1 Death
Inside a dilapidated lab, a fat man with freckles on his face was busy experimenting on something.
"Argh! This does not work as well!" he yelled, almost destroying all the lab equipment on the table, if not for his great self-control.
"What went wrong?" he asked himself before hearing a bunch of squeaks, where a white mouse was jumping inside its cage.
"You are right Jerry, I should not be impatient. After all, great work will not be done in days. But. I have been working on this project for almost a year, and I still did not finish it,"
He grabbed his head and gave himself a noogie, hoping it would help him think. He then heard a hiss from the corner of the room.
"Sorry, Kaa. Looks like I have been neglecting you for some time now," he told the viper, before putting a dethawed rat in the viper's cage, the snake eagerly devouring its meal.
"Who else left," he turned his head and spotted the last pet, a raven he had saved 2 years ago. He put torn meat inside the cage, and the bird eagerly ate the strips of meat.
"Too bad the others could not be here," he sighed sadly. Before, when his reputation as one of the best geneticists in the world was not tarnished, he had more animal companions, the term pet seems degrading to him as all of his animals are smart to a certain extent.
Unfortunately, all of his hard work in being the best in the field was gone, all because of the mistake of his employer.
"Those fools!" he raged, before taking a deep breath to calm himself. He had worked with a medical company specializing in genetics, or so he believed.
He later learned the company also attempting to alter humans by using the genetics of different animals, to improve certain traits.
He had agreed to join in the secret project and has allowed them to make great progress due to his expertise. However, this makes the higher-ups more greedy, more impatient.
He had tried to tell them they needed to wait before one of the serums that could possibly cure cancers was truly finished.
Sadly, his advice was disregarded by the fools of the higher-ups who thought being rich and powerful made them know better.
In the end, the serum was implemented without it being truly completed. One of the higher-ups believed grandchildren, who suffered from brain cancer.
The serum worked at first, resulting in the company ordering the unfinished serum to be produced on a large scale, even with his disapproval.
The serum worked, outwardly that is. Three 3 weeks after mass production and selling, all of the people who used the serum found themselves slowly mutating, their bodies degreasing into grotesque form.
This resulted in the company being questioned and sued by the victim's family. And what did the company do, it threw the scapegoat to the wolves while saying it had nothing to do with them.
And the scapegoat is not the person who ordered the mass production, no, they are just too important for the company, being rich and all. Instead, it was the team of scientists who created the serum, who was against its mass production in the first place.
The team, his team, were all disgraced, abandoned by their loved ones, having their name dragged into the mud, while the one who caused all of this was safe from the repercussions.
He watched as his team, the only humans he cared for, slowly broken mentally, and falling into depression. He watched as one by one, they took their lives, unable to handle the ridicule and torments, all because of the higher-ups' mistake.
And so, here he was, in a lab he managed to create from his vast salaries along with assets he managed to salvage from his former team's. All so he could have his revenge.
He first planned on releasing all the confidential information about the project but decided against it. The bastards likely prepared teams of lawyers as well as changed the contracts to make such a move ineffective.
He then thought of something bigger. What if he released a dangerous virus, that would wreak havoc throughout the world? It might be a little too much but he could not care anymore.
The bastards higher-up might be the ones that make them scapegoat, but it is the sheep that is the populace that went against them, that cause suffering to his team. And for that, they have to pay.
-x-
It was three days later that he came to a breakthrough.
"Yes, yes!" he yelled but at that moment, his body went into a seizure.
"N-no," he managed to utter.
"Not when I am so close," the genetic illness, the one that plagued his family, that killed his parents when he was young, is about to claim his life.
One of the reasons he became a geneticist is because he wanted to cure himself of the disease, so he could live a relatively normal life in the future.
But now, the disease will stop him from his revenge, to stop him from avenging his team, who is wronged by the world.
He tried to move, his willpower overpowering the pain as he put the disease sample, a plague based on his illness. He put it inside a test tube before he went to his animal companion enclosure.
He removed the lock, which was the last thing he did before falling to the ground, as he could only breathe heavily.
"I-I opened the door. For you. Escape," he said before he took his last breath. And so is the life of Edwin Smith and his revenge, or he thought so.
-x-
His animal companions have spent their lives with him, with the man teaching them something, even if the likelihood of them learning anything is almost non-existent.
However, they managed to understand what happened and what their father wanted to do, and they will do it.
The raven, Loki, took both Kaa and Jerry in its talon, the snake wrapping itself around the mouse and test tube to prevent it from falling.
As they flew away, they spotted the place their father told them he wanted to dump the test tube. Removing the cover, Jerry pushed the test tube inside the water.
With that part done, they went into their home before opening the file inside the computer. Picking up the one he showed them the most, Jerry sent the file to an email.
After finishing it, the three animals went to the gas pipe before pressing a button, one that would cause it to explode. Then, they went to their father and lay down, waiting for all of it to end.
-x-
The new plague ravaged the world, with no scientists coming close to figuring out how to stop it. Later on, it is revealed the plague was the invention of Dr Edwin Smith, who revealed the dark dealing of Winter Pharma. Soon, all of the executives and higher-ups were arrested, and trialed, with no hope for parole.
And so, the revenge of Edwin Smith was completed, but his life is not over yet. Not if the gods have a say about it.
