Disclaimer: I do not own. I do not own. I do not own. I wish I did. I wish I did. I wish I did.
Author's Note: I know it's been two weeks. I know. I apologize. The holiday did not let me get a chapter up. It was a bit chaotic (but fun), but I'm back! I will continue to write it out and post regularly. Just keep reading! Sorry for any mistakes. Side note…people have messaged me asking for more Pepperony. It is coming, I promise. This is me you're talking to…HUGE Pepperony supporter! Please enjoy.
Kahn watched with arms clasped behind the glass windows as his researchers prepped their areas.
The lab on the opposite side was brightly lit with plain sterile walls. Medical and technical equipment was neatly interspersed around the scientists. A team of five men walked from their spots around the room to gather around a computer near the corner of the workspace.
"Serum 1011 looks to be an improvement from the last trial." One of the men spoke as he looked over the top of his glasses at the screen.
"I concur with Richard's assessment." One of his colleagues pointed to the screen. "Seems to have bonded well with the chromosome in question."
"Don't get too optimistic, Daniel." An older man holding a clipboard spoke without looking up from where he jotted some notes. "We thought serum 1009 was the one. Where we fix one bond, another one is broken. We have to be prepared for another failure."
"You sure are pessimistic for being a top-level scientist." Richard turned to eye him curiously.
"This is all trial and error. I am not one to jump with glee at a solved variable. I will only be satisfied until we see every single chromosome has bonded successfully with the serum." Michael spoke.
The other men nodded quietly in agreement. Richard shrugged, still taking pride in the fact that they had had a breakthrough. However small.
"Are we ready?" Kahn questioned through the intercom as he overlooked the exchange.
Michael turned and nodded. "Yes, sir." He looked back to Daniel signified with a lift of his head that he could proceed as planned.
The team walked to their stations to retrieve certain pieces of equipment. Richard in particular walked to stand beside a plain operating table. On it was a limp corpse completely covered with a medical sheet. He moved to uncover the body to reveal a man with an unkempt beard and ragged hair.
"Test subject is approximately forty years in age. Muscle tone is hardly present. Initial medical examination revealed no diseases or ailments aside from malnutrition." He read from a file he held in his hand.
"Alright. Let's begin." Michael waited for his colleague to wheel a cart over with a tray that held syringes and several vials. "Make sure the restraints are in place, John."
"Restraints are secure." He responded after he examined the leg and arm cuffs.
"Vitals, Leonard?"
The man kept a close eye on the monitor. "Steady."
"I will prep the serum now." Michael nodded. As he grabbed a syringe and a vial Daniel moved to switch a camera on. Everything was being documented. From start to end. "We are ready." With one last look at Kahn, and getting a relaxed nod of approval, the man went to sanitize a spot on the patient's neck. He made sure air pockets were out before he inserted the needle into the man's tissue. "Vitals?"
Leonard examined the screen before him for a while before he responded. "They look steady. Minor acceleration in heart beat." He paused to look at the screen more keenly. He looked up with a grin on his face. "Vitals are steady."
A collective sigh of relief was heard around the room as the team moved closer to examine the patient. "How long until we see the effects, Michael?" Kahn asked with a blank expression.
The leader looked up from the many charts he was beginning to fill out with data from the monitor. "Should be seeing them in about two minutes, sir." He looked back to his charts. "John, get the IV ready and set." John nodded and did as was requested.
"Two minutes and thirty-two seconds after introduction of nanotech serum into the body." Richard looked up over his glasses at Michael.
"Leonard?" Michael asked.
"Vitals are still looking steady."
"Sir, looks like this one has worked." Michael looked at Kahn once again.
"Are we sure?" Kahn unclasped his hands from behind his back and glanced at his watch. "Where are the effects? At this point we should have seen the body's reactions to it. I see no change."
"Yes, sir, but we also have yet to see…what we usually see. This man's heart rate is steady. He has survived initial injection effects."
"Michael, wait." Richard interrupted their conversation. "Look."
Michael turned and observed what was happening. "Muscle mass is increasing! Leonard?" He asked as his eyes grew wide and a smile surfaced on his face.
Leonard sighed before he shook his head. "His vitals are off the charts, Michael! We're losing him."
"No!" Michael rushed to the monitor. "No, this is normal. This could be the one!" His eyes darted across the monitor. "John, push more into the IV. Come on push it!"
John injected the IV with a syringe. "All in."
Michael looked back down to the monitor. "How long, Richard?"
"Four minutes eleven seconds."
"Muscle mass increase seems to have stopped." John looked down to the patient. His body, once scrawny and frail, now possessed extremely toned limbs and a chiseled chest.
"Vitals are beginning to come down. Heartbeat, blood pressure, temperature. All back to normal." Michael said through a smile. "All signs point to a successful bond." He looked up to his team and nodded. "We did it. We found the serum."
As he began to walk towards the cart where his charts lay, John gasped aloud. "Michael! Look at his skin!"
With a swift motion he spun around to look at the man's purple skin. "No, no, no." Michael touched several spots on the man's legs and arms. The man's body was hard to the touch as his blood solidified within him. "It can't be. He was doing well. He did well!" His temper was out of control as he shook his head.
"He's gone. No heartbeat." Leonard's shoulders slumped, and he rested his weight on his arms atop the monitor table.
"No!" Michael shouted. "John get the paddles!"
John shook his head with defeat. "It didn't work, Mike. You said it yourself. Be prepared for another failure. It didn't work."
"It was working. He made it further than the rest."
"But he's dead now. So we take the data, analyze it and his blood and we move on to the next."
Heaviness hung over the team as they all sighed in frustration. Leonard laughed darkly as he slammed his palms on the table. "Damn it!"
"Alright. Clean up. Study what you got from this one and get a report to me in twenty four hours." Kahn looked at them from the window before he got confirmation that they had heard him and walked away calmly.
"Call the team to take the body." Richard spoke to Daniel before he turned to face his colleague. "We did well, Mike. We're so close now. I can feel it."
He nodded. "Let's go evaluate the data."
The scientists cleaned up the lab before they all walked out into the long corridor.
To be continued…