He knew that Caliban was starving. He saw that Caliban could smell the food from across the room, and his eyes glowed red for a second, a quick change. All this was observed by Dr. Wallace. It had been a mere five days since the last ops failure, and he knew Caliban was in need of something else.
For now, steroids would do the trick. The board of trustees for Sector 12 had pushed for the immediate retrieval of A129, knowing she was a threat and a pawn at the same time. He would exploit these to the fullest extent once he got her back alive in his lab.
“You injected three times the amount of steroids needed for X013 when I needed him out there today,” Stephen rushed inside while a few soldiers watched helplessly, unable to stop the president’s son.
Dr. Wallace waved the soldiers away as he observed the anger in the second son’s eyes. He smiled at the young lieutenant. “I was merely doing tests. I understand your team can’t track them well without a werebeing in hand.”
Stephen glowered. It was true. X014 was well-versed in hiding. It was something even sophisticated technology couldn’t beat, and this would be another source of ire for the president.
“I used another’s blood for the steroids. One of those kids brought in from Louisiana. It’s high time we injected some Southern inflection into this boy,” Dr. Wallace said, mocking a Southern accent.
“We haven’t even had these tested properly for-"
“Might I remind you that I’m the doctor here, and I’m in charge of your soldiers’ overall health and wellbeing?” Dr. Wallace told him mildly as Caliban began to eat his long overdue breakfast.
Stephen looked at his soldier. X013 had said nothing since he arrived. He hadn’t even acknowledged his superior. Dr. Wallace seemed to notice this.
“It’s a foreign object to him, despite it being a biological one. We’d been using A129’s blood for so long, it was as if X013 experienced withdrawals afterwards,” Wallace explained.
“So this is expected from every soldier who used A129’s blood?” Stephen asked, a frisson of worry stealing through him.
“We’ve tested it on twelve others, so yes. But with frequent dosages and the new donor steroid, they should be up and about in a few hours.”
“And this comes at what cost?”
“That remains to be seen,” Dr. Wallace told him. “Bartholomew will be with you as usual. Of course, he reports directly to me.”
Stephen shook his head. “He reports to General Caledon,” he said as calmly as he could.
Wallace shrugged, saying nothing. He walked over to a table where papers were to be signed for every werebeing’s dismissal today. He had high hopes that the werebeings would function well outside of the lab. They had enough steroids to keep them going for a month. He had nearly killed the child for doing so in hopes that the concentrated amount would suffice for his soldiers.
Wallace then watched as Stephen took the papers, telling him to be ready with Caliban’s release in an hour. He smiled. The boy was naïve, eager to please, and most of all, malleable. He was so unlike his older brother, poised and quick to make excellent, if not, questionable decisions. But it didn’t mean he liked the older brother. Magnus II was too…apposite, for lack of a better word. He looked at the young interns outside of the glass room, wondering what Dr. Delaney would have thought about this.
She would have thought about it negatively as usual. Anything he did for the betterment of the program, she refuted as much as she could; she never got very far. They kept her because she was good with the kids and even with the adults. Plus, she’d discovered A129’s blood properties. Ah, to think the only Caledon daughter has that in her gene pool. A werebeing enhancer that came straight out of her blood.
He knew who she had been all along, and he was itching for Alexia’s return. Alexia, he scoffed at her name. It was Edith’s idea to give the child some humanity by giving her a real name. It was terribly close to Alexandra Caledon, and Edith had no idea it was.
The poor doctor had been found burnt to a crisp, and they had done a hasty burial with honors. Her immediate family hadn’t been informed until they had buried Edith six feet underground. He attended, of course. She had been one of his longest protégés, and she had stayed as that. He was glad he had gotten rid of his former bosom buddy and that he was finally dead.
Ah, Dr. Barrett. He had had fond memories of that man. Brilliant, but he was clouded by his humanity, and it was something that would never do. He had purposefully burned his entire home, leaving not a single amount of solid data for Stephen and his men to save. That part frustrated Wallace. He knew that Barrett was brilliant, far more brilliant than he was. Tactics were needed to have him taken out of the program. He would have held Sector 12 back…
There was no use crying over a dead man’s probable research, but Stephen confirmed he had a makeshift lab, evident in various paraphernalia. My, Wallace thought, how the brilliant have fallen. Barrett had been relegated to a basement lab, but who knows what the man had found there? Barrett had even made sure that he had burned his notes first…
Whatever it was, he would not know until he found A129 again. He needed her in this lab, immediately; he needed her so badly, and he was willing to kill someone himself just to get her back.