OCRODILE (The Rise)

Just by the coast of Scotland, an old English doctor
lived all alone. Missing him after not seeing him for
a long time, his family decides to spend the Christmas
with him in this lonely and isolated location. It
naturally turned itself into a family reunion as this
was just the right time for such since it will be
almost impossible to organize such a meeting at any
other time of the year. It is Christmas Eve and the
house of Dr McNeal is bustling with activity for the
first time in a very long while. Everyone is just so
busy doing nothing, moving up and down stairs and
talking in loud voices as they traverse the house in
mad but happy rush.

Its time for dinner and the table is set. Everyone is
seated and trying to get food into his or her plates,
and as they do so the talking continues. One person is
missing on the table. No one seems to care except
little Tim, the youngest of all. He notices that his
grandfather, who was also his favorite person wasn�t
on seat. He tries to get everyone's attention but no
one seems to be interest, they are all so involved in
their petty talk as not to remember the person who
even made it possible for such a meeting. 'Where�s
papa'? He asks and his elder brother Jeff replies in a
loud and rather mocking tone, 'maybe he's out there
trying on one of those his never ending experiments'.
The whole room laughs for a second, and they are back
at their talking. Ignoring the little boy's
distraction. Tim sits there staring at the others in a
gesture of apparent disgust, he wonders why this so
called relatives were so insensitive even about their
own grandfather and also why he was never recognized
by these people. With all these running through his
little mind, he consoles himself: � after all they
think I'm just a kid so why bother myself.
Some meters below where the family sat, in preparation
for dinner, was an old cellar, probably used for
storing wine and supplies for the ancient owners of
the mansion. In this cellar, the old doctor found a
suitable location for his private laboratory. It
wasn't necessarily secret, but it wasn't a place where
any of the inhabitants of his house, excluding him,
would find as much fun. Right there in this tomb, the
old doctor had buried himself for weeks. Only coming
out occasionally to get inspiration from nature. He
was in what he would personally call his greatest
experiment ever. This may hardly be the first time
someone ever considered this idea, but it would be the
first time a proper execution of the idea would be
carried out.

 

A lot has been going around about current triumphs
in genetic engineering, which include cloning and
other related stuff. But all that were been done were
just mutations of a particular specie to created a
super powerful or gigantic specie. Although various
genes of different species have been mutated, this
only produced a modified version of the same specie.
Dr. McNeal had a different idea. The idea was: mixing
the genes of various species to produce an entirely
new one.

In his isolated building he struggled to make this
fiction-like idea a reality. With years gone by and
lots of money in research and equipment, the
persistent doctor never gave up.

The lab was small but complete, as to all the things
he needed for his experiment. There in the small
cellar, he had some laboratory machines and some
computers with their monitors scattered all over the
place. In a small corner at the end of one side of the
lab, the doctor sat staring at on of his numerous
computer machines. The machines have been programmed
to do the combining of the genes. The processes will
be simulated on the computer and the outcome taken and
fed into machines that would do all the necessary low
level DNA manipulation. After months, weeks and days
of monitoring these combinatorial processes, he became
tired of all the simulations produced by his computer
of the creatures that were possible.

But just as his last possible combinations are being
computed, something seems to happen. A particular
unique sequence begins to take shape. He watches
carefully at the monitor as the whole thing unravels
itself. He requests a three dimensional representation
of the genetic sequence he sees evolving right in
front of him and after some on screen construction an
ugly and unpleasant apparition seem to appear. The
creature looked very ugly that he immediately felt an
uncontrolled surge of anger in him. He felt wasted as
he saw the best of his end product, but refusing to
agree with his weaker self he smiles at the whole
thing. At last the scientific triumph had come, and
without further hesitation, he called his creation the
OCRODILE.

