"Come on, come on, come on… SHIT! FUCK! Damn it!"

"Okay, sample forty-seven testing now… SHIT!"

"On to forty-eight."

"Doc."

"Fuck!"

"Professor?"

"Fiftieth times the charm." Kaleb grumbled to himself as he set the two samples in place and let the system work again.

The KRISPR machine whirred into action and he watched as the progress bar on the lab's computer start to go up. He figured mixing his own DNA with Claire's would've been a slam dunk. But fifty simulated experiments later and the serum still destroyed his genome. It was a rapid degradation like the Brute Clan's DNA, though. More like his cells couldn't handle the introduction of the new sequence. Worse yet, each attempt was sucking up Research Points. Even though the attempts were simulated using the K-Tech CRISPR, the system was still pinging him for 'creating' serums. Failed serums. But they were still serums.

Kaleb bit his lip as the fiftieth sample ate itself and the program canceled itself out. The CRISPR's screen went dark, and he scratched at his head in aggravation. He was about to start screaming when a heavy shove hit his shoulder. Spinning around, Kaleb came face to face with Roy. The teenager looked just as tired as Kaleb, but his face was stern.

"Eat! Some of the clan members brought food. It's already cold. But you need to rest a moment."

Kaleb's mouth made a noise half-way between indignation and alarm. "Rest!? I can't rest now! I'm close. So very close. Once the sequence accepts Claire's DNA, I'll be strong enough to face Gor'kinak and we can put this whole mess behind us! I still have a car to build and a serial killer to find, too. Not to mention those Players could attack the mansion at any minute."

"They've attacked twice now while you were running your test," Daivor said testily. "The boy went out in your place."

Kaleb finally took in Roy's attire and found him decked out in his combat gear again. Save for the mask. He tried to remember them telling him about the attack, but nothing came to mind. As he tried to remember the last couple of hours, Roy took him by the arm and sat him down on a cot nearby. Daivor swung over to Kaleb's lap with a plate of food and jabbed him in the ribs with his pipe.

"Eat! It's cold, but the boy is right. You need to take a second and let your mind work. You're overthinking the problem again."

Kaleb felt his arms move on auto-pilot as they brought food up to his lips. His brain had already abandoned the train of thought it was previously on and was now thinking about Claire's DNA. The player attacks clearly hadn't been that bad. Roy was fine, and no one had knocked him out of his working haze before now. So why worry about. The thing he needed to worry about was how to get his DNA to ac-

SMACK

"OW! What the hell, Daivor?" Kaleb asked, rubbing his face.

The gnome landed from his jumping slap and rubbed the palm of his hand with the other. The tiny gnome was angry, glaring up at Kaleb like he was an idiot. Walking back across the cot and into Kaleb's lap again, the gnome stuck a pudgy finger in Kaleb's face.

"Stop. Your. Brain. It's not working on anything important right now. Just going over the same information, trying to find a solution."

Kaleb shoved a spoonful of food into his mouth. Not even stopping to taste it. "Thas cal tha scienthfic methage!"

"No. This is the Experimentation phase of the Scientific Method. But you've been stuck on the same experiment."

"Nu-uh." Kaleb said, lamely.

Daivor rubbed a hand down his face before lighting his pipe and glaring at Kaleb. Once the gnome had taken a long drag from his pipe, he blew out a plume of smoke and asked.

"What's your hypothesis?"

"That introducing Alien DNA into my own will give me some of their abilities."

"Okay, and how have you been testing that?"

"Simulated genetic manipulation through the CRISPR. I'm combining different sections of the helix with my own in an attempt to graft something over."

"Over fifty times?"

"I tried different couplings of A-T and G-C pairs of the strength genome of Claire's DNA. But nothing… is… working… shit."

Kaleb used his free hand to rub his face as the answer hit him. In truth, it had probably hit him hours ago. He just didn't want to acknowledge it.

"Grafting someone else DNA isn't going to work, is it?"

"Doesn't look like it, Doc. I think that's why there aren't a lot of mutants around as it is. Creating an entire mutant army would be child's play if you could just take an alien's power and plant it in someone else."

"Then why does the serum call for various genetic sequences?!" Kaleb almost shouted, moving his finished meal to the side and waving angrily back over to the worktables.

"Maybe as a guideline or a blueprint for what the serum needs to do? Then the catalyst reacts, and the change is introduced to the… patient."

"That would be painful."

