Neo Chronicles: Black Void
Episode 18: MF the Super Villain
Table of Contents
“I am Doctor Mallec. And who, pray tell, are you?”
The dude's a mad scientist—straight out the movies. He's an alien mad scientist.
No, that ain't fair. I don't know how mad the dude really is. He's decked out like he mad though. Could be a super villain on his looks alone. While I look upon his bald, veiny green head on top of his unusually stretched out neck, he speaks once again. Through that weird gas mask thing of his, he says in this gurgly voice,
“The technology you two are wearing is standard issue from any common every day market place, and my base would have been able to prevent most warping devices from allowing access inside, which leads me to believe one or both of you has the ability to teleport unaided by any device. I should have been ready for such an event.”
The dude's monologuing. Just screams mad scientist. Real menacing lookin'. Not so much evil, but definitely out there. What is he, part robot? He's a cyborg of some sort. Alien cyborgs—ha—imagine that. I know I'm in a sci-fi flick now.
“Again I ask, who are you, and what are you doing aboard my space station?” The doc looks disturbed at the sight of us.
As far as I know, we're the only humans who've ever ventured outside of our little neck of the cosmos, so I doubt he's really seen anything like us, which is probably why he looks somewhat intrigued as well. The scientist in him is all about finding new discoveries. That's kinda what they do. It's their job.
Me and Carlos exchange glances, and then Carlos speaks out.
“There's something wrong with your space station, or rather, the rock that it's attached to. It's falling apart. What's worse is that the rocks falling from it are crashing onto the planet down below, causing some major damage.”
Mallec pauses for a moment. This seems like it's news to him, which is something I find kinda strange. You'd think if the planet or moon or asteroid slash rock that your house is attached to starts breaking apart, you'd notice. Maybe that's just me though. Maybe he's so focused on whatever it is he's doing, he doesn't have time to notice. I can sorta understand that.
“Interesting,” the doctor starts out, stroking his chin. “And what type of damage is being caused on the planet?”
That's when I speak up. I tell him, “some mad, crazy stuff. It's like, whenever one of the people gets in contact with those rocks, they mutate—I guess that's the term—their whole body completely changes. They get bigger, more animal like, their mind goes nuts—they essentially turn into monsters. Then the go on about their business, thrashin' out at any and everything that moves. No method to the madness. Just madness to the method. Then, like—what—five minutes later, they fall over dead. It's a really bad, really sad thing to watch.”
“My word,” Mallec responds. He pauses once again, probably thinking about how insane it is. Took me a while to process it, too, and I was there. “If what you're saying is true, then what must be happening is the matter that these 'rocks,' as you call them, are composed of is causing a genetic mutation on the planet's inhabitants. For it to happen so rapidly is astounding. The accumulation of more body mass would require a tremendous source of energy, more than I would think that they have readily available, which is most likely the reason why the poor souls die off a short time after their transformation. A tragedy on every level, which is undoubtedly a side effect of the work that I am performing here.”
Okay, I guess that makes sense. I didn't really catch all he said or how he said it, but if that's big-time-science-speak for what I just said, then we're on the same page. A side effect of what he's doing here? Does that mean it's all his fault? It's his fault that Juun's dead? It seems like it was an accident, but still, shouldn't there be something done to—I don't wanna say punish, but—shouldn't he be held responsible some how?
“I apologize for the trouble that you two had to endure, and my heart goes out to all the poor inhabitants of that world.” Mallec states. He seems genuinely sincere about it, which, frankly, takes me by surprise. Maybe he's not all that mad sciency after all? Just regular sciency.
“It's cool. Just thought you should know.” Carlos says. “And I guess I'm sorry that this means you'll have to stop whatever it is that you're doin' up here. I'm sure it's important.”
“It is important,” Mallec quickly snaps. “You see, I have just discovered a new energy source that will revolutionize the way we think of—well, about everything. With this, we will be able to harness the power of the stars around us in ways we've only dreamed about doing. It is interesting that the experiment is causing some drastic side effects to those surrounding it, and I assure you, they will be thoroughly looked into, but right now the work I'm doing—mining this meteoroid for this special matter—it is of the utmost importance. I'm sure you understand.”
“Aren't there laws for preventing this type of thing from happening for this exact reason?” Carlos questions.
“Laws should not ban a person or group from progress.”
“But these are lives we're talkin' about.” I interject. “You can't possibly go on knowing that you're basically killing a species.”
