few months ago. At first she'd tried to forget about it, but it had started eating at her. Something wasn't right. She called the company Jeff had worked for, but all they'd said was he hadn't shown up for work, and had just disappeared. She'd tried to get Tim to go with her to the authorities, but the little geek was too involved with his new status to do anything other than brush her off. Of course he'd reported her to his superiors, not that she was aware of that betrayal of her trust.
Angie looked up as a well dressed man entered the office; gave her a smile that made her shiver, and then sat down at the desk.
"This is kidnapping, you know." Angie said.
"Quite right my dear, but then since there are no witnesses it will be reported more as a...disappearance. You've caused quite a bit of trouble for yourself, you know."
"Who the HELL are you, you...you ASShole!?" Angie blurted, pulling at the straps on her arms.
"Now, now, the man said, you're hardly in a position to be asking questions, and I would advise you keep a civil tongue in your head, Miss Thompson."
"OK, you know who I am, Angie said, what do you want?"
"Well, Miss Thompson, the man said. You've been bothering people about a certain missing Jeffrey Jones, and I figured it was about time you found out what has, er, happened to him."
"You mean the missing driver from the waste disposal company? You had me kidnapped because of THAT??"
"Yes, the man replied, you see, we just can't allow any scrutiny of the company's activities right now. The unfortunate man's 'accident' has proven to be a tremendous boon to science. However he has...suffered rather severe consequences."
"Oh my God, he didn't die, did he? The poor man!" Angie said.
"No, not exactly, Dr. Sebastian replied, but he did suffer some rather pronounced, um, effects from the virus he was exposed to."
"What do meant 'not exactly', Angie said, he's OK, isn't he?"
"Oh yes, he's fine, and quite happy, Dr. Sebastian said with a smile, but I doubt you're recognize him, no one would, not even his mother."
"What does THAT mean?? What's wrong with him??" Angie said.
"I think its best I show you, Dr. Sebastian said, that will answer all your questions. But first, I have a little chore to perform."
Angie watched as the man opened a drawer, and taking out a pair of surgical gloves he put them on. Next he took out a case, and removed a syringe and vial of colorless fluid, then carefully filled the large syringe. Then he got up and walked around the desk towards her.
"Oh NO, you stay the Hell away from me with that!" Angie squealed.
She kicked and writhed, but was helpless as the man gave her injections in both of her arms, then another in her neck.
"You bastard!" Angie squealed as the needles pricked her skin and she felt a momentary chill as the contents were injected into her veins. "What WAS that!!?? Oh God, it wasn't poison, was it?"
"No, I assure you it wasn't poison, Dr. Sebastian said, and I'll explain everything shortly."
He walked to the door, and opening it said something she couldn't hear, and the two men who'd brought her to the office came back inside, undid the straps, and holding her arms followed the man as he walked down the hall.
"It's really quite amazing my dear, Dr. Sebastian said, for years we have been experimenting on all manner of gene splicing and similar research, with some amazing results, but nothing like this, and as a result of a simple accident of all things. One of our areas is the production of artificial viruses, hopefully to be used as a kind of super bug killer, a cure-all for any viral or other infections. One shot to cure all the known diseases, think of it. We also hope it can be used to repair genetic damage, cure hereditary deformities. Of course we have limited our research subjects to rats and other animals per Federal regulations, but the side effects of one particular strain that appears to have mutated is rather amazing. That is why it's kind of ironic as to what happened as we're still limiting our research to mainly lab rats."
Angie listened to the man rambling on as they entered a new area of the large building they were in. She heard most of what he said, but what the Hell was he talking about?? And what were in those shots!? She was more worried about that. Suddenly they came to a stop in front of a large cage.
"Well, the man said, what do you think?"
Angie looked at him in confusion, about what?? Then she noticed a pile of what looked like straw and shredded cloth stir in one corner of the cage, and a large furry head with big front teeth and eyes poked out from under the pile, whiskers quivering. It was a rat, but it was huge!!
"Oh my God, Angie said, you've discovered some sort of super grown formula, but why a giant rat??"
"You still don't understand, do you? Dr. Sebastian said, it's not a super-grow formula, it's a virus that can transform one life form into another. Say hello to Jeff."
"Oh sweet Jesus! Angie said, you can't be serious!?! How...how could you let this happen! It's, it's..."
"Amazing?" Dr. Sebastian finished.
"NO, it's horrible! Monstrous! WRONG! Oh my God, the poor man! How could you turn a human into an animal, a...a RAT, for God's sake!?" Angie said.
"Well, we didn't, not really. Dr. Sebastian said, he infected himself, and there was nothing we could do in time to help him, and the process is irreversible."
"Can't you help him, change him back?" Angie asked, staring in horror at the huge rodent, it had come to the bars of its cage and was looking intently at them, large gentle eyes glistening wetly, nose quivering.
"Unfortunately no, Dr. Sebastian said, as I said it's irreversible, any new virus we injected him with would be destroyed by his antibodies. That's what's truly amazing; they destroy anything, no matter how deadly. He can't get sick, or ill. He's a super rat. And it appears the change is total, both physically and mentally, I'm afraid he's not much smarter than a normal rat. We doubt he even has any human memories left, poor fellow."
"It's horrible, Angie said, you've got to tell the authorities, there must be SOME way! For God's sake, he's still human! You...you can't leave him like...that!"
"That's the problem my dear, the man said, any such publicity would destroy the company. Just the religious implications are staggering, not to mention the ethical and legal ones. The average dolt would have no concept of the potential benefits our friend here could provide mankind. The research might be delayed, even banned entirely by the superstitious and ignorant in power. No, this must remain a secret for now, and since we know you can't be counted on; you're the weak link so to speak, we voted to take certain...measures to prevent any premature revelations. Put her in here."
"Wha...?" Angie said as one of the men opened the door to the cage across the corridor from the giant rat's cage, and the other man pushed her in, and then locked the door.
