Merrin used her hairy hand to motion to the table “Please, sit and eat. You must be famished after the long drive. I know the others were.”


    There was a long, drawn out silence between them. Colin stared and tried to figure out the trick behind the mini scientist monkey. Merrin stood there writing on her monkey sized clipboard. Maybe he’d fallen asleep in the car and this was all a dream.


    Colin slapped himself and it hurt. Confirmed to not be dreaming. “So uh, are ya gonna turn me into something freaky too? No offense.”


    Merrin chuffed, “I’m not trapped forever as a capuchin if that’s what you’re wondering. Now will you please sit? I need to prepare you before the master gets here.”


    Wasn’t really the answer he was looking for, but it was close enough. Colin sat and sawed into the steak to reveal a perfect medium rare. “For a monkey, you really knew your way around a slab of meat.”


    Merrin chuffed again, “I couldn’t cook to save my life. That was prepared by Nameless.”


    “How many of those guys are there?” Colin mumbled through a half chewed bite.


    “A lot,” Merrin said with a level stare, “Now I’ve prepared a non-disclosure agreement for you to sign. Upon signing, your first week’s stipend of ten thousand dollars will be deposited into your bank account. Should you choose not to…”


    Merrin stopped short as Colin dropped his utensils and leaped on the contract, signing it before she could finish speaking.


    “Well then,” Merrin said while crossing something off her clipboard, “Moving on, now that you’ve signed the NDA, you may not speak of any events, actions or interactions performed or witnessed here by you or anyone else. Failure to comply with this will result in a revocation of all pay you have received throughout the trial. Don’t test this, our lawyers are a hell of a lot better than anyone you could hope to hire.”Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    “Got it,” Colin gave a thumbs up, “Keep my damn mouth shut if I wanna keep the money.”


    “Yes, well, as eloquent as I could expect, I suppose,” Merrin said with a slight smirk she hid behind the clipboard. “Now that we understand the terms of employment, I’m sure you would like to know what you are here to do.”


    “That’d be nice,” Colin said, “Though if you just paid me to be wined and dined then sent me packing. You wouldn’t hear a complaint outta me.”


    That one didn’t make the monkey smile.


    “My master, Charles Bell, is a brilliant man. For the past decade, he has been researching a biological phenomenon that he personally discovered. The biological phenomenon starts as a dormant cell, but given the proper exposures, it can be cultivated into a collection of cells that can maintain a highly receptive amorphic body.”


    “Sooo he made a Blob Thingy?” Collin said with a scrunched eyebrow.


    Merrin held up a hairy hand in a halting gesture, “Patience please, I’m getting to the impressive part. Charles named the ‘Blob Thingy’ a Hypnosite due to it’s unique nature. When the Hypnocite is exposed to a certain frequency near a willing human mind, a resonance is formed between the Hypnocite and the human, allowing temporary transference of consciousness into the Hypnocite. That’s where you come in.”


    “Are you trying to tell me that you want me to mind control a Blob Thingy?”


    “More or less, yes,” Merrin tilted her palm back and forth, “Not everyone is a good match, but your blood sample showed a promising compatibility with the Hypnocites. I myself am compatible enough to maintain this form and even shift into one other. As long as you are in the top five subjects for compatibility, you will retain your employment with us.”


    “Hold on,” Colin said, sitting up straight and leaning forward. He wasn’t sure he heard Merrin correctly, but he was curious, “Are you telling me that you’re not actually a monkey? You’re one of those Hypno things?”


    Merrin nodded, set down her clipboard and she started to bubble. Her form gradually bubbled and shifted from a monkey into a raven.


    “What in the..”


    “I am the most compatible subject yet. I’m able to retain two forms.” The crow version of Merrin said in a slightly squawking voice.


    Collin’s inner child was cheering at this point. He hoped against all odds that he was compatible and now it wasn’t just for the money.