Opening File: Modus
Modus is a capitalist/fascist regime that currently rules 98.7 percent of the planet Earth in the alternate timeline designated as TL-101. Modus' government is a conservative republic where vices are allowed but not encouraged, while the American amendments are not abolished but the structure of government does not allow the working class to demand major changes.
Modus was founded in 2021 by the 51st president of the United States of America, Doctor Von Reichter who went under the alias, Klaus Harvester. After a series of assassinations of the top members of Congress, Von Reichter and his loyal follower, Warren Kallinger, were sworn in as president and vice president respectively.
They started their plan of world domination with Executive Order 2347: a decree declaring all members and/or sympathizers of the terrorist group Satyra are to be captured and or killed on site. The two then liquidated the Democrat party, and ordered the rearming of nuclear weapons.
When members of congress attempted impeachment, 12 unknown assailants armed with automatic weapons entered and opened fire on the group. 27 members of congress wound up dead while the assailants committed suicide.
Despite desperate measures, Satyra collapsed when His Eminence and his most loyal members were assassinated via poisoning by an infiltrator identified as Samuel Caligosto Jefferson.
After Modus was founded and established, World War 3 broke out with all countries against the country now known as Modus. Modus won the war, albeit with heavy casualties. The major powers were then Annexed by Modus, with only minor countries still existing.
Von Reichter is now the Leader of Modus, while Warren Kallinger's whereabouts are currently unknown to non-authorized personal.
A video was played showing a middle aged man with glasses, wild hair, greying beard and mustache, wearing a green lab coat with black pants and brown leather shoes looking over the camera with a young man with unkept black hair, beard and mustache, wearing the same green lab coat with a white shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers.
"Is it on?" The middle age man said to the younger one, "88, does the red light mean it's recording?"
"Yeah, it's recording Doc." 88 says.
"Okay, T.E.R.R.Y. over here." The older man guides 88 and T.E.R.R.Y. to the rest of the group of scientists standing next to a hunched over woman in a hospital bed with one crouching down.
"This is Dr. Caligula Roberts, testing Subject #124 for Cyberis Gene Therapy pills." Roberts said to the cameraman while crouching next to the girl, "Subject is 27 years old and has been diagnosed with Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. We are hoping that the gene therapy pill will reverse the progressive calcification of the body, so without further ado, let's begin."
Roberts turned to his side and said, "Nurse Ahmed?"
A somewhat overweight man dressed in the same green lab coat, a pastel pair of sweatpants and t-shirt visible under his open gown walked next to the woman. He pulled out a small cyan pill with specks of green and purple floating around in it. Ahmed then shoved the pill down the woman's throat, while he and the rest of the scientists ran back to an observation room with T.E.R.R.Y. close behind.
Randy, a middle aged blading member of the group, pulled down a monitor attached to a camera-like device to the window in front of the subject while many more monitors came online for viewing, "High Frequency Scanner in place!"
"Here goes nothing." A female scientist named Joey whispered to another female scientist named Bea, who nodded.
The woman's right hand started twitching until it clenched into a fist as her eyelids fluttered.
"Excessive bone tissue is receding, slight increase in adrenaline, and slightly elevated heart rate!" Randy called out as he watched the HFS, "Soft tissues replacing the excess bones!"
Dr. Roberts had a hand to his mouth, "So far, so good."
The screens showed the woman's spine straightened and her ribcage segmented, as she began to breath normally before she started seizing with a cough ripping from her throat.
"Body heat increasing exponentially! Cell division increasing exponentially!" Randy calls from the HFS, "Mutation confirmed!"
The woman screamed as she seized out of the bed before her skin crackled and her limbs elongated, bone spikes ripped from her spine as her body thinned to the likeness of a living branch. Her skin steamed as the hospital gown alit while her chest bulged until her ribs tore open resembling a fanged maw with a heart the size of a small dog. Four large tentacle-like vein grew from her back, some red the others blue, as the new mutant roared.
"T.E.R.R.Y! Contingency Plan 7!" Roberts yelled to the camera man as he looked worryingly out the window.
The camera man gave 88 the camera revealing T.E.R.R.Y. to be a short beige colored, wheeled robot who replied, "On it!"
2 mechanical arms came out of his compartments which then grabbed Joey who started screaming in protest while T.E.R.R.Y opened the door.
"Sorry Joey, but we have to cut corners." He tells the screaming Joey whom T.E.R.R.Y. throws at the mutant.
Said woman was impaled by one of the veins as the robot sealed the doors to the room. Joey keeled over before her body took on a dark complex as scar tissue grew over her agonized face and hair. The veins weaved together as the dark tissue grew over, Joey's clothes ripped apart as all that remained of her was a clawed hand like appendage.
"Oh, boy. It's one of those." Ahmed said as they watched in horrified fascination.
The mutant's body thickened while the fingers and toes fused into arachnid-like appendages as her legs divided in two, the neck elongated while splitting open revealing long curved fangs and yellow tendrils.
