Rachael decided to stop by her favorite convenience store and grab a snack and some water. Those everything bagels sounded really good for some reason.
"Hey Charlie." Rachael greeted the owner as she walked in.
"Oh hey Rachael." Charlie responded. "Oh! Hey! Rachael! Come over here I need to tell you something."
"What is it?" Rachael said as she hurried over to the register where Charlie stood.
"Oh, well it's just that they issued a recall on that S.E.S. drink you bought a few days ago." Charlie spoke in a low tone. "I was gonna put up a sign but it turned out you were the only person who bought any so far. So I figured I'd just tell you."
"Really? Huh... That is strange." Rachael replied, recalling the strange events of the past few days. She quickly put two and two together and tried her best to act confused. "Did they say why they were recalling it?"
"Something about contaminated fluids in it or something." Charlie said. "They left their number incase you needed to get a hold of them. Do you want it?"
"Sure, let me put it in my phone." Rachael entered the number Charlie gave her and went back out to her car. This 'contamination' probably had something to do with what had happened to her and Mike, but maybe it didn't...
Rachael stared at the number not sure if she should call or not. On one hand it could be something completely unrelated to her and Mike's recent changes, which could mean that they need to see a doctor. On the other hand, it could be directly related to her and Mike's changes. If it was, they might need an antidote in order to avoid turning into full on horses. There was also the possibility of the cliché; 'captured by government scientists for study' event that she saw in stories and movies. Rachael decided to risk calling, but just in case, she decided to call from a pay phone.
Pay phones were a lot harder to find these days than Rachael remembered but eventually she did find one. She put her money in and dialed the number.
"Hello." The voice on the other end replied. "I'm very busy right now, what is this about."
"Hello." Rachael squeeked a little out of nervousness. "I was told to call this number about a recalled batch of S.E.S. drink?"
"Ah! Yes!" The voice said. "I've been waiting to hear from you. Have you had any, 'side-effects' from that S.E.S. drink? Perhaps some, 'strange developments'?"
"Um," Rachael said nervously. "Maaaybe."
"Oh, dear..." The voice went on. "I was hoping that that strain hadn't been too potent. The projects I've been working on were months away from actual testing you see. Oh, I'm terribly sorry miss, where are my maners? My name is Dr. Tee, I'm a scientist and I sell little side products, like the S.E.S. drink, to fund my work. Unfortunately, some of my most recent project had contaminated one of my side products, the S.E.S. drink. I hate to bother you, but would you please come in to my lab and I'll see if there is anything I can do about any of your developments?"
"Oh, wow." Was all Rachael could say for a moment, but she soon realized her time was almost up. "Sure, I'll stop by. Where is you lab?" Rachael wrote down the address and concluded her chat with Dr. Tee.
Rachael rushed back to Mike's apartment and got him up to speed on what she had just learned about the scientist and the recall. They decided it was better to investigate together, just in case.
They arrived at the address in no time at all. It turned out to be a small warehouse looking building on the southside of town.
It was getting to be around mid day and Rachael had long since decided she was going to be calling off work the next day, this was far too important. Mike and Rachael walked up to the front door and hit the buzzer.
"Hello." Rachael recognized the voice as Dr. Tee, the man fron the phone.
"Yes, hello." Rachael responded. "We spoke on the phone."
"AH, YES!" A buzzer sounded and the front door latch unlocked. "Please do come in."
The pair opened the door and made their way inside. They found themselves in a small empty lobby with a single hallway leading further into the building. They looked at each other, puzzled about what to do next. Just when Rachael was about to call out for the Doctor, they heard rushed footsteps coming up the hallway.
"Hello, hello!" Dr. Tee greeted them. "Miss, you didn't tell me you were bringing a guest. Oh, wait? Did he drink it too? Oh dear, where are my maners?" Dr. Tee quickly shook both of their hands as they introduced themselves and he walked them back to his lab as they told him their story about turning into horse morphs and how Rachael hadn't even had any of the S.E.S. drink.
They chatted away and became quite comfortable with the doctor. He seemed like a well intentioned man, even if he was a little crazy. Before too long had passed they had allowed him to run all kinds of basic test, including a blood draw.
After looking through his microscope for a while and mixing their blood samples with a few chemicals the doctor spoke. "Well, from what I can see here it looks as though your bodies have been infected with one of the synthetic retro viruses I've been working on. That's not all though, also..."