That afternoon, while Suvan was sent out to begin working on the garden, I followed Tahn down to another level of the building. Instead of a great room like the floor he lived on, my eyes were greeted with a dimly lit hall. The only visible light was from the torch in my hand and a faint light coming from the cracks around the several doors.
“This is one of my many laboratories,” Tahn commented as he reached for the nearest door handle. “Each floor has, let's say, a different interest.” He ushered me inside, where I nearly dropped the torch in disgust. The far wall had two dingy windows that let the light from outside filter in. In the center of the room was a shiny metallic table surrounded by four unlit oil lamps. But what rested on the table was a horrid thing that defied my imagination,
The motionless creature was roughly the size of a man, but the structure of the bone and purple skin made a unique, almost baroque structure. With three long spindly legs, a fat, almost bulbous torso, and five thick arms, I thought that such a monster could never possibly walk unaided. The pale, red face bore no resemblance to anything human or animal, looking like a distorted assembly of unrelated parts. There were five eyes, arranged in a haphazard fashion around two holes that must have served as nostrils. There were two mouths, each one located on a cheek, that were bared open to reveal a row of razor-like teeth.
“He's a beauty, isn't he?” Tahn said with glee.
I swallowed, pushing the rising bile back into my throat. “Where did you find such a horrible thing?”
He laughed in such a manner that sent a chill down my spine. “You'll be surprised what turns up in some of the darker corners of the city. I have seen things that would give you nightmares for the rest of your life. But come, help me get ready to dissect this specimen. Light the lamps and lay out the instruments. I will then instruct you on the proper methods of surgery.”
After I lit the oil lamps and laid out the equipment as he suggested, I stood aside and watched as Tahn went to work. He had a deft hand with the scalpel, cutting into the flesh with practiced ease. The organs inside were removed, each one was then closely examined. Once that part was done, he used a saw to remove the top the skull. The brain tissue was carefully removed and examined, before being placed inside of a labeled jar. I now speak of all these actions with a sense of detachment, but when I was actually there, I could barely stand the horror. All the while, my insides felt like jelly. I just wanted to look away, but Tahn made sure to pepper me with comments and questions as he did his terrible work.
When that was all finished, the carcass was covered with a rough cloth. We then worked together, lifting the remains off the table and placing it on a cart. From there, I pushed it out of the room and down the hall. With Tahn's help, I wrestled the body into a metal chute where it disappeared below.
I asked distastefully, “And what exactly did you learn from doing that?”
“Not much,” he replied, obviously not picking up on my apparent disgust. “It's a fairly common humanoid mutation, perhaps even related to the Mutans. But it is worthless for what I'm working on.”
“And what exactly are you working on?” I asked, afraid to hear the answer.
He smiled, his eyes gazing into nothingness. "Why to improve my flock, of course."
“The Mutans?” I asked, incredulous.
He spoke like a loving father. “They are like my children. Like any loving parent, I only want to make sure they survive this world.”
“But they kill and eat people," I protested. "How can you be party to such a horrible thing?”
He stared at me, his expression unfathomable. “I have my own reasons. Would you like to see where the Mutans are born?”
“I'm not sure,” I replied with a renewed sense of sickness.
“Come now, it isn't as bad as that.” And with those words, Tahn led me to the stairway where we took several more flights down until we reached floor twelve. He opened the door and let me pass first.
The stench inside was unbearable, reminding me of excrement and rotted flesh. This was a large area that took up the entire floor. Rows and rows of foot-wide metal boxes were on the floor, small gray hands clambering to get out. The sound of the little prisoners was a mix of horrific wailing and toddler gibberish. A line of windows provided the light, though I wished such a sight as I am about to mention would have been forever invisible. In the middle of the room sat a gigantic pod of flesh, some twenty feet long and horribly mottled with gray spots. On one end was a large orifice that oozed some yellowish liquid, the substance staining the floor. On the other side was the body of a Mutan, but with vacant black eyes, small breasts and spindly arms. My stomach lurched when I finally realized I was seeing the female of the species.
Tahn sounded like a lovelorn teenager when he said, “She's beautiful, isn't she? My father's father discovered her in the lowest, darkest part of the city. In a place that is even deeper than the subways. He brought her back here to experiment on, wondering how such a thing could exist. Of course she was smaller then, but took readily to a steady diet of meat and vegetables. To his amazement, when given his seed, there was offspring. That's how the first Mutan was created.”
“His seed?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“Yes, he was the original father of the Mutans. Just like I am their father now.”
I felt a strong urge to run this man through with my sword, but I stopped myself. Suvan and I needed to escape, but we were trapped right in the heart of the Mutans, without a clear way out. Killing this insane man would only hasten our death.
Tahn suddenly said, “You've seen enough for today. Perhaps more than I should have shown, but I can't help but brag about my accomplishments. Now let's go eat some dinner.”
When we arrived at the top floor, the light of the sun was already starting to fade. We found Suvan was still busy in the garden, intently removing weeds from the soil, and from the cistern, watering the plants. Her face was streaked with dirt and her clothes had definitely seen better days.
Tahn watched her with bright and shiny eyes. It was sickening. I felt a burst of jealous anger course through my veins. It was abominable to think of this disgusting old man even thinking of her in such a manner.
He said, “Perhaps you two had better clean up before we eat,” he suggested. “You can use water from the cistern. I will go and prepare dinner.”
Suvan readily agreed to this idea and took a bucket to get the water. After Tahn had left, I followed her outside to help.
As the water ran into the bucket, I said to her in low tones, “We must escape tonight when the Mutans are sleeping.”
She nodded, the movement barely visible. “I don't like the way he is looking at me."”
“Trust me, you won't believe what I just saw. But I'll tell you later. There isn't enough time right now.”
“But how do we get out of here?”
I shrugged. “Perhaps we can backtrack the way we came.”
After we had washed, the two of us returned inside and went to the floor below. Tahn was cooking, and the familiar smell of simmering vegetables greeted my nostrils. I felt sick, the memory of what I had just seen was still too strong for my stomach. After the food was done, Tahn bade us to sit at the table. After we were seated, he poured out some wine and ladled out the stew.
As we ate and drank, Tahn kept quiet, which was unexpected. Instead of talking, he kept glancing between the two of us as if expecting something would happen. Though I had only tasted the wine once before, it now had an unfamiliar tang to it. I stopped drinking, but pretended to do so by placing the rim of the glass against my lips. Nonetheless, the tiny amount that I had consumed was having an effect on me. My head felt thick with sleep.
“I feel so tired,” I managed to blurt out. I wanted Tahn to think I was close to unconsciousness.
Ignoring my words, he turned his attention to Suvan who, by now, barely had her eyes open. She had consumed more wine than me. He finall
y spoke: “It is lonely being here. My father and mother are dead, so I'm the last one alive to carry out the work that my ancestors started so long time ago. When I am gone, someone will need to carry on with my work and keep this place going. I need someone to give me a son.”
My jaw dropped in astonishment.
Those words took a moment to register with Suvan. Her head jerked up. “You can't mean me?” she gasped weakly.
“Who else would I mean, my beautiful girl?”
“I can't, I can't,” she murmured and then abruptly slumped over onto the table.
I tried to stand up to protest, but I found my legs were like lead.
Tahn smiled at me. “Now you two get some sleep. You will need it tomorrow since I have plenty more work for the both of you.”
Chapter 18