A sharp faced woman sprinted in agony after a disappearing bus; she hissed as it pulled around the corner of the road and with a cursed mutter of, “I just got my hair done,” a slim yet muscled fox was racing after the moving vehicle, it’s body skimming the tarmac as it strained to catch up with the increasing speed.

I swept a bored gaze over the event through the shop window, absent-mindedly analysing her characteristics that resembled her fox form; the angular face shape, natural curved posture, it was all the same to me.

Since Binary Genetics had appeared in a forgotten lab five months ago, it had seduced the global population with its superhero qualities and promises of deemed impossible abilities. “It mutates human DNA,” was the simplest answer to give to questioning civilians; the complexity of the formula was pointless to average minds.

Binary Genetics was a biological study that had been carried out over years of research that a strand of DNA could be double-bonded allowing two separate genetic codes to exist back to back. This second code was then found to be able to be any species of mammal; the discovery sparking the idea that with an internal activation source, a person could switch between two forms; their original or ‘home’ form and their chosen animalistic form.

The research took over twenty years; a lifetime of work, it was a concept that was lived, breathed and craved. I should know, I invented it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Sarah, as much as I love your hand, get it away from my sample!” My younger colleague Zack snapped; slapping my hand off his microscope slide.

I sighed in exasperation, rolling my eyes at his increasingly violent habit, “It was unaligned; I was only helping!” At his lack of response I grumpily slumped over to my own bench, muttering under my breath, “No need to get feisty with the genius.”

I could practically hear the scrape of Zack’s teeth as they grinded; portraying his inner annoyance, “Just because you think you have some amazing new solution in that stupid test tube of yours, it doesn’t make you a genius!”

I couldn’t help my smirk at the sight of his jealousy. I predatorily stalked towards him until I was leaning on his shoulder, a smug glint in my eyes at his refusal to look in my direction.

“But seeing how I know I have an amazing new solution that every scientist in this stinking building has been trying to complete for the last couple of decades; I feel that does classify me as a genius.”

I jumped back as his stool slid across the room and he swung around to face me, his gaze showing evidence of being near breaking point. I prepared myself for yet another verbal battle but this was cut short by the shrilling tone of the in-line phone.

Zack grabbed this route of escape; although not without shooting me a venomous glare, which I returned with a cheery smile and mocking wave. I zoned out of the tedious drone of medical talk, once again feeling the hit of boredom now my distraction was busy.

As a sneaky trick involving Zack’s precious hair and a new balding formula manifested in my mind, the man’s gleeful laughter cut through me. “Oh, she is going to love that!” Were the only words I caught before he replaced the phone.

The satisfied vengeful look he gave me set my nerves on edge; he knew something I didn’t. “What? Have they finally realised that your brain cells have no right to be in the same building as me?” I snapped, attempting to cover my worry to his new confident attitude.

He could see he had finally gained the upper hand and he milked it, slowly strolling towards the exit with no comment.

I could feel the urge to throw something heavy at his infuriating face increase in each passing second, until my self-control snapped and I chucked a book at his head as he walked through the doorframe, preceding a growl of, “What was the message!”

He annoyingly dodged my weapon without a backwards glance and continued his straight exit; leaving his smug voice lingering in the room, “Management is coming down to collect your amazing solution for testing; so they can release it under the company name.”

I stood frozen until the last retreating footstep echoed, leaving me in a raging silence. The slam of the outer door snapped me out of my catatonic state and my furious screams pierced the empty room.

“It’s my invention!” I swept the collection of glass flasks off the bench, “How dare those stuck up big shots even suggest taking it from me!” My lab stool went soaring into the far wall, “I’m the one who poured my blood, sweat and tears into the solution, not them; it doesn’t need testing!”
The room was completely destroyed and I was red-faced and panting; the only object left intact was a little test tube containing a clear solution; my invention.

Staring at the unimpressive looking liquid, before I could comprehend what I was doing, I found myself uncapping the tube and tipping a drop of the cool solution onto my tongue.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A couple of months later Binary Genetics was commercially released under a long forgotten company name. The reveal took longer than expected due to a needed activation alteration as testing found that the original nervous system source had faults switching between two forms, but a budding young scientist was on hand and modified the activation source to connect from the main brain cortex instead.

Zack sure got a lot of praise for that; but it was too late for me.

“Mummy I want that one!” A sticky fingered little girl cried as she ran over to my cage among all the other household animals and grabbed me around the stomach, ignoring my vicious growls and snaps, “I’m going to look just like this puppy when I’m older!”