Disclaimer same as before
Its amazing what a little motivation will give you, I'm just glad I was able to write up another chapter so fast. I hope you guys enjoy.
Six
Pheonix sat in front of the high powered microscope and held her breath in concentration. She adjusted it into a higher focus and watched the cells she had placed in the viewer. At the same time she added the sample formula that she had developed. A few seconds later as the formula spread into the recesses of the nucleus the cell, instead of the division regressing, died. Pheonix let out a frustrated breath of air through her teeth then pulled away from the microscope. She nearly jumped out of her skin.
Mason Eckhart was standing only a few feet away from her. As soon as she recovered her senses her mind immediately raced. What was he doing here? Never before had Eckhart ever had cause to visit her in her own lab it was always the other way around. She was always called into his office for it seemed that he never ventured beyond the confines of his office unless he could help it. Just behind Eckhart and to his right, stood Dr. Harrison. It took a lot of will power not to pounce on the odious little man.
When Breedlove had been alive, Pheonix had been made the lead researcher at Genomex. After Breedlove's death, Eckhart had decided to knock her down a few pegs and brought her down to a general researcher. A few months later Dr. Harrison had been made the lead researcher and he was nothing more than a sniveling, sycophantic waste of space who barely knew what he was doing. Pheonix calmed her fast beating heart and gave Eckhart a cold gaze.
"I wish I could say I was pleased that you paid me a visit but then I'd be lying," Pheonix gave Dr. Harrison a glare. Eckhart only gave her a bemused smile.
"Well we wouldn't want you to lie Dr. Haley."
"What, may I ask, is the reason for your visit to my lab?" She narrowed her eyes as Eckhart's bemused look changed into a cold smile.
"Despite your undisguised displeasure at my unexpected visit, I have found it necessary to keep a closer eye on you. Your family history is enough to alert anyone. Your father was the type to run whenever he felt it was necessary to his best interest and not the big picture."
"Well believe me when I say that I am nothing like my father."
"That is yet to be seen. How is the research going? Has the latest version of the formula done its work?"
Pheonix turned back to the microscope and pulled out the slide and holding it up for Eckhart to see. The slide had once held a spot of blood that had been red with life. Now that same spot of blood was starting to turn a deep ugly brown.
"Its not accomplishing its objective, if that's what you mean. It causes an instantaneous destabilization of the new mutant cells."
"You sound disappointed, isn't that the effect that you were going for?" Dr. Harrison piped up. Pheonix glared at him again.
"No it's not. The destabilization of the cells just shows how unstable the formula is. The purpose isn't to cause cell damage at that degree. If all you wanted was for me to develop an instant killer than that's what I would have aimed for."
"How long do you estimate you'll have the formula ready?" Eckhart said calmly putting up a restraining hand in front of Harrison who had been about to pipe up with a retort.
"This isn't a cake you can pop into an oven and measure the time till it cooks. This is tricky work and I'll need more of a variety of new mutant DNA in order to get to where I'm sure that I'm close."
"You've been working on this project since you began work here at Genomex," Eckhart stated with and edge of impatience in his voice.
"And my father had been working on it for years before that. All of his research on this project was lost because of his untimely death. I was never told where that research was being kept and so now no one will ever know."
"I would think that has his daughter you would be privy to that kind of information," Harrison commented again. Pheonix turned the full force of her annoyance on him.
"This isn't some simple human genetic code we're trying to break into. The new mutant genome is much more highly complex since it's been altered in ways that aren't natural to the basic code. If you're getting so impatient why don't you do it yourself. As for my knowledge of my father's work he had always considered it best to separate his work from his home life. I never realized the full scale of what he was doing until I was hired here."
"All the same I was told that you would have at least come farther than this when I initially approved this project. You haven't been able to come up with your time goals that you set," Eckhart's icy cool voice broke through the argument. Pheonix looked up at him.
"Well you should know, of all people, that these things don't usually hold a schedule," a suspicious tone creeping into her voice.
"True, but even a gifted scientist like yourself would have been able to come up with better results than this in the space of nine months. I expected more from you and this is what I've got to show for it," Eckhart walked to the doorway and turned around before leaving. "I'm assigning Dr. Harrison here to your project. He will report to me every step of your research so that I know that you are doing your job to its fullest potential. I expect results soon Dr. Haley and I'm not a very patient man."
