SCENE 1. BIRTH.

Moreau is standing once again on the stage of the surgical theater in The Dungeon. Before him on the operating table is the sedated host mother dog, lying on her side. Her belly is swollen by her pregnancy with the ‘new creature’, but not as much as she would be with a full litter, as she carries only the one ‘pup’.

Moreau bends down over the table holding a scalpel, he cuts open the host mother dog, assistants holding back the blood. He sets the scalpel on the table and lifts the newborn ‘new creature’ from the open womb. The tiny figure is a male, with a startling and disproportionately large head. The newborn's eyes are tightly closed, emitting squeaks and faint barks with the first breath of air of The New World. Moreau holds the figure up, by its back and neck, for the crowd to see, then he carefully places the figure into a towel of an assistant, to be cleaned and dried.

Moreau then turns and presses a syringe connected to the dog’s foreleg, to permanently end her suffering after completing her job. Simultaneous with the death of his surrogate mother, the newborn ‘new creature’ emits a loud haunting shriek, as a banshee mourning the death of a loved one, his dear mother, who will not be joining him in The New World.

Moreau, unrecognizable in the containment suit, sits on a stool and takes the small wiggling, shrieking figure from the assistant. Holding the figure, the towel in his arms, carefully holding up the large head. A nurse hands Moreau a nursing bottle, which he applies to the shrieking figure’s long snout. The shrieking stops, as the figure sucks the milk of the first meal in The New World. Moreau carefully watches to assure the cub has a clear air passage and is breathing between sucks. Moreau then turns to face the surgical theater audience. The audience cheers Moreau as he stands at the front of the surgical theater holding the ‘new creature’, appearing as a cartoon toy figure, sucking, wiggling, in fluffy brown fur.

Out of sight, behind Moreau on the stage, the table with the carcass of the donor-mother dog is quietly wheeled out the back of the theater. The donor-mother is on her short journey to her final resting place, The Dungeon’s crematorium.

…

A week later, the birth process is to be repeated. The surgical theater hosts a smaller audience, as the drama of the first delivery is over, although certain company employees are very excited that they might be considered as adoption hosts and are quite animated, jumping up and cheering.

Moreau is facing the belly of a large nanny goat, sedated, lying on her side on the operating table, everything is much larger this time. This nanny is the surrogate donor mother for a goat version of the ‘new creature’. He cautiously cuts into the mother’s belly and on into her womb as attendants try to hold back the flow of blood. There is far more blood this time than with the dog.

Moreau reaches in to firmly grasp and lift out a flashing bloody-white, wildly kicking, screaming figure. The figure proudly holds its large bizarre head up with its strong neck muscles, its large eyes wide open, darting and glistening. An attendant, with a towel, helps Moreau restrain the screaming, flailing entity.

The audience gasps in unison at witnessing the dramatic scene, and hearing the loud screams of the ‘new creature’. Once again, with the nursing bottle ready, the screaming and flailing stops with its presentation to the ‘new creature’s’ snout.

Moreau gasps into the theater’s microphone.

“Stand by, I’ll see you all next week, there is one more to go!”

The curtain closes as Moreau faces the nanny on the surgical table. He presses the syringe of doom. She also has completed her task and will join her canine friend and fellow surrogate in The Dungeon’s crematorium.

…

Several weeks later, the surgical birth process is again repeated. The surgical theater hosts even a smaller audience than the last, as some have reconsidered their ‘new creature’ adoption, after the kinetic display of the last ‘birth’.

Moreau is facing the belly of a large ewe sheep, sedated, and lying on her side on the operating table. This ewe is the surrogate donor mother for a sheep version of the ‘new creature’. Once again, he cuts into the mother’s belly and on into her womb as attendants try to hold back the flow of blood. Moreau reaches in to firmly grasp and lift out a large, serene white figure, almost motionless.

An attendant, with a towel, helps Moreau hold up the silent, motionless, heavy figure. Moreau’s thick black demon eyebrows narrow in worry about the inanimate figure. He lightly pokes the figure’s belly, producing a short but unmistakable bleat. The bottle is presented and the sucking begins.

The audience is fascinated by the quiet, anticlimactic birth, in sharp contrast with the noisy drama of the last delivery. Moreau again speaks into the theater’s microphone.

“It appears that these two sisters, the kid and the lamb, are pretty different from one another.”

“Everyone wants to adopt ‘the gentle lamb’. But come on and step up, don’t be afraid of ‘the kid’, don’t make ‘the kid’ grow up in an orphanage.”

Scene 2. Sacrifice.

