“So this belongs here and…”

Ryder carefully placed down a vial filled with a greenish-brown fluid into a slot of what looked like a PCR system. He was currently being led around by another researcher named Brigitte, who was quite the geeky girl.

“Good job!” Brigitte adjusted her glasses and nodded approvingly. “This machine allows for precise measurement of gene expression levels.”

Ryder smiled faintly, while the machinery here looked odd, they had pretty much the same function as the ones back on Earth. As he had worked with them a lot in his previous life, he knew them like the back of his hand.

It had been a couple of days since he was kidnapped by Tamsa, and to be honest, he sort of liked it here. Sure, when Dr. Krugal, the person who let him live on a condition first told him that he was in the laboratory of Tamsa, he was stuck in a state of shock for a couple of hours. But he learned to accept it quickly after being introduced to the laboratory, the place where he felt the most familiar with in this entire world.

Furthermore, this was not the only Tamsa laboratory, as there are a lot more spread about in the world of Krynn.

“So, Brigitte, what’s in that vial?” Ryder asked as he looked at Brigitte record some data on her laptop.

“Oh, that’s just some DNA samples of a low ranked demon.” Brigitte casually responded, as if what she talked about was normal.

“What do you need these DNA samples for?” Trying to obtain more information, Ryder continued questioning Brigitte.

However, Brigitte only looked at Ryder and smiled mischievously. “Let’s just say, we want to push the boundaries of the human body.”

Confused by her statement, Ryder could only wonder what she could have meant. He glanced at Brigitte, who was happily humming while checking on the other pieces of machinery.

They continued their tour, with Brigitte explaining the other various sections of the lab and their functions, including but not limited to genetic manipulation and hybrid creation. The more Ryder saw, the more he became sure of the differences between the laboratories on Earth and here.

First off, unlike on Earth, the laboratories here had no limits. And by limits, he meant ethical standards. Experimentations that would be deemed illegal back on Earth occurred on a frequent scale here. Although that was to be expected, since Tamsa was an evil organization after all.

Furthermore, even though Brigitte didn’t bother going into details about the experiments going on, Ryder could see different kinds of hybrids contained in large, nutrition tanks filled with a glowing fluid. They looked part human and part…something else, and some of the hybrids were barely distinguishable from humans at all.

There were lots of other researchers in the lab as well, but unlike Brigitte, they kept to themselves and barely talked.

“What’s up with him,” Ryder asked Brigitte as he pointed to a man who was sitting with his hands covering his face. He seemed to be lightly sobbing.

Brigitte looked at the man for a second before saying. “Oh, it’s just one of those researchers who got kidnapped and forced to work for Tamsa.”

“Oh…” Ryder didn’t know what to say. He then looked at Brigitte and said, “what about you?”

“I volunteered to be here, obviously,” Brigitte said while walking. “I mean, what other place in the world has such a beautiful lab!”

Ryder felt like he understood her, but he also didn’t at the same time. Finally, the duo reached the main research chamber, which was a large circular room filled with even more advanced equipment. What caught his eyes, however, were the large glowing runes etched on the walls and floors of the lab.

Brigitte noticed Ryder’s shock at the runes and explained, “those are the source of energy needed to power these instruments.”

Ryder nodded like he understood. In the center of the chamber stood Dr. Krugal, who was surrounded by a group of researchers. But unlike the previous researchers he saw, these seemed more intimidating, having a more serious aura around them. The duo’s sudden entrance caused Dr. Krugal and the team to look at the newcomers, and Ryder was startled by the attention placed on him.

The researchers’ eyes pierced through him, trying to gauge his intentions. However, Dr. Krugal waved them off, and the researchers quickly scampered off into the distance.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Ah, Ryder.” Dr. Krugal greeted him with a smile that didn’t seem like a smile. “I trust Brigitte has given you a good tour around the lab?”

“Yes, she has.” He replied, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

“Good, good.” Dr. Krugal said, turning around with his back facing Ryder. “Just so you know, I faked your death so your brothers wouldn’t get to you.”

Hearing this, Ryder’s eyes widened as he had already forgotten that his brothers had already defected to Tamsa. He hadn’t seen them in the lab, so they must be residing in another base.

