13th September
08:17 GMT -6
I press
down on the writhing carapace of the horror beneath me, doing my best to keep my head away from its flailing raptorial forelegs. Perhaps the most disturbing part of this is that rather than chittering or screeching as I'd expected, the abomination is near completely
silent as it tries to bring its natural weapons to-.
Gughuh! And it reminds me with a spray of toxic
gunk from its spinnerets that it's anything
but natural.
I turn to the observation window. "Do you need samples of this as well?!"
Cranius raises Otto's hand to his mouth. "If it is not too much trouble!"
I nod, taking a syringe in my right hand and doing my best to suck up the larger congealing pools. Insectoid Unmen. I have
no idea what Arcane was thinking when he made these and frankly I'll be perfectly happy if I never do gain that sort of insight. This poor bastard used to be Corporal Frank Cruz before his disastrous assignment to General Sutherland's research project. Real zombies don't have infectious bites. In fact, they usually won't bite at all, lacking the animating spirit from which normal people derive motivation. These things on the other hand are
totally infectious, symbiotic cells in their blood, digestive systems and venom glands straining with all their might to turn any animal they come into contact with into more Insectoid Unmen.
I turn my head aside and
spit, a wad of transformed Unphlegm flying from my mouth. It has..
veins growing on it, the mass twitching as it attempts to develop a heart beat. My divine resistance is enough to prevent my body being transformed, but anything
else…
I slide the syringe back into my armoured holdall, then take out another. This one is a bit tricky, and there's next to no chance that the creature itself will cooperate. Extreme option, then. I lift my hand from its thorax, braced for it to start writhing again. There's a
token wriggle, but I think even its animal intelligence has worked out that it can't throw me from this position. Okay, step two. I
slam my fist forward, striking it directly on the vertex. Nothing like a full strength hit, but hopefully… Yes, its eyes aren't focusing on me. I
shove the needle into its mouth, piercing its venom gland and sucking a syringeful out.
Okay, done. I activate my aero-discs and rise off its body, forelegs swiping at me instinctively but being harmlessly turned aside by my armour. Well,
that was revolting. I
send a wave of orange light over myself to
burn away any lingering goop. Mother Box, boom tube.
BOOM!
I slide the venom syringe into my satchel as I fly through, shutting the tube down as I land on the observation platform.
Cranius turns around on Otto's shoulders to grin at me. "Excellent work, my boy! Usually taking samples from zhe insectoids takes us weeks and costs us a great deal in equipment."
I unclamp the satchel from my armour and hold it out. "Happy to help, Cranius."
"Unt… You are not suffering any… Ill effects?"
Oh, my mouth is
dry. Mother Box?
Ping.
Ring?
No abnormalities detected beyond the usual.
Huh. I think it might be learning bad habits from Sinestro.
"No, none that I can detect."
Otto turns around to face… To
chest me and takes the satchel before walking in the direction of the stairs back into the main part of the Uncorporation headquarters. Cranius manoeuvres himself so that he can look back at me as Otto ascends. "I am
very glad. You, I zhink, would be an even more troubling specimen zhen zhey are."
"I'd like to think so. What.. do you intend to.. use that for?"
"Eh, a back burner project of mine. I do not zhink zhat reversing zhe effects after zo long would… Be of use to zhose poor unfortunates. But, if anyone were infected in zhe future, possessing a way to arrest zhe changes would be wizhout price."
"And it would serve to improve your understanding of Doctor Arcane's workings."
His face twitches slightly. "Even
I would stop short of creating somezhing like zhat."
"Glad to hear it." We leave the insectoid vault proper and step into the airlock, an entirely sensible precaution against airborne toxins and transmutative agents. And people trying to come back through without knowing that they'd been infected. The inner door clanks closed behind us and Cranius hops onto his perch while Otto begins stripping himself of clothing. "And your work more generally?"
"Zhe next round of zhe implantation procedures begins on Wednesday, unt zhen I will be fully occupied with zhe testing." He strums three fingers. "I am… Finding it an
adequate replacement for zhe uncreation." He looks me over. "But… Zhis is not a purely social visit, no? You want my answer."
"I want to give you the opportunity to ask any questions so that I could allay any remaining concerns you may have."
"I…" He looks down for a moment. "I will be honest wizh you: I am minded to accept wizhout furzher qualification." He looks up again. "For zhe work you have done for me, for
us, and zhe opportunities you have provided for us… I owe you zhis. And I believe zhat it will benefit us to continue zhis relationship.
However."
"Yes? Please, any reservations-."
"I have no knowledge of my own expiration date. I could drop dead tomorrow, or… I could still be as I am a century from now. If I am to devote myself fully to zhis great transformative work you would heff me perform… I need to know zhat my people can continue wizhout me. My… Students are capable unt my brozher Crassus is
skilled… But zhey do not have my experience, my
insight."
"If you need me to go looking for more of Arcane's books..?"
"No." His neck bulges briefly as he passes more air through it, sighing. "At zhis point, zhere is little more a written text could teach me. Razher… Zhere are two.. furzher… People, who might lend zheir efforts to my work. I know where one is unt where zhe ozher
was, but zhey are both beyond my reach. If you could get zhem, persuade zhem to come here…." He nods. "Zhen I am your man."
"Alright. Who are they?"
Cranius smiles in satisfaction. "Many of zhose… Zhe papers call 'mad scientists', zheir work has no obvious predecessor. In science, we are always standing on giants' shoulders, but sometimes… Zhat freeze ray you are so fond of. It is contrary to everyzhing in heat physics. Mister Snart read some zhings und zhen 'poof', it just appears in his mind. Arcane… It was nearly zhe same,
but! Zhere was one man whose research he sought after and acquired, one man who inspired him."
"Victor Frankenstein."
"Jah. Yes. Frankenstein himself had long since died in zhe arctic circle, unt he destroyed many of his own records… But in his
creations lie zhe secrets of his work. Find zhe creature or zhe
Bride, unt we will heff zhat. Zhe last record we heff for zhem is zhat zhey
worked for zhe American government during zhe Second World War. Your contacts in zhet area are better zhan mine."
Looks like I'm going to have to talk to Katarina again… "Okay, I can probably manage that. Who else?"
"Doctor Arcane had no true friends or peers… But for several years, he had an assistant. An Englishman wizh whom he had a certain…
Familiar relationship. He came to us in zhe fifties, stayed for several years. Zhey parted on good terms."
"That…
Really?"
"He was a somewhat unusual man himself. His name was
Grymleigh Gartside Fiendstein, unt he continued his work after he returned to England. He is currently in zhe special prison underneath zhe Tower of London."
Well, I
was planning on overthrowing the British government
anyway… "What was he convicted of?"
"Robbery, arson, murder unt gross indecency." I raise my eyebrows slightly. "What? You zhought a friend of Arcane's would be a 'nice man'?"
"Probably not. On the other hand, I doubt that an eighty year old is much of a threat to anyone. Are you sure that he's still alive?"
"No, but his crimes had a certain notoriety unt zhere has been no announcement. I
hope."
I nod as the exterior door opens. "I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do."
