Why spend all of your resources creating one evil super soldier when you could have seven?

Lisa moved through the hallway with an eager stride. The sound of her high heels stepping across iron plating echoed through the ventilation pipes overhead. Her short pencil skirt swayed in rhythm with her hips. Every ten feet, bright red RESTRICTED signs flashed on the wall and added an extra sparkle to her moist lipstick. Her long lab coat trailed behind her as she walked.

Lisa was entering a section of DOATEC's central complex that went by the official name Plant C Biologic Retreatment and Processing. Internally, it was more commonly known as "The Salon," a provocative place that blended technology with flesh. If you chose to fight DOATEC and you met certain physical specifications, you risked taking a trip to the Salon.

The final pair of airtight doors slid open in front of Lisa. A row of metal holding cells were lined up against the opposite wall, each with their own unique design and restraining equipment. The contents of the cells were hidden under solid metal blast shields, but above each structure was a screen that showed a flat image of a female figure with diagnostic readings. Seven faceless Vitruvian Women each labeled with a different Greek letter.

The names they had used prior to becoming assets of DOATEC had been completely stricken from the record. This was partly for confidentiality, and partly because their frail human identities had been deemed obsolete.

Lisa approached the group of scientists tending the first container. This one was shaped like a large stainless steel tube, with a base built into the floor and massive power cables connecting it to the ceiling. Lisa casually reviewed her research papers, holding the clipboard tightly to her low cut blouse.

"Show me the merchandise," she ordered the scientists.

The curved outer plating of the tube opened and uncovered the transparent glass cylinder underneath. Inside the enclosure was a young woman in a state of semi-consciousness floating weightlessly in viscous green fluid. Her long brown hair drifted over her shoulders and partially covered her chest, providing her with only the slightest means of modesty. She was wearing nothing but her own bare skin—the standard uniform for all of the DOATEC's specimens while they were being examined and experimented on.

Ah, Alpha. The corporation's longest lasting guinea pig. The first Dead or Alive tournament had been designed as a ruse to lure her out as the world's strongest fighter so she could promptly be acquired. Lisa was always excited to see what the scientists were doing with her.

"Her body seems to be getting along with the alkali culture rather well," Lisa observed with a smile. "How long has she been exposed to the current formula?"

"One month and 19 days," one of the scientists replied. "Total invasion of epidermis was completed last week. Now she's experiencing genetic symbiosis."

"And what exactly are the properties of this solution?" Lisa asked.

Another scientist handed her a beaker that looked like a scaled down version of Alpha's housing compartment. It was filled with a sample of the same emerald liquid that preserved the test subject. The fluid swashed around with the consistency of oil as Lisa rolled the tube in her hand. When she tapped her polished nail against the glass, the fluid violently threw all of its potential energy in the opposing direction and tried to attack her hand through the glass.

"How… deliciously volatile," Lisa said as she handed the sample back. "And she'll be completely saturated in this substance when we send her into battle?"

"It will overwrite her body chemistry down to the molecular level once we're finished with her," one of the scientists corrected. "She'll become a new superior lifeform."

"Interesting," Lisa said, tapping the back of her pen to her lips. "Roll the tech demo."

Alpha's vital monitor changed to show a virtual battlefield populated by generic wireframe enemies. In the center was Alpha in her fully realized form. Her entire body was transparent, as if she were comprised of the same material she currently bathed in. She jumped behind two of the wireframes with inhuman speed, blasted them away with a massive burst of energy from her palm, and then teleported in front of her next attackers. She dealt with all of her enemies in the same swift and ruthless efficiency, leaving nothing but a ghostly trail of shimmering green mist in her path.

The final product was still naked, almost unrecognizable except for the style of her long green hair and the voluptuous contours of her body. A goddess of DOATEC's trademarked malice-fueled sludge.

Lisa nodded in approval.

"I'm increasing your budget by 300%. I want you to really go to work on her."

Inside the cylinder, Alpha gently rocked her head back. A small stream of bubbles floated out of her mouth. She was having a bad dream in her chemical slumber.

"But increase the diazepam levels in the bonding solution," Lisa instructed. "I want her to be comfortable while she's our guest."

"Stay jiggly, darling!" Lisa waved at Alpha before she moved on.

The next containment unit sat low to the ground and was only a fraction of the size of Alpha's structure. Sleek and round, it looked like a more complex version of a dairy pasteurizer. When the scientists unlocked the container for Lisa's inspection, the entire lid peeled off and a cloud of light blue fog escaped from the top.