Eckhart turned to leave, Pheonix giving him an incredulous look as his did. Harrison stood there looking please with himself and Pheonix treated him with another smoldering glare. She turned back to the microscope her mind racing trying to weigh her options and at the same time creating new ones. It took her a minute to realize that Harrison was standing closer to her so that he could look over her shoulder.
"Leave my lab, right now," she growled.
"You heard Mr. Eckhart, I am to oversee . . ." Harrison began. He didn't get a chance to finish. A moment later Pheonix was on her feet, gripping Harrison's collar and trying real hard to fight the impulse of throwing him across the room.
"I don't give a damn all right? At this very moment I want you out of my lab before I toss you out. Come tomorrow morning you can oversee all you want but right now you either get out or I swear I'll kill you myself. I need someone to test the formula on anyway."
Harrison sputtered as Pheonix let go of him forcefully and he stumbled a few steps. A second later he scampered out of the lab. Pheonix sat at her chair not moving. If Eckhart were watching her every move than it wouldn't be long before he got his hands on what he really wanted. She cursed herself for playing things too elusive. If she had fed him a semi steady source of information she'd have more time but now it was too late.
It wouldn't take even a little slime like Harrison to realize what was going on after a while if he was breathing down her neck. Pheonix didn't have a choice she had to run. Eventually Eckhart would realize and she'd end up in a pod or worse. In the next half an hour Pheonix cleaned out her computer files being careful not to take out too much so that it didn't alert anyone till the last minute. She contaminated the whole of all the test formulas she had been working on except the last one, the one that showed more promise that the others.
She slipped the computer disks and the formula bottle into her bag then shut down the lab for the night. Hopefully by morning she would be gone, taking all of her research with her. Eckhart would be searching for her but she was used to a life on the run, that much her father had taught her. Pheonix made her way out of the main Genomex building and into the underground garage careful not to look like she was in a hurry. She found her car and unlocked it, and just as she got in she nearly kicked herself.
Jesse. She couldn't just leave without letting him know. But then if she did he'd want to know why and she couldn't lie to him at this point, it was too dangerous either way. She sighed knowing that he deserved to know that she was leaving rather than her disappearing again. Pheonix had another option that she hadn't considered before and she wondered why it didn't dawn on her earlier. It would be a risk, but it was one that she was willing to take. She calmed her nerves then drove out of the garage heading towards her apartment.
Its amazing what a little motivation will give you, I'm just glad I was able to write up another chapter so fast. I hope you guys enjoy.
Six
Pheonix sat in front of the high powered microscope and held her breath in concentration. She adjusted it into a higher focus and watched the cells she had placed in the viewer. At the same time she added the sample formula that she had developed. A few seconds later as the formula spread into the recesses of the nucleus the cell, instead of the division regressing, died. Pheonix let out a frustrated breath of air through her teeth then pulled away from the microscope. She nearly jumped out of her skin.
Mason Eckhart was standing only a few feet away from her. As soon as she recovered her senses her mind immediately raced. What was he doing here? Never before had Eckhart ever had cause to visit her in her own lab it was always the other way around. She was always called into his office for it seemed that he never ventured beyond the confines of his office unless he could help it. Just behind Eckhart and to his right, stood Dr. Harrison. It took a lot of will power not to pounce on the odious little man.
When Breedlove had been alive, Pheonix had been made the lead researcher at Genomex. After Breedlove's death, Eckhart had decided to knock her down a few pegs and brought her down to a general researcher. A few months later Dr. Harrison had been made the lead researcher and he was nothing more than a sniveling, sycophantic waste of space who barely knew what he was doing. Pheonix calmed her fast beating heart and gave Eckhart a cold gaze.
"I wish I could say I was pleased that you paid me a visit but then I'd be lying," Pheonix gave Dr. Harrison a glare. Eckhart only gave her a bemused smile.
"Well we wouldn't want you to lie Dr. Haley."
"What, may I ask, is the reason for your visit to my lab?" She narrowed her eyes as Eckhart's bemused look changed into a cold smile.
"Despite your undisguised displeasure at my unexpected visit, I have found it necessary to keep a closer eye on you. Your family history is enough to alert anyone. Your father was the type to run whenever he felt it was necessary to his best interest and not the big picture."
"Well believe me when I say that I am nothing like my father."
"That is yet to be seen. How is the research going? Has the latest version of the formula done its work?"
Pheonix turned back to the microscope and pulled out the slide and holding it up for Eckhart to see. The slide had once held a spot of blood that had been red with life. Now that same spot of blood was starting to turn a deep ugly brown.