Randy screamed like a like girl as he fainted onto a chair, while 88 yells to the robot, "T.E.R.R.Y, KILL IT!"
The robot sounds annoyed, "Fine."
He hit a button, in which a panel in the other room opened revealing a turret. The monster screeched before the turret open fire, pieced the eyes and left shoulder. The monster stumbled before the turret shot it's heart, which burst with a shower of blood.
It flailed and screeched, hitting the walls over and over until it collapsed while the life mercifully exits it's body.
The still conscious scientists all took long moments to catch their breath, before Dr. Roberts called for a clean up crew.
88 and Ahmed both look at the mutated fused corpse of their subject and colleague. "Dude, the Consortium are gonna be pissed." The latter says to the former with a hand to his forehead, the former nodding in agreement.
As the video ended, the room lightened revealed a quiet Consortium with the Accountant standing by the projector as they intake what they saw.
"Okay, so the tests didn't go exactly as planned." The Accountant says, with the rest of the council staring incredulously.
The Accountant nervously continued, "As you can we've had a quite few negative reactions to Cyberis for some people, but we're handling it Leader. This is not-"
"How many?" The Leader asked, while looking at the former with a calm face yet with barely restrained anger.
The blonde member blinked before saying, "Pardon?"
"How many people had a 'negative' reaction?" The Leader clarified with air quotes.
The Accountant tugged his collar a bit before saying, "Well, we are still crunching the numbers but I would say, roughly speaking, ...30?"
The Leader narrowed his eyes, "I see. 30. And how many people tried Cyberis?"
"Um..." The Accountant gulped, "30."
The Manager than slammed his hands on the table while standing up, startling the other council members expect the Operator and the Doctor.
"SO, YOU'RE SAYING IS WE HAVE 30 OF THESE MONSTERS RUNNING AROUND LOOSE SOMEWHERE?!" The Manager shouted, while slamming his golden left fist onto the table as he continued, "THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER! WHEN THE PRESS GETS AHOLD OF THIS, WE'LL ALL BE RUINED!"
"Nonononononono!" The Accountant says rapidly, "We've managed to contain the damage!"
"You have?" The Leader said, while the Manager calmed down. "How?"
"W-Well, um." The Accountant turned to the Doctor, "Doctor, can you explain it please?"
"Certainly." The Doctor said calmly, while standing up from his chair, "The mutants quickly died due to a combination of internal bleeding and cellular degeneration causing them to necrotize rapidly, their remains were promptly collected and kept for further study."
The Doctor typed on his device showing a hologram of the mutants' body, "Autopsy and analysis via nanites revealed that many organs and blood vessels had ruptured due to the rapid growth. The excessive regeneration caused body heat to skyrocket. One survived however."
"One's still alive?" The Leader asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"No, it expired 12 minutes later of dehydration but in theoretical terms, it could stay alive through continuous injections of Sustenance." The Doctor says, "Though due to Cyberis' unexpected instability, with each injection, it would become more dependent on Sustenance until it couldn't go a single moment without it."
The Leader simply rubbed his temples while asking, "So, Cyberis is a complete failure?"
The Doctor shrugs as he types into the device, "In current terms, but the possibility of the mutations occurring due to too large of a dosage is up in the air."
"Operator, please cancel all developments of Cyberis until further notice." The Leader politely asks the one in charge of products.
"Sure." The Operator pulls out his phone while texting the people downstairs, afterwards he sighs, "3 million dollars straight down the crapper."
The Manager slams his head into the table, exasperated. The Chemist and Engineer pat his shoulders, sympathetically.
The Commander rolled his eyes under his mask, and asked with his deep filtered voice, "So, Programmer. How is Project Jörmungandr commencing?"
"It's coming along quite nicely." The Programmer informed, "Though I still need time to configure the physics defying energy."
"Well, it's good to hear something is going according to plan." The Leader sighed, "Meeting dismissed."
The Consortium then departed from the meeting room, with some staying for some disclosed reasons. With the Doctor and Operator walking down the halls, the latter asked, deadpanningly, "You sabotaged the pills, didn't you?
The former chuckled darkly, "You know me too well."
After the meeting, the Leader, Doctor, Programmer, and Engineer overlooked their latest experiment, but had an expected visitor watching.
"May I ask why you're here, Operator?" The Doctor asks, with the other Consortium members wondering the same thing to the white hair member standing at the door.
"I decided to take a day and oversee your experiments," The Operator explains before pointing his right thumb behind him, "I've given Rigby temporary rank back at the fulfillment center."
Back at the fulfillment center, Rigby stood atop a large pile of box being pulled by the miserable employees while wearing a crown.
"ONE HALF PULL! ONE HALF PULL! ONE HALF PULL!" Rigby yells while he cracks a whip with each sentence on the employees who struggle to pull the load.
Wally mutters angrily, as he pulls the ropes with the load, "Freaking raccoon, one of these days-" He's cut off at the sound of a whip crack, "ARGH!"
Rigby shouts, "NO SLACKING!"