"Probably." Daivor nodded, puffing on his pipe. "But that's where we are now. The first hypothesis proved false. Repeatedly. It's time for a new one. If we can't introduce new DNA to change your genetic make-up…"

"We'll have to use the serum to introduce the changes for us," Kaleb said, almost standing.

But Daivor, still in his lap, jabbed the bowl of his pipe into Kaleb's stomach. "Rest first. We'll test the new theory later."

Kaleb glowered at his diminutive familiar, but laid flat on the cot. He was sure he would not be getting any sleep. His brain was still whirling with thoughts and new formulas to try. The one brought to them from Under-Town was an interesting copy. But far from perfect, and he was absolutely sure he could do better. Chemical chains and math equations filtered through Kaleb's brain as sleep took him. He barely had a chance to double-check his mental work before everything went black.

He snapped out of it a while later. The cave was still dark, making it hard to tell time. But the game's menu told him he'd been asleep for five hours. For a moment, he wondered why he was so warm in the cave, but then he noticed the pile of blankets on top of him. He was curled in on himself like a tiny lizard, looking for warmth. He shoved the pile of thick blankets off and yawned, cracking his back and looking around. The cave was empty. Only the whir of the machines broke the silence. A scent on the air caught Kaleb's nose, though, and he was immediately on his feet.

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He drifted out of the cave as the equations and experiments pushed themselves to the forefront of his mind again. Thankfully, he was no longer exhausted. So he immediately threw out half his plans since they were trash. Half-thought ideas of a tired mind. Completely worthless. His feet directed him toward a section of the mansion yard where several Brute Clan lizards were eating breakfast. The food smelled great and was inviting, but Kaleb only had eyes for the bubbling cauldron of heated brownish-red liquid. He stepped in line and soon he was handed a large mug of steaming rat-blood coffee. The scent of it was enough to make him smile as he took a long draw from his mug.

"Doc?" Roy's voice said from over his shoulder. "Of course. You wake up and the first thing you find is the Jet Fuel."

Kaleb found his sidekick holding two plates of food, while Daivor stood on the boy's shoulder. They were both looking at him with pity as he gulped away at his drink. But he was feeling too good to let them get to him. His brain was awake and coffee was in his veins. He was ready to attack the day. That's when Roy jabbed a plate into his other hand and gesture to a nearby table.

"Let's sit and eat, Doc. We got a long day ahead."

Kaleb looked around at the Brute Clan lizards and shrugged. No one seemed to care that the Lab Lizard was eating with them. So he didn't make a big deal of it. The three of them quickly found a table and sat down. This time Kaleb got a good look at what he was eating and he was surprised to find it was rice. Rice topped with some kind of braised meat in a thick sauce. The smell of it was delicious and soon Kaleb was snout first in his plate. A sudden wave of hunger overtaking him.

He thought he heard Daivor snorting at him. But it was too far away for Kaleb to care. When he came up from his meal. He spotted Roy and Daivor slowly eating their own food with forks and spoons. He glanced down at the table and grew embarrassed at the sight of his utensils. Trying to divert attention, he asked.

"So did either of y'all attempt any more experiments?"

"Not yet. We wanted to give the machines time to rest. The power gird around here is still pretty spotty. You fixed a bit. But we should go over the whole place when you're done mutating." Roy smirked.

Daivor shared the kid's mirth as he asked. "Is the hypothesis still the same, though? Now that you've slept on it?"

"Oh yeah. More than ever now. In fact, the first thing I want to do is run a simulated experiment with the Serum as a base. Once that is in the system, we can see what the stuff actually does and try to narrow it down and strengthen it."

"That should have been our first test." Daivor grumbled, rubbing his forehead.

Kaleb could tell the gnome was just as mad at himself as he was at Kaleb. They had both gotten excited at the cave full of new toys. When they already had all the pieces. All they needed to do was use the serum as a base and work from there. Maybe they'd have to add a bit of Claire or even Milly's DNA to bolster things. But that would be doable.

Roy looked between the two of them before shaking his head. "Well, I'm going to be training with Aqwen today. So you two can carry on without me."

Kaleb raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you my assistant?"

"Yes, Doc. But this genetics stuff is beyond me. Besides, I won this training spot during the last attack. It would be foolish not to use it."

"Uh-huh. Well, don't come crying to me when she breaks your shit."

"Don't worry, Doc. Thanks to you, I can fix myself."

Roy gave them a cheeky grin and ran off as he finished the last of his meal. Kaleb watched the boy go with a mixture of pride and dread. He hoped Aqwen would take it easy on the boy. But he knew she wouldn't.

