I held onto the toilet for dear life.

When I signed up for the experiment, they said that the side effects shouldn’t be too bad, but I would call throwing up consistently for four hours bad. Alongside the nausea, I felt unfocused and off-kilter, as I have for the past week, ever since the second round of medicine began. This will be one for the journal.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the emergency room?” My sister didn’t understand why I couldn’t keep anything down or why I wouldn’t allow her to take me to any hospital; she would freak out if she knew what I was doing. As I rose from my position between our toilet and shower, she reached out for me, as if to keep me steady, but we both knew that she was the one that needed help.

“Yes, I’m sure it’s just a stomach bug, Kelsey. It’ll go away soon.” At least I hoped it did; otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to go to work. I didn’t realize that work would be the least of my worries soon.

---

Turns out it isn’t exceptionally easy to work while nauseated. In fact, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, except watching Kelsey, a beautiful young woman, slowly deteriorate before my eyes. My coworkers constantly asked me if I was okay, my boss assigned me as far away from customers as possible, and I was extremely dehydrated all day. All in all, quite an unproductive day.

The only brightside to this nightmarish couple of days was the knowledge that I had an appointment with the scientists over the experiment in less than forty-eight hours. I planned to tell them everything I could about the insane nausea, the disconcerting vertigo, the annoying rough patches on my skin, and most importantly, the strange changes in vision that have begun occurring. At first, I thought I was only seeing things because the other symptoms were tearing my body apart, but then I realized that the changes were slowly becoming more pronounced, more terrifying. By the day of my appointment, I had begun to see things with such clarity and at such distance that I was scaring myself. I was also beginning the hear things I shouldn’t be able to hear, such as school bells from across town. The start of these symptoms was also the start of my doubt in the laboratory that had promised my sister and me peace.

With these new and growing symptoms, I walked determinedly towards the front desk of the pseudo doctor’s office. I could tell by the look on the poor girl’s face that there had many people like me in and out of the office all day, so I decided to take it easy on her — it wasn’t her fault my live was falling apart.

“Who are you here to see today, Ms...?” Jenna, as the tag on her shirt announced, had barely even glanced up from her computer screen before asking the question.

“Finley Riser, and I’m here to see Dr. Andrews. I have a ten o’clock appointment,” after I announced the premise behind my presence, Jenna efficiently handed me a pile of forms to fill out and pointed me in the direction of a separate waiting room where a young man took the forms and gestured for me to sit down until called. It didn’t take them very long- apparently Dr. Andrews wasn’t as busy today as the other doctors were- and I was soon sitting in a stereotypical doctor’s room, sad colors and sterile smell included. Hearing a knock at the door, I turned my head and saw the doctor walk into the room. Dr. Andrews wasn’t what you would call friendly, but he wasn’t rude either, just to the point, a trait that I could admire.

“Hello, Ms. Riser, how have your symptoms progressed since you began the second round of medicine?” as he said this, he was steadily typing on his tablet.

“Well, somethings have changed”, I told the doctor everything I could about my increasing symptoms, but instead of looking downtrodden or surprised by the news of my fantastical vision, he began to look more excited than I thought possible, which wasn’t much to begin with. When I finished recounting the last two weeks or so, he stood up and checked my breathing and heart rate before telling me to lie down on the table. He conducted a full examination, which included palpitating my torso, neck, and legs, after which, he seemed satisfied. He walked away and began typing on his tablet once again while I waited for him to say something, anything that could assuage me of my fear but he never did. Instead, he stood up, gave me a creepy smile, and walked out of the room.

I waited for a minute or two, wondering what was going on but too afraid to do anything, before the nurse that had worked me up came in. She told me that the doctor had asked her to lead me to another room for testing, but before we could go, she had to inject me with something for the tests. I was about to get up and walk out of that room, that place, but she was faster.

---

I woke up to a strange room. Unable to get my bearings, I simply laid on the bed for what seemed like hours, but was probably only about twenty minutes. Someone entered the room as I was beginning to focus, but I couldn’t recall ever having met the woman before.

