Sunday April 2nd 2014, 07:15

Mokushiroku Laboratories, below-ground operating theatre

Jiro Noboru - handsome, charismatic genius, cytologist and celebrated epidemiologist, and of only twenty-eight years of age - allowed himself to bask in the applause with which his entrance was heralded. He could see his father in the front row of seats behind the glass wall which separated the press and various political spectators from the operating theatre, triumphant in his father's pride. He turned his back on the crowd, cameras flashing behind him. He saw the soldiers in their precise line-up alongside the machine, five male and five female, all ten with backs straight and chins up. They gave a swift salute as he approached them. The young doctor smiled; respect was a nice feeling. He almost wished he'd created a super-serum sooner.

"Today is a day we've all been waiting for," the acclaimed doctor announced to those present to witness the new era of their country, his voice projected a hundred times through the microphone in his hand. He could see his reflected repeated in the innumerable lenses of news cameras pointed his way. "The day our forces become the greatest in the world." The applause had subsided, and now the doctor motioned toward the ten men in line. "These brave, brave soldiers are today to become the symbol of a new era, not just for Japan," He clapped a hand on the bare shoulder of a male soldier standing closest to the machine, "but for the world. How, you may ask? Well..."

He strode round the side of the machine, towards a compartment which opened up to a row of hypodermic needles. He picked one out, holding the small phial up with finger and thumb; the violet liquid inside sloshed around like dark wine.

"I have dedicated the past seven years of my life to the development of this serum. Since I was young the exploration of genetics and the inheritance of the dominant alleles has fascinated me. In genetics, dominance is everything. And so I developed a serum - this serum - for complete genetic dominance in every field." There was an enraptured silence from those behind the glass. With a little grin to himself, Jiro replaced the phial back among its companions, sliding the compartment back inside the machine. "I will not bore you with the genetics of it - it's a level too intense for those who have not studied it for so long as I have. The process begins with a series of micro-injections to the major muscles - including the brain - whereby the serum infusion will cause immediate cellar enhancement. The newly modified cells will supply the subjects with superior speed, agility, strength and brainpower prior to the serum. Similar to the spreading of disease within the body, in place of virus or bacteria all that spreads is pure power."

There was a collective intake of breath, reverent with anticipation.

"Mr. Tobikomi, if you're ready," he spoke now to the soldier whom he had clapped on the shoulder. The young man looked at him, awaiting an order. "If you would be so kind as to step up into the machine."

Tobikomi looked down at the machine beside him. It was like some high-tech recliner, with many wires and straps. He wondered whether they were to restrain him. He did as he was bidden, ascending the short steps and accepting a hand to help him inside. He positioned himself, laying at an upwards angle, and Noboru and his assistants in their white lab coats set to tying him down. He could only watch as he was secured to the machine by his ankles and his wrists. Wires were wound around his fingers and toes, and he could feel them buzzing slightly with a light current of electricity. Mechanical arms of sorts were pulled down over his chest and his arms, an item strongly resembling a sieve over his head. He could feel the needles just pricking his skin, not breaking through but all the same rather uncomfortable on contact, cold and unfriendly. They gave him a sense of foreboding, and his mind imagined some kind of genetic mutation to the serum. He hated to imagine what could happen if this went wrong. He turned his eyes towards Noboru, his gloved hand hovering above a pulsating green button.

Upon receiving a thumbs up from one of his assistants, whom he recognised as Cho Atsuko, assuring Tobikomi was prepared, the young doctor retrieved the microphone from his jacket.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, grinning to himself, "Welcome to the New Era."

With this he pushed the button, and immediately Tobikomi began to scream.

Monday 3rd April 2014, 11:24

Ouran High Scool, Music Room 3

"Haruhi, come and play already!" the twins whined, throwing an eraser at my head. It bounced off with a dull thump, and I rolled my eyes as I looked at Mori, who was sitting next to me. It was break, and we were all hanging out in Music Room 3, as we had club time immediately afterwards until lunch. The twins were playing some sort of game with Honey and Tamaki, whereby one person stood with their back to the other players and they would turn around and try to catch someone moving as they tried to get closer and closer to them. The twins always tried to pull ridiculous poses at the last split-second, so were often out and had to return to the start.

"Shut up, you two, I'm trying to read," I told them, returning my attention to the newspaper in my hands.

"Watcha reading?" they asked, and in an instant they were leaning over the sofa either side of me.

