Marvel : A Reptilian Adventure

"This is such bullshit", the professor sighed, running his hands through his hair, looking at the results on one of the many lab systems.

"Bullshit that can potentially make companies a lot of money", Grant mumbled behind him in his usual monotone voice while he went through the information displayed on the screen.

"Bullshit, that can help a lot of people you mean...", the professor grumbled in response, drinking some water to appease his parched throat.

"Only if you choose to look at it that way"

"True, but we aren't any closer to uncovering its secrets, are we?"

"False, we've ruled out a lot of possibilities. This result just cut out another. I'd say we're a few years to achieving a breakthrough", Grant consoled his professor, taking a seat next to him.

"It's been only a few months for you, Grant, so it isn't surprising that you're taking this well", the professor sighed once more, standing up. "I've spent seven years on this project without having anything to show for it. Something that people can use I mean."

"What about the paper you published on regeneration pathways? I read that and practically worshipped it! It deepened the understanding of non-coding DNA immensely. I'm certain your name will be in textbooks", he frowned.

"That isn't enough for the bastards who fund this shit! They want...'Something with more substance'", the professor quoted the air.

"Substance as in...."

"Yes. Money", the professor snorted and rubbed his forehead. "No interest in furthering human understanding. None! It's always about goddamn money!"

"So....you aren't gonna abandon it right? You've put so much effort into this. We've already ruled out epimorphosis. Hydras seem to regenerate via a mixture of morphallaxis and compensatory regeneration. We just need to figure out the mechanisms", he said tentatively, hoping that his thesis project and internship weren't going to go down the drain.

The professor looked conflicted. Hesitating for a moment before slumping his shoulders in resignation.

"I need some time alone. Just clean up the place, will you? I'll buy you dinner in return", he said before walking out of the lab, bottle in hand.

"Well....shit", Grant sighed as the door swung shut. Life wasn't looking so good.

He once believed that Regeneration Biology was the next big thing. That the next medical breakthrough that would revolutionize Human medicine would be the ability to regenerate tissue.

From meagre skin cells and epithelial cells to even neurons.

That would not only render most neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's easy to fix but would make physical disabilities fixable. If one was being a bit more optimistic, perhaps a solution to deteriorating telomeres could be found, making people as close to biologically immortal as possible.

"Is it truly that impossible?", Grant murmured to himself, looking at the computer screen once more.

After completing his year as a freshman at his college, he immediately applied for an internship under the professor of Regeneration Biology and cell signalling. There wasn't a problem with securing the internship as he had stellar grades in courses that mattered but the material that he worked with was not what he expected.

The professor was a highly intelligent man and greatly experienced in the work that he did. Years ago, he had once tried to use axolotls as a model to study their regeneration and had made great progress in mapping out regeneration pathways but was forced to halt his research due to ethical concerns. Axolotls were named an endangered species midway through his research which forced him to stop and switch to the tiny animal that was the Hydra.

The Hydra displayed a far more efficient and powerful method of regeneration, compared to the water lizards, but it was much harder to pinpoint the mechanisms of their regeneration and the proteins manufactured in their cells.

That resulted in the professor's work screeching to a halt and moving at a snail's pace. The Hydra's mechanisms were just like its namesake - stubborn and seemingly unending.

"Well, I'm getting paid either way", Grant shrugged before carefully stowing away the slides and sterilising the equipment.

***

That evening, in the empty cafeteria.

"You're doing what now?!", Grant said in disbelief, staring at the professor who enthusiastically ate his slice of pizza as if he hadn't just said the most shocking thing.

"Hmm?", the professor raised his head quizzically, before frowning at Grant's disapproving look. "Seriously Grant? Worried about ethics are you? Don't you understand the poten-

"I don't give a rat's ass about ethics, sir", Grant interrupted, his sandwich forgotten. "I'm worried about the consequences. Going back to Axolotls for research is a stupid decision. Firstly, getting your hands on an Axolotl is going to be infinitely harder. Moreover, publishing your research is going to get you in jail. Why not shift to a different model? Planeria, Sea Anemones. So many possible models!"

