Leonard Fief carefully smoothed the mulch over with a pitchfork, using the tines to even out the uneven surface until it looked perfect, even by his boss's high standards. His manager walked over and grinned, patting him on the shoulder. "Nice job, Leonard! You're really getting the hang of this." The man smiled pleasantly and nodded in response, standing back to appreciate his work.

He was about six feet tall, with ill-maintained black hair and sharp cheekbones. His ice-blue eyes glittered from their sunken position underneath bushy eyebrows, and his thin frame was sweating beneath the dark green T-shirt and jeans that made up the Greenlife Landscaping Inc. uniform. In other words, he was average. No one in Centropolis would have looked twice at him.

His boss yelled over to the hard-working crew, "That's all, folks! We're done for today, but come back tomorrow. And remember to pack a lunch, all right? We lose valuable time going to whatever fast-food restaurant you feel like having today, and I ain't having it."

The crew collectively chuckled. There wasn't one man there who didn't get his lunch at Jules' restaurant down the street, and that especially included their boss. Jules made the very best burgers in Centropolis, after all.

As the crew began heading out of the biodome, patting each other on the backs and chatting about their everyday lives, Leonard approached his boss, a bulky man of six foot six named John, who was looking the landscaping job over with a critical eye. He noticed Leonard walking towards him and waved his concerns away, moving to meet him with a hefty handshake. "What's up?"

Leonard rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Well... I was wondering if I could take a few days off. There's some stuff happening back at home, and-"

John cut him off, a nonplussed expression on his face. "You can have three days, but you won't be getting paid for any of them. After that, we've got the Bernoulli job, and you know as well as I do that that'll take some serious time and manpower. Whatever you're dealing with, get it done by then, all right?"

Leonard smiled easily, patting him on the shoulder. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll be done by then."

John frowned. "Wait, is this another one of those projects you keep disappearing for?"

Leonard chuckled, absently scratching an itch on his leg. "Yeah, they're really time-sensitive. I swear, if I could get them done at a different time I would, but..." He trailed off, gesturing vaguely at the air.

John laughed. "Just get it over with. And you've really got to show me what you're spending all that time on, all right?"

The shorter man chuckled again and told him, "I keep telling you, it's private. I don't ask about what you do at home."

John snorted. "And you'd better not start now. Just go, already." He slapped Leonard on the shoulder and headed out himself, calling, "Don't forget to turn off the lights."

Leonard stayed behind for a moment, deeply inhaling the variety of scents coming off the varied flowers planted in the nature biodome. He'd been working with Greenlife for a while now, and enjoyed the work he got to do. Besides the moderate paycheck, it was good exercise, and he was able to travel around the city quite a bit in order to get to some of the contracts.

Sighing, he headed for the exit, flicking the several light switches to the side of the door. The UV lights embedded in the glass ceiling flicked off, the dull light from the city glinting through the glass roof and diffusing into a kaleidoscope of dim color onto the floor. Leonard smiled to himself as he saw it. It never got old, even though he'd worked at the biodome more than a few times.

Exiting the building, he turned to lock it up for the night and clicked the padlock in place. Humming quietly to himself, he got in his small car and started driving home. He looked out the window at the gently drizzling city, the rain on his windshield reflecting the light in unexpected patterns. While parked at an annoyingly long red light, he watched two raindrops drip down his window, and groaned in frustration as one of them collided with a bead of moisture and rolled the rest of the way down, beating his own choice to the base of the window.

Someone cut him off, and he almost hit the horn before reconsidering. It was late, after all. The driver was probably doing something important, and all Leonard was doing was going home. He smiled, wondering what the other person was up to, feeling a curious sensation of shrinking size as he contemplated all of the people living their own lives, simply interacting in the huge beehive that was Centropolis.

Pulling into a parking garage, he leaned out of his window, ignoring the light rain and swiping his card through the receiver. The bar in front of him lifted and he drove through, parking in the same space he always did.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Hopping awkwardly out of the low-ceilinged vehicle, he closed the door and leaned backwards, easing the soreness in his back and getting several satisfying pops out of it as he did. Groaning in pleasure, he rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles. For whatever reason, he enjoyed getting the pops out of his system more than anyone else he knew.

Walking into the hotel, he smiled at the man at the desk, who looked up at him and smiled professionally. "Hello, Mr. Fief. How may I help you?"

Leonard walked towards him, shaking the rain out of his shirt as he did and getting the fuzzy carpet wet. "Nothing much, Zeke. I'm just going to my room."

Zeke shrugged and handed him his key, dropping it into Leonard's outstretched hand. He grinned in response. "Thanks. Have a good night."

Jogging down the stairs to the basement, he turned his key in the lock and pushed the door open.

