A couple of bags of blood later, Walker sat in front of a metal cage while Egor tested the blood. Two rats crawled over themselves to reach the treat that Walker dangled from the top. Neither had names, only identifiers: L6 and L8. Both had pristine white fur with a long dangly tail.

“Hmph,” Egor mumbled.

Without turning around Walker called out, “Got somethin’?” L6 had climbed upon the shoulders of L8 and succeeded in grabbing the pellet with their mouth.

“I’ve completed the toxicology report, although the results are… confusing,” Egor admitted.

“Don’t those take days to complete?”

Egor chuckled, “It’s crazy how quickly you can get things done without bureaucratic red tape wrapped around your wrists. Grab one of those rats and their cage, will you?”

Grimacing, he unlatched the cage from above and pulled L6 out. It sniffed his hand suspiciously. He placed it on the lab table and then let it crawl through his fingers like in a carnival. Its tiny paws explored his hand, probably hoping to find another treat.

“The lab rat’s kinda nice,” Walker commented.

Egor responded without turning around, “We used to use rabbits but P.E.T.A protested. Now we use rats. Not many protests after that. It’s a shame, I like rats too.”

He approached the table. He held a syringe in his surgical gloved hands and motioned for Walker to step back. The syringe’s needle was about an inch in length, and cool-aid red liquid coagulated within. The rat stood on its hind legs and reached for Egor. He grabbed the rat and plunged the syringe into the loose skin of its neck. L8 squeaked in protest before it was dropped into the cage that Walker had brought.

Egor disposed of the empty syringe and motioned for Walker to sit, “Now we wait.”

Walker twiddled his thumbs will Egor sat like a statue, eyes glued to the rat.

“By the way, you don’t need to take the painkillers anymore,” Egor mentioned.

Walker didn’t take his eyes off L8. It had climbed on its wheel and began to run. The small hinges creaked with each rotation. “Why’s that?”

“Watch L8.”

Indeed, the rat was furiously running on its wheel. It peeped and squealed as it ran erratically. It flung itself off the wheel and tore toward L6. The smaller rat, L6, was sucking off the tube that dispensed water. As such, it wasn’t facing L8 when it ripped its stomach open.

“Holy shit,” Walker said, leaning back.

Egor took notes on a tablet.

L8’s teeth gnashed in and tore into the belly. Before long it was shoulder-deep into its friend and gnawing on the metal wiring on the other side. The rat pulled itself out of the meat and sprinted to the other side of the cage, bashing its head against the metal. Blood had soaked it, matting the fur and turning it crimson.

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It alternated between biting the wiring and attempting to push its way through it. The wire cut the rat into chunks but hadn’t noticed. It could squeeze its scratched snout through the cage now.

Then, it paused.

L8 retreated from its fervor, approached the center of the cage, and began to fastidiously groom itself. It liked the remaining stumps of its paws and wiped them over his head and ruined eyes. Happy squeaks emitted from the animal.

“Huh, two minutes,” Egor observed then tapped on the tablet again.

Walker didn’t say anything. Couldn’t, the waft of guts, feces, and blood caused him to gag.

L8’s little ears piped up and it approached the edge of the cage.

“Give it a treat,” Egor said, voice surprisingly gentle, “it deserves it.”

In a fugue, Walker grabbed the cardboard box of pellets and pulled one out. L8 reached toward its sky as he dropped one in the cage. It dropped to all fours and dragged itself through the wood shavings.

Egor pulled open a cabinet under the lab table and pulled out a scalpel and tray.

“What are you doing?” Walker asked.

“I’m going to make an incision down its abdomen and demonstrate just how potent your blood is,” Egor stated.

As Egor reached in Walker grabbed his arm, “May I?”

With an unreadable expression, Egor handed him the scalpel. Walker reached into the cage and retrieved L8, its body growing limp as it searched ceaselessly for the fallen treat.

He placed L8 on the tray and handed him another treat, right in front of its nose, “Here you go,” Walker murmured.

Peeping excitedly, L8 stretched its snout toward the treat, its body no longer moving. Walker rolled the rat onto its back. Egor instructed him how to do it, and he did so, finally ending his life.

“What was the point of that,” Walker asked, his hands trembling.

Egor gently removed the scalpel from his hands.

“The blood that courses through your veins has changed. Hemoglobin has mixed with poison that filters through your body. To you, it's perfectly safe, and beneficial even, with your altered chemistry. To others…” Egor pulled the flaps of the small corpse’s abdomen open. Chunks of coagulated blood fell out and splatted against the tray.

“Coagulated blood clogged the arteries, so… less oxygen to the brain?” Walker asked, his mind still chock full of the rat’s savagery.

Egor shrugged, “I don’t know. Can only guess without further experimentation. In the toxicology report your blood had traces of opioids in it, although nowhere near the level you told me you were taking. I’m guessing whatever organ filters your body also assimilates whatever is ingested or injected into your bloodstream.”

Walker cocked his head, “What makes you say that?”

Egor jutted his chin at the remains of L8, “Not many animals can tear themselves apart at such a pace, even under the effects of epinephrine. My guess? Along with the concoction of poison, your blood most likely contains morphine and codeine. L8 was probably feeling pretty good with the amount of blood I injected into it.”

Walker chewed the inside of his cheek, which was still as puffy as before.

“There are talks… of similar things happening to animals across town.”

Egor squinted at him, “Yes?”

“Mutated animals. Like the thing in the cavern. Wolf-like cats. You have connections, right? That’s how you got me food so quickly at the start.”

Egor said nothing.

Walker continued, “What if I brought samples? Things I can only get, I doubt many animals are going to want to take a bite out of me.”

Egor didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, “And what do you want in return? Money?”

“That cot,” He pointed to the bed in the corner, “PIP experience, and…” Walker hesitated to know this was the biggest ask.

“Teach me. About all this. Poisons. Biology.”

Egor left the table to wash his hands, slowly, “That sounds acceptable, I’m always in search for unique samples. Although why should I teach you? What do you have to offer?”

“Myself. I know enough about biology to know what I’m worth. You’ll get samples from me every once and a while, and you’ll reward me in return.”

Egor raised his eyebrows, “That is acceptable. We can hash out the details another time.”

Walker stood up and shook Egor’s wrinkled hand.

“What do you want to even learn?”

Walker smiled and pointed at the rat, “If a few drops of my blood can do that, imagine what the government could do, what I could do, with liters of it. From the chemistry to the application, I want to learn it all.”