GOD HATES HEAVY METAL: MARIO’S SPECIAL PIZZA

Mario, the lab’s most promising chimpanzee, had always been curious. His handlers, marveled at his growing intellect as they pumped him full of experimental pharmaceuticals. The VR headset, designed to boost his cognitive abilities, was his gateway to a new world. The only thing Mario loved more than the pizza he was given for doing a good job in VR by his favorite scientist, Dr. Kim, was the world itself. He excelled at navigating through it unlike the other chimps—those vibrant landscapes, the endless possibilities were a respite from the real world and cruelness at the hands of Dr. Keller. But today, something was different.

The drugs coursing through his veins felt heavier, the headset tighter. The virtual reality world twisted, contorting into something darker. The landscapes became jagged, and the voices around him grew menacing. His heart raced and he grew scared, as the familiar face of Dr. Keller, his handler, pushed the button, wrenching him from his VR world while mocking him with cruel laughter.

"You' stupid little monkey. You’re nothing but a test subject," Dr. Keller sneered, His image distorting, becoming a shadow in Mario’s mind as he was finding it harder to grasp where one world ended and the virtual began.

Mario’s eyes widened, the rage building. The walls of the lab faded into the virtual world, his vision clouded by a red mist. He ripped the VR headset off, but the anger remained, pulsing in his skull.

Dr. Keller, unaware of the shift, stepped too close. Mario lunged, a primal fury overtaking him. His hands—once delicate—were now violent instruments of destruction. He tore into Dr. Keller’s body, his mind twisted by the drug and the VR nightmare.

In a blur of blood, Mario smeared Keller’s remains across a pizza that rested, top open on the counter. Spattered with Keller’s blood, the meaty pie was warm and inviting. Grabbing a slice, he ate—savoring the strange, bitter satisfaction as his growls echoed. He had learned far too much.

Art and story by Hal Hefner.
Produced by Catmonkey Studio