Radioactive: Chapter Seven

Radioactive

Chapter Seven

~Deoxyribonucleic Acid~

Jekyll sat at in his medical office at the hospital and typed away at his computer. It was about 24 hours since the crystal human. The DNA results from the lizard had just been processed and he had just looked in over an interpreted the results. He closed the file and was getting ready to get back to his medical practice when the office door opened. Jekyll looked up with his eyes and followed Kaiba as he walked across the room. Kiri stood at the door. Jekyll stared at the intruders for a moment before saying anything.

“May I help you?” Jekyll asked.

“What do the results say?” Kaiba asked.

Jekyll stood up, “I don’t know what you are talking about. Have you thought of getting checked by a doctor? I could have you admitted into a facility if you’d like.”

“The test results,” Kaiba turned to look at Jekyll, “I was on my way over when I got a notification that the tests were finished.”

“What were you on your way over for?” Jekyll asked, “Did you run into another lizard that tore open a gash in your stomach? Good.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes, “There seems to be something going around getting lots of people at the Tower sick. The symptoms are similar to that of a cold but are much worse. Sirius was wondering if he you could spare a few hours over there and help figure out a cure.”

“There is no cure for the common cold,” Jekyll stated, “Anyone who tells you different is trying to sell you something. But I guess I could figure out what it is exactly it’s spreading rather quickly. Have you tried telling people not to touch their faces? To wash their hands? Use hand sanitizer?”

“Yes,” Kaiba stated.

“Hmm,” Jekyll thought a moment, “You don’t recycle air, do you?”

“No,” Kaiba said, “It gets filtered first before entering the air vents.”

“Like that could stop a cold,” Jekyll muttered. He sighed, “I guess I could do some extra hours at the Tower.”

“The results,” Kaiba said, “What did the results say?”

Jekyll looked at Kaiba, “Patience is a virtue. Besides, I have to come to terms with the fact my weekend is now going to be spent working.”

“You spend your weekends working anyway,” Kiri said as an attempt to join the conversation.

Both men looked at her for a moment. Jekyll stared at her as he talked, a faint smile on his lips, “True, but it’s usually on my own terms.” Jekyll turned to Kaiba, the smile had disappeared, “The results are interesting.”

“Interesting, how?” Kaiba asked.

“Well, they weren’t able to extract any DNA from the crystal. Don’t know what we are going to do with her. Can’t make her into a necklace or anything, it’d be really strange. The lizard, the one you brought back in three pieces, was more interesting. From the looks of it, he’s DNA was altered.”

“I could tell by the way he was biting my arm,” Kaiba said with slight sarcasm.

“But he wasn’t born that way. They found several areas in his DNA that were changed entirely. He was still human but he was also a lizard.”

“But he wasn’t born that way?” Kaiba asked.

Jekyll shook his head, “No, he wasn’t.”

“How can you tell?” Kiri took a step forward with interest.

“Because the last time I checked a lizard and a human couldn’t, how shall I say it, have a baby,” Jekyll smiled at her.

“Do you know what you are implying?” Kaiba narrowed his eyes.

“Yes,” Jekyll nodded, “Someone played with his DNA. It’s not just a mutation with one or two cells but with every cell in his body. Whatever the procedure of doing so, we’re seeing something rather serious. It’s also through some speculation that he was a normal human before being turned into a super mutant.”

“Ouch,” Kiri bit her lower lip.

“I need more information before we jump to conclusions,” Kaiba walked to the door, “Come on Kiri.”

“Where are you headed off to?” Jekyll asked.

“Apparently there is someone who might be able to help with some information,” Kaiba said.

“Have fun,” Jekyll said.

“Come on,” Kaiba ignored Jekyll and walked out the door.

Kiri said a proper goodbye to the doctor and ran after Kaiba who was already half way down the hallway. She walked briskly alongside Kaiba.

“Where are we going?” Kiri asked.

“Keep your wallet close,” Kaiba sighed, “We’re going to the circus.”

~§~

“Hello! Welcome to the—”

“Island Circus and Carnival! There are plenty of thing to do! Like—”

“Games, rides, and much, much more! The next show is in 20 minutes! Watch us preform!”

A group of triplets greeted the coming guests at the main gate. They stood at the gate and waved at the coming people. The sign above the opened gate was large and friendly looking. A mechanical clown waved at the visitors with a large smile on its face. The words Welcome to the Circus were arced in large letters around the clown.

The three triplets all wore a different color. One wore red, the other blue and the third wore yellow. All three looked like trapezist with their sparkling clothing of their respective colors. Each sister had their hair up in a similar bun decorated with a net of sparkling gems.

Kiri followed Kaiba through the gates. She waved to the three girls at the entrance as her companion ignored them entirely. Kiri hurried to follow Kaiba through the busy streets between the tents. She bumped into a circus performer. The young man apologized with a slight bow. His red hair was long and shaggy up to is back.

“My apologies,” he said, “I hope you aren’t hurt.”

“I’m fine,” Kiri said, looking around for Kaiba.

She tuned and caught up with him. Kaiba walked through the center of the Circus where there was an outdoor elephant ride. The elephant tamer was covered in tattoos including his bald head. He did have a patch of hair at the back of his head that was drawn into a ponytail.  He spoke in a foreign language to the elephants and they did as they were told. Kaiba walked past the line of people for elephant rides to the area beyond. This drew a curious side-glance from the elephant master.

They walked to the back of the circus where the wagons and trailers were located. The staff that was getting ready for the performance in the large blue tents looked up from their work and scowled at the intruders. Kiri walked faster to walk alongside Kaiba.

“Maybe we should have asked permission,” Kiri suggested, “They don’t seem happy to see us.”

“I don’t have time,” Kaiba said, “Besides, we’ll be in and out before they can do anything.”

A large man walked into their path. He carried a large hammer with both of his hands. A woman in a blue outfit and small blue top hat on her head sat on the man’s shoulder. She didn’t look happy.”

“Are you lost?” she asked.

Kiri looked around and noticed that they were slowly being surrounded by unhappy faces. She clenched her fists, reading herself for a fight.

“No,” Kaiba said, “We know exactly where we are going. Who might you be?”

“I’ll be asking the questions!” She jumped down and snapped her fingers, “Get them!”

The man drew back his arm and struck them unconscious with the hammer.