“I already told you, I will look in on the subject, later. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Now please, be on your way.”
Now he's acting like a super villain. This is what mad scientists do. They go on their way, giving no pause to any damage that they cause because they're so focused on themselves. It's just like on TV. There's no sense of feeling to them. No compassion. No ethics. I don't even think they're really in this to help people. It's all about the cred. They're tryna make money, get rich, and get known.
I'm not cool with this doc anymore. He was startin' to get over on me. He really was taken off guard by the fact, and for a lil' bit, he was concerned. He probably still is concerned, but it's not enough to get him to stop.
“You need to stop now.” I say, adding a bit more emphasis on the 'now' part than I thought I would. This dude's really getting to me. “Please. I understand that this is big. You'll probably make big money from it, too. Get your name plastered in every text book as the guy who did—whatever it is you're doin'. I'm all for that. But this right here—lives, they're actual lives. You can't just throw them out like that.”
I'm not one for picking fights. I try to do my best to avoid them. Any type of confrontation, any type of disagreement, I try to stay away from it. I love watchin' other people go at it. That junk is funny, but actually being caught up in it—nah dawg, it's not for me.
That's not to say I don't get passionate about certain somethings. That Visigen on Miraivus—I got passionate about that. That bar fight on that moon—got directly involved with it, because I got passionate about it, too. Those snake people messin' with my dude Ri'lar—say what you will about him, he was my homie, so I had to get passionate about that. And then there's the latest thing with Ran shootin' Ri'lar in cold blood. You bet I got passionate over that. And when I get that passionate about stuff, I gotta get involved.
Problem is, though, every time I get involved, things just go down south in the worst of ways. I don't like dealing with that. I should just let this go. I really should, because gettin' all up in arms with it's not gonna go anywhere productive. I look to Carlos, and see him look at Mallec. There's something in his eyes that doesn't wanna let this stand either. I'm about to tell him to quit, but for some strange reason, I can't get that picture of Juun-Met outta my head. He was just a kid.
He was just a kid.
“You can't keep this up.” I say. “People are too valuable to throw them aside like you're doing.”
“I gotta agree with him on this.” Carlos backs me up. “If you'd just address the issue now, make it so the mutations stop, and then go back to what you're doing, then everything would be alright.”
This time Mallec doesn't pause to think about what he's going to say. He just comes out and says it. His mind is already made up. We might have to fight him on this. And I mean fight fight. I'd hate to come off as the bully beatin' up on the nerd in school, but this is wrong.
“It is a shame that those people died. It really is, but you don't understand my position well enough. I have been here on and off for a total of five solar cycles of this planet's life time. If what you're saying is true, and the impact is having such a drastic and such a fast acting effect on them, then I'm afraid it is already too late to save them. How many life forms did you see when you were there? If I were to take an educated guess, not many. That may be because the rest were already gone. And I take full responsibility for that, but as of right now, there's nothing I can do for them except make certain that their lives were not lost in vain. If it makes you feel any better, when this project is finished, I will dedicate it to all those who it negatively affected. I will also send out drones to ward off any would be travelers, such as yourself, from landing on the planet so they may not get caught up in the issue as well. I am not an evil person, I just see the major importance in this research that I am conducting, and so I will continue on with it as I have done before, but I assure you, these adverse side effects will be looked into. You have my word.”
I didn't wanna hear that. I really didn't. But then again, maybe I did, because now I have an excuse to punch him into next week. I look at Carlos once more, hoping he gives me some visual confirmation that it's okay if I do. He looks uncertain. Him being uncertain makes me feel uncertain. I'm guessing that means it's a no-go.
“I think that's the best we're going to get out of this,” he says to me.
I look back at Mallec, close my eyes, then exhale deeply. I'm mad, in case you didn't pick up on it. Real mad, but Carlos is right. There's no sense in starting any real trouble here, because what's the point? I open my eyes, try and loosen up, then look back at Carlos and say,
“Then I guess we should go.”
Teleporting like this is a weird feeling. It's different from warping inside a space ship. I don't know how to describe it. It's like everything on the inside gets sucked outside, then put back inside again. It happens so quick, though, that I don't feel woozy afterwards, so I guess that's good.
We're back on Ran's space ship, right in the cockpit area. We see her in the captain's chair just sorta waiting around. I guess she was just waiting for us to come back the whole time. I look back at Carlos one last time and ask him,
“Is it bad that I really want to kill him?”
