Life and Death
Basil looks around, no escape. The single small floating island he was standing on was surrounded by nothing but a black sea.
Before he could do anything, eyes opened up from the water, and tendrils extended towards the sky.
From the waters and tendrils, a singular creature of half a dozen eyes and gaping mouth of sharp teeth stares right at Basil.
He used to be afraid. He wasn't, not ever since he grew up.
He was tired. He sighed as the massive monster slowly swallowed him whole.
Basil opens his eyes slowly with a grunt. He looked down at himself in disappointment.
…had he slept in the clothes he wore yesterday?
He scratches his head, he can't exactly what remember what he did last night-
Right. He had a drink. And then another. And another.
"Rise and shine, you tired little moron."
Basil looks at and finds Kim standing there looking at him.
"...are those my clothes?"
"I didn't wanna mess up your couch!" Kim answers, pulling at the light blue shirt with the black bold words of 'YOU'RE GONNA BE GREAT' she was wearing, and apparently raided from Basil's drawers.
Basil looks over at his small run-down couch. With a pillow at the far right end and a towel supposedly used as a blanket, no less.
"You slept on my couch? Did you…haul me home?"
"Yeah, I did, and I had to do that while also being drunk, so I'd like a 'thank you'. By the way, it's not like the old lady next door isn't sweet or anything, but you trust her with a spare key and not me?"
"Mrs. Glades holds a key for emergencies, I figured it would be safe with her. And I don't want you breaking in any time you want." Basil says, getting up from his bed and stretching, before taking a sniff.
"...you're brewing coffee?"
"Yeah, fresh. Because I know you'd probably just settle for a cold one, you sad lazy moron."
"...thanks."
"Yeah, no problem, now you owe me two coffees." Kim says with a laugh. "Alright wash up, cause seriously, you're filthy."
Basil gives an agreeing grunt in response and heads over to the bathroom, grabbing a random assortment of clothes as he does.
As the cold water from the shower head hits his hair, a shocking realisation hits his head that he was earlier too tired to remember.
Sunny! He forgot to call Sunny last night!
Ugh, he really regrets drinking now.
After haphazardly throwing body soap and shampoo over himself, he throws on his clothes and runs out to his living room, phone in hand.
He had missed a couple of text messages from Sunny last night, including a voicemail.
He played it, not expecting for it to blast at full volume and quickly try to shut it off.
"Hey Basil, it's Sunny. You didn't pick up any of my calls, which is odd cause you've never missed a scheduled call, in fact you're almost always excited about them-"
"NONONONO!" Basil tries to turn it off and the phone slips out of his hands and hits the floor. No new cracks, and the voicemail was still playing.
"But in any case, I just wanted to hear more about those new therapy sessions. I'm so glad you're finally going for them, especially since you never really got the guidance I had after everything back then."
"HOW DO I TURN THIS OFF?!" Basil shouted at Kim, who shrugged and sipped a mug of the freshly made coffee.
"In any case, tell me when you hear this or see my messages, just want to know you're still okay. See you."
A loud beep signalled the end, and Basil felt his expression cringe physically and painfully.
There was a long agonising silence, then Kim spoke up.
"So, you've…been faking going to therapy and lying to your friend about it?"
"...please don't tell him. Or anyone. I-I wanted to go, a-and then I got a new job! And then I found out hiring a therapist isn't cheap, a-and so I chose to save money instead of going, b-but Sunny was so happy when I lied and said yes, so I had to-"
Kim covered his mouth with her hand. "Just…calm down. I can't keep up, and you're 100% freaking out over this, so it must be important, but for now just…take a damn seat and drink some coffee, you idiot."
Basil nodded and followed, sitting down on the chair he had specifically to reach the kitchen counter.
"...uh, sorry to ask, but-"
"I gotchu." Kim takes the jug and pours coffee into an empty mug before passing it into Basil.
"So…do you remember Sunny?"
Kim shook her head, taking a sip of her own coffee.
"The…black haired boy? The expressionless one?"
"Him?" Kim said with a laugh. "That guy? The same guy who was chatting up a storm over the phone, is that same guy?!"
"He…feels comfortable talking more over the phone." Basil answers. This was the only reason Basil and Sunny could take so much over the phone. When they meet up, which they did rarely, it's usually his slightly silent self.
Kim nods.
