Arachna

Chapter 28: The Calm before the Storm

He read it. Then he reread it. The first half was eloquent, but as he progressed, it worsened.

Malcolm had written it out plainly, as if he intended for Lance himself to read it one day.

The meeting with the man with a cane was miserable. It quickly descended into threats, and negotiating, I believe, was never on the table. His obsession with animals is also quite disconcerting... There was something in his eyes. An empty blackness that I have seen in no other person. Frightening, and yet so fascinating all the same.

There was someone with him. A young man, long dark hair. Beautiful eyes. There was something about him, as well. He seemed so out of place. As if he didn't even want to be there. After dealing with that man with the cane, I wouldn't be surprised. What was his name? Eric?

I refuse to tell anyone but you about this, journal, but I gave him a dose of the drug. In the moment, when the crazy man's black eyes were looking directly into mine, and he was threatening me like that, something shifted in the room. I had a vial of the medicine with me. The nanobots, contained in a small syringe. It was the beta strain.

Originally, should the plan have gone correctly, I would have considered giving the beta drug to the crazy man and having him under Caleb's thumb. Harnessing such a valuable source of information would have been crucial. Caleb would have been so proud, perhaps proud enough to increase my budget for experiments.

But the other one, the one with the emerald eyes, I stuck him with it.

The poor sap didn't even notice it.

I thought that if I stuck the emerald-eyed man with the beta drug, he would be more useful than the crazy man, even if the crazy man is the leader. The drug can change a man, make them erratic and somewhat unstable. An unfortunate side effect, even if rare. Still, as unstable as he clearly already was, I could not risk giving the drug to him. The other one, however, was clearly new and unfamiliar. A shift in personality would not affect his cover, and he could obtain most if not all of the information the leader retrieved. A very dangerous risk, one that only Caleb likely would have made. I am no businessman, however, and being one of the few risky investments I've made, I pray that it resolves in my favor.

I can almost feel judgement, even from an inanimate object such as you, journal. My thought process at the time was unflawed. I thought with my emotions rather than with my mind. A mistake that I have made more than once. I do not regret what I did, however. At least, I didn't until I realized I had given the alpha drug to the emerald-eyed man.

I find myself filled with a deep guilt at what I did. In my carelessness, I grabbed the wrong vial. Still... I cannot help but be intrigued by this new set of events that will take place. What will this man do with such power? A man given strength and endurance such as that. I wonder how it will affect him. Fascinating. Truly fascinating.

Perhaps it was meant to be.

Lance set the book beside him once he read those last few sentences. His heart raced as he stared at the wall. His throat was dry. Malcolm had injected him that day.

And he hadn't noticed.

He was going to be used as a pawn to gain information from Eric. The thought of it turned his stomach. A puppet—he'd been a puppet from the very beginning. When would he finally escape from people in power trying to control him? He clenched his teeth.

Time slowed to a crawl, and Lance could only guess an hour had passed before he picked the journal back up and kept reading. At this point, the writing was a scrawl.

Could not fix it! Was taken in the middle of night by mysterious men. Could not fight like brothers. My strain of the drug was strictly to keep me alive, to heal all injuries. Wanted all my nanobots to focus on that one thing, physical enhancements aside. Hypothesis unfortunately correct. Can die... can be killed. Nanobots do not prevent decomposition. Very unfortunate surprise. Grateful to not have my journal removed from my corpse. Death not implausible as I wished, but nanobots brought me back, all the same. Body weakened from decomposition. Still mobile. Intelligence uncompromised.