The Abridged Tales of Odo the Great

“Dont worry - it only happens to certain monkeys,”? the orangutan gestured to the monkey in the cage.? The monkey that was trying to pull its fur out and whimpering almost rhythmically.? Odo looked at the monkey, then at the orangutan.? There were five cages, each holding a monkey, each monkey exhibiting different symptoms of insanity.

“How many participants did you say are in the program?” Odo asked.

“We have five hundred participants at this location, Mr. Odo.? Not all are full participants as they do not have a scientific background.? About sixty perenct are solely test subjects.”? The orangutan gestured to the five cages, “These are all from that category of participant, sir.? none of our researchers have had anything like this occur to them.”

Odo nodded and observed the laboratory.? It had been a human lab at one point, abandonned long ago. The vegetation had began its attempt to claim the outside.? The cabinets and tables were too tall for monkeys but there were plenty of boxes and bricks that could be used to reach things.? The visible supplies were mix and match but that was the usual state of things.? Humans rarely left much behind other than their buildings. Supplies were brought in from wherever the lab techs could scavenge them from.? But the equipment worked, even if it wasn’t top of the line.

“And the living quarters?” Odo asked.? Humans would be astonished if they ever observed a primate run lab or the primate societies structured around those labs.? All those humans who refused to believe that they were related to primates would have found themselves shocked by the similiarities between their culture and that of the “animals.”? Of course, those were the same humans who didn’t seem to understand that they were animals too.

“The living quarters are several minutes away, sir.? Its a bit inconvenient, but it makes it less likely that we’ll be discovered.

“I’d like to see them, if its not a problem.? I have certain standards for those as well as the labs.”? Odo turned his attention to his escort, watching the orangutan closely.? He was almost surprised by the immediate agreement he say in the orangutan’s expression.

“Of course, sir.? I think you’ll be pleased by the way the living quarters are arranged.”? He led? Odo to another room that was furnished with comfortable chairs and piles of cushions. “I’m required to stay here, Mr. Odo, but I’ll have an escort for you in just a minute or two.”

Odo nodded and waved the orangutan on to his work.? He folded his hands behind his back and walked the perimeter of the room, gazing at the seating and the walls.? The dark eyes were thoughtful as he waited for his new escort.? ? Odo found the labs up to his standards. it was likely, though by no means guaranteed,? that the living quarters would meet the same standards.? ? A facility that had over five hundred participants? in its program obviously had the perks to attract and hold those participants.

Odo hadn’t been surprised at the level of respect the orangutan had given him.? He knew he was one of the elite when it came to? research monkeys.? There weren’t all that many monkeys that managed to get out of the labs and into the wild.? The primate run labs all wanted to get any research monkey they could.

Odo had been a research monkey, raised from a tender age by humans, but as smart as they thought he was, they never really considered that his intelligence might equal theirs.? He was smart enought to chafe every time he was treated as an exceptionally well behaved pet.? He was smart enough to study and memorize the things the humans did every time they took him out of, or put him in, his cage.

And then one day there was a brillant flash of light and darkness.? For a brief moment, the lab was plunged into darkness as the electricity died.? Odo made th emost of the brief span of time and of all he had learned.? By the time the lights came back on, he was slipping into a trash bin to be carted out of the facility later that night.? It didn’t take long, once he was outside, to find others like himself and to find his way to the community other monkeys had formed.

This was the fourth facility he’d toured and the one that had been highest on his personal list.? As long as the living quarters were reasonable, he already knew this would be his choice.? This particular facility was near where he’d been born and had proximity to human settlemnts.? That made it ideal for Odo’s needs.

Odo knew, being from a human research lab, that the facility would be keeping an eye on him.? That was standard operating procedure since reserach monkeys might have long term effects from the experiments the humans had done on them. But they would also be watching him to learn more of the scientific method, to see how he would run experiments and record the results.? That was his true value? and why facilities vied for his attention.

His escort arrived, a fine example of the feminine side of the primate species. Odo grommed her fur briefly in greeting and she chittered for a moment before introducing herself as Mimi.? She walked out of the door and he followed her as long as he could politely do so, watching the way she loped along the trail.? Odo grinned to himself, it looked as if he’d just found another reason to choose this facility.

Mimi kindly showed him the cafeteria and the common areas first, highlighing the variety and room available to each resident.? She seemed a bit hesitant to show him him the actual residences, but when she did, Odo found himself quite pleased.? Private rooms branched off? of common rooms.? Each room also had a private entrance which suited odo very well indeed.

He groomed Mimi a bit more when she returned him to the laboratory and left him in a room that obviously served someone as an office.? ? ? She didn’t seem to mind his attention and the wink she gave him as she left the room seemed to imply his attentions would not be ignored should he choose this facility as his home.? And added and unlooked for benefit to? be certain.

There were only two things he needed to be quite happy here. If the facility, or the nearby human habitations could provide him with paper and pens, Odo the-soon-to-be-Great would be satisfied with the arrangements.