I made my way to the central area where Igor lay on the floor, his body convulsing. To my astonishment, his limbs began to separate from his torso, and scales emerged all over his mutating form. Slowly, he transformed into a monstrous rattlesnake, a grotesque blend of his former self and the serpentine creatures he had been so obsessed with. I decided to let him embrace his newfound form fully, granting him the gift of growing into a fearsome snake with horns, Bluetooth capabilities (for the amusement of piloting a Bluetooth mouse), and the ability to breathe fire, allowing him to enact his wild fantasies of rampage and hunting.

Yet, amidst the strange spectacle, there was another snake on the floor, one that appeared utterly forlorn.

"Igor," I addressed him, "I am quite certain you loved me so much that you took parts of me for yourself to study. After all, isn't study the art of getting to know each other better? So, allow me to introduce you, Mr. Rattlesnake or Igor Snake. I'm granting you a taste of the thing you loved so much: a limbless dragon. But a dragon without limbs is much like a snake, wouldn't you agree? Also, the good news is that you will no longer age. Isn't that superb? Oh, and did I mention that, just like me, you now have the ability to breathe fire? You may not have vocal cords anymore, but your hisses will be quite compatible with the others of your species."

"Oh, I almost forgot. As you seemed rather fascinated by my anatomy and how I make love, well, now you're like me—a dragon, an egg layer, a chick. Isn't that nice? And here's the latest great news: as a scientist, you'll have the exclusive privilege of studying yourself! You'll get to delve into the depths of your own existence. I've allowed Gorky to live because, you see, you two are such good friends. He'll be delighted to work with you again, or perhaps on you—I don't really know, and I don't particularly care. Oh, and one last thing, your calculations were spot on. I do indeed have a black hole within me. I can consume an entire planet within its entirety. And now, as I can move through space, I can devour the entire solar system and more. No jokes here—I'll show you."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

With that, I opened my mouth, and a foreboding black sphere appeared at its core.

"Congratulations, Igor. You are the first human, no, the first snake to have gazed upon a true black hole and lived to tell the tale."

My attention shifted to the surrounding structure. It resembled a massive sphere with towers that extended toward the upper levels. This sphere was intriguingly designed, with various rooms, including hangars, jail cells, a conference room, bedrooms, and garage access. It was equipped to function as a self-sufficient workshop and could serve as a self-contained base. Experiments abounded, but the most captivating of them all was the ARK—a prototype teleportation device. Regrettably, it appeared to be nonfunctional. However, the star support calculator and its mission to bridge two points in the universe using a black hole caught my eye. The entire structure resembled a formidable spaceship, boasting high-grade armor designed to withstand nuclear accidents and biohazard threats.

Just as I was engrossed in my discoveries, I was startled by a familiar pair of creatures: Jackal and Viper.

"Hey, what are you two doing here? It's dangerous," I exclaimed.