Author's Note: Hello again! I promised another update soon, and here we are! Tonight is turning out to be much more productive than I thought it would be. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.
Disclaimer: The plot of this story is mine, everything else is simply borrowed.
The morning of the heist had arrived and Carmen was feeling less than up to it. Something did not feel quite right. It was not simply the dread of leaving the protective walls of ACME. Nor was it the fact that she would be pulling off a heist for the first time in something like two months. While both of those were quite terrifying prospects they were not the total summation of what was going on. There was something else that she could not put her finger on. She felt….different. Not quite right.
In large part it was probably because of all of the late nights she had been pulling lately. Doing research on this case and planning how to best execute this heist and get VILE to be doing something truly productive in her absence. It was not easy and the work had been taking its toll on her. Yesterday she had nearly nodded off in the middle of a staff meeting. How embarrassing that had been! Zack had managed to cover for her, and she was thankful for that, but it shouldn't have happened.
The topic of the meeting had taken rather a serious tone too. To fall asleep when ACME's lead epidemiologist was discussing the potential threat posed by the theft of bubonic plague samples. Completely and utterly unacceptable. Especially when it was something that she had been studying so much on her own time. She knew all to well the potential risks of a virus like that being unleashed on an unsuspecting public. If things were not taken care of soon and the samples either retrieved or destroyed results could prove disastrous. As horrific as this whole situation was, or would soon be, it had sparked an idea.
While it had been something she had been contemplating since she had first found out about the theft; Carmen hadn't been fully prepared to set it into motion until now. This had required a great deal of planning into the night, and making contact with several of her closest colleagues at VILE out of the blue. Yet it seemed like they would be able to begin laying the groundwork for her project today, or rather within the next three days that she had laid out specifically for this heist.
In some ways it was a relief to know that VILE would have something productive to occupy its time while she was away. A directive straight from her that would reassure them and potentially keep the detectives busy as well. If everything went as planned it could also serve to be incredibly useful to the community as well. It had required a few adjustments to the heist she would be undertaking today, but that was a small price to pay. It would all work out if she could just get through it.
Just thinking about the heist exhausted her somewhat both mentally and physically. Which was probably why rather than heading out into the lab after she had gotten ready this morning, she was instead lying on her bed fully clothed with the lights out. She had every intention of going out and getting some work done; once the pounding in her head subsided. She really should have gotten to bed sooner the night before, and now she was paying the price for it.
"Good morning Carmen!" The Chief said popping into her room. The dark seemed to catch him by surprise. "Carmen?" he asked again looking around.
"Good morning Chief." she said from where she was lying on the bed. The light he brought in with him was almost blinding in the dark causing her to wince.
"Rise and shine, it's time to get working on the case and to get ready for today! You've got places to be, people to see, and items to steal!" Chief said excitedly.
"Are you always so chipper this early in the morning?" Carmen asked him standing up and turning on the lights. "Especially when it comes to this? Aren't you supposed to be, lecturing me or something? Talking to me about the evils of my thieving ways, telling me how much you would like to see me behind bars?"
"What's eating you?" The Chief asked turning to look at her. "Oh my, you've done a wonderful job with your hair and makeup today. You look terrible! Nobody will have any trouble believing that you are sick."
"Thanks Chief?" Carmen said raising an eyebrow.
"The dark circles under your eyes were a great touch by the way." He said examining her face closely. "I've got to hand it to you, this is a remarkable job that you have done. It looks like you've been up all night."
"Chief, I'm really not feeling so great. Perhaps instead of working in the lab today it might just be better if I went to the library instead, or perhaps the archives? I really haven't slept." Carmen said rubbing the back of her head with her hand anxiously.
"That's the idea Carmen, although I didn't realize that you were a method actor." He said looking her over. "I'd prefer it if you started in the lab. Zack needs a little bit of help on a project that he is working on and at the present you are the only one around with the qualifications to oversee his work. You can go to the archives as soon as you are finished with that. Besides we do need the ACME staff to see that you are around prior to your leaving today and the best way to do that is to not alter your schedule too much."
"Alright." Carmen said reluctantly. "I'll see you down there." The Chief blinked out and Carmen stopped in front of the mirror to see what the Chief was talking about. She really did look horrible; and she wasn't actually wearing make-up aside from a subdued lipstick. Fixing her hair so that she looked a bit less like the bride of Frankenstein she opened her door and walked out into the halls of ACME.
She smiled politely at the other agents she passed in the halls, but she did not feel up for much more than that. Her head ached so much that even nodding was a chore. She knew that the Chief was right, she needed to make sure that the other detectives, old and young saw her here throughout the morning. Making it believable was always the key to having a good cover. Otherwise they would certainly deduce that Francesca was really Carmen.
Before reaching the lab she stopped at the little storage closet outside and outfitted herself in her pristine white lab coat and her safety goggles. The embroidered name on the pocket had been rather a nice touch it added some legitimacy to her cover. Once she was dressed she walked the short distance from the storage cupboard to the lab and pushed through the swinging door. The moment the first scents of chemicals reached her she immediately wanted to turn around and go right back out. It was enough to make her feel queasy.
