“I see...” Azura nodded with a thoughtful look on her face. “Thank you for sharing, doctor, I'll be sure to keep it in mind for later, should I get the chance to find out more.” If even partially true it was certainly a cause for worry and possibly investigation, but for now her focus was on the vial. Since she could not make any sense of the machine's readout she patiently waited for the tests to complete and for Valerius to tell her what she had discovered.
Faye listened to the man, with growing surprise and astonishment. That... that was not right. She frowned, a little unnerved by the explosion. "Danny..." She started, as she understood that something was not right. "What exactly... was going on during the last month?" She asked. "Tell me, as if I had an amnesia."
"Sonata, a new super. She and her thugs tried to rob the wrong person." He also provides a more exact location to the dispatcher before hanging up. Need to make sure she doesn't get away. He finds somewhere nearby to hide and keep an eye on the woman, stowing the pistol he took in his costume for safekeeping. The sharp pain accompanying every breath makes keeping quiet while he waits for the cops to show up difficult. Need a doctor too.
"History! Like Gee-gee?" Jenny asked, unable to keep a slight smile from her lips. She used the childhood name of Chastity's and her great-Grandmother, whom herself had been a history teacher. The woman had passed when the twins were eight, but what little memories Jenny had of the woman were at least fond ones. She knew her great-grandmother loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren dearly. In fact the woman just loved children in general; but Chastity and Jenny's mother was estranged from her family, and had kept the twins away from her relatives as much as she could until it was out of her control. Jenny had remained estranged, Chastity had not. Jenny hesitated at her sister's question, unsure of how to answer. "Harold and I? Well we started our own... enterprise with three of our friends a while back. I guess it's best described as a community outreach program. It started with a social-media app that alerted people to supervillain attacks so that they could evacuate or steer clear of nearby areas." she paused then, debating with herself how to best explain what happened without lying but also without saying the complete truth. "We were lucky that superheroes apparently used the app as they seemed to always show up to save the day. Pretty soon local companies and businesses were contacting us to advertise on our platform and we said 'okay'. It's blown up pretty big since then and we're actually in contact with a few superheros and we arrange endorsements photo-ops and the like. We're all kept pretty busy. In fact our three partners, Sondra, Ty and Mike are all working on a pretty big project at the moment. We're all pretty excited as it could be huge for us." Pride swelled within Jenny as she told her sister the censored version of events. "With his injury, Harry's moved more into a managerial and logistical roll in our group; and I have to say, it suites him very well. He seems to be able to put people in exactly the right place at the right time." She looked beside her at her dozing husband. "It sounds weird, but I swear he was born to help people find who they truly are and help them become who they are supposed to be." After taking a moment to reflect, Jenny's proud smile waned somewhat. "Though if I'm being honest, it has been kind of a feast or famine business. On occasion we've all had to take other jobs during down times." Despite herself, her thoughts drifted to the envelope of cash she had stashed away in her bedroom from her recent foray into prostitution; but she shook that thought away. "Things are really looking up for us-" she stated forcing herself back on track "-and we're all excited for what the future will bring."
"You're welcome - I wouldn't mind finding out more about them, honestly, but to the task at hand." She continues to examine the readout, before pursing her lip. "Intriguing..." She fails to elaborate for a few moments more, before piping up. "Despite Toxin being the thief, this isn't a toxin at all. It appears to be a type of mutagen - a particularly potent one, that with the right mix of precursor chemicals can promote human growth at an astounding rate. Depending on the chemicals used in concert with what's in this vial, it could turn a human into a giant, or allow a person to change shapes and body types entirely."
"Why thank you - it's always nice to do science which has a benefit to more than our shareholders. Ah, you want to see the labs? Of course, Ms Fitzgerald. Follow me, and here-" he hands over a passcard with her name and face upon its surface, "-you'll need this to access the underground lab." The two of them arrive in front of an unmarked elevator, card readers on either side. "The elevator requires two cards simultaneously to open. On three, please - one, two, three." Sliding the cards through the readers, the elevator doors slide open, and soon Vanessa feels her ears popping as they descend down into a maze of concrete corridors. "So, were you more interested in the consciousness project, or the neuro-reprogramming program?" He asks.