"He's got quite the spirit." The Operator titters, "Anyway, what are you doing?"
The Doctor just shows him the table, "See for yourself."
Laying there on the table was Conner Kent.
He only wore a white pair of pants, but his upper torso was plagued with malignancies. Pitch black patches of skin, veins visible with glossing green blood, his flesh tumorous and rubber-like. His cheekless muscles pull taunt as he heaves, his hair greying with him breathing a guttural moan of agony.
The Operator chuckles before rubbing his left fingers together while saying, "My, my, whatever are you doing to poor Conner?"
"Whatever warrants the need for a living petri dish." The Doctor replies as he readies another injection.
The large syringe was filled a viscous green liquid which the Doctor then jabbed into Conner's arm, with the latter grunting in pain. The liquid empties into his system while Connor seemingly moaning in relief.
"Our scientists in the Mariana Trench discovered it in the systems of sea slugs." The Engineer says to the Operator who looked curious, "A scientist was then bit by the slugs, a day later, he found himself cured of his ALS."
The Operator looked intrigued, "Then why are we not marketing this?"
"The chemical acts like a benign cancer, destroying native cells and replacing them with unstable stem versions." The Doctor explains, "While this very instability is what gives it its amazing properties, it is also what causes the cosmetic and mental damage. He needs more ADAM to 'keep back the tide' so to speak."
"I'm guessing there's a problem?" The Operator inquires.
"Indeed." The Leader says in place of the Doctor, "Which each dose more stem cells are created, in which a larger dose is needed. This causes a rapidly declining cycle of ADAM abuse, almost similar to building a tolerance for a poison only for that poison to be needed to survive."
"What about Sustenance?" The Operator inquires again, "Many of the Leader's creations are made edited genes made by Sustenance."
"Unfortunately, while Sustenance was able to be used to keep back the tide," The Leader explains, "His body began creating cells that would secrete a bile that would lead to cell death if they went without Sustenance. These cells are in the raspatory system and even the spinal cord."
The Operator hems and haws before getting an idea. "I'll be right back." He says before running off to somewhere.
In the elevator, the Operator opened a terminal which revealed a microphone.
"Idenification: Operator A-116. Destination: Processing Cell 5-4-MM-43-L." He spoke into the microphone which the screen on it beeping in accordance with the elevator moving to the destination assigned.
After a minute or two, the elevator doors opened to a dark and repugnant sulfated hall with clear pipes filled with lucent oils. The doors opened after a red camera scanned the Operator's face, revealing the horrific secret of the room.
There hung Sammael.
Multiple large tubes impaling his torso, limbs, and heart, his veins engorged to where they disconnect and hung off his agonized form. His hair dead white, a bone thin body with only a pair of long johns as clothing. A multitude of arachnoid limbs grew and clung to the tube, his heart expanding out of his chest, the overgrown veins vomiting a lucid substance, his lipless mouth drooling blood with a blackened jaw. His arms held high in unbreakable chains, 3 apparatus' and a harness intertwined with many containers of colored substances.
As the Operator drew near with echoed steps, Sammael raised his head in a manner as if lifting an incredible weight. His eyes dilate as his teeth grind in fury and a vibrate growl hummed through his throat.
"My, you're in bad shape aren't you?" The former says calmly, while the latter just stares in pure fury as if wishing the one across from him would burst into flames.
"I just need a sample of blood, Sammael, so kindly hold still." The Operator procures as he slams his fist on a nearby button on the wall.
Sammael let out a shrill screech of agony, his limbs thrashing, muscles tearing sutures at the force of him vehemently trying to escape. His screeches audibly a kin to screams, roars, deep heaves, and knives slicing his throat internally.
After several minutes of this, Sammael quieted while hanging limply, with the sutures slowly healing. A device then dispensed a container which was then filled with Dark Substance.
The Operator picks up the container and looks at Sammael one last time, "Thanks for the donation."
When he got back, he put the container on the nearby table to present to the others.
The Leader, Doctor, and Programmer have surprised expressions at the container, while the Engineer had to catch his breath.
"Dark Substance?!" The Engineer asks, incredulously, "Are you insane?!"
"You said we need something that can heal Connor," The Operator says, while motioning to the container, "So, I got the only thing that can."
The Engineer facepalmed, "Okay, while I admit the restorative properties of the dark matter are incredible, it also has a habit of converting many living and non living things into Grimm!"
The Operator rolls his eyes, before explaining his idea, "That's the result of complete submersion, I'm suggesting a very controlled infusion. Enough to heal the mutant of his rampant instability."
The Engineer just has a look that says "Are you an idiot?", while the other three don't look convinced.
The Operator sighs, "Look, I understand it's not the best idea, but as the monitors say, nanites can't identify his biology as human, his biochemistry has changed to where serums that are meant to heal him act as poison, and Sustenance only keeps him barely alive, we're out of options."
While they are definitely doubtful, The Doctor notes that his idea is theoretically sound, so the Leader gave his approval and they got ready for the experiment.
