Releasing some stories while I continue working on editing the rest of Knight of the Wood (trying to edit it for longer chapters to make it easier on myself). This one is a shorter standalone!
Even before the sinister laughter started, Professor Shane Wilson had been a controversial figure. If one asked around campus as to why, one would've gotten a variety of answers. A freshman who swapped from chemistry to international studies might've said he leered. A senior in mechanical engineering might've called him a brave soldier in the fight against modernism. His supervisors, none of whom stayed in the department long, might've called him difficult. And perhaps, once, they might've been right. But then the Professor had started working hours so long that even other researchers commented. Long hours turned into unmarked boxes carried in by furtive men in the early hours of the morning. Unmarked boxes turned into sinister laughter. And it was this, after everything else Professor Wilson had done, that made most people uncomfortable enough to spend as little time in his building as they could manage. This suited him just fine. Until the last Wednesday before midterms he'd worked steadily with no interruptions for nearly a full week. Then in the middle of a victorious laugh, a husky, sweet voice cut the air.
"Professor Wilson, sorry to bother you, can--oh. Uh. You alright?" Professor Wilson snapped his mouth shut and turned to glare at the newcomer. She was a student, wearing a puffy pink sweater that obscured most of the shape of her torso. That and her hair, dyed partially blue and twisted in a poof of its own behind her head, made his lip curl even further than it normally did with students.
"What do you want?" He snapped.
"I mean," the student flicked long, neon nails to the clock, "it's office hours. I have a question about the midterm." The Professor blinked, nonplussed, as the student continued. "Mostly because I didn't understand the last two modules. There was a lot of stuff about multigene impact on hypervariable regions, which almost makes sense but I'm not sure how or why. You didn't lecture on it, either?"
"Of course not," Professor Wilson said as he turned back to his desk. "Why waste novel ideas on soft and undisciplined minds? As for your question, you don't need to study for the midterms. What I've done here will mean our entire way of life will change." The student tilted her head in confusion. Professor Wilson kept talking. "I have always wondered why our biology does not empower those of us who make good choices. Just by looking, you would never be able to tell who amongst the masses practiced self-discipline and who gave into their base, animal urges. There is no science which indicates intellect and hedonism are opposed. Well," he laughed again, just as sinister. "I suppose now I should say there
was
no science which indicated thus. You see..." The Professor paused. "What is your name?"
"Me? Lexus."
"...that's not a name. That's a brand." Professor Wilson sighed; loud and angry. "This is exactly the problem. What happened to real, honest names? Or young women who knew how to dress themselves according to their station?" Before Lexus could protest, Professor Wilson held up a quelling hand. "Don't make excuses. You will need to change for the new world I've built, but that you came here with questions indicates you will do well enough." He turned back to his desk. "I'm sure you have questions."
Lexus looked over her shoulder at the door.
"The hardest part of this new science was balancing the neural connections in cells normally intended to be evacuated. I am, of course, speaking of semen." Lexus, unnoticed by the Professor, paused mere moments from the door. As he continued to speak, she snuck her way back to her previous position. "Once I'd figured that out, it was easy to make semen provide additional thinking power if it stayed where it belonged. With controlled, measured release, the effects are minimal long-term. It's only with repeated, hedonistic excess that someone's mind is permanently blunted. Just as it should be. No accidents. All justice."
