Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Seven

“It’s a brilliant idea, and it’ll revolutionise the industry,” he says as he tucks his hands behind his head and leans back in his seat.

“Seriously? I know you’re mad, but this is insane. It’s got nothing—absolutely nothing—to do with what we’re working towards. We’re scientists, Glenn, playing with the very tools that make us who we are, who we could be—not building sideshow freaks. Not this. I-I, I can’t let you do it, I won’t!” he says, launching himself from his seat and thrusting his tightly clenched fists into the table.

“But we’re not going anywhere, Clive. There’s no money coming in; our funding’s been ripped away. And those fucks back in the city? They’re laughing at us, calling us a joke. This, this will show them. It’ll be magnificent, and with the money we bring in, we’ll fund our work ourselves. Don’t you see? We could become self-sufficient, our own bosses, like we’ve always dreamed about. Can’t you see that?”

He stares at his fists, squeezing them tightly before he looks back at Glenn. His face is not as tense, the scowl lessened, his eyes showing no anger—only contemplation. “I-I-I don’t know. It just, well, it just feels like we’re selling out, giving them an even greater reason to laugh at us. What if it doesn’t work? What if we just end up wasting more valuable time?”

“Think about it. People will come from miles around to see them; they’ll pay what we ask. Then, those pieces of shit will beg us to come back, only because they’ll want to steal what we’ve created. But we won’t, because we’ll be kings!” he says proudly, a broad grin on his face.

“It’s going to take a lot of work. We’re going to have to teach them everything.”

“Bah, we’ll code the knowledge into their DNA. We won’t need to teach them a thing. They’ll be as good—no, they’ll be better—than those schmucks in their multi-million-dollar shitholes.”

“I-I, I’m still not a hundred percent on board,” he says, sitting back down.

“But you’re warming to it?”

“What are we going to call it?”

“I’ve got a couple of ideas,” Glenn says as he pulls a folded-up piece of paper from his pocket and hands it to Clive, who gently unfolds it and pulls a pair of glasses from his shirt pocket. For a few moments, he sits there, his face slowly turning redder and redder with each new line until finally, he looks up at Glenn, clearing his throat.

“You can’t be serious. Are these really your suggestions?”

“What? Are you kidding me? I thought they were brilliant.”

“Honestly, I think we need something that has presence, strength, marketability. None of these fit that category; in fact, most of them are childish.”

“Steady on there. I’ll have you know, I showed them around the lab, and everyone thought they were perfect. Hell, the last two were Seven’s suggestions.”

“I can believe that,” he says, looking back at the piece of paper. Slowly, he begins to laugh, getting louder and more animated as the seconds tick by until he has tears streaming from his eyes.

“What’s so fucking funny?”

“C-C-Catch of the Day was S-Seven’s idea, and s-she’s half o-o-octopus!” he manages to get out, and soon, both men are crying with laughter, while beyond the glass, three figures stand watching.

“Do you think he likes it?” Seven asks the other two.