The Operator held up a small vaccine bottle filled with Dark Substance to the Engineer. "Only this much, I promise." The former promised the latter, who only gave an unsure nod.
Securing the mutant with heavy restraints, The Doctor plugs the bottle into his gun-like syringe and approaches the cloned hybrid of Human and Kryptonian. Carefully, The Doctor injects the Dark Substance into the boy's neck.
He twitches, cringes, and moans softly while his eyes fluttered. Connor's breath drew labored and calm, while his ripped cheeks slowly healed and reconnected. Some fingers twitch vestigially, while the heartbeat increases to the rhythm of a ticking clock.
"Wait for it." The Doctor says to the Engineer who was getting nervous.
After a few seconds, Connor's eyes bulge and he yells in a kin to a roar.
"It's alive!" The Doctor exclaims, before the half Kryptonian ripped off the restraint on his left arm. The free arm hit the Operator in the jaw, whom nearly fell on a table, as the ones leading Modus backed away cautiously, he then broke the other three restraints while guards ran in.
Connor roars stagnantly, before slowing down and stumbling to the floor on a knee.
"Oh, for the love of..." The Operator mumbles before shouting, "Now what's wrong with him?!"
"I told you it's a side effect of ADAM." The Doctor says, while helping up the Leader and the Engineer. "He's likely suffering from withdrawal."
The Operator then tiptoes toward the others with the guards' rifles pointed at Connor.
"Then perhaps we should withhold any infusions for a while." He says, now with the other members, "Might calm Conner down a bit. Make him a tad bit more... manageable."
"Oh, that is a very good idea." The Engineer says as they back away from Connor's spastic twitching. Conner lifted his head, sweating and straining, with teeth bare in the fashion of lost beasts, his eyes crusted with red cataract and tumorous veins.
"Need... ADAM..." Connor rasps, before the sounds of bones cracking straggle his voice.
The flesh of his mouth rippled in wormlike display before splitting into an eight manibled maw with a bestial screech, causing the more cowardly of the Consortium to shriek while the others watched in fascinated horror.
A long eel-like tongue with red fangs then burst from his esophagus before a screaming Engineer.
As if in slow motion, the Operator's cane shifted into a high tech Winchester 1887, aimed at the charging Connor, and fired. A laser shot out and severed the eel-like tongue and part of Connor's jaw as he flailed back, hitting the floor.
He screeched as the bullets from the guards bounced off his skin while jumping away to the nearest door as the Leader helped up the silvered haired member.
"Get him!" The Programmer shouted, as the guards rushed out the door with gunshots ringing as the Engineer and Programmer ran to the door with them.
As they got there, Connor was already gone. One guard even stated the obvious, "We lost him, sir."
"I can see that." The Engineer said neurotically, "We are fucked, man! We're fucked! WE ARE SO FUCKED!"
The Programmer slapped him and gripped his head while shaking it.
"Use your head, Engineer!" The Programmer said before leading go of the former's head, "This tower is crawling with highly trained Modus troopers, armed and trained any forms of combat, at full attention at the alarm. The moment Connor attempts to feed, they will kill him and contact us. Problem solved."
The Engineer calmed down slightly, while the Programmer further explains.
"Once we recover Conner's body, we sent it to the incinerator as quickly and efficiently as possible. No trace of him can be allowed to remain." He says as they get back to the lab, with the Doctor inspecting the Operator's jaw for any injuries.
"You're fine." The Doctor says to the Operator as he experimentally opens and closes his jaw, "Your aura cushioned the blow."
The latter nodded while the rest of them look to the Leader, "What know?"
"Sound the alarms and seal off the entrances and exits." He orders with a strict voice, "No one is allowed in or out until we contain this."
Two of them nodded and headed out while the Operator and Doctor stayed with the Leader. The Leader faced the former two with a completive expression, with the Operator looking at the latter with a raised eyebrow and the Doctor had an interested expression.
"This blunder may help us out in the grand scheme of things." The Leader says with a hand to his chin in interest, "Given ADAM's ability to differentiate into any cell type, including a variety of unnatural ones, and the Dark Substance's ability to create abilities from the individual, I think we can make something from it."
The Doctor then had a hand on his chin, "Hypothetically sound but I'll need more data to get an accurate assessment."
"Then do so. Operator, you accompany him as a guard per se." Was the Leader's response.
The Operator looked annoyed but didn't protest as the two headed out as the Leader headed to his office with his personal guard awaiting.
A random Modus guard just stood idly at his position even as the alarm sounded, he was on guard sure, but it couldn't be anything serious right?
Suddenly a crash, he turned himself to the point of the noise. The hall was still loud with the alarm as he had his weapon pointed to the right turn of the hallway as soft coo of pain breezed through his ears.
Both curious and cautious, he approached the hallway with trepidation as whatever was down there got closer.
In just a second, a very slim second, something leaped towards him.
The Operator and the Doctor walked down the halls with the latter having a bored expression.
"I still don't understand why you don't halt deliveries to the others in the Consortium just to spite them." He says to the Operator who just scoffed.