Episode 18: MF the Super Villain
Table of Contents
“I am Doctor Mallec. And who, pray tell, are you?”
The dude's a mad scientist—straight out the movies. He's an alien mad scientist.
No, that ain't fair. I don't know how mad the dude really is. He's decked out like he mad though. Could be a super villain on his looks alone. While I look upon his bald, veiny green head on top of his unusually stretched out neck, he speaks once again. Through that weird gas mask thing of his, he says in this gurgly voice,
“The technology you two are wearing is standard issue from any common every day market place, and my base would have been able to prevent most warping devices from allowing access inside, which leads me to believe one or both of you has the ability to teleport unaided by any device. I should have been ready for such an event.”
The dude's monologuing. Just screams mad scientist. Real menacing lookin'. Not so much evil, but definitely out there. What is he, part robot? He's a cyborg of some sort. Alien cyborgs—ha—imagine that. I know I'm in a sci-fi flick now.
“Again I ask, who are you, and what are you doing aboard my space station?” The doc looks disturbed at the sight of us.
As far as I know, we're the only humans who've ever ventured outside of our little neck of the cosmos, so I doubt he's really seen anything like us, which is probably why he looks somewhat intrigued as well. The scientist in him is all about finding new discoveries. That's kinda what they do. It's their job.
Me and Carlos exchange glances, and then Carlos speaks out.
“There's something wrong with your space station, or rather, the rock that it's attached to. It's falling apart. What's worse is that the rocks falling from it are crashing onto the planet down below, causing some major damage.”
Mallec pauses for a moment. This seems like it's news to him, which is something I find kinda strange. You'd think if the planet or moon or asteroid slash rock that your house is attached to starts breaking apart, you'd notice. Maybe that's just me though. Maybe he's so focused on whatever it is he's doing, he doesn't have time to notice. I can sorta understand that.
“Interesting,” the doctor starts out, stroking his chin. “And what type of damage is being caused on the planet?”
That's when I speak up. I tell him, “some mad, crazy stuff. It's like, whenever one of the people gets in contact with those rocks, they mutate—I guess that's the term—their whole body completely changes. They get bigger, more animal like, their mind goes nuts—they essentially turn into monsters. Then the go on about their business, thrashin' out at any and everything that moves. No method to the madness. Just madness to the method. Then, like—what—five minutes later, they fall over dead. It's a really bad, really sad thing to watch.”
“My word,” Mallec responds. He pauses once again, probably thinking about how insane it is. Took me a while to process it, too, and I was there. “If what you're saying is true, then what must be happening is the matter that these 'rocks,' as you call them, are composed of is causing a genetic mutation on the planet's inhabitants. For it to happen so rapidly is astounding. The accumulation of more body mass would require a tremendous source of energy, more than I would think that they have readily available, which is most likely the reason why the poor souls die off a short time after their transformation. A tragedy on every level, which is undoubtedly a side effect of the work that I am performing here.”
Okay, I guess that makes sense. I didn't really catch all he said or how he said it, but if that's big-time-science-speak for what I just said, then we're on the same page. A side effect of what he's doing here? Does that mean it's all his fault? It's his fault that Juun's dead? It seems like it was an accident, but still, shouldn't there be something done to—I don't wanna say punish, but—shouldn't he be held responsible some how?
“I apologize for the trouble that you two had to endure, and my heart goes out to all the poor inhabitants of that world.” Mallec states. He seems genuinely sincere about it, which, frankly, takes me by surprise. Maybe he's not all that mad sciency after all? Just regular sciency.
“It's cool. Just thought you should know.” Carlos says. “And I guess I'm sorry that this means you'll have to stop whatever it is that you're doin' up here. I'm sure it's important.”
“It is important,” Mallec quickly snaps. “You see, I have just discovered a new energy source that will revolutionize the way we think of—well, about everything. With this, we will be able to harness the power of the stars around us in ways we've only dreamed about doing. It is interesting that the experiment is causing some drastic side effects to those surrounding it, and I assure you, they will be thoroughly looked into, but right now the work I'm doing—mining this meteoroid for this special matter—it is of the utmost importance. I'm sure you understand.”
“Aren't there laws for preventing this type of thing from happening for this exact reason?” Carlos questions.
“Laws should not ban a person or group from progress.”
“But these are lives we're talkin' about.” I interject. “You can't possibly go on knowing that you're basically killing a species.”
