Several porters carefully transferred the samples from the carriage to sleek trolleys, wheeling them into the holding bay nearby. The holding bay itself was attached to a larger building called the Stone Centre of Biological Research and Development, or SCBRD.
The SCBRD was the only building within the close and was visible throughout the entire district due to its phenomenal height. Its external greyish facade was decorated with numerous gothics intertwined with flora. An architectural style which had become more and more popular over the last several decades.
Peregrine himself took hold of the black box, carrying it as if it weighed less than a feather. Aelfred took the lead as they stepped into the building. As they passed through corridor after corridor, Aelfred received the greetings of many current and former students, staff and even a couple of visitors.
They took the elevator to the 9th floor, navigating even more sprawling corridors until they arrived at Aelfred’s private laboratory. The laboratory itself took up almost all the space on this floor as it had to be able to contain not only various types of equipment but specimens too. He specialised in genetic modification and having the capacity to nurture animals for extended periods of time was a necessity.
The specimen pens alone took up an eighth of the lab’s capacity, including separate living habitats with specially designed environments as well as observation windows.
Before leaving, Aelfred had either released or put down the previous specimens within, so it was no surprise that after many years away, the pens were completely empty. While he could have kept them alive and had staff or students take care of them in his stead, the truth was that those creatures had little use for his new project.
More importantly, he had his own reasons for not allowing anybody to access the place in his absence.
Peregrine was familiar enough with level 9. He had visited often as a direct student of the renowned Lord and professor Aelfred Stone. Now, however, he was no longer that same student but a renowned scientist and military expert.
He hefted the black box with controlled strength, careful not to stimulate the specimen within too much. Moving over to the observatory, he slotted it into the reinforced wall, matching the marks on the side of the box with the grooves on the wall. It made an audible and satisfying click as it snapped into place.
“You may raise the hatch,” Aelfred instructed.
Nodding, Peregrine undid the three locks on either side of the box before gently sliding the lid out to the side. As he did so, Aelfred pulled a control panel down from the observatory wall. He pressed a large green button, causing a thin but steady mechanical arm to descend from the ceiling inside the pen.
He gave the claw a quick warm up - partly to refamiliarise himself with the controls, partly to ensure the resonance system still functioned. The resonance system was something that allowed the base of the claw which was connected to the walls and ceiling to move at a single command and was integral to the functionality of the machine.
This way, if a specimen became too irate or needed to be inspected, the claw could hold it in place and even lift it into the air, no matter where it was, so long as it was within the confines of the observatory.
As he pushed on the left thumbstick, the entire contraption, arm and claw, slid across the ceiling and through a hatch in the highest section of the wall. Aelfred nodded to Peregrine, who placed a pre-prepared dish within its grasp.
In a display of skill and expertise, Aelfred manipulated the system, setting up a dining table, cutlery and even food all within the span of a few minutes. After checking to see that everything was in place, he pressed the red button on the controller.
Moments later, the sound of an internal hatch hissing open echoed throughout the chamber.
“Not bad. You’re still the best at using that thing after all this time,” Peregrine chuckled.
Aelfred set the controller back in its place within the wall, “Well what can I say. I did design this system after all.”
The two men sat down on the outside of the observatory’s viewing section. An attendant whom had been previously notified arrived and bowed, before unloading the food on her serving trolley.
“For starters, caviar and avocado with a sprinkle of dried onion, accompanied with a simple crouton and tomato soup.”
“For your mains we have prepared slow-roasted boeuf bourguignon, and for dessert, a creme brulee,” She said, “and of course, the finest Baelmontian red wine. Please enjoy.”
After she left, Aelfred took a sip of wine as he gestured towards the enclosure.
“You’re going to love this,” he grinned.
Interest piqued, Peregrine followed suit.
Soon enough, they heard the sound of something banging lightly against metal, accompanied by a groggy yelp. A small figure about the height of one metre stumbled clumsily out of the black box and into the observation pen. It held one hand gingerly against its head, instinctively rubbing its wound.
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The creature was humanoid in shape - four limbs, a head, two arms, two legs and so on. However, its body was more slender than a man’s, almost twig-like. Its skin was a shade of crimson-red and its ears were long and pointy, almost twice that of a normal person’s.
On top of all this, it had a thin and long bushy tail, three digits on each hand and cloven hooves for feet. Symmetrical reptilian scales ran down the sides of its limbs and body, rhythmically pulsating as the creature cautiously surveyed its surroundings.
Peregrine paused upon seeing it. He held the glass of wine to his mouth but forgot to drink. He turned to look at Aelfred, but the older man paid no attention to the creature, seemingly more interested in his food instead.
“This is amazing,” Peregrine whispered in awe.
The older man nodded mid-bite, “But it’s going to give us some problems with the more passionate religious folk.”
Peregrine’s eyes narrowed. A vast many plots and schemes passed through his mind before he ultimately shook his head and erased them. His primary question was what Aelfred had wanted to achieve by producing a creature which so similarly looked like a ‘demon’ or ‘yaoguai’, but he couldn’t fathom the man’s goals.