You see, my dear, Dr. Sebastian said, we decided it was best if you were to disappear. But don't worry; we're not murderer's, and you won't be harmed. In fact you get to aid in our research, be a most important part of it."
"What do you mean, Angie said, you let me go! I promise I won't say anything!"
"Sorry my dear, Dr. Sebastian said, it's much too late for that, even if we believed you. You see, I injected you with a refined and 'improved' strain of the same virus that infected our friend over there. We finally managed to reproduce it, and needed to give it another test. It will take effect much more quickly than the original strain since you've received such a large dose to start with. So you could say you 'volunteered' in a way without even knowing it. You see, we need a mate for Jeff, to see if he can breed true. If he; and you, can, then the benefits will be unbelievable, we'll have an unending supply of giant lab rats to use in our research. We'll wait for awhile before 'introducing' you to your...mate though. Good bye, my dear. Enjoy your new life."
Angie stood still, uncomprehending at first, as the men started to walk away. Virus, mate, BREED?? Then as it hit her she sagged against the bars, oh GOD no!
"PLEASE!! Angie screamed, I won't tell anyone!! I swear, let me out, PLEASE!! I'll do anything you want!! Don't do this, please!! It's...its murder!!"
I had woken up when I heard approaching footsteps, and thought it was time for my feeding. So I didn't get up right away, I was snuggled up nice and warm in the nest I'd made for myself by shredding the mattress they gave me and piling up the pieces with straw, then burrowing under it. They'd replaced the first couple of mattress's I'd torn up, but gave up after awhile. But when I heard the doctors voice; AND a female one, I stuck my head out and looked around curiously, flaring my nostrils to pick up any interesting scents. I recognized the woman right away; she was the nice lady from the other lab. She'd given me a drink when I was thirsty. I got up and moved to the bars, and sat and watched as they talked, the woman staring at me with a look of what I thought was horror, revulsion, and pity. It didn't bother me that much, not anymore, I was used to it, to being stared at. I was very interested in her, I had seen only one other; much older, woman since my change had ended, and she smelled...nice. At first I didn't pay much attention to what they were saying, but towards the end I heard what the doctor said. Oh my God, I thought, how could they!? Wasn't one freak like me enough!?! And I did it to myself; I admitted that, but they were doing it to her intentionally! It was SO wrong! How could they knowingly change someone into an animal?? A giant freak of a rat, like me. Bastards.
"COME BACK, DAMN YOU!!" Angie screamed, "PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO ME!!! YOU CAN'T! FOR GOD's SAKE, COME BACK!! PLEASE!!"
Angie finally stopped yelling, the corridor empty and quiet now. She rattled the bars and examined her 'cage'. There was a mattress in one corner, a stack of sheets and blankets, a bucket (empty) and a kind of trough or sink with water constantly running in it. And toilet paper; a more careful inspection revealed, and that was it. She sat down on the mattress after awhile, and started sobbing, rubbing at the needle marks on her arms and neck; they were slightly swollen and itched. Oh God, oh God! This can't be happening, she thought.
I watched her for awhile, nose quivering as I took in her scent. She smelled so much better than the smelly men did. Humans stank! I wanted to do something to help her, but couldn't. I couldn't even talk to her. I went over to the leftover food from my previous feeding, and taking a large red ripe apple I'd been saving for later I went back to the bars, and sticking my front leg out I rolled the apple across the corridor and into her cage, then squeaked softly.
Angie raised her tear stained face as something rolled into the cage, and to her surprise she saw it was an apple. She looked up as the giant rat squeaked, and he was pointing at the apple.
"I...I, well, thank you." She sniffed, I...I...thank you."
I just squeaked again, and nodded my head. We looked at one another for awhile, and then I went back to my nest and burrowed into it again. I was sleepy.
What was that all about? Angie thought, I thought they said he wasn't intelligent? I've never seen a rat give someone an apple though. That was...kind of him. Then she pulled a blanket around her, and finally fell asleep propped up in the corner, holding the apple in one hand.
I watched the other cage, but the woman was hiding under a pile of blankets and sheets. It had been three days, and I could see; and smell, the changes she was undergoing. She was crying a lot, which made me anxious and worried. I knew what she was going through, and I'd been alone too, locked in a room while they recorded the horror I'd gone through. To change from human to animal; to feel yourself becoming something else, was a horrible thing, especially if you were alone. The only attention she got was when they came to feed us, or take one of us away for more of their damn tests. They took her away a lot more often though, and she was often crying and begging with they brought her back, at least until she couldn't talk anymore. I kept up my 'act' of being a stupid rat, and even made sure my scores on the stupid 'intelligence' tests weren't very good. I got a kick out of watching them nod their heads and take notes like they knew what they were doing. But I watched everything very carefully, nothing got past my notice.
Angie sobbed quietly, curled up on the mattress in her cage. The last time they'd brought her back from being tested; or rather being experimented on, they hadn't given her any of her clothes back. Why bother, she had fur now. Fur. She couldn't stand to look at herself, the black, grey and white fur spotting her body, the horrible pink paws with claws, and the...short stubby tail that got longer every day. She'd given up on begging and pleading, they just ignored her, or if she got too 'annoying' they just stuck a gag in her mouth. And the things they did to her, horrible degrading things. In one 'test' they actually stuck things in her pussy to see how it was changing, including making her orgasm again and again. It was horrible, degrading. And there were so many needles and other painful procedures, all in the name of 'science' of course. One thing that helped was Jeff, the other 'rat', across the corridor in his own cage. She could smell him now much more clearly; pick out his scent from the myriad of other ones she could now smell. She could sense his concern, his own sadness about what was happening to her, and she found that comforting, that at least someone cared. He would just sit and watch her; big eyes shining, and she had a feeling he was much more aware as to what was going on around him then they thought. She tried talking to him a few times, and he would tilt his head and look at her, and she could swear he understood her. But after the gift of the apple he didn't do anything else to indicate he was anything other than an oversized rodent.