It is Sunday and the first sacrifices for the day are being prepared by Ernie and Moreau. Long rows of metal carts are lined up before the gates of Hell, the crematory furnace. The carts carry the remains of unsuccessful experiments and the donor hosts to their final event, as sacrifices to the God of the New World, the smoldering Dr. Moreau. Dr. Moreau is unaware that his villain great-great-grandfather is taking possession of his soul, as he willingly steps into his footprints of two centuries ago.

Moreau begins the process of preparing the crematory for its task, starting the generators for the ignition sparks then turning the liquefied natural gas and liquid oxygen valves that feed the furnace.

Through the open iron doors, the flames roar to shimmering life, illuminating and embracing the dark iron segments of the conveyor belt that runs the length of the furnace. Moreau feels the heat from the flames as he slides items from the first three carts onto the belt. He then pulls the lever to engage the conveyor belt, then he solemnly closes the fire doors of the crematory,

the final journey for his subjects.

SCENE 3. COLLAR.

Moreau sits at his desk in the old laboratory facing Ernie.

“I need some way of monitoring the movements and whereabouts of these ‘new creatures’. Do you have any ideas?”

“I could lend you some androids, quadrupeds, and drones to follow them around.”

“I’ll take a few, for security against human intrusion, but not for this. I would rather not have robots following our ‘new creatures’ around, making people feel that they may be dangerous.”

“Doesn't the company make an exercise monitor? As I recall, in addition to tracking exercise data, these monitors can detect the wearer’s location. Don't retirement homes use our monitors, to keep tabs on their old wards that tend to wander off?”

Moreau huffs.

“As long as the ‘new creatures’ are in The Dungeon, their security is assured. If anything wanders off, it is quickly collected, as the animals are now. The only escape is by the emergency stairs, but opening the door to the emergency stairwell sets off an alarm. The elevator is too difficult to operate. Escape through the sewer or a chimney is possible, but would be difficult for someone without the building’s plans.”

“Abduction is a possibility, but that would show up on our security cameras and would be intercepted by your robots, I hope.”

“Hold that thought. Let me get one of our exercise monitors for you.”

Ernie leaves Moreau’s office and returns a short time later and hands Moreau a small silver oval, the size of a penny.

“We have several models, this one is the smallest, please let me know if you would like to try out the others.”

Moreau stares at the silver oval, one of the company’s many products. Ernie continues.

“This device is marketed as a miniaturized device for health monitoring during exercises: pulse rate; blood oxygen; and blood pressure. However, it also includes an optional and secret ‘tracking’ function.”

“It is intended to be worn on the wrist, on the ankle, or on the neck on a flexible band. The device band is sturdy, but it is designed to snap off with sufficient force, to prevent the wearer from injuring or strangling themselves if the band becomes snagged on anything, and sending a signal.”

“Thanks, Ernie, I think we can make this work. We will affix it in some secure manner to all ‘new creatures’ moved outside The Dungeon.”

I must also inform the new creature’s adoptive parents that the affixing of this item to the ‘new creature’ is mandatory and permanent once the ‘new creature’ becomes ambulatory and is living outside The Dungeon.

SCENE 4. CHILDHOOD.

Without mothers of either the old or the new creature species available, the first of these ‘new creatures’ are raised by human hands. These ‘new creatures’ quickly relax with the presentation of their first meal of goat milk, found to be suitable for the young ‘new creatures’, both bovines and canines. The human attendants are careful to hold and support the ‘new creatures’ large heads as they are nursed.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The first ‘new creature’ species to be ‘delivered’ is a male wolf cub. A wolf was chosen because its genome has been fully mapped, more so than any other wild creature, mostly for conservation of wild wolves. But the research was also to study and treat genetic abnormalities that often occur in rare breeds of domestic dogs.

The male cub was quite an impressive sight from the very first, looking both like and unlike a normal wolf cub and a human baby. It was considered too risky to have the cub naturally nurse from a lactating wolf or dog, as the reactions of the original and modified creatures to each other is still unknown, so human hands raised the cub. There was no shortage of company volunteers to care for the cute little entity. He was nursed on a mixture of goat milk and dog milk. The hungry little thing ran the facility out of dog milk as he quickly grew. He opened his startling shiny canine eyes after two weeks, and was making the most peculiar barking sounds, but he is a good boy and never cries.

Moreau watches as the growing ‘new creature’ is attended.

It is time for someone to take him home.

SCENE 5. ADOPTION.

Moreau stands in the incubation room with two of his young employees and begins his first adoption lecture.

