Chapter #2The Mother Of Invention by: Rita   “Aw, come on!” David exclaimed, as he scrolled through his emails, “Not a single reply? How is that even mathematically possible?” Considering the ridiculous amount of resumes he had sent out, it was disheartening to see such little response. He had expected to be hired right out of college and that was 6 months ago. He had spent almost all of that time applying and he had absolutely nothing to show for it. Not even the small local business were interested, David being denied a simple dishwashing position was a particular low point.
"Well just my shitty luck, I guess," He mumbled grumpily to himself, as he looked out his bedroom window. Even with all of employment issues, he was grateful to have a roof over his head. Plus it didn't hurt that his mother still bought all of his groceries for him. Still, David had hoped his new/old living situation would be a way for him to save for his future, and so far, that hasn't been the case. He has made a grand total of zero dollars, being exactly where he started half a year ago. Not that he needed the cash, his Mother's job paid enough to support the both them. But being unemployed still meant missing out on new experiences or learning new skills to add to his resume. David's biggest concern however was his ever-growing boredom. Considering he was jobless, without disposable income, and in a town where all of his friends moved out of, David was given few options to spend his free time. When he wasn't applying for jobs, David was alone in his room, smoking weed and playing videogames. Definitely not the healthiest way to deal with his problems, but David just figured he was just wasting time until he got a response for work.
"Hey David!", His mother's voice yelled from the living room, "Can you come downstairs for a sec? I need to show you something before I leave for work,"
"Alright Mom, I'll be there in a sec!" David yelled back, putting down the joint he had just made. Now was around the time he would start to vegging out, since his mother was usually gone by now. Her lab needed her pretty early in the morning, so David would usually have the house to himself for a while during the week. This was convenient, as it was easier for David to smoke without his mother knowing. But she has never stayed this early on a Wednesday before, David figured it must be important. He slapped on some sweatpants and made his way downstairs. Turning towards the living room, he saw his mother in her business attire with a large box behind her.
"Oh, Look who decided to leave their cave today!" Karen joked, "Good morning, Sweetheart,"
"Uh, good morning Mom," David rolled his eyes, "So what uh... What's going on?"
"Ok, how do I say this...," She considered her words for a moment, then continued, "Look David, I know your going through a rough patch right now. I know this isn't where you expected to be and I know how frustrating that can be. But that's just how it is sometimes, buddy. Sometimes life punches you down, then punches you again. But you just gotta roll with the punches! You buck up and start punching back!"
"What?" David asked in confusion, "Are you saying I haven't been trying? I send out like 30 applications a day!"
"No David, That's not what I meant. I'm not talking about getting a job" Karen sighed and tried again, "Look, I know you're busting your butt off trying to find work, and heck, your initiative brings a tear to me eye. But locking yourself in your room all day isn't healthy. You need to get out of the house every once in a while, for your own sake. When I was in my twenties, I would spend every day outside, hanging out with my friends and having a ball! Those days were some of the best of my life and I feel like you're missing out on that,"
"Well jeez, Mom," David remarked sarcastically, "It's not like I want play videogames all day, I just don't have a whole lot of other options. Everyone I knew moved out of this town four years ago, and even If I still had friends around, it's not like I have the cash to do anything fun. My poor ass can't afford to party like you did, Mom,"
"Well it's funny you say that..." Karen smirked, as if she had planned for what her son said, "So you know how it's my job to schedule new test subjects for Renovate?"
"Yeah?" David scratched his head trying to recall the details of his Mother's job. He knew that she had worked for Renovate for nearly a decade now. Renovate was a company solely dedicated in pioneering new technologies and drugs in order alter the human form. They claimed they already had the technology to change anyone into anything, but still had countless human trials before they could go commercial. That's all David or any regular person knew about Renovate, since the company was incredibly secretive. They were worried their tech and pharmaceuticals would be stolen before they could patent any of it, thus all employees and test subjects were obligated to sign an disclosure agreement, forbidding them to share anything they experienced with Renovate.
"Ok, so don't be mad," Karen carefully said, "But I signed you up for a trial with Renovate! All you have to do is try one of our products and report your results!
"You what!?!" David yelped, flabbergasted at his mother actions, "How could you do that without even talking to me first? I don't want to try one of those crazy gizmos! Nu uh, no way in hell am I doing this!"
"Oh, will you relax?" Karen chuckled, "I didn't tell you about it because I thought you wouldn't accept my help. I tried to offer you money before and you turned it away, so I found you a new way to get you paid! Did I mention how much we pay our test subjects? We're talking about, at minimum, five grand per test subject! And possibly even more money if you can give us particularly useful feedback,"
"Well, five grand is a lot..." David pondered, considering his empty bank account for a moment, "But still Mom, I've heard rumors about that company. What if I change into some monster and can't turn back? or what if I get stuck as something nasty? That would be a nightmare!"
"A monster?" his mother laughed at him, "Son, we don't make monsters and I wouldn't sign you up for anything dangerous. We're just trying to let anyone look outside how they feel inside. Of course, we still need a lot of testing, so nothing is perfect yet, but no change is permanent. Renovate has had issues with products before, but every test subject leaves the way they came in. So no matter what happens to you, we should be able to get you back to normal.
"Should?" David fixated on that word, "Mom, I'm not gonna lie, that five grand is very enticing, but I'm still not sure about any of this. Do I have to do this?"
"Well only if you want the money," Karen shrugged, "I guess I should have mentioned that Renovate does end up billing subjects who back out of testing. Considering how each subject is issued a unique prototype to test and how many employees involved with each test, the bill usually ends being around two grand,"
"Well that would have been good to know!" David grunted, realizing the bind he was in, "So basically I try this Sci Fi nonsense or I end up owing some shadowy corporation two thousand dollars? Doesn't seem like I got much a choice do I? Gee, thanks Mom!"
"Enough of the attitude, kid," Karen sighed as she picked up the box behind her, "Will you just look at the product before making a fuss? This won't be as bad as you're making it out to be. Heck, you might even have fun! A lot of test subject comment how much they enjoyed the experience, I bet you will too!"
"Not likely," David said with a huff as he took the box out of his mother's hands. Inside of the package, David found...   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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