Run Lab Rat Run, by Shawn. C. Butler

Characters

Media Conaill, nicknamed ‘Fiddy’ by her brother, is a 21 year old lab-rat who has spent most of her life inside of a bio-engineering lab as a test subject for various genetic modifications. She has a tricky relationship with people, having never had much time to spend with family or friends. We learn, when she’s preparing for the marathon races, that she has a particular fascination with predatory animals, a theme which runs throughout the book. Symbolically, we see Media begin with the view that she is a predator, only later to discover that she is as much prey as anyone else on the marathon courses. Finally, through hard work and endurance, she comes to see herself as a predator in her own right, as a tough and dangerous animal deserving of others respect. Her narration throughout demonstrated a fun sense of humour that made her easy to like; I particularly enjoyed how she would give random body parts or animals fun nicknames. In addition, Media proved herself to be stubborn, impulsive, and persistent in the pursuit of her goals, which only endeared her to me more.

Tommy, Media’s goofy brother is an athletically modified human, who has previously run in the marathons. As such, he acted as a source of additional information for Media as she entered the marathons for the first time. Tommy showed himself to be open, a kind and caring individual that always had people’s backs. He preferred people to get along and proved to be a loyal and protective brother, always doing his best to help Media as she progressed through the races. His fun-loving and playful nature when around Media left me with warm fuzzy feelings.

Danny, a natural runner didn’t appear to play a big part in the story at first. I half expected that he would be used to make a point about naturals and would then be forgotten. However, I was pleasantly surprised when this was not the case. ‘Danny, Daniel, Dan’ as Media affectionately refers to him, has a powerful athletic form for an unmodified human and demonstrated the sheer willpower that natural humans have at their disposal. He had a playful personality and seemed to accept his position in life, despite his poor background. He proved to be a selfless and kind individual, doing everything he could to help improve his family’s way of living. It wasn’t hard to see why Media fell for him as he allowed her to just be herself around him, without having to act the part of the ‘socially-better’ modified. Danny provided a unique contrast to the modified characters in that he was one of only few naturals to participate in the races. To me, he was a shining beacon of true humanity’s potential, carrying on even when all hope looks to have been lost.

Coach, a synthetic advisor to Media’s marathon team, was a very interesting character. Despite being a synthetic, he was unusually emotive. Although he does explain that his apparent free will is simply an illusion created by his coders, he often stumps Media at how visibly human he seems. For one, he was pushy in a way that showed Media how much he cared for her wellbeing. He was also curious, full of questions for a synthetic, which only added to his very human-like nature. I felt that his character pushed the boundaries of how people in Media’s world viewed synthetics. He certainly caused Media to question his humanity, considering the difference between true human nature and a simulated version.

Although there are multiple antagonistic individuals in this story, I’ve chosen to focus on the example of Jessica for the purpose of this review. Jessica, also a runner in the marathons, is an augmented; a highly modified human being that possesses incredible levels of strength and speed. This cruel and self-important young woman was immediately dislikeable, treating Media as though she were no more than dirt. She had a particularly distasteful attitude toward naturals and did whatever she wanted during the races, no matter who it ended up hurting. Beautiful but deadly, Jessica is tasked with making sure Media knows her place in the races. In every scene she appeared in, she gave me chills as I imagined going up against her myself, fearing I would lose.