Please critique! This is my third and final story for my Creative Writing class.
The Pearlman Institute
It was the second time in her life that she felt intimidated by the immense institution. She couldn’t remember the first time. Her black heels clicked on the stone enveloping her in vibrations of sound. Normally, the clicking gave her a sense of power but the sound only heightened her nerves. She instinctively looked up at the matching stone archway as she passed beneath it, Pearlman Institute, was etched into it. She read it everyday and normally it gave her a sense of pride to do so but today she almost lost her balance. She pushed open the glass doors hesitantly and stepped into huge room that ran the length of the building. Her shoes were hushed by plush emerald green carpeting that bordered the avocado color in the center. Sun streamed into the room from thousands of green glass windows running along the side of the building. She hooked to the left not even stopping to take in the mesmerizing vastness of the building before her.
She didn’t glance at the grey haired security guard in front of her. She walked straight though a small white archway lined with cables. Pausing for a moment she pressed her finger tips against the white structure. A red light ran up and down her hand and then turned green. She looked straight ahead as another red light scanned her eyes and then turned green. “All clear,” the guard said and handed her a badge. She didn’t glance at it as she stuck it on her shirt. A photo taken on her first day at work dwarfed the typed font next to it. She didn’t even look like the women in the picture anymore. She’d become anorexicly thin and the hair she once straightened every morning was now left in a curly black mess. She wore only foundation and lipstick for makeup. The most obvious difference was her smile. She never used her eyes to smile anymore, not like in the picture and especially not today. The text next to the picture read Dr. Barbara Hahn, PhD., NAC. The line below it was in even smaller print and italicized: Senior Associate Director of Experimental Research.
She walked around the U-shaped security area and stepped into the atrium. The alarm triggered if someone stepped from the emerald green border to the avocado carpeting without going though the security U. The atrium was a vast lounge for the scientists. The ceiling above them raised the six stories that was the Pearlman Institute. Babette headed for one of the lifts.
The lifts were white circular platforms with podiums attached on the front of them. There was enough room for three normal sized people to stand comfortably. The atrium was lined with lifts. The ones on the left went to the offices and conferences rooms. The ones on the right went to the labs and basement. Babette headed to the right, peeled her ID off her shirt and swiped it across the podium. It lit up with a blueprint of the Institute. Almost all the rooms were out lined in blue except a few offices on the sixth floor and labs that were outlined in red. She didn’t have clearance for the red rooms. Babette clicked on one of the blue rooms and the lift elevated. Green letters scrolled across the screen reading: Hello, Dr. Hahn. You have no messages. The lift elevated above the ground for five seconds as the green carpeting below it retracted revealing a hole the size of the lift. The lift floated straight down. Stopping when it reached cement and green letters scrolled along the podium again: You may now exit the lift. Have a great day!
Babette found herself taking a deep breath before entering her lab. Normally she walked right in, proud to be in charge. Now she was preparing herself for what was just past the thick black doors with the large white # 6 on them. Pushing them open she found Alex pacing across the workroom. The workroom was the outer chamber made entirely of cement. Two metal desks lined either wall and experiment equipment filled the rest of the room. Shelves hung from the walls filled with numerous chemicals and more were stocked in the store room in the inner chamber.
“Babette!” Alex cried the moment the doors opened. The look on Babette’s face said it all. Her eyes slanted and her mouth frowned in disgust. However it was the expression in her eyes that really got to people, a dark light came into them like an eclipse. Whenever she used this face everyone always believed what she told them. No one wants to argue with someone who looks like they could kill you. Alex, even after the numerous times Babette gave him that look, never got the hint. Then again, Babette thought, maybe she’d used it so much the effect had worn off. It wasn’t that she hated Alex it was just that he was too young, too cocky. While Babette was passing her prime Alex was still in his early 20’s. He was attractive like a puppy dog.
“Babette! What are we going to do?” His voice cracked as he spoke, his eyes looked as though they were going to pop out of his head.
“Look,” she paused, “Alex,” she said his name like she was wiping dog crap off her shoe, “Everything is under control there is no reason to get upset.”
“Under control!” He lowered his voice for a moment, “They look worse today than yesterday. Babette, they’re monsters. You created monsters!” He looked her straight in the eyes, much like a parent does to a child they don’t think understands.
