“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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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."
"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.
"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."
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.
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
"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.