"Well, it's certainly going well, Dr. Sebastian said. Her transformation is happening much faster, and more evenly. Another two, maybe three, days and it will be finished. She's been rather agitated, but that's to be expected. I think it might be a good time to put her in with the male; his presence should help calm her down some, especially when her mind starts to degrade during the last stage. Schedule her to be put in his cage after the next round of tests. Oh, and give her an injection to induce estrus, it will help save time. Do you concur?" The rest of the doctors all nodded their heads.
Angie writhed on the exam table as a probe was inserted into her vagina, which was no longer quite human in appearance, or location. The probe had wires attached to it, and was shaped like a smooth metal dildo. It was horrible and degrading, and she knew what was coming. She squealed as the 'probe' began to vibrate and tingle, her responses to the stimulation being recorded by the leads attached to her labial lips, clitoris, and other parts of her sex and body, they even had leads attached to her nipples, all eight of them. She bucked and squealed louder as the pleasure increased, then moaned as she orgasmed. She couldn't prevent it, but the horrible unwanted pleasure made her feel sick and violated. This was SO wrong, she was HUMAN, damn them!! Or she had been human at one time, but that was debatable now. She raised her head and looked at her naked splayed body and whimpered, the fur and tail were bad enough, but the rows of teats on her lower stomach were the worst. She still had her human breasts for now, but they were getting smaller, and she had six rows of double nipples in addition to them now. Then she squealed as the stimulation started again, and was brought to orgasm three more times before the 'test' was ended, squeaking in relief as the 'probe' was pulled from her wet swollen sensitive sex. Damn them.
She had a hard time standing upright as they took her back to her cage, her legs had begun to reconfigure themselves, but she doggedly fought to remain standing, she knew going on all fours would be giving in. When they reached the cages she was surprised when one of the men 'escorting' her opened the door to the other cage instead of hers, then she was pushed into it. Into Jeff's cage, the male rat. She could smell him, and the pile of debris stirred as he stuck his head out to see what all the noise was about, and she froze when she saw him, and he saw her. And she was very aware of her own scent of sexual arousal, as unwanted as it was, her sex tender and swollen. She turned and clutched at the bars, squeaking in panic as she could no longer talk. No, please, she thought!! Get me out of here!! She could smell the male's own sexual arousal, and hear him moving around behind her. Nooo, please!!! She squeaked and squealed frantically, but the men were gone. Turning, she ran to a corner of the cage, and crouched, terrified.
I heard my cage door open, which surprised me as I'd already been fed just a few minutes ago, and stuck my head up to look around, and watched in amazement as the female was put into the cage with me! As soon as she saw me she turned around and grabbed the bars, and started squealing in panic. I flared my nostrils and could smell her sexual arousal, and I knew she'd been mating, but there was no scent of a male so I knew it had been forced, just like they did with me. I wanted her; God how I wanted her, my need to mate was almost unbearable, her scent intoxicating in a way I can't describe. But I wouldn't force her, I was better than that, better than they were! I knew she had been human once like me; and she still had recognizably human features, even though she was something else now, a merging of two entirely different species.
I'd accepted I wasn't human anymore, but I certainly wasn't a dumb animal either. As much as I wanted to go to her, to answer that call, I knew that would be the worst thing I could do, she would be panicked by any attempt at physical contact. I may be an animal now, but I wasn't a rapist, I wouldn't inflict that additional horror on her. So I stayed where I was, and just looked at her, aching just to touch her, needing her so very badly. I thought she was beautiful, her fur was lovely, and she smelled so nice, so alluring. But I fought down that intense urge to go to her, to respond to her sexual signal, and it was one of the hardest things I'd ever done, as a man or a rat. I refused to rape her for them.
Angie crouched and covered herself as best she could, tail tucked over her sex, and kept her eyes fixed on the male. But other then watch her, nose quivering, he didn't move. She could smell his arousal, and was a little surprised at his lack of response, and maybe; she realized, just a little...disappointed? But NO, she was human, damn them, NOT an animal, and she would NOT mate with an animal, like an animal, no matter what she looked like! If he tried to take her she would fight him as best she was able. She no longer found him quite so...repulsive anymore though, and knew her perspectives had been changing. He was quite handsome really, his pink tinted eyes were pretty, and she could tell he was clean and healthy just from his scent, his fur sleek and well groomed. She had expected her sexual arousal to fade quickly after the horrible 'tests', but to her surprise it was; if anything, increasing.
That shot they gave me at the end, she thought; and suddenly she understood, damn them! They put me in here so we would mate, like animals!! And when I'm still part human, the sick fucks! And she knew if he wanted her he could take her, that she wouldn't be able to fight him off forever, and she knew he was aroused. But he didn't force her, and she was incredibly grateful. And that made her find him even more attractive, both from a human viewpoint, and her bestial one. Several hours went by and neither of them moved, but when he suddenly got up she froze, then relaxed as he went to the water trough and got a drink, then returned to his corner.
"Well, this is disappointing, Dr. Sebastian said as they watched the monitor. Are you SURE you gave her the estrus inducer injection?"
"Yes, doctor, the assistant replied, I did it personally."
"Well, I guess it must be slow to kick in for some reason, Dr. Sebastian said, they should have been fucking their brains out by now. Oh well, I have better things to do. If there are any developments let me know."
"Yes, doctor", the assistant said as Dr. Sebastian left. What an arrogant prick, he thought.
I didn't know how much longer I could resist my urge to go to her and respond to her sexual signals, which were getting stronger. But I could tell that while her body might be receptive, she wasn't. I could tell she was confused, scared, and was fighting to keep control. So I fought down my aching need, and waited. If anything was going to happen I knew I'd have to let her make the first move, or she'd never entirely accept me if I took her by force. She'd never forgive that. But it was hard, so hard. She was so beautiful, and God, how I needed her! So I waited...hoping.