Babette couldn’t stand this treatment from a kid. Unconsciously she clenched her hand into a fist.
“I can’t believe you did this in the first place,” he continued, “What are you going to do when Dr. Pearlman finds out?”
Babette regarded him coolly, her facial expression blank, she stuck her fist behind her back, and lowered her voice, “How is Dr. Pearlman going to find out?”
“We have to tell him!” Alex yelled his beautiful blue eyes wide with shock.
Babette hated his perfect features. More than once she’d seen him stop a girl in her tracks with a wink. “Lower you voice, Alex. It’s ok,” she stepped toward him, ready to punch his angelic face.
“Babette,” Alex said, “you’ve mutated humans!” He leaned in closer to her, “You haven’t seen them today,” he whispered.
Babette tried to act solemn but the excitement was too much, “They’ve changed since yesterday?”
Alex gulped and nodded.
“Have you taken them out of the AU yet?” Babette asked walking over to her desk, her heels clicking on the cement floor, and took her white lab coat off the hanger.
“No, not yet,” Alex said starting at Babette.
“Then why did you get to work so early if you weren’t going to do anything?” She pulled the blue gloves onto her hands and held her chin a little higher.
“I didn’t want to do anything without talking to you. I couldn’t sleep last night at all, either. I can’t believe you went behind my back and used human beings before testing the elixir.” Alex pulled his gloves on hastily.
Babette cringed at his statement unwilling to openly admit her mistake. “Alex,” she said walking toward him slowly. “I am sorry that I broke your trust. I just thought I was doing a greater good to society. Immortality is important. Look, I’ll go talk to Dr. Pearlman today about reversing the effects.” She brushed his cheek with her glove. She stood three inches taller than him.
His mouth dropped open in surprise, “O…ok,” he stuttered.
“Good, follow me,” she said sliding her ID on the door to the inner chamber.
The cages smelled of blood and urine with a hint of ammonia. Babette was use to the scent however Alex had to cover his nose, like the sensitive puppy he was.
The clipboard Babette was holding clattered to the ground as she put a hand over her mouth to hold in her scream. Alex picked up the clipboard and leaned near her ear, “I told you they were different.”
Babette turned to him, “I had to yawn,” her eyes were dark. Alex still looked smug. When she turned around, however, she had to close her eyes for a moment and catch her breath.
The Tarvins looked worse than she remembered from yesterday. The one in the cage before her stared with its beady black eyes and one of its heads snapped at her viciously. Their once human skin had thinned and stretched over their now deformed bones. It was translucent and rubbery looking making the creature appear weak. Babette wanted to touch it but refrained. The body still retained the human shape. The only difference was that the creatures walked on all fours now, their fingers shrunk in the mutation and became apelike. The most disturbing result from the mutation was their heads. A once normal human head exploded overnight or at least that was what Babette assumed covered the back of each of the cages. Each cage had blood splattered against the back of it with what looked like bits of brain mixed in. The background made the creatures seem even more horrifying than before. The neck elongated and was covered in scales and feathers. Two heads sprouted in place of the human one from the neck, one bird like with a sharp beak and black feathers. The second was the head of a snake covered in red scales with a sharp horn the color of coffee stained teeth. Each head had its own unblinking black eye. Both heads had their attention fixed on Babette. She had never encountered anything like this during her years of experimenting.
“Babette?” Alex asked after a minute of silence.
She could see the sweat on his face. “Come along,” Babette said, recovering quickly, “let’s check the AU.” She hoped the results there would make the experiment worthwhile. For the first time in her life she was regretting an experimental decision. She felt sick to her stomach but knew she couldn’t show her anxiety to Alex.
The AU was a time device used to experiment immortality. Twenty on them lined the right side of the wall, a Tarvin locked in each. The first one had been set at the lowest level, 1. When put in the AU one day equaled one year in this way Babette could test immortality or how long a person could survive. A normal human could last until set at 100, one day equaled 100 years. Normally the human died soon after.
The first Tarvin looked as horrific as the first. It tried to ram its shiny white horn into the side of the AU, attempting to break free. Alex jumped, Babette laughed feeling better now that the Tarvin could live at least a year. “Stupid Tarvin, you can’t get out of there. Not unless I let you.” She poked the glass and the Tarvin tried to attack her again. She walked over to the next one which had been set on 10. It looked just as healthy as the other. “Are you taking notes?” Babette asked. She felt more confident. She would be reworded for this discovery.