Daivor burped loudly over the empty plate of his food before he leapt up to Kaleb's shoulder. He ignored the gnome as he finished his own food and hurriedly stood. They disposed of the plates before rushing back to the cave and getting to work.

The first thing Kaleb did was spend the research points to create the simulated serum from its recipe. Then he introduces it to his own helix. The result was immediate and confusing. Several sections of his DNA twisted and changed as the serum catalyzed in stages. Each one corresponding with the different changes to his 3D genome. Kaleb wanted to slap his forehead again, but didn't. The solution was obvious, but he had been a little manic last night. Now with food and coffee in him, the objective of the serum was obvious.

"Cascading changes set up in intervals. The serum probably takes moments, but the changes don't calm down for weeks according to this data."

Daivor nodded from his spot on the table and blew out another puff of smoke. "Now try it with our substitutions. One at a time, so we know where the failure is. If there is one."

"Okay. I'll start with Milly's blood as the first catalyst and the base. That would be the biggest change."

Daivor said nothing as Kaleb inputted the new base for the serum. The experiment didn't change much. But the yellow hue of the simulated serum turned a pale blue. However, that pale color grew darker as the simulation ran its course. As the power of the Fulgravit went to work, the serum seemed to pulse with energy. The process was sped up by nearly half and the cascading stages were too slow to catch up. The resulting simulation ended as a dud. But only cause Milly's blood was too powerful.

"Take it back by a half a vial and see how that does." Daivor said. "Also add in Claire's strength genome as the second cascading change. We know the Fulgravit blood works."

"We'll have to pick a section of Claire's sequence."

"Work our way down from the top. It's the only way to do it."

What followed was a cascade of failures and trial and error. But unlike last night, the simulated experiments were actually achieving results. He just had to find the right way to cook the ingredients he had. Scrapings from Sebastian's shell, a full-body molting from Scott, feathers from Vivienne's Chloe, and fur from Jar-lock's fox-dog, Darren. Not to mention Claire's own contribution, which was, surprisingly, the easy part. Once introduced to his system via the serum, Claire's genetic sequence played much nicer with his own. Getting the cascading changes to sync up was proving problematic. But that was nothing compared to Kaleb's other problem.

"So there's no way to figure out what this serum is going to do to me?" Kaleb asked, looking over the data.

"No. We are introducing too many variables, and your own genetics are going to play a big part. We can say for certain that you'll be tougher and stronger. But we don't know by how much and that's not even discussing the physical changes that may happen."

"I really don't like the uncertainty." Kaleb groused as he sucked down another mug of Jet Fuel.

"We can't give you specific powers. It's just not in the cards, Doc. Maybe if we continue down this area of study, we'll get there. But with what we know and what we got? This is the best we can do."

Kaleb stared at the digital readout of their latest simulation. He had just enough Research Points for a few more simulations. But he couldn't think of any other experiments to try. They'd gone over multiple variations of the materials they had. All that was left was to actually create the serum and drink it. Kaleb drew in a deep breath as Daivor gazed up at him. He could see that the gnome shared his feelings at that moment. Half excited and half worried.

The creation of the serum was actually pretty tame compared to all the testing and experiments. They'd run the simulation so many times that the serum was almost an afterthought. Before either of them knew what was happening, Kaleb held the pale blue mixture in his hand. It seemed to pulse with electricity, and the mere thrum of it reminded Kaleb of Milly. The space marmot stuck her nose out of his arm when she smelt the concoction. But she merely sneezed at it and ducked back inside. Kaleb blocked the serum from his pet's sneeze and grinned over at Daivor.

"This is it, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. I hope it works out well for you, boss."

"Yeah… me too."

Kaleb eyed the pale blue mixture for a few moments, his heart rate speeding up and his fingers almost shaking. With no preamble, Kaleb tilted his head back and drained the serum in one gulp. On a scientific, practical level, he knew what the serum was doing to him. They'd counted out the seconds of each cascading change. But when the pain hit, Kaleb's mind emptied, and all reason went out the window. His veins were on fire. It was like unlocking his magic all over again. A spike of pain settled in his stomach and didn't leave as he double over. From somewhere, he could hear Daivor shouting in alarm. But the edges of his vision were darkening and his hearing was completely muffled. The edges of Kaleb's vision seemed to pulse blue several times before unconsciousness took him and he collapsed to the cave floor.

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