"I certainly hope you do - it would be a good excuse." Danny sighs. "A month ago, you started failing to show up to work. I didn't worry much at first - let's face it, you've always been the type of boss who only appears when she wants to, but even for you the absences started getting extreme. Not long after, Arch Corp representatives came in, holding up a contract you'd signed with them stipulating full cooperation with his company - I didn't think you'd signed it at first, you assured me it was all legitimate over the phone, and the signature wasn't forged - I had it examined by more than one fraud expert."
"Bloody supe-" The dispatcher responds before the line goes dead. Looking around, Sonata finds a small maintainance shed he can store the woman in - good timing too, as she's starting to mumble and twitch in her sleep, the first signs of stirring.
"Exactly like Gee-gee. She's my inspiration!" Chastity smiles, beaming at being compared to their predecessor. "Wow, sounds like quite the business you've set up. I wouldn't worry about taking other jobs - who wouldn't want to hire you? You're a Foxx, everyone wants a girl like us working under them." She giggles. "I'm happy you're doing well for yourself. Oh, I know! Since Harry's passed, out, why don't we put him to bed and go out to celebrate? It'll be my treat - drinking wine quietly indoors was never my scene."
Jenny smiled at Chastity's praise, her sister's approval (almost) surprisingly welcome. It felt good to be able to share even a half-truth of her life with her twin, especially after all this time. She'd long wished that the two could reconcile, and with Chastity's seeming 'water-under-the-bridge' attitude, Jenny was growing more at ease by the minute. Her twin's suggestion did cause Jenny to bite her lower lip in apprehension however. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was fast approaching midnight; if the pair left now there was no telling when they might get back. On top of that, from what Jenny remembered of her sister, Chastity liked to party... hard; if they did go out there was no doubt that her sister (and probably her) would get absolutely 'shit-faced'. Add to the fact that Jenny had just returned from a particularly wild fuck-fest with a well-hung judge and was feeling physically exhausted wasn't putting her in any sort of mood other than to climb into bed and try to forget her evening. But as she looked at the exuberance in her sister's smile and felt the rekindling of a lost sisterhood in spite of her better judgement Jenny was starting to come around. Since she was her own boss she didn't have to be anywhere in the morning, and the idea that going out would present her with another opportunity to pick up some much needed 'Plan B' sealed the deal. With a contemplative look on her face Jenny's apprehension subsided. "Okay." she relented before summoning some enthusiasm. "Sister's night out."
"Hell yeah!" Chastity gives a whoop of enthusiasm, before picking up her phone from her purse. "Now go throw on something sexy while I pick a club. Maybe we'll go 'downtown', since you seem to know that neighborhood." The other blonde giggles. "Actually, now that I think about it - do you know anywhere we could go? It'd have to be pretty nice to be worthy of two blonde bombshells like us."
"Yes, sadly the corporate world is a dog eat dog one. So the moment you show weakness, the best you can hope is that they don't go for your neck." Vanessa replied, taking the passcard Doctor Lewis gave her. "Who else has access to this level, aside from the researchers of course?" She asked as they did the strangely strict entrace procedure. She remains calm as they descend, wondering how deep underground they were. But as the doctor asked which project she's interested in. Vanessa's eyes widen, Consciousness project? That must be it. But that neuro-reprogramming is also suspicious. She thinks to herself, "Do we have time to explore them both?" She asked, highly curious about the two "confidential" projects.
"Hmm, who has access...?" He thinks. "Well, apart from staff, there would be me, as the administrator, and any high-ranking company official you as CEO would designate as having clearance. Oh, and technically the authorities, if they got a warrant - which is why we are taking such stringent steps to ensure that word of these projects never gets out." He shrugs. "My time is your time, miss. I simply wanted to know which one you wanted to see first - the labs are on either side of the complex."