Finally Angie couldn't stand it any longer, her sex was becoming even more swollen and sensitive as her estrus increased, and just the feeling of it rubbing against the straw covered floor, or even her own tail and thighs, was increasingly pleasurable. And as the shot continued to take effect her heat grew and grew, it wasn't quite the full blown heat of a female animal, but it was still intense; she'd never felt such lust, and the smell of the male's arousal made it worse, it was...exiting her. She rocked back and forth, huddled in a tight ball, squeaking softly with her eyes closed as her estrus steadily increased by the hour, fighting to beat down the horrible growing need. She fought that need as long as she could; body trembling, but finally gave in and accepted the inevitable. She fell forward onto all fours and went to him, still trying to resist, but it was useless. She needed what he could give her, and approached him slowly, part of her still terrified, trembling in fear and need...and hope.
I got up when she started slowly approaching me, her scent and body language letting me know she was still hesitant, and scared. Damn it, I wish I could talk, tell her that I understood, ask her to forgive me. I think I missed that the most, the lack of intelligible speech made me an animal more than anything else. I met her part way, and we paused to sniff one another. Her eyes were still human; a pretty green color, but her body was largely changed now. She was more slender then I was as her lower body hadn't bulked out fully yet, and to my delight she still had her human breasts which; in addition to her teats, I thought were quite attractive; and the coating of downy fur covering them just made it better. I sniffed her muzzle and nibbled at it a little; and she froze, trembling a little bit, eyes closed, and then slowly I moved to her ears, nibbling gently, licking her, and her breathing quickened. The scent of her heat was intense, and even though I knew she was still scared I couldn't stop, not now. I moved down her side, rubbing her soft fur with my front paws, chittering softly to help calm her, and when I reached her hindquarters I gently rubbed the base of her tail, excited and horribly aroused, my penis erect and rampant. Oh, how I needed this!! The forced milking had blunted my sexual needs, but not satisfied them, and her scent, her sweet spicy musky scent! I buried my nose in her soft warm fur as I rubbed her tail, my sensitive nostril drinking in that wonderful fragrance.
Angie remained frozen as the male sniffed and gently nibbled on her muzzle and ears, and it felt nice, almost erotic, and she shuddered a little, trembling as he moved down her side, caressing her gently, and gave a soft squeak as he started rubbing her tail. No, she thought, I shouldn't be doing this!! I'm NOT an animal!! They'll win if I let myself be taken like this, if I give in!! Part of her wanted to flee, to resist, but his scent, his touch, and she trembled in anticipation of what she knew was coming, terrified, yet needing it so badly at the same time. She hadn't had much experience with sex before, and certainly not anything remotely like this! She shuddered again as he kept gently rubbed her tail, and then with a soft squeal she crouched and raised her tail, bracing herself. Oh God, no! But his caress... his scent...I...I!
When she raised her tail and presented herself I wasted no time in positioning myself, which was slightly awkward as she wasn't quite...right, yet. But it was only a very minor delay, and I soon had the angle right. I paused; her body trembling, then mounted her as gently as I could considering my intense lust. I felt the pointed tip of my penis find; and penetrate, her hot wet sex, and gripping her in front of her hind legs I lunged into her several times until I hilted, and with a squeal of pleasure began to fuck her with a fast steady rhythm. I'd never felt anything so wonderful before as her slick tight sex swallowed my aching erection to the top of my sheath with every desperate thrust. I threw my head back, squeaking in ecstasy as I coupled with her.
Angie closed her eyes and tried not to think about what was about to happen as she felt the male's weight settled onto her back, and then she gasped as she felt him slide into her needy quivering sex. He was huge!! She grunted as he lunged into her, deeper and deeper with each thrust, then began fucking her with fast powerful strokes. It felt a little...wrong somehow, but it also felt incredibly good, and she was soon giving soft squeals and squeaks of pleasure as they mated, clawing at the straw in reaction to the extreme stimulation to her aching sex. She cried as they coupled, it felt so good, but it was wrong too! So horribly wrong! She wasn't an animal! Oh God...
As I moved inside of her I grunted and squealed from the incredible pleasure, but then became aware she was upset even though the was making her own sounds of pleasure, I could smell her sadness and dismay in addition to her pleasure. I slowed down as much as I could, and gently nuzzled the back of her head and neck, burying my nose in her soft warm fur, squeaking softly, my front paws sliding under her body to caress her still human breasts. I tried to make love to her as at least partially a man, instead of just a rutting animal. So I held myself back, but it was hard, so very hard.
Angie moaned in pleasure as the male slowed down his thrusts, becoming gentler, and gave a soft squeal as she felt his paws find, and then rub her breasts and rigid sensitive nipples, and his warm breath on the back of her neck felt wonderful. He's trying to make love to me like a man, she realized, instead of just an animal! He's worried about hurting me! I was right, he IS intelligent. She turned her head and looked at him over her shoulder, and he leaned forward and nuzzled her muzzle gently, making quiet squeaking sounds, almost like he was trying to talk, his eyes staring into hers intently. He IS more than just an animal, she realized, and nuzzled him back. She felt the rest of her inhibitions and reluctance fading, and gave herself to him and the pleasure he was giving her, and it became so much better. As he slowly sped up again she gave a squeal of genuine pleasure, it felt so wonderful, her fears vanishing in a haze of sexual ecstasy, turning to wonder and joy as the pleasure grew and grew, each strong stroke causing another wave of pleasure to radiate out from her quivering sex.
She knows, I thought!! She knows I'm not just a dumb animal! I nuzzled her again gently, nibbling at her ear, and sped up my thrusts again. I had reached the point of no return, and desperately needed to reach my release as I begin fucking her faster and faster. Rearing up I grasped her in front of her hind legs again, and as I orgasmed gave a loud squeal of ecstasy as my cock throbbed and hot cum poured into her in amazingly powerful spurts, my eyes shut in bliss as I shuddered from the incredible release, and as she bucked underneath I felt a flow of hot fluids wash over my cock, and that made me cum again and I almost passed out from the sexual euphoria, my whole body shuddering.
