A Mind of Its Own
(Story note: this is the same set of characters from [Genetics](%5C).)
(Meta note: I have no idea what tags best describe this. Any suggestions would be appreciated in comments.)
A Mind of Its Own
All Jeremy was told was that his project had been selected for him. His professor Gryndeen had been searching for something that would be worth his masters in his adopted favorite subject, biology. Dr. Gryndeen had simply told him he had found it in another student's PhD thesis, and that it would also have connections to his former favorite subject, philosophy.
He arrived at the Doctor's house, a scene familiar to him. They had been working together for five years, and somehow, had wound up sharing more than a professional relationship off and on twice a year or so.
He knocked on the door, and the door was answered by an equally familiar hyena, Alex.
"He's expecting you. Come in," Alex offered before the fox could speak.
Jeremy walked in, still finding Alex's presence somewhat inconvenient. He seemed like the third wheel in their relationship, personal and professional, but he knew that his presence was necessary most of the time.
"Your project is in the bathtub," explained Alex with his charcteristic smirk, "it's quite an interesting broth."
Upon arriving on the third floor, the door was open, and Horus was kneeling next to the tub with his shirt off.
"Ah, Jeremy," called the pterodactyl, "come in! Here it is!"
Jeremy wasn't sure what to make of the scene: he was stirring with his bear arm, a rather thick, greenish liquid. As Jeremy got closer, it had the vague smell of vinegar.
"Have a look!" offered the professor excitedly, getting up and walking backwards toward the sink.
Jeremy nervously knelt where his mentor had sat a moment before, and looked into the soup. It seemed to be moving and swirling of its own accord, though he could see nothing in it, except perhaps fine particles.
"What is it?" he asked dumbly.
"It's a philosophical question," he asked, "is this liquid alive?"
Jeremy's instinct was to say no, but he knew Dr. Gryndeen better than that.
His hesitation got him a remark. "Surely, it must be obvious," Horus prodded.
"Nothing is ever obvious with you," Jeremy replied, continuing to look for the source of the slow, continuous motion of the liquid.
"I will tell you it has living things in it," he added, "billions of them. But the question is, is the liquid itself alive?"
"I would say no, then," answered the fox.
"Reach in your hand, and tell me that again," he instructed.
Remembering how he seemed quite confident to have his arm in up to the elbow, Jeremy gingerly dipped his hand in. Slowly, the liquid began forming a pool, drawing slowly right up through his orange fur, and climbing his arm. He was so frigtened that he pulled his hand out. The liquid even seeming to resist him with more suction before the seal was broken.
"Doc, what is this!?" he exclaimed, his heart racing, as he could feel the remaining residue starting to warm slightly.
"It's a bacterial soup," he answered, "nothing more."
"Soup doesn't crawl up your hand," insisted Jeremy.
"Why shouldn't it? You know about the bacterial flagellum."
"But that's -- random," Jeremy stammered, "not all in the same direction at once."
"And why not?" asked Gryndeen. "It would seem a lot more efficent to me."
"You must have made this," Jeremy realized aloud.
"No, I didn't. Alex did. I helped a little with research, but he made it. It took him several years."
"What is it?" whined Jeremy, wanting to know what else would happen to his hand as it continued to get warmer.
"Just bacteria who know what they like," he replied, "and I assume you didn't wash your hands before you came here. They seem quite hungry."
"They'll eat my hand!?" yelled Jeremy, voice echoing around the small bathroom.
"No, no, calm down!" reassured Gryndeen, clapping his hands on Jeremy's shoulders, "all they want is the bacteria on your hand, particularly Enterobacteriacea."
Jeremy just looked at the goo again. It remained its faint tinge of green, and stayed just above skin temperature. He tried to imagine the tiny war going on on his skin, but didn't succeed very well.
"Your project," interrupted his mentor, "is to figure out why it works."
"You mean you don't know?"
"I know the general theory, but that soup is a complicated mix of species. The 'carnivores', as it were, are supported by a whole range of others to manipulate the liquid and find their food for them. But all of them work togther, that is the key."
