Angel of War

Chapter 1: The Body

"This was an unplanned meeting and on short notice so I'm pleased to have you all here."

There's a body hanging from the wall. It seems female from the hair and chest, but the visible skin on the arms is discolored from the rest showing.

"My most recent subject's reaction to the cadou has been fruitless, but the body is still intact. So I offer her up to whichever of you can use her best."

"Oh ho ho ho!! She's so small!" Angie squeals.

"I would like a friend..." Moreau mutters.

"What mutations did she sustain?" Alcina takes a drag on her cigarette holder.

"Mostly internal. She appears to have altered strength as well. Most parts of her physical body are failing. Her blood accepted the mold, but her organs evidently couldn't handle multiple injections worth."

"More than the normal amount?" Heisenberg has been particularly quiet till now.

"The first injection had no reaction at all. I speculated she had some form of immunity to the mold. With a second dose, she displayed enhanced strength, then signs of increasing tissue deterioration halted any positive progress, so I have no further use for her."

A puff of smoke is exhaled in otherwise silent thought.

"Could she be restored to her enhanced state?"

"It may be possible with some... alterations, but I can't see the amount of time that would take to be worth the results."

Heisenberg looks from Miranda and Alcina as they talk, over to the body. She's not too old, maybe under 30. Her ragged breathing, though unconscious, is rather strained. There must be considerable damage to her organs, for it to be heaving like that. But immunity to the cadou injections? What would it be like for the cadou to actually be introduced to the system...

"I could use a new maid. I'm sure the girls would love to have such a little thing around."

"Ahahaha she would be such a good doll!!! She doesn't have to be intact to wear a dress and play with us!"

Moreau chuckles along with this like he'd like to join this prospect. He didn't think mother would let him have another experiment since the last one became another lycan. The others had such good ideas anyway.

"I'll take her."

Angie squeals as they all turn to Heisenberg.

"And what? Make her into a truck?" Alcina scoffs.

That bitch.

"I could replace her damaged tissue and get her back into one piece." He ignores Angie's trill. "I could use an assistant for the village workshop while I'm busy..."

"An assistant?" Alcina grows smugger with each pathetic excuse he makes.

"Oh please! You just want to fuck around with her and turn her into wine!" He bristles.

"Hmmf at least she would get to live a more dignified existence in my castle."

"And how do you intend on keeping her alive till then? She's already half dead."

"Ways more sophisticated than what you can manage in that filthy dump of yours."

Before he can stand and erupt in retaliation on the Lady, Miranda raises a hand.

"Heisenberg."

He freezes in his anger and stares at her like a scolded child.

"You have my permission to experiment with the subject. But should you fail to stabilize her by tomorrow evening, she belongs to Alcina."

The room has a steady amount of surprise to her decision. Heisenberg stands.

"And what if I do fix her?"

"Then you will present your results to me. The rest of you are free to join as you please."

Alcina pouts another steady stream of smoke.

"Fine. Try not to damage her further. I won't have rust in my vintage."

He scowls in return.

"Now, you're all dismissed. Do not disappoint me." Miranda folds into the many wings on her back and just like that she disappears from the church ruins.

The others linger or silently leave the eventful meeting, but Heisenberg doesn't pay mind to anything else. He walks straight to her crumpled form, and after checking for any external evidence of broken parts, carefully hoists the body over his shoulders. Usually he'd use a wheelbarrow, drag it perhaps, but in this case he didn't care to waste time.
__________________________________

She awoke soon after being moved to the factory. It was panicked and more than Heisenberg had hoped for.

He'd taken her to where he planned to operate on her, but corpses usually don't scream before you cut into them, and it caught him off guard.

"WH-WHERE, WHAT?!" The words spluttered out of the tiny thing, and dizziness took her as she tried to look around. A mixture of blood and the dark stuff of the injections rolled off her lips. He stayed out of her view, not all that far away, but enough to get a look at her. Between her cries of agony he could see a light in her eyes that intrigued him more than the ideas of immunity to the cadou.

"How does it feel?" She flinched at the sudden voice and looked wildly across the room. It took a while before she found its source. A man with a hat and coat on? She couldn't trust her vision. A surge of pains shot through her and when she could open her eyes again, he was standing over her. She realized she must be sitting, but couldn't figure out how she had enough strength to stay that way. He was smoking, the smell enough to inform her on its own. "Well?"

She stared back, confused and dazed. The man leaned down closer to her and a pair of dark glasses obstructed any eye contact she would have had.

"How does it feel?" The words were puffs of smoke hitting her cheeks, but they didn't feel real.

"Why?... it hurts... Why can't I- breathe?" All the tears from her struggle started to feel very heavy. Maybe it was the smoke.

"Do you have any idea how you're still alive?" Why did he ask so many questions? And when she was like this? Apparently he didn't expect her to answer.

"You resisted the cadou..." Her eyes told that she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Please... make it stop." She tried to reach out and barely realized her hands were restrained.

He took a moment to think it over.

"Stop it completely? Stop it for good?... or just stop what you're going through right now?"

She whined through the hot tears as she tried to comprehend what he was saying.

"The- the pain.. I can't stay like this."

"You sure? You might wish you were dead after what I'd do to you..." He adjusted his gloves, pretending like he didn't mind her answer.

"I-" she gasped and a hacking cough spilled more black goo onto the tiled floor. She finally managed to look back up at him. "Please. I don't want to die.. like this..."

"Hmm." He grinned bitterly. "Sorry then."

And very suddenly it all went black for her.