The evolution of a man by: Pent Ghelsburg
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. I have done my best to make it as scientifically realistic as possible but there comes a point where this is no longer possible. Be aware that this work is scientific in nature and include a lot of scientific verbage. This is my first attempt at a background story for my character. Let me know if you have any comments, suggestions, or criticisms. I am open to everything so please feel free to leave a me message!
“Human vanity cherishes the absurd notion that
our species is the final goal of evolution” Richard Dawkins
Chapter 1: The experiment
Vanity, the obsession of many of our species. I constantly would indulge the opposite...yet whenever I looked in the mirror, I would become disgruntled just because of the progression of my male pattern baldness. Many a times have I been disheartened by the thinning hair on the top of my head...but to no avail. As a man of science one would think that I could come up with a solution to the problem however this is not the case. Time and time again has proven the endeavor to be one of waste and disappointment. Not that this theme would be prominent in my experimentation however it was nonetheless a minor focus in my lab. Til one day when I decided to take more drastic measures by my own means. I resolved to solve the problem once and for all with the end goal of self improvement as well as the advancement of science as a whole.
My lab is a modest one...decadent in the scent of vaporized chemicals and sterilizers. Beakers and test tubes adorn the walls atop rows upon rows of shelves around the proximity of the room. In the center a large table complete with mortar, pestle, a Bunsen burner, and several mixing units. A small variety of beakers with various compounds decorate the table top as liquid vapor passes through the glass exchange medium. I had decided to mix a number of other compounds made infamous through Rogain and Bosley. After analyzing the sample I had purified and concentrated the mixture through a strenuous refining process that had taken several hours. When the product had been achieved, I decided to try it on an elderly lab rat who had long since lost it's fur. I applied the chemical to it's skin and returned the rodent to it's cage. It was now only a matter of time to see if worked or not.
A week had passed since I last checked the animal. It was normally my brothers job to tend to it, so normally I let it be. I darted down to my lab and retrieved the critter from it's cage. From a glance it seemed the the substance had some effect on the animal. It had a marginal amount of white fur now decorating it's formerly naked body. A small smile crept over my face as I pet the old rat and returned it to it's home. I decided that it was time for a human test, and I would be the subject. I returned to the large table where I transferred the liquid into a spray bottle. I then closed my eyes and sprayed a modest amount on top of my mostly bald head. The liquid misted outwards as the wet sensation my the top of my head. The solution caused a slight tingling sensation as I labeled the bottle and set it aside on a nearby shelf. After clearing up the area, I decided to turn in as it was quite late.
The next few days passed uneventfully. I soon forgot about the fantasy hair concoction I had created just over a week ago as work consumed my life as it normally does. Nothing really changed except that I had lost more hair instead of regrew it. The hope of promise soon left my mind as I instead redirected my efforts to a new effort. Maybe instead of hair, maybe the fur hormones of an animal would work better. After all...it's not like the scientific community would welcome me experimenting on transplanting hair follicles, from humans at least. So an animal would have to do...After much research and genetic matching my choices were narrowed down to Canines, Felines, or Primates. Being a dog person....I decided on Canines. However I knew that testing on a household pet would cause just as much strife as testing on Humans. The only choice I had left...was to test on a feral species. For me there wasn't much issue on this and so now all that was left was finding and catching one.
Chapter 2: The Catch
Being a scientist did not exactly afford me much of an advantage in the wilderness. But what I did have was several years of experience in the scouts. Living in Canada left me to tracking either foxes or wolves and I wasn't about to risk trapping a wolf. So instead I ventured out in search of an elusive fox. I set up a trap complete with a small fish and waited on the side hidden in a nearby bush. The weather was brisk and snowy, as it often is in Canada. The air smelt with fresh pine and light scent of the dead fish filled the air. The nuance of the situation filled me with excitement and anticipation. Still I managed to sit quietly on side...awaiting my prey.
