Alec got out of the van. He walked around to the back and met Lissa there. They opened the doors and helped the others out. The hostage situation hadn't been bad, or at least it could've been much worse. It had been a lot like his time there. The only thing the captured X's had suffered from was mild bruises and being tazered.
They all filed out, forming a big group. They really had overkill. The rescuers outnumbered the hostages two to one.
Half of the rescuers paired up with the injured to help them to MedBay. The other half, or less than half since some of the hostages were really injured and needed to be carried, Alec sent to HQ to report to Dix and Luke.
Everyone cleared out and it was just Alec, Mole, and Maxx. Maxx was carrying a small toolbox over to the first van. Alec wandered over a little to stand closer to Mole.
"So, lovely weather we're having," he stated conversationally. Mole glanced at him, then to the window where the gray sky could be seen.
"It's just peachy."
Alec nodded and stuffed his hands in his jeans' pockets. "So…where's Max?" he asked flippantly.
Suddenly Mole turned to him with the most peculiar expression on his face. It could be considered…mischievous. Alec thought it was mostly scary.
Mole took the cigar out of his mouth and prepared to respond, but just then a loud bang resounded throughout the garage.
Almost at the same time as the bang, a thump was heard from under the van, and a tool clanged to the ground. Maxx rolled out and sat up rubbing his head, looking towards the door to TC where the bang had come from.
Mole grinned at his misfortune.
"Alec!" Alec turned to find a familiar-looking blonde.
"Hey, I know you," he smiled his heart-throb grin. "You're one of my brave heroines."
She didn't smile back. "Max is in trouble."
Maxx stopped rubbing his head and stood up, walking over to the group.
"What? How?" Alec asked immediately.
"I told her," Mole let out, frustrated.
Maxx and Alec's heads both turned to him.
Mole looked up, and froze. "What?" he asked harshly.
"Care to share," Alec commanded with little patience.
Mole rolled his eyes. "When you were gone playing knight-in-shining-armor, our Ice Queen took it upon herself to seduce the senator."
Alec and Maxx's eyes both bugged out simultaneously.
Finally, Alec spoke up. "Why?"
"To gather intel on the whole 'getting caught' pattern we seem to have fallen into. Apparently he's the creator of all our problems."
Alec looked extremely frustrated. "That woman has not one ounce of patience," he said to himself. Then to the others, he added, "We found out how they were doing it. They have thermal scanners that pick up on our slightly higher temperatures. We brought one home for examining."
"Well, I'll be damned," Mole said in slight awe.
Alec gave him a sardonic look. "Yeah, it's great. Let's admire how smart they are."
Mole's eyes focused on Alec's face. "I can appreciate a good idea you know."
"Yeah, while the rest of us transgenics that are out there, risking our lives every day," Alec snapped.
Mole turned to him fully, taking out his cigar. "You implying us lower X's don't pull our weight around here."
"No," Alec yelled back, "I'm just saying you wouldn't be so awed if it was your ass getting on the line."
Mole glared at him a long time. "You know, just cuz you're worried about your squeeze, doesn't mean you gotta take it out on the rest of us."
Maxx shook his head, ignoring them both. "If that's the case, then she just went to dinner with an expert on the matter."
"Which is probably why she's in trouble," the blonde added impatiently, giving a pointed look to Mole and Alec who quit glaring at each other.
Maxx sprang into action. He disappeared for a few seconds, and reappeared with some keys. "We're taking Madeline."
They all hopped in: Maxx in the driver's, Alec in the passenger, and the blonde in the back. That left Mole standing in the middle of the garage with his hands at his side, looking confused. He followed the van as Maxx backed it out.
Suddenly Maxx rolled down the window and stuck his head out as he called to Mole, "Be a baby doll and keep an eye on the garage while we're gone. Thanks!"
Mole stood with his mouth open for about a second, before he started towards the van, shaking his finger and shouting.
Maxx, true to character, wasn't unfazed. He just grinned as he pushed a button. The garage doors started closing, cutting Mole off mid-rant. His face was gone, but that didn't stop him from flipping them a very impolite finger.
The blonde from the back laughed.
It was quiet a moment before Maxx broke it. "So…where exactly are we going?"
Alec turned in his seat to stare at the blonde. He thought her name was Kaylea.
She sat forward so she was in the middle. "Mogger's restaurant on-"
"Fourteenth and Chestnut," Maxx finished. Alec sent him a glare, which was wasted because he was so focused on the road.
