The Mine Shaft part 2

In the 90s, the Brain Boy cartoon featured an assortment of characters that were not in Ryan’s life, including a rat sidekick named Labrat. As the show (and Ryan by proxy) became popular, Craig Levison approached Ryan about possibly creating Labrat “for real”. Levison obviously knew a wise-cracking, pizza-loving rat on a skateboard wasn’t feasible but he felt an approximation might garner more publicity for the IP. Ryan was intrigued by the concept of a humanoid rat and used a system of tissue-generating technology as well as brain stimulants to enlarge a baby rat in his lab while simultaneously making him more intelligent. The rat grew to the size of a large house cat with the promise of being much larger in adulthood and displayed intelligence not seen in normal rodents. Once the experiment proved to be a success, Ryan was booked on the talk show circuit and there was instant buzz surrounding him.

Months later, he sat in the green room of the Tonight Show, playing a video game on his console that was infamously violent and had sparked a great deal of controversy at the time. He didn’t care for the game but knew many parents across the country hated it and hoped his parents would notice but as usual, they didn’t. Linda Bennings stood across from Craig Levsion, arguing about what Ryan should wear on the show.

“He has the rat character in real life now,” Linda Bennings explained, “So why not wear a costume like the one on the cartoon? It’d be like the whole show was coming to life.”

“It won’t read well on camera,” Levison explained, “Trust me, the flannel shirt and baseball cap is the way to go. It’s what kids and parents identify with.”

His father, Jack Bennings, sat on the couch across the room, looking at the picture of Jay Leno on the wall, “Wish we could’ve gotten Letterman,” he said, apropos of nothing.

Ryan continued to play and contemplated rewriting his game cartridge to include curse words or perhaps nudity as he felt it could make his parents angry. While deep in thought, a tiny hand touched his knee and when he looked down at Labrat’s wide eyes, he initially thought he was hungry. He paused the game and began to move toward his backpack but then he heard a small voice.

“I play?”

It would be Labrat’s first words. Ryan knew he was advancing both physically and mentally but didn’t expect that level of development. This was a massive breakthrough that could have far-reaching ramifications if the technology was applied properly. He looked up at Levison and his parents to see if they heard Labrat speak but they were too distracted to notice so he turned his attention back to the rapidly evolving rodent at his feet. “You want to play the game?,” Ryan asked while indicating the controller in his hand. “Yes,” Labrat reached up and began fumbling with the controls like a toddler. He contemplated getting the attention of Levison and his parents but as punishment for their indifference, Ryan opted not to say anything until he got in front of the cameras, removing their ability to control the situation. His plan was successful and he famously revealed Labrat’s ability to speak on live television which angered Levison and his parents as planned. As far as he knew, nothing came from his scientific findings until he emancipated himself from his parents and took control of his own patents. He chalked that up to a lack of imagination and capitalism. The most important part was, Ryan Bennings found a friend.

Now, Ryan stared in horror as Canary held a glass shard to his best friend’s throat. The Cavalier and Dr. Ansari stood off to the side, contemplating the next move. “Ryan?,” Labrat squeaked helplessly. “I’m right here, buddy. I got this,” Ryan told him before addressing the man holding him hostage, “Look… Steven is it? You seem like you would normally be a reasonable guy,” he turned to Dr. Ansari, “Am I to understand he wouldn’t normally hold people hostage like this?”

“That’s correct,” she answered calmly.

“Right. And you did it twice within the past ten minutes so let’s just chalk it up to a really shitty day and go home.”

“I don’t have a home,” Canary said through gritted teeth, “Home was before the coma.”

“Whatever’s going on with you…,” Cavalier added, “We can help.”

“It’s too late for that.”

“Okay, so, we tried,” Ryan raised his hand and spoke into his watch, “Bio-chip: RatBuddy. Activate.”

