Pounding on the door of the lab added pressure to an already tense situation. The scientists wiped sweat from their foreheads, continuing their precious work.
“We have to seal it. We have to seal it and we have to leave.” Dr. Lowe stated.
“There isn’t time to relocate, Brandon. What we have to do is finish what we started.” Dr. Binsky replied calmly.
“Let’s not argue, finish the work and then we’ll leave. Less talking, more testing.” lab assistant Brett tried to diffuse the hostility.
Both scientists surrounded the counter as they ignored banging on the large metal doors. It sounded like thousands of fists were trying to break through at once. They both knew they were close.
Suddenly, one of the doors began to give. The three of them looked towards the entrance, expecting it to bust any moment with the amount of sound behind it. With the seal exposed, they could hear through to the other side more than just the banging.
“LET US IN”
“YOU CAN’T HOLD US BACK FOREVER”
“WE’RE STARVING”
One voice was more calm and more commanding than the others.
“Take your time. We’ll never stop.”
The scientists all got chills from the confidence of the intruders.
“Brett, pile some stuff by the door. Make yourself useful.” Dr. Binsky ordered snarkily.
Brett begrudgingly dragged some unused tables and chairs to the entrance, flinching at some of the louder noises from outside.
“Good boy.” she poked.
He shrugged it off and sat on one of the tables by the door. Dr. Lowe peeked over and thought he heard Brett speaking quietly.
“What’s that Brett?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing, sir.” Brett answered quickly. His eyes were wide and his pupils dilated. Dr. Lowe knew instantly what was happening. He placed a hand on Dr. Binsky’s shoulder and pointed, staring at their assistant.
“Yes. It’s true. Like them, what you have is… irresistible to me too.” he hopped from the table and paced towards the scientists, who were backing away. “How could you not have seen this coming?”
Dr. Binsky laughed, stunning Brett. “You’ve always been the weak link in our lab. Here, we’re done anyways.”
Sharon tossed a piece of the most succulent piece of beef ever crafted by man at the lab assistant and watched him dive to it before it even reached him. The smell of it getting closer to those outside caused a frenzy. The barricade and doors were moments away from opening completely.
She turned to see their completed work for one final time, and saw Dr. Lowe holding all of the remaining beef, and a scalpel.
“You’ve always pronounced a few words wrong and I never corrected you.”
With that, Brandon sliced her quickly, not even allowing her to enjoy her creation. He took one bite, then another, and couldn’t stop.
The only way they could make such a perfect beef was by using quantum-scale robotics. These bots manifested as Brett and Dr. Lowe flew towards each other, meeting in the middle and becoming an amalgam of one another. Then, rapidly, they started to produce more beef from their skin.
‘SLAM’... the huge, steel doors of the lab and the barricade were broken. A horde of people ran at the meat mass and began to chew, themselves joining the new creature. It would never end. Unchecked, the entire world would become Beefatron.
