Page 11--Untitled Document, Cont'd--D.J.R Caron

suspended forever above the wreckage of waves below.

Typical of notitia vermis behavior is to absorb as much liquefied protoplasm as possible during and after ego dissimilation and then abandon the host. In fact, notitia vermes will hoard so much jelly that is exceptionally rare to discover any traces of a dissimilated body afterwards. Dr. Chaac, the amphibious four-faced head of the Department of Artificial Evolution, administers experimental serum No. VC-667 into the subject. It is a heavily synthesized phlegmatic phosphate, the culmination of several years’ worth of attempts to create a prototype of the vitreous columbina. The vitreous columbina would ideally be the Instrumentalitist party’s solution to the edema harlequin. It will differ in that its makeup is primarily phlegmatic, rather than supine, thereby being far more gelatinous than the harlequin, allowing it to absorb, rather than infect, political opponents. When Dr. Chaac activates the x-ray machine, several disturbing prospects occur. The notitia vermes have absorbed experimental serum No. VC-667 and are beginning to swell to gargantuan proportions. The boy’s body writhes like a human salad of massive and tiny bulges and he begins to secrete a thick purple mucus from every open orifice on his body. In less than an hour, it is discovered that the bulges of the enlarged notitia vermes have vanished completely, as has the reserve of mucus secreted by the boy.

Her face glides into the collage of broken glass

At this time the boy lay strapped beneath the bright strobe-lights of the antiseptic surgery hall. He still shows the erratic brainwaves he had in the past several hours, so it is decided the most probable course of action is to look at the physical brain itself. Before a dissection is taken underway, Dr. Chaac notes a mysterious humidity in the room and a thin layer of grime on his equipment. Wiping some off with his finger, he feels writhing and decaying crawl up his phalanges and into his knuckles. Several hours later, it is discovered the Doctor no longer has control of his right arm. X-rays of the doctor’s arm show another notitia vermis colony rapidly growing in his now tumescent flesh. Interestingly, the arm continues to function properly, independently of the body, after amputation.

and he sees what she is beneath.

A surgical saw cuts through the reclining tissue of the boy’s skull. Removing the cap of the cranium, it is discovered that a thick, fibrous, yellow-gray mold coats the entirety of the forebrain. The subject’s panicking eyes jump and twitch, as if unaffected by the anesthesia. The same procedure is performed on the spinal column and the mold persists there as well. Like a caged animal he tears against his straps. Managing to break his head free, which by this point is not entirely sutured, he starts to chew at his own wrists but it is of no effect, as his teeth have degenerated to the thickness of taffy. He is then heavily tranquilized and immediately returned to his cell. Fragments of spilled brain are swept up and chemically analyzed.

A crash dummy of

When the boy is returned to the lab for the purpose of reprogramming, it is found that his entire body has taken on a high state of translucency. His entire muscle structure is visible beneath a jaundiced tint. It is also discovered that the yellow mold is absorbing the liquefied tissue, rendering any attempt at cerebral rewriting futile. The forebrain typewriters rely on a gelatinous structure for altercation, but the new substance is too resilient and no mark can be made upon it. X-rays taken less than an hour after that show that the entirety of the brain has been absorbed by the new matter. Chunks of the film are removed for chemical analysis, but any attempts at biological reprogramming are now futile. Blank eyes are by no means uncommon, but the subject’s eyes are empty of even the faintest sign of humanity. Electrical surges and prods wring through his jellyfish flesh, but he lacks any and all response.

torn ligaments and pale skin

It is decided by Dr. Chaac to terminate the subject and salvage the new substance. Most of the brain is removed from the subject before the experiment disposal chamber opens into a swirl of liquid heat. The subject is lead by the executioner into the niches of the Hot Casket; a chrome-black device shaped like a sarcophagus attached to a tribunal of steel pipes. The subject is placed inside and immolated by a slow submersion in hot ore. This is done because the extreme heat kills any lingering bacteria or viruses and minimizes the risk of biohazardous outbreaks. But as the Casket hums to life, the subject’s body oozes, inch by inch, out of the perennial divide lining the front. The Doctors drop their mouths in petrified awe. It is unheard of
for a human body to take on such a gelatinous and malleable texture, but still retain the shape of their body intact. Since the Casket is infamous for its slow first phase, the subject-to-be-terminated manages to evade immolation completely. Security fires at the subject with handguns. Large chunks of flesh are blown off the subject, but he continues to lurch forward. The guard screams as his neck is grabbed by the subject and starts to violently writhe and swell. The screaming is cut short, however, as the guard slips to the floor with notitia vermes eating through his larynx.

floats into the placid depths.

The base throws itself into a state of utter chaos. The subject, driven by either primal instinct or a budding collective consciousness, storms up the backstairs and into the air. The skyline appears to rise as he jumps from the rooftop. His viscous body impacts the pavement at considerable force, but his shape does not bend nor break. He stumbles away from the laboratory, but behind him the wailing of sirens cuts through the illuminated night. Whatever remnants of his original intelligence that remained within the notitia vermes drive him. Storm clouds crackle thunder as he rapidly approaches the lake.

With an empty heart, D[arwin] sits on the concrete beach

Flesh relapsing into spatial inconsistency, tiny globs of muscle tissue fall from his body, unrolling into masses of millions of prokaryotes. Falling to grainy beaches, particles of sand stick to the subject’s watery body. Looking at an unfamiliar reflection, the subject’s eyes are still and sedated. His body falls into the lake and floats atop the surface. It unravels into chunks of flesh that break apart into notitia vermis colonies. Further research into notitia vermis development and behavior is a necessity. As is the increasingly profound effects on the host body.

and dials her number.

The tribunal increases funding to the Artificial Evolution laboratories, as the experiment has proven the notitia vermis excellent tools into penetrating the lake of unconscious memories and blueprints in the human brain. Much like the lake, all the garbage that passes through the brain winds up piling up at its depths. Cities of wreckage, chronicling the descend into modern man will forever atrophy in solemn silence.