Chapter 4

  When Deke got into the lab at 7:00 AM, he was surprised at what he saw. He wasn't usually the first person in the lab, but he usually wasn’t the last. This morning, he was the 4th one in the door. Unless you counted the Lab Rats, the Rhesus monkey, and the chicken. The animals were all securely in cages.

  “What's this?” asked Kelton.

  “I brought in the rats.” Said Beta. “I adopted them after I finished the psychology project. The black one is Cagney and the tan one is Lacey.”

  “I got the monkey from a friend in the veterinary department. He's recovering from the removal of the small growth on his foot. The monkey is recovering, not my friend,” said Chaz. “My friend said he wouldn't be missed today. Again, the monkey won’t be missed, not my friend.” The monkey chattered loudly, shook the door on the crate, and stuck his hand out of the wire mesh to fiddle with the latch. ”You really want out of there, dontcha buddy?”

  Alex stepped forward, holding the chicken in a small chicken wire box. “I borrowed this chicken from my Tia. It's going to be lunch on Sunday. So I figured, ‘What the hey?’ Check this out: I made the cage myself. If the physics stuff doesn't pan out, I can always be a cooper.

  “A cooper makes barrels,” corrected Beta.

  “I know, there are a lot of jobs that are misnamed. A cooper should make coops. For that matter, why do we call ourselves physicists? I think bodybuilders should be called physicists.” Alex was on a riff now. ”Chaz here is a perfect example of a physicist. Check out those guns. I don't know how he even got the lab coat on over those arms!”

  Kelton interrupted. “So, you guys are already on to animal experimentation? The oversight committee might have something to say about that. I think we've got a lot of ground to cover before we get there.”

  For the next few hours, the team ran more tests with materials at hand.

  They each took blood samples from themselves and quickly prepared slides. The monkey watched them intently. Chaz put the lancet to his fingertip and pushed out a drop of blood. The monkey got very agitated and began shaking the cage door, and despite the close quarters, it bounced from wall to wall in the cage.

  “What's gotten into you, buddy?” Chaz asked the monkey. “You've seen experimentation before, hmm?” He addressed Kelton. “The monkey must have seen and smelled this sort of thing before...”

  Kelton ignored the monkey. “OK, the slides are ready. Charge the capacitor. Let's get this run going while the blood cells are still viable.

  Chaz hit the function key that charged the capacitor. The monkey shrieked and cowered against the back wall of his cage, chattering. The chicken tried to flap its wings and pecked at its cage. The rats slept.

  This time, Alex recorded the experiment in video. Beta put three of the prepared slides with the blood cells in the box. She put three on the bench.

  “Get clear, Beta!” commanded Kelton. “Engage the field.”

  Chaz winced a little and hit the command key.

  SNAP

  Once again, the monolithic form sat in the middle of the lab. The monkey and the chicken settled in their cages.

  “That amazes me every time I see it,” said Kelton. The team nodded in agreement. “OK, disengage the field.”

  They each recorded their notes as they waited for the field to dissipate.

  SNAP

  The Box’s black sides disappeared. Beta snatched up the slides and took them to the microscope. The control slides from outside the box were already dark, and a crust had formed around the edge of the slide coverslips. The blood cells were definitely dead. Kelton peered into the microscope for a few minutes.

  Kelton turned to face Alex, who was still recording. “The control blood slides all have the appearance of having been created...” He checked his watch. “14 minutes ago. The samples retrieved from the device are still fresh, and the cells are still alive with significant activity consistent with a freshly drawn sample.” Kelton drew his finger across his throat to signal Alex to stop recording.

  Over the next few hours, they scraped cells from inside their cheeks; they took samples from standing water to see the effect on microorganisms. Always with the same result: no change was observed. New ideas for tests occurred to them as they waited for the field to dissipate after each experiment. They tried each new thought until late afternoon. The animals in the lab seemed to get more and more agitated with each test.

  “I think it's time to try Cagney and Lacey,” volunteered Beta.

  “We are not going to experiment on your pets!” Kelton was adamant. “I just don't think we have any justification for that right now – especially not for experimenting with anything that has a proper name.“

  Chaz huffed, “They're just stupid rats. And nothing will happen to them, and we've proved that over and over. And even if something we don't expect happens, nobody cares what happens to the filthy, greasy, stinking rats.”

  As Chaz spoke, Beta became visibly upset. Their eyes got wide; they took a deep breath, getting ready to explode into anger or tears.

  Alex nudged Beta. “I think he just became an astrophysicist,” he grinned.

