Puzzler's glare grew more inappropriate as she rambled on, already thinking of a compilation of ways he would destroy this place. Considering the MDMA in his veins was keeping him calm, he chose to put out the smoke on her keyboard.
"Mr. I'mgoingtof?ckingflipout, a pleasure..." Puzzler rubbed his bald head in frustration. It seemed ever since he lost his telepathy, all of his information has been sideways. Adjusting his abstract shades, he smiled sarcastically at the woman. "I have a mutant tumor the size of how useless you are... Does that help?"
"This the place?" Sarah said, loudly chewing a wad of gum and rapping her knuckles at the side of the door as she made her way into the building the address had led her to. She didn't like to make a habit of coming to places she was told to come to, just sort of in general, and the fact that it had been an online application didn't make things all that better. Fortunately, if it was some kind of Craigslist Killer, the Mercurial Merc was certain enough that she'd be able to take care of herself. Well, in the sense of taking care of herself against attackers. In the sense of making breakfast, doing laundry, and being any kind of functioning human being, she was as bad at taking care of herself as she'd ever been.
Mania was in control and had been for what felt like months, breaking a stretch of time without her that felt like it had gone on for a year if not more. A year with no progress, no invention, no action, no fun, no life. Even the passive, depressive part of her had to agree that this was, in a way, better than it had been before.
"Anyone hooome? I'm here for the interview. Somethin' about needing the smartest, cutest, deadliest and most aesthetically diverse super-genius on the block... or maybe that was my personal ad... but whatevs." Twirling one of her overly-long braids in a loop, she mentally activated her contacts, taking a quick scan around the building and finding it to be amazingly well-insulated. Well, at least if she ever got fired, coming back and graffiti-ing the place all to hell should be something of a challenge.
@sarah_mania: The receptionist looked up from the desk at the blue haired woman. "Ms. Drezner, is it? You're early..." She tapped on her keyboard, returning her attention to the screen in front of her. "If you could have a seat, Dr. Blood will call you into her office when she is ready."
Heels clicking as the blonde stepped from the hallway, Regina wore a red suit covered in a white lab coat. "The wait won't be necessary. I'm Regina Blood. Please, follow me, Ms. Drezner." She extended a hand toward the hallway, her delicate fingers coated in red nail polish.
@agent_snow: While they would gladly store and foster clones, I doubt YOUgenics would help create an army if it conflicted with its interests/was not under its control.
Sarah's grin widened as she followed behind the doctor, her tiny frame forcing her to take long strides in order to catch up, which she gladly exaggerated. Hands behind her back, she made her way behind the woman in red, sticking out like a sore thumb in her mismatched outfit of cloth and bullets. She sent a command to her neural chip to have her drones in the vicinity take up recon algorithms around the building, making sure the lightly-armored genius within was safe... not that she had a proper respect for the fact that that which would kill her would likely come from inside the building.
"Hallway time! This isn't gonna be like Clockwork Orange is it? You know they actually held Malcolm McDowell's eyes open for that scene? The doctors with the eye drops? Real doctors! Crazy." She paused, then inhaled. "Oh and I don't really need medical care 'cause I'm already sorta takin' care of that, got a thing goin' on and whatever, so no insurance. Assuming you guys do insurance. Dental's another story though, I'm interested in that."
@sarah_mania: "I assure you nothing sinister will happen in this particular hallway. Though I would recommend you stay in the levels you are assigned." Her tone was dry and disinterested. She had little care for curious cats unless they were part of one of their genetic experiments. The vampiric doctor led the strange young woman into her office, taking a seat in her chair and motioning for Sarah to sit across from her.
"We do insurance if needed. Dental included. We prefer to take care of our staff to the best of our ability." Flipping through a few files on her desk, Dr. Blood gazed at the paperwork within. "I've read the resume you provided, and you certainly have a unique intelligence that could keep us ahead of the curve. With the advances in technology, we at YOUgenics cannot be falling too far behind. Our previous engineer was just accepted for another job, so we have a vacancy. But sheer technological efficiency is not enough to gain a position here." She folded her manicured hands upon the pages. "Please explain to me how you would be a better fit to receive employment at YOUgenics than the other applicants."
"Oh wow, seriously, well," the girl lifted one finger, her face going blank for a long moment as she contemplated the exact nature of the design of the sentient vacuum in Teletubbies, and specifically, how it must suffer with its eternal life and cruelly-granted intelligence in a world where it could do nothing but suck. Finally, she blinked, returning to the land of the living. "First off, you have to define "advances." Actually no, that won't work. I'll do it. Advances are just a small step in the flimsy technology you all try to pretend is cutting-edge. Things get a little faster and things get a little smaller, your screens get a little harder to break. Advancement is refinement and refinement has nothing to do with invention."