It was strange sitting there...almost as if an animal myself. I envisioned myself as a fierce predator stalking their meal in the wild. As a nearby set of branches broke, a nearby pitch white fox entered my line of sight. The beast was small, seemingly underweight, and youthful by the looks. Still it's interest was enough to keep me focused on the ordeal at hand. The fox, entranced in what it had anticipated was a free meal, advanced forward towards the delicacy on the plate in front of it. As it indulged itself, the trap set in motion capturing the animal in the hold of a rope. The fox began to wail and yelp in a high pitch seemingly screaming for attention. After the fact, I felt guilty that I had stooped to my personal greedy desire.
I motioned from of my perch, the fox squirming more quickly as I showed myself. I fetched another fish from my satchel as I held it out in my hand in hopes of easing the animals discontent. As I neared, my conscious got the better of me. I let loose my pocket knife on the trapped animal and set it free. The fox looked over at me approvingly as it whisked out it's tongue and licked me, clearly interested in the easy meal in my hand. Steadily it approached me with caution, mouth slightly ajar with interest, licking it's lips slowly. The fox lurched forward quickly, target in reach grasping the herring in it's mouth as it ran off into the wild. I smiled warmly, happy with my decision as I discarded the used trap. Hopefully the saliva remains on the half consumed fish meal was enough to achieve my means.
After discarding of the trap, I shaved the bite marks and saliva remains from the fish into a test tube and made my way home. The winter breeze had picked up and the snow had increased in volume. As miserable as it was, I managed to return home. The warmth of the heater was a welcome addition to my day. However I decided that enough was enough for that day and turned it in after storing the tube in the fridge.
Chapter 3: The Test
The next day I declared to return to the lab. It was winter break so I had a lot of free time. I fetched the test tube and analyzed it with shearing sheets and sequencing. After much speculating, I theorized I found what I was looking for...the fur growth gene. I hypothesized that by integrating this gene into the human hair genome that additional hair should be created. After doing the same with a sample of my own blood, I isolated the hair growth growth gene and combined it with the fox fur growth gene. After doing so I placed a small specimen of the product under a microscope. Examining it was fascinating, the molecules within the gene seemed to be integrating with each other, combining into a more complex genome.
Watching the cooperation of the particles led me to write notes and postulate on the impact and probable effects of the gene if introduced. The main problem, I hypothesized, that a small amount of the gene would not be enough to create an impact on a specimen of a larger size, such as a human. I concluded that replication of the gene was necessary in order to achieve the desired result. Introducing proteins intro a petri dish, I hoped the best would occur. I returned the live culture to the microscope and continued to examine it. Further investigation led to the conclusion that the specimen was in fact replicating as intended, however the time required to produce a large quantity would need to be multiplied exponentially. Introducing a younger sample of the human hair genome, I theorized, should result in a more expedient replication process.
Returning to my fridge I fetched a sample of my brothers blood and isolated the human growth hormone as well as his hair growth gene. I returned to the fox saliva sample and delineated the growth hormone and compounded it into a separate dish with the human one. I then repeated the same process with the fur growth gene and the boys hair growth gene. The next step was to combine the samples, and examine if my hypothesis was correct. The amount of replication was intensified by about ten fold compared to what it had been with my blood sample. I once again added protein to speed up the process and watched in awe. In a mere matter of hours I would have enough product to test it.
After lunch I decided to finally give all my hard work a test. I grabbed some protein shakes and brought them downstairs with me to where the cultures were being housed. I dipped one of the cultures into the protein shake and placed another in the fridge for storage. I mixed the shake with a spoon and attempted to down the nasty drink in one go, forgoing any scientific need for further testing. After consuming the beverage, I reveled in it's distaste and hoped for the best. Only time would tell if my hard work was worth the effort. In the meanwhile I let the remaining culture replicate and concluded that I needed to drink the same mixture with a protein shake on a daily basis.
