Chapter 4: Black Bacteria
"But why does it have to be a hedgehog? "
"Maria!" The professor's head snapped round and he instantly rushed over to his grandchild.
"You shouldn't even be in here! It's too dangerous for you!" He tried to pull her away from where she stood and push her towards the exit, but the blonde girl remained stubborn.
"I know, but I got bored. Why does it have to be a hedgehog?"
Gerald gave up trying to move her and looked at the tube that Maria was eyeing critically. In a kinder voice he asked, "What's wrong with hedgehogs?"
"Kitties are cuter." she stated as if that should be obvious, then added, "And also, hedgehogs stink."
Her grandfather had to smile. "Not the anthropomorphic ones, they don't. At least," he continued after some thought, "not if they use some showering gel."
"Grandpa!" Maria giggled, and then continued more seriously, "But I bet there's another reason."
"You're right, there is," the scientist continued over to a metal cupboard and pulled a large poster from a drawer, which he unrolled carefully in front of him. It was a large-scale photograph taken of an ancient stone tablet, "See what this is?"
Maria squinted, trying to make sense of it. It depicted a battle, as far as she could see – on the right side, there were waves towering and what seemed to be a grotesque sort of tentacle monster rising out of them, its big jaws opened to emit a ray of energy. It seemed to be translucent, like a jellyfish, since when she looked at the monster's long, drawn out, massive head, Maria could actually see its brain floating behind the large eyes…She felt her stomach churn and hurriedly looked away.
In the middle, seven weird, crystal-like shapes were discernible and they surrounded…she gasped, spun round to look at the experiment in the tube, then examined the picture more closely again before finally turning to face her grandfather, her eyes wide in confusion, "It's…it's him! The hedgehog-thing in the picture! But how…"
The professor shook his head, smiling sadly, "Not quite. I tried as hard as I could, but I still won't succeed." He pointed at the creature's head, "See there? In the picture, the floating hedgehog's quills are all turned up. My experiment's, however…"
Maria looked at the suspended form again. She, too, saw now that unlike the picture, the black and red hedgehog's spines all pointed towards the ground.
OoO
"But your quills are turned up."
Shadow silently counted to ten. "Yes, Sonic, some of them are." He ran a hand along one of them and asked, "Do you know what stone tablet I was talking about?"
The blue hedgehog creased his forehead in a frown, "Not exactly, no. That tentacle monster though…was that Chaos?"
Shadow nodded, "Yes, that tablet showed a prophecy. The professor's father had been studying Echidna culture, or what remained of it, and found it deep down in the temples of the Mystic Ruins. It showed you, Sonic, in your Super form. You and the Chaos emeralds, fighting against the God of Destruction."
Sonic raised his eye ridges, "Really? So that prophecy came true, huh?" He pondered over this for a bit, then finally came out with "So you really are based on me!" managing a small grin he added: "…faker."
Shadow scowled, "Yes, Sonic, thank you for summing up the story of my whole life with such quaint words. If I ever again need help shortening my narrations, I'll turn to you."
Sonic held up his palms, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Please continue, oh Ultimate Lifeform…"
The black hedgehog shot his counterpart a dark look. Sometimes he started to wonder whether a depressive and broody Sonic might not be the better alternative after all…inwardly, though, he grinned. Maybe the old Sonic was still there?
Clearing his throat, he continued:
OoO
"Is that actually important?"
"I believe so," Gerald had turned back to his experiment again and was musing over it thoughtfully. Previously he had tried to use reptiles but that had turned out disastrous. He shuddered when he thought of the prototype he had created, a giant lizard that was now imprisoned deep down aboard the ARK.
It should have been his crowning glory, the cure to end Maria's suffering, but the blind, toothless, mindless beast it became instead now haunted his dreams. It wasn't even able to survive without life-support. Still, he thought wistfully, at least it had survived, unlike the hedgehogs that kept dying at his hands.
