SNAKE.TXT - February 14, 2003 More than a Pet.. By SwampRat (cl) 1998, 2003 Gay Furry Association There is No sex, and a little violence, so skip this one if you don't like snakes. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= A small, brown reptile about 6-inches long stirred. He was darker than the surrounding earth, but an overall dusty brown.. His given name was Pockets. Pockets was born in a Toxicology Lab. His parents were a mix of Kariat from India, Death Vipers from Asia, and Australian Sea Snakes. He seemed stunted in growth but venom-wise he was a Giant. He was called Pockets because he was always found in one. Highly curious, he was constantly looking for crumbs and other 'treats'. At 3-inches long and half the thickness of a pencil, the little fellow could get out of most any cage. And he was spoiled by all the aides.. If he broke his jaw in half he Might get the tip of a finger in, but even a scratch was fatal, so for protection they wore thin vinyl gloves. They carried him around in a upper pocket where he would peek out, a little brown head against the white uniform. They would take turns rubbing his chin, which he loved.. and a little cracker dipped in milk was a special dish he would do loops for. If one sat still he would wrap around the nearest wrist, and sway in time to their heart-beat. Pockets got fed bits of hamburger, the occasional half-dead cricket and slugs from the plants that Nobody liked. Pockets was so small they had to use a special nipple to 'milk' the venom from him. And everything was right with the world.. But the laboratory went bankrupt. All the poisonous snakes were either destroyed or sold to other labs. Except for a few - Pocket's parents were already spoken for but a collector had the little snake smuggled out for a hefty fee. He was treated ok but never removed from his cage or allowed to play with his owner - Who much preferred the Black Mamba's. They hissed so well when he teased them. A 911 call brought police to find 3 of them, swaying over the dead body that had been bitten at least 10 times. They gave the herpetologist no fuss, curling up in cages and taken off to a zoo. The others were checked, and also trucked out. Pockets was a puzzle. A shuffle in records had made a Kariat a Cornat - A hybrid Corn snake used for genetic experiments. What was it doing in with all these toxic species? The snake was very friendly, winding along hands and rubbing it's little nose against cheeks and searching in pockets for goodies... So off he went to the pet store and a little girl who adored him.. For all of 6 weeks. Then he was a Bother - he scared her friends away, he smelled, he was creepy. Dad took over, putting him in the garage, and thought Pockets was Cool - The snake would watch for him, always happy to get a little dinner or a little rubbing. Pockets was about a year old now - Still a growing little thing. But he had not been milked in some time, and his glands were becoming uncomfortable.. 6 hollow fangs unhinged themselves and as he opened his jaws wide, Spat about 2 c.c.'s worth of clear liquid that splattered over the cement floor, quite a few feet away. The next day the Father came in to clean up and found half a dozen dead mice. The were not curled up, or diseased looking. In fact it looked like that had died between taking one step and another. It would have been comical had it not been tragic. Being a careful person he used tongs to pick one up and study it.. Except for having a black-streak running straight up their little muzzles, they seemed ok. Pockets got one and managed to get it down. The others went into the trash. And for the first time anybody could remember, No one got into it. Any stray cat or dog who got close enough to smell the contents, would quickly turn away. A whole mouse was a Big meal for a small snake but he Always got up to watch Father work or come over and talk to him.. The man was busy because they were going camping.. And what better way to show their appreciation to Pockets than to let him go back to the Wild. This would be the same as taking someone who has Never left the city in their lives and tossing them naked into the wilderness - But of course Humans don't think like that. So about 3 days out, in a solemn ceremony, the family opened the cage that had been home in one form or another since birth, gently shook him into a grassy patch of earth, wished him well and left, Believing they had done a wonderful thing... For the first time since he had left the Lab, Pockets was Alone.. No one to caress him or give him treats or even give him food and water. He didn't understand and coiled up, waiting for the ones who Always did these things to return.. As it got colder and darkness fell, the little brown snake was still waiting patiently. * * * * When Pockets awoke to the bright light of morning, he found himself still alone.. and Thirsty. A little puddle under a leaky hose fixture took care of that, and slugs were plentiful in the dewy grass, but still the reptile kept hoping someone would come and put him in a pocket... Evening fell again and Pockets shivered a little, finding a tree-root to lay beside. Many creatures roamed the night, but not even the wildest dog or meanest feral cat got too close to the still little form lying like a long strip of bark.. But not everything was so wise... A rat came sniffing around, noting a familiar odor. It Hated snakes. It hated Cats, Dogs and Humans who tossed things at it, but they were too Big for the rodent to do anything about - This on the other paw.. It followed