Chapter 4: The shedding
The next few weeks went by slowly. I drank the nasty drink without fail every morning. Nothing noticeable happened, until my body hair became noticeably thinner. Even the hair atop of my head continued to thin at a more alarming rate than before. I had declared that it was time to take drastic action and shave my head. So I did, paying the rest of my body little attention. After doing so I returned to my lab to take one final measure in to accomplish my goal. Combining the remaining culture that I had created and a super concentrated form of the protein shake this was the final step in my insane obsession. I did not waste any time, instead I mixed the solution with little heed of the concentration of either the genome culture or the protein mix. After stirring the solution, I downed the foul tasting mixture in one go, gasping at it's indignant taste. However the deed was done and to that end so my was my dabbling in the endeavor of hair in the name of vanity.
I continued drinking a protein shake almost daily as I had grown accustomed to it's taste. One would think I would have gained weight from this, but instead every time I got on the scale I seemingly dropped a few grams maybe even half a kilo. This caused me some concern. My pants no longer fit me without a belt and they seemed to be draping over the top portion of my feet. This made no sense to me as even with the loss of weight, the length of my jeans should not have been effected, especially when I wore a belt. Even more astounding was the rate at which I was now losing my body hair. It was very easily noticeable considering the fact I had shaved my head. Stray hairs adorned the floor of my bathroom and I had long since cleaned it after the shave.
I decided that an analysis was in order and quickly dashed to my lab. After taking some blood I examined it under a scope. Upon gazing into the eyepiece, I noticed a few things. First was the presence of a new species of cells. The cells seemed to be similar in nature to the others, however they seemed to be attacking, consuming, and arguable absorbing the other cells. After taking the slide off the
stage, I decided that an objective analysis of the cells was in order. After spectral analysis of the blood sample, I identified four different cell types. The first was a human cell, seemingly aged, arguably dying as distinguished by the weakness of the walls and of the inactivity of the mitochondrion. The second was another human cell, seemingly more youthful than the first. It's walls rigid and it's mitochondrion flourishing with activity. The third looked to be another type of animal cell. Further examining the cell showed a diploid number of about 50. This was definitely more than the human norm of 46. But what did it mean and why was it ever present in my blood sample?
The fourth cell caused even more mental anguish for me. It seemed that some of the animal and more youthful animal cells had merged. The result was a cell with a diploid number of about 48. However the chromosomes were seemingly mixed between animal and human. My brain began to rack itself with the probabilities of this finding. My postulate was bothersome...could the combined cells be killing off the older human cells? Another look into the microscope would have to do. Watching ever closely, I attempted to identify the cells based on their diploid numbers. After doing so I focused on a number a 48 diploid cells attack some of the 46 diploid cells. The result was the bursting of the 46 cell and an absorption of it's proteins into the other cell. More interesting still was watching some of the 50 cells merge with some of the other 46 cells. However it seemed they only preferred to merge with the 46 cells with well defined walls and active mitochondrion. After watching this for some time I formed a hypothesis.
I postulated that the 50 diploid cells were merging with the younger 46 diploid cells. They were then repopulating the sample with 48 diploid cells. Some of them were even attacking and killing off the older 46 diploid cells. The conclusion of this finding was unclear however it was certain that something was going on inside of me. I wasn't sure of what this all meant so I decided that a journal was necessary. I would record changes in diet, weight, and any other abnormalities that I saw fit. Now only time would tell what this would lead to.
Chapter 5: The first drastic changes
As the next few days passed the changes became more evident. My body hair was all but gone now, seemingly replaced by a light white fuzz throughout my body. My pants no longer fit me as they now dropped well passed the mid portion of my feet now. I replaced them with shorts which were a short term solution at best as I had easily lost 5 kilos over the last few days. I had been eating less but not because I wanted to...but rather because my teeth were hurting my mouth. Yet I was afraid to go to the doctor, as I didn't want to raise any sense of alarm in the community. Measuring myself with a tape measure showed I had lost some height as well. I was easily 10 cm shorter, though I wasn't exactly sure since I honestly hadn't measured myself in some time. The bottom line was that I was getting smaller. Even my shoes no longer fit.