An electric current escaped Labrat’s body, sending several volts through Canary, which forced the glass shard from his hand and brought him to the pavement where he began to twitch. With the enemy temporarily stunned, Labrat rushed to Ryan’s side while the Cavalier activated an autopilot command for his hovercraft. A moment later, the Dragon came to life and whipped around the corner. Canary angrily rose to his feet as his healing abilities removed the surface-level burns and rejuvenated him, which Cavalier accounted for. Behind him, the quiet hovercraft flew in low and came to a stop, and as it did, the nose violently slammed into his back. The super soldier was suddenly tossed into the air before he rag-dolled onto the pavement. With the Canary on the ground once again, Ryan dropped a metallic capsule, which created a force field bubble around him, creating a small prison.

With the excitement over for the moment, Labrat turned to Ryan, “Ryan, did I electrocute him?”

“No, but I did,” Ryan patted him on the shoulder, “Remember that bio-chip I injected into you a long time ago in case something like this happened?”

“Nope, sure don’t.”

The Canary’s bones emitted audible popping sounds as they began to heal and settle. His movements were jerky and pained but came with the promise that he would recover soon.

“What about him?,” Cavalier asked.

“I can bring him up to Hyperion’s Light for a little Q&A,” he turned to Dr. Ansari, “So what was this all about anyway?”

“If you want to help him, it’s best to gain his trust,” she told him, “Ask him.”

“Gaining his trust should be a breeze considering how much this guy adores me and Labrat.”

Cavalier approached Dr. Ansari, “I’ll take you to the hospital to make sure you’re okay,” he thumbed to the Dragon, “Just don’t tell anyone you got a ride from a wanted vigilante. Saves you a lot of hassle.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

“Okay, we all have our homework assignments for the evening,” Ryan clapped his hands together, “We’ll catch up later.”

****

Craig Levison sat on a couch outside the Executive Office of PrimeWatch Studios, hoping no one could tell he was hungover. After the deaths of the Upstarts and subsequent removal of their show from the PrimeWatch streaming service, he had been nervous about his future career prospects. Levison Life had an exclusive contract to produce original content for PrimeWatch and said contract helped negotiate the streaming rights to various projects Levison produced for network television. PrimeWatch producers were fairly silent in the aftermath of the Resurgence and the deaths of the Upstarts other than removing their show. Still, Levison had been expecting a meeting for some time.

“Mr. Levison?,” the secretary smiled brightly behind her desk, “They’re ready to see you now.”

Levison felt as though he was being marched out in front of a firing squad when he entered the room and considered an execution only marginally worse than what surely awaited him. The producers were stone-faced and seated around the long table with the CEO of PrimeWatch. The only available seat was at the front, so Levison accepted his fate, took a seat, and waited for the hail of bullets.

“How are you, Craig?,” the CEO asked in the most uninterested manner possible.

“Let’s just… just get to it,” Levison rubbed his forehead in an attempt to relieve his headache, “The Upstarts show is off the platform in light of recent events and I agree completely. What does this have to do with my contract?”

“Fine, as you say, we’ll get to it,” the CEO spoke frankly as he brought his hands together, “We’re not renewing your contract. Next year, the platform will no longer contain any content from Levison Life.”

“What?,” Levsion raised his voice which made his headache worse, “Now, wait. I get it if you stopped showing One Smart Cookie. Kaley Chen was on that show and she was an Upstart. I get it. But… everything? I have a lot of shows that have nothing to do with -“

“The public hasn’t said much about you but they have said enough to concern us. We think that once the dust settles on the Resurgence, people might not see you in such a positive light.”

“What about the Brain Boy cartoon?”

“Ryan Bennings has only gotten more controversial since the Rex Robinson business. Then there’s the team he started with the Cavalier and an alien…”

“Okay, okay… We get rid of Brain Boy, too. Sure. But you’re getting rid of ‘Listen To Your Mother’? ‘Mr. Crawford’s Class’? Those shows had nothing to do with anything! And what will the studios say?”

“The studios are already on board with this, Craig. I’m sorry but we gotta think of the bottom line here.”

“So I’m out?,” he asked sadly, “Just like that?

