Analysis of Mutant Genomes, Professor Vaughn Berkey, University of Washington, Free City of Seattle

-begin excerpt-

The term “Mutant” is very misleading and confusing at best. This colloquial use of language generally groups together any physical trait that deviates from the pre-Fall norms. Many forms of Basic-rank beasts fall into this category, as well as humanoids of various levels of deformity. At the same time, I dislike the term deformity as it has become a slur to most of us.

In beasts that fall under the umbrella term of “Mutant,” the body is physically changed in some way. The most common alterations that bestial mutants show are extra limbs, altered coloration, extra sensory organs, multiple heads, and the like. Humanoid mutants also show this level of physical alterations with far more superfluous, useless, or even painful mutations that we do not see in the bestial forms. The preponderance of these cosmetic alterations leads to a number of theories we will examine later in this thesis.

One thing to note is that advancing one’s species under the System has led to Anthropomorphic Animals, which do not fall under the Mutant umbrella as they are not mutated but evolved. Once evolved, the Anthro can no longer breed with the base animals but only those Anthros of their genotype.

All mutants can breed with similar mutants and unaltered versions of the base species. This means a two-headed purple rat can still inter-mix with a common brown rat or other mutant rats. Human-based mutants can freely intermix with other humans and human-based mutants. Children born of these unions are all mutants and often display similar mutations to those of their parents.

“Variant” is another term we will--

-end excerpt.

***

I examined myself in the mirror for a moment longer before I noticed that my clothes did not fit as well as they had. That’s not quite right. Finding perfectly sized clothing in a world of secondhand clothes was nigh impossible. My pants were too short, but the oversized t-shirt I normally wore was tight to my chest. Sweat pants it is. I dig through my closet and find the big paint-stained sweat pants I reserve for winter nights in the bottom of the closet. I sniff them, clean enough for now.

I head out into the central area of the apartment, senses tingling as information pours in. I will be overwhelmed in a moment if I don’t find a way to filter some of this information out. I pause in the doorway and imagine some sliders for my mapping and vibration senses. Like turning down the volume of an old boombox, I dial down the information coming in.

Tukey sits reading an old technical manual next to a tray with some fries and the remains of a burger. The sight of food ties my stomach in knots. I’m starving. I will literally perish if I don’t get something in my gut. Yesterday would be preferred. I head into the kitchen, but Lina is headed out with another plate.

I snatch it from her hand, and she scowls at me for a moment. “That’s mine!”

“Mine now,” I say, my voice is deeper, more masculine, cooler. Surprised by that, I sit down and lick the side of the burger before she can snatch it away.

“You’re so gross!” She turns back into the kitchen in a huff.

Tukey looks up from his book and smiles at me. “Evolved your species, huh?”

Smiling at him past a mouthful of fries, I nod.

He chuckles, “There’s no hunger like the newly evolved hunger. Eat up but then go out and find a restaurant. Don’t eat us out of house and home.”

“Yeah, jerk.” Lina comes back into the room with another plate of food and punches me in the shoulder. “Ow! Why did that hurt me?”

“Evolution, he’s much more than he was earlier today. You’ll get there.” Tukey said patiently but with a smile. I knew he loved us, but we were often a pain in the old man’s ass.

Rubbing a hand that would have knocked me sprawling this morning, Lina sat down to eat. I tried to sneak a fry off her plate, but she smacked my hand. Laughing, I grabbed my old leather bomber and scarf from my room; those at least still fit. Shoes were an issue, stomach grumbling; I slid my feet into a pair of too-small slides and headed out.

“Nice kicks, bro.” I heard Lina snark as I left the apartment. The vertical bolts slid home after I closed the door behind me.

I headed out and into town. Information flooded my senses. Everywhere I looked, I could see tool-tip markers. If I concentrated on one, a System message would pop up over it.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

[Davon - Anthro - Caretaker]

She caught me staring and waved with a smile. “Afternoon Izzy. Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry for staring. I just evolved, and I’m still sorting things out.” I said with a lopsided grin.

She smiled and looked at me knowingly, “No wonder you look different and are dressed like that. Well, good luck.” She waved and turned back to the four young kids chasing each other around the yard. She was a saint, always kind and caring.

I smelled food. I smelled meat, and my stomach grumbled alarmingly. I saw Davon’s ear twitch at the sound. I followed my nose—the scent of a very sexy curry calling my name like a Siren. I turned the corner and saw a welcome sight, Ada’s Indian. My favorite restaurant, owned by a family friend. I stepped into the low light, the smell of the spices, and what not, almost made me orgasm. Taking a deep breath, I pulled my coat off and held it in front of me to hide my excitement.