"Okay, uh, so the therapy thing, you told him you were going?"
"...but you're not, right?"
"...yeah. I…I saw how expensive it was. And I decided to give up on it. And Sunny…he was so excited to ask me how my so-called first session went…a-and I just…I couldn't tell him. "
Basil goes quiet. Kim stares at him and taps her fingers on the counter, thinking.
"...okay. Tell you what. Seeing your stressful ass has enough pressure than any living human should have, I think you should just text him 'I'm fine, busy call you tomorrow'. You're going out for that interview in the afternoon, right? Worry about that first."
Kim takes Basil's laptop from the table near the couch and brings it over.
"I'll make you some breakfast, alright? And to make it easier for you to work…"
She turns Basil facing away from her, runs her hands into his back and gives a firm press. A loud crack is heard.
"AAARGH!" Basil screams as the painful sensation from his back spreads to the rest of his body for a split second. "Wh-what did you do? You…you…my back…I…" He feels his back. The aching pain he had for the past 2 weeks is gone.
"Yeah, pretty good right? First one is free, the rest I'm gonna charge you." Kim says with a laugh.
Basil watches Kim walk off in a smile. She was always so positive. So bright. He could never match his energy. He didn't deserve a friend like her.
But Basil was glad he did. He turned to his laptop and booted it up, preparing for his upcoming work.
"Sheesh." Kim says with a grumble, opening his fridge. "Microwavable breakfasts? Really?"
"Uhm, so, Mister Connors, could you tell me a little more about yourself?" Basil asks, walking down the lane with the researcher, with a recorder and notepad in hand.
"Why yes. Before I worked at the Life Foundation, I used to work for Oscorp. I believe you may have heard of them, quite a large science and technology company in New York, where I was originally from." Doctor Curt Connors answered as he walked alongside Basil.
"So what made you change? Was there like, a disagreement, or did you just prefer this job?"
"I don't hate Oscorp, but I won't deny I've had some unpleasant moments there. However, I'm an expert on biology of all kinds, human, plants and animals, everything. You may think the Life Foundation doesn't align with my own dreams, but when I saw my first extraterrestrial plant, I was blown away and convinced this is where I wanted to be. Plus, the fact they were willing to pay for my prosthetics was a benefit." Connor says with a laugh, showing off his prosthetic left arm.
Basil laughed along with him. "Uhm, hope those questions weren't too personal."
"Not at all, you're being very polite." Conners showed a glass window into a chamber filled with strange plants Basil had never seen before. They were fascinating, that strange fusion of green petals and purple stalks, he almost wished he could have one his own.
Not like he'd taken care of a garden in a long time, so it didn't matter.
"So…these are your space plants?"
"Indeed! I believe the more we study, we'll eventually find something that will help everyone, whether it be a new type of medicine, new material, new technology, maybe even grow back my arm, who knows. The possibilities are endless, and my job is to figure out what those possibilities are!"
"That's amazing." Basil replies. He didn't really understand it, but it was pretty cool.
"Glad you think so too." Conners said with a laugh. "But amazement and difficulty are proportional. Creating and discovering the future isn't easy, but we do our best."
Basil forced a smile back. He hoped it was convincing enough.
"Alright, uhm…" He flips through the notebook. "Let's talk about something a little more serious."
"Why certainly, what is it about?"
"Uh…" Basil squints at the questions. "Would you like to talk about the accusations regarding human testing?"
Conners stares at him baffled.
"...I'm sorry?"
…uh oh. Did Basil do something wrong?
"Uhm, I…I thought this interview was supposed to address the human testing accusations? The…ones where people are saying Life Foundation are stealing homeless people off the streets and using them for experiments? Can you…disprove these claims?"
Conners stares at him, clearly surprised.
"Well, I…I wasn't aware we would be covering something like this. No, of course not! We…we don't have any involuntary human testing experiments here, naturally. I wasn't aware such rumours were spreading."
Basil gulped. He wasn't sure if he wanted to keep pressing.
…he had to.
"W-well, there's been a couple of photos where employees identified as Life Foundation employees showed up in vans and apparently dragged away certain people on the streets…"
Basil pulled out his phone and showed some photos. Conners looked, clearly and most definitely confused.
"...I wouldn't know anything about this. And I'm sure this isn't our doing. That's all I can really say, is that okay?"