"Kaylea was speaking," he said, rudely. Maxx turned to look at him surprised.
"Actually, it's Kayla. And it is on 14th and Chestnut. ," Kayla corrected. "I help carry his heavy ass to safety and he can't even remember my name."
The last part was mumbled, but he was clearly meant to heart it.
"It was muscle, and sorry sweetheart, you didn't really catch me at the best of moments. I had just come out a cell, you know."
Kayla rolled her eyes. "I think I'm beginning to understand Max a little better now."
Alec frowned. "And how is that?"
She smiled seductively and leaned forward. When she was close enough she raised her hand and smacked him upside the head. "That's for getting my name wrong," she answered before he could ask.
Maxx laughed.
Alec turned to him sharply, "'What are you laughing at? Keep your eyes on the road."
"But my eyes are-"
"So," Alec interrupted, turning back to Kayla, "Is that all we know about this restaurant?"
"Yes, but I would suggest calling Logan and finding out what kind of security it has and-"
"Wait," Alec said slowly, "Why would Logan know something like that?" Alec asked, even though he didn't really need to. He had a strong feeling he knew where this was going.
"Because Alec," she sounded irked, "He was helping her on this. Now would you quit interrupting me…what are you doing now?" she asked when she noticed him take his cell phone out and dial a number.
He didn't answer, but put the phone up to his ear. Every time it rang he thought of a new and creative way he would murder the man.
He didn't pick up until the sixth ring.
"Logan," he answered. He immediately held the phone away from his ear. When it quieted he pulled it back to his ear.
"I know you're upset-" he started, but the yelling started up again on the other end. He held the phone away again, and repeated the process.
"It's not our fault. We didn't even know-"
Logan was sensing a pattern. He slowly pulled the phone away, propped his elbow on the table, and rested his head on his hand.
He frowned when he picked up something. "That's pretty gruesome. Six ways?"
A shudder ran down his spine. Manticore didn't play around.
"How were we supposed to know-" Logan was interrupted, again.
He lost his patience. "Look Alec," when there was no response he continued. "She is my friend, you know. Hell, I've know her longer than you have."
He paused.
"No, I'm not rubbing that in. I'm just saying that I'm just as worried, if not more, as you are."
He frowned. "No, we're not like that."
The phone was pulled away again as derisive chuckling could be heard.
He looked heavenward, but immediately looked down when he heard a whisper of a noise. It was the headset.
Without having to think about it, he closed the phone and picked up the headset. At first he heard nothing, but then he wished he really had heard nothing.
"Max, tell me that was you taking out the bad guy," he said frantically. His phone vibrated, dancing around on the desk, but he assumed it was Alec. He ignored it and listened.
It was quiet and muffled at first. "Well, I think that worked better than anticipated. Don't you Rolland?"
His blood ran cold at what he heard. The voice was quiet, but it had to be close if the cheap microphone they had used for the "easy" mission could pick it up, practically kneeling over her.
It popped into his mind without his permission, and he tried to push it out. She could be…
"Ah, what have we here?"
It was silent a moment, but then there was a loud rubbing noise.
Logan jumped when the voice spoke again. It was crystal clear this time, much louder, and recognizably the senator's.
"You may come pick up your precious transgenic. We already got what we needed…for now."
Logan remained quiet, his eyes fixed forward as he tried to convince his self that they wouldn't kill her in a public restaurant.
"We'll even make it easy for you and leave her in the back alley." There was an eerie chuckle. "Just be thankful that White hadn't been around. I fear your precious leader would not have fared as well. A lovely day to you, tah-tah."
There was a loud tap as the ear bud was dropped, before a crunch, and then silence.
He tore his headset off in frustration. He stared at the computer for a second, and then slammed his hands on his desk. The cup of pens bounced and clattered over.
He ran a hand through his messy hair and picked it up.
Alec stopped laughing and spoke, "Of course, how could I forget the 'not-like-that couple'."
He paused and waited for Logan's response.
Nothing.
"Logan?" he called. He took the phone away from his ear and read the screen. He scowled.
Kayla chuckled from the back. "He hung up on you, didn't he?"
Alec didn't answer. He hit the redial button and waited. And waited.
It went to voicemail, so he closed the phone.
"He's not answering," he said, miffed.
Maxx sent him an apologetic look. "Don't worry. It's not your fault."
Alec felt low.
"Well," Kayla said, "I'd hang up on you too."
Alec felt lower.
Maxx thought about it and conceded. "Okay, I see your point. He could have been a weensy bit more professional, but can't you see how upset he is."