This was why she had stopped pulling all nighters a few years back. As productive as they could be, the benefits had been outweighed by the fact that they could knock her out for a full week afterwards. Sleep deprivation had always wreaked havoc on her body. The aching in her head and bones, the nausea, the dizziness. As a detective she had been able to handle it, and even for a time as a thief, but that had only lasted so long.
Waiting by the door for a few moments she tried to acclimate herself to the room. She closed her eyes and tried to get to a point where she could block out the smells and other distractions. She had trained under Suhara for years and as a result had become a veritable expert at being able to clear her mind and sharpen her focus. Unfortunately today that zen training did not seem to be working in her favor. Her nerves were driving her to distraction.
Looking around she did not see Zack anywhere. Perhaps if she left now, she could head him off before he got here and convince him that maybe archival work would be better today. She turned to leave, but as she was pushing the door open Zack and the Chief came in together. Both wearing safety goggles. What poor timing!
"Hey Dr. Romano!" Zack said enthusiastically. "Chief said that you would be able to help me with my project this morning! This is so great, I've been trying to get a jump on these all week and nobody has been around to supervise the lab."
"Actually I'm not terribly sure that's advi…." Carmen didn't get to finish before the Chief cut her off.
"Correct-o-mundo Zack-eroo." Chief said. "Dr. Romano is a specialist when it comes to chemistry, and she will be a great help to you. I'm sure she'll have plenty of recommendations for this serum that you are working on."
"Thanks Chief!" Zack said. "I'm looking forward to testing out my hypotheses today."
"I'm glad to hear it…..I've….got some paperwork to take care of." Chief said making an exit without another word.
"The Chief is certainly a card, but we couldn't live without him." Zack said walking over towards one of the open lab tables and pulling out some chemicals from the cabinets below. "This shouldn't take too long, if my hunch, and my computer projections, are correct we should be all done in just a few minutes."
"Wonderful." Carmen said fanning herself with a nearby pamphlet on lab safety. It didn't help too much, but it did give her some distraction to be doing something with her hands. "What is it that you are working on today?"
"I've run some projections and done some studies and based upon the results I may have developed a serum that when sprayed on an object it can reveal the presence of specific contagions. If I can get it to work, at least in its most basic form, it could potentially help to effectively sanitize public spaces and prevent the spread of dangerous diseases."
"That's brilliant Zack, color me impressed. I was not aware that you were working on something like this." Carmen said.
"Thanks Dr. Romano." Zack said with a blush. "I've actually been working on various forms of this for awhile, but after all that has been going on this seems to be a good immediate and practical use for it."
"Given the circumstances I don't think this could have come at a better time Zack, if you can get this working we might stand a greater chance at weathering the coming storm. It could save hundreds of thousands of lives potentially."
"That's what I am hoping for." Zack said examining the vials of chemicals before him. "It just needs to work."
"You're a smart kid, I have confidence that it will turn out well. With your background in technology the projections should be fairly specific." Carmen said. "I can look them over for you if you would like."
"I might just have to take you up on that Dr. Romano." Zack said with a smile. Then he opened up the first vial and began to mix his serum. As soon as the chemicals mixed Carmen felt herself begin to gag at the smell and tentatively placed a hand over her mouth and quietly stepped back a few feet. Hoping that it would help. All the while still carefully watching him mix the chemicals. From what she could see he was taking great care in his work. Until…."Zack, wait that's too much, if you add just an extra drop of that it will….." She didn't get to finish what she was going to say because the vial exploded letting out a thick sulfurous gas. It was quickly sucked up by the fans in the room, but that did not stop the particularly potent smell.
"Oh my, I see what you meant." Zack said blinking fairly quickly. "That was quite the explosion."
"Zack, pardon me, I think I need to go." Carmen said placing her hand over her stomach. She was fighting the urge to vomit now and it was all she could do to keep herself steady.
"Are you okay Dr. Romano?" He asked concerned. "You are looking a little green around the gills right now. Do you maybe need some fresh air, I know this mixture doesn't smell the greatest."
She opened her mouth to speak, but immediately had to clamp her hand over it. Rather than sticking around she made a dash for the door and just barely made it to the restroom across the hall. There were other people in there but she ran straight past them and into one of the stalls. Considering the fact that she had forgone breakfast this morning she was rather surprised at just how ill those chemicals had made her. As a general rule she tried to avoid throwing up as much as was humanly possible, unfortunately this was one of those times.
Once she was certain that she was finished she walked out and rinsed her mouth out in the sink wiping her face off. From the time she had come in to the restroom the rest of the people had vacated. She appreciated the privacy this now afforded her, yet it was awkward to have gone through that. Attempting to straighten up her appearance one last time she glanced in the mirror before heading towards the door.
"What on earth were you trying to do in there Zack?" Ivy asked her brother. Carmen could hear the two of them talking through the door.
"I told you before Ive, I was working on mixing the chemicals together for my new serum. That's all." Zack said.
