[The line chosen for this story is from the song: When I'm sixty-four, by Beatles.
The line chosen is: Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four.]

Pipaluk's gray eyes scanned his quarters for the box his beloved wife, Vera, had left for him before falling asleep. 

"Damn it! Where did that fool put it!?" The graying man cursed his assistant: the man in charge of packing his belongings for the Lazarus mission. 

"Professor, is there something I can help you with?" 

The politeness of the question irritated Pipaluk. "No," he snapped; looking over his shoulder from his crouched position next to the metal boxes that contained items that he deemed necessary for this trip, the man added, "Is there something you need, or are you here to waste my time?"

The assistant, Madhav Dev, whose face made it impossible to guess his age, shook his head and lowered his eyes. "I am here to deliver this package you requested last night." 

It was only now that Pipaluk's eyes dropped to the package the fellow carried in the circle of his arms. Something akin to guilt washed over the shores of his conscience. "Oh. Yes. Thanks." Raising to his feet and arching his aching back, he approached Dev. His eyes caressed the item before he added, "Put it on the table… gently. Thanks."

Doing what was asked Madhav muttered a low, "Happy Birthday, Professor," before scurrying out of the room.

"Damn it!" Pipaluk's eyes lingered woefully on the door from where his assistant of four years had exited seconds prior. "You are right Vera, I need to work on my temper." He sank into the study chair and patted the leather box that graced the center of his table. "You know, sometimes I wonder if our promise of  still needing each other…feeding each other, being each other's Valentine when we are sixty-four will become a reality once you are up and about." Leaning towards the package he asked, "I am sixty-four now, my heart…have gray's now, which to add insult to injury, I am losing as well." Chuckling, he pulled away; resting his back on the arch of the chair he spoke in a voice barely over a whisper, "I miss your birthday greetings, but if I am being honest, it's the bottle of wine that you always had at hand that I long for most… of course, I miss nothing…no one, more than you." A single tear made its way down his cheek. "I guess it's too late for us to have grandkids. I remember you wanted three. Vera, Chuck, and Dave, you wanted them named, didn't you, sweetheart?"

The man whose ambition had acted like a pyre fire, for human existence was indeed very close to achieving his goal. Having meticulously planned every step of this operation, it wasn't important to him who lived or died to realize his dream.  Everything's fair in love and war. His conscience was clear. His Vera deserved it. He deserved it. 

"Sir, are you there?"

Madhav's voice jerked Pipaluk back to the present. He jabbed the red com-device on the far left of the table and yelled into the mic. "What?"

"I am sorry to disturb you, Sir, but Mr. Lee wants a word."

"The hell is this about?"

"He says Mr. Cha isn't up for the mission."

"Tell him to ask his friend if he has a death wish." Pipaluk barked into the machine and waited for his message to be conveyed. The reply came a few seconds later. "Sir, he says he has to see you or- hey!"

The professor rose to his feet. His fingers balled into tight fists, and anger coursed through his veins. However, a furious: "Mr. Lee-" was all he got out before a cold, deep growl made his blood turn to ice. "Dev, what's happening?" As the growls grew louder, he turned to the screens that kept him informed about the happenings of each cube in his space vehicle. He zoomed in on the passage that led to his quarters, hoping to unravel the mystery of the animalistic sounds that didn't belong inside his sanctuary. 

What he saw there, left his throat dry. What the hell is that? Eyes gliding over the wolf-like creature standing inches from his assistant, he wondered: Where's Lee? Why isn't Dev moving? Keeping his tone indifferent, he demanded, "Dev, I would like an update. Now." 

Watching his assistant slowly back away from the creature and sprint the other way was not what the Professor expected or wanted. But here he was, witnessing the useless wuss do just that. There was not much left to do but try to communicate with the creature, who was slowly but surely making its way towards Pipaluk's quarter. "Who are you?" he asked. 

Grrrr. 

Eyes glued to the screen, Pipaluk's brain tried decoding what was before him. The animal that had looked like a wolf, now that he thought about it, was like nothing he had seen on Earth. With four hind legs and three tails, all covered in dense, dark fur, it appeared to belong in Greek or Indian mythological texts. But that couldn't be, could it? There was another possibility though, wasn't there? "Silly me. I had forgotten that most transitioning humans lose the ability to speak if they morph." Leaning closer to the screen closest to him, Pipaluk asked, "Nod if you understand me, alright?" Even as he finished asking the question, a wayward thought entered his mind. Was this creature perhaps Lee EunHyuk's monster? Was acting emotionless just a facade to hide this… this creature… monster, prowling the hallway?

"Professor? Can you hear me?"

Pipaluk's lowered eyes shot back to the screen. "Mr. Lee?"

Where did the monster go?

"Professor, did you not hear me?"

Was Lee here all along? What about Dev? His assistant had surely seen the abomination too, right? He hadn't imagined it all… right? "Where is Dev?"

"Here, Sir." Madhav Dev's ebony eyes filled the screen, giving the aging man a tiny heart attack and making him jump away from the screen. "Sir," the man continued, catching his breath, "I think we will have to push the operation back by a few hours, at least. Mr. Cha doesn't look so good."

"I am not interested in seeing your face, Dev." Pipaluk barked, trying to focus his attention on Lee EunHyuk, the better half of the duo he had hoped to use as weapons of mass destruction in his grand plan to take over the alien world he had fondly named Lazarus. "Lee, is that true?" he asked, noticing the Korean man in his mission gear. 