Alec pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Pfft. He's just got jealousy issues."
"Alright, I was stupid just now, but that's me, Alec-the-screw-up. Could you please just stop talking about me like I'm not here?"
His phone rang, Candy by Foxxy Brown. It reminded him of the time he took Max to the strip club to save the mermaid.
He opened it, and tried to be more…professional.
"Why'd you hang up on me-"
He paused.
"Okay, all you had to do was ask. I'll be quiet."
When he finished, Alec's face was skeptic. "You want us to check the back alley? Would it be too much trouble to ask why?"
Alec held up the unoccupied hand defensively. "Fine, fine. You don't have to tell me over the phone. It just doesn't make any sense."
He listened to Logan talk again, and let out a big sigh. "Don't worry. We'll check the alley."
He snapped his phone shut, and looked up. He paused. "What?"
Maxx spoke up for them. "Why would she be in the alley?"
"Look, I know just as much as you do. He wouldn't tell me over the phone."
"But that doesn't make any sense," Kayla added.
"I know," he snapped. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but Logan wants us to check there first, so we will."
"And we take orders from Ordinaries since when?" Kayla asked.
He closed his eyes, not believing what he was about to do. "Listen, he's not just an 'Ordinary', okay? He's a friend. If he thinks Max will be in that alley, then he has a damned good reason." He turned to Maxx just then. "How much longer?"
Maxx caught the street name as they passed. "Well, if we don't run into any traffic, we should be there in about five minutes, two if we don't stop at the lights…why?"
Alec frowned. Something about Logan's attitude seemed off. "I'm not sure…it's just, Logan and Max are used to doing this kind of thing. Not only that, I'd consider them professionals…both of them. They're used to getting into tight situations and keeping their heads about them." He met Maxx's eyes to emphasize his last point. "I've never heard him so worried before."
Maxx wordlessly turned back to the road, stamping down on the gas. "Thirty seconds."
The trusty van picked up speed, the front of the vehicle raising up as the weight was transferred to the back. Maxx drove through a stoplight, not even flinching as his precious Madeline passed a car by scant inches.
Kayla grabbed onto the bar, barley keeping herself seated. "Did he say which alley?"
"He said the back one."
"There is no back alley. It butts up against another building, but there are two side ones."
"Okay, Maxx'll drop you off at the first one and me at the second. Sound good?"
They nodded. Kayla sat forward and pointed out the windshield. "That's it," was all she said, before she disappeared to open the back doors of the van.
Maxx tapped the brakes, not even stopping. Kayla jumped out and barely had time to turn and push the doors shut.
She watched the brake the lights flash on again as Alec jumped out further down the road. Maxx pulled the van around, commencing an impressive U that the bulky van should not have been able to achieve. He pulled to the opposite side of the road and parked where he could keep an eye on both entrances to the alley.
Kayla looked back down the road, but Alec had already disappeared. She turned to hers and headed in. When she was ten feet in, it was dark and quiet. The noise from the street was blocked from the towering brick walls and she could now just make out a weird sizzling noise. It sounded like somebody was repeatedly dropping water onto a hot pan, like they do to make sure it's hot enough. There were dumpsters and piles of trash. She saw smoke rising out behind one of the dumpsters, which was odd. It was freezing out.
It was probably just a hobo who built a fire.
She walked forward, peered around, and froze. It was Max. If she didn't have such a rosy hue to her skin, Kayla could have mistaken her for dead. She walked forward. The only injury she could see was a nasty bruise to her forehead. The skin was split and her face was pretty bloody, but Kayla knew head injuries bled a lot. They always looked worse than they were. The only thing Max was in danger of was hypothermia. They, whoever they were, had thrown her body in a pile of trash and left her out in the rain wearing nothing but her underwear.
Kayla unzipped her coat and leaned forward to put it on her. She startled when her hand came into contact with Max's skin. She pulled her hand back and looked at it. She was horrified when she saw that it was now red and blistered. She looked back up at the X5, finally noticing that the smoke was not coming from a fire at all. It wasn't even smoke. As the raindrops came into contacts with Max's skin, they hissed, instantly evaporating into steam.
She stared for a second, before she crouched down, cautiously leaned forward, and covered her with her jacket. She was half afraid it would combust into flames. It didn't. The edges smoked a little, but it wasn't her favorite jacket anyway.
She heard footsteps coming. Transferring her weight back to her heels, she leaned back to look around the dumpster. It was Alec.
