RUNNER2.TXT - 10/28/98

The Runner Series - Part 2
By SwampRat
(cl) 1998 Gay Furry Association

Dr. Reynolds entered the lab, chuckling to himself. "Do you like it?" At the
sound of his voice the Runners turned.. and immediately started signing, 'Home?
Home?' He nodded and signed 'Home', then knelt. They squealed and ran to him,
making a purring, crooning noise as they Hugged their parent and each other - A
Pack. A Family. A Clan.

For 5 more months they were housed in the Observation Lab, learning skills they
would need when released out into the 'Wild' for the final testing grounds -
Mother Nature. They learned more signs, now gobbling them up as as as they did
their meals, Picking up some from the more fun ones from the
Student-Assistants. These they hid from Hug as it obviously made Parent unhappy
when certain gestures were used.. They also didn't do them when Others were
above. They understood up and down from tables and chairs and other things, and
the one-way mirror may as well have been transparent to them. Except for one
important item...

Standing on the table they could see their reflections. Not a full body but
enough to know what they saw.. At first they were frightened/angry - This was
Their home.. Then they got curious - The others bobbed when they did, moved
when they did, raised a hand in greeting... They signed to each other in
wonder, then raised their hands and signed at the others.. Who only mimicked
what they did. It was a puzzle, and they kept it in the back of their minds,
while they learned.. One day Curious asked Parent, 'Who lives in the other
Cave? They will not answer us, only saying what we say..' Dr. Reynolds picked
her up and carried her to the mirror. Then put his finger against it. Curious
watched, eyes about to pop out of her head.

The man smiled, and touched her hand then the mirror again. The runner looked
up at Parent to make sure, then reached out and touched.. something hard! She
tapped it, then ran both hands over the mirror, amazed. 'Who is?' she signed
again, tapping the glass. 'You' Dr. Reynolds replied, pointing a finger at the
astonished reptile cradled in his arms. She hissed softly, looked at herself.
The doctor nodded and made the sign, 'Curious', pointing to the lizard in his
arms, then repeated it and pointed to the mirror, waiting to see the reaction.
The little one sat in thought a moment, then signed, 'That one is Also
Curious?' She looked at the reflection, touching it.

Then at her parent and the mirror.. 3 or 4 times she looked at the man holding
her and what she saw.. 'Is this one...' A hesitation - 'Me?' Inside the room 2
men with 6 doctorates between them dropped their pencils, as slack-jawed as the
little female they were observing. Dr. Reynolds nodded.. "Curious, that is your
Image." A hand turned around, then back again.. The reptile repeated it a
couple of times looking at the mirror. "Image," He repeated so she would know
the sign. She crooned and held him for a moment, then made the sign for Curious
and Image and tapped the glass.. The pencils dropped from more than 2 pads this
time as more colleagues had come running at the shout.

The runner patted the glass, then herself and croaked, "Ursssss.." Reptilian
palates weren't made for human words but she did her best to say her name. All
the others had crowded around and were now tugging at parent's strange hides,
wanting to also see themselves. He Put Curious down and picked up Skinny next.
This runner could probably eat a whale and retain the skin-and-bones look.. She
touched the mirror, then ran her hands up and down like a rail. 'Me?' he Nodded
and she tapped the glass, reluctantly letting herself be put down.. and
immediately scrambled up a chair and onto the table to look at herself.. Then
Leaf, then Long-Nose, and all the rest. Each signing her name and then image
and rubbing the glass..

Dr. Reynolds put the last of his charges down and waited.. They studied
themselves. Then looked at Parent and sighed 'Hug'. He repeated the sign and
then 'Fat.' As one, they hissed and slapped their tails - an Emphatic No. He
patted his belly and made the sign with a sweeping gesture. This time they
hissed but it was a laughing hiss, and held their arms out. The man went to the
table and Hugged his growing reptiles, who would soon not need to sit in a
chair or table to hug him. The growth hormones were working almost too good,
and who knew What the other chemicals were doing..

