Chapter 31: Veneno
His weakness.
He could feel it now.
Twisting, thrashing, biting, raging deep in his core.
Deliciously tempting. Like forbidden fruit.
The time before his awakening had always been fuzzy, both in clarity and accuracy. But he maintained that it had never been there before.
The drugs or whatever they had pumped him full of had done it.
Yes, he had woken a new man. Seen the world in a new light with new eyes, experienced it with a new body and new mind.
But with it came the weakness.
He had only eaten of it a few times. Each time indulging to escape extreme physical pain.
But now, at the failing of yet another plan, the temptation for the weakness rose in the back of his throat like vomit.
'I-I don't understand…"
The quivering mass of vitals and kill points before him was only making it worse.
"You failed, Doctor."
Chang flinched as if physically struck, wobbling backwards before drawing himself up.
"I did not fail!" He shouted with contempt, saliva splattering up the mask in front of him.
A crack bounced off of the walls an instant before the doctor screamed and collapsed heavily to the stone. The sight of splintered bone extruding from his spasming ankle intensified his agonised cries.
A gloved fist engulfed the doctor's throat, cutting off the wails. He was pulled up to face the ever blank mask.
"I dislike repeating myself, however I shall allow it this once. You failed, Doctor."
A flash of offence quickly give way to fear in the watery eyes.
The faint vibration through the thick glove eased and the grip was relaxed.
The doctor crumpled into a coughing fit, interspersed with gasps and whines of pain. He scrabbled frantically, eventually pulling out a flask, which was immediately snatched from his grasp.
"Now, now Doctor, business before pleasure."
"Please! It hurts!"
"Yes I imagine it does," the cold, unfeeling voice spoke with a touch like ice. "What went wrong?"
"I don't know! Any number of-ARRRGGGGHH!"
"Then you are of no further use to me, Doctor." The figure spoke calmly through the squeals as he stepped harder on the shattered ankle.
"PLEASE! NO MORE! CAN'T THINK-AAAHHH!"
Relenting, the masked man pulled a small syringe out of somewhere and flicked it into the thigh of the doctor. It compressed automatically, injecting its contents into the moaning doctor's femoral artery.
The pain started to dull.
"You know have six minutes of lucid, pain free existence. You have that amount of time to explain.'
The doctor stopped struggling, falling limp to his back with a desperate moan. His mind worked frantically, recalling the footage he had seen from inside the bank. Blocking the last fading remnants of pain, he mumbled aloud, as was his way of thinking.
"Solution…snake…cells react…poison…stronger…power…more…blew…"
Opening his eyes, Chang squinted at the imposing figure, straining in concentration. He wanted his bottle, but knew begging would be useless. He would have to play his game. As usual.
"It worked," he started, "I succeeded. The cells reacted as planned and used the toxicity of the solution they injected as a power source, just like Plasmus. They knew we would send another so they prepared. I guess the robot came up with the final compound they used and based it off the snake venom that finished the first one."
He broke off as he caught a glimpse of his ankle twisted unnaturally.
"The cells reacted as designed, first spreading the foreign substance evenly through all the cells, then filtering through a series of nanosponges in each cell to protein synthesisers which emulsify toxicity through hepatocytes leading to-"
"This is not a science lesson, doctor. Simplify or your time will run out. Permanently."
The doctor swallowed dryly.
"Y-Yes, well, the changes worked. The cells nullified the toxicity and produced energy doing so. Effectively the poison they introduced fuelled each cell and in turn the entire machine.'
Chang closed his eyes, hiding from his employer like a child playing peek-a-boo.
"It wasn't perfect, though. Footage from the lobby shows some cells failing and effervescing on the surface. Likely because they had too much toxin pass through them and the nanosponges broke down as a result, short circuiting the entire process. That was probably the first step in the complete failure of the project. In fact, that accounts for what happened when more of their solution was injected. The cells broke down under the toxicity of it before filtration could occur. Overloaded."
"You're sure?"
"It makes sense. Explains everything."
"How do we address this problem?"
Chang closed his eyes wearily, sticky tears ringing his eyelids.
"We take it back to formula."
Silence.
"How long?"
"Same as the first time. Three, four years."
The doctor hesitantly opened his eyes and gasped. Inches above him was the disembodied mask, glaring down into his face.
"Unacceptable, Doctor. Try again."
Salty sweat coated the Doctor's lips.
"There is no other way, it's impossible! None of these changes you've had me doing were in the original design brief YOU gave me! The compound was never made for any of this! You-"
A gleam of steel above his nose cut him off. He remained silent as it slowly meandered closer, swinging slightly like a pendulum. The Doctor went crosseyed following the leisurely descent closer. The tip of the knife gently touched down above one feeble cheekbone, compressing the skin for a brief moment before sinking effortlessly through it. Just a millimetre.
"Eliminate the impossible Doctor, and focus on the improbable." The damned voice sounded again. "Now tell me. What would you need to make it work?"
Barely breathing, the Doctor thought frantically with his gaze fixated on the steel that hung suspended above his very life.
"Antivenom," he stammered out. "Create antivenom, antidote to their solution. Integrate to cell. Need a sample first but-"
"No, they could easily create a different one. They may already have. Try again, Doctor."
There wasn't enough air in the room. He was breathing through a sponge, he couldn't think.
"B-better AI, identify foreign components and avoid-"
"That will not work against the titans.
Panic. Hysterical panic.
"THEN I DON'T KNOW! WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET ME THE STRONGEST TOXIN KNOWN TO MAN, THAT'LL DO! YOU'RE ASKING THE FUC-"
The knife was suddenly flat across his mouth.
The mask came closer, filling the Doctor's vision.
"Calm yourself, Doctor. And then explain what you mean."
Chang's eyes bugged out of his skull, but his heaving chest slowed. The knife whispered down his lips to his chin.
"Th-Theoretically, if I had a poison indisputably stronger than every other toxin on the planet, I could integrate it into the cells. If done correctly, I could make them immune to foreign substances of lesser strength and amount. In this case, every other substance, but-"
"You are entirely sure of this?"
"Yes, but such a toxin doesn't exist, it's laughable that-"
"Shhhhhhh…" the mask whispered as the knife returned to the lips, edge down.
"You are correct, Doctor. Such a substance does not exist, but there is one who could create it."
A thin line of crimson dribbled down Chang's lips to his chin.
"Did you hear, my dear Doctor..." the voice spoke gently.
"Of the recent breakout at Arkham Asylum?"
Short one this time, I'm afraid.
But the next should be up soon.
And then things will really get moving...
Review Responses:
The Flying Frog: You are more than welcome sir, you always leave reviews that get me thinking on if I'm taking this story in the best direction!
haebris - Haha, nobody else has really picked up on that! I got a laugh out of looking at it like that as well! :D
Mag2k - Thank you so much! I really appreciate the kind words! I'm afraid there's a bit more action and drama to come yet before that kicks in, but I think you may like the direction it takes :D
All the best you guys 'n gals.
CJB