"I found her. You better get Maxx to pull as close as he can." She turned back to face her smoldering jacket, and looked back down at her hand. "And bring some blankets."
He looked indecisive, torn between seeing her himself and helping her.
"Now soldier, before they come back and decide they want to keep her," she commanded.
Kayla wasn't sure what had finally kicked him into gear, but she was glad nonetheless when he blurred to the end of the alley. When he reached the end, he slowed down to a dead sprint.
Kayla turned back to Max. It wasn't even thirty seconds before Maxx, bless his heart, was backing his prized possession down the alley. It had roughly six inches of wiggle room on both sides. Maxx stopped it a foot away from the dumpsters. The back doors flew open. Alec hopped down, a blanket in his hand. Kayla could see through to the front where Maxx was taking off his seatbelt and also hopping up.
"Maxie."
Kayla turned around to see Alec standing behind her. He dropped the blanket and rushed around her to get to Max.
"Don't touch her."
He stopped, his hands hovering over her skin.
"Why not?" Maxx asked from behind her. She held up her blistered hand.
Alec stared at it in confusion, before he looked back down at his hands with big eyes. "Why can I feel heat coming from her? What-" he choked on his words. "What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know," Kayla answered calmly. She grabbed the fallen blanket, but looked back up at Maxx. "Do you have any water?"
When he shook his head no, she improvised.
"Gross," Maxx whispered when she soaked the blanket in a puddle. "Do you know how many germs-"
"Maxx," she warned, as she carried the blanket back over to Alec. Alec took it from her and used it to wrap around her. The steam coming off of it was so hot, it left their faces red.
"We have to hurry," Alec said. On three, they picked her up and laid her down in the back. They climbed in. Only Maxx rode in the front. Kayla and Alec were in the back trying to keep her cool with the other blankets they had soaked.
As Kayla reached for the last one, Alec's hand shot out to stop her. She looked up.
He said, "We're going to need that." At her nod, he turned his head slightly to call to Maxx. "Do you know where Logan lives?"
"No, but if you tell me the street, I can find it."
Alec gave him directions as he pulled out his phone and dialed.
Logan answered on the first ring.
"We found her, but we're going to need your doctor buddy. It's bad," he said, his eyes never leaving her.
DADADADADADADA…
Sometime later, Maxx pulled in front of a worn down house. He opened his door and looked up at it skeptically. "This is the place?" he asked Alec.
Alec nodded, already carrying her up the porch. He entered the house and was surprised to find that the doctor had beaten them there and was waiting for them.
"Doctor Sam Carr," he said by lieu of greeting and introduction, though his eyes stayed on Max. "Sorry, I'd shake your hand, but…"
"I get it doc," Alec interrupted, "No formalities needed. Where do you need her?"
The doctor started off, so Alec followed. "Logan told me what he could on the phone."
He opened a door. Logan was inside sitting on a stool next to the bathtub. He was leant over and fiddling with only one of the knobs.
"Cold water will hopefully help bring her core temperature down," Sam Carr explained. He glanced skeptically back at Max. "Though if she's half as hot as Logan described then she should be dead."
Alec shrugged. "It would be hard to exaggerate this, doc."
"Just put her in the tub."
Alec nodded and walked over to where Logan sat. "You might want to move."
"Right, she's still lethal to me," he said, standing out of the way.
Alec frowned. "Oh yeah, that too."
Logan exchanged a puzzled look with the doctor. Alec was oblivious as he bent forward and placed her in the tub, blankets and all.
"I didn't mean for you to put the blankets in with her," Sam called.
Alec turned around. "Well, you didn't exactly give me oven mitts," he said, motioning behind him to where steam could clearly be seen rising up.
A loud hiss ensued, growing in volume until they had to shout to hear each other.
"Sam, how can this be possible?" Logan yelled, trying to find him through the thick fog.
"It can't!" he shouted back, trying to locate the door. Alec found it first. He opened it, allowing the suffocating air out into the hall.
"Holy crow!" came a shout from down the hall.
"Kayla! You and Maxx open any windows you can, and see if you can find a fan in the basement," Alec yelled back.
"Sam!" Logan called from further in the fog. His tone caught Alec's attention. He walked forward along with the doctor to see what was wrong.
When they reached him, he looked up. "Sam, all the water's gone."
"Jesus. Turn the tap on."
"Hey, we found a fan…don't know if it'll work. All we need is a plug-in" a voice called from the doorway.
Alec walked back over to the voice. When he was close enough to see the rusted fan in Kayla's hands, he took on a skeptical expression.