Angie squealed as the male reared back and grabbed her hind legs again, than began thrusting rapidly, and he gave a loud guttural squeal as his hot cum flooded her sex and womb, and she felt her own orgasm explode. She had never felt such incredibly intense sexual pleasure before, and convulsed and arched to take him in as deep as possible as he poured his seed into her, and as her sex clenched and exploded in her own orgasm she felt him cum again, their shrieks of pleasure loud in her ears.
And that was just the start; we mated frequently after that first time, driven to it by 'natural' needs, but just as much by mutual desire. We averaged three orgasms each per coupling, coming more often than a human would have, coupling more often, but for shorter periods. I knew that was much more then a 'normal' rat, but maybe it was our size, or just our love for one another, for our mate? Even after her estrus faded we still mated, that human desire remained. And perhaps being what we were now we needed that mutual pleasure more often, drowning our mutual despair in sexual ecstasy.
I watched sadly as the rest of her humanity faded over the next couple of days, her human breasts shrinking and moving further down her belly; which I could tell bothered her more than anything else, her body thickening and becoming four legged as her arms finished becoming legs, her hips spreading and rising, body thickening, shoulders and hips shifting and realigning. The anguish and dismay in her human eyes as they changed to the large black & brown eyes of a rat tore at my heart, but they were so beautiful, though I did miss the green. But at least she wasn't alone as we were mates now, but also lovers in every sense of the word, and I was there for her, holding her when she cried as I gently stroked her fur. And I loved her with all my heart, both as man and animal. She was my whole world now, nothing else mattered.
And I knew within a day or two that our couplings had been successful, that she was pregnant. She of course knew it too, and I'm sure her feelings were as mixed as mine. Part of me was proud and glad, but I was also worried. Would the pups be nothing but animals, little more than oversized rats, or would they have any true intelligence?? Also, what would the 'doctors' do to them?? I had no doubt that all kinds of 'experiments' would be performed on them, and that thought terrified, and infuriated, me.
A week after she had been introduced into my cage our routine was fairly well settled. Her change was over after the third day, so to all appearances she was nothing more than a rat as well, mentally as well as physically, and I wanted to keep it that way. We'd been left alone so far, for our 'honeymoon' I guess, everything being recorded by the camera in the corner of the ceiling. Bastards, we had no privacy at all, we were just animals, right? So why should we care if they recorded us 'mating'? Bastards, the sick fucks probably got off on watching two 'animals' mate. The only real 'privacy' was when we slept, burrowed into our 'nest'. We felt better that way; it was instinctual to build a place to sleep like that, and we had a really nice big pile of soft shredded mattresses and fresh straw, and I could tell she was pleased with it, by rat standards it was luxurious. Despite our overall fairly poor eyesight we could see pretty good in the dark, so I cleared a kind of 'cave', and taking pieces of straw and scraps of cloth, I spelled out a message for her. She watched intently, nose quivering. I kept it simple; trying any really long messages was hard. My first one was very simple,
"I Jeff, you Annie. We not anmuls."
She looked at what I had 'wrote', and reaching down rearranged the letters a little bit.
"I Angie."
I squeaked in delight, and 'wrote'.
"Sorry, fourget. Not let asshuls know we not stuped, be bad they know."
She squeaked in amusement, the wrote,
"Yes, not let asshuls know."
I nodded, good, she understood. Then I wrote.
"I luv you, you butiful."
She didn't write an answer, but gently nibbled my ears like we both liked, which led to the usual result. We groomed and nibbled one another for awhile in what passed as foreplay for us now, and then I moved behind her and started rubbing her tail, and man, what a turn on that is for both of us! I pushed her tail aside when she was ready for me, and as I serviced her I rested my head on her furry back, eyes closed in happy contented bliss. She loved me too, how wonderful! She wasn't in heat anymore, so our mating was more leisurely, with less frenzied desperation, and we had numerous small orgasms leading up to big ones. She felt 'normal' now, and I shuddered in ecstasy as my rampant erection slid in and out of the hot wet embrace of her sex, her vaginal muscles caressing and clenching in a way I can't describe. It was the best sex I'd ever had, bar none. It was fairly quick by human standards, but the sheer intensity made up for it, plus we were capable of coupling a lot more often than if we'd still been human. We were pretty much insatiable, which was fine by us. There wasn't much else to do, and we enjoyed it of course. So we basically ate, slept, and fucked as often as possible. Honestly; in spite of the circumstances, it was great! Afterwards we curled up tightly against one another, our muzzles buried in our mate's fur as we slept, each comforted by the feel and scent of the other.
"Well, they're at it again! Look at them go!" One of the techs monitoring the surveillance cameras said to his partner.
"You really get into watching those freaks hump, don't you?" The other man said, jokingly.
"Well, they sure do enjoy it, but rat pussy is not my thing. Now give me a nice big cat like a cougar or something..." The first man replied, leering.
"You're SICK!" The second man said, laughing. He watched the coupling rats for a minute longer; faint squeaks of pleasure coming over the mike, then went back to his magazine. Watching rats fuck was NOT his thing.
After our lovely mating was over we borrowed back under our nest, and I held her while she snuggled up next to me, her body warm and soft, her scent sweet. I'd never had a serious relationship before, and while this wasn't exactly a 'normal' one by human standards, for me it was just fine. I loved my mate, end of story. But now I began to think seriously about how to escape, I couldn't let them torment her anymore, or risk my children. I was bound and determined that my babies would NOT be lab rats!