  Beta stared at him blankly for a few seconds.

  “You know, ass-tro-physicist,” Alex prodded

  Beta burst out laughing. Kelton joined in with a little chuckle.

  “How droll…” Chaz said flatly. “You've been holding on to that one for a while, haven't you?”

  “For weeks now!” Alex said in triumph. ”Comedy is a demanding mistress.”

  Getting back to business, Kelton cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. “It's getting late and although it's not by the book, but… I've just got to know. Let’s run one more test with Tia Louisa's chicken.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Alex laughed. “Either way, the chicken is going to be Sunday dinner.”

  Beta shuddered at the thought of eating meat. While Beta recorded, Alex took the chicken from its cage and placed the chicken inside the framework. He crumbled a cracker in front of it, and the chicken pecked at the crumbs.

  “Charge the capacitor.” The capacitor whined. The chicken started to flap its wings in agitation. The monkey chattered, shrieked, and shook its cage wildly.

  “Engage the field quick!” Alex shouted.

  SNAP

  The black box reappeared. But instead of the usual smooth black sides, a chicken’s head and wing tip protruded from the inky blackness.

  “Disengage!” shouted Kelton. Chaz had already hit the kill button. The team watched helplessly as the chicken’s head and eyes jerked, its beak opening and shutting soundlessly and sporadically.

  Two officious knocks came at the door and in the door walked Robeson Tilly. Kelton and Alex stood between Tilly and the box. Beta quickly dropped a towel over the chicken's head. All four stood wide-eyed, staring at Tilly.

  Robeson looked quickly around the room. He took several quick, small steps toward the lab table that held the monkey and rat cages. “I don't recall any applications for animal experimentation from this lab. Who approved this?”

  “What, that? This is our bring your pet to work day!” chirped Alex. “We've all been feeling a little anxious lately, and Doctor Kelton thought these support animals would help lower our anxiety a little.”

  On cue, Beta pulled Cagney from the cage. She offered Cagney to Tilly. “You look like you could use a little snuggle right now.”

  Tilly scowled. “Get that filthy animal away from me.” He glared at Kelton. “I just came by to get a quick review of your progress. Your plan had such promise, but we haven't been seeing the result we expected.”

  Alex drew in a breath to say something. Beta elbowed Alex peremptorily. Alex stood down.

  Tilly paced slowly about the lab, counting out his footsteps. He checked out the shelves and the power supply. He completely ignored the black box. The only sounds in the room were Tilly’s footsteps, but everyone on the team heard the loud ticking of a clock inside their heads, ticking down the time when the field would dissipate and the chicken would start running around the room. Tilly went on, “You know there's a lot of competition for this lab right now. Step out of line and you are out on your ear. Get your reports up to date and on my desk. I want them by the end of the week.” Gesturing toward Beta, he said, “Get your girl to tidy up and get the reports in order. I want them by the end of the week,” he reiterated.

  “Girl?” Beta hissed. “I think it's apparent that we are non-binary. My pronouns are they/them. What’s more,” she turned to Alex, “How many microaggressions did you count?”

  “I kinda lost count,” said Alex with a blank, innocent look on his face.

  Tilly's eyes grew wide as he realized the minefield into which he had stepped. “I didn't mean you!” he sputtered. “I obviously was referring to his secretary, err, office assistant.”

  Beta enunciated each word. ”I happen to know that an office assistant was not approved on this project, and you, personally, were the one who cut the assistant from the budget.”

  “I'm sure you…both… are mistaken.” huffed Tilly as he backed out the door.

  The team drew and exhaled a collective cleansing breath. Alex started to chuckle. “I've never been more attracted to you than I am at this moment. That was magnificent!”

  Beta smiled back shyly at Alex.

  Chaz ran out the door and into the hall after Dr. Tilly.

  Alex moved to the box and pulled the towel from the chicken’s head. The head protruded from the smooth blackness at an odd angle. The beak was still. The chicken’s eyes looked glazed.

  “It looks like we've saved a step for Tia.” In a descending-pitch comic voice, he continued, “I don't think that's a healthy-looking chicken head.”

  Kelton glanced at the door. Very quietly, he pronounced, “This stays in this room. Just ourselves, got it?”

  SNAP

  Inside the framework, the chicken fell to the tabletop. It lay motionless for a few seconds. The team stared in horror. Academic discipline committees, fines, and expulsion flashed through their brains. Without warning, the chicken flapped its wings, and its legs kicked. It was suddenly up on its feet, wings flapping frantically. It fell from the tabletop and careened wildly around the room, crashing into cabinets and wastebaskets.

