penpusher: (Pen)
The Story So Far – (Picking up from the Week [29] story – The Truth Shall Be Televised)

A certain Doctor Fremd enlisted a couple of students from the local college to film a promo for his research work, hoping to use the PR film to help secure funding to continue his experiments.

After claiming he already received a grant from their school and when the two students filming the piece specifically asked about the funding, the doctor threw them into a locked cell, occupied by one of his more successful experiments: Rogi, an assistant twice the size of an adult human.

Rogi agrees to help Hal and Ray, the students, to get out of their circumstance if they agree to help Rogi and the other experiments by killing them.

---

Hal and Ray stared at each other, mouths agape.

“What are we supposed to do?” Hal whispered to his classmate. “We can’t kill Rogi. I got a two point oh in Bio because I wouldn’t dissect a frog!”

“I don’t know,” Ray said in a hushed tone, scanning the floor with his camera light. “But, I wouldn’t have a single worry about killing off those beetles that were on my shoe.”

“And what exactly are these other creatures?” asked Hal. “What if they’re just as big as Rogi? Trying to kill them would be like trying to kill a Subaru! Even if we wanted to, which we do not!” Hal paused and looked into the camera. “Shouldn’t you be saving that battery for when we really need it?”

“Don’t worry. I have two more fully charged in my pack,” Ray nodded. “But you’re right. I don’t see an answer to any of this.”

Rogi waved Hal and Ray over to a corner of the cell and he pushed a brick which revealed a foothold. Rogi slid the front part of his right foot into the hold and leaned against the wall. After a moment, the wall began to move, slightly at first, then swung, like a door, into what looked like a hallway.

“Was this house constructed by Doctor Fremd or did he buy it like this?” Hal asked.

“This place is all I’ve ever known,” cried Rogi.

The three of them gingerly stepped down this hallway and at the end of it was the laboratory. All sorts of cages and cases filled with all kinds of creatures.

“Look at this!” Ray called, pointing out a rat with a full spread of peacock feathers.

“Yeah, okay,” said the rat. “It’s great for getting dates, but horrible for trying to escape.”

Ray blanched and quickly walked away.

“We are the experiments,” said Rogi. “We need help.”

“I think we can work some things out,” Hal said, examining a shelf with various medicines. “Try some of this!” Hal uncorked and handed a large (to him) bottle that Rogi held easily in the palm of his hand. He swallowed it whole.

“Mm. Tasty,” Rogi said. “What was that?”

“I don’t know exactly, but it was labeled ‘Pain Relief,’” Hal said, expectantly. “Do you feel any different?”

“Yes. I feel good. I feel better! I want I want Iiiiiiieeeee!”

Ray stared at Hal, “What did you give him?”

“It was right here on this shelf! Pain Relief.” That’s when Hal noticed the other box: Penis Release, right next to it, and also empty.

“Listen Rogi, you have to concentrate.” Hal said. “Think about baseball scores or ‘The Golden Girls’ or something!”

Rogi’s yelps brought another visitor to the lab.

“What is this?!” Doctor Fremd shouted and the room fell silent. He turned to the two college students. “How did you escape that cell?” The room remained deathly still.

“It doesn’t matter,” the doctor lamented, “I’ll just have to increase the security around this place, right Rogi?”

Doctor Fremd eyeballed Rogi. “Is there something wrong?”

Rogi said nothing; he just tried to breathe deeply and smoothly.

“Doctor, what’s going on here?” Ray jumped in. “There are some very unusual creatures here and they are apparently suffering.”

“That is completely untrue,” Doctor Fremd insisted. “Isn’t that right, Rogi?”

“He’s the one suffering most of all!” Hal said. “And you’re not doing anything about it.”

“Oh, come now, Rogi,” the doctor tried. “You know I have taken care of you. And I didn’t forget the promise of a companion for you. Would you like that? Hm?”

Rogi let out a wimper and suddenly there was what looked like an oak tree trunk sitting in front of him. He turned and it smashed the cages open, releasing the creatures within.

Before the “oak” could pin him inside, Doctor Fremd scuttled out of the lab and upstairs. That’s when the rest of the crew went on the move. They marched up the staircase and to the front door.

Rogi got to the door but only his extra member could exit. That’s when Hal gave the command that did the job.

“Rogi,” he said, “fuck this house.”

Rogi yelled and motioned his hips back and forth in the portal and after three thrusts, the front façade of the house collapsed freeing him. He pummeled the frame of the door and the other creatures followed along.

“He’s getting away!” Ray yelled, filming the progress.

“Not if I can help it!” said the Peacock Rat, who ran along the oak with super quick speed. And as he was doing that, it engorged Rogi even more, “catching up” to the doctor. Rogi turned and knocked the doctor’s course, pushing him off to the right and near the lookout footpath.

