Farisia Rising

Part II: Labrat

"Another one?" Reggie sighed, glaring down at the not-so-fresh corpse. The man had been laid open, a near-surgical precision to the cuts.

Gino and Rocco watched squeamishly, from over his shoulder. The second body found on park property. And it wasn't even that far from where the first was sniffed out.

"This thing is getting better," Reggie sneered, "The first kill was messy. Almost unsure. Now it's starting to hone its craft a little too well. This one happened fast. Probably took under a minute."

Overhead, the treetops shivered.

"Great!" he lamented. "We got mysterious explosions of pressure wiping out chunks of the city, and a werewolf on the loose with the prowess of Jack the Ripper. That really hates rebels. Which we are."

He raked a hand through his greasy hair, and flinched at his fingers.

"I need a shower."

"Hey boss," Gino piped up, "The Doc wanted to talk to you. I think it may have something to do with one of those, uh, situations. He wouldn't tell me which."

"He's got a lead?" Reggie snapped, "Why didn't you tell me sooner!"

"Well, I was gonna. Then we found the, yanno, body."

"Ugh," Reggie yielded, "Nevermind."

Dr. Collier's office was a repurposed janitor's closet, located in the northmost wing of the park motel. Despite this fact, the man always kept a dignified air about him. He took his job as seriously as any doctor would.

He was a tall frame, 6'1", with deep umber skin and a busy head of hair that always skewed to one side. Unless performing surgery, he liked to stick to his regular clothing.

Reggie didn't have to knock. The door was already open. It appeared the good doctor was expecting him.

From over his gold-rim specs, he watched Reggie sit. "A friend of mine phoned this morning," he wasted no time. "We had a lot of catching up to do. He stayed at the bluecoat hospital near Baker, after I left, and apparently he recently got a promotion. A promotion that gave him access to...let's just say some classified information."

"What kind?"

"Experiments," the word was perhaps more surprising than it should've been. "It seems the palace has taken to conducting covert human experiments. Everything from biological enhancements to augmentation. You might be asking, how did a third world despot like Freddy get access to this kind of technology. This one shocked me. America."

"America?" Reggie squinted. "Didn't they get blown off the map in the '30s? They're just a primitive wasteland now."

"Ninety percent," Dr. Collier corrected. "But. Ninety percent is far from all. Ten percent of a nation with four-hundred-million citizens...that's still enough to revive civilization. I've heard rumors there's a couple pocket cities, still holding out in all that radiation-poisoned wilderness."

"First things first," Reggie brushed. "The palace. How does one go about signing on for these experiments? Is there a certain selection they choose from?"

Dr. Collier seemed to read him. "No," he shook his head, "No-no-no. You're crazy. But that. That would be suicide."

"Unless it wasn't," Reggie argued. "Sure, I could send one of my grunts undercover, but who do you trust more? Them or me? One of the reasons I've gained so many followers is I lead by example. That's an attractive trait."

"All that trouble to save your life, and you're just gonna waste it."

"Yup."

Dr. Collier sighed. "You just wanna do it."