“Of course,” Alex answered.
The next AU was set at 50. This Tarvin looked just as healthy as the previous. They walked down the row of AUs and each Tarvin seemed just as alive as the next. Babette’s ego grew.
“Babette!” Alex shouted when they reached the end of the row.
“What?” Babette asked turning towards him, her voice dripping with venom.
“You put it on 1000! You’re never supposed to turn it to 1000 not without Dr. Pearlman’s permission!”
“That is how we test immortality, Alex. You don’t know if something will live forever if you don’t test it.” Babette tapped on the glass of the final AU. The Tarvin stared at her with beady black eyes and moved its head either way. “It’s still alive.” Babette’s eyes widened. “It’s still alive!” She turned toward Alex, “Can you believe it? I have discovered some sort of immortality.” Her smile was one of mockery. “This was all worth something, Alex.”
“We’ve discovered nothing except how to mutate a few hundred humans into half bird half reptiles.” He glanced around the room sadly, “I still can’t believe you tested it on humans first.”
“Who cares? If a few hundred humans have to be sacrificed for the sake of a million, who cares? We discovered immortality! Something in that elixir had the ingredients to create immortality. I just have to isolate that factor and then immortality will be more than just a legend.” Babette began to walk back to her desk, smiling as brightly as she did in her ID photo.
“Babette, come on!” Alex said catching up to her, “Think seriously. What are we going to do with all of these ‘Tarvins’ as you call them?”
“We’ll test them a bit and then kill them.” She looked Alex directly in the eyes. “No one needs to know about this.”
“You’re killing human beings!” Alex cried. “Dr. Pearlman needs to be made aware of this, it’s immoral.”
“Alex, look around your self. These aren’t humans anymore.” Babette threw her arms up in exasperation. He was so stubborn.
Alex walked past Babette and into the workroom. Babette followed him, concerned that he’d do something rash. “I was looking at your research papers…” Babette coughed. Alex glared at her and continued. “From all the formulas you used and the ingredients and the way the elixir was prepared it seems that only the outside of the Tarvins was changed. They should still be able to think like humans. It’s my hypothesis that the Tarvins could be changed back to human if more research was done. That’s why we must tell Dr. Pearlman. He can start research immediately.”
Babette paused for a moment. She mulled over this idea in her mind. “We could start research now. I have an idea of where to start from. We can just let Dr. Pearlman know about it a little later, when we’ve looked more into the idea of changing the Tarvins back. If we tell Dr. Pearlman now do you know how much trouble we might be in?” Her voice had turned sweet and soft. It was like she was coaxing a dog to do a trick.
“Well…okay but just remember you’ll be the one in trouble. I didn’t have a clue that you were going to do this. I wouldn’t have let you if I’d known.” Alex glared at her again. Babette could feel his anger across the room, not that it bothered her. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee,” Alex said taking off his lab coat and gloves and walking out the door.
“That’s why you didn’t know,” Babette said under her breath once the door slammed shut. She reached under her desk and pulled out two test tubes. The golden liquid slid along the glass of the tube as Babette tilted it back and forth. She grabbed a beaker off a shelf and poured both of the tubes in it. She picked out the largest needle she could find from the drawer and pulled the plunger of the syringe back. Then she inserted the syringe into the beaker pushing down on the plunger. She pulled back and the golden liquid filled the syringe. She clicked her fingernails against the barrel of the syringe three times, her good luck charm, and set it down on her desk. She picked up a few of her research papers and spread them out in front of her. Her excitement was overwhelming. She had found immortality. The door opened then and Alex walked in.
He sat down calmly. “How’s the researching going?”
“Where’s your cup of coffee?” She countered smiling at his paled expression and then continued, “It’s going well, actually. I think I know how to fix the problem.” She grabbed the syringe first and then picked up the papers effectively covering it. Walking over to Alex she continued speaking, “I want you to take a look at this chart. It looks as though if we mix Hyrdaglicerine and Nendophdrine we could change the effects of –” Alex reached out to take the papers from her. Babette lunged foreword sinking the syringe into his arm. Alex let out a yowl of pain reverberating across the cement room. He sunk to the floor and began to whiter in pain. Babette watched as his blue eyes began to turn a cold hard black and his skin began to stretch like a worm was crawling underneath it. She picked him up from the scruff of his neck like a puppy and dragged him into the cages. All the while Alex convulsed, his tongue began to turn dark purple. Babette tossed him into an open cage at the end of the row and locked the door. She turned her back to him as his neck began to elongate.