Sigma was sitting down in her cell with her eyes closed and her back against the steel interior. If Alpha was a product of the original recipe for Mountain Dew, Sigma represented the Voltage variety. Small currents of electricity surged through the dark blue nectar. She was submerged in the glowing fluid to halfway up her chest. Only her head shoulders, her head, and the top portion of her bust were visible.

"What's on the schedule for Sigma?" Lisa asked the girl's maintenance team.

"Cybernetic prosthesis," one of the scientists replied. "We've reinforced most of her natural muscles with nanocircuitry. Her combat potential will be increased a hundredfold."

"So you're building another robot," Lisa said with a hint of doubt in her voice. She looked closely at Sigma's vital monitor. "You might have done a good job hiding the augmentations, but how are you going to prevent her from falling apart like Omega?"

"Our predecessors failed because they didn't account for Omega overheating when he was active for extended periods. We've been working on a completely new monitoring system for Sigma."

The scientist pointed to the braid in Sigma's light pink hair. In place of that odd skull decoration she used to wear, she was now equipped with a round prism that was divided into quadrants. Small LEDs lit up in all four quadrants and formed a green circle.

"This is how the system looks in ideal conditions," the scientist explained. "And this is what happens when she starts getting too hot."

Three of the quadrants turned red. The fourth shut off completely.

"We can instruct her to return to base and enter her cooling device, or we can issue an immediate shut down if there's an emergency."

Lisa fearlessly reached into the cell and lightly tapped Sigma on her cheek. Nothing about her felt artificial. Sigma twitched her eyelids in her half-dreaming state and instinctively brushed Lisa's hand away.

Sigma's monitor changed to a combat simulation. Her fighting attire was formed from a portion of the electrified blue gel. It was integrated with her body, taking the shape of a baggy shirt with a pair of small form-fitting shorts. It gave the impression of a futuristic aerobics uniform.

The strength boost was astronomical. Every punch, kick, and tackle she used shattered the wireframe opponents to pieces. When she threw an uppercut, the enemy remained stuck in the air as if they were held up by an invisible net. When she swung her arm again, the enemy slammed back into the ground with impossible velocity.

"Sigma will be able to manipulate the physics of any battlefield," another scientist narrated the demonstration. "She can generate her own gravitational fields by concentrating her electromagnetism."

Lisa's eyes moved back on sleepy little Sigma enjoying her nuclear sauna. Those breasts were completely out of proportion for that body. It was a wonder she didn't already generate her own gravitational field.

"Good. There's no telling how much we can milk a weapon this powerful," Lisa said to the scientists. "I'll endow you with any resources you need."

She confidently walked toward the next specimen.

Gamma was encased in a large metal pillar. The shutters folded open and revealed a tall rectangular glass cell. Like her half-sister Alpha, she floated almost motionlessly in her enclosure, fully submerged in a clear liquid that resembled the color of tea. The outside of the glass was covered with holographic symbols that emulated the appearance of ancient Shinto wards.

The test subject had short violet hair that wisped serenely in the preservative fluid. And in their extensive research, DOATEC's scientists had discovered the answer to one of the world's greatest mysteries: Yes, the carpet matched the drapes.

Lisa slowly walked around the perimeter of the pillar, getting the full 360 degree showroom view.

"Gamma is looking very pretty today," Lisa said as she stroked the outside of the glass. "This is the girl we're turning into… a man-made Tengu, if I remember correctly. How's the progress?"

"Other than she tried to break out of her holding cell by creating a miniature storm system last week, everything is right on schedule," one of the scientists assigned to Project Gamma answered.

"You are taking extra precautions, I hope." Lisa glanced over to the workers in suspicion.

"Of course. We weather-proofed the entire cell and placed her in total isolation to improve her mental domestication. She's become much calmer over the past few days."

Gamma's virtual combat demonstration started. She was wearing a purple ninja robe that was decorated with a motif of dark clouds and showed off a lot of leg. She battled her wireframe opponents by combining her physical attacks with the most deadly forces of nature. She summoned a massive bolt of lightning straight down from the sky at the end of a combo. She laid waste to an entire simulated army by twirling her arms and causing a typhoon.

"The calm before the storm." Lisa smiled in agreement.

She drew a few checkmarks on her notepad and continued down the row.

The next container was a large box standing vertically. When shell opened, there was no secondary enclosure, and there was no glowing wonder-juice. There was only the unconscious specimen strapped to an upright gurney. Twinkling electrical wires were pinned all over her bare body like high-tech acupuncture. The largest cables were pinned to her head, covering most of her scalp.

"I haven't been paying close attention to Theta. What kind of beauty work is she having done?" Lisa passively asked.

