Chapter 6: Amateur Mad Scientist
Carefully examining the vessel, Lucas observed that it was roughly the size of a child's fist and crafted not from glass but from a type of crystal. Its surface was smooth, with a faint glimmer from the objects within. With a mixture of curiosity and caution, Lucas gingerly uncorked the bottle, revealing exactly what he expected.
As a modern man, Lucas was very familiar with the sound of pills shifting in a bottle, and he identified it almost immediately. Taking a calculated gamble on the pill bottle, Lucas had already considered the potential outcomes. [The pills could fall into one of four scenarios: non-magical with a positive effect, non-magical with a negative effect (such as poison), magically detrimental, or magically beneficial.]
Lucas had weighed his options carefully, and recognized that the pill bottle offered the most potential benefits among the items. Even if the item proved non-magical, the pills still seemed promising regardless. Moreover he reasoned that testing a few pills on something other than himself would yield clear results. Given Malachi's penchant for novelty, Lucas speculated that the merchant would likely offer items with "novel" effects.
***
Blackport's abundance of food sprouted a sophisticated culinary culture ripe with unique ingredients, so understandably Lucas had no trouble acquiring a couple of small living animals for his experiment. The bottle contained nine pills, prompting Lucas to decide to use at least three of them for his tests. He procured three animals accordingly: one small ape and two rat-like rodent creatures. [Back on Earth, rats were often used in medical testing as proxies for humans due to their surprisingly similar reactions to medicines.] He chose the small ape for similar reasons, aiming to cover a range of potential reactions.
Back in the suite he had rented the previous day, Lucas set the cages on a long coffee table and retrieved one of the pills from the bottle. Its shape was familiar, but any resemblance to a typical pill ended there. Cast in what appeared to be pure gold, the pill defied expectations by being incredibly lightweight. Lucas marveled at its ethereal presence in his hand, its lack of density so profound that were it not for its cool touch, he might not have sensed its presence at all.
[Definitely leaning towards this being at least mildly magical.] Lucas thought to himself as he meticulously jotted down notes with the stationary he had found in his accommodations. Opting to write in English as an extra precaution, he recorded each detail of the experiment as it unfolded. Making eye contact with the cute little rodent creature he couldn't help but justify his actions to himself with thoughts like [ Animal testing is completely normal back on earth.] [Am I supposed to waste the obviously magical pills?]
"Sorry, buddy," Lucas apologized softly as he donned a pair of thick protective gloves, acquired from the same place he had obtained the animals. With care, he opened the cage and gently restrained one of the rodent-like creatures, using a finger to prop open its mouth. With his other hand, he deftly inserted the pill, maintaining a firm grip to ensure it remained in place.
Next, Lucas retrieved a cup of water and deliberated on his approach. Deciding on a gentle pour, he allowed a few milliliters to flow into the creature's mouth. With precision, he used his thumb to stroke the outside of its neck, encouraging the pill to slide down its throat. After which he gently placed the infuriated rodent back in its cage and intently observed it.
After several minutes of observation, Lucas's initial impression was one of horror. "What a vicious poison," he muttered under his breath. The first indication that something was amiss came when the rodent began to scratch itself. Initially inconspicuous, its actions grew increasingly frantic over time. The creature rubbed its body against the confines of its cage with frenzied energy, as if tormented by a swarm of glass needles coursing through its veins.
Stolen novel; please report.
As the rodent continued to rub its skin raw, blood began to ooze from its wounds. Yet, it seemed unfazed by the pain of its injuries, driven instead by the agony originating from the poison coursing through its system. It only stopped when every muscle convulsed, as if subjected to the worst Charley Horse imaginable, while its skin took on a reddish-pink hue. Small streams of blood trickled from its mucous membranes.
After enduring an hour of this torment, the rodent exhibited a symptom that left Lucas utterly perplexed. It began to vomit an action that, under different circumstances, would have been considered a normal bodily response. However, the contents of its vomit were anything but ordinary. Instead of the expected bile and fluids, the rodent expelled a substance resembling ash or dust. This white-grayish powder that was inexplicably dry for something that had just exited a living body, puzzled Lucas to no end. For five more hours, the creature writhed in pain and continued to regurgitate this mysterious powder, with each bout of vomiting adding to a small hill of the substance. As abruptly as it had begun, the vomiting ceased. Lucas gingerly removed the now motionless rodent from its cage, surprised to find that it was miraculously still alive. Though unconscious, presumably due to the stress of the ordeal, the creature appeared surprisingly healthy.
Lucas had taken note of the animal's heart rate and normal breathing patterns before the experiment both when it was at rest and when it was active, and while he lacked the tools and expertise of a modern scientist, he observed that they seemed to be more or less the same as the prior collected data. However, he couldn't ignore the large patch of raw skin. Though the injury had not miraculously healed, it had at least scabbed over. Lucas lacked sufficient knowledge about this specific animal to determine whether such a response was normal or not.
Despite feeling a pang of guilt, Lucas knew what he had to do. He couldn't shake the feeling that his next actions were somewhat cruel, especially after witnessing the rodent's resilience in surviving the horrific ordeal. Nonetheless, he steeled himself and reached for the last of the tools he had procured from the shop where he obtained the animals.
With one swift motion, Lucas brought the heavy cleaver down on the rodent's neck. The sharp blade effortlessly parted the flesh until it abruptly halted, failing to deliver a fatal blow in a single strike. The rodent began to flail frantically, managing to bite through Lucas's protective gloves and leaving a shallow gash. Despite its vicious struggle its death was inevitable and the rodent quickly succumbed to the immense blood loss.
After the adrenaline subsided he was rather confused and that only deepened as he inspected the cleaver, looking for what had gone wrong. His gaze fell upon a small semicircular dent, marring the otherwise sharp and clean line of the blade. This anomaly puzzled him further, but Lucas knew that he wouldn't understand the situation without further investigation. Resolving to dissect the rodent, he set to work, using his dagger along with his hotel suite's meal utensils.
It didn't take long at all to uncover something incredibly bizarre. With the first incision, Lucas noticed a golden shine—a closer look revealed that it wasn't residue from the pill, but rather one of the rodent's ribs. Over the course of the next ten minutes, he made a series of discoveries, every single bone and tooth had been transformed into a bizarre golden material, reminiscent in appearance and feel of the original pill.
***
Holding the cleaned skull in his hand, Lucas marveled at the properties of the unique material. [It was lighter than a feather, impossibly hard, and seemingly indestructible.] He had tried chopping it with the cleaver again, smashing it with a table, and using the fireplace tongs subjected it to an open fire for a good ten minutes. Pulling it out of the Flames he half expected to find it inscribed in Black Speech yet he found it utterly unchanged.
Staring absent-mindedly at the skull, the desire of consuming one of the pills filled Lucas to the point of almost throwing one in his mouth right there and then. If the pill had the power to transform the bones of the rodent into a seemingly magical incredibly strong material, would it have the same effect on his own body?