Suddenly, Maxx blurred up behind Kayla. "Uh, guys…we have a problem."
Alec looked heavenward. "God, what could possibly be worse than this?"
"I don't know if God would know," Maxx started, "but the police at the front door want to know what's going on."
Something clattered. "Sam, what was that?"
"I just dropped the thermometer in the tub. Hold on…" There was a silence, before the three transgenics heard some pretty colorful swearing.
"What, what's wrong?" asked Logan anxiously.
"That water's hot enough to boil eggs!"
"But that's impossible, we're running cold water right now as we speak…"
Alec rolled his eyes. "I'll just go get the door then."
He walked out into the living room, and saw the police snooping through the screen door.
Using his body to block the EO computer system, he stepped up to the door and put on his charming smile. "What seems to be the problem officers?"
"You know it's illegal to burn within the city limits without a permit?"
"We got a call from a couple of concerned neighbors reporting a bunch of smoke leaving this house," the other added.
Alec's smile never left his face, though it was tempting. Concerned neighbors, my a –
"Actually officers," Maxx spoke from behind him. "If you take a good whiff, you'll notice that it doesn't smell. It's not smoke. It's water vapor. We're steam cleaning our laundry today."
Alec was slightly impressed. He managed to placate the lovely policemen without letting them know their intelligence had been insulted. Honestly, the stuff was billowing out the door at them. If it was smoke, they would have been coughing a fit.
The two stopped and seemed to take a sniff.
The taller one slapped the other on the shoulder. "Well, I'll be," he turned back to Maxx. "You know my wife has one of those things. It's the only way to get my silk boxers white again."
Okay, too much information. Alec raised his eyebrows and looked to the side.
"Though, I don't think we ever have this much steam. Maybe there's something wrong with your converter." He tried to step inside, but Alec took a swift step to block.
"You know what, that's what the dude at the store told us when he sold us the new converter. The repairman just arrived and is putting it in as we speak," he said with his smile back in place.
"Come on Ralph. They have this under control. All we need is their disclosure fee, and we can be on our way."
Alec tilted his head to the side, still smiling. The only sign of anger was a single blink of the eyes. "Disclosure fee?" he repeated through gritted teeth.
The shorter cop smiled wolfishly, "Yes, you know. To placate the concerned neighbors."
Alec started towards them. "More like to line your greedy little pock-"
"Oh, the disclosure fee!" Maxx shouted, holding Alec back. "How could we forget? How much does that run nowadays officers?"
"'Bout a hundred."
"That's it. GET OUT!" Alec yelled pointing his finger.
Maxx grabbed him and shoved him back into the living room. "Why don't you go check on that repairman," he said calling back. He turned around to face the officers with a smile on his face while he pulled his wallet out. "He didn't take his meds today. Sorry about that."
The shorter one grumbled. "Yeah, well, I don't appreciate getting slack like that. I'm a good upstanding enforcer of the law. I may just have to run you in for disturbin' the peace."
Maxx looked up from counting his bills. "I see where this is going." He took out an extra fifty and handed the cash over. "How about I give you the bail now, and we save everyone the time and hassle of paperwork that goes with arresting?"
The shorter cop counted it. "Actually bail runs about a hundred these days."
Maxx smiled. "Of course it does."
He held out his last fifty. The cop had to pull to get it out of his hand. When he had his two-hundred, he smiled and said, "Well, a good day to you two. Now I'll let you get back to whatever it is couples do on a fine Saturday morning."
Maxx's eye twitched, but his smile stayed plastered on.
"Well, come on Ralph."
Maxx stayed at the door until he watched the police officers get in their car and drive away. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He shut the door and went to find the walking temper who had cost his Madeline a new window.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Maxx leaned over Doctor Beverly Shankar's shoulder as she looked through a microscope.
He had pulled the short straw and been volunteered to run a sample of Max's blood up to the hospital. She had to sneak him in the back so he wouldn't set off any heat scanners.
It had taken them two trips. The first time Maxx had showed up at the hospital, the blood had melted through the plastic tube it was in. He had to drive all the way back and get another sample, which they placed in a Crockpot. He even brought oven mitts, just in case. It was a bit excessive, but Logan wasn't a big coffee drinker so the man didn't own a single mug.