"This girl broke in here demanding to know what we did to Epsilon, so we're giving her the answers," one of the scientists chuckled. "We'll use her to overcome the limitations of the original Epsilon project and create something even better. We're augmenting her combat potential by stimulating her natural muscle, skeletal, and immune systems. Her attacks will be stronger and her healing factor will increase exponentially."

"And what about those?" Lisa pointed to the cybernetic jungle consuming Theta's head.

"Total neurological reformatting. We've cleared out her original consciousness and we can install any persona you request. Her mind can be reset an unlimited number of times."

On simulation screen, Theta was back in her usual street attire—a pair of jeans and a tank top. Nothing seemed radically different about her fighting technique, other than now she occasionally snapped the necks of her virtual opponents at the end of a combo.

"Can she warp the laws of physics?" Lisa asked curiously.

"No," one of Theta's handlers answered.

"Can she shoot lasers?"

"No."

"Can she transubstantiate her body into a higher form?"

"No."

"So you're telling me you're just giving her super strength, super healing, and you can adjust her personality from time to time?"

"That is correct, ma'am," the scientist replied. They started to glance at each other nervously.

"How excessively… boring." Lisa sighed. She took off her glasses and started to closely review the notes on her clipboard. She slipped one of the earpieces in her teeth as she thought deeply to herself.

Then she raised her head and smiled to the scientists.

"But Helena would be wise to keep at least one of her girls on the low as a sleeper agent. I'll continue your funding."

She anxiously moved on to the next exhibit.

While Theta's brain had fallen into the vile clutches of DOATEC, Lambda had fallen into the even more vile clutches of DOATEC's brain. Lisa could hear the housing structure emitting a low, rhythmic thud as she stepped closer—like the sound of blood pumping through a massive cerebral cortex. The structure was made of modern titanium and had a strong industrial look, but there were hints of a giant Moai head in its design.

The cell opened and revealed another glass case underneath, this one shaped like a giant crystal brain. Lambda's bare form was hovering limply inside, but there was no physical substance keeping her in place. Massive psionic forces wrapped around every inch of her body and kept it afloat in the pulsating chamber. Her long black hair covered most of her face, hiding the strange expressions she made in her sleep. Every throbbing second, she was overwhelmed by another thousand megatons of artificial psychic power.

"Now that's what I like to see," Lisa said contently. "A girl with a lot on her mind."

Lambda's vital monitor switched to the simulation screen. The virtual vision of the future showed her wild-eyed and laughing hysterically as she annihilated every wireframe fighter around her without even touching them. She would point, giggle, and cause someone's head would explode. She would wave her arm, throw her head back in a fit of laughter, and another enemy would fly into pieces as if a giant invisible axe had swung through them. When she did use physical attacks, it was only a quick series of flips or punches, followed up with viciously tearing her opponent apart with nothing but the power of her thoughts.

"We're unlocking the full potential of her mind. Her entire body will become a conductor for psychic energy," one scientist explained to Lisa.

First the simulation showed Lambda going about her rampage dressed head to toe in a white kimono. Lisa toggled to a different option, and Lambda was shown in a more modern lab gown about the same length. Both outfits lost their purity in a matter of seconds. No matter what Lambda tried on in the simulation, she was drenched in the blood of her opponents almost as soon as the battle started. And all the while she was fighting, her hysterical laughter never ceased. She was a geisha turned murderous telepath.

"That looks interesting. But why is she acting so crazy?" Lisa asked the Lambda team.

"A side effect of the psych-boosting process," another scientist answered. "There's no way to expand her consciousness to this level without destroying her sanity."

"Oh," Lisa said in relief. "Well, that part isn't important anyway. Go nuts on her!"

Lisa gave the team a thumbs-up and walked to the next holding cell.

She could feel the temperature rising as she got closer. This containment unit had the dimensions of a thick steel coffin and rested on a counter about three feet off the floor. The test subject's vital monitor showed her body temperature was well above the healthy human limit.

Lisa leaned over the container in anticipation. The lid slowly peeled open, releasing a sudden gust of hot sulfuric air.

The subject was lying placidly on her back in the high-tech cauldron. Inside was a shallow pool of blistering chemical magma. It was only a couple inches deep, leaving all of her front features above the waterline. She was bare naked except for the black specimen collars around her wrists and neck. It gave her a bit of a retro look. Her half-submerged head was framed by her dark brown hair floating in waves on the surface of the fluid. It was normally tied in a long ponytail, but that was before she had been defeated by company personnel and shipped off to the lab.

