Remorse of Vladimir

In a shocking turn of events, it seems that BioBond Inc. Reactors has been destroyed, police state that 5 are dead and countless injured. While the cause of the explosion hasn't been addressed , it's quite possible that this will be chalked up as equipment failure and-

Aggressively hitting the power button, Viktor dropped the remote and ran his hands through his thick, brown hair. With the TV off the room was shrouded in darkness, with only the small light coming through the blinds to see by. It had been three weeks since the incident that ended his friend's lives, and yet they didn't seem to be gone. He always saw them, either flying through the air and hitting the wall with a loud crack, or simply vanishing in the heat. They always showed in his dreams, but more alarmingly in his thoughts. He heard them whisper to him, guiding him. Shaking his head, he shakily got to his feet, trying to rest all his weight on his left leg. He stumbled slightly before grabbing his cane and moving from his cramped lounge to the kitchen. If a space so small could be called that. The space could barely fit Viktor and his cane, and certainly didn't have the space for half the stuff that filled it. The fridge opened with a pained whine, as he grabbed the glowing blue drink. Raising it to his lips, he took a small sip before putting it back.

"Why must it taste so bad?" He grimaced before returning to the couch. Books and pages littered the coffee table, all calculations on what could have caused the misfire. And more importantly, how he survived and no one else did. It seemed improbable for only one survivor, especially if everyone was in the same room as Viktor. He ran through every scenario, but each time he could only see the deaths once more. The whispers grew slightly louder each time.
"Quiet! I need to focus," he bent over the pages again, looking over the same numbers he'd seen time and time again. The frustration began to bubble again, and he tried to push it aside. He just needed time to figure out what happened. But isn't that what we all want, time? The voices taunted, filling his head like an echoy symphony.

"But this time it's different. I'm trying to help lives," He convinced himself each time, but every time his mind started to waver. He felt his mind slipping from his grasp, but he could do nothing to stop it.

The knock at the door was unexpected, especially for Viktor. As he unsteadily got to his feet, he ran through all the possible people it could be. It couldn't have been any of his friends, that was ruled out three weeks ago. It wouldn't have been his parents, they didn't care enough about him. Stumped, he opened the door, to reveal a man wearing a nicely pressed suit. The BioBond Inc. logo printed squarely over the pocket on his right breast. He held a cage covered in cloth.

"Mr. Vladimir, so kind of you to answer your door," the man said, sounding very bored.

"I'm more surprised I did, to be honest," Viktor responded, staring curiously at the cage.

"I'm sure you're very busy with... Anyway, the company wanted to pay you its respects. However, you might be aware we are undergoing a lawsuit, so not many of our resources could be provided for you, we do have this bird though," He says, pulling off the cloth and revealing a small crow, sleek, black feathers catching the light slightly, it's small, beady eyes staring back at Viktor.

"I don't think I understand, I'm getting a bird?" Viktor continued to look at the crow, admiring the beauty of such a creature.
"Well, it was this or the remains of your friends," Viktor glared at him, "Uh, so you have this bird. That is all, farewell," He handed the cage to Viktor and took off, slightly faster than he should have. Sighing, he walked back into his room, closing the door behind him. Slowly walking back through the crowded space, he made room for the cage on the coffee table, and set it down. Crow hopped around the bar in his cage a bit, before letting a small caw, sounding almost happy.
"What am I to do with you?" Viktor asked the bird, staring at it intently. The voices whispered to give it away, but he shook those away. While it was unexpected, he wasn't going to get rid of it. The crow continued to stare at him, seeming to be prying for an answer from him. But an answer to what, and why? The answer to our deaths, why we're gone, the voices mocked, always finding a way to undermine him. But he felt something in the back of his mind tug at that, that they were gone.
"But perhaps, we can change that," looking at the crow in a new light, he had an idea.

The crowded space felt even more cramped with all the equipment and papers everywhere. The liquid to help with Viktor's health poured into the chemicals he made, in a mad way to preserve the memories of his friends. During all this time, the voices got louder and louder, mocking him for trying to grab onto hope. Mocking him in thinking he could bring back the dead. But Viktor reassured himself that was not what he was doing, he was just making the internal voices, external. The wires and plugs attached to Viktor's skull began to hum, as it began to extract his memories. He could taste the smallest hint of blood dance along his tongue. Images flashed through his mind, as his friends he loved dearly were sent into the machine, awaiting to be transferred. And with a final beep, the hums stopped, and the glowing white liquid in the vial was shaken, as Viktor grabbed the vial. He shakily got to his feet and hobbled over to the kitchen, adding the contents of the vial to the dark purple mix of chemicals he made. With the new element, it began to swirl into a light green, an impossible color for its mix, but somehow still turning that way. Pulling a syringe from his pocket, he absorbed the liquid into the syringe, making sure he got the dosage correct. The crow watched it all, staring with an intent normal crows didn't have the intelligence for. But Viktor didn't notice, only moved toward the crow, pressing a small button. Bronze braces attached themselves to either side of the crow, holding it in place. Viktor opened the cage door, and placed the syringe in its neck.
"This better work, it has to work," Viktor said, the voices impossibly loud in his mind, as he pushed down. The liquid shot through the syringe into the crow, as it shrieked, sounding like it was dying. But it lasted only for a second, as the crow was then still. Breathing, but motionless. A new green could be seen in its eyes, staring up at Viktor's eager face. When the crow started to move its head around, he sighed in relief. The chemicals held, and the crow was still alive. Pressing the button again, the braces left the crow, letting it stand free.
"You should be free to fly around now, in time we'll see if the experiment was successful," Viktor turned to go back to the kitchen to drain the rest of the chemicals, when he heard a small, raspy voice. Turning slowly around, he saw only the crow, but something seemed to have changed in its attitude.

"I-I-I-," The crow stuttered, looking into Viktor's eye.
"What? There shouldn't be any effects just yet, so how..?" Viktor trailed off as the crow spread its wings out. It stared Viktor down, watching him before opening its beak.
"I-I-I am not... me," Viktor's eyes widened, not believing what he was hearing. "I am not me, Vladimir. I... must... You... can't... DIE!" As the crow lunged at Viktor.

The last thing Viktor remembered seeing was the talons of the crow going for his eyes. Then all sight was lost, the crow digging into his flesh, holding on as he smacked at it. Viktor howled as he felt the talons dig deeper, the voices all screaming in a symphony of karma. Thrashing around madly on the floor for anything, he grabbed something and smacked the bird over and over again, before it finally fled, the agony of its talons gone. He sat crumpled on the floor, panting as he tried to see past the blood on his face. Wiping some of the blood away, his fingers brushed at wet, gooey flesh. Gooey flesh where his eyes used to be. At this realization he howled, his voice full of pain and sorrow. He began to sob uncontrollably, feeling the voices comfort him and congratulate him on his success in this world. For once he felt sad and pained, while being proud of who he had become, the voices told him the same. The blood flowed down his face like tears, as he wished he had his sight to see what he had become. While his chest was racked with sobs, not once did his smile waver from his face.