Galatea 2 - Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: CONTROL GROUP

“'Ness!! So glad you could make it, bestie!” Audrey exclaimed through the noise of the surrounding party. Despite the blaring music and poor acoustics, the beautiful blonde’s voice somehow pierced through the overwhelming audio. To say her melodious voice was on another level was now more than mere metaphor.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Aud,” Vanessa replied, trying to match her roommate’s cheeriness while nagging thoughts ate away at the back of her mind. Sure, Audrey seemed to be nearing the top of her viral S-curve, her features showing less of a drastic improvement from yesterday than they had prior, but Vanessa was beginning to suspect there simply wasn’t anything left to improve.

If her voluptuous breasts got any larger, she’d have to call guinness. Full and firm, they weren’t so huge as to make her look freakish or out of proportion. Quite the opposite, in fact. They were perfectly proportioned to her new body. However, they did tend to prioritize the eye in the long journey over their spectacular shape.

Her abs were lean and muscled, even a dress atop her stomach couldn’t hide them. It was like there wasn’t an ounce of fat on her stomach. Every muscle was obsidian, a perfect blend of the elements. Every ravine between them looked as if it had been sculpted by Greece’s finest.

Her hips and ass were rounded perfectly, buxom but athletic. Her legs were smooth, shapely, sinuous masterpieces. Vanessa simply couldn’t compete, and knowing that there was a way just out of reach to her wasn’t helping either.

“So, where’s Brian?” Vanessa asked, attempting to take her mind off of the unrivaled body her roommate possessed. She then finally took a seat at the bar to the right of Audrey, realizing that she had been rather awkwardly standing near the stool the entire time.

“Oh, he just ran off to the bathroom, probably going to be in there for a bit. You know how those burritos at Murphy’s just go right through him?”

“Eeeeewwww! TMI! TMI!” Vanessa reacted in exaggerated disgust. A devious look on Audrey’s face clued her friend into the fact that it was said purely to get a reaction out of her.

The two girls continued to joke around, lifting Vanessa’s spirit greatly. If there’s one thing Audrey was spectacular at above anything else, it was making Vanessa feel better. The camaraderie the two shared was unmatched by anyone—well, maybe Brian did have a leg up on her, since he and Audrey were dating after all.

They flashed fake IDs at the bartender, but it didn’t matter. His eyes didn’t even look at their hands. They could have shown him Disneyland passes. Those intense black pupils of his were squarely focused on Audrey’s flawless face.

“Let me get a Jameson & Ginger Ale,” Vanessa spoke, the bartender nodding but never taking his eyes off of Audrey.

“Oh, uh, I’m new to this, well…” Audrey began sputtering, indecisive as she had never tried the fake ID trick before. “I guess I’ll just have what she’s having,” she then sheepishly added, pointing a sideways thumb over to Vanessa.

The bartender then finally looked at Vanessa, but only because he had been commanded by Audrey to do so. “And what was it you wanted?”

Vanessa’s face fell. It was as if he had forgotten Vanessa’s order from ten seconds ago. Her lesser voice had gone in one ear and out the other.

“Jameson & Ginger Ale.” Vanessa clarified through gritted teeth, the bartender seeming taken aback by her tone. Of course, his face softened immediately once his eyes instinctively drifted back to Audrey’s.

“Of course, two Jameson & Ginger Ales, coming uuuuup!” he declared with a flamboyance to his voice, leaving to prepare their drinks.

“Don’t let him get to you, ‘Ness. He’s probably had a long night.”

“Yeah, a long night of looking at you.” Vanessa replied, quiet enough that Audrey wouldn’t hear it among the packed club.

Of course, Audrey’s superior hearing did pick it up, but her quickening mind instantly pieced together what Vanessa was going for, deciding to play along to make her friend feel better.

“What was that, ‘Ness?”

“It’s nothing. Nevermind.”

