Better Off Dead

Chapter Five: Science Doesn't Have to Make Sense

We made it back to the house without talking about Bobbi or our visit once. Instead we listened to theatrical classical music, which was way more entertaining than I thought it would be. When we got back to the house Taylor motioned me to follow her into the lab.

The room was organized chaos, chemicals and machines and documents covering the surfaces yet nothing seemed out of place. Piles of papers and notes were stacked like roof tiles, hovering over screens and flashing lights. Don't flashing lights always mean something terrible? Alarms, hazard lights, out of ink printer messages.

There were containers of chemicals organized by color, the way you would organize nail polish or paints. I wondered where chemicals actually come from. And how do you get them? Can you just buy them at the store? Or is there some kind of secret scientist chemical warehouse in a desert somewhere that you drive to in the middle of the night?

In addition to those more pleasant of items, there was a section that looked like the supplies needed for an autopsy. More scalpels than one non-homicidal maniac should need, enough jars for the mummification process, and needles. You don't need extra explanation of why needles are scary, they just are.

That was enough looking around. I got the picture.

I took a seat in a creepy lab chair and assumed that whatever violence ensued was for the greater good. I rolled up my sleeve for Malibu Barbie wielding a scalpel and test tubes.

Taylor put on gloves and cartoonish lab goggles before daintily grabbing my meat hand. She laid it out on a surface, stared at it suspiciously like it was going to take on a mind of its own and attack, and finally cut off a piece with a scalpel.

Which was okay, because the fused on tissue is mostly numb, but offering lidocaine before hacking bits off people is just common courtesy.

"What's it for?" I asked, referring to the chunk of me that she had cut off for SCIENCE.

"Step one of the master plan of SCIENCE. We isolate this compound from your tissues... use it here... and pretty soon we'll have a way to track down the serum." She explained, clarifying nothing.

"That... doesn't really make sense."

"It's SCIENCE. It doesn't have to make sense."

I was pretty sure science did have to make sense, and that's what separated it from mysticism, but whatever. I was already lost in the Twilight Zone and there was no point in trying to make sense of it all. Magically track down a scientist using chunks of my flesh? Sure. Why not?

Taylor completely forgot about me and started doing science things. Mumbling a bunch of words I couldn't even understand, writing things furiously then scratching them out even more furiously, even talking to one of the machines and letting it know what the consequences of failure would be. I got out of there while I could.

In my hasty retreat I ran into Devon. He was extremely unhappy about it, but his expression didn't change. If you can keep a straight face when a half-corpse walks into you, you're either a professional poker player or literally have no soul. It could have gone either way.

After a moment to compose his rigid posture, he spoke like everything was normal. "I have to get going. If Taylor gets her tracker finished, you'll have a job to do tonight. Liam will fill you in." He patted his pockets to make sure he had everything, then paused when he reached the door. This time, I did not appreciate the blank facade. "You did say whatever it takes."

It wasn't long after he left that Taylor finished her work.

"That should do it." Taylor handed Liam a small device that looked more like a children's toy than a scientific breakthrough. It was a grey plastic rectangle with a map screen, like a handheld gaming system with no controls and the only game was 'stare at a map'. I doubted it would storm the market.