Overview
Lizard Man is a short story in Quarterlives. It follows Takumi Hashimoto, a young researcher at the Miraitech Research Institute in Tokyo, after a laboratory accident exposes him to the Reptiloptrion project and begins turning his body reptilian.
The story is set in Tokyo and nearby districts in a world that combines biotech research, superhero references, and late-twentieth-century consumer technology such as pagers, cassette answering machines, and Walkmans.
Plot
Takumi Hashimoto is caught inside a facility called the Reptiloptrion Chamber on the fifth floor of Miraitech when its Omega Field activates. After the field decays, lab assistant Yui Nakamura and senior researcher Satoshi Watanabi enter the chamber. Takumi jokes that he could become a superhero like the Tokyo Five, though he is physically ill and trying to maintain his office reputation as an unflappable wisecracker.
At Keio University Hospital, Dr. Tatsuya Mori tells Takumi that he may or may not turn into a lizard. Mori says the brain and nervous system should remain human, but the rest of the outcome is uncertain. Takumi’s girlfriend, Misaki Yamamoto, arrives after claiming to be his wife to get past the guards. She urges him to resist the transformation, and he promises to do everything he can.
Watanabi leads attempts to reverse the Reptiloptrion effects. Over twelve weeks, Takumi undergoes extensive procedures, including needle pricks, IVs, surgeries, anti-ionizer ray sessions, and electroshock convulsions. Scales appear on his forearm and chest, and he stops having sex with Misaki because he fears she will discover them.
Miraitech then cancels the Reptiloptrion work and opens the fifth floor for anti-aging serum research. Takumi loses his job and is offered only a small monthly pension in exchange for continuing medical tracking. His transformation continues, his body remains cold, and he realizes that his apartment and possessions will have to go.
Takumi invites Misaki to dinner and lies that the cure effort is continuing. She says she will not judge him for symptoms as long as he is working to cure them. In bed, she tries to remain composed while touching the scaled patches on his body. Takumi then fears impregnating her with a half-lizard fetus and cannot continue. After Takumi sells his belongings, Misaki leaves a voicemail ending their regular relationship.
Daichi Kurokawa, an acquaintance connected to Yui, invites Takumi to dinner with representatives of Kabushiki Kaisha Sentai, who are interested in him for a Minor Force Sentai. At the Iowa Steakhouse in Roppongi, Takumi struggles to sit normally, cannot tolerate bread and sake, and vomits before crawling out while the patrons scream.
Back home, Takumi eats a raw chicken and later disconnects his answering machine because he cannot bear more messages. After reading a translation of The Metamorphosis, he decides to jump from his apartment tower. He delays only because he has promised to attend a Miraitech medical checkup and hates canceling appointments.
At Miraitech, Takumi is labeled a research subject and left in a cold examination room, where he falls into a hibernal sleep. Miho Sato, a herpetologist assigned to his case, warms the room and presses herself against him to raise his body temperature. She talks with him about his living conditions, finances, diet, and future, then gives him her number and tells him to call her that evening.
Miho finds Takumi a basement apartment in Koto, near her own home. She arranges modifications including stone cladding, dry heat, humidification, full-spectrum UVB lights, and heat bulbs. When Takumi moves in, she tells him the arrangement is experimental and can be changed. Takumi says he is doing better than Gregor Samsa, and Miho tells him to find meaning as Takumi Hashimoto rather than as a superhero or “Lizard Man.”