Basil sighs in relief.
"S-sure. Let's move to something else, uh-"
But before he could ask, two men dressed in black show walk up from behind Basil and turn him around. "I'm sorry sir, you're being asked to leave the property."
"...w-we're doing a scheduled interview?" Basil says. "I-I didn't do anything wrong, right?"
"You have been harassing and pestering questions on our employees, that kind of behaviour is not tolerated."
"Uhm, there's nothing wrong." Conners steps in. "He was just asking simple questions."
"Not to Mister Drake."
"He's watching? I don't understand."
"...okay, I'll go." Basil said, the nervous shaking in his voice unhidden. "Uh, thank you again, Mister Conners. I'm sorry if I said anything inappropriate."
"Uhm…you didn't, but thanks for the apology. Glad to have met you."
With that, Basil is escorted out of the property.
As he stands outside the entrance, he sighs.
He really wasn't ready, was he?
"Corporate douchebags." Kim says over the phone.
"N-no, it couldn't have been their fault, I just didn't know I shouldn't have asked…that." Basil replies.
"Then that's Winston's fault! You didn't do anything wrong."
"Winston-" But Basil was cut off.
"FUCK Winston, he called sick and then made you look like a fool, you can confront him when he comes back. Scratch that, you NEED to confront him."
"...I don't know."
"Bas…"
"I-I just…what am I gonna say? Th-that I screwed up his interview that was given to me?"
"You didn't screw up anything. You took Winston's job, and you asked about a majorly important topic. If this is screwing up, then our society is a shithole."
Basil didn't think that was wrong, but he wasn't so sure he was in the right either.
"Look, I know you have a lot on your mind right now, so I'll give you your gift tomorrow."
"You…bought me a gift?...why? Did I forget my birthday again?"
"Uh, no. It's just like a, uhm, a 'Hope You Get Back On Your Feet And Off Your Ass' gift. With how much of a slump you're in, I figured you could use it."
Basil was at a loss of words. Then he soon found them.
"...I'm sorry you need to deal with me."
"Yeah, tell me about it. You're a pain to take care of."
"...that was a joke. But seriously, you need help, you're really depressed. Tell you what, tomorrow, after work, let's sit in front of a computer and find you the cheapest and best doctor there is."
"Kim, I-"
"Nuh uh, no self-pity, no apologies. How about a 'thank you'?"
"...thank you."
"There we go! Have a good one, Basil."
Basil hears the sound that signals she's hung up and sighs, putting down his phone.
It was hard for him to feel right in any situation. Feels like all he does is screw up.
But maybe Kim was right. Maybe he didn't need to stay down in a slump all the time.
Maybe Winston was wrong, maybe Basil was wrong. But either way, he was going to fix it.
He looked down at his cup noodles, still soaking. He was getting thirsty. He looked at the cup of coffee beside him he had been drinking. It was half-empty.
He walks over and fills it up. Tomorrow was going to be a rough day at work.
"Lawsuit?" Basil couldn't believe his eyes as Holdt relays the information to him.
"Apparently they said we 'harassed' and 'pestered' their employees unnecessarily, saying we asked sensitive questions, that we intentionally made that researcher uncomfortable." Mister Holdt said, showing Basil a paper.
"...sir, I-"
"You don't have to explain. I believe you didn't do anything wrong. The good news is their trying to sue the business, not you, so we can fight it."
Basil couldn't find the words. Had he really messed up so badly the company was being sued because of him?
…he really wasn't cut out for this type of work.
"...what if you fired me?"
Holdt looks up from his desk and at Basil.
"...what did you say?"
Basil takes a deep breath.
"Uhm, I-I don't know anything about lawsuits or whatever, b-but if I was fired because you acknowledged me as the problem, that would mean the lawsuit could be…settled more easily, right?"
"That is true, but-"
"Sir, please. I-I'm sorry, and if I really messed up that badly…I want to make up for it."
"...you know if I do this, I may not be able to hire you back."
Basil knew that. He didn't like that, but he had to accept it.
"I know, and I understand."
"Then…I'll send you a paycheck by the end of the week. And I'll have a talk with Winston."
Basil slowly turns around and walks out of the office. He was pretty sure he had been walking at a regular pace, but for some reason it felt like each step took forever. He didn't talk to anyone, but he was sure people were staring at him as he was walking.