The vibe had certainly been soured now. Once the bartender came back with their drinks, Vanessa didn’t hesitate, taking a heavy sip immediately to wash the pain down. Within half a minute, three quarters of her drink was gone. She trilled her lips aimlessly, the scent of whiskey on her breath already.

Aaaany second now, Brian. Audrey mused. I could really use your silliness to liven Vanessa up right about now.

But instead of Brian, another man attempted to try his luck with the impossibly gorgeous Audrey.

“Hey, you’re really pretty, did you know that?” came a fellow college-aged student from two seats down at Audrey’s left. Audrey and Vanessa both turned their heads to put a face to the voice, with Vanessa having to stretch her neck out just to see past Audrey’s mountainous cleavage.

“Aww, thank you!” the blonde beauty replied, which immediately made Vanessa nervous. Audrey may have been a stunner that rivaled a home run ball to the face, but she was likely still that same unaware geek underneath that couldn’t tell when someone was hitting on her to save her life.

“Um, actually, she’s got a boyfriend already,” Vanessa spoke confidently, her inebriated brain adding a twinge of snide to her remark.

“Tsh, it’s always the pretty girl’s ugly friends that try to cockblock,” the guy replied, rolling his eyes and audibly scoffing. He sat up from the bar and started walking away. “Typical. Probably jealous that no one wants her.”

Vanessa’s jaw fell in despair, tears welled within her eyes. Audrey turned to face her friend, ready to do a bit of damage control, only to see an empty stool. Vanessa was already booking it to the exit, struggling to push people out of the way as she ran through the crowd.

“Oh shit.” Audrey got up and chased down Vanessa, pushing people out of the way with ease.

Brian left the bathroom with a relieved sigh, shuffling the dust off his hands. He then paused in place as he saw some commotion on the dance floor, instantly recognizing his girlfriend from her towering height and glowing blonde hair. He then noticed Vanessa.

“Damn, I really just miss everything, huh?”

With that, he too went to chase down Vanessa.

***

“Five… hundred!” Dr. Giles exclaimed, hopping up from his pushup stance with energy to spare. He dance-walked over to the radio before turning off his mixtape consisting entirely of “Off The Meds” by EKSE.

He added some data to the myriad of flowcharts scattered about his lab’s floor. His body was improving at an exponentially fast rate, the cost of food alone seemed to have burned through a decent chunk of his funds. But he no longer cared about the money, or the societal improvements that could come from this groundbreaking new research.

He wanted to be side-by-side with his Galatea. While at first he respected Pygmalion for his admiration of the female form, his desire to see it perfected, he understood that the 18th century sculptor had gotten one thing wrong: he was not the one who would be kneeling at the woman’s feet.

If anything, he and his Galatea would be equals, a perfect match of strength and beauty that could be chiseled in ivory for future generations to revel at, fruitlessly wondering if they could hope to reach even a sliver of his perfections.

But alas, something was missing. Sure, everything about Kevin was becoming staggeringly perfect. His cheekbones prominent and jaw chiseled, carrying a winning smile. His overdeveloped pecs tightened the fabric of his undershirt across his broad chest, its sleeves barely able to stretch over his massive biceps. He had forgone the lab coat. He no longer needed it. Anything potentially dangerous in this lab would simply slide right off his enhanced skin. And Kevin would know—he tested everything.

What he needed was a girl to share the spotlight with him. Gillian was most certainly out of the question. Despite his best efforts, she had gone into witness protection. Even his increased IQ couldn’t seem to locate her, though that could change by tomorrow.

Alas, he did not wish to wait so long! The call of a woman, one who desired perfection as he did, had to be somewhere beyond the horizon.

Vanessa.

No, not her. She’d never be able to keep a secret. And she’d never fall for him. His mind was quick to generate all numbers of excuses.

But Dr. Giles was getting desperate. Perhaps, if Vanessa asked him once more, he’d cave under the pressure.