Another awkward pause as she drew a deep breath through her nose, clearly attempting to calm herself, but she was on a roll now. "Advancements mean nothing to me, doctor. You're not afraid of falling behind? Don't be. You can only fall behind if you're running on the same track. You hire me and we'll be in space, riding on a unicorn made of robotic lightning and all the PEDESTRIANS at ground level will still be going around the same pointless track. Faster, smaller, bigger, harder. Increasing the megapixels on their cameras while I'm inventing a way to record time. Why am I a better fit to receive employment here? Because I'm the only person to hack through Anthony Stark's security. Because I invented stable collapsible pockets of interdimensional space. Because I'm a fluffing super genius. That's why."
Dr. Blood tilted her blonde head, her brow arching as the woman monologued. Every so slowly, a vermillion smile spread across her pale face. Her delicate hands raised up for a slow clap, though her face seemed only mildly amused. "Well done, Ms. Drezden. I appreciate your fervour and imagination. Though I must say you are the only person you know of who has hacked Anthony Stark's technology. Still, you certainly do seem like you could be a boon to this organization. And I would be privileged to have such a mind in my employ."
"Do you have any terms and conditions you wish to discuss? Any special working spaces or considerations you would like added to our standard employee package? The estimated pay was listed on the original ad, but it is negotiable. I'm confident we could accommodate your needs and desires should you decide YOUgenics is a fit for you as I hope."
"Skittles. I'll need lots of those. And... other stuff." She spun in place, taking quick stock of the office around her. "Nothing like this place, basically. Spot to work. Lots of different chairs to sit in, and at least one bean bag. And if people start asking questions every time I ask for irradiated osmium or a single, unbroken Cool Ranch Dorito then I'm not gonna be able to get stuff done."
Running her tongue across the front of her teeth, she sat down at the edge of the desk and furrowed her brow in thought. "That's it, I guess, 'til I think of somethin' else. Oh, and you may wanna tell the janitors and stuff to be careful with my security." Whistling hard through her teeth, about half of Mania's fleet of drones began to follow her tracks into the building, fanning out in a standard defense program, though not aggressively or even invasively so. They'd been well-taught to get out of the way when people, particularly their mistress, were busy with something.
Regina gave a nod of her golden head. "Lots of Skittles, chairs, and no unnecessary questions. Easily done. Most of the staff know well enough to keep to themselves and their respective stations. I doubt you will be bothered." Her blue eyes drifted upward to see the cluster of drones through the doorway. "And plenty of space for your floating, mechanical minions. What are your usual working hours? And by that I mean, when can you start? I can have the current security codes and protocols forwarded to you, though I'm certain you could get by without."
"I'm already packed, silly," Sarah replied, as if the answer should have been obvious. "I work all day, while also not working all day. As I'm sure you know, 90% of invention is staring at the wall, solving giant rubix cubes, and watching videos on YouTube. So I'm always on the clock." She offered a big grin, hopping down off the desk and summoning her drones closer to her. "If you have an empty office, I can help furnish. Sparky's got most of my stuff in his pockets." She lightly patted the top of one of her drones, which whirred contently, an automated response that she'd programmed into it. AI was way too hard to control, and then you got rebellious drones and that... well, just totally goes against the whole idea of drones.
@sarah_mania: "Good." Regina stood from her seat and walked out from around the desk. "I can show you to an empty workspace that can be tailored to your desires." She waved the young woman to follow her, the shortness of her conversation seeming to indicate her disinterest in friendly dialogue. The scientist walked out from her office and down yet another hallway, opening a door at the end. The inside was spacious if sparsely furnished. "This would be your primary workspace if it meets your approval. We can have your amenities added in time."
"S'alittle small," she mused for a moment, following behind and quickly walking inside, pacing around and getting a feel for the place. Her old office had been larger... but it had also been underground, hidden deep in the sewers. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made. "But it works for me. I'll start setting up and sometime soon, maybe I can explore a little and get a better idea of what you guys do here. After all, if you guys are weapons manufacturers for example, you won't be that impressed if I find a way to increase the size of spiders without compromising their tensile strength, yeah?"