The rat nearly reached the doctor too, tickling Rogi all the way by brushing feathers along the shaft. Rogi turned again and knocked the doctor onto the lookout path as the rat reached out and mouthed the hem of Fremd’s lab coat.

The rat ran up the spine of the doctor’s coat and settled on his head, splaying the feathers out in front of the doctor’s eyes, just as he approached the small wire fence next to the cliffside.

Rogi turning and brushing himself across the field of soft, gentle and scratchy weeds did it… A sudden burst of cream jolted into the doctor, he slipped on it, tried to catch his balance, but a second, larger burst followed it, covering his lower half entirely and spinning him around.

But it was the third burst that sent him sliding in the direction of the fence, and toppled him over the edge, tripping across the top, into a freefall, out of sight.

“Oh wow! The rat went over too!” Ray shouted, as the students carefully approached the area, making sure not to step in the wet spots.

“Um, not quite,” came the voice from below. The rat was on the very lowest edge of the fence, hooked by one of its own feathers. “I told you these made it hard to escape!”

Just then both Ray and Hal’s phones started buzzing. Hundreds of people on campus saw the video and were texting to let them know the authorities were on their way.

Later, after the scene was cleaned up, Hal and Ray had a chance to talk to Rogi.

“Listen. We hope you’ll be alright. Do you know what you’re going to do now?” Hal asked.

“There’s a nature preserve in Montana that they said would accept most of us,” Rogi said. “They can help us be more comfortable and will bring in researchers to understand our circumstances.”

“Oh that sounds wonderful,” Ray smiled.

“It’s just…”

“What, Rogi?” Hal asked.

“I never did get my special someone, like the doctor promised.”

They all sat quietly for a moment. But then, Rogi started to get an erection.

“Rogi!” Both Hal and Ray shouted.

Up popped the Peacock Rat, swishing his tail. “You know, I can be a really, really great companion!”

Then, they all laughed and laughed!

//

This story was written for LJ Idol and was based on The Future Shall Rise, a story by [livejournal.com profile] halfshellvenus, written during Week 15 of this season’s competition, AND was written using the prompt Impossible
penpusher: (SciFi  honoring <lj user=melodymuse>)
It was rare that anyone would contact Ledbetter College to produce a video. For starters, Ledbetter didn’t actually have a film or television degree program. And even their theater was a stage at one end of the gym where the Ledbetter Lions played their home basketball games.

Most people either being tech savvy or having products that made them seem knowledgeable, would shoot something on their own with a phone or a digital camera. But the guy who contacted the school had a special request. He wanted some continual publicity at low cost so if he threw the school a bit of cash, they would make this video, use it as a promotion for the school itself and then he would be seen as a part of it, any time the school ran a promo. Getting more eyeballs on the project was key. There was also a suggestion that he could possibly get some funding for his work through the school, another reason to do some campus outreach.

Hal and Ray, each responsible Seniors, and each about to graduate with degrees in English Lit, were both fairly well versed in the methods of shooting a vid. Hal also had a way with words, so he could write up a script on the fly. Ray was expert at knowing what to show, so he’d be the cinematographer. They were permitted to use this shoot as a kind of internship, with the money they received going to help establish a Photo Department for the school. The bonus was they’d get to keep a portion of the payment and it would lead to an expansion for the campus and a possible opportunity for both Hal and Ray to establish themselves as instructors, if there was enough interest from incoming and undergrad students.

Arriving at their destination, Ray took a shot of the surrounding neighborhood, a rundown former church and its adjoining cemetery, a field with weeds as far as the eye could see, the cliff with the small wire fence as its only safeguard and the destination, the doctor’s home, a dark red bricked edifice with a deep sloping roof.

Before the lads could knock, the door was open and there was a tall and wide… person. Hal and Ray glanced at each other almost as if to say, how does this person come and go from this house?

“Are you Doctor Fremd?” Hal asked.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhh…”

Suddenly Hal and Ray were also involuntarily screaming.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Noooooooooooooo.” Said the door holder.

“Rogi, no! Rogi, go!” came a voice from behind the door. The door holder gingerly turned around and marched towards the back of the house as a man in a white lab coat and a three-piece dark grey suit without the jacket took its place.

“Hello. You must be the young men from the College,” he said, reaching out his hand to shake both of theirs.

“Are you Doctor Fremd,” asked Hal.

“Actually, it’s Doctor Friend,” Doctor Fremd said. “It’s an honest mistake. Won’t you come in?

Ray entered, filming the whole while, getting the high-ceilinged roof and the wider than you would expect staircase down to the basement.

“Come this way!” The doctor beckoned, and they entered his office.

“May I offer you some coffee or tea, or something a little harder? I know you college kids enjoy beer.”

Ray chimed in, “I was a little curious about who answered the door when we arrived.”

“Oh, that’s Rogi,” the Doctor said. “He’s an assistant.”

“More like Yogi because he’s the size of a bear,” Ray responded. “How does he fit through the front door?”

