David was dragged into a dark office and was forced down onto a chair by a gleeful Mr Salt.
Dr Norrell was sitting opposite him at his desk looking very annoyed. He arched his fingers as he leaned closer.
"I am very disappointed." he said bitterly, "I hoped we had a better rapport than this."
David just glared back.
"What do you expect? I'm your prisoner!" he snapped.
Dr Norrell frowned.
"I was expecting you to be smart." said the doctor.
There was the sound of sigh coming from the shadows and the young man in the suit David had just collided with in the corridor stepped forward.
"I told you you're too soft." the young man sneered glaring at Norrell. David suddenly realised where he had seen that face before.
"Mr Campbell!" he muttered, the man looked even more youthful than he had at their last confrontation.
"You remember me, I'm touched." exclaimed the young man as he turned in David's direction and gave him a broad smile. "So David… I can still call you David? …Shall we get started?"
"Well, I'm not going anywhere." quipped David, trying to keep things light while he tried to work out what was going on.
"Cute." said the young man although he looked less than amused. He took a seat on the edge of the desk, picking up a file that had been sat in front of Doctor Norrell and made a brief show of looking through it.
Mr Campbell sighed again and leaned closer to David.
"Now I am here because time is of the essence. You have been here long enough to fix our formula… I saw you create a cure for our toxin in less than twenty-four hours when you were trying to save Bianca's life. Maybe you need that kind of incentive again."
David tried hard not to let his anger show in his face.
"I'm not ready to treat Bianca… you don't have the equipment."
"So what equipment do we need?" said Mr Campbell, "And remember I have a copy of the inventory of your cabin and your Orpheus lab so I will know if you being troublesome and just buying time…"
Mr Campbell's glare was hard and unmoving and David's mind went blank as he tried to work out acceptable demands.
"The operating room is badly lit and the equipment is antiquated…" he said eventually.
"We can fix that." said Mr Campbell smoothly. "Anything else?"
"The… the centrifuge is small and poorly…"
"…We'll replace it tomorrow."
"I need more Monotri…"
"…Give Dr Norrell a list." said Mr Campbell curtly. "We will do this for you… and after that you will have twenty-four hours to make the corrections needed to the formula to cure Bianca. I think you are the kind of man who works well when you have a deadline."
"It's not just about the formula!" David exclaimed. "Bianca's injury is not something I can cure in twenty-four hours! I've been working on her treatment for over a year!"
"Then you must be close." said Mr Campbell with a smug grin. "You thought you were pretty close with you last attempt. It might even have worked if we hadn't sabotaged it."
Mr Campbell looked thoughtful for a moment.
"That will be your incentive." he said. "Whatever drug you produce after your twenty-four hours will be injected directly into Miss Montgomery's spine… That's how you treated her before? Then we shall sit back and see what happens… This is where you get to show the world how great you are, Doctor Hayward. You just need to make sure this deadline doesn't become a dead-line."
David's face fell.
Mr Campbell confidently leaned in and patted David on the back of his hand.
"And if you are really good." he said in patronising tones. "I'll even let you do the injection…" His expression then changed to a cold look of anger. "But if you mess me about just once more, my colleague, Mr Salt, will be doing the honours and he isn't known for his gentle approach... or his survival rates…"
…