DOATEC's newest enemy had almost immediately become their newest unwitting biology experiment. Her history was a little more two-dimensional than the corporation's other test subjects, but that had no effect on her potential to become a beautiful doomsday weapon.

"What does Ms. Iota have for us today?" Lisa asked with a whimsical gleam in her eye.

"Cellular insulation is up to 62%. She's exceeding all of our expectations so far," one of Iota's researchers replied. "We were just about to conduct her weekly stress test. Would you like to do the honors?"

Lisa was handed a thermos-like contraption. Her fingers cunningly and dutifully wrapped around the warm shaft and gently unscrewed the head. She tipped the metal jar over Iota's holding cell, pouring the scolding synthetic lava over her bare abdomen and chest with the eloquence of someone slathering barbeque sauce over a slab of roasted pork.

Patches of Iota's skin changed to the texture of dried volcanic rock and expelled the excess heat through thin wisps of smoke. The next moment, it changed back to creamy, sweat-covered flesh. Rather than appearing horribly scorched, Iota's skin actually gained an attractive tan. She sighed quietly in her sleep, exhaling an extra puff of smoke from her mouth.

Iota's thermal monitor was replaced with her combat demo. In battle, her entire body glowed bright orange-pink, the colors of solar fusion. She was wearing a highly flammable version of her scanty red ninja outfit, letting plenty of oxygen reach her skin to maximize her combustion. Her long ponytail wisped through the air behind her like a flaming whip.

Iota opened her fans, turning them into torches. Any of the virtual opponents struck by her attacks were maimed with fire. The luckier ones were taken out with basic moves and only suffered second degree burns. The not so lucky ones wound up in one of Iota's grapples and were drawn into her volcanic embrace. Only a small pile of ash remained.

"How much longer until the modifications are complete?" Lisa asked as she tensely watched the demonstration.

"A couple more months in stasis, based on our current projections," the scientist answered. "Then she'll reach her eruption point."

"Sounds like she'll be a real hottie by the time the next tournament rolls around," Lisa said. "I'm signing off on all the extra funding you'll need. I don't want our new superstar to get a chance to cool off."

She moved on to the final specimen.

The sealed holding tank for Subject Delta had the most unique appearance out of any of the equipment in the Salon. It was constructed in the likeness of a giant female Buddha, reclining with her legs crossed and her mighty belly and breasts thrust forward. The shutters on the front of the metal statue opened to reveal the prisoner trapped in its clear bulbous stomach.

"How… theatrical," Lisa said as she brought the tip of her index finger to her lips.

Delta was hovering on her knees with her fists pressed to the glass and a half-aware look of defeat frozen on her face. Her naked body was kept aloft on clouds of smoke that constantly circulated through the Buddha's interior, an ethereal realm controlled through a complicated series of fans and bellows. Every 30 seconds, empty smoke would stream out of the statue's nostrils and ears, and more clean smoke would be pumped down into its belly.

"Organic carbonation," one of Delta's personal handlers said to Lisa. "We're extracting all of the heavier compounds from her cells and replacing them with a less dense oxygen substitute. This will remove all of her physical limitations and grant her complete mastery of her body. We call the process Enlightenment."

The combat simulation loaded on Delta's screen. She fought in a long qipao and moved with impossible agility, fluidity, and grace. Lisa couldn't decide if she was executing her kung-fu techniques in slow motion, in reduced gravity, or both. None of her wireframe opponents could keep up with her as she parried and kicked with the delicacy of air. At the same time, all of her attacks hit with the force of a gale storm.

"So wispy," Lisa said, calmly watching with her hand on her hip.

Delta's hair suddenly unraveled from its Chinese braids and flew out like a barrage of arrows. The threads strangled, impaled, or otherwise decapitated every last enemy around her.

"And so promising." Lisa's eyes flashed in delight. "I just have a little bit of feedback on your product design."

She walked closer to Delta's control board and swiftly went to work.

"You have the right idea for the fighting attire, but you're not pushing the envelope. She needs something a little more glitzy."

Delta's simulated qipao was altered as Lisa pointed and swiped across the image. The long closed skirt was slashed open, leaving a generous slit on one side that went all the way up to her waist. Lisa traced a circle across the silk covering Delta's chest, carefully wiping the pixels away with the tip of her finger and opening a small window of cleavage.

"Ah, perfect."

Lisa smiled at her craftsmanship.

"Keep up the good work," she said to the scientists. "We'll make a fortune out of her."

Lisa adjusted her glasses and skimmed over her clipboard one final time. Passing through the airtight doors again, she began the long, slinking walk back to DOATEC's executive offices. She was going to have plenty of good things to report at the quarterly review.