****

Ryan stood outside his ship’s holding cell and peered through the reinforced glass at the man inside. Steven had calmed down long enough to not be a threat but he was no friendlier than before, opting to sit and stare at the floor to avoid looking at Ryan. “Steven? Steven Amati, right?,” Ryan asked but was given no reply, “Guess you’re still not talking. Y’know, I’m not taking you to the IMD or anything. I really am here to help if you let me,” he was met with silence again so he continued, “My guess is that, when I was younger, I gave the military the means to create a super soldier with healing abilities as I was wont to do back then. I’m the reason why you’re in your current state, correct?” There was still no response, so he continued, “Now, I remember doing things like, say, giving the CIA weapons that were eventually used to create a coup in Costa Triste. I don’t recall being involved in any sort of healing-factor shenanigans.”

“It’s the rat,” Steven growled, “He’s the key.”

“Labrat has never hurt a fly,” Ryan grew defensive, “I can’t say that literally, mind you, as he’s a genetically modified rat who has eaten live bugs once or twice but he’s not exactly going around performing government experiments on people, so if you can elaborate, I’m all ears.”

Steven sighed, calming down slightly before continuing, “They didn’t tell me everything but I know the Army wanted its own super soldier for a long time; a rube who could walk into dangerous areas to test threat levels… Someone who could take damage and walk away. My S.O. once told me military lab techs were trying to find a way to create rapid tissue growth for years but kept failing, so they looked for better options. You were a kid at the time, but they needed your expertise, so they had a chat with your producer.”

“Craig Levison?”

“You had that stupid cartoon with the rat so they got Levison to ask you to make a real version of that character without you ever being aware of what you were really working on. They needed to unlock the rapid tissue growth problem…”

“Which I did,” he said solemnly.

“Yeah, as much as I know about it, they figured if you knew how to make an animal grow several times larger than it already was, they could use that information for tissue regeneration. You and your producer made something cute for the public, got richer, and the Army got the data they needed. Levison had your findings turned over to the Army, the lab guys went to work on your formulas and I’m the result.”

Ryan sat down heavily on a nearby bench, “I eventually got a patent on everything I used to create Labrat to make sure it went to the right places. Medical scientists have used tissue regeneration to treat burn victims. The mental growth serum has been used to treat patients with Alzheimers,” he removed the vape from his pocket and began to smoke, “Even when I try to do something worthwhile, the Universe decides to shit on me.”

“They were working in secret for a long time from the sounds of it,” Steven sat up as he spoke, displaying a bit more trust, “You were a kid when you created that formula but I was given the treatment after I was deployed to Afghanistan back in 2003.”

Ryan leaned forward, “So how did it happen?”

“Our humvee was ambushed, my buddies didn’t make it and I was put in a coma. I woke up some weeks later without a mark to show for it. Apparently, I was legally declared dead for a time which was apparently a loophole. There’s an international law against metahuman experimentation on living subjects.”

“Lemme guess… the loophole involved experimentation on a cadaver?”

“Probably. I dunno. They used the serum while I was out and I was just happy to be alive. I agreed to go along with their special missions…”

“They used you as a canary in a mine shaft after that.”

“That’s how I got the codename.”

Ryan took a puff from his vape, “What was the name of this S.O. who put you up to everything?”

“Why?”

“Someone took something from me and I’m gonna make it right, but I’ll need your help first.”

Steven sat back in consideration before looking up at Ryan, “I can give you a name.”

After Ryan got the information needed, he plotted a course for a house in Maine and set the ship on auto-pilot. As the ship flew to its destination, he decided to check on Labrat who was playing a video game in the passenger section.

“How ya holding up, kiddo?,” he asked.

“I’m not hurt but I’m sad,” Labrat told him, “I made that man angry.”

“No, someone else made him angry. He was just… well, it’s complicated but just know that it’s not your fault.”

“Really? It feels like it.”

“You should never apologize for your own existence,” Ryan told him, “Hey, wanna play a video game?”

“Maybe later. I’m sleepy now,” Labrat retired to his sleeping quarters as Ryan watched sadly.

Continued…