Mike sat up on his back paws and nodded. Jeff grinned, placing him on his shoulder and tucking the Chronivac under his arm as he strode out of the room. He wasn't moving that fast, but to a little ratlike Mike, just his slightly quick pace sent wind whistling past his whiskers, each step a shuddering quake. His tiny claws dug into the fabric as he clung on tightly. When Jeff neared the stairs, he took his chance to escape, taking a flying leap off his shoulder and scampering down the banister, beating his son to the floor of their basement gym.
Jeff gave his dad a grin as he set down the Chronivac and began gathering materials. A piece of rope, a pile of weights from a machine, and a scale. Mike cocked his head, his ears twitching.
"Have you seen that trope people use when they depict animal testing in movies and books?" Jeff began. "Where they take out a rat, inject it with some mystical serum, and it becomes some sort of mutant monster? That's what we're doing here."
He leant down, putting his face inches from Mike. "I'm going to make you a monster of a rat, Dad, a superpowered freak. What do you think of that?"
Now, if Mike had been in his right mind, he might have pointed out how unscientific that was, and how Jeff was probably letting his fantasies get in the way of research, but he was not in his right mind. All Mike could think about was how much he wanted to be transformed, and how good it would feel to become Jeff's pet monster. He squeaked in delight, running little circles, and his son chuckled.
"Alright, glad you like it. Now, could you get on the scales, please?"
Mike did as he was told. He waited a few seconds until the number stabilised at 400 grams exactly. Jeff noted it down with interest. "Looks like you're a perfectly healthy adult rat. But let's see what we can do to you."
He fastened the rope to the smallest of the weights - 5kg. Mike grabbed the rope between his tail and teeth, but try as he might, he couldn't budge it one inch. Jeff tapped on the computer.
"Alright, I've changed your strength to 200%, or twice your normal amount. Try again." Mike did, but still, it did not move. 500%, next, and it slid a few millimetres across the floor before Mike had to give up again. When he reached 1000%, finally, Mike was able to drag it across the floor with relative consistency, and Jeff let out a clap. "Great job! You're now 10x stronger than you used to be. If my theory is correct, if I double your strength from here, you should be able to drag the 10kg weight as well."
He changed Mike's strength to 2000%, and sure enough, the rat moved the 10kg weight. After all that weightlifting exercise, Mike sat back on his haunches, a little tired and sore. Jeff noticed it as he was preparing the next weights, and stopped. "Hey, cheer up Dad. It's no small feat to be able to pull those around."
Mike gave him a look and an unimpressed squeak. "It is! Put it this way, you pulling that weight is the equivalent of me going outside and pulling our car around. Without its wheels. Just me, pulling nearly two tonnes of metal as it scrapes along the ground." He clicked a few buttons, and Mike's soreness melted away. "Here, this should make you feel better. I've just refreshed your body, so you should be good for another round. You want to try?"
Determined, Mike nodded and scurried over to the 25kg weight. If he still had hands, he would have given a thumbs up, but he still let out a squeak that meant 'Hit it!'. Jeff clicked, upping the lab rat's strength to 5000%. Mike groaned as he strained against the weight, but he still managed to pull it across the ground. It wasn't easy, but he managed. Jeff whooped. "Yeah, nice one, Dad! Alright, shall we move on to the second last one?"
Mike, tired again but still willing, nodded. A daunting 50kg weight was rolled out. The rat stared at it for a moment, slightly intimidated by its size, until something else took the forefront of his mind. The second last one? he thought, and worry sets in. He craved more transformations, even if it was hard work to get them. Maybe it was time to do a little bit of deceiving...
As his strength was boosted to 10,000%, 100x his natural strength, Mike made a pretence of straining against the rope, though he didn't let it move at all. Jeff frowned. "That's odd, that should have worked. Maybe there's a limit as to how strong you can go? I'll see if we can go higher, though."
15,000%. The weight was certainly lighter than before, and without any sort of strain or challenge, Mike felt the transformation fully. Strength, power, seeping into his bones. Confidence was building, an idea forming that he could achieve anything he wanted.
20,000%. No, that wasn't quite right. Achieving was fine, but with his strength, he didn't have to work for anything. He could take what he wanted, and nothing could stop him.
25,000%. He could conquer the world if he wanted. Mike let the 50kg weight budge and dragged it slowly across the floor. It was so easy, so light to him. Jeff's eyes brightened, none the wiser as to his dad's antics, or growing god complex, and quickly jotted notes down. "Finally! It seems there's some sort of exponential curve, or something, that limits your strength. Are you sure you want to try the next one?'
Mike nodded, a cruel smile attempting to creep across his rodent features. He stared in glee as the 100kg weight was hooked up. Jeff couldn't even lift it, having to roll it across the floor instead, but Mike knew he'd already surpassed that sort of weight. Imagine that, a tiny little rat, stronger than a fully-grown human. The thought excited him.
"I'm going to go up in increments pretty fast, okay Dad? Just brace yourself, it might be a bit intense." Intense it was. Doubling his already immense power in seconds, it was as if he was brought to the edge of orgasm, as his body spasmed in pleasure. Jeff saw it, and frowned, thinking it was the strain of the weight, and increased his strength even more.
From 50,000% to 75,000%, Mike quivered in delight. His tiny movements budged the weight, dragging it against the floor, just a few centimetres at a time. Jeff took this as a good sign, and made one final increase, giving Mike 1,000 times his normal strength.
Mike knew this would be the last one. He slowly dragged the weight around, feeling as though it were nothing but a pile of feathers to his superpowered body. Jeff watched on in interest. Then, Mike sat back and grabbed the weight with just his tail.
Crash!
The weight flew across the room and smashed into the wall, leaving a large dent in the concrete. All with just the tiniest twitch of his muscles. Jeff stared down at his father with wide eyes. "There wasn't any limit, was there?" he whispered.
Mike shook his head.
"So that really means... Oh god, you are a superpowered freak!" He laughed in disbelief. "Dad, if my calculations are correct, you should be able to lift a 500kg weight. You could lift me, without batting an eye!"
Mike nodded, and slowly crawled towards Jeff, making sure his strength was well controlled as he climbed up his arm. Still weighing in at a grand total of 400g, the rat knew he could snap his son's bones without any resistance. From the way Jeff tensed up, he knew it too. Still, Mike loved his son, and would never hurt him, especially not when he was the ticket to more of the transformations he so dearly craved. He jumped from Jeff's shoulder and landed at the base of the computer, feeling tremors run through the ground as he landed. He pointed at the Chronivac and squeaked.
"You want to be transformed more? Really?" Mike was certain. "Alright then, I think we'll go with..."