The combination of the genes of an: octopus, a croaker
fish, and a crocodile, and a little of other features
from innumerable creatures, gives you the Ocrodile.
This monster is capable of unlimited growth. It
possesses the thickest skin ever, capable of even
resisting missile attack so far as it is old enough.
It has no gender and is totally hermaphroditic and
capable of giving birth to more than ten thousand
young in a single hit. It is capable of regeneration
and controls its own growth processes. This means that
it grows whenever it wills. The ability to adapt has
been fully demonstrated in this creature, as it can
willfully diversify its existence. This means that it
can create additional features for itself and discard
old or inefficient properties or improve on existing
ones and it does this consciously. This process also
involves selective adaptation as special features such
as ability to fly or swim in deep ocean will only be
for a few necessarily pr for all as the case implies.
This also implies that a parent may give birth to
different species at the same mind depending on how
this activity was designated by their one mind based
on need. The specie does not exist as separate
entities but as one unified whole. This feature is as
a result amazing telepathic power almost beyond our
reach as humans, the connection between the brains of
this creatures is totally perfect as the are able to,
flawlessly recognize each others thoughts fully. So
there seem to be no thinker as everyone is actually
thinking and everyone is actually receiving the
thoughts of the other so we can say that they are all
thinking with one mind. This ability to function with
different brains but think with one mind, definitely
gives them an edge over humans, as their ability to
collaborate efficiently will lead to a high level of
efficiency in their activities. Everyone's knowledge
was every other's and so with experiences. So their
evolution will be rapid as they modify and re-modify
their make up relative to their environment and this
means an enormous chance of survival. Any new feature
or ability acquired will be recorded on their genes
and carried over in to the new generation. They also
possess another unique but rather strange ability,
which is that of being able to transfer acquired
abilities between each other. This ability enables a
member of their specie to transfer its acquired
abilities, adaptations, and intelligence to the rest.
This gives rise to a phenomenon, which we can term as
transmitted- inheritance, which implies that
resistance to environmental dangers such as disease or
chemical disaster and also adapted features can be
transferred from creature to creature in a
disease-like manner.

The monster croaks like the croaker fish but in a
somewhat louder and scary voice. The sounds are
terrifyingly deafening, reaching more than a hundred
and fifty decibels, the equivalent of a jet plane. It
is capable of speeds reaching two hundred kilometers
per hour. Their eight-tentacle leg makes it possible
to reach these speeds as it coordinates all of them
efficiently to move. It can grow to heights of over a
hundred meters in just a few weeks, weighing more than
a hundred tones with skin of about nine to twelve
inches thick. The thickness of its skin also increases
with size. Its skeletal structure adjusts constantly
in strength to bear the excess weight due to its size.
Its speed and strength never reduce with size. It
generally increases with size. This implies that at
any point in time, it is never sluggish. Rather its
destructive power will be generally increased due to
increased size and speed. It has a poor sight and can
hardly discern objects. Which make it very destructive
as it crushes anything that obstructs it. It is
amphibious and exists on both land and sea. And it can
develop wings to fly also. But the versions of their
specie that will have to fly will adapt themselves to
be relatively smaller and aerodynamic so that flight
can be possible.

The genes have been introduced into the cell and in
just a few seconds of introduction, there is growth of
organism at exponential levels. In the electronic womb
where it was conceived, it grew faster than any other
creature on earth. The doctor excited by his
invention, leaves his apparatus area and rushes for a
bottle of wine in a corner nearby. He believed that
the growth of this creature will proceed slowly and
normally as do all living things, and was so excited
when he saw the an indicator telling that
fertilization had taken place and growth of organism
was in progress, he was so excited as he left the lab
area without even monitoring the process and is
unaware of the excessive growth demonstrated by this
creature. As the doctor leaves his experiment and is
getting all drunk somewhere, an anomaly had taken
stage. In just a few minutes, this creature was a
full-grown two hundred and fifty pound lot. Unable to
stay in its enclosure it breaks the steel box where it
was confined. The doctor back to check his experiment
but found nothing there. So worried, he searches
around in some hope of finding something but sees
nothing only an empty steel box torn around in all
direction. This baby monster must be capable of a lot
if, in just a few minutes of its delivery, it is
tearing through steel boxes.

Somewhere in the cellar the monster relaxes and
because it grows when it wills, this seems to be the
best time to do that and in some hours, it will be
ready to impregnate itself to continue its family
lineage. Back at the table where everyone was dining,
there was a sudden thump on the floor. Suddenly there
was silence everywhere as everyone paid attention to
this strange noise. They all hoped it was just some
noise, but it wasn't. The thump was growing louder and
everyone's patience was beginning to fall off.
Auntie Julie from America was so curious as to go
under the table to see if she could discern the noise.
Furiously she knelt under the table and placed an ear
on the floor. The noise grew louder and louder and
suddenly like a bullet from a rifle aunty Julie was
flung up. Everyone's worst nightmare came to being as
the saw what could only be on another planet. The
Ocrodile now only 8 foot tall was right in from of
them contemplating on it first meal.

