Anthro: Chapter 6

Sixth chapter of my novel in the works, looking forward to some comments and details!

CHAPTER SIX

 

Upon reaching the dance hall, which Terra was relieved that the boys actually knew where it was, they were pleased to find that the dance had started later than the said time. Due to some “technical difficulties” with the DJ’s equipment most students had been kept outside until the problem was fixed. With luck, a student band known as Iron Kast Primate had agreed to play for the dance while the DJ fixed the systems programming. In reference to the band’s name, each member was of a different species of primate.

As the students listened to the music Terra nearly fell over laughing when she spotted Gregory Anderson was the lead drummer of the band. Gregory looked so much unlike himself with his tie around his head and his sport coat about his waist.

When the band finished their latest song the DJ’s voice came on over the speakers.

“Alright then! Let’s give it up for Iron Kast Primate! Let’s make it loud people, come on!”

There was a deafening concussion of clapping, whistling and cheering from the audience as the band took their bows.

“Okay! Well thanks guys for filling in, the school is in debt to you for your assistance! Anyway, now that the equipments up let’s cool things down a bit…with a little slow dance. Find a partner guys and gals and hold them tight, this first one is a special dedication to you lovers out there. If you came alone, hey, that’s cool! Find a seat a chill out for a bit; we’ll let you know when you can get back to getting your groove on.” The DJ said as he dimmed the lights and an old mirror-ball lowered from the ceiling. 

Sly and Shep led the girls out onto the floor as others found their dates. Meanwhile singles walked off taking a seat around the floor.

The music began and a few screams and cheers rang out as some dancers recognized the song.

Terra looked up into Sly’s sea-green eyes. He smiled at her as he carefully pirouetted her about then brought her back to him. Terra laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes listening to the beat of his heart as they swayed about the floor.

Eventually, the two came up next to Ashia and Shep and they switched partners for a moment. Shep was an equally good dancer in comparison to Sly. Terra began to realize that maybe if Ashia had won their bet, going out with Shep wouldn’t have been so bad. They swapped back after a few minutes; Terra felt better dancing with Sly all the same.

When the song finished Terra gazed up to Sly again, she felt her face flush with heat as he kissed her on the lips. Though it was only brief, to Terra it felt much longer and a warm feeling swelled in her chest.

“Truly…a very-beautiful song really, almost made me cry.” The DJ said with a fake sob, as he brushed at his eye, some awed with sympathy while others laughed at the sarcasm. “Ahh, that’s enough of that, now then let’s get this party on fire! Here’s an old favorite y'all its- what? Oh, yeah sure no prob! Go right ahead! Okay, scratch that dancers, clear the floor a bit, for your very own Professor D. Gaustler would like to have a word, give it up y'all!”

As people backed off from the floor a cacophony of applause erupted as a tall, astute, middle-aged man walked onto the floor. The man sported a long white lab jacket with a lake green turtle neck underneath, tan dress pants and black polished shoes. His face was warm and kind and his smile was broad as he waved and shook hands with a few students about him. He stopped in the center of the floor and cleared his throat and held up his hand to quiet everyone. When there was silence, he began.

“Good evening my dear students, and welcome to your first year here at PictBridge University. I like my other colleagues are pleased that all of you successfully made it here just fine. Now I suppose that before coming up here most of you heard from your parents about your past as they were supposed to properly inform you. For those who did not hear, allow me to explain in brief so you understand why you are here.

“Nineteen years ago, my colleagues and I had worked on a project known as the Anthrosapian experiment. Our goal was to create a race that combined the traits, features, and actions of both animals and humans. The result was of course all of you. We created this university especially for each of you and your peers so that we can study, observe and educate every one of you, your privacy will not be interfered with let me assure you.” Gaustler explained, some students sighed with relief at this note.

 “A colleague of mine or myself shall be present in your classrooms to monitor your progress throughout the year. Now, onto a more important matter. I gather that a few of you might have received a different type of room key from the front desk when you registered if I’m not mistaken?” Gaustler asked looking about at the body of students.

Terra’s ears picked up, she recalled the key she had been given was obviously different from others, and if she was so important to have such a key she was going to finally find out why.

“The key is decorated with the university colors and has your name etched into its surface, your past has a different story, an addition, so to speak. You have been presented with this key because you are a survivor, during the final stages of the race’s creation; a man by the name of Howard V. Staul had attempted to remove your animal DNA from the stasis chambers that you were born in. Without that DNA in your system, you would have died.