@sarah_mania: "Weapons manufacturers? Hardly." She folded her arms behind her back leisurely. "Our enterprise uses tech in a purely auxiliary mode. We are a genetics company. But technology is how we can progress our biological aims. I could arrange a tour in a day or two, I suppose. Show you how the place functions, the roles of the staff. I can't imagine it'd be especially interesting to someone less interested in genetic testing."
"Oooh, so giant tensile spiders are actually on the market, that's awesome 'cause I actually wanted to show you this thing I-- well actually we'd need a larger space for that. And probably guys with guns. Like a lot of those. 'Cause if the spider got out we'd all be fluffed. But, um, yeah." She looked around the room for a moment before leaning against the opposite wall. "Uh, genetics are pretty cewl."
"YOUgenics focuses mostly on human genetics though we do study animal genetics as an alternative genome set for comparison." She nodded. "Well, thrilled to have garnered your interest, Ms. Drezden."
"Drezner, but close. Dresden is the wizard guy. The one with the files. At least I... think he was a wizard. I've actually never read those books." She shrugged and called "Sparky" close to her, flicking a switch on his little metal body and apparently opening some kind of tiny singularity, reaching in and starting to withdraw a number of pieces with which to recreate her old shelves. "I'll be back to bother you soon, I guess. And I definitely do want that tour, too."
@sarah_mania: "Hm." She mentally recalled her notes. "Yes, dreadfully sorry, Ms. Drezner." The blonde woman watched with mild interest as the drone seemed to aid in miraculously producing her items. "Well, I suppose I will leave you to it. I'm eager to see you contribution to our corporation and hope we can make your employment here as comfortable as possible. Do make yourself comfortable. I'll see about sending any additional information your way. Good day, Ms. Drezner." Dr. Blood bowed her head courteously before taking her leave.
"Toodleessss..." Sarah called back, but she was quite focused on the task at hand now. It'd take a while before she could get this place into a suitable workspace, but working on an actual budget instead of whatever she was able to illegally transfer out of banks would be quite a welcome change... and just think of all the new inventions....
The Red Mask crouched to buildings away from YOUgenics. He had wanted it planned, needed to evade all cameras and detection until the proper time, and needed to get to Dr. Bloods office. He watched from a distance calculating exactly what he would do. He was armed with his typical gear, excluding his exoskeleton suit and rifle, and his bike was nearby. In his jacket he had a considerable amount of cash, and a detonater for the building he was currently on. One could never be to careful if a hero got involved.
He leapt athletically and out of sight from building to building, and then lightly onto the roof of YOUgenics near the back. He slid down silently pulling out a diamond with which to cut the window. He did it slowly and precisely, and made sure he didn't let it shatter so it wouldn't set an alarm off. He slid in without breaking anything into an office. There wasn't much to do about avoiding the camera this time, but there was something he could do about the cameras themselves. It only took him a second to set off an EMP in the hopes they would be effected by them. Quickly he ran down a hall and slammed into Dr. Blood's office. If Dr Blood was there he would hold up his hands as a show of nonviolence and slightly move his jacket to reveal a clear packet of money in big bills.
Most of the staff had gone home for the evening, but the geneticist was staying later to catch up on some notekeeping. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she poured over the files. Normally she left the business arrangements to other members of YOUgenics, but they had been especially inept lately as she had found discrepancies. And so it would happen that clerk work was not the only flaw in the current corporation's structure. Much time had passed since the place was last invaded by the Kamikaze Kings, and so security grew more lax. Especially since their prize experiment had escaped, there was far less to guard. A security officer casually stuffed his face with a hoagie watching the latest season of whatever completely ridiculous show might deprive him of his concentration. The bastard didn't even realize one of the hall cameras go dark upon the series of monitors. Dr. Blood was only slightly more vigilent, her attention split in regards to her current assignment. Her vampiric senses caught clues of a being in the building. And true to her intuition, the intruder burst into her office.
Regina's face contorted in annoyance rather than fear. Should he become a danger, she was confident she had ways of dealing with him. Her pale hands folded over the pages, blue eyes surveying the man. "I hope you have a good reason for barging into my office at this hour instead of registering during daily hours." Her gaze descended to the sachet of bills. "And I suppose you have a theory about the nefarious business going on here, so spit it out. Go on." She waved at him in indication for him to explain himself.
His suspicious were confirmed that there were in fact illegal business by her words, "Indeed I do, cloning, and it is to my own desires that I have one, just like me." He said through his scarlet mask.
"And yes I have a good reason, I'm a criminal, if I came during normal time that would put you in extra suspicion. And I couldn't have that if I'm trying to buy something from you now could I?" He added. He took a few steps forwards to sit in a chair appearing relaxed, but quite ready to run at a moments notice.