Needless to say, the second time he showed up at the hospital, no blood had been spilled. He did feel a little ridiculous carrying a Crockpot into the hospital with his oven mitts. The only thing he was missing was an apron. He didn't let his embarrassment stop him though. He ran with it. Whenever someone gave him a weird look, he would say that he had cooked dinner for his wife. They would smile, and coo and awe at him, and then turn to whoever was next to them at the time and say, "Now why can't I have a lover like that?"
Doctor Beverly Shankar had just shaken her head when he shot her a cheeky grin.
They made it to the lab section of the hospital without a hitch.
When she had taken a sample out and placed it on a glass slide, Maxx felt like hitting himself in the forehead. Of course it wouldn't melt through glass. Alec had been the one to insist on the Crockpot. He should have known.
"Do you mind?"
Maxx shook his head, focusing on Doctor Shankar.
"You're literally breathing down my neck," she said with a small smile.
"Oh," he automatically took to exaggerated steps back. He looked up at her with a sheepish grin. "Sorry."
"No problem. Do you know Logan's number?" she asked as she bent back over the microscope.
"Um, no."
"That's okay, just hit redial. He should be the last person I called," she said waving her hand in the general direction of the phone. She was frowning now.
Maxx walked over to the phone, picked it up, and hit the redial button. Well, he knew his number now.
He held the receiver up to his ear. Logan answered.
"Hey Logan buddy. How's Max?"
He listened a minute, and nodded. His eyes darted over to the doctor. "Actually I'm not sure why I called you."
"Put him on speaker," Shankar instructed.
"Hold on Logan, I'm putting you on speaker." Maxx pushed a button.
"Okay, I'll do the same thing," came Logan's voice though the speakers.
"Logan, this is Shankar speaking. Do you know who injected Max with this?"
"No. Senator McKinley was in charge of the whole ordeal, but other than that, I wouldn't know."
"Would you happen to know what was in it?"
"Not a clue."
"Well, besides being hot, what are her symptoms?"
There was a silence, as they, presumably, checked her over.
It was Kayla's voice that answered. "She's unconscious."
Shankar waved her hands. "Anything else?"
"Not that we know of," Alec started.
"She seemed kind of delirious at the end when I was listening to her," Logan added. "She wouldn't answer me. It was almost as if she didn't recognize me."
She nodded, as if that was what she was looking for. "Now, how long ago was she given this?"
"Uh…I would say…anywhere from one and a half to two hours ago. Why? Have you found anything?"
Doctor Shankar nodded, though they couldn't see her. "Well, it's just that I'm looking at her blood right now, and as we speak her DNA is twirling and twisting under the microscope. If I had a normal version of her blood, I could be positive, but I think that this chemical, whatever it is, is changing her whole genetic make-up."
There was a heavy silence.
Doctor Sam Carr spoke up from the other end of the line. "But that can't be right. That's-"
"Impossible," Doctor Shankar finished.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
"Yes," Senator McKinley said with triumph. "It worked exactly as it was supposed to."
The scientist, uncertain, let out a shaky smile.
"And you let her go?"
Senator McKinley looked ready for this answer. He wasn't a politician for nothing. "If we had kept her, we would have given her more of a chance to escape. The chemical took effect like it was supposed to, but we are still unsure as to what it will do to her as far as physical capabilities are concerned."
"Well, how do you plan to take care of this problem when you get her again?"
"We won't pick her up until we have the correct dosage ready. This was just a trial run, an experiment if you will. We gave her only a fraction of the dosage we plan to administer when we are ready."
The female's eyebrows nearly disappeared in her hair. She looked back at the screen, nodding at it. "And this is what the reaction was with only a small dose?"
The senator grinned. "Exactly why we won't need to worry about her escaping when we have the dose ready."
The woman pushed rewind on the remote and watched the film again in regular mode this time.
The figure in the screen was frantic, practically crawling up the walls, pulling at her hair. She paused it when the figure suddenly dropped to the ground, hitting her head against the floor. For most people, this would be something disturbing to see.
"When will you have the dose ready?"
The scientist spoke up weakly. "It takes time to mix and create the correct molecular bindings that your chemical requires. The whole compound of the substance is so complex, it's unlike anything I have seen before-"
The senator replied over him, "We'll need about two weeks, give or take."
The scientist looked incredulous, but didn't say anything when they both gave him a deadly look.
"Well, senator, I certainly hope you know what you are doing. F'nes tol."
"F'nes tol," he said back. Ducking his head, grabbing the scientist, and politely ducking out.
The woman turned back to the screen, pushing play.
"Oh 452, I wouldn't wish your future on my worst enemy," she paused and smiled maliciously. "Too bad you're just an animal."