"There's this really interesting article from yesterday," I said, indicating to a picture of eleven people. Ten were extraordinarily muscular, male and female alike, and were very tall. The eleventh was smaller, in a white lab coat and was in front of the others.

"Who's that guy?" Hikaru asked from my right, pointing at the man in the centre.

"Jiro Noboru," Kaoru read the inscription beneath the photo.

"Who the hell's he?" Hikaru asked.

"He's a famous scientist," I said matter-of-factly. "Since this article he's become a billionaire, and he's been nominated for a number of awards - including a new one named after him."

"Never heard of him," they said together.

"You wouldn't have," I muttered. Before they could complain I continued, "He's invented this new serum which enhances all your genetics and makes you into some kind of super-human - they're calling it the Super Serum."

"Creative name," the twins intoned, and I snorted with laughter.

"Well, what would you call it, then?"

"I'd call it the Mori-senpai Mixture," Hikaru said, ruffling a hand through the third-year's already messy black hair, "because he was clearly the first person they tested it on. How else could he get so freakishly big and buff?"

"Shut up," Mori said in his low voice, batting away Hikaru's hand with his own large one.

"Leave him alone, guys," I told them, reaching up and smoothing out the third year's hair before returning to my newspaper.

"Are there any cool side effects?" Kaoru asked, leaning in closer to read the article himself. "Do they start sprouting extra arms or something?"

"Nothing that we know of yet," I said, pushing his head back so it wasn't in the way of my reading. "Only time will tell if there are any serious consequences."

Sunday 23rd April 2014, 23:19

Mokushiroku Laboratories, Noboru's penthouse apartments

"More champagne, my dear?" Noboru asked the woman opposite, picking up the sparkling bottle. Cho giggled, dabbing her mouth with the silk napkin.

"After nothing but champagne the past three weeks, I still can't pass it up," she conceded, and Noboru refilled her glass. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this kind of life."

"Oh, I certainly can," the handsome young doctor said, setting the bottle down and taking another bite of lobster. "I've waited all my life for it to be like this. And now I finally have what all my brothers have."

"Did all nine have something like this?" the female asked, sipping lightly on her bubbling champagne. Her lipstick left a red rim around the crystal. He looked at her, smiling a little. Cho Atsuko was one of his assistants, fresh from university at twenty two years old and very very pretty. She had black hair, long and straight and soft, and eyes like stars above the soft pink sunset of her cheeks. In addition to her beauty she was highly intelligent, academically, and had been a vital instrument in the development of his serum - she didn't know this of course. She only thought she'd chipped in a little with her support and encouragement. It was only more helpful to him that she was still young, a girl's naiveté still lingering within her, let alone the fact that she adored him. Innocent and unknowing, she returned his smile. His own smile widened; it was easy enough to see that she was in love with him, and easier still to make use of it; women in love were so very easy to exploit.

"Not quite like this," he replied, reaching a hand across the table and clasping hers. "Because I've got something better." She flushed scarlet, blinking rapidly as she reached again for her drink. He stopped her hand with his other, pulling her to her feet before she could protest; dragging her into his arms he kissed her, crushing his lips to her own. For a moment she was shocked, struggling, but as he kept firm hold of her, pressing her to him, she slipped away with her naivety, falling under his manipulation.

Whatever keeps her close, he thought.

Monday 24th April 2014, 01:47

Mokushiroku Laboratories, Noboru's penthouse apartments

Noboru lay beside Cho, her slim form pressed against his chest. He could feel the contented way her sleepy breaths rose and fell next to him, his arms wrapped around her naked chest. Her hair was mussed across the pillow, both from sleep and that which had happened before, but still retained its softness against his cheek. Her limps, plump and red-stained - the colour far across her cheeks and down her neck - were curled in a smile as she dreamt of the one she loved, who lay beside her and who did not love her back. At least, did not love her in the way she loved him - while she loved his heart, of which there was little or none to love, he loved her mind.

Not yet sleeping, his mind busy formulating the ways of maintaining his newest resource for power, Noboru sat up, drawing his arms from her as a venus fly trap opens its jaws after devouring its prey - he'd had a lot of fun with that part, too. He got out of bed, pulling on a dressing gown and tying it loosely round the waist, pouring a tumbler of brandy from the decanter on his bedside table. He sauntered over to the open window, pushing aside the drapes that fluttered in the breeze. The sky was bright and awake with stars, brilliant as the coins in his pocket, all revenue from Cho's ignorant assistance. He chuckled under his breath, taking a sip of brandy. It was strong, like his triumph; not only was he richer, now, than all his brothers but he had the key to even greater fortune stuck under his thumb like a butterfly on a board.