“Hello patient CX4, I hope you had a pleasant rest. We will begin another round of tests soon, and we will need you to be awake for those. My name is Dr. Fitz, and I am one of several scientists working on your case.” Several scientists were working on my case? Why was she calling me patient CX4? “I’m sure you’re confused about what has happened, and we will explain in due time, but right now we just need you to cooperate. If you don’t we will be pressured to use force, and no one wants that.” I could barely process what she was saying but I knew that I was in trouble and I didn’t know how I was going to get out of it.

---

Over the next few weeks, I had nothing to do but think. I thought about the changes happening to my DNA and the effects of those changes. I thought about the scientists behind this experiment and why they could possibly want to merge the DNA of separate species. I thought about what my boss was doing about my job — I probably wouldn’t have one when, or if, I ever got out of this sterile excuse for a prison. I thought about what my sister thought had happened to me. Most prominently, however, I thought about her illness and how she was doing by herself.

She was only able to walk and stand for short periods of time before her muscles would give out on her, due to the rare form of muscular dystrophy that had been progressively getting worse since her late teens. That was the only reason I agreed to enter this experiment, to save her life. The doctors we had been going to said that her heart would start being affected soon, and after that point, there would be nothing we could do but keep her comfortable. I wasn’t going to let that happen to my vivacious little sister, not in a million years, so when I had seen the ad in the newspaper I couldn’t turn the offer away. Of course, now that I know what the scientists had been doing, I wish I had never even picked up that paper. I wish I was with my sister, where I could help her.

The scientists thought that, by merging human DNA and various forms of animal DNA, they would be able to create “super healing abilities”, that could compare to that of lizards. I wasn’t a science person, and I wasn’t sure how this was all supposed to work, and the scientists surely hadn’t offered up any explanations. I was simply waiting for a plan to accumulate in my head, or maybe for them to let me out. The only thing that I could think of was to go along with whatever they wanted, but I simply didn’t have it in me; however, before long, they may take away all of my resistance whether I liked it or not.

There were a few aspects of my condition that the “esteemed” scientists could not decipher. One of those aspects was the depression, another was the constant high blood pressure and heart rate. My body, though it could fight off infections and heal wounds at an accelerated rate, couldn’t stop the effects of viruses or the long-term effects of constant torture my handlers put me through every day.

Every body has a breaking point, everyone has a time limit, and no one can become immortal. Because some people could not grasp these simple concepts, I was the person paying the price for such utter foolishness. My body was quickly reaching its breaking point, and there was nothing these fools could do about it. They weren’t afraid of failure or losing some recognition. They were afraid of death, of their own mortality.

---

My vitals continuously increased. My condition continuously decreased. I knew my time was coming, and I was prepared. I only regretted not seeing Kelsey one last time and telling her I loved her with every shred of my being.

I had always wondered what my purpose was, but I have finally found it. I promise the world will know what these people did to me, and I promise that they will not take another person’s life away from them in the name of “science”. With one last act of rebellion I will have fulfilled my purpose, and I will save other people in the process. What a relief.

---

Despite efforts of prevention, Patient CX4 expired on June 5, 2036. This case was the closest the team had come to fully functional DNA modification in Homo Sapiens. Will continue to experiment.

---

Breaking News! A young woman, only 26 years of age, pronounced dead because of rouge scientific research!

An anonymous source from the lab itself delivered a letter to the victim’s only living relative, her younger sister, written by the victim herself. Within the letter, the victim, whose name will be kept private, explained exactly how she was treated, where many of the scientists’ facilities were, and how she became part of the seemingly innocuous experiment to begin with. With letter in hand, the sister, who had reported the victim missing soon after her disappearance into the experiment, went to her nearest police station, handed the letter to officers, and simply asked for them to look into it. Upon closer investigation, officers were able to apprehend multiple suspects and garner enough information to create a solid case against the lab and its employees. This source will continue to report as information becomes available.