the trail carefully to the tree-root, then jumped on the little reptile, thinking to bite it's head off and eat it.. Pockets immediately bit at his attacker - For all the good it did. His mouth was much too small to do any harm.. But it Did make the Rat move off him. It felt an itch - fleas dying wherever the droplets of toxin touched the furry coat - Than many itches.. Without thinking it turned it's head to bite at them... It probably would not have mattered to either of them to know the little snake had been bred as a miniature chemical plant, producing the necessary toxins at an extremely high level of concentration. So what the rat got sprayed on his fur was about the same as a gallon bucket of a half-dozen neuro-toxins dumped on him. It's tongue turned black as did it's lips, body slumping as it died instantly.. The snake shook and spat another batch of liquid, emptying his sac's in an adrenaline rush.. The amount would barely cover the bottom of a cup - And kill every living thing in a medium sized-city. It also dried rapidly in the air, breaking down into it's component poisons, genetically rigged to do so for ease of gathering. In a few minutes every flea and tick on the rat was also dead, and Everything moved in a wide circle after a whiff of dried poison burned their noses.. Those that didn't go into convulsions. * * * * John was dubbed Dr. Frankenstein because he was always working with dead bodies.. These just happened to be animal instead of human. It didn't help his custom-made rolling lab looked a Lot like the movie-set.. Vials and bubbling things and the occasional spark when wires came apart from being bounced too often. Of course he Did look like a monster in his HASMAT suit - He only got to wear it 'officially' during epidemics and training exercises but what the Bosses didn't see, They didn't need to know about. His main job was going around and finding out Why something died.. Plague Still lived in rural areas, and the last thing Any of the Parks wanted was for someone to get bit by a rabid animal. So when he got a call there was an unusual death found by a custodian, he came straight over. 2 rangers with masks on stood by a tree. "Better get the Gloves on - We're not sure What got the rat, but the grass around it's body is brown." That meant some kind of poison.. Donning gloves, and respirator, John got the containment box out and came over to examine the area. Dead grass, dead fleas, dead animal.. Not Good. Moving around he saw movement.. A small snake that seemed to be battered a little but otherwise ok was wriggling nearby. The dead took precedence, however. Manipulating a special shovel, John cut and eased into the containment box an area 4 inches around the dead area and 2-inches deep. A quick soil sampling showed whatever it was didn't get that far, so they all sighed in relief and made a note to fill in the square with plain soil later. Now that one mystery was bagged, the other could be examined.. The snake was small, with colorings like nothing John had ever seen.. In fact, he could swear there were numbers painted on the little creature. Gently picking it up, he took both specimens to the truck, joked with the rangers a while and returned to the Base - Better to get in a Sterile room and see what all was In that box, just to be safe. And the idea of the reptile kept gnawing at him.. Stopping, he walked back and gently put Pockets under a fluoroscope - Sure enough, Numbers shone across the little snake. "So what is a Lab Snake doing way out here?" Without thinking he scritched the little brown head and Pockets wriggled with pleasure. 'Stranger and Stranger, said Alice..' Pinching off a bit of his bologna sandwich he put it in front of the reptile.. It lasted all of a second - If that. "So - you have numbers on your skin. You like people food. I bet you belonged to some university, or scientific place, didn't you. But Why are you out here, and What, if any, Role did you play in that Rat's death?" Grinning he fed the little reptile another bit of sandwich and some water via a dropper, after which the snake curled up and went to sleep right there on the plate. Gently scooping the creature into a cotton-lined box, John went back to the cab, buckled both himself And the box in, then continued onward. * * * * "Who's Your Friend?" John had set the box on the counter, while hefting the containment box on a cart. A little brown head was poking over the top of the cardboard, tongue flicking, eyes bright, head moving around - Obviously curious about it's new surroundings. The secretary, who had seen Everything possible traipse through the door, reached over and scritched the little snake under it's chin.. Which made Pockets almost vibrate with happiness. John laughed and shrugged. "When I know I will tell you.." Taking both boxes down to the lab, the Technician was Still trying to sort out the puzzle.. Mark waved as he came in, cleaning some Old cages out. "Hear you bagged one.." John nodded.. Then Jumped as a brown streak disappeared from the smaller box and re-appeared inside one of the empty cages. The reptile wound around the mesh, poked it's nose in every corner, even managed to make the exercise wheel turn a few times.. Then it peeked out the cage door, almost shyly. "It looks like we have a guest.." John shook his head and picked up the cage, putting some soft shavings in it.. Pockets buried himself in them, and again poked his head out for a moment, then snuggled in his new home. "I guess we do." * * * * "W O W.." Mark breathed inside his suit, as the spectroscope