Chapter 41: Horrific Truths in Time

“A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals. You know it. A thousand years ago everybody knew Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat. Fifteen minutes ago, you knew that people were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.”

— Agent K (as portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones), in Men in Black. Based on the comic series The Men in Black created by Lowell Cunningham. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Written by Ed Solomon. U.S. release: July 2, 1997. Copyright © 1997 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.

He could not tell them. Silas knew that both Kaufman and Ashcombe wanted what was offered. The magic, the monsters, the risk. That had added to their existence. Kaufman was the premier medical mind on the east coast, perhaps the world.

Ashcombe was building an institution that put Oxford and Harvard to shame.

Soon enough, Connecticut would become the central hub for much of the world. For someone like Silas, there would be profit in this, but that was out of the question.

How could he make a larger fortune knowing he was trading lives for all that they were gaining.

As he thought about the situation, Silas realized the truth. He could not remain at Dreibruch indefinitely. There were uses to be had, sure, but he would no be a puppet to the greater beings, and further, he would not allow trade one monster for another.

It was perhaps inevitable that rumors would begin.

Universities were institutions built upon accruing knowledge, but that was where curiosity would build up from both within and from those on the outside, wanting a peak into the magic.

The first reports emerged from maintenance workers, then members of the medical staff, and then of course it was one or two students.

Something unusual had been seen moving through portions of the biology wing.

At first the descriptions varied wildly.

Some claimed the creatures resembled enormous slugs. Others compared them to aquatic larvae.

One particularly excitable undergraduate insisted he had witnessed a species of subterranean dragon no larger than a hunting dog, which (of course) sounded insane.

Whatever the truth, speculation spread rapidly.

Within a week the matter had become impossible to contain.

Silas found himself standing beside Ashcombe before a gathering of faculty members, donors, and concerned townsfolk who had demanded an explanation.

The gathering occupied one of Dreibruch’s larger lecture halls.

Concerned whispers filled the chamber. A few were eager for scandal, but they were just rich people with too much time and energy on their hands.

Upon the platform, Ashcombe displayed none of Silas’s discomfort.

The Dean stood confidently behind the podium.

A large chalk illustration had been placed behind him.

It depicted one of the creatures in careful anatomical detail.

Silas thought the drawing only made the situation worse.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Ashcombe began, “allow me to assure everyone that there is no danger.”

The murmuring lessened. Silas observed as the half-deception was taken by the populace.

“What some of you have observed is merely a recent addition to the College’s biological collection.”

A hand immediately rose.

“That thing is an animal?”

“A fascinating one, and one unlike anything we have seen before,” Ashcombe promised with a smile.

The audience seemed to be excited at this prospect.

“That is, in part, why it is valuable,” Ashcombe went on. “A small exploratory venture went both to the Artic and Antarctica-regions to retrieve some samples, so if they look other-worldly, it is likely because our species has not come into contact with one in over two thousand years at least.