Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/17b9szw/i_found_the_original_chemical_x_part_1/
Part 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/17c2872/i_found_the_original_chemical_x_part_2/
[Warning/Disclaimer: This story contains references to Nazis and the Imperial Japanese. Reader Discretion is Advised. The Author of this story does NOT support Nazism or Fascism in any form and condemns the acts of Nazism and the Imperial Japanese. All potential forms of hate speech or discrimination are for historical authenticity only and are not reflections of the authors personal views. Additionally, the Author condemns any and all forms of animal abuse.]
I peeked out of the room and scanned around for him. I noticed him poking at the remains of what I believe was a V-2 rocket. I walked over to him as he was kneeling down and said, “Excuse me, Doctor Mobius?” He was slightly surprised by my sudden appearance, but he fixed his interestingly small glasses and said “Huh? Oh, you’re doctor… Oak!” I gave an awkward retort “N-No, I’m doctor Rainer., the historian.”
Doctor Mobius got to his feet with a grunt and readjusted his glasses to focus on me and then he said “Ah, Rainer! You know of all the people here, you’re one of the more valuable. I have no idea why they would bring a pharmacist and some pet doctor to this place when all these machines are lying about. As a historian I’m sure you could easily name everything in this room. Would make my job so much easier. It’s taking me ages to even find out what this blasted thing is. I can’t tell if it’s a rocket or parts to a jet engine plane.” I had to interrupt his rambling because I knew he would just go one more if I didn’t “Um, Doctor Mobius, I need to you have a look at something in that room over there.” I pointed to the room next to the operation room. “Ah, found something interesting, eh? Well let’s have a look.” Doctor Mobius replied as he began almost gleefully walking to the room I was in with his hands up in a delighted manner. I followed him.
When we got to the room, Mobius looked into the surgery room where the other three doctors were still chipping away. “Oh ho, formaldehyde. Judging from its condition, I’d say it was kept in a cooling or drying device.” Mobius deduced. I looked into the room to see if he was right and sure enough, I noticed from the place the tube originally was, there were fans above and below it. “That explains it.” I said to myself. “Now, Doctor Rainer,” Mobius addressed me “What is it that you have found?” I showed him the old camera and he immediately let out a laugh “Oh ho ho ho! This little thing? Well, I guess you are just the book keeper, let’s see here…”
Mobius began fiddling with it. He opened it and confirmed my theory that there was indeed film in it. Mobius then positioned the film properly, did something with the internal mechanisms then closed the camera. “There we go, all fixed up! Projectors like this are a breeze.” Mobius exclaimed. Well, I felt stupid. I thought it was a camera. “Now let’s test this out.” Mobius said as he looked around. He looked up then pulled down a sheet that was tied up on the ceiling. I guess that’s what they used to view these tapes. Mobius motioned for me to come watch, which I did. He positioned the projector and started it up.
It made a noise that you’d expect from a projector of this time, though a little more clunky. After a moment of nothing an image finally manifested. A man dressed in full body scrubs from the World War 2 era held a sign with something written in German and Japanese on it. For context there was no sound and the picture was in black and white. Despite my major in European History, I’ve also studied a bit of Japanese and have a fair grasp on the language.
The sign read for both “Live Test Number 1, Subject Species: Chimpanzee, Name: Jojo, Experiment: Introduction of Chemical X.” My eyes widened when I saw the name. They widened further when I saw the ape they brought out. It was a small chimpanzee with black fur. Even though the picture was only in black and white, it was easy to tell that the ape’s fur was jet black. They placed it on a table, the same table that Kal and the others were using in the other room. The big kicker was when the scientists set him down on the table, he began to freak out. He started running around and the scientists attempted to coral him.
This was only shown for a brief moment, then the scene cut to two scientists holding Jojo down onto the table. A third scientist entered the frame holding a small bottle filled with what I assume was chemical x and a dropper. Though hard to discern as it was at an angle and the quality was absolutely horrible. I could faintly make out the scientist putting some drops onto Jojo, maybe in the eyes or straight into the mouth. After this the ape began convulsing violently. After a good moment Jojo went still, but not limp. The scientists who were holding him down slowly let go as the ape began to move. He sat up and held his head like he is suffering from a headache. After a moment Jojo looked at the scientists and I saw his mouth move, like he was saying something. The scientists stood around him in a defensive position, and one cut the camera feed.
I looked ever to Doctor Mobius, but he patted my shoulder and pointed back to the screen. Once again, a scientist held up a sign, but this one said “Live Test Number 3, Species: Chimpanzee, Subject Jojo, Experiment: Reading.” The scientists sat around Jojo who was holding a book. I couldn’t tell what the book was about, but it was thin and had a picture on it, so I deduced at best it was a children’s book.