Regina gazed at him incredulously. "We are a business. Unless you are a known terrorist, we aren't likely to discriminate. That's assuming anyone even knew about your criminal proclivities. I for one do not. I don't keep up with all the upstart riff raff trying to carry out nefarious plots. It is not in my job description." To some, her words might almost come off as a slight. Whoever this man was, he clearly wasn't big enough of a name or threat to warrant knowledge. But Dr. Blood hardly cared about coddling sensibilities. She was a scientist not a social worker. "And just who are you anyway? If you're expecting a clone, I'm literally going to have your genetic code in my hands. You might as well tell me who you are straight up."
"Perhaps not, but the police would if they discovered it. So during normal hours would be a bad strategy." He said apparently completely fine with her choice of words.
"Let's just say I'm supposed to be dead, legally anyway. The name was Jason Ford though, might as well tell you. Wasn't important until I became the Scarlet Cowl. Or red mask depending on the preference. I'm from Gothic city now, steal from a bank here, kill a local drug dealer there. Maybe a hero every once in a while."
"Mmhmm." Regina looked blankly at him as he explained, her cold, blue eyes never leaving him. "Well, regardless of your status, I'll need some paperwork filled out for our records. No social security or anything. In the packet, you'll find standard prices for cloning packages." She pulled out some sheets of paper, placing them before him upon the desk with a black ink pen. "We'd need a sample of your DNA, any alterations or improvements you may want, any mind-control or inhibitors placed within the clone's mind. We do not offer accelerated growth. The clones end up being underdeveloped that way and unstable. It takes the standard nine months gestation in a synthetic womb where the clone will be monitored and nourished. Alternatively, we could keep the zygote in our cryogenic lab until you want it grown. Otherwise, it will be grown and delivered. At which point it can either be held in stasis at its young age until taken from the lab or it can be raised here with any specified training in one of our sub-levels."
At this point, Queen Sanguine folded her hands, gripping them tightly as she leaned forward. "I cannot stress the secrecy of this operation, Mr. Ford. When you sign those documents, you'll see a section concerning discretion. You are to tell no one of the confidential nature of this procedure or the structure of our labs. To do so would forfeit not only the life of your clone but also your own. Is that explicitly clear?"
Jason was a bit annoyed that it couldn't have accelerated growth. It would stunt his plans, but it would have to suffice. He began studying the papers, frowning, underneath the mask that is, about the price. Not over the top, but still expensive.
"Telepathic and empathic inhibitors would both be useful, extra I'm sure, I'll pay. If it is possible, is there a way to give him slightly increased speed, strength, bone and muscle structure? No accelerated regeneration however, I have personally found disadvantages in that." He commented.
"I completely understand, there may be one person who will need to know that it did happen. He impersonates me on occasions. He'd only know after the clone was fully prepared, and he'd also only know that he was a clone, nothing else. I'd hate for you to go out of business if I ever needed another clone." He added.
Dr. Blood arched a brow, taking down notes of his preferences. "We certainly have telepathic inhibitors. I can give you more information about the implants if you need. In essence, they scramble the psychic energies that naturally emanate from sentient beings. To telepaths trying to intrude, they'd find nothing but static. It's quite effective with its newer techno-biological interface."
Scrawling down some words and prices, she continued. "We have been experimenting with superhumans for generations. Those particular qualities are quite easily altered as they are enhancements on natural human traits. We pride ourselves on making the closest things to human perfection as possible. An upgrade would cost some more considering the use of our own stores of genetic material to splice into your genetic code."
Regina looked up, her head tilting to one side as she listened to his situation. "I see. That seems reasonable enough. It is in your best interest to keep this as confidential as possible."
He nodded rubbing his chin, "Excellent, like I said, I'm willing to pay. As long as it's reasonable. I assume you or one of you will take the DNA once all is prepared and checked with?"
"Ah yes, I am aware of that. For various reasons." He replied as she warned him again. He continued to speed through the papers making sure everything was acceptable for him. Finding everything in order he looked back up, "I assume you will contact me once the clone is completed? At least in the first stage of a child I mean. Also, will I be granted access to watching its growth before it is completed?"
"Yes, I will need a blood sample to ensure the fidelity of your genetic material. Rather quick and painless, I assure you." Her ruby lips curved into a half-hearted smile before leaning back into her chair. "We can arrange that. Although our other experiments are obviously confidential. We would provide an isolated location for your specimen to be viewed by you. You will be contacted at the intervals of your choosing in the documents."