"Its not accomplishing its objective, if that's what you mean. It causes an instantaneous destabilization of the new mutant cells."
"You sound disappointed, isn't that the effect that you were going for?" Dr. Harrison piped up. Pheonix glared at him again.
"No it's not. The destabilization of the cells just shows how unstable the formula is. The purpose isn't to cause cell damage at that degree. If all you wanted was for me to develop an instant killer than that's what I would have aimed for."
"How long do you estimate you'll have the formula ready?" Eckhart said calmly putting up a restraining hand in front of Harrison who had been about to pipe up with a retort.
"This isn't a cake you can pop into an oven and measure the time till it cooks. This is tricky work and I'll need more of a variety of new mutant DNA in order to get to where I'm sure that I'm close."
"You've been working on this project since you began work here at Genomex," Eckhart stated with and edge of impatience in his voice.
"And my father had been working on it for years before that. All of his research on this project was lost because of his untimely death. I was never told where that research was being kept and so now no one will ever know."
"I would think that has his daughter you would be privy to that kind of information," Harrison commented again. Pheonix turned the full force of her annoyance on him.
"This isn't some simple human genetic code we're trying to break into. The new mutant genome is much more highly complex since it's been altered in ways that aren't natural to the basic code. If you're getting so impatient why don't you do it yourself. As for my knowledge of my father's work he had always considered it best to separate his work from his home life. I never realized the full scale of what he was doing until I was hired here."
"All the same I was told that you would have at least come farther than this when I initially approved this project. You haven't been able to come up with your time goals that you set," Eckhart's icy cool voice broke through the argument. Pheonix looked up at him.
"Well you should know, of all people, that these things don't usually hold a schedule," a suspicious tone creeping into her voice.
"True, but even a gifted scientist like yourself would have been able to come up with better results than this in the space of nine months. I expected more from you and this is what I've got to show for it," Eckhart walked to the doorway and turned around before leaving. "I'm assigning Dr. Harrison here to your project. He will report to me every step of your research so that I know that you are doing your job to its fullest potential. I expect results soon Dr. Haley and I'm not a very patient man."
Eckhart turned to leave, Pheonix giving him an incredulous look as his did. Harrison stood there looking please with himself and Pheonix treated him with another smoldering glare. She turned back to the microscope her mind racing trying to weigh her options and at the same time creating new ones. It took her a minute to realize that Harrison was standing closer to her so that he could look over her shoulder.
"Leave my lab, right now," she growled.
"You heard Mr. Eckhart, I am to oversee . . ." Harrison began. He didn't get a chance to finish. A moment later Pheonix was on her feet, gripping Harrison's collar and trying real hard to fight the impulse of throwing him across the room.
"I don't give a damn all right? At this very moment I want you out of my lab before I toss you out. Come tomorrow morning you can oversee all you want but right now you either get out or I swear I'll kill you myself. I need someone to test the formula on anyway."
Harrison sputtered as Pheonix let go of him forcefully and he stumbled a few steps. A second later he scampered out of the lab. Pheonix sat at her chair not moving. If Eckhart were watching her every move than it wouldn't be long before he got his hands on what he really wanted. She cursed herself for playing things too elusive. If she had fed him a semi steady source of information she'd have more time but now it was too late.
It wouldn't take even a little slime like Harrison to realize what was going on after a while if he was breathing down her neck. Pheonix didn't have a choice she had to run. Eventually Eckhart would realize and she'd end up in a pod or worse. In the next half an hour Pheonix cleaned out her computer files being careful not to take out too much so that it didn't alert anyone till the last minute. She contaminated the whole of all the test formulas she had been working on except the last one, the one that showed more promise that the others.
She slipped the computer disks and the formula bottle into her bag then shut down the lab for the night. Hopefully by morning she would be gone, taking all of her research with her. Eckhart would be searching for her but she was used to a life on the run, that much her father had taught her. Pheonix made her way out of the main Genomex building and into the underground garage careful not to look like she was in a hurry. She found her car and unlocked it, and just as she got in she nearly kicked herself.
Jesse. She couldn't just leave without letting him know. But then if she did he'd want to know why and she couldn't lie to him at this point, it was too dangerous either way. She sighed knowing that he deserved to know that she was leaving rather than her disappearing again. Pheonix had another option that she hadn't considered before and she wondered why it didn't dawn on her earlier. It would be a risk, but it was one that she was willing to take. She calmed her nerves then drove out of the garage heading towards her apartment.