Deep In the endless void of space, an ancient station rests. The station's farms were long overgrown with weeds, the glass walkways cracked, and computers endlessly rebooting after their attendants died long ago.
The hydroponics farms of station Alpha-0Z14 rustled with movement. As the oxygen requirements of the area went up, fans strained to meet the requirements. As the overseers of the farms slacked off, paying it no mind, something entirely unnatural was forming in the confines of the farm. Cells met in an orb of biomass, before slowly forming into a humanoid shape. First, only basic features and organs were visible, but within seconds the full details of a face, clothing, and other features were entirely formed in the cool, controlled environment of the farm.
Across the station, an equally remarkable event took place, just as unnoticed. A young Turian man stepped out from what seemed to be a hole in the thin air. He took a deep breath in, hearing the wheeze of his gas mask, dusting off his dark blue suit and adjusting his orange tie, before glancing around the room, seeing no one, and strolling over to the door of the room.
The being in the hydroponics farm cracked his neck, feeling the nerves twist and the bones lock into place. He searched for a door, and upon finding one, casually forced open the hydraulic doors keeping him in. He began to walk away before his eyes widened and he realized something. He turned around, picked up a pair of latex gloves sitting on a surgical tray, and followed the signs pointing to the station's bacterial laboratory.
The being in the suit exchanged his gas mask for a pair of blue-framed glasses, the mask disappearing exactly as its wearer appeared. He took a deep breath, centering himself. His body seemed to slightly vibrate in space, but as he exhaled, the vibration stopped, at least a little. His finger tapped his coat pocket nervously as he walked past a guard. He quickly scrambled for the ID card he'd appropriated earlier- It's a wonder what a little breaking and entering can do for you. The guard nodded and gestured towards the door. As the being in the suit praised the universe for his luck, he quickly started walking to a set of doors with an awful lot of noise coming through from the other side.
The being from the farm stepped coolly through the facility. By now, his clothing had morphed into a lab coat, a faux ID card hanging from its pocket. As he walked past a clock, he realized how much time he had for what he came here for. He picked up his pace, heading for the lab's vaults.
The suited being threw open the double doors to a sterile, clinical meeting room. A man sat at the front, clearly full of himself and his achievement. The being sat down, taking a quick count of how many potential threats he'd have to deal with. Then double-counting. Then triple-counting. At the seventh count, the man at the front stood up.
"Distinguished clients of the Chorus Corporation," the man started as the presentation screen behind him began to come online, "Imagine, if you will: A world where the terrorists, the criminals, the wretches of society… Are gone." The being couldn't help but to scoff internally. 'Idiots. You're just as bad as these "wretches." Pff.' The being laid back as he zoned out through the explanation- Something about DNA pairing, genetic targeting, and of course this power to kill anyone with impunity would never be misused.
The being in the labcoat rifled through the cryo-storage units in the lab's vault, searching for his target. Finally, he opened a unit to see a note: COMPOUND X-232 MOVED FOR PRESENTATION. The being started to panic as he ran towards the station's meeting room.
The being in the suit tapped his fingers on his knee impatiently. 'We get it, you're a gifted biologist', the being thought, 'now stop jerking off your ego and give us what we came here for!' As if on command, two lab technicians opened a door at the other end of the meeting room, pushing a cart. The cart had a large incubator, with tubes and lamps twisting all around the device while white steam blew out from the dry-ice cooling systems. A digital temperature gauge showed the incubator rested at an even 99.1 degrees Fahrenheit. Inside the incubator was a small vial, filled with a thick, clear substance.
"This," said the scientist at the front, "Is how we will achieve our goals. With this bacterium, any criminal can be subdued, any dictator can be assassinated… Any competition can be… Dealt with."
The being in the suit narrowed his eyes and focused on the incubator, his hand slowly reaching inside his coat pocket. As his fingers slipped behind his lapel, something altogether surprising interrupted his train of thought. A man wearing a labcoat sprung from the door, pushing the two lab technicians out of the way. He stood protectively in front of the incubator, getting ready to speak. At first, the being in the suit was confused- The person in the lab coat seemed oddly… Familiar. Then it clicked in his brain, and the being in the suit rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Customers," the one in the labcoat said, "I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to continue this presentation… For you see," the one in the labcoat said with a mischievous grin, "This organism is about to… Breach containment."
