The scientist first saw the light of day on a mild September afternoon in the late 1960’s. That year’s summer had been relentlessly hot and most people were thankful for the falling temperatures which cleared the head and allowed for intellectual thought again which had been impeded by the stifling heat in the previous weeks. In retrospect it almost seems as if the meteorological conditions in which he entered the world were foreshadowing the scientist’s fate as one of the world’s leading thinkers.
Despite his brilliant mind he never managed to gain a positive reputation though, which can be blamed in part on his lack of social competence resulting from the Aspergers syndrome he was suffering from. The main reason though, as he reluctantly has to admit, was a character trait he had formed in pre-school when he was first subjected to larger groups of children his age. He quickly started to see his far superior intellect as a justification to put himself above others. His parents were not exactly poor, allowing them to send their precious offspring to only the most renowned educational facilities in which violence was heavily frowned upon even in the scientist’s early years. This might at first seem like something commendable, but after closer investigation it becomes obvious that the opposite is true in the scientist’s case. It eliminated the only other main means, apart from intellect, by which one could settle their rank in the social hierarchy. With him expecting to beat out all competition from such an early age, the scientist developed an unhealthy, almost fanatic, sense of perfectionism, making him struggle to cope with situations which didn’t bear the exact result he was striving for.
In spite of this undesirable trait, his school years can not truthfully be described as particularly interesting. Egocentrism and perfectionism are not exactly uncommon among children. That the scientist would not be able to discard these traits which would ultimately lead to his demise could not be predicted by anybody back then. He lets out a bitter chuckle.
After expectedly graduating as top of the class, he went on to study nuclear physics at the worlds most renowned university in that field. For five semesters he was generally regarded as the facilities most promising student. On the quiet, many were even talking about how he could potentially win a Nobel prize in the future. A cold smile flashes over his face as he admires the irony. They almost had been right. He had been so close, so incredibly close. Although most of the students still looked at him with a mixture of jealousy and a feeling of inferiority in their eyes, for the first time in his life, some of his peers admired him for his intellect. This provided him with that fatal exultation and confidence that should eventually get him expelled from the world’s most renowned university for nuclear physics.
Mariah Fretwood was quite young for a professor, especially one in applied mathematics. With only 36 years of age and far above average looks which further defied the stereotype of the old, hideous and ill-tempered professor, it comes as no real surprise that many of her students had started fantasizing about getting together with her. The scientist was only different in that he failed to see this dream merely as such and instead considered it a potential reality. It was this ill-guided optimism that led him to follow his tutor one rainy Friday afternoon. He left his classes early that day, stating himself sick to the others only to in reality linger around the buildings entrance, closely watching the various faceless figures rushing in and out, until finally the glass doors opened to reveal the person of his interest. He swiftly swept behind the woman, keeping a distance which he considered safe in order not to be noted by her before the moment he would reveal himself, for such a scenario could ruin all that he intended to achieve. Said moment finally arrived when Mariah Fretwood turned the corner to the street in which her apartment was located. Apart from a singular beggar, not a soul was present and on top, he was running out of time, as he wanted to carry out what he had planned, before the professor could reach her home. The scientist was aware that his plan was not without risk, for it required his feeling to be, at least to some degree, mutual but, blinded by his own narcissism, he was quite confident of this being, in fact, the reality. The moment his illusions were shattered should mark the beginning of the scientists creeping but inexorable deterioration. He was startled, as Mariah Fretwood screamed when he caught up with her to softly put his arm around her shoulders. Instead of imitating his motion, as he had hoped, she pushed him away with a force he would not have thought her capable of. Confused and insulted on a level deeper that comprehensible to the average man, he was left in the pouring rain, as the woman of his desires slammed shut the door to her apartment and, metaphorically, to her heart, as he recalls thinking. Despite half expecting it, he was still devastated when being denied from entering university territory the very next day. His tutor had gone forward to report the incident and in succession cause his prohibition from continuing his studies at the facility.
Ever since that incident, the scientist had been a bitter man, striving only for redemption, determined to prove himself, no matter the cost. In a moment of particular madness, and the absence of sanity from his mind seems so very clear to him now, he set his eyes on the greatest task which humanity had to offer. He decided for himself that he would not rest before he had defied God himself, before he had created life itself. From then on, he dedicated his life to the studies of electricity, medicine and biology and even dwelt on the forbidden art of alchemy, accumulating knowledge in all fields he thought to be beneficial to his goal. Over time, he had managed to form his own research foundation alongside building up a vast array of different scientific facilities, had been able to not only restore his name but become widely known as one of the most capable contemporary scientists and still he was not satisfied. He would keep his word, would continue his studies and his work until all those who had ever dared to doubt him would tremble with remorse for in overcoming even God, he would have set himself in his very position. A thin stream of blood runs out the corners of his mouth as he can’t hold back the manic laughter of a man that reality has pushed off the edge of delusions.
31st of January 2017 marks the day on which he achieved what he had craved for more than a quarter of a century now. After so many setbacks, what stood in the glass tube before him, held upright by steel sustainers and connected to a futuristic seeming entanglement of hoses and cables, should prove to be the first lifeform not born but artificially created in a laboratory. As soon as he would switch the flip on the control board to his right, the creature would awaken, finally after so many years fulfilling the scientists deepest dreams. He would be honoured and praised and even the Nobel prize seemed to be just in reach again now. They would learn to fear him, too, for nobody who dared to stand in his way would be forgiven. His fingers were trembling as he reached for the chrome plated lever. Slowly the tubular containers glass pane doors slid open and the beast opened his eyes, devoid of all colour. As stepped out of its prison and rose to its full height of roughly two and half meters, the scientist was paralysed with amazement. The creature looked incredibly eerie. Just human enough to allow a certain degree of recognition and yet its proportions were distorted and twisted. The lidless eyes and gaping mouth on the disturbingly child-like face were larger than any persons and its arms and legs were elongated to an unnatural scale, whereas the body itself, covered by a leathery, diseased grey skin, seemed almost comically small in comparison. It let out a shaking, high-pitched screaming sound before suddenly locking its hideous head on the scientist. Whether he could not comprehend what was happening or simply was incapable of accepting is, he doesn’t remember. Not that it would matter anyway. It wouldn’t change the fact that the beast pierced his chest with a singly swift strike of his enormous claw, wouldn’t stop the dark red puddle slowly but steadily expanding on his chest.
The scientist doesn’t have any strength left to even try to stop the creature from ripping out the steel vault door which was sealing the laboratory with ease, unleashing itself onto the world and mankind. He tries to open his now indescribably tired eyes one last time but his vision is blocked by blood streaming down from a wound on his forehead he had sustained when falling on the white tiles of the room. He lets himself slip into the cold embrace of death knowing that he had not only failed but in doing so had probably also sealed the fate of humanity.
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