Carmen wandered the halls of the convention center, she straightened her lab coat as she maneuvered through a crowd of people. She sighed thinking about her late friend, Reginald. He died so suddenly because of some crazy experiment, and now he is dead. 'Stupid Reggie.' she thought to herself. 'You would be here right now if it wasn't for that dumb invention.'
Carmen pursed her lips and cross her arms. She trudged forward to the main convention room where most of the other scientists and incorporations were meeting up. She really didn't want to be here. She loved science and gadgets just as much any one else attending the con, but it just wasn't the same the last two years. Loss changes a person.
Lost in her thoughts, Carmen wasn't really watching where she was going. She blindly walked until she felt her legs bump into something, or someone. She looked down to see a white bespectacled beagle. Carmen's eyes widened as she quickly stepped back.
"I am so sorry sir. Are you alright?" She asked, brushing a piece of her hair out of her eyes.
He straightened his glasses with one paw and took a breath to compose himself. "I am quite alright m'am. Are you?" He asked, looking up at her.
"Yeah I am fine, I'm the one that bumped you anyway." She said lightly. She rubbed her temples, it has been two years but it was still too soon. She wasn't ready to face one of the reasons her and her best friend parted ways. Well, the outcome of the reason actually. She didn't hold against the beagle of course. He didn't ask to be like this, he was merely an experiment, an extremely successful one.
"Are you okay miss..." The beagle asked, dragging out his question to urge a name out of the woman.
"Sanchez. Carmen Sanchez. I am fine, just...thinking." Carmen answered bluntly. It wasn't necessarily a lie. "What's your name, sir?"
"I am Mr. Peabody. Pleased to meet your acquaintance Ms. Sanchez."
Carmen was blown away. He even used Reggie's name. Whether it was a coincidence or not, it was almost too much to hear his name. No one has brought up Reginald since the year of his death. No one likes to talk about the fact that you could possibly be killed by your own passion. So the whole incident simply isn't discussed.
She bit down on her lips to hold back the emotions she was feeling. But she couldn't, even after two long years the pain was still fresh.
"Do...Do you know who created you?" She asked softly.
Peabody was taken aback by this. He looked up at Carmen with slight confusion. "What are you implying?" He asked, still thoroughly perplexed.
"I mean, do you know who gifted you with your unnatural intelligent? Do you know how it all happened?" She questioned, slightly louder.
He looked down. Of course he has wondered how it all happened but could never reach a solid answer. "No ma'am, I don't." He answered. "Do you?"
Carmen gave him a teary smile. "I did."
"Do you mind telling me who this person was?"
Carmen sighed and looked down, still lightly smiling. She wiped away a few tears. "Follow me, we have a lot to talk about."
Carmen and Peabody walked out of the convention center and to one of the benches outside.
"His name was Reginald, Reginald Peabody. I always just called him Reggie. We were best friends growing up. We became really close because our love for science and blowing things up." Carmen began, a nostalgic look on her face. "In school we always playfully competed. See who could get the highest grades or who finished their worksheets first with the highest grade. It was innocent and just meant to push our knowledge forward. When we graduated high school we ended up going to different colleges. Reggie became extremely successful and was taken into some big league laboratory. I however, wasn't as successful as my good friend." She let out a long sigh, leaning back into the bench. "We began to argue and compete in a not so friendly way. It was nothing like the way it was in school. Both of our labs decided we were going to try to incorporate a human's intelligent into a canine. There was huge race on who was going to succeed first. In my litter of puppies, only one ended up having a higher intelligence. However her's was never as high as yours. Reggie's litter was the same, you were the only success, however your intelligence was much higher than mine. That of course strained our friendship even more. We didn't want it this way, we always wanted to work together and make the world great with each other." She began to tear up. "But that will never happen. Reggie ended up dying from some crazy chemical poisoning two years ago. We never fully apologized. He was my best friend, and he is gone."
Peabody looked at Carmen with a pained expression. "I am sorry for your loss. Reginald must of been extremely brilliant to be able to transfer human intelligence into my own being." He said gently.
"He was extremely brilliant. Some would say he was a genius."
"I would say the same for you Ms. Sanchez, though the intelligence of the pup you succeeded with wasn't as high as mine doesn't mean you didn't succeed in transferring the intelligence at all. That makes you brilliant in my eyes."
Carmen smiled as a few tears ran down her cheeks. "Would you like to see him?" She asked.
"Of course." Peabody responded simply.
The two of them walked to the cemetery in which Reggie was buried. They walked in between graves until Carmen stopped in front of a marble tombstone. 'Here lies Reginald Peabody: He will be missed by all of his friend's and family and will be remembered for his big heart and his amazing intelligence.'
Carmen quirked her lips in a sorrowful frown. She hasn't visited his grave since last year. Though it brought her great pain, it somehow brought he comfort. Maybe it was the idea of being able to be close to him in some way. Regardless, the comfort was welcome and extremely appreciated.
She looked down at Peabody as he studied the grave. His eyes were deep and thoughtful as he looked upon the grave of the man who gifted him with his intellect.
She pulled out her phone and scrolled back to a picture Reggie and herself took on their first day of college.
She kneeled down to Peabody's level. "This is him."
Peabody turned his attention to the phone. In the photo there was a woman, obviously Carmen, and a young man. He had tan skin, dark brown hair, and a slightly scruffy beard. He even sported similar looking round rimmed glasses. Peabody chuckled slightly. The world sure does work in mysterious ways.