After a short nap we began to plan our escape, which took some doing as our only way of really communicating anything other than basic needs was to use our collection of rags and straw, we didn't dare actually try to write anything down. It was slow and frustrating; I would have killed for a pen and pad of paper! But we managed; and we were helped by the indifference, and arrogance, of our 'handlers'. We remained good docile lab rats, happy and eager to do whatever our 'masters' wanted in exchange for a treat, no matter what. And we kept getting really crappy scores on the so-called intelligence tests. In fact we had a ball, messing around with the so-called 'intelligent' humans. I liked the mazes best, and always went the wrong way no matter how simple they were. Der, squeak, me dumb rat.
"Well, no doubt about it, Dr. Sebastian said, the degradation of their human memories and awareness is substantial, and if anything is growing worse. Their scores have been going down steadily. What a shame, had they been more intelligent we might have been able to train them to perform certain duties. An intelligent rat would certainly be useful in many situations hazardous to humans. Now, Dr. Callahan, how are the tests on the female going?"
"Well, Dr. Callahan said, she is definitely pregnant. According to ultrasound and the printouts she's carrying eight pups, but it's too early to tell their sexes yet. But their development is slower, instead of about twenty one days we estimate it will be close to six weeks; or longer, before she drops her litter. We'll need to separate her from the male for that, otherwise their might be some cannibalism. The males will sometimes eat the young, and in certain cases even the female might eat her young."
"Hmm, good point, Dr. Sebastian replied. Very well, after five weeks we'll isolate her until she gives birth, and then put her back with the male to be bred again. We'll raise the pups in the lab, and start experimenting on them immediately. Hopefully they'll retain their parents advanced antibody defenses. It's a shame we don't have more females, we'd have a much larger population base that way with less chances of inbreeding defects. Gentlemen, unless there's anything else, I'll see you at the next meeting."
Angie was just beginning to plump out from our babies, and I loved to rest my head on her furry belly and feel them kicking, and she would scratch my ears while I was doing that. Those were good times, wonderful times. Finally we enacted our 'great escape.' She took the first step when she 'borrowed' one of the doctors ID cards after being tested one day. As the doctor had bent over her removing the straps she deftly removed the card from the doctor's pocket, and stuck it in her mouth. We hid it in our nest, and I'm sure the doctor went crazy trying to remember where she'd left it. I doubt she even considered the possibly one of the 'rodents' had stolen it. The next step was harder, how to get out of the cage, and then the facility.
I remembered how big the place was, and knew we were underground somewhere. But I could also smell that there was a sewer somewhere fairly close by, so we decided to go down, instead of up. It was a gamble, but even with the ID card we'd have a hard time getting through all the security doors I remembered, especially if some also required codes. But by going down; hopefully, we would run into fewer security doors, and maybe find a maintenance tunnel or something that would lead to freedom. And we knew we'd only get one chance as the security cameras would record everything and our ruse would be blown. I hated to think of what they'd do to us when they found out we weren't as stupid as we acted, my biggest fear being that they would separate us. Bastards.
I acquired the keys to the cage pretty much the same way as Angie got the ID card, by 'borrowing' them from one of the guards who escorted us back and forth to and from our cage. As I was put back in the cage I slipped the key ring off his belt; hooking it with a claw, and held it close to my body so my fur would muffle the jingling of the keys. Then I went over to the food bucket and started eating the large pellets mixed with fruit and veggies that were our main feed; I guess it was Purina Rat Chow or something, but it was good, and hid the keys in the bucket. Later the man came back and poked around, kicking the straw by the door, while Angie and I just sat in our nest and stared at him, noses quivering. "God damn it, the man said, they've got to be around her somewhere!! Hey, rats, you seen my keys?" he said, jokingly. We just stared, and I gave a friendly squeak like I did when I wanted a treat. Finally he left, frustrated. Good, I thought, hope he gets in deep shit, especially after what's about to happen. If we get away maybe he'll become a 'new' specimen for their experiments. I thought, as I cleaned my muzzle with my paws, and then started grooming Angie.
I made long slow love to Angie as we waited; or as long as I could, the incredible pleasure and love we felt for each other helping to calm our nerves. When we climaxed for the last time she gave a soft squeal of ecstasy, and I held her as close as I could, feeling her belly and the new life in it. We had to get away, for them. Even if they were just normal rats at least they'd be free. We couldn't really tell the time, no watches, but could sense it was late at night. We felt an instinctual call to be out and about at certain times, and we were pretty much nocturnally oriented. So we waited until it was very late, and then made our move. Time for operation 'run away'.
First I moved over to the wall under the camera, and then threw a scrap of cloth over the lens. Angie unlocked the cage door, and scooted out, followed by me. Then I pulled a long piece of thread attached to the piece of clothe over the camera, and it fell off. We hoped no one noticed the brief blocking of the lens, and had fluffed up our 'nest' to give the illusion we were still curled up inside happily sleeping. But we had to move fast; I had no idea if there were any cameras in the halls and corridors, but so far we hadn't seen any. There were bound to be more cameras, or sensors, though.
We moved fast, following our noses, and went down as planned. Turns out we didn't need the ID card, none of the doors on these levels had electronic locks, but the keys sure came in handy as just about every other door was locked. We came to a stairwell going down, and scampered down it on all fours as was natural for us now, and boy could we move fast. We went down two more levels, and excited into a sub-basement that looked like it was mainly used for storage and found the boiler room. In one corner was a manhole cover, and we could smell water and sewage on the other side of it. Problem was it had a padlocked bar across it, and none of the keys worked. I pulled at it for awhile with no results, squeaking in frustration. Then I looked around the room, and soon found a workbench with some tools, including a sledge hammer. Bingo! Would have been nice if there was a hacksaw, but beggars can't be choosers, especially if you're a rat.
I looked at Angie, and she looked back, 'washing' her paws nervously. So far we'd been very lucky, and very quiet, but now that was about to end. I just hoped the thick walls would muffle the sound. I took a breath, and then swung the sledge hammer with all my strength, which was pretty impressive for a 250lb rodent. It hit the old lock with a very satisfying sounding 'WHAM' that echoed loudly, but other than a puff of rust the lock didn't budge. So I started beating the crap out of it. 'WHAM' 'WHAM'.