The man who lacked nothing but the helmet- a mandatory requirement to venture into the yet uncharted planet- approached the screen and bobbed his head. "Professor, HyunSo is a liability in his present state. I can do your bidding alone if it can't wait. Of course, I don't know what the mission entails, so I can't guarantee its success."

As bland and cold as ever. And here I thought something was brewing between the two. 

"Professor, did you hear me?"

The man in charge of the mission cursed the powers that be. "I heard you, Lee. Now if you will give me a moment's peace I can process the news you have dumped on me."

"Sure." Lee EunHyuk stood still on the spot staring straight ahead. 

Even after so many months of being surrounded by neo-humans, Pipaluk still found their empty eyes somewhat unsettling. Moreover, both their origin and continued existence were a mystery to him. Bloody creeps. 

The birthday boy... man… whatever, needed Cha HyunSo for what he had planned. How likely was it that Lee was lying about his country-mate's condition? But Dev was concurring with it as well. If Cha was in fact, sick, what had brought about this sickness? Was it an isolated occurrence or was he susceptible to it as well?

"It would be best to see him myself," Pipaluk announced. "Lee, meet me at Cha's quarter. Dev, bring me my scrubs."

Once the two men had disappeared from his sight, Pipaluk took to his armchair. "Vera, your present will have to wait, it seems. But don't worry, I won't let anyone or anything come in our way ever again." His bony fingers stroked the box carved out of wood, before coming to rest on the silver lock that had kept the priceless contents inside secure for over two decades. No, this mission has to succeed even if it means eliminating the natives. Vera won't know it took destroying two worlds to breathe life into her. And what she doesn't know can't harm her. Yes, his plan was perfect, just like how his life would be. Soon. Very soon. 

*****

"Mr. Cha, can you hear me?" Pipaluk, dressed in gray overalls that covered his entire frame, and a white mask that kept him from harm's way, asked of the man with his eyes shut. 

The man, who could give Adonis a run for his money, lay on the floor convulsing; naked from the waist up, he had the skimpiest briefs Pipaluk had ever seen, covering his modesty. "Yes." A pained syllable made its way out of his lips followed by a strong tremor that rocked his frame. All six feet four inches of it. 

"What happened?" The Professor asked Sven Kajouski, the only physician who had accompanied Pipaluk's team to Lazarus.

The doctor shook his head. "I don't know, but he is burning up. I mean I could fry an eye on his abs."

For all the physician's merits, Pipaluk hated the man's sense of humor. The exasperated man rolled his eyes. "Kajouski, I don't care what you can or can't fry on Cha's ab... Damn it!" His head throbbed. "Do you have any answers for me?" He looked between his physician, his assistant, and the man standing with his eyes glued to the patient's torso. Eyes that betrayed the man's… no, the lying man's heart. Worry lines marred the neo-human’s forehead. Your heart is not dead, after all, Lee. You have been lying to me all this time, haven't you, young man? Liability my ass! "Mr. Lee, how long has he been like this?"

"Do I look like a doctor to you, Professor?" Lee EunHyuk asked in his usual calm, composed tone. 

Pipaluk knew better not to fall for this fake act. "Kajouski,"—he turned to the doctor—"run all possible tests you can. I want him up and about before the day ends. Do you understand?"

With a nod of acknowledgment, Sven left the too-cramped space. 

As the door closed, Pipaluk crossed his arms over his chest. "You got into medical school, didn't you, Mr. Lee?"

From the mildly shocked expression that crossed Lee EunHyuk’s features before he schooled it back to its expressionless state, the older man gathered that his question was unexpected. "My sources tell me that you performed a successful emergency appendix surgery during the lockdown despite not having much of the tools needed for such a procedure. Only someone with talent can do so, don't you think?"

"Yes and no." Lee EunHyuk smiled. Joyless and cold. "I remember it vaguely. The things you mentioned exist without existing within me. I am Lee EunHyuk, but I am not the human who got into medical school. Nor am I someone who can perform surgery without prior training. Lee EunHyuk is dead; you should know that better than anyone, Professor. What stands before you now is a better version of him. A more practical, powerful being."

Pipaluk glanced at the neo-human that lay withering in pain on the cold floor of his quarters. "Yes, that's true." It was true that Lee had lied about his ability to feel, but he was undoubtedly concerned about the younger chap. 

The professor knew the look Lee had directed at Cha all too well. After all,  he had seen it often. Days before he had lost his Vera, he had caught himself in the mirror looking exactly like Lee had done moments ago. 

Cha HyunSo is indeed not in the state to take on the natives of Lazarus, however harmless they might be. "As of now, the mission stands postponed till Mr. Cha's recovery," he said, glancing at his assistant. "Dev, inform Kajouski that if doesn't find out the cause of Cha's condition by tonight, he will not receive his vaccine."

"That's a little harsh-" Before the assistant's statement could reach its end, the old man bit out, "If I hear another word about it, you won't receive yours either, Dev. Now be a good boy and escort me to my quarters. Vera awaits my company."

Time to wake up is close, my heart. Twenty-two years will seem like dust in the wind then. Our life on Lazarus will be perfect. I promise, love.

Ignoring EunHyuk, who rushed to HyunSo as soon as Pipaluk turned his back towards them, and the hurt look on his assistant's face, he started singing, "When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now. La la la, la la, la la la, la; when I'm sixty-four."

*****
[Word count:2181]

Written for Round 3, Part 1 of The Spec-fic SmackDown.