It was hard for Jeremy to remember the short time frames for evolution in microbial species. The idea you could watch something evolve if you looked closely enough was a foreign concept.
"So," the fox tried to summarize, deciding to wash his hands, "you want me to study this -- creation of his?"
"Yes. He won't let me drain it out," he remarked with a smile. "If I could bathe again, it would be nice."
"But if this stuff eats harmful bacteria, why couldn't you?"
The pterodactyl narrowed his eyes socratically. "You're studying it, you tell me."
"Well -- I don't know. I mean, what kind of experiments can I do in your house?" he asked.
"Whatever you want," reassured Horus, "just ask, and I'll get you the equipment."
"Okay, I just want to look at a sample under the microscope first."
And so began Jeremy's great analysis. Over the next few days, he could identify three major types of bacteria, each with several slightly different strains.
There were those that signaled the presence of the targets, based on proteins in their linings. There were those that swam around the signal to disturb the liquid, swimming to it like a beacon creating currents and eddies of incredible strength to carry over the carnivores. And those carnivores, who ate the bacteria and broke it down into simpler sugars, were efficient enough to emit extra food for the others.
In spite of his slow progress in analyizing the relationships between the bacteria -- Alex's genetic work was quite complicated -- he never asked the hyena a single question. He knew that Alex was a rival for Horus' affection, and felt not only pride, but jealousy at his close position of caregiver. Fortunately, in what Jeremy considered an equally prudent move, the hyena never volunteered help, either.
It was a week later, after a long night of counting genes between two strains, that he returned to the tub to stare at it some more. It had cooled somewhat, for he had neglected to feed it in several days. Remembering his experiment, and without consulting anyone, he decided he would feed it with everything on his skin.
He quietly stripped off, and stepped in with his left foot. The black fur sank quickly beneath the water, up to his ankle. He could feel the currents in the liquid slowly start changing. He stepped in with his other foot, still somewhat nervous about the whole thing. He knew it was safe; he had no cuts or wounds to speak of, and he wouldn't let the level rise above his waist. Slowly, he bent, knelt, and then sat, the liquid beginning to heat up once again.
In the dim light of the bulb, it didn't seem alive anymore. It was more like a chemical reaction to his presence. There was no intelligence to it at all, he contemplated, as he relaxed into the warmth of just above body temperature, and the currents flowing gently around his legs and tail.
He was interrupted, however, by a knock on the door.
"Just a minute!" he called reflexively, forgetting the time and quite aware of his nudity.
He closed the shower curtain quickly, and answered, "ok, what?"
The unlocked door opened, and he saw the shadow of Alex through the curtain. "I'm here to get some lydicaine," he announced quietly, "he can't sleep."
Jeremy didn't answer; he just waited for Alex to rifle quietly through the medicine cabinet.
"So, is it doing what you expected?" Alex asked as he picked up a small bottle of cream and shook it.
"I didn't expect anything really," answered Jeremy, starting to get a strange feeling from one of the currents.
"Well, let me know how it goes," he added on way way through the doorframe.
Something about the way he said it told Jeremy Alex knew something. Jeremy thought that he would try and pry it out. "Um, hang on," he added, "could you help me, then? Doc won't give me anything but riddles."
Alex stopped and returned to the bathroom. "You know how he is. I suppose I could help."
Jeremy shifted his weight to get more comfortable, and found that the liquid around his buttocks had thickened a littile more, but he didn't think anything of it.
"It was simple: Horus wanted me to demonstrate emergence. You know what that is."
"The whole being more than the parts, and all that."
"Right. He wanted me to prove that bacteria could work together, that they could show emergence through symbiosis. I came up with a simple idea: see if a soup, like this one, could actually act on a macroscopic level."
Only then did Jeremy begin to notice that the liquid was putting pressure on him, right at his tailhole.
"Getting a bacteria with a flagellum powerful enough was the first trick," continued Alex, paying no attention to the fox. "I mean, do you know how hard those things have to work? I'm amazed I managed to get their life span all the way to four hours."
