Family Ties

Part 60

"Eric!" Raymond called, walking over to him in white protective gear with a mask, after having been sprayed and dried again, while walking through hermetically sealed doors.

"Do I really need this get up or are you trying to mess with me again?" He pulled at the suit that looked like he was about to do a space walk.

"Definitely to mess with you, bro'. He grinned from behind his own mask. "No, we need a sterile environment for what we're doing. And no, you don't need to know what!"

"Well, I didn't come here to get dressed up and get a tour of whatever deadly satellite you're working on." He grumbled as Eric pushed him back out of the doors again to get the PPE off. "You're a real asshole," he muttered unhappily at having to go through the whole process for Eric's amusement.

"That I may be, but I'm not the bum who always comes begging for help to solve a problem. What's it this time?" He asked as they walked down another white passage.

No matter how many times he visited Eric at work, he could never figure out the layout of the laboratories, their whole production or even the massive hanger that could easily house a Boeing 747. All the passages were painted white, which made it even more disorientating especially when he was suddenly looking at a plane engine being assembled through large windows, on his way to Eric's office.

"Are we there yet? He mimicked a child's voice as they turned another corner.

"If you stop being a dick, you'll notice that we are here." He swiped his card and escorted Raymond in. "This is where we do all the fun stuff." He pulled him over to a testing area.

"Jim has worked on a capsule that can deliver any substance into the body in less than a second, and Eddie has been streamlining the darts for us. Look at how small he's made them!" He pointed out in excitement, while Eddie gave him a closer look.

That's nice and all, but how are you delivering the payload?

"That's where Joe comes in. Hey Joe, bring the prototype over!" He shouted across the room. "Here." He placed a plain-looking black glove over Raymond's hand and strapped a set of tightly packed darts along his arm, before rolling down his sleeve again.

"You're going to get such a kick out of this!" He excitedly exclaimed, showing Raymond how to use the device. After a few attempts, he got the hang of it, managing to hit the target almost all of the time.

"This is great. The balance is a bit off, but it's easy enough to make up for it." He swung and bent his arm and was surprised at how little it interfered with his movements. "How careful do I have to be with these, since they could all go off on me?

"You're such an immature little queen sometimes, you know that!" Eric snapped, pulling him over to another section where it looked like a table full of spheres that looked very suspicious.

"These, my dear brother, are a new set of grenades that we've been working on to take out larger targets. Here, let me show you!" He grabbed one of the orbs and moved to where a testing station was set up. "We had to soundproof it, but you will still hear the pop. Here." He handed Raymond a dark set of glasses and pointed at the viewing window in front of them.

Without warning, there was a nearly blinding flash of light and a high-pitched whizzing, before a loud pop sounded."

"Aren't those a bit dangerous? What sort of things are you building for the army or whoever would need this?"

"These are for you, dumb ass! This is a little side project of ours. The guys were really stoked when that fake seance and light show worked, that they thought we should expand on the idea." He grinned widely with his arms outstretched.