“Luckily, we were able to save you by replacing the lost DNA with spare samples that were not in use. It was a risk but we saved as many lives as we could, I would rather not linger on this subject much longer but if you are one of the few who have received such a key, I ask of you to attend an important meeting in the basement of the administration building at five thirty in the morning next Thursday. Also, if you are one who received such a key, do not, by any means; tell anyone, that you are in possession of it. That is most important on your part. No one must know. Thank you and from the rest of the staff her at PictBridge University, good night, good luck, and have a great year.” The professor finished and was applauded as he left the building.

     “Alright, now let’s get things going again! Here comes the Casper Slide!” The DJ called over the speakers and people began to head out onto the floor.

     The four friends danced and partied on into the late hours of the night; only until they had enough energy left to walk did they eventually head back to Safters hall. Once they finished each of their farewells, the two roommate pairs parted and headed for each others dorms. Terra yanked back the covers and crawled into her bed. She was worn out from the dance that she hardly had the energy left to hang up her dress; she soon drifted off to sleep in the comfort of her new room.

     That night, Terra’s dreams brought up a very old and forgotten memory from her past:

 

Terra was suspended in water and everything around her had a bright green tint, suddenly from her right a blurry shadow appeared. It came directly up to her and starred through a concave glass surface before Terra. There, a vile looking man with slick, black hair, thick-rimmed glasses and a sharp goatee grinned at her maliciously placing his hands on the glass. The man was whispering something to her, but she couldn’t hear what it was, next, he bent down and tugged at something below him and Terra’s vision fogged over for a moment so all she could see was white.

Next thing she saw was a faint red glow blinking outside the glass and the same man looked back in on her, he had mixed emotions of fear and hatred on his face. The man dashed away and Terra’s eyes closed again.

When she opened her eyes a bright light was shining in on her. She couldn’t block it, but the light eventually flicked off and a shadow of another person appeared, he bent down then stood back up. The green water around Terra illuminated and bubbled briefly then shifted to neon orange.

 

Terra rolled over in bed and continued sleeping; whatever it was about, she did her best to put it back where it came from, away in the depths of her mind.

 

*Click* “-at the studio, I’m Kevin Lousar, thank you for joining me on this grand Wednesday morning, coming up, we have news, traffic and weather reports for you but right now here is Karen Parr with “How it once was”. Right here on your soft favorites station-” The DJ spoke softly on the radio as the music began to play in the background. Terra lazily tapped the snooze bar from her bed after feeling around for it.

She groaned as she rolled back over, encasing herself completely within the warmth of the bed covers. If it was at all possible she could, and would, stay in bed for the rest of the day. Sadly, her stomach began to claw at her impatiently.

“To early, need sleep.” Terra mumbled to herself. Her stomach persisted until she gave in.

Terra pulled back the covers carefully and swung out of bed. She felt then herd her arms and back pop back into position as she stretched. Her stomach gave another growl to get her moving.

“I’m g-going already! Jeeze!” Terra replied yawning widely then stumbling out into the common room still stretching.

Terra rubbed her eyes to see Ashia sitting at the small kitchenette table, clicking and typing away on her laptop.

“Morning.” Terra said starting off the exchange of pleasantries.

“Mm-hmm.” Ashia replied through a sip of coffee.

“Sleep well?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Typing a paper or something?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Got a lot to do?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Can I barrow twenty bucks?”

“No.” Ashia answered flatly.

“Just checking.” Terra finished placing a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave.

Terra waited as her breakfast heated up and pulled it out once it dinged. She walked over and placed the bowl before her spot at the table

“So, watcha looking up?” Terra asked after cooling her food.

“Eh, not much, just some, you know, stuff.” Ashia responded casually over her screen.

Terra rolled her eyes, “No, I don’t know what stuff you’re talking about, mind sharing with those of us less informed?”

“It’s just some old articles about us, the Anthrosapian experiment and all. Kinda impressive really.” Ashia explained.

“Neat. Mind if I take a peek?” Terra asked after swallowing a spoonful of her breakfast.

“Scoot over then.” Ashia invited and Terra moved around to Ashia’s side.

Terra blinked as her eyes adjusted to the bright screen before her. When she could see clearly she began to read the old news clipping that had been scanned onto the website:

 

FIRST ANTHROSAPIAN EXPERIMENT

SUCCESSFUL!

Chris Harper

Billings, Montana

The labs of Geneatacell have successfully brought into the world the very first member of their human/animal race experiment (see photograph below). Named Buck L. Waterson or “Bucky” for short. This half human, half beaver-like child was released from its birth chamber this morning a little after 6 o’clock. The creature is apparently healthy and well and is currently being raised and cared for by the team of scientist at the lab.

 

Nearby residents of Billings find this act of science a sin against God and natural creation and currently are in the attempt of shutting down the labs for act of restricted animal and human testing.