"Normal intelligent hedgehogs down on earth have their quills turned down. His…" – he pointed at the picture again – "...are not. I am not sure why this is so, but it could be a clue on my way towards my goal."
Maria looked at him doubtfully. Upturned quills weren't her idea of scientific revolution, but she kept her mouth shut.
"Now go back to your room, my angel, I want to start on some experiments in here and you could catch something."
The girl sighed and went. She knew that due to NIDS the most harmless bacteria and germs could be deadly to her, which was why she'd been living in almost total isolation aboard the ARK for years now, breathing nothing but filtered air and having only contact with humans who had disinfected their clothing first and were otherwise in perfect health – but sometimes it was so boring.
Gerald waited until the door had closed behind her, and then moved towards the refrigerator where the tissue samples and other organic material were stored. He glanced around nervously again, then pushed the button to open the uppermost of the drawers. It slid open with a hiss, the surrounding water in the air condensing instantly with the sudden drop of temperature.
The professor reached through the mist, extracting one of the phials with trembling fingers.
It contained an opaque, almost black liquid, which seemed nearly alive in its swirling. Tests had confirmed that the liquid was actually a mass of living bacteria, floating in a solution. The scientist had not talked about it to any of his other colleagues for fear of being ridiculed or even declared senile; the reason being that he had found that probe placed one morning in his very own, private lab that he carefully locked each night before going to bed.
He had no idea how it had got there, and was actually developing a slight paranoia about it.
After conducting a series of tests on the monocellulars, he had found that they were a kind that had not been previously found or identified anywhere on earth.
OoO
"Look, Shadow, I don't wanna be rude, but is this actually important?"
The ultimate life-form ground his teeth, "Yes, it is, so show patience for once in you life, okay?" The semi-automatic handgun he kept stored in his quills seemed ever more appealing.
OoO
They did not seem to multiply, but didn't die either. Could they actually contain the secret to eternal life? Upon giving to them a piece of living tissue, he had observed that the bacteria could actually connect to the cells, changing the genetic code into an unknown combination.
Last but not least, the entire colony was emitting a faint radiation of what he was sure was Chaos energy. All of it very puzzling, but none very helpful.
The plan to inject it into one of his experiments had formed in his mind as soon as he had discovered the gene-changing properties. He had been afraid of what the creatures might cause in a living organism but now his most recent failure gave him new determination. If he couldn't succeed with his old methods, maybe it was time to try something new.
He turned to the tube that contained the red-striped hedgehog and carefully poured the black liquid into an opening at the side. With the push of a few buttons, a syringe started to descend, its needle neatly piercing the skin of the hedgehog's upper arm. The creature did not flinch as the bacteria were pushed into his bloodstream, but Gerald was so nervous he might have fainted.
As soon as the process was finished, a data screen informed the professor that the heart beat was increasing and the temperature rising, but none of it dangerous. The scientist waited for another two hours but even as he grew increasingly frustrated, nothing happened.
Nothing. And the fever is probably going to kill it before morning, he thought miserably. A natural defense mechanism.
Oh well, I should have known that it wouldn't work.
Sighing, he left the laboratory once again, wondering just how many more defeats he would be able to bear.
Little known to him, almost half of the experiment's cell structures had been changed by now and four of the quills attached to his head were slowly rising…
OoO
"Wow. I have been wondering about that, anyway. What stuff were these bacteria, shampoo for extra volume?"
Shadow grinned. "Now, now, I wouldn't ruin the suspense, would I?"
"Shadow, the "suspense" is non-existent…"
A bullet whizzing past his head silenced the blue hedgehog at once.
"Now, where was I?"
To be continued...
Aaaaaand another chappie done:) A big thank-you to all those who reviewed so far!
Please tell me honestly: Were all these details boring or mildly interesting? Would you like it if I included some more background info here and there or concentrated just on the story at hand? I´d really appreciate any feedback! (sounds slightly desperate)
Please read and review:)