Maybe they were angry, maybe they pitied him. Bask didn't know, because he didn't look at them. He just walked. He didn't listen.
Basil felt horrible. He didn't feel sick. He didn't feel like he was dying. He just felt off. He felt empty. He felt miserable.
He had just about reached the exit when someone had grabbed him on the shoulder.
Basil spins around in shock and Kim holds her hands in defence.
"Woah, easy. You really just got fired?"
"...yeah, and…I need to go home…so…"
"...then I'll come with you." Kim replies, her tone confident and concerned. Not how usually Basil knew her to be.
He sighs. He didn't wanna drag Kim along with him just because he was sad.
"You can't, I just lost my job, and you still have yours, you can't just-"
"Ditch work? Sure I can, William is like three times as powerful as the two of us combined, he'll manage."
"Kim-" Basil starts to speak but Kim just pushes him along.
"At least let me show you your gift."
"...what is the gift?"
"So remember how, like, two months ago, I said let's do something fun together and then we signed up for a motorcycle licence?"
"...yeah?"
"And then you passed, and I had to retake it, but you didn't even have a motorcycle so the licence was useless?"
"...yeah?"
"And then I passed and I bought a motorcycle, and you went 'I wish I had one', but never really acted on it cause work is a walk away and you never went anywhere else the bus couldn't take you?"
"...did you-"
"Yeah." Kim spins Basil in the direction of an alley right beside their work building.
A grey motorcycle leaned against a wall there waiting for him.
"It's a used one, so I managed to strike a bargain with the guy selling it, and it came with a helmet. I'd wrap it in a ribbon but I couldn't figure out where."
"You didn't have to." Basil said, turning to Kim.
"I wanted to. This isn't a pity gift, this is a gift I'm giving because I think you've earned it. Besides, now that you've lost your job, you have more time to ride this."
"I still need to find a new job, you know?"
"I know, but till then, you got a sick new bike to drive around in."
Basil looks at the vehicle. There are some slight dirt marks and a couple of minor signs of use. Like it's seen and been through things after a long time.
He liked it.
"...wanna go for a ride?" Basil asked, turning to Kim, who was instantly taken aback.
"Woah, was that initiative coming from you? What happened to Basil, what did you do with him?"
"...I-Is that a no?"
"Heck yeah! Wait, no I meant heck yeah, I wanna go on a ride with you." Kim corrected herself immediately with a laugh right afterwards.
Basil put on his helmet and turned the key, with Kim hopping on and holding onto him from behind, and with that, the two of them sped off.
"That new ride yours?" Charlotte at the cashier asked as Basil entered the store, pointing at the motorcycle through the glass window.
"Uh yeah, would you believe me if I said I was riding around with a girl earlier on?"
"You? With your eyebags that practically make you half-panda? Seeing is believing."
"Yeah, I guess. Uhm, where's Linda- I mean, where's your mom?" Basil asked, as he looked down at his phone. A message from Holdt, "It's settled".
"Sick today. Why, you miss the old lady serving you instead of me?"
"Just curious." Basil replied as he walked down towards the fridges. He looks around for where the carton of milk was and immediately jumps, nearly screams, as he's pulled around and faces the scientist he had met at the Life Foundation.
"You need to listen to me. You were right. They are experimenting on people."
"Y-you could've just emailed me! How did you know where I shop?"
"Exactly. The Foundation somehow has your location now, so I immediately came by to find you."
"Th-they what?!"
"Listen, you're a reporter for 'The Usual Feed', and that means you can put evidence in the paper, and stop them quick, tonight."
Basil closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "I-I'd like to help, but I was just a temporary reporter, and besides, I'm now fired."
"It doesn't matter, you still know people inside and it's not like they wouldn't let you in and take what you have." Conners looks at him dead in the eyes.
"I've been lied to for the past 2 years I've been working there. I thought we were doing safe, regulated work. I thought I left risk and endangerment behind when I left, but apparently I was wrong. I know you're not a bad person, please. Help me."
Basil can feel his face naturally shift into an expression of worry and fear as he takes in all the sudden information. But he couldn't say no. If people were really in danger…
"...o-okay. S-so…how do we do this?"
Basil dodged around a corner as he heard security rush past. The distraction worked. A researcher seemingly on the property after hours suspiciously movings around was enough to get whoever was working to move in.
