adamzapple
Really Really Experienced
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2009
- Posts
- 430
Mr Ugly.
The only way to prove a theory was to test it.
Professor Kei stood alone in the deserted laboratory and looked thoughtfully at the curious creature in the crude wooden crate before him. Outside, night was falling, inside, shadows spread from the corners of the large, modern laboratory. The high-ceilinged room was lit only by lonely pools of light from isolated work stations.
For three days the creature had defied all the attempts of the scientists and professors to classify it. “Species Unknown” was printed in stark black capital letters on a card fixed to the front of the crate.
The creature had been captured in a remote highland province and conveyed to the city where the scientists had sedated it and confined it in the crate inside the lab. But now Professor Kei was beginning to suspect that he knew what it was.
The possibility that he alone of all his learned colleagues might have guessed the truth about the creature’s origins filled him with a smug sense of satisfaction. If he was right his revelations would be a sensation, he would be rich, world famous, the renowned Professor Kei.
Inside the crate the creature was finally beginning to recover from the heavy sedation it had been given. Its eyes were now open and sometimes the wooden slats creaked softly as the creature slowly stirred inside.
Professor Kei nodded approvingly as he noted the creature’s slow awakening. Tonight he would begin his test to prove his theory. Everything was in place, all the necessary arrangements had been made.
He squatted before the crate and studied the creature through the gaps between the wooden slats. Such an ugly, curious thing, but fascinating, a marvel, a wonder.
“We all have a role, a purpose, in life,” he mused, “perhaps tonight we will begin to discover your secrets, too.”
Smiling to himself he felt a thrill of anticipation as his gaze wandered over the creature’s many tentacles. Soon all would be revealed, he was quite confident that his theory was correct, that he would soon achieve the acclaim that was rightfully his.
Professor Kei whistled absently as crossed the laboratory a few minutes later. Time was passing. He had arranged for a young, female lab-technician to work nights there and record any relevant observations that she noted, any changes in the creature’s behaviour and demeanour.
In every scientific endeavour it was always necessary to prove one’s theories. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made, but what could one do? His job was the advancement of knowledge and understanding and lab-technicians were plentiful.
Professor Kei paused at the door before he left the laboratory and looked back at the crate that held the creature. It bulked large inside the confines of the crate. Its tentacles stirred restlessly from time to time as the creature woke from sedation. The tentacles moved with an hypnotic and sensuous motion. Like a nest of sleeping snakes, he thought, as he stepped out into the corridor and closed the door.