How fitting, he told himself, that 'Cho' means 'butterfly'.

There was a noise, a shout, from below. Noboru looked down. Nothing was there, not a bird nor a leaf. Not even a whisper of a wind. The breeze that blew by was soft and silent. He shrugged it off, taking another swig of brandy as he turned away from the window. But then there it was again, louder, and something like running footsteps. He looked out again, but still he saw nothing.

Cho let out a soft noise, like a moan, and she shifted beneath the dark red bed sheet. He saw a twinkle of light as her open eyes reflected the stars they so resembled.

"Jiro..?" she said sleepily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, holding the corner of the sheet across her chest. She looked at him, standing there by the window, and smiled a little. "Jiro, come back to bed - you've got an important interview tomorrow, remember?"

"How good of you to remind me," he said softly, setting down his glass on the windowsill and returning to the bed. He crawled on top of it, over the girl on his hands and knees. He kissed her. "What would I ever do without you? I certainly wouldn't have come this far if it weren't for you." Cho, winding her hands around his neck and smiling up at him, would never have guessed at that time the truth behind these words.

"You're only saying that," she said, pouting like an arrogant school girl that's begging for more compliments. "I couldn't possibly be all that important."

"Oh, no, I'm not," Noboru told her, bending his head closer to hers. "After all, you're a very important girl to me, Cho."

"What - little old me?"

"Little old you."

With a little giggle Cho pulled his head down, closing the gap between them, beginning to kiss him. After a few moments his lips started down her neck, and she shivered. Neither of them heard the footsteps approaching, not until there was a loud, hurried knocking upon the door; Cho and Noboru sat up, quick as frightened rabbits.

"What is it?" Noboru shouted, and Cho cringed a little in his sudden anger. "I'm busy in here!"

"Mr. Noboru, sir," came the apologetic voice through the door. It was a voice etched with fear. "We're having a few issues, sir."

"With what?"

"With the serum subjects, sir."

"With the - the serum subjects?"

"Yes, sir."

Noboru spared no time in returning Cho's frightened glance. He leapt from the bed, tightening the cord of his dressing gown as he strode to the main door. He pulled it open, ignoring Cho's shriek of discomfort as she hastily covered herself with the bed sheet.

"What happened?" he said sharply, glowering at the men in lab coats outside his door. One had a bloodied lip and was clutching his hand, which sported deep human bite marks which bled very dark blood onto the white carpet. "What could have possibly happened?"

"Each week we've run diagnostics, as you told us to," the front man rushed to explain, brandishing a clipboard; Noboru snatched it from him, running his cold blue eyes over its contents. He was met with ill news.

"How are these numbers even possible?" he asked, almost angrily. "How can a person have a heart rate of nine hundred beats per minute? How can they all have that?"

"Not all, sir," another man said, and Noboru shot him a look of acid, "Not the women - their levels remain fine, in every quarter, as they should be from our predictions."

"Every week we tested them in their fitness levels," the first spoke again, "And every week their levels continued to rise - we ran the diagnostics for brain activity and we couldn't see anything, the change was too fast. Each week it's gotten more intense, and we've noticed they're also less capable of the mundane activities - writing and speaking and such. You know how after every test we ask them to describe their muscle fatigue, or what they think about the programme?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, as of yesterday morning's programme they didn't seem able to speak. They didn't eat or drink the whole day, and they haven't for the past three days either - not from what we've seen. The men did nothing; they walked around, bumping into things and mumbling, and following scientists and assistants everywhere until reaching the point where they have to be restrained and removed to their rooms. They've become more and more violent towards others, even having attacked and bitten Aoi tonight as we went to check on them - they've been making noise all night."

Noboru rounded on Cho.

"Did you know about this?" he asked her, voice like a growl. "Did you know about all that's been happening down there?" For a moment she was too overwhelmed to speak. "Did you know about - "

"Yes," she blurted out, shrinking back against the bedstead; his face was livid, on fire. "I didn't think it was anything to worry about, so I - "

"You didn't think it was anything to worry about!?" he shouted, hurling the clipboard at her. She shrieked, rolling off the bed and crumpling to the floor to avoid being hit. "You didn't think that nine hundred beats per minute was anything to worry about!?"