"I'm not petty, Doctor."
They hear a scream down the halls along with a roar. They look at each other and then bolt down the hallway with their weapons drawn, the Operator's Laser Repeater and the Doctor's Needle Gun until they see Connor at the end of the hall.
He changed slightly, he was now 3 inches taller with the patches resembling scale-like sores and bloated arteries. He roared at the two opened fire with the lasers and needles burning and poisoning him respectively.
Connor lashes out a bigger eel-like tongue at them, though they ducked down as it slammed into the wall. The Operator's repeater then shifted into what can only be described as a laser sword and slashes the tongue in half with the cut searing.
The mutated Kryptonian hybrid screeched in pain as the seared tongue retracted into his throat and jumped away into the vents as the Operator peppered him with lasers.
"Look!" The Operator hears while turning to see a guard laying on the ground with The Doctor approaching it.
The Doctor placed two fingers over the guards' neck.
"Nothing. He's dead." The Doctor says standing up, after taking a cell sample from the corpse's neck also noticing a bite wound on the jugular.
He enters the sample into his device, sampling some blood while it analyzed the sample. When it was finished, the Doctor's eyes widened in both confusion and interest.
"Operator, look at this." He showed him the results of the scans.
The Operator cocked an eyebrow, the cells were black with white dots and spiky exteriors. Surprise came when one of said black cells impaled a normal looking cell with it's spikes. Soon enough, the impaled cell darkened and grew the spikes.
"Some kind of infection?" He asks the Doctor who shrugged while examining the scans.
"More like that and mutation. It seems Conner's cells entered the guard's body and began a resuscitative mutation."
The Operator looked confused, as he stares at "I thought cells are still active even when the body is technically dead."
"They are, but this guard was suffering apparently from gangrene due to the bite." The scientist clarified while typing on the device, "But the wound to the neck sealed over, it's as if he's still-" He was cut off by a gargling moan.
The two both turned to see the guard seizing before getting up, his eyes burn red with black spreading over his skin as his throat pulses like a heart beat. Blood sprayed out of the mouth and hunched over turning to the members of the Consortium who started backing away.
"Need...ADAM..." He gargles, then the same mandibles and eel-like tongue burst from his mouth with a screech. The two only gasped as they backed away.
"I thought you said he died!" The Operator says incredulously to the Doctor.
"Dark Substance," The latter replies in realization, "It reanimates the dead!"
The tongue tried to whip at the Operator only for it to be shot by his rifle, only for it to grow back and the infected to advance.
"Aim for the head!" Yells The Doctor.
"What? How do you know?" The Operator replies, looking at him.
"I've seen horror films." The Operator looks at the Doctor curiously, "At drive-in theaters!"
The former just rolled his eyes and opened fire, the beam piercing the undead's skull as it flew upwards before slamming onto the floor with black blood spraying everywhere.
The two panted as they tried to assess what just happened, with the Operator coming to the conclusion. "I think Connor's cells can now overwrite the genetic information to assimilate other lifeforms."
The Doctor looked surprised, "That explains the infection but for the cells to overwrite they would need to..." His eyes widen as he grabs the Operator's shoulders.
"Listen, The Chemist and I can synthesize a necrotoxin that can kill Connor but I need a sample." The Doctor says.
The Operator stares at the severed tongue imbedded into the wall across the walls, then looks to the Doctor and says, "I think I know where to get some samples."
He just follows the Operator's line of sight to the tongue, "Yes, that should do just nicely."
"You do that, I got to check on something." He heads off to somewhere while the Doctor heads to the labs after gaining the samples.
The Commander ran down the halls with his high frequency blades, Masamune and Muramasa, humming with lighting.
One infected's hands were severed at the elbows before being bisected with him using the lower half to leap into the air as he spun while cleaving another in half. He moved in a twirling motion slicing and dicing infected after infected into pieces.
He plunged his blades into the last ones' torso before halving it at the waist before throwing the top half in the air and decapitating it.
The Commander panted in sheer thrill with blood showering his uniform and helmet. He turned his head to see more infected growling down the halls, he grinned sadistically under his helmet.
"So, up for some Mono a Dio?" He challenged with the leading infected roaring in defiance.
That's what he was hoping for.
The Commander charged at the infected horde with a roaring yell.
Nyx disintegrated many infected with bright red tendrils while her familiars handled the other infected. After that, her familiars headed out while she ran into the Operator who was running down the halls.
"Hey, what's going on?" Nyx asked frantically.
"Mutant Fallen, hard to explain, come on!" The Operator said also frantically while running again with Nyx behind.
Both continued to run down the dark red tinted halls, the guards dealt with the infected. The scientists helped in whatever way they could, using experimental weapons or treating those injured.
"Kill me... Kill me..." Moaned an injured Roger Doofenshmirtz before turning to his brother, "Heinz, would you please kill me?"