“This ‘new creature’ nursing assignment is fully voluntary, you can quit it whenever you want. There are regular home inspections and physicals as part of this agreement. All materials will be provided by the company, along with a support stipend, for the duration of his stay with you. We hope that he will stay with you until and perhaps after he starts his schooling.”

“You were selected to be this first ‘new creature’ adoption assignment, from a surprising number of volunteers from the company. You were chosen for your experience raising your children, as well as your experience raising litters of dogs and cats in your home. The other volunteers will all get their chance too, likely very soon.”

…

Moreau is out on a home inspection tour of the adoptive parents’ home for the first ‘new creature’. The entourage is met by the parents, the children, the cats, and the dogs, all are singing a noisy, happy chorus for the visitors.

“You have come to see Timmy!”

A contest was held in The Dungeon for choosing the first ‘new creature’s’ name. By a vote, it was decided to name him ‘Timmy’, or ‘Timmy Tyger’, after the company's founder.

The adoptive parents bought baby clothes and dressed him to resemble a human baby, except for his ears, his tail, and his growing snout. The fine hair on his body at birth quickly became a thicker, coarser, brown fur coat above and cream color on his lower face, belly, and the inside of his legs.

Timmy’s large brown eyes are now open. He looks up to Moreau and squeaks a muffled bark.

“I know, I look scary. The demon won’t pester you anymore, I can see you are happy here with all the animals and attention. You are growing quickly, so please come to visit me at the company as soon as you are able. I have much to show you.”

The next time Moreau would see Timmy would be in his nursery school. With the ‘others’.

Soon the pup was standing up, as a comical biped. The happy cub wagged his tail for treats and had a friendly disposition. He howled as a newborn cub and for the first few weeks. He startled everyone when he started yipping, attempting to repeat the spoken words of the researchers. He learned the meanings of words and obediently followed commands and requests that were ever more detailed and complex, and although he was recognizing spoken words, he struggled with his speech.

Moreau frowns.

Timmy, and likely all of his kind, will require speech therapy to talk clearly and be understood by most people.

SCENE 6. YOUTH.

Two other ‘new creatures’ followed Timmy into The New World, a sheep-girl and a goat-girl. Unlike Timmy, these two were born with eyes open, strong, and running away. Volunteer adoptive parents were chosen for athletic ability and patience. Fortunately, two families were found that owned isolated farms with large farm animals.

Moreau is a bit worried about this adoptive home. This is the adoptive home of the goat-girl, ‘Lilac’, a wild white streak, on her first day in The New World.

Moreau’s driver pulls up in front of a large farmhouse. Upon opening his car door, loud crashing could be heard from the backyard. Moreau, with a premonition, quickly stands. He is suddenly hit in the chest by a bright white flash that he catches in his arms, just in time. Fortunately, Moreau is massive enough to still be standing from the large white impactor that raises her head, looks up at Moreau, then bleats at him, with a broad smile. She then closes her large eyes and nuzzles further into Moreau’s chest, while emitting a soft ‘purring’.

By then, the adoptive parents have arrived, aghast and too late to save Moreau.

“We’re so sorry about this. We even knew you were coming, but she must have slipped past us and outside somehow.”

“Ha ha, I came to see if everything was okay. She seems strong and fit. Has she destroyed your house yet?”

“Fortunately, our house is used to large young animals, so everything is already broken. We have to train her to stop killing the visitors, though. Lilac is really unaware of her strength.”

Moreau strokes the white bristle furred figure in his arms. She raises her head with its two budding horns. She stares at him with her light violet eyes centered with sparkling black-barred pupils. Moreau is startled when Lilac speaks, in a clear, but bleating, voice.

“Hi, I’m Lilac, and I’m hungry.”

“She is already talking?”

“She was born running, talking, and eating. Try as we may, we cannot tire her out, she just eats and runs, all the time.”

Moreau sets the large and heavy Lilac down to the ground, bipedal, onto her back hooves. Lilac has no difficulty standing up straight, but she continues to cuddle up and nuzzle him.

“Are you okay with this? I could take her back and lock her up in The Dungeon.”

“That might be better for us, but it wouldn't be better for Lilac. She loves to run around outside in the sun, and climb our walnut tree. Lilac is the embodiment of a free spirit.”

As Moreau’s car pulls away, Moreau considers.

I cannot imagine what the adoptive parents are going through. How are we going to handle the many ‘new creature’ children we have planned? Maybe they can raise each other.

…

The next stop is another farm house. This time, Moreau is ready as the car pulls up in front, and he opens his car door. No crashing this time. The front door of the farmhouse opens, a tall, young man walks out, closing the door behind him. The man places a finger to his lips for the group to approach quietly.

