Klaus was dumping out an ashtray from the fridge when he heard the low knock on the Operating Room doors. A second later, the doors opened and Viktor walked in. He was carrying his minigun in his hands. "Hello, doctor." The RED Heavy Weapons Guy said cheerfully.

"Viktor, I vas vaiting for you! Please, come in, come in!" Klaus ushered the larger man into the room. "You can set your weapon down on the floor over... there..." Klaus tried to say, but Viktor had already walked across the room and set the gun down on one of Klaus' medical cots.

"Only the best for Sasha." The Heavy said.

"Of course," Klaus muttered with a brief, incredulous head shake. With the probable exception of the Pyro, Viktor was certainly the most eccentric – for lack of a better word – of the team. "Vell then, let's get started!"

"What are we doing?" Viktor asked, somewhat suspiciously.

Klaus let out a disarming chuckle. "Actually, my obtuse friend, you are being given the honour of assisting me in a groundbreaking medical advancement." Klaus walked across the room to the Beam, and adjusted it to point at the cot that the Russian would be lying on. "Please, take a seat-" Klaus hurried over to Viktor, swatting the man's hand before the Russian could touch the Quick Fix, which was lying on the table. "And for God's sake, don't touch anything!"

Viktor sat on the cot, watching Klaus as he moved around the room. The Medic knelt in the corner of the room where the BLU Spy had knocked the Overdose, and swept syringes back into the gun. When he was finished, Klaus straightened up and turned to Viktor. "Vell, vhat are you vaiting for?" He said. "Go on, lie down! Lie down!"

"Tell me, Doctor," Viktor said, lying on his back on the cot and clasping his hands over his sizeable stomach. He looked uneasy. "What exactly are we doing?"

Klaus grinned. "Ve are making a God out of you." He said, and with that, he shot a syringe into Viktor's neck.

"Wha-" Viktor cried, grabbing the needle and pulling it out, but it was too late. "Traitor!" Viktor yelled, although his slurred speech seemed to turn the word into one syllable.

"Relax, my friend, I simply applied a local anaesthetic to you, it is heavily tested and completely harmless – at least it is to elephants..." Klaus trailed off. The man was already unconscious. The Medic clucked his tongue at the sight of the sleeping Russian, and thought of all the ways in which he was improving the Heavy Weapons Guy. Viktor was slow, lumbering, and naive... it was a miracle that he wasn't dead in the field already, even with his brute strength and impressive armament. In Viktor's current state, Klaus saw the man as weak and vulnerable – he was constantly making himself an easy target for enemies.

"Vith me at your side, my friend..." Klaus muttered, leaning over the man, "You vill be a Tiger Tank among men!"

Knock, knock, knock.

"Mr. Vetterlein?" A female voice called timidly.

Klaus' head shot up to look at the door. He saw a pretty woman standing there. She was mousey, and her body language suggested extreme hesitance and caution. She wore glasses and a light-red blouse.

"Ah, Miss Pauling! To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Miss Pauling checked the clipboard that she was hugging to her chest. "I was doing a routine examination of the mercenaries, and I couldn't help but notice a curious use of RED's funding – Operation Ubermensch?"

Klaus straightened up, and adjusted his glasses on his face. "Go on..."

" I checked around a bit, and found out that it was a failed application of the Medibeam's Intermissive Swelling Proton Surge Effect. Then, after some more checking around, I learned that you were planning to attempt the same experiment tonight." She glanced past Klaus, at Viktor. "Is... he okay?"

"He's alive." Klaus replied dismissively. "Who told you I vas vorking on Operation Ubermensch tonight?"

"A... little bird." Pauling replied, glancing up at the doves roosting in the rafters.

"Ah. I understand." Klaus knew that the Announcer bugged many things, in her obsessive need to control every aspect of the mercenaries' lives, and that she didn't have a problem with putting listening equipment in animals. When the gorilla had exploded during that first fateful experiment, parts of a microphone and radio set had shot out of its torso. Klaus had been confused, to say the least.

"Perhaps this conversation is better carried out elsewhere." Klaus told Miss Pauling.

"Agreed," She replied, and he led her out of the room.

Pauling was short – her head was on a level with Klaus' chest. Nonetheless, she was a direct link to the Announcer, and that made her intimidating, despite her passive, defensive demeanour.

"Thank you," Pauling muttered as they walked down the hall, keeping her voice low despite being away from the doves. "I want to be able to talk to you, away from Her ears."

"I know just ze place." Klaus replied. They walked through the poorly lit, mouldy hallways, stepping over broken tiles and under missing lights and ceiling panels, walking up a set of stairs. They passed numerous rooms that Klaus recognized as belonging to his teammates. Some of the doors were shut. Others were open, and the rooms were empty. Klaus Vetterlein wasn't the only member of RED who was having a sleepless night.

Klaus led Miss Pauling into a second story room. The room was wide, dark, and sparsely furnished. There was a large window that was overlooking the hill outside, where the battle was likely to be fought the next day. The window was broken in one corner, and there was a chill breeze entering the room. Klaus noticed that it was nearly dawn, as the night sky was much brighter than it should have been. He had lost track of time in the Operating Room.

"Zis room hasn't been used since I moved in." Klaus told Pauling. "But ze last winter was harsh. I doubt any listening equipment could have survived."