The attendees all gasped, save the one in the suit. The two security guards in the room drew their weapons as three more entered through the door. Vines crept around the walls of the room, grabbing three guards by the neck and impaling the other two. An alarm blared as blast doors could be heard slamming shut across the station. Marching footsteps could be heard as the being in the labcoat morphed his clothes into a cloak and a sword seemingly grew out of his arm. The being in the cloak began to make a speech to the attendees before the one in the suit had enough.
"Oh, for shit's sake, GET ON WITH IT!" The being in the suit pulled a customized black Carnifex pistol from his suit coat, shining its targeting laser on the one in the cloak's leg before firing a high-powered particle stream into it, stepping onto the table, and taking off his glasses.
"Alright, people, listen up," yelled the being in the suit, said as he put his gas mask back on, "This isn't how I was planning on doing this, but hey, spice of life, right? Anyway, this little project that you've got going on here is pretty obviously bogus, considering that I don't see one person here who doesn't have some kind of criminal charge, so I'll just be taking this," he said as he pulled a blowtorch out of his coat, "And making sure you fucks don't ruin the global balance of power." The being in the suit jumped down before feeling a vine tug on his leg. The being in the cloak got up and started walking over to the incubator.
"Wow. Just wow. It just amazes me what kind of people think they can challenge me." The being in the cloak looked to the door as a team of heavily-armored security guards came through the door, guns readied. "Take these schmucks, for example," he said as he seemingly dissolved and, seconds later, grew out of the vines to slash at a guard, seemingly being able to take every bullet the group selectively fired at him. He danced between the guards, growing another sword out of his other arm and beheading, dismembering, and overall maiming every guard he could see. As he stepped out of the carnage, covered in blood, he stopped in shock.
The being in the suit, leaning on the cart, was standing there with a blowtorch flaring directly into the incubator and onto the vial. The tubes and cooling system of the device was smashed, as the temperature gauge beeped, unreadable after being cracked severely. The substance inside the vial boiled before steam built up in the vial, eventually cracking and bursting open to send glass shards everywhere. Every attendee of the meeting laid, shot through the head, on the table or slumped in their chairs. The being in the suit, now having put away his gas mask and returned to his glasses, had an aggravatingly smug expression on his face as he put the blowtorch back into his suit pocket (where, oddly, it seemed to disappear- No bulge of any sort appeared in the suit) and walked to the center of the room, gun drawn and fully loaded.
The being in the cloak walked to meet him, swords at his side, ready to strike. As the two eyed each other, assessing the other's weight, height, and physical characteristics, the one in the suit laughed, put his gun back into his suit coat, and stuck out his hand.
"Hell, it's about time." say the one in the cloak and he too stuck out his hand and shook the other man's hand.
"Heh, it's been awhile, huh Hellstat?" says the one in the suit.
"Far too long, Quark," Hellstat said with a chuckle.
"Soooooo, seen the new episode of Doctor Who?"
Quark smirked. "Seen it? I've looked at every possibility that possibly could have come of it! I literally watched the version of it where everything's a porno and they have 'Safe-For-Work Parodies' of everything!"
Hellstat raised an eyebrow. "Every episode? Doesn't that seem a bit… Overkill?"
Quark rolled his eyes playfully. "Everything I do is overkill to you! Watching every possible version of a show? 'Overkill.' Assassinating Stalin by smothering him in the womb? 'Overkill.' Convincing the US that bombing Hiroshima is humane, just so I have a blast to create a portal to as a backup weapon? 'Overkill!' You need to lighten up, dude."
Hellstat sighed. "Listen dude, we really need to have a talk about this..." Just as about Quark was to rebuttal, a very loud alarm sounded off. This caused both Quark and Hellstat to grin like madmen.
Hellstat glanced at Quark as he walked over to the door, stepping over the pile of corpses he'd created minutes ago. "Sooo… Feel like committing mass murder for the sole purpose of flipping the middle finger to a multi-trillion-credit megacorporation?"
Quark smirked. "What other way are you supposed to spend Tuesday nights?"
*queue Ready to Die by Andrew W.K*
Thus The effects of Science! Take play.
|chapter 1 end|
A/N: This was co-written with Jeff (my best bud) And well... this is most what we'd act like given super powers and as Jeff would say. don't give us super powers.