Mangle shrugged off their lab coat as they readied themselves for the board meeting. They hated these sorts of things, the meetings were always full of people who didn’t respect scientific curiosity and wanted to limit the amount of money they spent as much as they could while still seeming altruistic. It was, quite frankly, ridiculous. If you didn’t want to contribute to science, then you shouldn’t contribute to science. Simple as that. Yet everyone seemed to insist on “helping” by monitoring what funds went where and whether or not it was to a project the donor approved of. They sighed and walked in the bland room, everyone too preoccupied with other parts of their precious budget to notice one of the key scientists of their latest and greatest project.
They sat down and Dr. James welcomed them with a nod in their direction. As the board members droned on, Mangle planned how they were going to explain what they thought of the Project. They would clearly have to be careful; one misstep and they could be accused of siding with the abominations they kept here. Eventually the board members took notice of their biggest subject of the meeting. A balding man flipped through his notes and asked, “What of the...Dragonborne Project?”
Dr. James immediately sat up and stiffened. “What of it?”
The man looked at her as if to say here we go again. “Well...what progress have you made on it?”
“We are dealing with human genetics, not rabbits! 2 years has barely gotten the subjects to a point where they can speak; we are just now introducing long-term researchers to the project!”
The man sighed. “Dr. James, you know as well as I do that we cannot give funding without promising results…”
Dr. James looked ready to throttle him. “Well, I can hardly give promising results without the funding!”
A smaller, portlier man leaned forward in his chair. “We’ve given you 2 years, Dr. James. If you can’t even give us some small results by now, we may as well take our money somewhere else. We gave you 20 subjects, and 20 women to carry these...abominations to term! We need some sort of proof if you expect us to be patient!”
Dr. James took in a deep breath and released it. “Dr. Mangle has just come from their second session of one of our most promising subjects. I’m sure a set of fresh eyes can tell you just how much this project can achieve if we can just have some time.”
The first man looked over to Mangle. “Dr. Mangle?” he prompted.
Mangle cleared their throat. Here goes. “The subject’s cognitive development is astounding, from what I have seen in only 2 sessions. A twenty six month old human would not typically have such a grasp on their surroundings, nor understand the word games the subject has made. It shows great promise for low risks of mental impairment for similar procedures, if such procedures were to ever become commonplace. I believe that...the subject…” Crap. They couldn’t say that.
The fat man noticed their unease and sneered. “Dr. Mangle?”
“I believe the subject has even devised a name for itself based upon how it is spoken about between scientists in front of it. The subject may actually prove...to have the intelligence of some of the scientists in this facility.”
Everyone on the board laughed. They blew it. They blew it to epic proportions. The balding man said between chuckles, “Dr. Mangle...you do realize that such a creature is not capable of intelligence.”
Was he implying something about their intelligence? Oh, heck no. He wishes he was as intelligent as Mangle was. “Maybe not in the same way as you or I, but you have to admit there is such a thing as a dog that recognizes over 400 different nouns and commands while most dogs can barely grasp the concept of the numbers 1 through 5.”
The fat man started to look uneasy and blurted, “Dr. Mangle, we’re in the business of making fairy tales a reality, not dog training. Do you believe the grafting projects and genetic alterations have been a success?”
Well, no duh. “Why yes, of course. That was evident from the first time I met the subject.”
“That is all we needed to hear. The project seems to be a success, Dr. James. We will give you a little extra funding this time around. Maybe get the subjects a few pairs of underwear and toilet train them, so that we don’t have to keep wasting money on disposable diapers.”
The members discussed something or another for a little while, and then the meeting ended. Dr. James glared at Mangle, cross. “Well, that was incredibly stupid of you!” she exclaimed once they are out in the hallway.
Mangle walked next to her, taken aback by her tone. “They asked for my opinion, I gave them answers!”
“You made it seem like you were arguing that the abominations were human!”
Mangle frowned. “The same abominations who earlier today called you ‘Mommy’?”
Dr. James scowled. “I give them food, nothing more. I know my place. You ought to learn yours, before you get yourself kicked off the project!”
She stormed off, and Mangle didn’t try to stop her. They were too caught up in their own thoughts, trying to make sense of what had just transpired. They thought they weren’t trying to explain the subjects were anything, least of all human. They simply tried to give the board members an objective report on what they had seen. What was so wrong with that? Was something about them inherently human that scared the funders?
Exactly what was going on?
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