Wake yawned, suddenly finding himself exhausted. He bent to check the computer readouts again, satisfying himself that all was as it should be. Then he went over to the large stainless steel tank that dominated the far end of the large room.
The subject, one Warren D’imato, seemed to be taking the first step of the procedure well, his vitals strong, his brain patterns registering as normal.
Behind him, he heard Pakow shift in his chair and call out the reading. “One-oh-one… one-oh-two…”
Wake ignored him. it wasn’t that be didn’t appreciate Pakow’s attention to detail, it was more that he was so tired that the other man was beginning to become distracting.
Finally, when the body temperature was close enough for them to begin pumping the first of the chemical compounds into the tank, Wake let himself relax.
“I know him,” Pakow said abruptly.
For a moment Wake wasn’t sure if Pakow had actually spoken, or if his tired imagination was playing tricks on him. The words were uttered so softly, and Pakow wasn’t one to make idle conversation. He turned to his assistant. “Did you say something?”
Pakow didn’t look up from his work, but spoke again. “I know him.”
Wake was confused for just a moment then he understood. “You mean the subject?”
Pakow nodded.
“A friend of yours?” Wake could not imagine that Pakow would have refrained from speaking up before this, but they were still in the first stages of the process, and no damage had yet been done to the subject. In fact, it would be another twenty hours before Warren D’imato would be prepped enough for the actual transition to take place.
Pakow shook his head. “No, but I’m a big fan of his work.” He looked up and met Wake’s eyes, and for just a moment Wake caught something in the other man’s gaze, something vaguely disturbing, but then it was gone, and Wake wasn’t sure if he’d seen it at all.
“A fan?” Wake laughed. “You don’t strike me as the fan type, Dr. Pakow.”
Pakow frowned. “That’s because you’ve never seen this man’s sculptures.”
Despite his exhaustion, Wake found himself interested. It wasn’t that he cared about getting to know Pakow on a personal level. In fact, Wake could foresee a time when he would have to eliminate Pakow to cover his own tracks. Still, this display of emotion was so uncharacteristic that Wake couldn’t help but be intrigued.
“So he’s good?”
Pakow looked back down at his console. “I wasn’t completely sure it was him, because I only met him once at a show of his work a couple of years ago. And the name he was using then was Warren Storey. But the work was unforgettable. I even bought one of his pieces.”
Wake walked over to the smaller man. “An appreciation of the finer things in life is commendable, but I’m not sure what you’re getting at here.”
Pakow fidgeted. “The piece I bought is an African tribal warrior killing a lion. The craftsmanship is so fine and detailed that it took my breath away, but that wasn’t why bought it.”
Wake continued to stare, but said nothing.
“The reason I bought it was because of what I seemed to see inside it.”
Wake kept his voice soft, almost a whisper. “And what was that?”
Pakow looked up, and there was a quiet pleading in his eyes. “When you look at the piece, it’s obviously a marvelous stone sculpture, but if you stare at it long enough, the marble almost seems to come to life.”
Wake smiled. “Really?”
Pakow nodded vigorously. “All his things are like that, all exquisite, but when you begin to watch them, they seem to literally live and breathe. You can almost see the lion preparing to leap, and you can feel the deep fear of the hunter.”
Wake placed a long forefinger to the side of his mouth. “Sounds amazing, though I’m still not sure why you’re telling me all this.”
Pakow looked back down, and squirmed for another moment, “I know you’re planning to use HMHVV-Charlie on him, and I worry.”
Suddenly it alt made sense to Wake. “You’re concerned about the anomalies we’ve discovered when using Charlie on magically potent creatures?”
Pakow nodded. “I know we’ve taken steps to reduce the risk, but I… I think it would be a mistake to allow any risk to his talent, it would be a shame if this man lost his ability.”
Wake thought about it for a moment. “And what do you suggest we do instead? You know what the Beta strain would do to him.”
Pakow shuddered visibly, then swallowed. “I guess I just don’t understand why we have to do this at all.”
Wake frowned. “We are at a very delicate juncture. If something were to interrupt the work, we could lose valuable time trying to back-track Marco D’imato’s our most successful subject so far, and I’m not ready to lose him. We may need to study him further. All we’ve got to do is keep him placated a little while longer. After that, D’imato’s inevitable deterioration will no longer make him a problem for us.”
Pakow’s shoulders sagged just a bit, but his face remained defiant. “Then I suggest we use the Delta strain.”
Wake laughed, throwing back his head. “By the gods, Dr. Pakow, those are words I never thought to hear coming out of your mouth, especially with Delta being virtually untested.”
Pakow leaned forward, his forehead covered with a sheen of sweat. “We know that Delta should have no adverse affects on his talent, and if Delta proves out, then he would be the first to be unaffected by bloodlust, the first to be able to eat normal food. If this man is the kind of person I think he is, I know he would rather have his life endangered than to risk losing his art.”
Wake’s smile widened, “That is, of course, if strain Delta proves out.”
Pakow nodded. “I understand the possible ramifications, as well as the potential for something unforeseen happening. God knows we don’t want another Marco on our hands, but I think he would rather-”
Wake held up his hand to silence the other man, and turned to look at the tank. He thought about it for a moment. Finally he turned back to Pakow and clapped one skeletal hand on the small man’s arm. “You make a good point, though it’s not so much that which sways me. No, you’ve shown me something else, If Delta doesn’t prove out, the young man will die. No exceptions. However, if Delta works, then our problems with Marco D’imato may vanish.”
He laughed again. “All right, Dr. Pakow, you have my permission. However, before we administer the treatment, I want a full battery run on Delta, from RNA reversion to white cell count. The works. You’re going to have to bust your hump to have all that ready by the time he’s finally prepped.”
The relief on Pakow’s face made Wake a trifle uncomfortable, but he let it pass. “I’ll do it all, no problem,” Pakow said, and even managed a smile.
Wake looked at him for just a moment longer before getting up to leave the room. As he waited for the contamination seal to begin unlocking, he spoke over his shoulder. “This man’s work must be extraordinary. Remind me to come to your home to see it some time.”
In the glass, Wake caught Pakow’s shudder of revulsion, but his voice was steady. “Of course, Dr. Wake. I would be most pleased for you to come over and see it.”
Wake walked through the door and headed for his personal quarters, two levels down.
10
Susceptibility to sunlight is the only thing preventing vampires from becoming the dominant lift form on this planet. If Ordo Maximus succeeds in creating an HMHVV strain without that weakness, vampires will no longer be detectable except by sophisticated blood tests, and this new anonymity will enable them to take over every institution in society with no one the wiser until it is far too late. Humans and metahumans will be doomed, save for those few kept alive to breed the vampires’ food supply.