Swapping R&D - Part Three

"I'm going to check on the other teams" she states, ducking her larger frame out the door frame. "Let's start Mr. Hughes off with... Six animal traits" she calls out, sliding her head out of view as she moves further away. "We'll pay a bonus for the extensive cha..."

My eyes dart around, watching as the researchers in the room look back and forth at each other for a moment in shock. All but the tiny Filipino woman seem concerned at the number, the short scientist simply watching me excitedly as she waits for the changes to start.

With a shrug one of the researchers begins to select traits, carefully picking them in an effort to not too heavily overlap anything and accidentally trade out something or a similar feature. The key of frantic keystrokes barely manages to reach me inside the chamber, the crackling electricity and the young woman squealing with excitement doing their best to drown out any other noise.

Swapping R&D - Part Two

"Oh..." Rachel chirps, smiling over at me. "Well this team is testing putting physical animal traits into people to help ethically produce products like milk and cheese" she chirps giddily, her tongue poking out for a moment as she quickly licks at her lips.

My stomach sinks as I turn to my right, my back to the entrance of the wide machine, watching as a large four-legged figure stubbornly refuses to inch any further into the room. The light brown leathery hide appears to be patchy and aging, the cow well beyond its prime mooing loudly as a group of researchers try to shove it into the machine.

"You're wanting to give me some... some old udder or..." I manage to choke out, my train of thought derailing as I listen to the sound of a goat bleating angrily from down the hall.

"No no no" Rachel chirps, shaking her head and waving a hand dismissively. "There's no need to give you udders, your chest already has mammary glands... just not useful ones, you know" she explains, her own thoughts sentence being cut short by a loud screaming coming from somewhere deeper in the building.

Swapping R&D - Part One

I kick my legs beneath me as I wait in the all too familiar foyer, the slightly chipped dull yellow paint taking me back to my days of study and my former job teaching in the nearby buildings. The old teaching building, a central point on my old campus, was well overdue for a renovation and in fact one was planned so long as the right funding could be secured.

It was why I had been called in today, despite being made redundant several months ago, the college needed money and knew I needed it as well. The email had been bare to say the least, mostly just confirming the time to come and the forms to fill out if I was interested in earning some ongoing cash.

Looking around the foyer, not seeing a single soul aside from myself, I quickly fish my phone from my pocket. With an uneasy feeling I pull up the email, the fear I had come at the wrong time slowly sinking in.