"Okay, basement, basement…" He took the next staircase he saw downstairs and quietly opened the door that had a triangle warning and bright red words of "HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, AUTHORISED ENTRY ONLY".
It was thankfully low security, supposedly they weren't expecting anyone in their sane mind to enter.
Basil crept around. He had expected it to be silent. But he heard it, noise. People.
As he moved towards where he heard the sound from, he saw massive chambers, able to look within through strong thick glass, most of them seemingly, some of them containing a lifeless corpse. He held back the urge to puke and pulled out his phone, snapping a couple of photos.
All of the bodies had some strange pile of goop near them. What were they? Did something happen to them? Were they forced to eat it and spit it out? Basil didn't want to know, he kept moving along.
Then he saw it. A woman with messy brown hair, crying in a corner of her own chamber, muttering something so soft Basil couldn't make out what it was.
He lightly tapped on the glass and the woman instantly turned to him.
"H-hey. I-I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?"
The woman nods frantically, but her look of fear doesn't subside.
Basil looks around at the controls near the door. He couldn't understand anything on the panel of buttons, sliders, knobs and levers.
"Maybe…this?"
As Basil pressed a singular red button, the entire floor went dark, then immediately flashing red as an alarm started to blare.
The door in front of him opens violently, and the woman pounces on him.
He struggles to push her away, and for a moment, there's a slimy wet sensation crawling around his chest. It immediately subsides and Basil kicks the woman off him in panic. She's launched away and lands flat on the ground.
Basil quickly climbs back up on his feet and makes a mad dash. He can already hear the footsteps. He sprints towards the glowing exit sign and starts to run up the stairs. The adrenaline running through his body kept him going. He didn't feel tired, despite the fact that he wasn't athletic. He ran up the stairs as fast as he could towards the lobby.
The alarm was blaring on that floor as well. He looked to where he had come in from. Blocked, a shutter was closed around it.
He frantically looked around whole still on move. There was a fence outside on his right.
This place was on the outskirts of town, near a forest.
…Basil had to take the chance.
He could already hear a group behind him as he jumped through the window. Not a scratch, thankfully.
As he gets closer to the fence, he closes his eyes and makes a mad leap of faith, his hands outstretched.
He feels his hands close around the fence and snaps his eye open, quickly moving up and over and away, panting frantically as he hears the footsteps behind him fade away.
When he can no longer hear them, Basil slowly stops and leans down against a random tree, catching his breath.
That was insane. That was risky. That was dangerous. Basil didn't like that, he almost died. In the middle of the night, no less.
Or rather, it was already turning to morning, with the first ray of sunlight slowly starting to penetrate the forest. Basil had missed a full night of sleep. He groaned. So did his stomach.
He was hungry.
Maybe when he got home, he'd treat himself to a bigger meal.
"So…after I tried to help you when a reporter asks you unnecessary questions, your way of thanking me is to sneak around my back?"
"You lied. You said your company was different, that we wouldn't compromise our morals for discovery." Conners replies as Carlton turns to face him.
"Well, times change, so do discoveries. And I'm afraid because of your little moral high ground, I am now one symbiote down!" Carlton shouts, clearly enraged.
"You're lucky that not only are you smart and intelligent enough to run some of my front projects , but hiring a disabled person is good for PR."
"And what stops me from telling the public about what you've done?"
Carlton scoffs. "I know you won't Conners. Because you're definitely not going back to Oscorp. No other place will take you, and besides, I know there's something you want."
He leans in for a whisper.
"I'll be keeping a closer eye on you from now on. Now get out of my office."
Conners glares at Carlton one more time before walking out.
He was most definitely in danger, he had to complete his work, fast.
He walks down to the research room he was looking for and stops.
"Well? How's progress?" He asks one of the scientists.
"Well, sir, it definitely has regenerative properties, like a lizard." The scientist replies. "And it's already started to adapt to a new environment. Both lungs and gills make it quite an amazing survivor species."
Connor looks into the small tank filled with the purple creatures. They were almost identical to real lizards, besides their colour and number of eyes.
Regrowth. Regeneration. Conner has been obsessed with them when he was at Oscorp, and he had one final chance to make his old work succeed here.
Before Drake kills him off, or worse yet, destroys his work for good.
"...keep at it."