“Thank you.” He expressed his utmost gratitude. Who knows what his brothers would do to him now that they weren’t in the castle anymore.

Dr. Krugal raised his hand, which meant to Ryder that it was not a big deal. “Although I don’t have much expectations, don’t disappoint me.” He then put his hands on his back. “Failure is not an option.”

A couple of hours later, Ryder was working with Brigitte yet again, as she was the only one in the lab that he was familiar with. Technically speaking, he wasn’t working just yet, more so like he was shadowing Brigitte. Basically watching what she does while questioning her.

“Hey Brigitte.” Ryder said while watching her utilize a micropipette.

“Yes?”

“Why did Tamsa decide to kidnap me?” Ryder asked. “I mean, I’m not special in any way.”

Brigitte set her pipette down and looked at him. “Did Dr. Krugal not tell you?”

Seeing Ryder’s clueless face, she sighed and then said. “Another goal of Tamsa is to capture individuals with bloodlines.”

Ryder raised an eyebrow. “Why bloodlines?”

Brigitte adjusted her glasses. “Well, individuals with bloodlines possess gene sequences that can be extracted and then implemented into others, thus transferring those bloodline powers.”

“I thought the gene sequences are unique to the person?” Ryder questioned. “Why could it be transferred from one person to the other?”

“Well, only the extra 10,000 special gene sequences are unique to the individual, the other 20,000 are not and bloodline genes are no exception.”

Ryder nodded slowly. “I see…”

‘No wonder why Dr. Krugal was so mad when he checked my condition, the me right now is even worse than that of a normal human being.’

He then glanced at Brigitte, who seemed to have shifted onto a new task. This time, she was a lot more serious, seemingly locked in on whatever she was doing.

“What are you doing?” Ryder asked, his interest piqued.

“I’m trying to combine the DNA of a human and a demon.” She responded while carefully preparing a couple of samples on a table. “The process is a bit tedious, but once you get the hang of it, it’s actually not that bad.”

Then, she walked over to a centrifuge and placed the vials into the slots. “First, we need to isolate the DNA from both the human and the demon.”

As the centrifuge started, Brigitte turned towards Ryder and continued, “the DNA of the demons is much different compared to humans and theoretically, it would be nearly impossible to combine the two different DNAs.”

While waiting for the centrifuge to finish, Brigitte continued explaining the process. “However, by using our specially designed restriction enzymes to cut the DNA at specific sites, we can create DNA fragments with compatible ends, even if the DNA are different.

After 20 or so minutes, Brigitte carefully removed the vials from the centrifuge and added the restriction enzymes. Then, she placed the vials into an incubator for the restriction enzymes to do their job.

Once the incubation period was over, Brigitte removed the vials and added a small amount of ligase to each of the vials. “The ligase enzyme will hopefully seal the fragments together and create a single strand.” She said while gently mixing the contents.

All this time, Ryder was watching her actions intently. “Hopefully?”

“Yea,” Brigette replied. “The combination of the fragments isn’t guaranteed. In fact, it’s almost less than 10%. Even if we used specially designed restriction enzymes to create the most compatible DNA fragments, there are still many uncertain variables.”

Brigitte’s face was quite solemn as she explained the details to Ryder. “There are just too many unknowns when working with the genes of a demon.”

Ryder nodded like he understood everything. “What happens next?”

“Now that we hope for the best that the ligase worked,” Brigette said while walking to another table. She came back with a stack of petri dishes prepared. “It’s time for these babies to undergo transformation. I’m going to use micro-injection to introduce the DNA into these bacterial cells.”

Just like she said, Brigitte used a micropipette to transfer the recombinant DNA into the bacterial cells.

“Now that these little fellas contain the DNA, we’re going to let them grow.” She said while placing the petri dishes into a separate incubator. “We will come back tomorrow to see if these colonies of bacteria have successfully transformed.”

Brigitte looked at Ryder and smiled, “that’s the process!”

Ryder smiled back wryly, “looks very fun.” He turned back towards the incubator and questioned, “hey Brigitte.

“Yea?”

“Why do you want to create hybrids,” Ryder asked. Although he kept it in all this time, he couldn’t help but feel this entire thing was wrong. It felt…inhumane.

“What a simple question.” Brigitte laughed. “Because it’s fun.”