"I'm the tiniest bit busy, Roger! I'm getting to it!" A grey haired Heinz Doofenshmirtz on the floor pushed back an infected with a pipe to the infected's neck, before pushing the latter off and driving the pipe into his head.
Heinz panted before seeing the Operator and Nyx, "Sir, ma'am, so far everything is..." He looks around to some guards struggling to put down some infected, "Semi under control."
"Just get it completely under control or you'll lose your job." Nyx snaps to the scientist whom nodded ordered the others.
"ALRIGHT, MAGGOTS! GET THIS UNDER CONTROL OR YOU'RE ALL DEMOTED TO JANITORS!"
The other scientist and guards scrambled to get the situation under control.
Heinz looked satisfied while the Operator and Nyx checked out the containment cells. While they weren't damaged, Nyx used some barrier spells just in case while the infected were dealt with as the other members of the Consortium arrived.
The Manager decapitated one infected with his left hand shaped into a blade before shifting back to a hand shape.
Nyx whistled, "No pun intended but that has to come in handy."
He chuckled, "It has it's perks." As he says that, his gold hand's fingers became tendrils that impaled an infected behind him.
The Engineer slammed his palm into another infected's chest, the infected then burst into a bloody mess. Before any questions, he explains, "My semblance can dissemble and reassemble anything I touch."
Nyx whistled again.
After they took out the last infected, the Leader called on the tower line, telling that him and the other 5 were at the meeting room and ordered them there to discuss their next plan of action. But Nyx then noticed something.
"Where's the Commander?"
The other Consortium blinked and looked around, seeing that the silver masked member was nowhere in sight.
As if on cue, an infected burst into the room and roared at them while charging. Before they could even draw their weapons, a gloved fist rammed through the back of the infected's head through it's mouth.
When the fist retracted, there was the Commander. He stood there panted like an furious tiger, coated in blood, viscera, entrails, bones, and biological slurry, he held the flayed head of an infected with the spine attached.
He then pointed the head forwards, "To the meeting room!" The Commander yells as he leaps over the others, jumpkicking an incoming infected's face in before using it's body to slam another one into the wall, then impaling them both with a kick. He finished off the second one with a right hook that took it's head off, before running down the hall.
"Yes, he's always like this Nyx." The Operator preemptively responded to said Lady of Chaos who had her pointer finger up and her mouth opened.
She just pouted.
After the whole mess was settled, the rest of the consortium gathered in the meeting room. All of them then saw the Commander was covered in blood. Before any of them asked, the Operator said, "He was in one of his 'rages.'"
That was when they let it slide.
"It seems we got much more than we bargained for with the infusion." The Doctor tells the Leader showing the latter a hologram of Connor's cells, dividing, dissembling, and reassembling in new ways.
The Doctor explained,"XANA's scans revealed that Connor's biology is now capable of producing organs and tissues in response to trauma of any kind. If we were to create a necrotoxin, it would work the first time, but he would likely adapt to it."
The Chemist has a thoughtful expression, "What if we make a poison so toxic, his body would have to physically shutdown?"
While the other members of the Consortium had confused looks, the Doctor replied, "I suppose it's possible."
"Operator, come with me." The Chemist responded, with the one in question following with a confused expression.
They entered the Chemist's lab with a large stain covered tank in the middle and a larger refinery behind it.
"You see this tank?" The Chemist asks, pointing at it with a questioning expression, "It's full of shit. Literal shit."
The Operator deadpans, "I don't follow."
"Basically, we mix all kinds of chemicals with the waste," The Chemist explains, "Put it through the refiner, and shoot up Connor with the stuff, it'll dissolve his innards like my pappy through a liquor store."
"You're suggesting that the toxins and bile produced will force his body into unconsciousness trying to detox?" The white haired member clarified, with the Chemist nodding.
"Okay, that is both completely ridiculous and absolutely brilliant." The Operator said.
He said that possibly deadpanned, but to the Chemist, it was hard to tell given how he never changes his tone when he's calm. But to Operator's credit, he just went along with it and gathered the chemicals he asked, with his trench coat replaced with a chemistry apron, rubber gloves replacing his regular gloves, and a gasmask replacing his scarf.
"Codeine, Iodine, Red Phosphorus, grease remover, gasoline, hydrogen peroxide, battery acid," The Chemist listed off as the Operator poured the listed stuff into the tank, "And the unrefined Slosh mixture."
The Operator looked confused before the Chemist points to a metal jug with a red skull and crossbones sign. He grabs the jug and opens it, immediately noticing that the liquid inside was a deep purple and emitted a violet smoke.
"What is this mixture made of?" The Operator asks, both curious and repulsed.
"It's basically homemade liquor and moonshine mixed with benzine, paint stripper, cooking sherry, Pernod, army tank brake fluid, anti-freeze, turpentine, Mr. Sheen, and Drambuie." The Chemist explains, motioning to the refinery, "I put mixture through the refinery to make it drinkable."
The Operator opens and closes his mouth for a few seconds before looking to the mixture then the Chemist.
"Why the hell did you make something like this?" Asks the former.