"I see, and who did my predecessor give access to?" Vanessa asked, though she knew Oscar wouldn't be giving a pass to just anyone. "And let's keep this projects confidential." She added, knowing how deep she'll be in if word of Vanessa Fitzgerald backing mind reprogramming research got out to the public. "Alright, let's start with the Consciousness project. Has there been any tests, or success in that area?" The heiress asked, a little forceful as she remembered how the fat boy resembled Oscar so much.
Jenny felt a lump in her throat when Chastity asked her if she knew a place for them to go. The first place that came to mind was the club where she met Hammer, but she immediately pushed that from her mind. There was no fucking way she'd take her sister there and risk running into the supervillain or any of his crew. But it had been a long time since she'd 'gone out'. Harold and her date nights had always been far more appropriate for a married couple that wasn't interested in getting plastered every night or weekend. As such, try as she might, Jenny just couldn't come up with any other place. "I uh- I'm probably not the best person to ask. The only place that I know of is in the seedier side of town. It's probably best to steer away from there." Jenny answered truthfully. "So I think I'll let you pick while I change." Jenny excused herself and went back into her bedroom where she donned something fashionable yet still tasteful. She made sure to write a note to her husband explaining that Chastity wanted to go out on the town and that she hoped for them to be back before he got up. But also that her sister was a little bit of a 'party girl' and they might not be back until the morning. She then returned to the living room where the twins, careful of Harold's injury, moved him into the master bedroom. Jenny subtly utilized her psychokinesis to help make things easier on the two smaller women. Finished, Jenny gave her sleeping husband a gentle kiss on his cheek before she turned back to her sister. "Shall we?"
He drags the woman into the shed then quickly looks around for a rope or chain to bind her hands and feet. Uninterested in breaking any other bones so soon should she escape the bonds, Sonata exits the shed, standing guard outside as he waits. Hopefully the cops don't try to take me in too. This is already more trouble than it's worth. Still, maybe I should try to keep an eye on her brother. He calls out to the woman, once she's conscious, though he doesn't expect to be well received. "I'll try to keep your brother safe. He's the reason you're still alive, after all." If Sonata did find the woman's phone earlier, he gives it a cursory look, searching for a contact which resembles the thief from a few hours ago.
Faye frowned, her mind spinning. "I don't remember that..." She started. "Neither the talk nor the deal..." She leaned back in her seat. "Are you sure that it was me who signed it?" She asked as she tried to remember what Danny was talking about.
Azura needed a few moments to fully process the information and the implications. “Sooo... it could theoretically be used to turn people into supers, or into monsters? Mostly the latter, it sounds like...”She paused for a few moments. “Will the effect be permanent, or temporary? And if it is permanent, can it be reversed in some way?” I wonder how Toxin is connected to this? Did she have something to do with its creation? “Also, is it just for humans, or will it work on animals and plants too?” The more she thought about it, the more worrying this whole thing became.
"A very small, select group of people - whose names I was never told. Dark suits, stern expressions, that kind of thing." He shudders a little bit, as they move through a pair of reinforced doors manned by armed guards, into a large chamber filled with towering black servers, standing like towers in the space. Looking around, Vanessa sees strange blueprints - illustrations of pieces of organic tissue fused with mechanical devices "We've had some, yes, but the project is proving difficult. Our first step was a complete success - scanning an organic mind and making a fully sentient AI copy. Even now, our prototype is indistinguishable from a human consciousness, except for the fact that it lacks a human body. If it wasn't for this project's heavy classification, I think we'd have won a Nobel prize for it. But part two - actually rewriting an organic mind with the memories and personalities of the subject... It's proven more difficult."
"Seedy?" Chastity grins. "My, my, sis... That sounds completely unlike you - and like it'll be a lot of fun. Let's go there!" With surprising ease, they move Harold, before Chastity gestures for her sister to lead.