“I’m on a really tight schedule and I was told you were well prepared for this meeting. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

“Yes, sir.” Hal reached into his back pack and pulled out a notebook. “I worked up a short script based on the information we received about your project. I tied it back to Ledbetter because of the cross promotion.”

The doctor briefly read through the text. “This should suffice.”

“And we can shoot your comments right here in your office,” Ray said.

Moments later, after Ray set up a tripod in front of the doctor’s desk and cued him to begin.

“I appreciate the efforts made by Ledbetter College to help my progress and to aid my project. With the one-hundred thousand dollars they provided…”

“Cut.” Hal called.

“What happened?” asked the doctor.

“I didn’t write any amount or suggest you say an amount for this.”

“Are you actually getting a hundred thousand dollars from Ledbetter?” Ray asked. “We need to ask for more money for this gig!”

“This is a promotion for your school, am I correct in thinking this?” the doctor asked.

“Which is why you should not be saying any dollar figures as part of our video,” Hal retorted. “You might give prospective students the wrong idea.”

“You’re talking about students coming to the school,” said the doctor. “I’m referring to funding for research, crucial work that will change the course of humanity!”

“Maybe we should move on to what you are working on?” Ray suggested.

“We didn’t talk about that,” said the doctor. “I’m not completely prepared to show my lab.”

Ray quickly undocked the camera from the tripod and was ready to move, while Hal grabbed his back pack and they exited the office and headed for the staircase.

“The lab is downstairs, right?” Ray asked.

“Yes, but,”

“That’s fine,” Ray said. “I’ll just shoot around anything that doesn’t look savory. We’re not trying to make you look bad.”

“Who in the administration did you speak to about your research grant?” Hal asked as they descended the staircase.

“Actually, no one, yet.”

Hal laughed. “No one? That can’t be. You just said you got a hundred…”

At the foot of the stairs, the doctor shouldered the two students into an enclosed room and slammed the door shut and locked it. A small slit where light from the outer hall could be seen was just as quickly sealed. They were in total darkness.

“What the hell happened?” Ray asked.

“Nothing good, that’s for sure.” Hal responded. “Are you okay.”

“Yeah.” Ray flipped on one of the camera's lights to see and noticed a bunch of odd beetles crawling by his shoe and starting to march up his leg.

“Aaaaahhh!” he yelled, shaking his leg and swatting at the insects to get off his pants.”

“What’s going on?” Hal asked, pounding on the solid door. “Doctor Friend!” he called, “We need to talk to you.”

“And now I have no signal.” Ray lamented.

“So, we can’t call anyone to get us out of here?” Hal asked.

“I was livecasting the entire thing,” said Ray.

“You mean the whole thing, that big yogi thing at the door, the doctor and getting tossed into this cell is on your video channel?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure when I lost the signal. If it happened before we got thrown in here, I don’t know what it’ll look like. It might look like we just stopped the cast.”

“Do you know if anyone was watching?”

“I don’t,” Ray responded. “And I normally don’t cast at this time of day, so my usual audience isn’t around.”

“But someone will see it,” Hal said hopefully.

“If they look at the channel archives,” said Ray. “But not everyone does that right away. And I think I titled it ‘School Project’ so that probably isn’t going to help boost the interest.”

“So now what?”

“Maybe it’s time for a new plan,” came the voice from the darkness. Both Hal and Ray jumped so high, they would have set new track and field state records. Ray spun the light toward the sound and there was Rogi seated on the floor on a pile of straw that doubled as his bed.

“When I overheard that you were coming here, it gave a lot of us hope.” Rogi cried.

“Are you recording this,” Hal whispered. Ray nodded back.

“Who are you,” Ray called to him.

“I am more than the sum of my parts. But my parts are not all me.”

Both Hal and Ray stood in stunned silence.

“I am a creation, a being made by Doctor Fromd.”

“That’s Doctor Friend,” Ray corrected him.

“He is no ‘Friend.’” Rogi corrected him.

“Point taken,” said Hal. “Are you his research project?”

“One. He has ten that I know of and at least twice that many that have already failed.”

“And what is he attempting to accomplish,” Ray asked. “Is he trying to create new creatures, extend the life expectancy of humans?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think he knows. But he is just trying things and seeing what works, and if anything does, he keeps it.”

“You just said that when you heard we were coming it gave you a lot of hope,” Hal said. “Who are you talking about?”

“All of us, his experiments.” Rogi cried. “we are all in great pain.”

“Physical pain?”

“Physical pain, emotional pain.”

“How can we help you, now?” Hal asked. “We’re trapped in here.”

“I have a way of getting out.” Rogi said. “But you have to promise to do one thing for us.

“Of course,” Ray said. “What is it?”

“Please. Please. Kill us.”

//

This story was written for LJ Idol and was based on The Future Shall Rise, a story by [livejournal.com profile] halfshellvenus, written during Week 15 of this season’s competition.

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