Tentacles_(0)

“No rest for the weary.” she said quietly Alexis sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose in a vain attempt to rub some of the tiredness out of her system. After a 16 hour shift she was ready to go home and crawl into bed for the next 10 years. Sadly that wasn’t really an option since she had to be up and at work at 7’o’clock the next morning.

After nearly 4 years with the FBI’s biocontainment lab without a promotion she was starting to wonder where this career was actually going. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the work, each case was unique and interesting it was just that she really needed more money to pay off her student loans then the government was paying these days. After all medical school and a doctorate in biology hadn’t come cheap.

“So tell me what you think Dr. Longman.” said a voice from behind her.

“Ah Director Prescott I didn’t hear you come in.” said Alexis nervously, she tried to pretend that she had not just jumped like a frightened field mouse. Dr. Prescott has the nasty habit of jumping out of the shadows, a pastime he desperately enjoyed, much to the chagrin of his employees. “This is a really weird specimen.” she said looking through the glass containment case at the section of preserved tissue contained within.

“How so?” said Director Prescott quietly.

“Well on the surface it seems to be a regular tentacle, much like that you would find on many invertebrates, like an octopus for example…” Alexis started uncertainly

“Except?” asked Director Prescott

“Well except for a lot of things, for one thing the muscles are extremely densely layered, to the point that one tentacle may well be able to lift over 200 lbs. Another thing is that this part at the end appears to have some sort of combination between a tongue and a urethra, it way well be this organism’s penis.” Alexis continued

“A penis that can lift over 200 lbs?” said the Director incredulously

“And another thing, this appendage was severed at the end we have no idea how long it is in reality, it could have gone on for a few more inches or a few more feet for all we know. What’s more is that unlike the tentacles of an octopus or a squid this tentacle isn’t slimy like you would expect, it actually looks like it has regular skin on it. Where did you say this was found?” Asked Alexis

“Not to far from here actually.” said the Director “In a park about a mile from this building.”

“Bridge view?” asked Alexis “I walk through there every night on my way home.”

“Well I’m sure it was probably just some weird variety of squid crossbreed or something, nothing to worry about” said the director dismissively
“I sure hope so.” said Alexis to herself

“Now be sure to put this specimen back into cryo storage when you’re done with it, and don’t forget to lock up when you go.” said the director

“Yes sir.” said Alexis

Alexis replaced the specimen into the cryo locker, scrubbed down the lab table she had been working on and switched off the light on her way out. Deciding that she felt sweaty after working so long in the lab Alexis headed towards the faculty showers.

“Man it’s a good thing that I brought a change of clothes.” she said to herself

Stepping into the women’s shower room Alexis glanced around, the long rows of metal lockers and plain wood benches gleamed back at her with the high polish of a surface that had just been clean and the hint of chemicals in the air gave to room a clean and sterile feeling. During the working day the showers were usually packed as many of the staff took advantage of the faculties free water and a great deal of the work done in the labs was labor intensive and a good shower was often required if you wanted to keep up a business like appearance.

“I guess there are some pluses to working late.” Alexis said to herself enjoying the solitude of the empty room “I have the showers all to myself.”

Removing her lab clothing Alexis paused to examine herself in the full length mirror attached to the end of one of the banks of lockers.