“I already told you, I will look in on the subject, later. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Now please, be on your way.”
Now he's acting like a super villain. This is what mad scientists do. They go on their way, giving no pause to any damage that they cause because they're so focused on themselves. It's just like on TV. There's no sense of feeling to them. No compassion. No ethics. I don't even think they're really in this to help people. It's all about the cred. They're tryna make money, get rich, and get known.
I'm not cool with this doc anymore. He was startin' to get over on me. He really was taken off guard by the fact, and for a lil' bit, he was concerned. He probably still is concerned, but it's not enough to get him to stop.
“You need to stop now.” I say, adding a bit more emphasis on the 'now' part than I thought I would. This dude's really getting to me. “Please. I understand that this is big. You'll probably make big money from it, too. Get your name plastered in every text book as the guy who did—whatever it is you're doin'. I'm all for that. But this right here—lives, they're actual lives. You can't just throw them out like that.”
I'm not one for picking fights. I try to do my best to avoid them. Any type of confrontation, any type of disagreement, I try to stay away from it. I love watchin' other people go at it. That junk is funny, but actually being caught up in it—nah dawg, it's not for me.
That's not to say I don't get passionate about certain somethings. That Visigen on Miraivus—I got passionate about that. That bar fight on that moon—got directly involved with it, because I got passionate about it, too. Those snake people messin' with my dude Ri'lar—say what you will about him, he was my homie, so I had to get passionate about that. And then there's the latest thing with Ran shootin' Ri'lar in cold blood. You bet I got passionate over that. And when I get that passionate about stuff, I gotta get involved.
Problem is, though, every time I get involved, things just go down south in the worst of ways. I don't like dealing with that. I should just let this go. I really should, because gettin' all up in arms with it's not gonna go anywhere productive. I look to Carlos, and see him look at Mallec. There's something in his eyes that doesn't wanna let this stand either. I'm about to tell him to quit, but for some strange reason, I can't get that picture of Juun-Met outta my head. He was just a kid.
He was just a kid.
“You can't keep this up.” I say. “People are too valuable to throw them aside like you're doing.”
“I gotta agree with him on this.” Carlos backs me up. “If you'd just address the issue now, make it so the mutations stop, and then go back to what you're doing, then everything would be alright.”
This time Mallec doesn't pause to think about what he's going to say. He just comes out and says it. His mind is already made up. We might have to fight him on this. And I mean fight fight. I'd hate to come off as the bully beatin' up on the nerd in school, but this is wrong.
“It is a shame that those people died. It really is, but you don't understand my position well enough. I have been here on and off for a total of five solar cycles of this planet's life time. If what you're saying is true, and the impact is having such a drastic and such a fast acting effect on them, then I'm afraid it is already too late to save them. How many life forms did you see when you were there? If I were to take an educated guess, not many. That may be because the rest were already gone. And I take full responsibility for that, but as of right now, there's nothing I can do for them except make certain that their lives were not lost in vain. If it makes you feel any better, when this project is finished, I will dedicate it to all those who it negatively affected. I will also send out drones to ward off any would be travelers, such as yourself, from landing on the planet so they may not get caught up in the issue as well. I am not an evil person, I just see the major importance in this research that I am conducting, and so I will continue on with it as I have done before, but I assure you, these adverse side effects will be looked into. You have my word.”
I didn't wanna hear that. I really didn't. But then again, maybe I did, because now I have an excuse to punch him into next week. I look at Carlos once more, hoping he gives me some visual confirmation that it's okay if I do. He looks uncertain. Him being uncertain makes me feel uncertain. I'm guessing that means it's a no-go.
“I think that's the best we're going to get out of this,” he says to me.
I look back at Mallec, close my eyes, then exhale deeply. I'm mad, in case you didn't pick up on it. Real mad, but Carlos is right. There's no sense in starting any real trouble here, because what's the point? I open my eyes, try and loosen up, then look back at Carlos and say,
“Then I guess we should go.”
Teleporting like this is a weird feeling. It's different from warping inside a space ship. I don't know how to describe it. It's like everything on the inside gets sucked outside, then put back inside again. It happens so quick, though, that I don't feel woozy afterwards, so I guess that's good.
We're back on Ran's space ship, right in the cockpit area. We see her in the captain's chair just sorta waiting around. I guess she was just waiting for us to come back the whole time. I look back at Carlos one last time and ask him,
“Is it bad that I really want to kill him?”