The man then carefully opens the front door and the group quietly enters the living room. In the center of the living room floor appears to be a white woolly cushion, with two small children asleep with their heads resting on it. Moreau carefully examines the ‘cushion’. The white woolly cushion is a small ewe sheep, a lamb, lying on its side, with the children’s heads on its belly, also sound asleep.

Moreau stifles himself to keep from bursting into laughter, and quickly walks back out the front door. The farmer joins him there.

“I came by to see if everything is okay here, it certainly appears to be. How are you all doing?”

“The kids love Sally, as you can see. They play together all day, they eat together, and they sleep together.”

“They’re even teaching Sally how to play simple card games.”

…

Timmy is called back to The Dungeon for his periodic physical and mental evaluations. His health continues to be good, as he transitions from milk to solid food. It appears that he will always want goat milk with any meal.

A play pen was set up inside the Dungeon, where he loved to play ball with the staff. A sandbox was set up, outside on the building roof, where he loved to dig. His sandbox was covered to obstruct observation from the air or space, and to protect him from the sun, wind and rain. He walked with a bowlegged gate but rarely lost his balance, and when speed was required he would revert to running fast on all fours.

Moreau calls over Timmy to see how he is progressing, as his progression has been much slower than his big sisters.

As Moreau takes Timmy’s fore-paw, Timmy looks down, embarrassed.

Timmy’s most noticeable features are his large cranium and the long fingers of his fore-paws. When first adopted, his neck was not strong enough to hold up his large head, so he had to be cradled and watched that he didn’t collapse his windpipe or dislocate his neck. His thick fur and his clothes seem to be making him pant, so the room temperature was lowered ten degrees Fahrenheit, much to the annoyance of the rest of the family.

But Moreau is concerned, Timmy is not naturally active like the others. He shows no interest in exploring beyond his house. He has learned to read and use a computer, but his adoptive parents do too much for him and have made him dependent on them, perhaps turning him into a ‘basement troll’. Moreau shakes his head.

Two successes and one failure, two out of three isn’t bad. Well, other ‘new creatures’ will be along soon, maybe a school experience is what Timmy needs.

…

Lilac and Sally are also brought in to The Dungeon periodically for evaluation. They are doing quite well, but they startle their adoptive parents with the volume of vegetables they consume.

The two ‘new creature’ girls stand tall before Moreau, as precocious as the original animals. They are alert and watchful, with their eyes open, up and running with the herd. Moreau asks the two, simple math questions, which they correctly answer, in unison.

It is time for school.

SCENE 7. SCHOOL.

Moreau stands in front of three desks, the classroom of the ‘new creatures’. Standing next to Moreau is a company employee, a volunteer, that will be their first grade teacher, as she once taught grammar school.

“Hello, my kids, lambs, and cubs. You are starting school today. I expect good reports that you all are behaving and learning. I will be back to check on you all.”

Moreau turns to the new teacher and smiles his characteristic smile.

“They are all yours.”

…

The children already know how to read and the operations of basic arithmetic, so the new teacher has to quickly find more challenging resources. However, the manual skills of writing and using keyboards is more of a challenge, with the hoof-fore toes and paws. Moreover, they need help with learning to speak clearly. A professional speech therapist, sworn to secrecy, is retained to help them.

The first class of three is gradually joined by other young ‘new creatures’. The class receives some new students in pairs, male and female. New species of students, cows, horses, antelope, and foxes are in attendance, as well as more wolves, goats, and sheep. A larger room is now used with desks built to accommodate a range of ‘new creature’ sizes.

These species quickly adapted to school life, and each other, forming the cliques and the occasional bullying, not too different from a human school.

But the most obvious difference between a ‘human’ school and the ‘new creature’ school was the absence of overt human cruelty.

And so, the school became the ‘new creatures’ first community of their own, The New World. The researchers were pleased with the ease by which these very different species could work with each other, perhaps even better than the human world.

…

The first real drama for the students and the staff came when the last of the ‘new creatures’ appeared at the school.

The bear, and, the tiger.

…

The first subjects are simple language skills, reading and writing. Then math is added, basic arithmetic. And, as is the thing nowadays, how to do writing assignments and math on a computer.

The researchers are eager to test the ‘new creatures’ dexterity. So creative art classes are also included. Drawing with a pencil and pen, painting, and clay sculpture.

The paws and claws work pretty well, even cloven hooves can be dexterous and adaptable for the creative arts. The students have asked the engineers to design stylus holders for doing some detailed manual tasks. Only the horses require stylus holders for all manual tasks.

End of Chapter 12.