I froze as I heard an alarm go off somewhere, then started whaling on the lock as fast and hard as I could, but the damn thing refused to break even thought I'd beaten it into a lump. Angie ran over to the door and braced it by shoving the heavy work bench in front of it, and grabbed something off the floor and came scampering back. She held it up for me to see, a chisel!! How the Hell had I missed that!? She held it next to the lock, and I started hammering on it. Man, that was one tough lock!
A short time later the lock in the door clicked, and someone started pushing and pounding on the door, which slowly began to push the work bench back. Damn it, so close!! I thought, and rearing up brought the hammer down as hard as I could on the chisel, and the lock snapped open!!! I yanked up the heavy sewer lid, and Angie slipped through the fairly narrow opening with ease just as the door opened, and men started trying to climb over the now fallen work bench. I threw the manhole cover like a great big Frisbee and had the intense pleasure of watching as it hit the first man in the chest and bowled him over backwards into the ones behind him in a tangle of arms and legs. Ouch, that had to hurt! I thought, bet it leaves a mark! Then I threw the heavy metal bar at the next man; who ducked and let the guy behind him try and catch it; didn't work, and I started to follow Angie; who I could hear squeaking in concern, then paused and looked at the men. They were getting organized again; and starting to clamber over the first one who was down for the count. I stood up as straight as I could, gave a loud squeak, and putting a paw under my other front legs elbow flipped them the rigid digit! Salute! SPIN ON IT, YOU SOB'S! Then I dived through the manhole with a flip of my tail.
We found ourselves not in the sewer proper, but in a steam tunnel lined with pipes, the temperature hot and humid. It was a low tunnel, but since we were four legged we easily ran down it as fast as we could go, and kept following our noses. If the pursuers tried to follow they'd have to crawl, so if they did we outdistanced them rapidly, down here WE had the advantage. At the junction of several steam tunnels there was a grate in the floor, and this time it wasn't locked. I lifted it up, Angie squeezed through, and as I followed I pulled it back in place. As I stepped off the rungs set in concrete I found myself in about a foot of rather smelly water. I was thankful that despite my extremely sensitive sense of smell I seemed to be able to endure some really horrendous smells without much discomfort, and this one qualified as one of those. "Eeek", P-U!. Fortunately the filthy water was flowing down the center of the pipe, and it had raised walkways down the sides, and I climbed up next to Angie and shook my paws with a squeak of disgust. She gave a squeak of amusement, and scampered down the walkway with me close behind. We had to put as much distance between us and the lab as possible, in as short a time as possible. I wasn't too sure about their ability to track us in a sewer, but didn't want to find out the hard way. But if they did catch up with us I'd fight for my mate and young, the main thing was she got away.
We kept going for days, only stopping to rest briefly, sleep, or grab a quick bite to eat as we required a lot of food. And we did NOT eat shit, contrary to popular belief rats; normal ones or giant mutant ones, have a much more discerning palate then that. Though; truthfully, we didn't hesitate to eat food that would have made most humans gag, puke, and/or sick. But we were always careful; usually we could tell by the scent, and anything dubious or questionable was rejected. But the city was big, and we would find a grate or manhole cover near a restaurant, and late at night we'd cautiously surface, raid the dumpster, and return to our new home to feast. All in all we ate pretty well, it's amazing what they throw away. If anyone saw us; which was doubtful, they probably just went home to sleep it off.
When it was finally time for Angie to give birth we denned up under an old abandoned water treatment plant. The large old tunnels were roomy, the temperature a comfortable 70 degrees, give or take a bit. With our fur that was plenty warm enough. I raided some dumpsters and abandoned buildings for old mattresses and we made a nice comfortable nest in an old storeroom, shredding some and building a 'cave' with some more. It was really nice. While she gave birth I nervously roamed around the tunnels outside as she'd made it quite clear she wanted to be alone. But I didn't stray far. I was as worked up; and anxious, as any expectant father.
Angie licked the little pink babies tenderly, helping them to find her teats, and finally rested with a happy sigh as all eight suckled hungrily. They were all healthy and perfect, her beautiful little babies. Later she looked up to see an anxious looking face looking through the hole they'd chewed in the bottom of the door, its whisker quivering. She raised a front leg and gestured, and her mate approached hesitantly, and then stood looking down at the pups. She felt a little unsure at first, but when he started licking them tenderly she relaxed. She knew he wouldn't harm them, in that way they were different from normal rats. Finally he curled up next to her, the pups in-between them, and they licked each other's snouts until they fell asleep, the pups contentedly feeding, nice and warm, knowing they were safe.
Dr. Sebastian was livid, and stared at the IMBECILES sitting at the table with him. "What the HELL do you mean I'm being replaced as head of this project?! How DARE you, how was I to know they were more intelligent than the tests indicated! NONE of us realized that!"
"Be that as it may Dr. Sebastian, Dr. Spencer said, it was a unanimous decision by the board of directors. Your...questionable conduct; and now this unfortunate fiasco, makes it clear you are not competent. You will be reassigned to another facility doing research on increasing soy bean production and other important projects. But first you will sign a confidentiality non-disclosure agreement concerning the project. And you will of course receive a pay hike and a generous relocation bonus as the new facility is in Africa."
An intense search was made for the escaped 'lab rats', but no trace was found of them. Realizing the hopelessness in the thousands of miles of tunnels under the city; if they were even still in them and hadn't moved on, it would have taken millions and years to do a thorough search, and they were bound to be noticed by city and local sewer work crews. But they did make an effort, even leaving leaflets promising better treatment if they gave themselves up. But mainly they just monitored the news; including the tabloids, for any reports of 'strange animals' or 'weird sightings' of any kind. But there was nothing, the few 'sightings' they investigated turned out to be dead ends. They began to hope that with just two of them it would impossible to create a viable breeding population and they would die out, and eventually called off the search. For the meantime the research project was canceled until a more opportune time as many of the doctors on the board considered it too dangerous and unethical. The staff was dispersed and reassigned to other facilities; substantial pay raises and improved operating budgets insuring they remained loyal to the company. Poor Dr. Sebastian disappeared on a camping trip, and was believed to have been taken by a crocodile.
