Werewolves

“Sorry, we should have warned you about the Modular Room Technology™ that we used,” the Vampire contractor told the deadpan, half-asleep Professor over the phone. The sun was just rising and the contractor was finishing his work for the day. “All you have to do is use the control box…”

 

“What control box?”

 

“The one beside you.”

 

The Professor stared at the box next to him on the wall. He looked at it at an angle, and then voiced, “Oh, I thought that it was a rather ugly painting of boxes.”

 

The Vampire, unperturbed, continued, “All you have to do is to get the device to move the rooms into the positions that you want… kind of like a jigsaw puzzle.”

 

The Professor hung up and called Bill to rearrange the rooms.

 

Ms. Flats was a kindly old lady who co-ran a music store next to the Professor’s office. At the moment she was deciding what to wear to the celebration at another neighboring building, the mysterious WorldMaker Industries. Her co-managers, Mr. Sharps and Mr. Whatnot were busying themselves cleaning the music store and closing it. Al Tamborino, the part-time janitor chuckled at the absent-minded (and nearly insane) attempts to clean the store. Meanwhile, unnoticed, a short man in a waistcoat and top hat (which looked really ridiculous with his large pointy ears) was examining the fine merchandise.

 

Dr. Dracule arrived in the newly moved Lobby at precisely quarter ‘til. He was wearing a new tuxedo and looked like a penguin that needed a drink[1]. Bill arrived a few moments later.

 

“The Professor will be out in a moment. Have a seat.”

 

Dr. Dracule glanced down at the chairs and thought better of it, “No thanks, I just pressed the suit.”

 

Bill looked at the Doctor from a few different angles before finally agreeing with himself, “There’s something wrong with your suit.”

 

Dr. Dracule sighed, “I was always left out of the hippest gatherings of my Vampiric friends for one reason… I don’t look good in a suit.”

 

Bill almost chuckled… but fear of large teeth stopped him.

 

Two Vampires and two odd humans stepped out of 1 Ultramauve Drive and headed towards the newly built building of WorldMaker Industries. A friendly man greeted them at the door.

 

“Professor Carpworth? Let’s head around to the back entrance so we can talk... We can join the party later.”

 

They took a long winding path around the building and the man talked as they went along.

 

“My name is Landran Drake. I run the place. We here are really influenced by your work Professor. You can’t understand what an honor it is to finally meet you without you lecturing at a podium.

 

“Anyway, we study chromasilver challenged individuals, I am one myself by the way.”

 

Dr. Dracule spoke up, “I know it has to do with werewolves, but what is Chromasilver?”

 

The Professor turned to Dracule; “Chromasilver is a complex, near-white internal color that helps maintain a magentallogical field. Werewolves, or chromasilver-challenged individuals, have an overbalance of chromasilver which when further added to causes them to go into magentallogical flux...”

 

“Thus causing the changes during a full moon.”

 

The Professor nodded, “Exactly.”

 

“Then why change into wolves?”

 

Landran spoke up, “Call it a stereotype... I turn into a duck, myself. That’s why we prefer the term ‘chromasilver challenged’.”

 

Dr. Dracule tried to picture the soft-spoken Landran as a loud honking duck and failed. They arrived at the back door that was guarded by two burly, muscular men.

 

“Now these,” said Landran, “are wolves. Good evening boys, just showing the Professor to my office.”

 

“Yes, sir, Mr. Drake sir.”

 

Landran Drake’s office was quite large and overlooked a laboratory (converted for party use). Drake closed the blinds and turned to the Professor.

 

“Okay, let’s get to business… I need your help Professor… We’ve had some slight problems. We’re working on a solvent that will, not hamper, but allow more control of chromasilver transformations. The solvent works to some extent, but many of our test subjects have gone mad. The only person we knew who was skilled enough with chromatological psychology was you… the man who invented the field.”

 

Bill chuckled, “Sounds simple to me… part of the homeostasis of the chromasilver endowed is the fluctuation of moon cycles… your body gets used to the constant power of the moon…”

 

The Professor stopped Bill, “No, I don’t think that that is it at all. What I think is that the werebeings get used to full moons.”

 

Bill sighed. Malicia Craven smiled, “Professor… could the rest of us sneak into the party while you work?”

 

The Professor nodded, “You vampires go ahead. Bill, we might need you, you better stay here.”

 

Bill hung his head. Of course he needs me, Bill thought, he just won’t admit that to himself.

 

Landran Drake smiled, “If I may, we’ve already tested them for over/imbalance of chromasilver. We haven’t noticed any spectacular differences that would account for these problems.”

 

Bill pondered for a second, “Have the ones who’ve had problems refrained from changing forms.”

 

Landran shook his head, “Naturally, why else would we want to control the chromasilver balance?”

 

“Seems to me that it would require mental energy to hold a magentallogical field in place… Most people don’t notice the energy use because they are used to it… just like breathing. Basically, if a person’s two forms were bipolar, i.e., completely opposite, it would require more mental energy to remain stable than, say, it would be for one of those guards.”

 

The Professor was, for the first time, at a loss. He struggled for words, “That was… was… precisely… what I was going to say. I think.”

 

Landran smiled, “You think that we haven’t thought of something similar? It just seems to ridiculous.”

 

Bill started pacing the room. The Professor smiled, he was back in his depth now, “Let’s say, for a moment, that this is true. Since Bill is the premier Chromatoligical presence we have, I would not dismiss his ideas so quickly. In order to test it, we need a test of some sort. Bill?”

 

Bill stopped pacing the room. “Back in college, under my old professor, I started my theorem of magentallogical fields after seeing an interesting mark in my professor’s journal. I thought that internal processes alone could change a magentallogical field. Vampires are changed through properties of their blood stream, for example. If it is a mental effort to hold the field stable all we have to do is relax the mind and the field will coalesce.”

 

Landran saw the look in Bill’s eyes, “What do you have in mind?”

 

“A beer a day keeps the craziness away.”

 

Landran frowned, “But if you relax the mind, wouldn’t they change forms.”

 

“Not necessarily. Their field will waver a bit. What will happen is that the body will take it upon itself to remain in the same shape… when the brain forgets, the muscles remember. It may get to the point that muscle memory alone holds the field in place…”

 

Landran smiled, “Wow. I like it. It would be a ‘cure’ for chromasilver imbalance if it works. I’ll get my guys working on it right away. Thanks.”

 

The Professor pulled Bill aside, “You told me you found it on my notes. Where did you go to college?”

 

Bill sighed, “Penn State.”

 

The Professor’s eyes bugged out. After all, that meant only one thing; Bill had studied under the Professor’s nemesis.

 

Thus ends out story of betrayal and defeat. Bill had betrayed his old professor to help the Professor.

 

As the Professor, Bill, and Landran joined the rest of party a short fellow approached the Professor. He sighed, and then shouted up, “Professor? Can we talk at your office when this party is over?”

 

The Professor smiled, “Sure.”