  “Grab it!” cried Kelton. The three were chasing after the chicken as it darted around the room. They bumped into each other and into the lab equipment in the chase. The monkey shrieked and jumped around its cage as though anxious to join in. It shook its cage door furiously. With each shake, the cage got closer to the table’s edge. Before anyone could react, the cage fell off the table, and the door to the cage sprang open. In a flash, the monkey joined in the chase, careening like a pinball across the floor. He ran to the rat cage and knocked it to the floor, shrieking in glee. The rat cage door popped open, and the rats joined the chase, scurrying across the floor.

  “Don't let the monkey get the chicken!” shouted Beta. Alex jumped between the chicken and the monkey, startled, howled, sprang to the shelves, and then jumped between the hanging fluorescent light fixtures. The lab was in pandemonium. The monkey threw books and feces at the team. Miraculously, one of the books hit the chicken as it darted between the table legs and knocked it off its feet. Beta threw the towel over the chicken. The chicken struggled under the towel but seemed to be calming down. The monkey continued to howl and throw things. Kelton turned his attention to the monkey and tried to reassure it.

  “That's good, that's good, that's good...” Kelton spoke calmly and quietly to the monkey on the shelf.

  “The chicken's dead,” Alex said flatly.

  Kelton shifted his attention to the chicken. “But that's impossible. That chicken was just running around like a,... Ohh… like a .… “

  “Like a chicken with its head cut off.” Beta finished Kelton’s sentence for him.

  “Dunh,da dunnn,” sang Alex.

  Kelton’s heart sank to his stomach. This was not going to end well.

  Chaz came back in the door. “Where did you go?” asked Alex.

  Chaz stammered “I just uh…”

  Crash! A Pyrex flask exploded on the floor. The monkey had discovered the lab apparatus display on the shelf. The floor was now slick with colored glycerin. Chaz was closest to the monkey. He put up his hands and approached the monkey slowly and calmly. “Good monkey, good monkey.” The monkey shrieked, pulled the test tube from the rack, and threw it at Chaz. Chaz ducked, and it shattered on the edge of the table.

  Kelton commanded, “You three take care of the monkey. I've got to secure the chicken.”

  Alex laughed, “That's a sentence I wasn't expecting to hear today; it's going in my journal!”

  Impatiently, Kelton turned to Alex and, under his breath, said, “Alex, please take this situation seriously.”

  As the three approached, the monkey continued to throw glassware from the shelf. It pulled the vacuum desiccator from the display rack and held it over its head.

  “No, no, not that one,” Chaz said as calmly as possible. To the team, he said, “Be careful; the glassware he's holding is dangerous. If that vacuum chamber shatters, sharp glass will be flying everywhere.”

  “We know what a desiccator is; just get it from him,” Beta whispered between clenched teeth.

  Chaz put up his hands and walked slowly and carefully towards the monkey. “Steady now, that's a good monkey.” The monkey seemed to relax a little and brought the desiccator glass down to its chest. Chaz continued to move slowly towards the monkey. He was within just a few inches of being able to take the desiccator from him. Lacey took the opportunity to scramble for shelter up Chaz’s pant leg. Chaz jumped and squealed like a little girl. The monkey screamed a blood-curdling cry, threw the desiccator, and jumped up and down on the shelf. Time slowed as Alex, Beta, and Chaz watched the glassware arc through the air and hit the ground right next to Doctor Kelton. There was a loud pop, and Pyrex exploded in every direction. One large and sharp shard hit Kelton just below his left earlobe. Kelton brushed it away and covered his hand in blood. He pressed his hand back to the wound, and blood spurted between his fingers. It spattered the floor, the table legs, and the bottom of the tabletop.

  “Whoa! That's a lot of blood! Call 911,” exclaimed Alex. The monkey shrieked louder at the smell of blood.

  “This isn't good,” said Kelton. “I'm going to bleed out before you can get an ambulance here. I’m already about to pass out.” Kelton pulled himself into the frame. Blood sprayed from between his fingers and onto the tabletop. “Charge the capacitor!”

  “But the chicken...” argued Beta.

  “The chicken had no blood or oxygen to its brain for 11 minutes. I'm going to be dead in 2 minutes unless we do something. Get me to the hospital and in the emergency room before the field dissipates. Got it?”

  “We gotcha, Doc,” Alex affirmed. Chaz and Beta nodded.

  “OK,” Kelton took a deep breath and checked his position in the frame. ”Engage the field.”

  SNAP