Chapter 19: Her
1191 Words
“Are you running out of creative thoughts?”
Hearing the coarseness of a voice, Principal Copper looked at the grim man smiling under the dark, at the corner of the room. His eyes rested as he looked at him, as if he was not delighted upon seeing him inside his laboratory.
“Why?” Principal Copper asked.
The man let out a serene sigh. “Gardening?” he asked.
Principal Copper went back looking at the screen on his front. As usual of him, he has been rapidly typing at the keyboard on his front, as if furious, or as if a highly ambitious yet talented computer programmer.
He knows programming. More than that, in fact.
“Horticulture,” Principal Copper said, correcting the man from the corner of the dark.
“Needless, the name or whatever the meaning, it was as if they’re just Dora the explorer finding certain missing thing. It’s just that, what they’re finding was … deadly.”
“Yes. Deadly. Were you mocking it?”
“Oh, no, Principal Copper. Never.”
Principal Copper’s typing went faster. Upon seeing the rapid strokes of the Principal’s fingers as if the piano prodigy, the man smiled in the dark.
“I will never mock the person who created me this way.”
Principal Copper stopped typing. He looked at the man in the dark. “I didn’t create you. You create yourself.”
Having heard no answer to the man, Principal Copper stroked the lettered keys of the keyboards back again.
“They say you’re asking favors for the higher ups to commence another project? Miss Violet gave you a slap of ‘no’.”
“But her father approved.” He brushed his copper-silk hair with the use of his fingers. “And three other more.”
“That’s a good number. So you only need two more approvals.”
“Yes, Jin.”
“Ah, hearing my name reminds me of my glorious past life. Human life.”
Principal Copper stared at those two men holding each other’s hand, running away from doll’s eyes variant of plant he himself had created. By infusing unbelievable concentration of vitamins C and E, zeaxanthin, lutein, and zinc, he knew that the eyes would start to function. What needs a healthy eye is a healthy nutrition. Of course, it would not function just as how it is, if not because of the revised anatomy of the plant. He bombarded neurotic particles resembling of a human’s with the use of high-speed gun, in order to embed it into the DNA system of the plants, causing them to recreate a new pattern. Having bombarding with seemingly mystical components, Principal Copper had achieved a new specie of plant which nerve cells are found in the stem, making the synthetic yet almost human’s eyes placed along the plant to survive—with full access of vision, like a camera, which the data was restored through a hundred terrabytes of memory storage located somewhere in the Josen High.
Five years ago, he started an exploration in his laboratory. The question of risk does not matter to him, and the question of was it ethical? Does not matter to him too, as he knew, the organization is protecting him.
He is a sly scientist that no one in the field of science was familiar about. Perhaps Principal Copper could be called a con-man. Full of pretentions; someone who could not be considered as a real scientist because in the first place, he does not have license to be.
But the organization trusted him and his prodigal brain, because they knew, among many great scientists existing, he shall belong to the top tiers.
Looking back, he had applied the concepts of biorobotics while experimenting with the plants. He had used the biolistic method of genetic engineering, making him able to achieve the currently existing undiscovered specie of plants in his own created forest.
“You know, I’m just like that plant,” said the man who was still in the dark, intently observing the emotions and reaction of Principal Copper. “Tweaked. Re-engineered. Synthetic. Fake. Dire. Morbid. Shitty.” His voice, as what Principal Copper heard, was full of grudges. “And just like you, I am now the clown of humanity—once a human, now a monster.
“Having Photosensitivity does not make you less of a human,” said Principal copper.
“But I am a vampire.”
Principal Copper laughed. “Vampires do not exist.”
“What do you call me then?”
“You just have a rare illness. That’s it.”
It was the time of the man in the dark to laugh. “You’re saying that as if having this disease is easy. Xeroderma Pigmentosum? Extreme allergic reaction to sun’s UV rays? What makes me less of a vampire then?”
“It was your choice, remember?” Principal Copper saw in the screen that one of the men holding each other’s hands was being eaten by his recreated specie of Venus Flytrap plant. “In order for you to preserve young teenager-like features, you chose that consequence. You literally drank the fountain of youth at your own will despite knowing the consequence, then why are you blaming me? As if I haven’t warn you about the injected vial in your body.”
“You’re just good at creating monsters. But you can’t help them back to normal.”
Principal Copper smirked. ‘”I won’t bother. The concept of monster is only made by humanity's judgements. They treat people with extreme capabilities better than them as monsters. They could just not accept that someone … or something … is far more superior than them.”
“You’re fuckin’ crazy, Copper!”
Principal Copper’s cold gaze—with an insulting smirk—veer from the screen, then towards the man in the dark. He said, “You shall think of getting out of my lab. One click on my keys, UV lights will penetrate through your body, I’m sure you know that.”
“Fuckin’ crazy!”
“Get out.”
“f**k you, Copper! I’m here because dad’s gonna tell you something!”
Principal Copper calmed. With a blank face, he looked directly at Jin. “What is it?”
“He gives you his approval for the project you’re proposing.”
Another evil smile formed on the Principal’s face. “You should have told me, forever young Jin. We could have not have that childish fight.”
Jin grunted in anger. Yet, he could not do anything but sigh and calm his rages. “Also, he wants me to tell you another news.”
“Spill it, Jin.”
“Arvin is alive. The toddler confirmed it.”
For a brief moment, Principal Copper froze. “Where was he?”
“Unfortunately, he escaped. He must be lingering somewhere in this city. Dad said you need to be careful. He’s surely going to get you. And her.”
“The her you’re talking about is already dead. Long dead.”
“We know she’s not.”
- Writer