One of the scientists pointed to something on a page and Jojo pointed at it, then they pointed to the table. The feed cut out again and we got a notice on screen that said, “Play Tape 5.” Mobius pushed a button on the projector which stopped the reel. “Let’s find that tape.” He said to me in a more serious tone. I could tell that something was intriguing him deeply about this experiment. I didn’t know if his intentions were pure or not at the time, but I still nodded and agreed to help him look. We scoured the room for the tape. After a few minutes of searching, Mobius found a locked cabinet. He tried to open it with force but couldn’t. “Blast!” He said as he banged his hand on the top of the cabinet. I then got an epiphany and checked in the folder I was investigating. I felt around and found a small pocket. I reached in and pulled out a small key. Mobius looked at me and gave me an approving gesture as I walked to the cabinet.
After jimmying the lock for a moment, I finally got the cabinet open. Inside were additional reels, documents and what seemed to be personal items like medals and gloves. I shifted through the tapes and found Tape 5. “Ah, there it is.” Mobius said with delight, “Now where are we going to play this…” The two of us looked around again and quickly spotted a Magnetophon, which is basically a big tape recorder used in World War 2. We put in the proper tape, situated it, made sure it was properly powered and began the tape. To my surprise, the first thing I heard was a man speaking in Japanese. I thought back to the tapes and realized that the men must have been three of the ten members of Unit 731. Even with their allies, the Nazis never failed to exploit people. I’ll now transcribe what was said on the tape. I’ll write it out in order of who and what I hear.
731 Scientist 1: “Live test number 5, subject species; chimpanzee, name; Jojo. Experiment; communication. Good morning, Jojo.”
Jojo: “Mojo…”
731 Scientist 1: “Excuse me?”
Jojo: “My name… is… Mojo.”
731 Scientist 1: “We must keep your designation for the records. We cannot just change it.”
Jojo: “Then… my name… Mojo… Jojo.”
At this point I had to abruptly pause the tape and process what I was listening to. This time though I wasn’t alone. So without looking I asked, “Doctor Mobius… do you think-“ He answered immediately “They were interviewing the animal.” I immediately turned to look at him and he was standing there with his hands clamped looking at me. I didn’t even bother to question that he could understand Japanese, but rather I asked, “Are you sure?”
Mobius raised an eyebrow at me “Are you asking me because you want the answer, or do you already know and you’re hoping that you’re wrong?” Didn’t peg a roboticist to be a people’s person. He was right though. I was hoping I was wrong. I turned around again and just stood there looking down, trying to internally calm myself down. “It’s not the talking animal that’s bothering you, is it?” I turned around again and looked at him. For a moment I debated in my head if I should tell him the truth, but either way I knew there was no hiding from him. He was good, almost, if not better than me at deduction. I took a deep breath and asked, “Have you ever watched The Powerpuff Girls?”
I expected to be ridiculed, confusion, or Mobius to slowly back out of the room like I was crazy. Instead, he smiled and said, “It’s my favorite show.” I was stunned. I mean, would you imagine an old, bald and slightly overweight man with a PhD in robotics and engineering to watch cartoons? I mean sure, he could have watched it when he was younger, but he said it’s his favorite like it’s still fresh in his mind. I was now the one who was confused. Mobius put his hand on my shoulder and said with a cheeky smile “It is strange that a talking chimpanzee would be named Mojo Jojo, isn’t it?” I didn’t know what to say so I just simply nodded. He nodded back then said “Now, let’s keep listening. There’s more to learn.” I nodded again and restarted the tape.
731 Scientist Number 1: *moment of silence* “Very well. So, Mojo Jojo, I’m going to ask you some questions. Do you understand?”
Mojo Jojo: “Yes…”
731 Scientist Number 1: “Good. Question 1: Who are you?”
Mojo Jojo: “I am Mojo Jojo.”
*sounds of pencil on paper*
731 Scientist Number 1: “Question 2: What are you?”
Mojo Jojo: “I am… smarter than you. HAHAHAH-”
*a loud thud followed by a brief scuffle then a shock with a noticeable primate scream followed by a moment of silence*
731 Scientist Number 2: “Now, answer the question.”
Mojo Jojo: *struggling* “I am… a chimpanzee.”
731 Scientist Number 1: “Good. Question 3: When were you born?”
Mojo Jojo: “I was reborn only a short time ago.”
*moment of silence followed by more sounds of writing*
731 Scientist Number 1: “Question 4: Where are you?”
*silence*
731 Scientist Number 2: “Answer the question NOW.”
Mojo Jojo: “I have no idea.”
731 Scientist Number 1: “Good. Last question: Why are you here?”
Mojo Jojo: “To be experimented on.”
*sounds of writing*
731 Scientist Number 1: “Ok. That’s all the questions for now. Return the specimen to the cage now.”
*sounds of a door opening and footsteps entering*
Mojo Jojo: “No! You won’t put me back into the cage!”
*sound of chair falling over then chimpanzee screams followed by the breaking of multiple objects*
Unknown Japanese Voice: “He’s getting away! Alert the Germans!”
