Arachnoextinction Chapter 5: Chapter Five - Absolutely No Foreshadowing Here

Read chapter 5 of Arachnoextinction by ShowerKrogan on NovelPedia.

"The mammoth?" I asked. "Yes." "You said it wasn't." "The funding stops if the project is complete, and we have so much more to do here. So many answer-less questions, so much research pushed aside that we can now dive into. There is so much creation yet to be done!" Creation? Yeah, hardcore mad-scientist vibes now. But mad-scientists do tend to get the job done, I suppose. Having a crazy on your side can be great, as long as he doesn’t go and get everyone here killed thanks to his meddling in science. "When can you have one walking around?" I said and pulled out my awesome high-tech phone. "We have a machine that can produce a full-size, adult mammoth. It will have a short lifespan, and we don't know if it will even eat or how it will act. It was made as nothing more than a publicity stunt. Something to simply create excitement for those who are signing our checks, as well as show the scientific world that we have the capability to create real life from DNA that is thousands of years old. To bring the woolly mammoth species back to the point where they can sustain life and reproduce like normal, requires a different approach,” Dr. Kale said. “What kind of different approach? We want these guys roaming our planet for as long as the planet can support their life. Not for a few months at a time,” I said. “What we'll need to do to get as close to a normal lifecycle for the mammoth is to impregnate a modern-day elephant with the mammoth embryo, more than likely the African elephant, and allow that elephant to give live birth to a newborn baby mammoth. Then it can grow and develop as normal as possible in today's world. If we can do this enough times until we reach the point that we can breed the mammoths on their own, then we can witness the species walking around on this earth once again, fully alive and functional in the ecosystem." I said nothing as I scrolled through my phone contacts to a name that said 'boss.’ I was never informed of the names of anyone I worked for, extra security in case I was ever compromised or some crap like that. Because I was going to be kidnapped and interrogated for the information that my mind contained. Right. I bet they just tried to make this job seem as sketchy as possible for fun. "If you can demonstrate that full-grown mammoth and start the process leading to live birth of their young, then we may be able to increase your funding a bit. Probably not what you’re requesting, but an increase nonetheless," I said as I clicked call. "You won't regret it!" Dr. Kale said in a hiss as I held the phone against my ear. He was rocking back-and-forth from the balls of his feet to the back of his heels, rubbing his hands together. "This better be good, or I swear to God-" an angry voice started. "Better than good. How would you like your very own woolly mammoth?" I said into the receiver. "Sounds terrible. I would, however, like one in our future extinct animal zoo," the voice said with the anger fading. "They can make one. A fully grown mammoth. It's short-lived, but it can satisfy the people it needs to. Plus, create a good buzz while they get ready to give live birth to one," I said to him as Dr. Kale nodded with every word I said. "Live birth? Really?" said his now thrilled voice. At least as thrilled as this man got. The voice was not furious, and that seemed to be the best we could get. The woolly mammoth was a great attraction, but the birth of a woolly mammoth? That would sell more seats than a…some famous old school rock band or pop star thing. I’m not good with keeping up with what’s “in” or whatever. Popularity was something I learned to hate in high school, big surprise there. "Yes, sir. Through an elephant, these creatures could return and sustain life. Imagine the coverage we could get with the first birth of the woolly mammoth. The return of a species. Every media outlet in the WORLD would show up for the birth. People would be spending tens of thousands of dollars to attend; the birth alon