"I have patience, and pains not really a problem anyway." He commented. He then began to mark down times for observing it. "Always good to know what's going on, yes?" He said rhetorically.
He looked back up, "Anything else I may need to know before we get fully involved into the process?"
"Certainly. You have the papers. Once those are signed and the money exchanged, that really should be the entirety of my information usually given to clients. Unless of course you had questions, Mr. Ford." She pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
Jason signed the papers, not that the signature of a dead man would turn useful.
"Just one more thing, will the clone possess any other things? Safety mechanisms for instance? Something to prevent them from doing something? I would want that removed from being done, if it were in the plans in the first place. The clone needs to be natural, mostly."
He checked inside his jacket, wasn't enough, but there was more at the bike, "Also, I don't have enough money on me. I can return in a few moments to get it, not far away, it won't take long."
"We usually have safety mechanisms on our clones, but it can easily be unimplemented in our procedures. After all, the clone is your product that you are purchasing. We will leave the clone to your specifications alone. If you were planning on making a clone army from our model, we might install a failsafe, but for one clone, you can be certain it will be unaltered besides that much you have noted you desired."
Regina took the papers, sliding them into a manilla file and closing it. "You have provided a substantial sum that can be treated as a down payment while you get the rest of the money required. We have your information, I'm sure you won't go cheating us, Mr. Ford. By all means, procure the rest of the money as you are able within the preliminary processing time."
"Yes that's good. Although honestly, if I were to build a clone army, it'd probably be best to design the system myself." He said nodding.
"Ha! No, I won't cheat, not that you have much reason to believe me though. I'll return shortly with the rest. It'll literally just be a minute, will you wait here?" Be said standing up
@jason_ford: "Of course." Regina stared at him with an expression so blank, it could have been mistaken for boredom. "I'll be here." Her red manicured fingers collected the papers on her desk, knocking them all into alignment. The vampire stood to her feet, turning to place the files within her cabinet behind her desk.
Jason lazily saluted as he dashed out the door, back down the hall, out the window, across the buildings, and to his bike. Fast and unseen mostly. He quickly grabbed the amount of cash required, while keeping an eye out for other people watching. And got back quickly and athletically.
He was right about it literally being a minute as he came back in displaying the cash to her, "Voila! Now, I presume the DNA sample is next?"
Regina sat back down into her seat after organizing her office. Just as she was situating herself, her newest client reappeared. "Excellent. And yes, that would be the next course of action. We'll go to one of the phlebotomy labs a few doors down." The blonde reached out to take the remaining money, standing once more to her feet.
Jason leaned forwards to hand it over. The plan was going quite well so far. Of course who knows what would happen next. But he had little reason to believe any of it was a trap.
He began randomly, but quietly, humming darth vaders theme song as he would follow her to the labs keeping an eye out for everything and taking it into memory. Of course also being prepared for ambush. He was fairly certain he could blow them all up if he was done for.
"This way, Mr. Ford." She stepped out from behind her desk, breezing past him, white lab coat trailing behind her over her red apparel. Tapping in a code, the door to the lab opened allowing access for the pair. Regina led him to a station and motioned to the chair. "Please, have a seat." Without waiting for his action, the doctor rifled through a cart for her sterilized materials, placing them upon a tray for easy access. "I presume in your line of business, you are not squeamish, hm? Right or left?" She asked before moving to tie off the arm of his choice with a tourniquet. "I'll take two vials just to be safe. I'm quite skilled that this by now, you shouldn't feel a thing but a small pinch."
He memorized the code, even if it was to be switched later, probably would be if they were so careful. He sat down in the chair, careful to do so just right to feel for any possible traps without being seen to. "Oh, certainly not squeamish." He commented remembering his pain.
He pulled up his left sleeve to allow her to put the needle in. He kept an eye out for everything around him, trying to take it all in. But also wanting to talk, "I assume ya'll have made a lot of clones before? How many? Or can't you talk about it, perhaps?" He asked.
Regina pulled on a pair of vinyl gloves. She was so used to wearing the type that she almost felt incomplete without them. Dr. Blood lived up to her name, swabbing the location of the vein before sliding the needle into his arm. The blood was quickly flowed into the vial. "I'm afraid that's need to know information. I really can't discuss other projects with clients." She switched to the second vial, watching the vermillion liquid fill up the small glass tube before casting a glance up toward her patient to make sure he was alright before untying the tourniquet. With the second vial filled, the doctor placed a sterile cotton ball upon the wound, pulling the needle out to toss into the disposal before bandaging his arm. "And there you are."
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