"Four hours?" Jeremy repeated, trying to ignore the discomfort, as his muscles began requiring active resistance.
"Quite a while, yeah. That meant I had to make the carnivores very efficent, to have enough energy left over to produce the sugars they would need. And they need a lot."
When Jeremy decided that enough was enough, he tried to get up, only to find that the liquid was resisting him.
"And in order to get those carnivores food, I had to make very strong chemical messages. They'll go crazy if you give them a big payoff."
It was at that moment, to his horror, that Jeremy found he he was unable to get his own legs under him because the liquid was too thick. He could not pull them underneath him to get up.
"Uh, how strong?" he asked, voice suddenly much higher in pitch as his heart raced.
The tone of voice made Alex turn. "Pretty strong," he replied, concern in his voice, but not in his actions, "I'll be right back, okay?"
"Don't leave --" Jeremy started to protest, but the door closed without comment.
He tried again by rolling on his side with his arms, but the focus of his exertion relaxed other muscles, and he felt his tailhole's pressure break. He immediately gasped, groaned, and his disempowered hands let go of the tub walls. He almost slid completely in up to his belly. Seeming to know what he had in there, the liquid slowly spreading out, working its way up his insides.
Jeremy started panting in fear, and finally found the courage to call out. "Alex!" he whined, knowing the professor with numb hands could do nothing, "help!"
It took another 10 seconds of painless agony before the hyena quickly reappared. "Jeremy, what is it?" he asked concernedly.
"I'm -- stuck!" he groaned, "help me!"
"You can't get out?" Alex asked, almost marvelling at the idea.
"No, I can't!" Jeremy whimpered.
"Okay, take it easy," Alex replied gently.
But Jeremy suddenly felt naked once again as the shadow began approaching the curtain, "uh, don't!" he barked nervously, wondering how long his discomfort would continue compared to the embarassment of having the rival of the professor's affection see him naked.
"Don't?" Alex asked quizzically, stopping with his hand on the curtain edge.
"Um, I don't know," he whined as he continued to be slowly filled, "I don't -- want you to see me -- ungh, like this."
"You mean, naked?" he asked with a smile in his voice Jeremy couldn't ignore.
"Yes," snapped the fox, "and that's why!"
"Oh don't worry," he replied, his tone much more level, "I won't look, I promise."
Jeremy didn't feel he could trust the hyena, but couldn't say that out loud. "Nevermind," he squirmed, making a decision, "go away."
"Could I at least make a suggestion?" Alex asked, as he turned toward the door.
"What," groaned Jeremy as the liquid continued to inch up him.
"Give it what it wants, and it might let you go. It's probably going after your fecal coliform."
"Fine, now go away," Jeremy insisted with a silent blush.
Even after he saw the shadow walk out the door and close it behind him, Jeremy found it hard to tell his body to do what only a colicky child would do in a bathtub. He found himself fixated on the idea that Alex was just beyond the door, listening, waiting for him to pop in and humiliate the fox.
But before long, the creeping feeling inside of him became too much. He spread his legs as best he could, moved his tail, and pushed. The liquid was expelled from him with a sigh. It reminded him of the few times he had been mated, and was compelled by the same nerves to rush to the bathroom. He seldom mated in that manner for this for this very discomfort.
But when the liquid was purged, his legs were loosened as the microscopic rush moved away from his body and over to the fluid he had removed. Revulsed at the idea of contacting either one for another moment, he shifted his legs under him, and stood.
Surely, he thought, it would have a field day in the sewer, given its diet, but he wasn't done with it yet. He still had to study it more. For the moment, he simply tried to rinse himself off piecemeal in the sink, getting at least his feet, tail, and legs below the knee. But he did get an idea of how to get back at Alex for making it so strong.
Wrapping himself in a towel, and carrying his clothes in one hand, he left the bathroom to sleep on the couch. The plan would be put in place tomorrow.