"I never saw the stats!" she cried, pulling the sheet around her like a robe and holding it at the top to keep it from falling as she approached him. "I - I'm only an assistant - and I've spent nearly all my time with you because I'm your assistant! I've only been down to diagnostics twice in the three weeks!" She seized his hand with hers, tearful, but he pulled it away. He looked at her as if in disgust.

"Sir," Aoi cut in, and Noboru turned his eyes on him. He was still holding to his bleeding hand. "The human body is completely incompatible with the serum, at an absolute incapacity to handle it. We've come to the conclusion that mental and physical over-exhaustion and stimulation has triggered a mental decay - perhaps even a physical decay - which started out slow, but has sped up exponentially within the weeks after its injection. Sir, the serum was just too powerful - even one dose would have been too much."

"Remind me how much was in one dose?" Noboru said.

"Five millilitres, sir."

"And how large was the dosage we supplied?"

There was a pause.

"One... one hundred millilitres, sir."

Cho let out a horrified gasp, clapping her free hand over her mouth.

"God help them..." Noboru whispered.

"God help us all, sir," Aoi interceded in a low voice.

"Help us all?" Cho asked, voice barely a breath. "What do you mean by that?" Aoi looked down at his hand, and all gaze was drawn to it. Now that Noboru looked at it properly, he saw that what leeched from it was not blood - it truly was too dark for that. It was purple. "Is that...?"

"The serum," he affirmed. "We've all theorised that bites from the affected individuals can place copies of it into the bloodstream of the bitten. We don't know if it will affect women the same way, but there's no taking chances. Anyone who's bitten is a threat." Noboru's face was pale, and he took a few steps back from the men in his doorway. "You're a epidemiologist - you know what you've created. You know what you've done." Aoi's eyes were cold as he looked at the young doctor, who in his fear looked even younger - a boy who had seen a very large spider for the first time.

"Is that why you came?" he asked, trying to keep the quiver from his voice. "To tell me that I doomed us all? What good will that do?"

"It will do very much good, indeed," the second man said. "The soldiers have all escaped." What little colour was left in the young man's face drained, leaving him white as a ghost. "We came here to warn you, so that you could escape too. And we need you alive. Knowing you doomed Japan - perhaps the world - may give you the incentive to make an antidote - I trust you are capable of that." Noboru's eyes flashed to Cho; now he needed her closer than ever, by any means necessary.

He turned his attention back to the men.

"Thank you, gentlemen," he said shortly. "Could you please call for my helicopter?" With stiff nods they all turned and left, assigning themselves to the end - it was too late for one of them, already. The door closed behind them. There was a moment of silence. "Get your clothes on, Atsuko," Noboru instructed, voice cold and distant. Cho, too frightened to do anything than might anger him, did as she was bidden, running to the bedroom and retrieving her dress from the floor. He got dressed himself, pulling on a suit as quickly as he could. He paused in doing up his belt as he heard sirens beginning to wail on the floors below, and shouts from the grounds. Cho spared a moment to look out the window, and saw fire dancing amid the mad flashing of security spotlights that spun everywhere in mad confusion.

"Jiro?" she called, but her voice was almost drowned by the sound of helicopter blades spinning overhead. Noboru turned his head up to the ceiling, snatching up his messenger bag from a chair and heading straight for a painting on the wall. He ripped its frame from the hanging, revealing a deadbolt safe behind it. Feverishly he typed in the code, and it unsealed with a quiet hiss, revealing many stacks of notes piled high within. Opening his bag he upended it, spilling documents and papers and pens from it with an edge of madness. He began stuffing in as many notes as would fit, until the bag would no longer close.

"Come on!" he said, seizing her arm in a rough grip and tugging her towards the door. In the corridor he turned left, towards a flight of stairs which led out to the landing pad. The noise was deafening, not just because of the helicopter but because of the gunfire. They could hear it even from the grounds, loud and clear and frightening. The helicopter door was thrown wide open, and Noboru pushed Cho inside before hauling himself up too. The door slammed after him, closed by a man armed with a very heavy gun. Cho was being strapped into a seat and a headset being placed over her ears to quieten the noise.

"Where to?" the pilot's voice sounded in Noboru's ear as he fitted his own headset.

"Somewhere... somewhere far away - anywhere that's safe."

"There is nowhere safe," Cho said, and Noboru looked round to see her weeping. "Not anymore."