Angie and I decided to stay in the water treatment plant tunnels as they were fairly dry all year around, and were out of the main sewer area, and fairly clean. Plus the whole area was abandoned, the overhead neighborhood mainly decaying industrial warehouses and other structures, the only human inhabitants the occasional bum or curious sightseer. It was perfect for our needs. Space, privacy; warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and most important of all, lots of escape routes. We explored every inch as we settled into our new home. We had numerous escape plans in case of just about any contingency, including underwater ones.
Our pups grew up slower than normal rats, but not much. Within weeks their fur came in and soon they were wandering around, and I was extremely relieved when they showed every sign of being extremely intelligent. They were curious, fast learners, and generally well behaved. It took them about two years to reach sexual maturity, and by then we had several other litters in various stages of growth, Angie giving birth about every three months to eight to eleven pups. We didn't give them names, but knew each and every one by sight and scent. We taught them what we could, such as how to open doors, remove grates and manhole covers, the best places to find food in the world above, but most of all how to avoid detection at all costs, to stay the HELL away from humans. They were the ENEMY!
We only went out foraging in the late hours of the night and early mornings, and always in small groups, the outings planned ahead of time. We came up with a kind of 'language' of various sounds and gestures, and to our delight found out the children were able to learn how to read and write!! I found an old chalkboard and chalk for Angie, and she held daily classes. But we kept it limited, mainly to they could read signs and other markings. We even devised our own markings for labeling tunnels and other areas. To anyone else they would just look like random scratches in the dirt or on a wall, but to us they would indicate all manner of things. Safe route, dangerous, good food this way, escape route, etc. And we devised a code of taps, and it was amazing how far the sound of a pipe being taped on could be heard by our sensitive ears. And we kept watch too; the main tunnels always had a sentry keeping an eye out for any sign of human; or other, intruders. Occasionally a stray cat or dog would show up, but we made short work of them, and the fresh meat was welcome. The area soon got a reputation with the street people as being 'bad mojo', so after awhile even the bums didn't come around anymore, it was too 'creepy'. But we never harmed a human, that was forbidden, and it would be the quickest way to bring unwanted attention. The few bums that couldn't be drive out we left alone.
The 'normal' rats didn't know what to think of us, I think they thought we were either Gods or really big cousins. We found we could 'talk' to them, through scent, sounds, and other ways hard to explain. They became our 'watchrats', and every one of us had several 'personal' rats as pets and friends. They became our early warning systems, if they detected something unusual or dangerous we soon 'heard' about it, and they could go where we couldn't. We took care of them, and they returned the favor. At night we slept in our nests in big comfortable piles of warm furry bodies, both big and small.
Once the 'company' tried to gas a small 'nest' that had been established a few miles away as we began branching out. I guess one of us was seen, or something else gave the location away. The occupants had more than enough time to escape, thanks to our little buddies, and any searchers were disappointed. They found chewed up mattress, and turds. That was about it. No dead giant rat monsters to be seen. One thing about giant rats, we're intelligent AND vicious if we have to be. We retaliated by burning down the CEO's mansion, even leaving a note so they'd know who did it. The note was simple; it just said "Eeek You! Leave us alone!" They got the message and left us alone after that.
Angie and I were both worried about inbreeding as when the young matured nature took its course, and their sisters being the only available females we didn't have much choice in the matter. There were more females the males, and soon there were hundreds of us, then thousands. I wished there was some way to limit the population growth, but if rats do one thing well that's making more rats, and we were no exception except it did take us a little longer. But our society was more structured, more along the lines of a tribe then a pack of rats, and the males took on some of the responsibilities of child raising, helping the females mainly in feeding, and keeping an eye, on the pups.
A few of the youngsters left the colony and ventured out on their own, much to my disapproval, but it was a natural instinct since we were getting crowded. At least they knew the number one rule, never ever let a human see you. But then something else happened that shocked me. One of the young males returned with a mate, and it was a human woman in the process of changing! She was too far gone to talk, and I honestly don't know exactly how they got 'married', but she seems to love him and he certainly dotes on her and has already had her first litter. It would appear the virus is still very much alive inside of us, and is passed through bodily fluids, in this case sexual fluids. We're contagious. I don't know if they planned on that or not; or even knew it, though I don't see how they couldn't have known. Or maybe it had mutated again?? I think it was probably rape at first; the young sex-starved male seeking out a mate, and she was some poor homeless person he 'seduced', but once you change your species your perspectives and view of life change as well. Following his example other males began taking human females as mates, but how I didn't want to know. I didn't really like it, but I couldn't prevent it. One problem is we are attracted to human females, we find them attractive, especially if they're having their period. The ones taken were ones most likely not to be missed though; we didn't kick in doors and raid dormitories for our 'mates', and who would notice if a few homeless people vanished? And of course there were never any bodies, so people figured they just moved on. But it did add to the gene pool, which was a good thing. If any human males were infected I didn't know about it. And soon there were new colonies all over the city, and beyond as we spread out, and I knew we couldn't keep it a secret forever.
But one thing was certain, we were there to stay, and there was a new contender for the top of the food chain now. It would be interesting to see what would happen when we and the humans 'met' for the first time. I certainly hoped we'd be able to work out something to our mutual benefit; we were certainly willing to get along if they were. If not, well, there was no way they could ever get rid of all of us, we were already spreading to other countries, and we numbered in the hundreds of thousands now, and had colonies in the major cities of every continent.
The End
************************************************************************