Ada was an antique Survivor like Tukey. Her family had owned and run this little restaurant for decades since the refounding of Columbus as a Free City. She was a mutant. The second set of smaller arms crossed in front of her as she sat on her stool. She lorded over the restaurant from the high stool, wooden spoon in hand. Her silver-white hair was tied back behind her as she smiled at me.

“Izzy, take table three.” She pointed with her spoon at a booth to the side. I slid into the booth, and Meera came out from the back. I could see Meera’s parents in the back. Meera’s dad, Sanjan, was working on the stove while her mother, Lakshmi, was working on something in the grow room. They raised their own spices in there that I knew. I had been over here with Tukey to fix the hydroponics on more than one occasion.

Meera, though, she was my age, and I looked at her with literally new eyes. She had always been pretty, but now there was a heightened level of excitement as she looked at me. Her smile tingled something in me. Her beautiful brown eyes widened as she saw me. She poured a glass of water and brought it over with some silverware.

“Izzy, how are you?” She asked a bit huskily.

What was this reaction? We had dated a bit when we were younger, but nothing serious. We had grown up together, and there was too much familiarity. “Um, I’m good, great, actually.”

She looked me up and down, “Yes, you are.” She smiled playfully. “Hungry?”

“Very much, I just evolved, and I’m starving,” I replied, now more hungry than ever.

“Oh really, no wonder you look…different.” Her flirtatious tone was thick and obvious.

“Stop flirting and feed him!” Ada shouted at Meera. Meera blushed and turned back into the kitchen. I watched her go. Ada laughed and pointed the wooden spoon at me threateningly.

I blushed, caught!

Meera returned with a stack of naan and a big bowl of curried something. I didn’t care. The hunger of my stomach overrode any other thoughts. I mumbled thanks as my whole focus turned toward the food in front of me.

Three bowls and a tower of Naan later, I was finally satisfied. Ada and Meera had served other customers but had kept an eye on me. I had kept an eye on Meera, careful not to get caught again.

As I sat eating, I discovered that my vibration sense couldn’t quite see through clothing but could detect solid things under clothing. One guy who had come in during my feast carried a pistol under his shirt. I could see clearly that the denser material reflected the sound waves better than soft clothing. He was a regular, and Ada greeted him by name.

After an hour of eating and watching, Meera slid into the booth across from me. Ada had stepped into the back to help make more food. She leaned forward, “Why don’t you sneak into my window like old times tonight?” She had always been forward and a bit shameless. Goosebumps ran down my back.

“Uh, sure. I can do that.” She winked and slid back out of the booth as Ada returned to the front area.

The old woman smacked Meera on the shoulder with the spoon and glared at me. Meera scuttled back into the kitchen. She came to stand at the side of my table, “Congratulations on evolving, Izzy. You have always been a friend to our house.” She glanced back at the kitchen with a grin, “Don’t make me a great-grandmother just yet, okay?” She winked at me before taking her stool.

I sat flummoxed for a moment before a notification hit me—the bill. The System had removed the need for physical money; it had universal credits with which anyone with an interface could interact. I paid and left a big tip, and headed out. Meera gave me a smile and a wave from the doorway to the kitchen as I went. Whoooo, yeah, that was new.

I headed into the city. I had things to do now that I could think clearly. First, pants and shoes. I swung into a thrift store for pants. Levi’s really did last forever, and I need some new ones. Some ‘new-to-me’ pants and a pair of well-worn combat boots, and I was back in business.

I headed back toward the outskirts, time to get used to this whole evolution thing. I thought about the Explorer occupation and looked at my minimap. There were a ton of places I hadn’t explored. I also needed to get into some fights and test out this Vibrating Strike skill. What did ‘disrupt” actually mean in this case?

I also need to get my bike, if I can find it. The old trusty thing had been through a lot with me over the years, and I wanted that back. So I headed east. The mutant rat hive would be a good place to start. I hate those things, but there’s a bounty on them, so why not?

After some distance, I start jogging, cutting through parts of the city I usually avoid. Taking turns on my minimap that I normally wouldn’t. My vibration sense and new minimap functions highlight areas as I run. I watch my experience tracker tick upward slowly. So just passing through got me a bit, but I could see the insides of the wrecked buildings were still mostly gray. I hadn’t fully ‘explored’ them to the System’s satisfaction to get the experience. Free experience for running around? Sure, I don’t mind that at all.

I jog for hours, and my new Stamina level barely dips. Also, damn, I’m moving as fast as I used to sprint at a jog. This fucking rules!

Finding the ruined bike is not as easy as I thought. The fires had kept burning and were still smoldering in some spots. The cows were gone, but I knew the general area, and my vibration sense pings off the metal after I whistled a few times. I need to find a better way to make noises in places where it’s just me and the wind.

It’s covered in soot, and the rubber is melted and burnt off the tires. I hoist it to a shoulder and start to jog back toward the rat hive.