The latter shrugged, "My family has a history of high chemical tolerance, besides you gotta put hairs on ya chest somehow."
The Operator cocks an eyebrow before taking a whiff of the mixture. He recoils in a massive gag while put a hand to his mouth, trying not to spill the jug.
He looks at the Chemist incredulously, "How are you alive?"
The Chemist just taps the side of his nose and says, "I may very well not be."
The Operator just sighs exasperated while pouring the mixture into the tank, by now the excrement has being reduced to a black gurgling sludge that was eating away the stains on the inner walls of the tank.
"Shame," The Chemist says, looking at the jug with a longing expression, "I was saving that for a rainy day."
"Chemist, it's been winter for 9 years." The Operator replies before looking back in the tank, "Though I don't blame you for including it. The sludge is eating away all the stains and shit in the tank."
"Yep. The only unlicensed legal use of that shit is to dissolve grime, rust, and grease." The southern accented member commented before they pushed the tank to the refinery and hooked it up.
The sludge traveled down the pipes and into the filtering system with a blast of steam spewing from the vents, while the dials rise with the indicating pressure as the machine hums.
"Alright. We get whatever comes out of this into Connor's system," The Chemist explain with a hand on the Operator's shoulder, "The shit toxifies him to where he shuts down to detox, we contain him, and we're home free."
The anemic member just nodded as the machine finished.
A high tech syringe-like dart then appeared under the nozzle for the finishing tank that began dispensing a black fluid that emitted steam. The dart was sealed as the Chemist grabbed it cautiously.
"Behold the deadliest compound known to man." He says to himself, grabbing an elephant rifle and loading it with the syringe.
"Now, we just have to find Connor." The Chemist said, before an bloodcurdling roar pierced the air along with rapid gunshots and frantic shouting.
"I think he just found us." The Operator snarks before they run out the lab.
Several Modus soldiers frantically shoot whatever ammo they have while backing away from the abomination of nature in front.
Said abomination was Connor.
He was now 12 feet tall, his entire body, though still humanoid, covered in scales, spines, and bristling hair where thick plating doesn't protect vital areas except for a large external heart on the right side of his chest.
Connor's eyes were a burning red with his cheeks silted open showing red hooked fangs, the mouth filled with green harpoon tipped tongues and two extra jaws with red needle-like fangs.
"Move!" An approaching soldier yelled as he planted a mounted long barreled cannon a few hundred feet away from Connor.
The soldier screamed, "DIE YOU MUTANT BASTARD!"
The blast from the cannon rang through the room as the fist sized bullet blew a screeching Connor's right arm off his body while he was knocked off his feet, slamming into the floor with blood spraying and a loud THUMP.
All was silent when the rest of the soldiers got up, shaken but grateful that their helmet had built-in mufflers for gunshots. As the Operator, Chemist, and Commander came in with guns drawn, one of them dared to ask, "Did that do it?"
Exactly one minute after he said that, Connor's left arm dug it's fingers into the walls as he pulled himself up. The stump quickly grew into a black tumorous mass of tissue, soon forming an arm as the nervous system, bones, circulatory system, soft tissues and hard tissues formed in that order.
Suddenly, the plates became thicker while the hand grew. Then, five gigantic fingers with thick curved blades on the tips erupted from the hand, the blade were red and attached to insectoid-like fingers.
Connor opened and closed his new hand before roaring, ready to slice them to pieces.
"You had to say it." One soldiers seethed to the other on who shook with fear.
"Withdraw!" The Commander yelled as they fallback down the next hall for a better position, some not so lucky ones meet Connor's new claws. As they withdrew to the end of the hall, the Operator gave the Commander the elephant rifle with the bile.
The Chemist yelled over the gunshots, "Aim for the heart! Also, you only got one shot!"
The Commander was undeterred, he survived in the Darklands for 6 months with only a rusting machete.
"It's getting closer!" A soldier by him shouted as Connor appeared down the hallway as the armor piercing bullets simply got stuck in his plates. One soldier got behind him and shot rockets at the monster's back, only for the flesh and plates on the back to regrow tougher and thicker. Connor swung at the soldier, reducing him to bloody chunks.
"Take the shot, sir!" Another soldier yells at the Commander while the Operator and Chemist provided fire, both of whom were pretty calm despite the situation.
"Not yet!" He yells as he aimed the elephant rifle at Connor's exposed heart.
The hulking creature swiping at two other soldiers, one reduced to chunks while other slammed into the wall with gashes in his chest, breaking several bones as he slide down the wall.
"SIR, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!" One of the remaining soldiers yelled, in fear.
"A closer target! We have one shot!" The Commander snapped at the soldier as he continued to focus where he was aiming.
Connor got in a sprinting position with his clawed hand behind him posed for the kill. As he burst into a sprint with a furious roar, that's where the Commander had him.
"Here's your vaccination shot, you son of a bitch!" The Commander yelled as he pulled the trigger, the recoil dislocating his right arm.
