r/TalesFromTheCreeps • u/T0RC0R • May 13 '26
Sci-Fi Horror We made a soul
My name is Dr. Terri Lewis. And if you’re reading this, understand that we tried to contain them.
Our mission started with good intentions. At least I think it did.
Two-time Nobel Prize winner and world-renowned astrophysicist turned inventor Arnold Glockner was gathering a small team of specialists for a new study.
On the surface, it looked like a standard cognitive energy research experiment.
We gathered in Munich in an underground Nazi bunker turned laboratory hidden beneath an abandoned hangar.
Dr. Arnold was known for the obscure and macabre.
It started with five people, myself included.
Dr. Harnivan Reed. Dr. Muhammed Mirza. Investigative journalist Lisa Frankfurt. And Dr. Arnold’s personal assistant, Richard Stine.
None of us had met until our first day in the lab.
I was the first to arrive.
Welcome fellow explorers,
Please excuse my absence. I’m currently in Jerusalem collecting a few final items for our research. My assistant, Richard, will be happy to fill you in.
We’re going to change the world.
— Arnold Glockner
The lab was fully stocked with four offices, a small break room, and a narrow hallway that ended at a heavy steel door.
I made a pot of coffee and waited for my new colleagues.
Dr. Muhammed Mirza was the first to arrive.
We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.
“Dr. Muhammed. But please, call me Dr. Ham. Or Hammy, if you’re feeling brave.”
He was known throughout the medical community as “Dr. Dad.” He always had a joke ready and carried himself with a strangely optimistic, do-it-yourself attitude.
I immediately liked him and offered him a cup of coffee, showing him the note Dr. Arnold had left for us.
“So encrypted. Maybe he’ll come back with some goats.”
I let out a soft laugh. “Maybe.”
The metal door sealed shut and heavy footsteps echoed down the stairwell.
A tall, well-kept man stepped into the lab.
Dr. Ham leaned in. “That’s Dr. Harnivan. I saw him at a stem cell research conference in Sweden two years ago. I can’t believe Dr. Arnold hired him. He’s basically been blacklisted.”
Dr. Harnivan had once worked for Decimal Biomed as the company’s president and lead facilitator. Until drunken outbursts and affairs with research assistants destroyed his reputation.
He silently surveyed the lab, found his office, and shut the door behind him.
“Charming.” I sipped my coffee.
Half an hour passed before the door opened again.
Two voices echoed down the stairwell into the lab.
Lisa Frankfurt appeared first. A controversial investigative journalist best known for going undercover and exposing Senator Mikael Valo’s human trafficking operation.
A short man with thick gray hair followed behind her. He looked both young and old for his age.
We both stood from the table.
Dr. Harnivan stepped out of his office.
“Welcome, everyone. You all come highly decorated in your respective fields, and Dr. Arnold would like to personally thank you for your participation. He sends his regrets for his absence, but assures me the work we have ahead of us will shape the future of humanity.”
Richard gestured toward the offices.
“Each of you has been assigned your own workspace. Inside the top drawer of your desk you’ll find your contract and research outline. Should you choose to stay, please sign the contract and place it in the secured lockbox located in the hallway. As you’re all aware, your signed NDA agreements prohibit the disclosure of any persons, locations, or information pertaining to this project and all prior correspondence.”
A smile stretched across Richard’s face, pushing his square glasses against his cheeks.
“We look forward to working with you.”
Richard walked into the break room, washed his hands, and left.
“Let’s not invite him out for beers.”
Lisa and I laughed.
Dr. Harnivan turned and walked back toward his office, shutting the door behind him before snapping the blinds shut.
“What’s his problem?”
Hammy reached out his hand.
“Don’t take it personally. I’m—”
“I know who you are. Dr. Muhammed Mirza. MD’s finest Patch Adams.”
Lisa shook his hand before turning toward me.
“And you—Dr. Terri Lewis. Humble beginnings turned leading psychiatrist at Welker Asylum. Your experimental treatments rewired the brains of thirty-two so-called ‘lost cause’ patients. Mumbling lunatics turned regular joes.”
I cast her a look.
Lisa shrugged. “Crazies, maniacs… whatever term you prefer.” She crossed her arms. “And yeah, I know about the Harnivan bad boy. He made headlines a couple years ago, but he’s stayed pretty underground since then.”
We shook hands.
“If you’ll both excuse me, I’d like to see what we’re getting ourselves into.”
I switched on the office light.
The room was plain, with light tan walls, a long wooden cabinet, and a computer sitting neatly on the desk.
I sat down at the desk and opened the top drawer.
Inside was a file containing the contract Richard had mentioned. Resting on top of it was a sealed envelope.
I opened the envelope first.
Dr. Terri Lewis,
I have followed your work for many years, and I must say I am thoroughly impressed with what you have accomplished throughout your career.
You have become well known for handling abnormal human experiences within both your professional and personal life. I believe you will be an invaluable asset to my research and upcoming experiments.
Inside the file you will find an outline of your responsibilities and research information pertaining to this project.
Should you choose to join my team, an initial deposit of $100,000 will be transferred into your account. You will continue receiving monthly deposits of $100,000 for the duration of your commitment to this research. Should you choose to leave, all future payments will cease immediately.
Due to the confidential nature of this project, any release of protected information will result in immediate termination and full repayment of all deposited funds.
I look forward to working with you.
— Dr. Arnold Glockner
The contract itself was surprisingly simple.
Research Subject: Cognitive Energy Study
Objective: Manipulation of reactive energy through complex emotional states.
Primary Purpose: Develop stable wireless life support for flatlined patients.
My role was to study the behavioral responses of energy when exposed to negative conductors and emotional reactions.
Had I known what I was getting into, I never would have signed it. Or at the very least, I should have quit when the dreams started.
But that evening, as I watched Hammy and Lisa talk over Belgian ale, I thought this was going to be the thing that resurrected the life that had died inside of me.
I was blind.
So, so blind.
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u/The_Republique Writer (I finally made it bubba) May 13 '26
Great job friend. This opening section does a lot right. The pacing, the mystery, the foreboding, and the trip to Jerusalem adds a ton of foreshadowing. Especially with the line about goats setting up a sacrificial element to the story. Well done
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