A weekly blood sample was mandatory and they took it stoically, Sometimes
rubbing the sore area a little.. But they also got a piece of banana. He was
sure they would gladly lose their tail for a whole one.. Even if it Did make
them sick. They were omnivorous to a point, but anything too rich gave then
belly-aches.. Chocolate was ok, coffee was sipped on a little - But only
because Parent drank it. Tea was not only enjoyed with fervor but unless one
watched, the bag would disappear too. Some of the staff secretly used their
talents to pick-out the Best blends, be it commercial or home-grown. And they
were always right, the bribe being a 'sample' to chew on contentedly..

                                  * * * *

"I am afraid Reynolds is getting worse." Gener listened quietly to the staff
physician. "We hoped the cancer would go in remission, but..." A single sheet
of paper that said 3 months at best.. In a way it would be better for the man.
"Thank you Doctor." Another sheet of paper, just as bad, stared back - "While
the research was most invaluable and the Interests of science.. Blah, Blah
Blah..." Funding had been cut. Grants promised were now going to other 'pet'
projects. The island was a Private Reserve and would remain so well into the
next century, so the 'Subjects' would be alright - Until the sterile eggs
didn't hatch and old-age or something else killed them off. He opened his
drawer and looked at yet another sheaf of papers, neatly typed and collated. 'A
Treatise on Cross-Fertilization of Species.'

A brilliant piece of Genetics and DNA patterns, co-written by one Reynolds,
John, Doctorate in Genetic Engineering. He minored in Impaired Language Skills
- His Father lost a finger from 1 hand and 2 from his other, along with his
hearing at an accident on the job, and Both learned to communicate in other
ways. A brilliant work indeed.. That Might be published in some obscure
journal. Or some science fiction magazine. Adaptive genetics was Not a popular
idea - The scientific community put it in the same area as Frankenstein. The
public wouldn't understand even a third of the material, and that third
basically said they were inferior in every way possible. That would go over
well...

All the eggs left in the complex had been sold to other labs, All the 'non-
essential' personnel had left. Gener backed up all the records, information,
papers he had and placed them in crates.. Where they would sit in a warehouse
until another person with a hunch came along.. Another Doctor with a dream or a
vision... He laughed at himself - What a bunch of bull. The intercom buzzed..
"Sir - Security reports that Group 27 and Dr. Reynolds are missing from the
compound. Just to let you know Sir." Doris - As efficient as ever. Well, He
still had a company that he could step into again, Or Maybe...

He pulled the treatise out again and looked it over, not understanding even
half a page at a time.. But there were others - others who had the smarts, the
drive. And even He knew that virii were highly adaptable... Adaptable enough
that vaccines were sometimes obsolete in a year. And there was Plenty of Grant
Money for 'Humanitarian Efforts'. He thought again of Dr. Reynolds, who was
smarter than Any of them gave him credit for.. 4 packs he had raised and sent
into the Jungle to be studied, harvested... How many of the others did he teach
things he didn't talk about? How many others had the I.Q. of a 6 year old child
at 5 months of age?

3 months of compressed rations would easily fit in a back-pack. And smaller
packs? The Runners knew what carry was, even besting an obstacle course... He
laughed again, thinking of one exasperated scientist who put them in a maze.
They did the usual bumping and exploring the first few times. And after they
found out the maze was the same, they clamored over the walls, bypassing most
of it to sit smugly in the middle. A change in the maze only got another
behavior - The first one was placed in and immediately climbed the nearest
wall, scanned the area, and took the most direct way to the center - leaping
from the top of one partition to another.

Gener chuckles as he thought the man was going to tear his hair out, as the
others followed suit! But a whisper about changing parameters - Instead of
testing memory, Test efficiency. Test Ingenuity. It was not a Maze, it was an
Obstacle course. The doctor's eyes lit up, all the previous data went in the
shredder, and a new set of tests were performed with new goals. Every now and
again a rat would climb over the walls in much the same manor, so there was
precedence.. "Doris, Get me the financial paper - I want to look at some
start-ups.." He had Always leapt over the walls while others ran through the
maze.

End of Part 2