***
When Jeremy awoke, he decided not to make much noise. He gathered a large sample in a large jap, and crept toward the stairs. He decided to see if he could catch any snippets of conversation between his mentor and his rival.
"-- sucked him down, he said," Alex was saying.
"That strong? I didn't think you made them that athletic."
"I didn't. They must have mutated."
"But what kind of selective pressure could cause that?"
Silence.
"You wouldn't do that, would you?"
"Do what?"
No answer. But Jeremy knew what. And he was going to expose Alex.
"Can we talk about something else over breakfast?" asked Alex. "I'm surprised Jeremy isn't here yet. He did have a late night last night, I suppose."
Jeremy wasn't sure if he heard a squirm or not, but smiled and imagined he did.
"Didn't we all?" yawned Horus.
The fox decided to appear at that moment. Still wrapped in his towel, which he clutched tightly on his left hip, he walked down the stairs with the jar in his right, trying to forget his chest was bare.
"Ah, good morning," greeted the professor with a tired joyfulness.
"Morning," yawned the fox.
"I hear you tried a bath," said the professor, "how'd it go?"
"That stuff is strong," Jeremy admitted, speaking to soothe the afterechoes of his primordial fear.
"I didn't know you'd be unable to get up," offered Alex, "I'm sorry."
He decided to try revenge. "We won't have to worry about it anymore," he answered, trying to hide his anger as best he could, "this is all that's left. I let the rest down the drain, so Horus can have his bathtub back."
Alex, in the middle of a large sausage, suddenly put his fork down with a clatter. "You did what?" he asked sharply, eyes immeidately lighting up.
"Those things are too dangerous," Jeremy continued, managing to hide his schadenfreude, "and I'm sure they'll be quite happy in the sewer. Lots of food. They are anaerobic, I hope."
Alex immediately got up from the table, and rushed upstairs. Now, the fox mused, he was feeling fear almost the magnitude of Jeremy's when he sat down in the goo without any warning or hint of what would happen.
Dr. Gryndeen gave him quite a sour look as the hyena returned to the table, panting from his sprint up the stairs.
"That wasn't funny," he snarled.
"Why are you so attached to that stuff?" asked the fox socratically, "I saved a jar, so you shouldn't have worried -- unless you have some reason for wanting a whole bathtub full," he led.
But Alex didn't follow. "I want to talk to Horus, alone," he stated coldly.
"Whatever it is, let Jeremy hear it," instructed the male 15 years his elder.
Alex respected Horus' word, and it was explained. "Well, it's simple, Horus," he said, turning his back completely to the fox, and softening his voice. "You're -- not as young as you used to be, we both know that. And, I guess, I needed -- to feel more. I discovered this stuff that would let me feel what I was missing, and, well, ..."
So he was right, Jeremy silently grumbled: the hyena was "toying" with the goo, applying selective pressure to break stronger and stronger tailholes.
"I didn't know how strong it was, honestly," he continued, looking Jeremy in the eye, "or I would have told you to get out."
Alex seemed to have finished, but the pterodactyl sat silently, staring at his half-full plate. "I don't know what to say, except -- I want my bathtub back. What you do on your own time is your business, but if you're going to do that, find somewhere else to do it."
Alex nodded. "You might like it," he added as he got up from the table, "you should try it."
After Alex got a bucket and headed up the stairs, Jeremy broke his silence. "I thought it felt terrible," he suggested weakly, empathy having drained his anger, "but I guess Alex is different."
"Never grow old," his mentor advised, "for even those who love you will abandon you."
Jeremy tried to give his own advice. "I would think that makes him more loyal to you than ever," he pointed out. "He'd rather invent a new goop than find another male."
"But he didn't even ask me to satisfy him," sighed Horus, "he's been so distant for months."
"And how often do I ask?" Jeremy retorted gently, "twice a year. Have I abandoned you, too?"
Horus tried not to smile, but seemed unable to help it. "I suppose you have a point," he grudgingly admitted through his grin, "thank you. Now how about some breakfast?"
The End.
(version 1.0)