He felt the curiosity within him burn, but he eventually withheld the question. Sometimes, knowing too much was harmful to one’s health.
“Have you named it yet?” He asked instead.
Aelfred nodded, “I was thinking of a name such as ‘homoparvulus’, meaning ‘man small’.”
At this moment, the homoparvulus had stopped surveying the enclosure, its gaze stopping on the plate of food set out before it. It had long since noticed the presence of the two scientists in the room adjacent to it, but its hunger allowed the food to command its full attention.
As it moved to the table, its hooves produced a sound not dissimilar to a horse’s with each step. It looked down at the steak before it and then cast a puzzled gaze at the metal cutlery that flanked the plate.
Watching keenly, Aelfred decided to give the imp some instruction. He banged the flat end of his knife against the glass observation wall to attract its attention. The imp jumped in fright at the sound, but quickly understood his intention.
He very deliberately went through the motions with his cutlery, cutting a piece of beef and placing it within his mouth, chewing in an exaggerated manner.
The imp watched in a daze and then turned its eyes back to its own food. Just as Peregrine thought Aelfred’s efforts had been wasted, the imp moved to take a hold of the knife and fork with its three-fingered hands. Due to its lack of digits, it was clumsy, but the sawing motions became more steady the more steak it carved through.
Peregrine finally remembered to drink the wine he had held to his face for the last few minutes, sitting back against the chair.
“Incredible. Simply incredible,” he muttered.
Aelfred concurred with a proud grunt, “As you may be able to tell, the homoparvulus is a sentient, intelligent creature capable of fast learning and adaptation. While I haven’t completed any extensive testing just yet, I feel that we have a major breakthrough on our hands.”
Peregrine’s pupils constricted.
In the current year, genetic modification was a field that had only recently begun to bloom. The majority of safe and repeatable artificial modifications had always tended towards the minor side when working with flora, but even more so for the more complex fauna.
Many of the transformed creatures of today had become the way they were due to the Apocalypse. Any further modifications done by Baelmont’s scientists were minor by comparison. The homoparvulus was most certainly not a minor job.
Creating organisms from close to scratch had never been a necessity. It was overcomplicated, expensive and inefficient when compared to merely altering something nature had honed over centuries through the process of natural selection.
With the level of technology and understanding that they currently had, it shouldn’t have been possible!
It was undeniable that such a feat would be a major threshold and turning point within the scientific world.
An organism like the homoparvulus would no doubt be proof of Aelfred’s prowess and ability to create intelligent beings. It would definitely be enough to convince their future CHE backer.
And so what if someone tried to claim credit for his project?
He’d just make another!
While the reputation, his accolades and identity would make it so that he could obtain funding for years to come, this would ensure that the funding would be steady for the duration the project took to come to full fruition.
Peregrine rapped the table with his knuckles in agitation.
There was greater significance to the homoparvulus and Aelfred’s work.
Genetic modification required the knowledge and understanding of not only the effects of a single gene in a vacuum, but its effects when combined with everything else in the natural environment. To safely produce an organism without any severe defects would require intricate understanding of the immune system, the nervous system and much much more.
The imp was proof that Aelfred knew decades… even centuries more than his peers.
Peregrine felt the burning urge to raise the question of how exactly Aelfred was able to surpass all the greatest minds in the nation and the world. He wanted to know how Aelfred had been able to do this all in secret.
‘How did he keep it hidden from me?’
Peregrine had spent years working for and then later alongside Aelfred. He knew intimately well what the man had worked on over the course of his career and how he worked too.
‘Working in the shadows was never his forte. An undertaking like this that would have taken years of research, gargantuan funding and constant collaboration… how could he have done it alone?’
Regardless of what Peregrine thought, what was left was evidence and fact.
The fact was that Aelfred had single-handedly pushed the field of genetic modification centuries into the future.
The evidence was before them, working its way through a human meal with unfamiliarity.
Aelfred, sensing Peregrine’s inner discourse, gave him a look, “Don’t get too far ahead of yourself.”
The latter had noticeably frozen for a few moments in his fervour. Almost since the very start of their relationship, Aelfred seemed to have the ability to read his mind from what were the most minute motions and mannerisms.
‘Even after all these years, he can still read me like a book.’
Strangely, it never worked the other way around. Peregrine eventually chalked it up to a difference in personality. He cleared his mind, relaxing himself. As he readjusted his waistcoat, he realised that sweat was staining his sides.
“We need more conclusive, more qualitative evidence of the homoparvulus’ learning and adaptive capabilities. The next direction should be to look at its linguistic capability,” Aelfred said as he finished the last morsels of his food.
Peregrine nodded, though he appeared to be somewhat dazed. His gaze was fixed on the imp within the enclosure, studying each and every one of its features on repeat, like a broken music box playing the same song over and over again.
Hidden deep within his eyes was pure emotion.