Bendy and Boris in The Inky Mystery

Chapter 14: It All Goes Down Tonight!

"Yeah, and prepare for the worst," Sammy added with a small tilt of his head, his ears falling to the side of his head.

***

Bendy sighed as Dr. Boo motioned for him to sit. The doctor adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. The tilt of his beak seemed grim. Bendy couldn't help the chills running up his spine, or the dread sinking in his stomach. Boris sat in the other chair in the corner of the room. Dr. Boo looked in between the two of them and pulled a clipboard up to his thick glasses. "I'll be honest with you. I have never seen something like this before. You have baffled the lab and myself. I was wondering if we could get another sample for further study."

Bendy blinked. His bro looked just as perplexed. He frowned. "It's not like I can cough up more on command, doc."

"Right, right." He waved a wing like he was shooing the thought away.

"So, what shocked everyone?" Boris asked.

"Well, this substance is exactly like you said. It's ink," the crow explained. Bendy grimaced. "But, it's not just ink either." The crow sounded mystified.

"Huh?" Bendy felt his head tilt and his shoulders drop an inch. What did that mean?

"Oh, uh, you see, the properties of the substance are made of ink, the chemical make-up and so forth, but it's also like blood. There is DNA and cells and so forth. At first the lab thought it was contaminated, but the more they looked, the more astounded they became. It wasn't mixed, it wasn't like blood got into the sample. It was the sample!" He sounded excited. The boys shared a confused look. "See here. The cells were still functioning like they were a part of a system, like they weren't removed from a host. The reactions they were going through were miraculous. They found the sample was acting as a component in the breakdown of tissues, but it's very complex. It was very systematic in its processes, far more than a virus. We still have to consider," he paused and seemed to change his mind. "But it seemed to also store the basic units of the samples we introduced it to after it dissolved them," The doctor said, seeming to become lost in thought.

"Doc, you lost us," Bendy said, stopping the crow from continuing. The crow froze for an awkward beat, then tilted the clipboard.

"Ah. I'm sorry. I got carried away." He flicked through some papers on the board before putting it down and looking at Bendy directly. "Bottom line is, we have never seen anything like this before and it's astounding. It's, well, I'd like to think of it as living ink. It feeds and has a system of doing things. Because of this, I don't know how in the world to help you, young man." Bendy's shoulders dropped in defeat. "But, I am sending in our discoveries into the Global Board of Medical Research. I am very glad you came in. This...ink illness could change the field of medical practice in its entirety. Not a virus or bacteria or a parasite. At least not one I have ever witnessed before. Yet, it is some form of microorganism."

"Uh," Boris muttered. "And that means?"

"It means that this could be very bad for everyone if we don't find a way to combat this sickness." The doctor adjusted his glasses. "It could be devastating."

"Do you know how it spreads?" Bendy asks. The doctor shrugged.

"The lab is trying with rats, but it doesn't act like a virus. We infect them and nothing happens. We check their systems, any samples we collect and they're clean. It's like the disease refuses them instead of any act of the immune system. It refuses to stick to their systems. It'll take a while for us to figure out how this is reacting to certain individuals and completely bypassing others. The good news is it seems to 'stick' with very few subjects.You did say there have been other cases?" Dr. Boo tugged on his hood.