His suite wasn't especially large, but it was well-decorated after the effort he'd poured into it. A sizable patterned rug covered up the concrete floor, and a long counter separated the kitchen from a small wooden table and chair, with small-time antique art pieces covering the walls. The cement walls and floor matched the iron pillars supporting the above floors, and a variety of cobwebs stayed in the rafters no matter how many times he cleaned them. Several light bars hung from the ceiling, and two doors were set in the wall on one side, one of which led to his bedroom and the bathroom located nearby.

After he took a shower and got cleaned up, he headed towards the small refrigerator tucked beside a battered oven. Pulling it open, he bent down, taking a good look inside. He snorted and stood up, closing it. Walking away, he pulled his phone out and tapped on it a couple times, before sighing and going back to the fridge. Opening it, he sighed and pulled out a very frozen corn dog.

Ripping one end open, he placed it in the microwave and set it for a minute. Reaching up and to his side, Leonard removed a bag of barbeque-flavored kettle chips from a cabinet above the counter and tore it open, throwing a handful into his mouth and staring at the rotating corn dog.

A minute later, it dinged pleasantly, and he pulled the batter-coated hot dog out, cursing as he burned his fingers, but still managing to get it on the ceramic plate. Putting the plate and chips on the counter, he reached back into the fridge and removed a can of root beer, opening it with a satisfying pop. Placing the can on the table, he retrieved his plate and chips and sat down for dinner.

While he ate, he pulled his phone back out of his pocket and stared at the screen, taking bites of the corn dog without really paying attention to how it tasted. He took a sip of the root beer and smiled, talking out loud. "Man, nothing like a good drink after work." Once he was finished, he aimed carefully and tossed the empty corn dog stick at his trashcan. He missed, and he sighed in mild annoyance, talking to himself again. "Well, can't get them all."

He walked over to it and picked it up, putting it in the trashcan disinterestedly. He almost threw what was left of the chips away, but changed his mind and set it next on the counter near him. Leaning on the counter, he sipped his root beer, enjoying the taste before tossing it in the trash.

Picking up the chips, he walked over to a door set in the wall, a sizable padlock holding it shut. Fumbling with his keyring for a moment, he found the right one and inserted it, the lock disengaging with a loud clank.

Removing the lock, he placed it on a small end table to his side and pulled the unexpectedly thick door open, whistling as he entered the dark room and flicked the light switch on.

The LED bars hanging from the ceiling came to life, revealing the being strapped to a long table in front of him. The creature was humanoid and clearly masculine, but had scales covering his body, and a cobra-like hood flared from the back of his head. He was terrifyingly gaunt, breathing through a long-dry throat with an audible rasp. The hiss had disappeared a long time ago. It looked like what would happen if a king cobra and a homeless man had crossed, only wearing threadbare and bloodstained pants. As Leonard entered, it turned its head, milky white eyes blinking blindly.

Grabbing a warm bottle of water to his side, Leonard pressed it to the creature's lips, and it drank greedily, straining against the leather straps, scales peeling away to reveal rashes from excessive rubbing. Leonard pulled the bottle away after a short moment, and the creature shook with panic, trying to find more as its long forked tongue tasted the air, looking for the water.

A few weeks ago, the creature had still been talking, asking frantic questions of the mild-mannered landscaper, but Leonard had refused to answer any of them. Now, though, he was basically talking to himself. He chuckled at the thought as he selected a long scalpel from the metal tray to his right.

"You know, I really don't have anything against monsters. It's not a bias, I swear." Tightening the straps, he pulled a chain over the creature's throat, ensuring that it could still breathe without being able to move. Satisfied, he aimed the scalpel at its stomach. "In fact, I'd say I'm a fan. Your biggest fan, really. Your regeneration, your advanced biology, all of it! It's so impressive compared to... humanity." His eyebrows met, indicating his annoyance at the word. "Sincerely, I do wish I could become a monster. But I haven't figured out the process yet. That's where you come in."

Slicing its stomach open, Leonard grabbed a notebook from his side and watched carefully as the skin rippled, sealing itself back together and weaving the damaged cells intact. He sighed in envy. "See, that right there. That's what I wish I could do, but I have neither powers nor genius."

His phone dinged, the program he'd written alerting him of a monster he might be interested in. Taking a look at it, he backed away from the snake-man, rubbing his chin between his fingers and talking over the agonized gasps. "Now this is a specimen. No blind spots, multiple pairs of arms, and just look at that speed!" He showed the blurry footage of a black blur to the snake-man before remembering that it couldn't see anymore. He pulled the phone closer to his eyes, smiling widely. "Now this fellow right here. This guy I want to meet very badly indeed."