This raised my personal alarm. It was time to re-examine my state. I returned myself to my lab and examined a new blood sample. This time the proof was evident enough in the sample. Much of the older cells were gone, in fact I was fairly certain they were all gone. Instead they were replaced by a dominance of 48 diploid cells which were showing to replicate at an amazing speed. The next step was to analyze what exactly was in the 48 diploid cells. I isolated 3 samples and screened them through electrophoresis. The conclusion was worrisome.
I found a dominance of animal genes with a small presence of immature human genes. As distinguished by the genome itself, there was about an 80% dominance of the animal genes. What was left of the human gene seemed to be well integrated into the animal portion of the genome. My hypothesis was that the animal genes were taking over my body. According to my last tests, it did not seem that the process was reversible at this point. The conclusion of this finding was that I was gradually becoming an animal. But now the question was, what was I becoming?
Then the memory of the hunt finally clicked in and it all made sense. White fuzz correlated perfectly with the beast I had caught several weeks before. Was I becoming and Arctic Fox? Research showed that the diploid number I was showing was similar to that of the animal. Now the question remained....how far would the process go? Should I try to stop the process? As a scientist, I was fascinated by the prospect of the change. So I declared instead that I would let it run it's course.
Chapter 6: The problems
Despite being alone for the last few weeks. It was time for my younger brother to return home. My parents dropped him off after having him for the holiday. Upon his return he was astounded to find me standing almost eye level to him. Being 14 years old, and originally much smaller than myself, this was a shocking find to say the least. After questioning me relentlessly, I assured him of the situation and told him my story. The condition had worsened over time. My mouth was developing into a longer snout, with more canine-like teeth pronounced in my jaw. The entirety of my person was covered in a white fur, and a even a small bulge of a tail pronounced itself in the back of my jeans.
I had gone through many sets of clothing and now shared much of his wardrobe. I had to confide with him the issue at hand and the scientific brevity of my situation. He assured me that my condition would remain a secret and that he would take care of me if needed be. This was comforting since I had done the same for him all these years, so I guess now he was least paying it forward. Personally this made me proud as his former guardian. Little did I know these roles would reverse soon enough.
Every night I was met with terrible night sweats. The increase in my body heat was enough to keep me from covering up at night. As the fur continued to fill out on my body, it became harder and harder to keep myself cool. I found myself panting and preferring to drink water more than any other beverage. One night I noticed that some bleeding had accompanied some of the changes. My newly formed paws were sprouting claws which were causing some hemorrhaging as they emerged. The size of my tail became harder and harder to accommodate as it lengthened and filled out with snow white fur.
As time moved on my condition worsened. The pain became unbearable as the features became more pronounced and obvious. My snout was almost fully formed now, complete with a pitch black nose. My ears were replaced by pointed canine-like ears. My tail was no longer hide-able, and if I wanted to wear pants then I had to cut a hole in them now. My feet remained larger despite my smaller size however they were replaced by large white paws complete with black pawpads and retractible claws. I was no longer able to put them in any shoes so I no longer hid them. Still I was able to walk on my two hind legs.
Eventually I had to quit my job, the lengthy vacation and sick days had long since seen their expiration. I had to email my boss as there is no way that he'd had believed it was me since my voice pitch had changed to accommodate my new size. I had plateaued at about 147cm and 40 kg. But given my current situation there was no way I would have been able to continue working. I told them that if they wanted I could work from home but I was seemingly losing my sense of reality from all of this.
The bottom line of all of this was a mixed sense of glee and apprehension. I was somewhere awkwardly between the world of human and animal. I had gotten the wish of growing my hair back but at the price of becoming something else entirely. In retrospect I wouldn't have changed a thing. It has been a hard journey dealing with all the changes and it certainty took some getting used to. However after I had done so my life became immensely better. So, it is to that end that I am not pursuing a cure for my condition. Instead I am embracing it, by welcoming my new fursona, Pent Ghelsburg.
