Laboratory Chapter 15

Read Table of Content | +Kyla Scurchio
=======================================================================

We spent several more days scouring the Lab for any clues to what awaited us out there. We caught many more steel, bionic, and granite mice, but also encountered the new Mutated grey and white mice. Knowing that the Monster mouse had a craving for radioactive blue cheese we avoided using it and left our packs outside away from where we slept.
"Dear king, I fear after this my notes will not make it back to you so I want to be thorough. Journeyman cannot handle the lab. There is plenty of mystery to this place that Z and I are still trying to sort out. One thing is for certain the Monster mouse will only come when Radioactive Blue is armed, though I hardly think our traps could handle his power. I will include with my notes a few pages I have picked up from the floors of the lab, research that the mice have dropped, and some radioactive potions. New drawings of these new mice are also included. We leave for Digby in the morning where I will see that a runner brings you my
notes. After which I hope it is ok with you that we continue on to Furoma. Everything from here on out remains a mystery to all.  -P"
I took first watch, on our last night, as Z caught up on some much needed rest. We steered clear the Monster's nest and never saw him again, though we heard his moans echoing off the walls around us almost constantly. Apart from him most the other mice were harmless. I came across a few more Zombie mice in the last few days but they merely stole my cheese and looked hideous dead or undead.  The Zombies coupled with the monster made me not want to allow any one back into the lab. The scar on the side of my head where the monster hit me was enough proof that the average hunter was not prepared to handle this place. Perhaps once the men and women were more seasoned.
As Zugzwang slept I paced down the hall where I had first ventured. The doors were still locked and we had not yet bothered to open them. I stared at a name plate on the first door "Dr. Fromage." the name meant nothing to me at first but then my brain started clicking. I had seen that name before. I went to the very last room in the hall and spread my notes out onto a counter. I went through all the lab research until at last I found a piece of paper where Dr. Fromage appeared.
On the page was a partially drawn Monster mouse and many more scribbles.
“I have added more parts to my creation. With a few more tweaks to the formula and a couple living shards I should be able to bring him to life. "
The page was full of numbers and equations that I couldn’t make sense of. I went onto the next page of notes where the Dr's tiny handwriting continued.
"The other men want me to cease in my experiment with the mice. They fear that the radioactive sludge that has been pouring into the river will cause damage down the line. I am not worried; the river does not cross any civilization and should not cause any immediate worry.  I returned from the Mousoleum again today with a bit of bionic mouse for my creation. With his tale in place he should rise within the hours."
I stared at the paper; the rest of the page was splattered with spilled potion and could not be made out. The next page contained information on the day the Monster escaped.
"With the Monster escaping I fear I have doomed us all. I dumped the bodies of the Monster mice I had yet to bring to life in the Mousoleum. I fear though that their living companion will return to them and bring them to life in the future. With my box of living shards missing it will only be a matter of time."
Staring blankly at the page I realized I finally had a man to blame, but he wasn’t the one that created the mice, he just created more breeds and more problems. I still didn’t have answers as to how the mice ended up in Gnawnia. What had made them change so drastically from what was once called normal? I gathered up my notes and placed them back into my much used journal.
I found Zugzwang awake when I returned. I was propped up against the wall by the main entrance.
"Find any goodies?" he asked winking.
"Yes, and no." I replied my brain still working away.
"Well lay it on me. What new beasty do we have to worry about now."
"Here's the thing." and I gave him the run down on my findings on Dr. Fromage. "What worries me is exactly what does and does not worry him. I worry that the monster mouse is indeed planning to bring its buddies to life; why else would he have been so drawn to my living shard. I also worry about the sludge that was said to be dumping into the river. If that is the case we could have many more screwed up mice down the road. All living things down stream of that river drink from it. I can't figure out why Dr. Fromage would have ignored such a obvious threat."
Zugzwang stared at me for a while before replying. "That's not all that's bothering you is it? I've come to know you well over the last several weeks and one thing I picked up on was your facial expression when something really bothers you."