The dart seared through the air, piercing the large exposed heart on Connor's chest, whom reacted with a screech of pain. Suddenly, he began twitching, cringing, and moaning, in seconds he pants, jerks, and shifts while stumbling on weakening legs until he keels over, denting the floor.
The Consortium and soldier pants as they see the monster lapse into unconsciousness. The Chemist raised his hand and the Operator hi-5'ed it, the Commander did the same with the latter.
"Get a containment crew here as fast as possible." The Commander ordered the last few soldiers, whom nodded and contacted them.
Connor was successfully contained in a heavily fortified containment cells while also restrained in at least 70 different restraints while also keep unconscious on 98 different kinds of sedatives and pain killers.
The infected were eliminated with their remains incinerated after autopsy.
7 hours later, many tests were conducted with Connor's cells for a variety of purposes. After which, the Leader meet with the Operator and Doctor in his office to discuses their findings with Connor's new biology.
"It seems the tests exceeded expectations." The Doctor explained as he shows the results from the tests, "They can restructure themselves to survive in any environment and any organism without rampant mutation like the ones here. We are expecting human trials within midnight."
"Very good." The Leader seemed very pleased, he turned to the Operator, "Operator, how did the foreign leaders react to our proposal?"
"Oh, they very much liked it," He replied with a pleased expression, "They're willing to pay 23 billion dollars for whatever we can make from Connor's cells."
The Leader blinked "23 billion all to together?"
The Operator shook his head, "23 billion each."
Both of them were stunned, that much? While they were suspicious, they just went with as who could refuse that much money?
"Well, Doctor. I suggested you continue tests to meet their quota." The Leader slightly presses the Doctor who nodded. "Very much. I will meet with you two tomorrow." He says as he exits the office.
After he Operator peeked out the door to make sure the Doctor left the floor and gave the Leader the okay, the blinds in his office closed as the lights turned on with the latter looking at the former with a serious expression.
"Aside from this, how is the plan proceeding?"
The Operator exhaled through his nose, "Everything is going as planned, this included. While no one is suspicious, we can't reveal it until we have everything where we need them."
"Good. Let's hope it does." The Leader says before loading files on the holographic table. "We have must work to do if it is to come."
It showed the 12 Spiral Gems, 3 of them checkmarked. It then showed a massive black pillar that towered over everything on the ground with 3 white rings around the top.
"But we must be cautious like you said," The Leader said with a sad smile, an ominous glint in his monocle. "As the adage goes; 'The path to Hell is paved with good intensions.'"
They both just stare at the hologram with the Operator having a sinister smirk.
The Doctor walked into his labs with a pleased expression, his subordinates standing at attention.
"Good news, we are ready to begin human trial for Organism Da-Kr." He says with his scientist all sharing an excited expression, "We just next test subjects for the trials, so any?"
Some of them had pondering expressions but Heinz Doofenshmirtz had a sadist expression at his injured brother.
"I think I have a test subject, sir." Heinz gestured to Roger, which the Doctor grinned under his mask.
"Yes, Heinz. He will do quite nicely. Prep him." He orders with the scientist wheeling Roger to the testing chambers past a room filled with failed experiments and clones of the Programmer.
When Roger woke up, he found himself strapped to a table with the Doctor and Heinz looking down at him, with the Doctor having a syringe ready. Roger then began shaking with fear.
"Relax, Roger. It only hurts for a second." He then jabs the syringe in Roger's arm, who screamed only to find the muffle on his mouth, "What comes next, more so."
His veins blackened while it spreads through his body with along with scars spreading, bones breaking, and blood boiling.
Roger could only scream.
Name: The Operator
Aura: Black and Silver
Weapon: El Diablo
Description: His cane can transform in a high tech and heavy metal-esc Winchester 1887 that fires lasers and a laser blade powered by a small generator. While he doesn't need to reload, the generator can overheat from over use.
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Name: The Doctor
Weapon: Xyclos Needler
Description: A specially-crafted weapon created so that he could "test" new genetically-engineered serums in battlefield conditions. It fires a thin capillary tube imbued with The Doctor's latest creation. Even the smallest scratch can induce terrifying psychotic hallucinations, cause a living being to mutate uncontrollably, or even to cause the victim to spontaneously combust.
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Name: The Manager (formerly Billiam Milliam)
Aura: Gold
Semblance: Gold Construct
Description: While the same as his original Semblance Gold Manipulation, the Manager can now create gold constructs and turn his body into living gold, at the cost of him not being able to control gold outside of his body, though he seems to not mind this as he can use it to replace his lost hand.
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Name: The Engineer (formerly Jack Spicer)
Aura: Red
Semblance: Overhaul
Description: The Engineer can disassemble and then reassemble anything he touches. This includes biological matter in which he can either heal or destroy body parts, though the former is described as extremely painful.
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Name: The Commander
Weapon: Masamune and Muramasa
Description: The Commander's twin katanas have been modified and reoutfitted with high frequency technology. The rapid vibration of the blades along with the electrical current flowing through the blades lets them cut through nearly anything.