Oh, Rats!

A secret laboratory has taken ordinary rats and turned one of them into something far beyond its species. SK540, the twenty‑seventh son of a pair of plain white rats, was given a cocktail of experimental chemicals that produced a brain three times larger than any of his kin. With this boost he dreams of the same things any creature craves—food, safety, companionship—and, oddly, a taste for power that pushes him to test the limits of his new intellect.

When the chance arises, SK540 learns to open his cage and, carefully choosing the most pliable of his peers, leads them out through a slightly ajar window into the quiet night. Their silent procession slides down the dark streets, unnoticed by most, though a solitary observer watches the strange procession with puzzlement. At the same time, a young couple moving into a nearby old mansion hears rumors of the missing “pride and joy” of the lab and wonders what might happen if a super‑rat roams free.