Old Ta Tom from London sat still right was he was,
with his mouth wide open. He was so astonished at this
sight that all he could do was stare. The Ocrodile
turned to him and within seconds, his entire
alimentary canal and associated organs were grasped
fully in the hands of this creature. The creature
happily ate its first meal. The rest of the family
just realized themselves as the saw the internals of
their uncle being eaten by this beast. They were all
out of their bodies for a while and just realized
themselves. They, all screaming, run out of the
dining, were trying to make their way for security.
But all these was to no avail as the Ocrodile got its
second victim by the back, raised him up high and used
one of its numerous tentacles to take the internals of
this victim again. At this adrenaline shot itself
through each one of the McNeal's families as the
gained extra acceleration on their way to shelter.
Meanwhile, while all these was happening, the old
doctor was fast asleep and drunk. He was unaware that
the creature of his fantasies was feeding on his
family. The Ocrodile, with its massive size, whips its
tentacles at an opposing wall as it tried to make its
way for the rest of the family. The wall directly in
front of it fell open as it made its way through,
destroying all that were on its way, with so much
energy. One by one it had different members of the
McNeal's family. After about an hour of brutal, cold
blooded, dining, the Ocrodile finally ate everybody,
only left with the doctor and little Tim. Convinced
that it had finished its meal. It sluggishly made its
way for the exit of the house. Room after room, all
through the house it traversed. As it did, it picked
up remnants from badly mutilated bodies open from
throat down. Tim carefully hid himself in one of the
rooms, just beside his mother�s body. He cries softly
as he sees her body on the floor badly torn on the
floor. Just as he was about to make a move, the
Ocrodile was fast approaching. He paused and waited.
The Ocrodile also paused as it searched with its head
for all signs of life. He lay there, right beside his
mothers torn body motionless and trying to hold his
tear down. Since he was only five, he wasn't a master
of tears so he let out a small  "heek". The Ocrodile
saw this body in motion and was now coming close to
it. Tim, who was smart and intelligent at his age,
quickly ran into a tight passage so the might beast
might not get to him. But even his smartest moves were
not enough and as he ran to the edge of passage, the
Ocrodile, angrily tore the surrounding walls as it
made its way towards this poor little boy. Then as it
did, something surprising happens, the old doctor shot
at it from the side. The Ocrodile turned, and angrily
made its way to its second target. Mr. McNeal ran
through the broken walls as he made his way for the
cellar, maybe he had an antidote for this menace right
there. While this happened, Tim was busy getting help.
He was using uncle max cell phone. The landlines were
all dead and the power was gone. Uncle max phone was
not responding as it batteries were dead low. The
other way Mr. McNeal was busy distracting this beast
to buy time hoping some help would come. While dinner
was starting later that evening, a discussion broke
out, as uncle max told the rest of the family about
the breitling watch he just got. He was telling them
about the features and other specs. The older members
seemed uninterested at the moment but Tim was
interested as he was always fond of gadgets, uncle max
was a fighter pilot.

With the dead cell phone in his hand, and still making
his way through uncle max luggage, he finds the watch.
He gets it and start pressing any button his hands
could get at. The all of sudden there is this red
indicator on the watch as it showed that some activity
was going. Leaving everything to faith, he ran out
with the watch in his hand. Down there in the cellar,
Doctor McNeal had successfully made his way; he had
closed a steel door as he frantically set up some
explosives. Tim outside was running out of the
building heading for the sea. Hoping he could get some
help doing so. The doctor was battling with his toy
down there. The toy was trying to eat its master. He
gets the explosives ready and wants to blow himself
all together with the monster. The Ocrodile is already
well on a pregnancy and its time was soon near. The
doctor opened the remote controlled steel door, which
was already badly battered. Seeing this opportunity,
the Ocrodile rushes in to get the doctor. While it was
near, about a meter, the doctor let go the trigger and
BOOM the building rocked down at the explosion. Tim
was already well off in his escape as he paused a
while to look back, the explosion was on. He went down
at the shock but got up again. He stood there
pitifully as he watched his whole family go down. As
he stood there, the coast guards who picked up the
signal he sent were just by the coast ready to rescue
him. He stood there motionless and weeping for
minutes. Just then, the members of the coast guard
were just behind him and they led him to their boat,
all interrogation were reserved for later. The boy,
now in the boat, sat clad in blankets as he made his
way on his sad journey home.

The Ocrodile was destroyed, since it was no well off
in age and it skin was still under developed. But
something was not completely destroyed, the young ones
who were inside the womb. They slowly made their way
to the water and entered it in there thousands to
start another mayhem in a later time. But now they
went into the water to multiply and come out in mass
to exterminate the human race.

THE END.
Copyright �2004 by Ogah Ejini,
All rights reserved.