"It's the mice. All the mice, I had originally thought they all came into existence because of the scientists but all the research we have found points to the opposite. They merely discovered these strange creatures and wanted to study them much like we are doing. Sure they are to blame for tampering with some of them but they aren't the source." Zugzwang grew quite still as I spoke. His eyes grew distant as he thought.
"There's something I probably should tell you. Just don't get angry ok."
I looked at him curious. He had a look about him, like that of a small child when a parent catches him in a lie. "What?"
"I may have lied a bit when I first came to Gnawnia. I knew where the mice had come from and I knew it wasn’t your scientists that had caused it, though the traveler did indeed talk with them. Now where I'm from mice have always been like this. I may not know exactly where they came from but I do know that magic was involved in their creation. And through ship travel they spread throughout the kingdoms. You're problem could have been here all along and only spread when too many mice finally appeared. Or you could have received all the strange breeds through travel."
"Magic? Right." I said sarcastically, grinning at him.
"Don't brush off magic Plankrun, it does exist in more ways than you can imagine." He made both his palms glow as he said it.
"The story goes," he continued "that an old wizard grew jealous of his companion and bewitched a mouse to cause his friend fright. Hoping that the human like mouse would scare his friend away he placed a box with the creature in it outside his tent and waited. Of course the story has been retold so many times no one knows the truth any more or even if it is true. But mice have been around basically as long as man has been, or at least as long as magic has been."
"Why didn’t you just tell me this to start with?" I asked him frustrated.
"Where I'm from wizards are not favored much. I worried you'd blame me and condemn me for it."
We sat in silence for a while.  There were indeed not many wizards in Gnawnia and when the locals came across one, they usually looked at them like they were dangerous or untrustworthy.  I remembered the look my father had first gave Zugzwang when we entered his chambers in Digby.
"You will always be welcomed here Z." I told him staring down the hall where the Monster now rested. With an awkward smile Zugzwang got up and went to check our traps.
The next morning came too soon. I was ready to leave the lab but feared the unknown. We had both finished repacking our things, and with a little help from Zugzwang my pack was now much lighter.
"Who ever said magic was a bad thing should be slapped." I said, as I easily threw my pack over my shoulders.
"Speaking of which, it’s been bothering me not knowing what's in the Dr's room, wanna have a look before we go?" said Zugzwang with a sly smile.
I followed him over to the door and stood behind him waiting. He gripped the door handle and whispered an incantation under his breath. His palm glowed once more and I heard a click where the lock had fallen away.
"You could have done that the whole time we were here and you're only now doing it?" I shook my head exasperated and followed after him as he laughed.
This was the first room we found to have not been destroyed. Most the paper work however had been burned in a trash bin by the desk. Jars with floating mice in them sat in the corner next to the window. Must have been the ones I had seen from the outside. Books covered the walls and much of the floor in stacks. Feeling that the room was a bit anti climatic I turned to leave just as I heard Zugzwang shout out.
"Excellent!" I turned to stare at him. He was holding a tiny golden horn. "Get ready for some proper hunting Plank, no more waiting for trap checks all the time."  It was quite basic, a mouth piece followed by a straight tube that formed into the horn at the end. No twisted valves, no buttons, the most basic instrument I had seen yet.
"Ready for this?" he asked and before I could give an answer he put the horn to his mouth and blew. With a simple, single note da dadada da da, it worked. At once mice all around the room popped their heads out of drawers, and from behind books. With a satisfied grin he pocketed the horn and we left together.
"You do realize you just stole some poor old man’s horn don’t you?" I said laughing as we left the lab together.
"The way I see it, Mr. Fromage owes us. We're the ones cleaning up after his mistakes."
In high spirits we headed back to Digby ready for some rest and a good meal before setting off on our next adventure. And though I knew that there would be nothing but the unknown awaiting us it was easier knowing I had a friend at my side to help. And a horn to do some of the hunting for us would be a relief as well.