Clarisse Evans stared at her computer screen in despair. She had been working on this project for months, but it had yet to bear fruit. Her supervisor had wanted her to get data. She got the data. He had asked for simulations. She'd run them. He wanted reports. She wrote them up.
But more than anything they needed a test subject. No amount of research and development could replace a living, breathing test subject, one whom they could draw the most current and accurate data from. She'd asked around, posted and bulletin boards and suchlike...but no one had signed up. All because the success rate of the serum was only 75%. 75%, they said, still too dangerous. Balderdash! 75% was three quarters. 75% was plenty.
If only she could get that grant. It would make things so much easier. If only. But no one ever got to first place on a road of if onlys.
Clarisse sighed, powered down the computer and left her desk. It was time to take matters into her own hands.
--
Her supervisor's office was only five minutes away. A mixed blessing, because as easy as it was to contact Brian Adams, Dean of Veterinary Science at the University of California, it was equally easy for him to check in on her. But this time she had something totally different in mind.
Brian was seated at his desk - as he almost always was - when she came in. He took one look at her and his normal jovial expression melted away.
"Clarisse...this is not just about you delivering your latest report, I take it?"
"No it's not, Brian. We've wasted enough time here. We both know that the project has stalled, and that we desperately need a guinea pig to make any kind of forwards progress. I've volunteering myself."
He wasn't as shocked as she thought he would do. Instead he simply closed his eyes and massaged his temples before looking at her intently.
"Doctor Evans...do you understand what you're asking for?" He knew the gravity of the situation, then. It was only Doctor Evans when things got serious.
"I do. I understand the process is a one-time thing and cannot be under any circumstances reversed."
"And you'd go so far for..."
"For science." she finished his sentence for him.
"Science, eh? You're sure the Phillips Prize isn't in there somewhere?"
The coveted Phillips Prize. The greatest honor any biologist could receive. It spanned multiple disciplines and was only ever awarded to the best in the field. She wanted it. How could she not? She didn't know any academic who didn't. But there was also the matter of testing her theories. She was a scientist, and to be able to prove the worth of her research meant more to her than any prize, no matter how vaunted.
It would be nice to win it though.
"Well, yes. Perhaps. A bit. But mainly for science."
The dean spread his hands wide in a gesture of defeat. "It's your body, Doctor Evans. I can't tell you what to do with it."
Well, that was easy. She had expected Brian to put up more resistance. "When do I get started?"
"You'll need to see the doctors about this. Hucow injections first, and then the serum. Make sure they monitor you from start to finish. We need the data." Clarisse nodded. With any luck all would go according to plan.
She turned to leave the office, but Brian had some last words for her.
"Clarisse? Good luck."
She turned to give him a smile. "Thank you, Brian."
--
The doctors at the clinic were very professional about the whole thing. After a series of routine tests, they gave her the hucow injections and told her to come back tomorrow. Plenty of bed rest and water, she was told. Come see us if anything happens.
She took their advice and went home immediately to sleep it off. Upon waking up in the morning, she could already see her body changing. Her once-pert breasts had swollen into one cup size larger. She touched them experimentally. No heightened sensations, so the growth was still minimal. How big would she eventually become? She was a little scared of knowing the answer...but she had known the risks when she signed up.
Would she get horns? A tail? They developed in some hucows, but not others. The thing she was most worried about was the increased libido. She had never been sexually active beyond her teens, preferred the company of books and computers to men. There had been a few wild dalliances in her younger years, but nothing serious. But now...it didn't bear thinking about though. She'd just have to wait until the effects manifested themselves.
But now on to the main act.
She opened a drawer on the beside and looked the row of cylinders filled with green fluid lying there. The Evans Serum...well, that was what she hoped they would call it when she was done. Right now it was still in its testing stages, but there was no reason that it wouldn't succeed. At least, that was what she kept telling herself.
There were many issues with the milk production of hucows, not in the least the fact that most women didn't fancy becoming one. It was a process that was irreversible, and the accompany physical and mental changes meant that once transformed, the chance of reintegration into normal society was little to none. Farms and the government did all they could by paying high salaries and advertising widely, but that was sometimes just not enough. After the genewars, the world needed more babies and milk, but both were in short supply.
Clarisse Evans aimed to solve both problems with her serum. It would increase milk production in hucows, as well as make them more fertile. Currently, hucows could only be impregnated by a bull (of which there weren't many) and then only when they were in heat. Though most hucows went into heat often, they were still subject to natural biorhythms.
With the serum, not only would hucows be able to produce more milk, a human male would be able to knock them up...and their offspring would be either a bull or a hucow. In a generation or two, the world would want for babies nor milk no longer. All because of her serum...the Phillips Prize would then be a foregone conclusion.
If it all worked. That was a big if. The simulations had all tested fine, but they had no volunteers. 75% said everything would go as they thought it would. 25% said...not, and it was that last quarter that was the biggest stumbling block. Add that to the fact that the serum had to be used on a hucow, and those were in short supply to begin with.
So Clarisse had decided to cut the Gordian Knot by making herself the first test subject. What better way to show that her research was safe than by testing it on herself? She wasn't worried in the least. She had faith in her work, and she'd show the world just how wrong and scared they had been.
Picking a cylinder up with its accompanying injector, she injected herself with the serum. Settling back into her chair, Clarisse sighed. Well, that was done. All that remained now
was to wait and see.
--
Tomorrow dawned on a very expectant Clarisse Evans.
She checked herself. The doctors did a good job, but she had to maintain proper records for her research as well.
Let's see...heart rate was normal. Pulse normal. Red and white blood cell count was doing good. No significant changes there.