told them the types and levels of chemical that was on the rat. "Who or What could have made this?" Some of the poisons were merely trace.. Which is to say a norman human would die in a week after ingesting it. Others - Even dry and diluted, they were More than enough to warrant the suits.. Then John looked over at the little reptile watching them through the glass, always curious and friendly and lively.. "When you clean the snake's cage again I want you to put every bit of it in a biohazard bag - That includes the gloves you used." Mark looked at his friend. "You don't think that little.. It couldn't be!" John stepped back and out of the 'room' washing down, then stepping out of the suit. "One way to find out.. Get me a glass tube, and the Smallest Collector we got." It took a bit to get everything together and of course Pockets was everywhere at once, excited by all the movement. Finally the collector was ready and the snake needed a little coaxing at first, then happily opened his mouth and bit into the cloth. John stroked the little creature who wriggled and emptied it's glands fully for the first time in weeks. When he was done, Pockets 'Yawned', letting the 6 hollow fangs slide back into their holders and waited expectantly.. More soft caresses made him wriggle with delight, but a Cracker vanished, along with the reptile who took the treasure back to his cage to eat. They both chuckled, then watched in amazement as the liquid in the tube separated out into layers. Very careful siphoning into more tubes got them the answers. But raised a whole bunch more questions.. The collection cloth had 6 little holes in it, burned brown by the toxins. "Who in the world.." They shook their heads as the poisons separated into very deadly liquids. Some more tests and John smacked his hand -softly - on the test bench. "You know what these are? Snake Venoms. I will bet you a donut that if we ran the protein tests against known anti-toxins these would come up as basic snake venoms.. Oh Jeez - Can you imagine a thousand of those little guys, churning out vials of this stuff?" Mark look at him.. "Not Chemical Warfare.." John shook his head. "Too costly.. What is Dehydrated Mamba venom going for - A Thousand dollar a gram, 2 thousand? Synthetics are still not as effective as the real thing. And who needs them?" John and Mark looked at each other. "Mother Mature is still The best chemical manufacturer there is.. So you manipulate some genes here and there, and come up with it..." The looked at the little brown snake enjoying his cracker. "If they were mass-produced, there would be no need for fertilization worries.. Just get the cloning process right and do it over and over again.." "We can't let this get out.. If the chemical companies got wind of what we have they would Demand we hand him over.. And They would chop him into little bits to study." Mark shivered and nodded. X-rays showed the little snake to be neuter - instead of 2 small poison sacs, he had 6. They took up what space his organs didn't. "What do I do with you, Little Fella.." Pockets was of course peeking out from the labcoat pocket, taking everything in, enjoying the warmth - and the petting - the human gave. * * * * A month later they noticed something was wrong.. Pockets wasn't his usual self.. lethargic, Barely able to give them any samples.. The immediately stuck him under the xray machine and got the answer. "Eggs. I count 6 of them.. But How? He, I mean She.. Was totally neuter.." John nodded. "Short lifespan. If they ever escaped from the lab they would die quickly and not be a bother.." He sighed.. "All I can say is whoever created this little fellow was a supergenius.." Mark shook his head.. But made the snake comfortable.. Pockets still responded to petting but ate little. One morning they came into the lab to find the little snake not moving. No heartbeat, no respiration. They opened him up and placed the eggs in separate containers, then Buried the little snake in a nice ceremony.. * * * * A week later Mark came running in.. "We're Fathers!" Six little brown heads peeked out from the lab coat pockets shyly.. And almost purred when touched, lifting their heads to touch the fingers.. "You know what this means? Pockets was theirs.. These are Ours. No numbers, no names, no nothing.. No more Budget cuts. No more canceled raises.. What?" John sighed. 'I don't know - it doesn't seem Right somehow.." He stopped talking when a little snake slid over the desk to wrap around a finger, too little to go around his wrist.. It looked at him, yawned showing all 6 tiny little fangs, then curled around his finger and went to sleep. John laughed.. "Ok Ok, You win. Mark, didn't your family have a small island someplace.." Mark grinned. "They sure do.. Why do you think I stuck it out here. I wasn't going to be asked to any Universities anytime soon.." "Well, looks like you got yourself a new Ring.." The secretary grinned from the door before coming over and putting her hand out. Immediately one of the little brown snakes popped out of a pocket and jumped into her palm.. "You know - if you could reverse engineer these guys somehow - remove the poison glands and such, they would make Great pets." Mark laughed as a couple more slid up his coat to nestle in his hair, peeping out of his black shock. "Now why didn't I think of that?' The secretary shook her head. "Men.. Come on Pockets II, I think an eyedropper of warm milk will fix you right up." John touched the tiny creature, and thought of some contacts who Just might be able to do Just That.. The End..