NOVEL NEXT XXXIX. Second Wind
Cabdan: But Spymaster Lunalus... What is to become of him, exactly...?
Lunalus: ... Nox's next weapon of mass destruction. No more, no less.
Cabdan and Lunalus we're inside of an eerie, black metal laboratory, deep underground. A place of boundless experimentation, shrouded in darkness and filled with strange machinery. At the top of a set of steel stairs, they looked down from the railing at the intricate web of wires and tubes that riddled the research floor. Several of these connections ran into a great cylindrical vat of tar, holding within a young man who Cabdan was all too familiar with...
Cabdan: And you're certain that the boy, Barr, will still remain... Human?
Lunalus laughs.
Lunalus: Human? What kind of question is that...? Humanity matters little. What matters... Is predictability. Control.
Lunalus' dark gaze shifts from Barr's comatose body, suspended in the tar, to Cabdan. The man feels a cold chill down his spine, as if death itself looked him in the eye.
Lunalus: Once we're done, he will answer to our every command. He will do as he is told, exactly as he is told. More reliably and more efficiently than any person ever could.
The scientists down below measured countless gauges nervously. Many of them seemed sleep deprived and exhausted.
Cabdan: How much longer will it take...?
Lunalus' joyful expression quickly sours. He raises his voice.
Lunalus: For the sake of everyone in this lab... I hope not long, dear Cabdan. I expect to see results any minute, now...
As time passed, it became evident something was amiss. A small group of scientists gathered, fervently discussing something among each other for brief moments. Once they were finished, the disillusionment in their expression was all too apparent... Lunalus notices this. Before he could ascertain what was happening, a scientist made his way up the stairs.
Scientist: Spymaster Lunalus, I am afraid I do not bear the best of news...
Lunalus' hands grip the metallic railing with incredible strength. The steel bends and creaks under the pressure of his grip.
Lunalus: Speak, at once...
The scientist takes a deep breath. His voice was audibly shaking as he struggled to keep himself still, nervously shifting around trying to share their less than welcome findings with Lunalus.
Scientist: The subject's body seems... Completely unresponsive to black magic. We have increased the input, doubled, tripled, quadrupled his exposure to it... We have tried intra-venal administration, attempted to pump it directly into his digestive and excretory systems... Every orifice we could use... We have. But to no avail. His body does not seem to react as we would expect...
Lunalus takes a couple of heavy steps toward the scientist, towering above the man who visibly trembled under his gaze.
Lunalus: What you are saying makes no sense. Where has all the black magic that we have been pumping him with gone, then...?! You mean to tell me it has merely... Disappeared?
The scientist dry swallows.
Scientist: W-we... Do not know, sir. We are still trying to det-
There was no concealing Lunalus' anger any longer. Shoving the scientist aside, he makes his way down the set of stairs.
Scientist: Please Spymaster Lunalus, do not touch anything...!
Lunalus: SILENCE!
His terrorizing voice quietens the room instantly. All that could be heard was the sound of the viscous liquid moving around in the maze-like arrangement of tubes.
Lunalus: I run this operation. If I decide to yank all of these cables out myself and terminate it, I will do so in the blink of an eye!
He stops in front of the large cylindrical tank. Barr's unconscious body floated above him.
Lunalus: Out of all the little maggots we could choose, we end up with one that has complete resistance to the procedure...? This has to be some sick joke.
Scientist: Sir, with all due respect, we did warn you that we were not yet ready to commence full experimentation on live human subjects... Not to mention it is difficult to ascertain already whether the experiment is a failure when we have no good baseline to compare aga-
The scientists face begins contorting. His jaw bones break and move unnaturally, as if they were possessed by some outer force. His muscles seem to be manipulated, causing him to utter words that are not his own.
Scientist: I CHOOSE WHEN YOU ARE READY, NOT YOU. LEARN YOUR PLACE AND DO AS YOU ARE ORDERED.
As Lunalus' mouth moved, so did the scientist's. He seemed to be the one pulling the strings. As he withdraws his powers, the scientist falls to the ground, unconscious.
Lunalus: I was informed we would have results in a matter of hours... It has now been almost an entire week. How much longer will it take until I can see these "results" you spoke of?!
Nobody answers, afraid of the consequences of doing so.
Lunalus: ANSWER ME OR PERISH!
The room quakes under the weight of his voice.
Scientist: Give us another week, Spymaster Lunalus. We should have a conclusive report by then...
Lunalus approaches the brave scientist.
Lunalus: A week you shall have...
He ascended the steel stairs, his sinister promise hanging in the air.
Lunalus: It will be a while until I can take the time to set foot here again... I will be quite busy in the coming days. Some very interesting developments have surfaced lately in Mr. Cabdan's slums... But do not see this as your chance to get slow and careless. If I return in one week's time and this experiment is a bust...
He turns his back, heading toward the lab's exit and leaving a trail of dread in his wake. Cabdan follows close behind.
Lunalus: ... Some of you might just be the next test subjects.
The massive metallic doors closed with a deafening finality, leaving the trembling scientists scrambling to organize themselves. Some scientists pick up their unconscious colleague and attempt to help him, as another one approaches Barr's vat.
Scientist: Just what is going on inside that body of yours, young man...?