*further sounds of chaos followed by more footsteps and incoherent voices*
It was at this point that the tape ended abruptly. I was speechless. I looked over to Mobius who was just standing there with his fingers. He seemed to be really thinking about this. Can’t blame him, though I was more shocked than confused myself. It was at that moment that we heard a loud cracking noise from the surgery room. Mobius and I looked though the one-way mirror and saw they got the formaldehyde open. Kal, Oppen and Oak began shifting through the debris while the trench-coat aids began cleaning up the floor. Mobius then went back to the projector and looked inside. “There’s still some film in here. It might take them a moment to clean that up. Care to watch the rest while they clean up in there?” I looked over to him and said “S-Sure.” With a nod he closed the projector and resumed the film.
A handful of short clips began showing on screen. For brevity, and so I don’t have to write the same thing repeatedly, I’ll simply write what each experiment is on the sign and briefly summarize what I see. Yes, Mojo Jojo is in every experiment. Ready?
Experiment: Building. Mojo Jojo is seen with building blocks. He’s making a small structure.
Experiment: Production. Mojo is seen on a mock assembly line. There is a soldier standing behind him and Mojo looks tired.
Experiment: Weapon Care. Mojo is seen disassembling and reassembling a weapon. By the end of the clip, he does both withing the span of seconds.
Experiment: Weapon Firing. Mojo is seen outside holding a Kar98k with a German soldier behind him, also holding a Kar98k, and another kneeling beside him. After a moment, Mojo readies the gun and fires a few shots.
Experiment: Chemistry. Mojo Jojo is seen with a scientist in full scrubs. There are beakers on a table in front of them and a large bowl in the middle. The scientist adds various substances from the beakers into the bowl. At one point Mojo Jojo pushes the scientist violently and he breaks a beaker next to the bowl and it spills over both Mojo and the scientist. The scientist started convulsing and Mojo held his head and screamed, then the feed cut out and the projector stops.
That was the last film. Mobius and I didn’t say a word for a few moments after the last feed. We glanced at each other a few times, but that was it. Just us sitting in silence. Eventually though, Mobius got up and walked to the doorway. When he got there, he paused and said, “Keep reading that file.” Then exited. I was left alone in the room, still sitting there. I want to say my mind was racing at this point, but truth be told, it went totally blank. I remember being in shock. It wasn’t until I looked at the file that was still on the table that I snapped out of my trance. I took a deep breath, got up and walked over to it. I opened it and found the next intact file. Turns out it was an incident report. I’ll transcribe it.
“February [REDACTED]
Presiding Overseers: Sigmund Rascher and Surgeon General Shirō Ishii (WIA) (Returned Home)
Apes Uprising Incident
After the incident of Experiment: Chemistry involving Doctor [REDACTED] and the chimpanzee subject “Mojo” Jojo, Doctor [REDACTED] was taken hostage by Jojo at 1200 hours who proceeded to barricade himself and Doctor [REDACTED] in the specimen holding room. After unsuccessful attempts to open the door by the guards, Jojo was observed to be suffering from severe head trauma which resulted in fits of acute rage and outbursts. An hour into the stand-off at 1230 hours, Doctor [REDACTED] was also observed to have mutated into a grotesque abomination of some kind. Jojo took interest in this and released the other simian species which proceeded to devour the mutated body of Doctor [REDACTED]. The simians were then observed to show similar symptoms to Jojo when originally dosed with Chemical X.
Jojo then took a leader role and instructed the smaller of the simians to go through the airducts which were connected to the armory. The armory’s door was barricaded from the inside by two German guards following this incident after the guard team had retrieved their weapons, effectively preventing anyone from entering or leaving through the door. The simians, however, through the airducts, invaded the room which began a scuffle that resulted in the death of three simians and the two guards locked inside the room. We believe the simians then started transporting the weapons and ammunition through the airducts back to the specimen holding room as soon after the simians were observed to be loading weapons and putting on holsters. At 1300 hours, Jojo started clawing his head and screaming in intense pain.
After a few minutes, Jojo had removed his scalp and his brain had erupted out of his skull. He was seen staggering around for a moment before collapsing on the ground and dying. The other simians began screaming and waving their weapons around in a war-like chant. The simians then rushed to the door and removed the barricade. The guard team had set up a defensive perimeter, but no counter barricade had been constructed. When the apes opened the door, the simians rushed the guard team and a firefight ensued which resulted in the deaths of nine guardsmen, the ten Japanese scientists and twelve simians. The simians were noted to specifically target the Japanese scientists as they treated the guardsmen as only obstacles. Surgeon General Shirō Ishii was critically wounded during the fight and has subsequently been removed from this operation and returned to Japan. The remaining simians from within the room began clawing their heads in the same way as Jojo, and soon all suffered the same fate. This is believed to be due to the improper ingestion of diluted Chemical X from the mutated body of Doctor [REDACTED]. The bodies of the simians will subsequently be studied and stored for future examination.”
After finishing the report, I looked up and saw the others pulling the body out of the formaldehyde I rushed into the room. I didn’t care if I was allowed in or not, I had to see this firsthand. After barging in, everyone stared at me, but I had no room to be embarrassed. I stared at what was on the table. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. Lying there on the table was the corpse of a chimpanzee with green skin and an elongated brain protruding out of its head.