"Good, because I want to tell you something. Something the Announcer might not like."

"I'm made of ears." Klaus replied.

"I'm all ears is the expression. The Announcer is impressed by your show of initiative, and she sent me down here to tell you to go ahead with Operation Ubermensch. You have her full support. She says it's about time you did something useful for the team."

Klaus nodded solemnly, not surprised by the Announcer's sentiments.

"Before I speak my mind, Mr. Vetterlein, I'm required by my boss to tell you that you are a genius. You are a strong-willed, charismatic Renaissance man of medical science, while Mr. Conagher is a stupid, short-sighted man who hates advancement and has no passion for pioneering scientific progress."

"I agree entirely!" Klaus exclaimed excitedly, stabbing a finger into the air.

"No!" Miss Pauling exclaimed. She shook her head. "The Announcer always does this. She tells you what you want to hear to get into your head!" The young woman hit her forehead with the heel of her palm. `When will I stop submitting to her? Mr. Vetterlein, I read up on this project of yours! It was never tested on humans! It was tested on animals – once – and that was a failure."

"It vas a scientific misstep."

"It was a total failure. Do you have any scientific basis to suggest that the experiment will work this time?"

"Vell, I..." Klaus paused, rubbing his chin, and then shook his head. "No. But I have made adjustments to-"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The entire building shook, and Klaus and Miss Pauling dove to the ground as broken glass rained down on them. Miss Pauling suddenly reached into her blouse, and pulled out a revolver.

"What the hell was that?" She screamed, her head whipping around in terror.

"I think ze attack has started." Klaus replied bemusedly. "Interesting. It's early yet."

"Are we in danger?"

"I think zhat vas just a stray rocket. Ze real fighting is still on ze far side of ze hill."

Miss Pauling didn't look convinced as she held the gun with the barrel pointed at the ceiling, and pressed herself against the wall beside the window.

"L-let me make something clear, Mr. Vetterlein." She said. Her knees were shaking, and she seemed to be hiding behind the weapon. "The Announcer – our boss – sent me out here on a one-way teleporter. I'm trapped in this hospital, same as you. She gave me orders to tell you to go ahead with your project – she said the rewards outweigh the risks. But while our lives are an acceptable loss to her, I don't see things the same way! I would rather not get captured or killed by the enemy because of an underdeveloped, untested hypothesis gone wrong!"

"It vill vork," Klaus said to Miss Pauling. "I've done the necessary calculations many times." That was a lie.

Pauling's revolver arm shook. "Are-are you sure?"

"Positive." He fibbed again with a reassuring smile. Miss Pauling, getting over her initial surprise of the rocket attack, slowly put the revolver away.

"Now, I must go see Viktor. If I don't start cutting before he vakes up, things vill be a lot more complicated!"

"Won't he be mad that you drugged him and started testing on him without his permission?"

"I no longer have time to vorry about such things. Usually, though, once I get him cut open, he becomes much more... accepting... towards science." Klaus strode toward the door.

"I'll be keeping an eye on you, Mr. Vetterlein!" Miss Pauling called after him.

"I suggest you keep away from ze vindows!" Klaus called back without breaking stride. "Or at least find a helmet!" He stepped into the hallway, leaving Miss Pauling out of sight and mind.


Viktor's slow climb out of oblivion reminded him of the escape from the Siberian gulag. He was trapped under freezing water, trying to push to the surface with great, powerful strokes, but continuously hitting solid ice that pinned him beneath the surface. He punched the ice repeatedly, but it wouldn't give. His whole world was dark. His muscles were freezing cold, with hypothermia not far off. His lungs were aching, an ache that he knew would turn into unbearable pain in seconds. Viktor gave up his pounding, letting himself sink into the depths...

He shot up to the surface, using the last of his strength and oxygen to let out an angry cry, and then he smashed into the ice, and burst through-

"Ah." Klaus said, with a friendly smile. "My friend. You are finally avake."

"Where am I?" Viktor asked groggily, although one look at his surroundings answered his questions. He was no longer in Siberia. That was nothing but an old memory. He was lying on the cot, with his old friend the Medic leaning over him. It was all coming back to Viktor. Medic had needed his help. He had lay down on the cot. Medic shot him with the syringe...

Viktor's heart seemed to leap to his chest, and he slowly looked down at his stomach. There was Medic, leaning over a gaping hole in Viktor's torso. Viktor opened his mouth to cry out, but Klaus put a bloody finger to the man's mouth. "Shh, shh, mein friend. You are okay."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY SPLEEN?" Viktor screamed, his voice reverberating through the small room.

"Ze elephant sedative wore off too fast, I'm afraid, and I seem to have no more of it. I am sorry, my friend. As for vhat I'm doing... OH! Zhere it is!" Medic reached into Viktor's chest cavity, and extracted a giant rocket. "I thought I saw zis on ze X-Ray. You have a story for zis, hm?" Medic put the rocket gently on a nearby table. "One good burp and you vould have been in pieces!" Medic chuckled, but Viktor continued to scowl.

"Please, lighten up, my Russian compatriot! Maybe you vould be happier vith a story?"

Viktor said nothing.

"Let me tell you about a man who I treated back in ze Old Country..."