When Babette reentered the workroom a message was scrolling along the top of the wall by the clock. “Dr. Hahn and Dr. Scriven, please report immediately to Dr. Pearlman’s office.” Babette smiled to herself, just as she’d thought. The little rat had told on her. She dumped the syringe in the trash. Then she pulled out a piece of paper and began to write a note.
She scanned her ID on the lift but this time chose one of the red area offices. Permission granted, scrolled along the screen. The lift rose to the top of the six story building. Babette walked across the avocado colored carpeting to the thick wood door inlaid with gold reading: Dr. Issac Pearlman, CEO, PhD, NAC. Babette took a deep breath. This was her second meeting with Dr. Pearlman, the first was on her first day on the job.
“Come in,” the voice behind the door said. Babette twisted the handle and opened the door.
In the cages, Alex’s head blew up to the size of a balloon and then exploded with an apocalyptic pop. His neck elongated and two heads sprouted from it developing rapidly as the double dose of DNA mixed within his now deformed body. His skin had shriveled up to a thin outer layer that barely covered his bones.
“Dr. Barbara Hahn and where is Dr. Alex Scriven?” The man who spoke was bald with no facial hair except two well tweezed eyebrows. He sat in a large chair that made him look small and he wore a fake smile that Babette recognized as one she had used many times. His desk was huge dwarfing him in size. The carpeting in his office was a crimson red. Several trophies, awards and certificates hung on the walls. Babette recognized one of them that she had herself, the National Alchemist Certification.
Two brains began to develop in Alex’s heads. They started small at first but because of the hormones in the elixir they grew twice as large every two minutes, until they reached full size. His skin pulled tight along his new joints becoming an almost transparent white.
“I’m afraid, Dr. Pearlman, that my co-scientist, Dr. Alex Scriven has committed suicide. He left this note.” She set the letter down on Dr. Pearlman’s desk. “He was so upset by creating the ‘Tarvins’, as he calls them that he couldn’t bare to live. I’m sorry sir. I feel that it may be partly my fault since I urged him to tell you the truth but after he reported the mutation to you he could no longer bare to live. I am so sorry that I could not stop this from happening.” Babette collapsed into a chair her curly black hair covering the smirk on her face.
Dr. Pearlman stood up and he really was as small as the chair made him appear. Babette always thought of him as taller. “It’s not your fault Babette.” He patted her gently on the back. “He made a terrible mistake. He would have been fired anyway at least now he doesn’t have to live with the shame.”
Alex knew the cages well and an unconscious part of his memory still retained the fact that at one time he had been human. He began to drill his horn, a rust color, into the screws. He was going to escape.
“However this is an interesting discovery. Do you know how it worked?” Dr. Pearlman asked, he rubbed his hands together like a preying mantis.
“I do,” Babette said, “Alex kept very detailed papers. The creatures are immortal, sir, he put one in the AU for 1000 years.”
“That’s against policy without my permission.” Dr. Pearlman said loudly and then softened his voice, “Immortal you say, well that is interesting. This is a huge discovery for us. Could you run some more tests and isolate the immortal factor?”
“I believe I could, sir,” Babette said overjoyed by the way her plan was working.
“Then I believe that you might be in line for a promotion,” he smiled at her without his eyes.
Suddenly an alarm rang out through the building. Dr. Pearlman listened for a moment, “That’s the intruder alarm!” He ran out of his office and Babette followed, the two looked out over the atrium. People began screaming down below and Babette watched in horror. A hundred Tarvins ran toward the doors and windows breaking them open with their beaks and horns, running over anyone in their way. The security guards tried to shoot them but the creatures were too fast. No one knew whether to go after them or not, nothing like this had ever happened.
“Babette!” Dr. Pearlman growled and he suddenly looked very tall.
“Fuck,” Babette said and, for the first time since she worked at the Pearlman Institute, began to cry.
.
.
what else can I say...whoa
Gender:
Points: 890
Reviews: 20