"But my research will still be used, won't it?", the professor pointed out, his mouth full of pizza. "As for the models, I am most familiar with the Axolotl. I could get something of substance in a few months at most. I will change human medicine as we know it."

"You would sacrifice your freedom for this? Your life? What makes you think your research will be used in the first place?", Grant asked.

"If the Nuremberg Trials helped then I don't see why my research won't", the professor shrugged. "Still worried?"

"Worried that you're now comparing yourself to Nazis? Yes", Grant chuckled. "Listen. I'm just as interested in furthering the research, but I don't think the price is worth it. Moreover...." Grant narrowed his eyes, "It isn't like you to take such a risk. Not when the possibility of success is so uncertain. Did you really come up with this crazy plan?"

The professor looked him in the eyes before shifting his gaze to his pizza, sighing in the process. "Yes."

He narrowed his eyes further, "Really?"

Professor stared at him unblinkingly for a few seconds before succumbing to his scrutiny, "They were the ones who told me to do it."

Grant frowned, "Who?"

"Those bastards I told you about..."

"The investors? They promised to get you outta jail?"

"Bingo."

"They're gonna throw you under the bus, you know. They aren't going to stick their neck out for you", Grant said, growing more worried.

"At this point, I don't care Grant", the professor said, looking somewhat deflated. "I can't abandon something I've spent almost a decade on. Something so important."

"You don't have to abandon it", Grant argued. "Give it a couple of years and we'll have something concrete."

"Investors don't see it that way. Uneducated assholes the lot of them!"

"They're gonna cut funding?"

"Yeah....", the professor sighed before looking at Grant. "And I can't ask you to be a part of it so it'll have to be goodbye. This month's pay will be in advance. Take it as an apology for springing this on you."

Grant's eyes widened in surprise, wanting to argue but his rationality won him over and he nodded. He should have seen this coming, seeing the sheer disappointment in his professor's gaze this morning. He was looking at a man at the edge of despair.

He stood up, picked up his half-eaten sandwich, and extended his free hand across the table.

The professor gave him a sad smile before clasping his hand in a firm handshake.

"You were the best intern I ever had, you know. The Hydra model would've been even more inscrutable without you. A pity the research would go down the drain."

Grant nodded, but before he could leave, he decided to mess with the professor just a tiny bit.

"You know that you made me an accomplice the moment you told me about the Axolotl, right?", he said, a grin slowly gracing his face.

The colour immediately drained from the professor as the thought of ruining the career of an immensely intelligent student sprung up in his head.

"But that's only if you blab about it. I'll keep my mouth shut on my side. See you", Grant said, waving at the professor and heading for the door.

"Hey! Wait! What do you mean!"

***

The rustling of the grass cut through the silence of the night while the trees gently swayed in the wind. And among the mixture of plant life was a comfy mattress upon which a young man lay, his head full of brown hair resting on a cold pillow.

Grant's pupils reflected the night sky in all its unpolluted glory. The milky way was splayed across the black canvas, displaying nature's beauty at its finest. Stars shimmered, planets rotated in their divine trajectories and galaxies swirled in on themselves in an eternal dance with the black hole at its centre.

He was in the middle of the largest park in his college, which was located in quite a remote place due to their astrophysics course and stargazing club. He shouldn't really sleep here, as there was a curfew at 1 am. However, a combination of him having the highest CGPA ever and bribing the security guard with his favourite sweets let him get away with it.

"This'll never get old", he mumbled to himself getting lost in the view, which was a welcome relief from the absolute disappointment of a day he'd had. Feeding radioactive amino acids to the Hydra to figure out the composition of its proteins was an absolute failure, his internship had been cancelled and his favourite professor was going to end up in jail sooner or later.

'Hope he does complete the research, though', he thought, slowly nodding off to sleep. 'Would be kinda cool to regrow your arm if you get it cut off. Like that villain guy in the comics. Who was it? Lizard? Dumbass name.'

Grant lightly snorted before falling asleep, dreaming away.

Little did he know, as the stars twinkled in their heavenly homes, as he slipped into slumber, that his life would be forever changed.

***