“We have no proof of any wrongdoing of the scientist and their experiment.” Says Mayor Chaulbek at today’s state meeting. “As long as no one is harmed and or injured in any way there is no reason to stop funding the laboratory.”

 

Other citizens support the Geneatacell labs and are happily donating to the effort to help the creation continue forward until it is completed. Many feel that a new race put into society will provide reasoning to others who feel no respect for the animal race.

The Billings Gazette will keep up with the progress of this new and exciting creation as it slowly progresses. So far there is an expected 1,087 breeds of Anthrosap-

(Continued on B6)

 

Ashia scrolled down the page to continue the article, pausing to see the printed picture. In it, at least sixteen men and women stood smiling and in dead center stood a younger Professor Gaustler. He was holding a furry bundle in his arms; with a black nose and long buckteeth it was obviously the newborn Anthrosapian known as Buck Waterson. Terra looked among the other professors and caught sight of an unmistakable face among them as Ashia began to scroll down the page.

“Wait, wait! Go back to the photo real quick!” Terra asked pointing at the thin line of the photo above on the screen.

Ashia did; a shiver ran down Terra’s back as the same thick glasses wearing goatee man from her dream last night stood among the others in the photo. He was the only scientist who had chosen not to smile for the photograph. Ashia seemed to notice Terra’s surprise.

“In case you’re wondering, that guy second to the left is the same Howard V. Staul professor Gaustler had talked about last night. You know the DNA thief?” Ashia pointed at the man and Terra felt her stomach flip inside.

“He’s one of them! A member of the Anthrosapian project!?” Terra exclaimed, feeling both anger and terror towards the man.

“Well, technically, he was one of them, after his little act, he was sent to prison; hold on, I dug up an article about him a little earlier. Let’s see…aha! Here we go. Criminal record and report for Howard V. Staul.” Ashia explained clicking through other minimized pages.

The page revealed a mug shot of Staul and brief info on him. Besides his name, birth date, age and crime committed everything from height and weight to date of release was blank. Ashia read the brief description given below.

“Howard V. Staul, former member of Geneatacell Labs was incarcerated on this day to Bo-Bolsh…err, forget it, prison in Russia. Arrest was sentenced for murdering twelve unborn beings and injuring five others. Staul has been sentenced to a lifetime in prison.” Ashia read the small briefing under the photo “Other than that little bit there’s not much more really worth reading. So how did you happen to recognize him from the photo?”

Terra told Ashia all about the strange memory from last night. When she finished, Ashia paused before answering.

“Odd, I wonder if by appearing in your dreams, it was trying to convey something. What do you think of it?” Ashia inquired snapping shut her laptop.

“I don’t know, and frankly I don’t want to, I just want to forget it ever happened.” Terra said crossing her arms and laying her head down on the table.

“Well, if I were in your position, I’d share this with someone who might be able to tell you more about it, like, professor Gaustler, I bet he could explain things clearly.” Ashia mused draining the last of her coffee and dropping it into the sink dishwater.

“Yeah, maybe next week at the Administration Building.” Terra figured audibly.

“The Administration Building?” Ashia inquired drying her glass.

Terra sat up in shock, realizing her mistake. She wasn’t supposed to reveal anything about being one of the special few to anyone! Not even Ashia. Quickly she thought up an excuse to cover her slip-up.

“Uhh, yeah, you know, before first period, I could catch a word with him before he meets with those special students.”

“Well, I wouldn’t doubt there would be a better time to meet with him so, yeah, that makes sense. Hey, want me to tag along?” Ashia inquired.

“No! I-I mean no, that’s okay, I’d be better doing this alone, no offense that is to you of course.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“Well okay, oh, by the way, Shep and I are gonna check out what’s playing at the cinema today, want to join? Sly will be coming by later.” Ashia asked pulling on a light jacket and brushing her hair out from the coat collar.

“When exactly? I was planning to take a shower since there wasn’t much time, ya know, last night and all.” Terra asked with a motion to the bathroom.

“Oh, no problem, take your time, Shep is gonna be awhile yet with looking up the movies on the net.” Ashia explained casually, which Terra was grateful to hear.

“Great, I’ll be quick, just to be safe.” Terra replied heading back to her room to find some casual clothes for the day.

Thereafter, Terra and the rest took in the delights the campus had to offer, with movies, hitting shops and catching an on-campus lunch. Terra slowly put the strange dream behind her and for once simply enjoyed the day laid out before her.

Author's Note

As stated previously here is the sixth chapter of my novel in the works...I am eagerly looking forward to some comments concerning this and previous chapters!