"Are you sure that was all that was going on in there? The smell emanating from there is absolutely noxious. What did you do dump sulfur in your solution? That yellow smoke smells like rotten eggs." Ivy said making a gagging sound.
"What are you talking about there isn't smoke in there…..now." Zack said under his breath.
"Now that it's been suctioned out of there…." Ivy said, and Carmen had the distinct feeling that she was leveling her brother with one of her signature looks.
"I may have added a bit too much of one ingredient. Dr. Romano had warned me to be careful with the dropper that I was using." Zack said sheepishly. "I didn't think that such a small discrepancy would cause the whole thing to escalate that much."
"This is why you are not allowed in the chemistry lab by yourself little bro. Chemicals when mixed incorrectly can be dangerous. Extremely so. That is why we need to be precise in our measurements." Ivy said. "Poor Dr. Romano had to endure the full force of this. I'm surprised she lasted as long as she did. I wouldn't have even let you open the first bottle."
"How is she by the way?" Zack asked more quietly this time. "She didn't look too good when she left."
"I would have lost my lunch too had I been in there for that experiment." Ivy said.
Zack winced. "That bad huh?" He asked her sounding rather apologetic.
"I'm going to go check on her, you need to apologize to her for not being more cautious." Ivy said. "Maybe write a thousand times. I will not blow up the forensics lab?"
Carmen took that opportunity to walk out the door and back into the hall. The smell of the serum was still quite prominent, but nowhere near as potent as it had been in the lab itself for which she was grateful. It was still enough to make her stomach churn though.
"Dr. Romano, how are you feeling?" Zack asked sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
"I'm okay Zack, the stench of your concoction was just a tad bit too strong for me I think. Next time let's focus a little bit more on our chemicals, okay?" She said trying to make him feel a little bit better. "Are you okay? You got the full force of that explosion. I should have checked on you sooner."
"For the most part I am fairly unscathed, although my eyebrows are just a bit singed." Zack said gesturing to them. Sure enough his blonde eyebrows now appeared a bit darker and there were distinct patches missing from them. "I'm not feeling very ill from it though, I suppose my sense of smell has just evolved to the point where I am immune to its ill effects."
"Think again little bro, I think the scent of your gym clothes has merely numbed your sense of smell." Ivy said. "That concoction would make any normal person ill."
Carmen couldn't help but laugh at this. Still it was rather disconcerting that she had become physically ill from this and thus far it appeared that it was not having nearly the same effect on anyone else. "Well, the same could be said for most teenage boys I think." Carmen replied with a laugh. That had been a mistake, the world was starting to spin again and she was beginning to feel that unpleasant churning sensation in her stomach once more.
"Are you okay? You are looking just a little bit…. peaky Dr. Romano." Ivy said. "Why don't we go out into the courtyard and get you some fresh air?"
Carmen started to protest but thought better of it. Ivy was right, she needed to get out of here, and soon if she had any hope of getting rid of this sick feeling. She and Zack followed Ivy through a maze of corridors and out into the open air courtyard in the center of the main building. Ashamed as she was to say it, this was the first time she had been outdoors since her chat with Suhara a few days ago. She knew that the sunlight and fresh air could only be good for her, but she had buried herself in her work once again. No wonder she was sick.
The effect of the fresh air was quite profound. Upon taking a few deep breaths of it she was feeling much more like her normal self and a little bit less shaky.
"Would you like to sit down?" Ivy asked gesturing towards one of the benches along the walls.
"No, I think some exercise will help me, perhaps if we were to walk around a bit. That might be most beneficial." Carmen said. Her knees were still a bit shaky, but she feared that if she were to sit down again, she would not be able to get back up.
"Alright." Zack said walking along with the two of them. "I am really sorry again for messing up the serum."
"It's quite alright Zack, we learn from our mistakes. Next time you will know to be more exacting in your measurements and you will take the appropriate action." Carmen said with a wave of her hand. "I remember once, when I was about your age, I accidentally blew up one of the tables in the chem lab. Oh they were fit to be tied!"
"Really?" Zack asked. "How did you end up doing that?"
"Let's just say some substances are quite reactive when they hit water, and I was curious to see just how reactive they were." Carmen said with a chuckle. "Just with a fairly large sample instead of a small one."
"How did that end up working out for you?" Ivy asked
"I got a slap on the wrist, and then, believe it or not, a commendation for being gutsy and experimenting." Carmen said. "Although I will say that having lost both eyebrows in the incident was rather punishment enough. Additionally I had to take extra classes on lab safety and chemistry."
"A small price to pay for genius." Zack said.
"I wouldn't go so far as to call it genius, it was probably one of the stupidest things that I've ever done, but it did teach me some valuable lessons and introduce me more to the world of chemistry." Carmen said. "It's also the reason we have the age rule in the chem labs today."
"Does the Chief know about this?" Ivy asked.
"I dare say that he does." Carmen said mischievously, nearly forgetting herself. The three of them walked around for a little bit longer before going back inside. Carmen was feeling much better until she looked at her watch and realized that it was time for her to make her exit, and leave behind the safe walls of ACME for the first time in weeks.