The Catalyst

Chapter 23: Discoveries

Chapter 23: Discoveries

 Tiny sparks of light could be seen on the ceiling. Little circles that burned bright, piercing through the shadows that had formed. They shivered slightly, shifting this way, then that, as he prodded the vial back and forth under a small, isolated portion of the wall light that was turned on. Besides that circle of light the lab was blanketed in darkness, causing the light to reflect off of the glass onto the ceiling above.

The tiny glimmers seemed to burn all the brighter as he held the vial out further in front of him, maneuvering the little reflected circles to the very edge of the utter darkness that crept across the ceiling of the far end of the lab. Straining his tired eyes, Dameon thought for a brief moment that he saw a light switch on under the crack of the door...

But he knew he was just being paranoid. Probably seeing things after having spent hours upon hours working in that tiny, isolated patch of light that was burning ever deeper into his eyes.

It took a considerable amount of effort to turn his full attention back to the vial that he was examining. It was very ordinary, yet filled with a white, cloudy substance that was more precious to Dameon than gold.

He was almost done. Just one more thing left, and then he could finally leave the lab and get a few precious hours of sleep.

Carefully, he stuck to the vial a small label, upon which he had meticulously printed out the words Third Draft. He then replaced it on the small stand at the corner of the lab table, where two other vials stood.

The first was labeled First Draft, and the liquid within that one was clear as water. It was the original, the last remnant of Tenebris's version of the Enhancement solution that he, Dameon, had managed to recreate just a few short years ago. It was the deadly one, the one that had stolen his father, his mother, the slumdog Ajax, and probably others as well that his father had seen fit to test it on. It was also the one that had stumped Dameon the longest. He could still remember his shock, years ago, at finding out that duplicating and recreating it was very different from manipulating it, let alone manipulating it in a way that was beneficial.

The label on the second vial was much newer, and it read Second Draft. He had affixed it just a month and a half ago, when he had pulled together the data from the tests so far, and attempted to use it to control the Death Factor. He had even partially succeeded. The end result had been a version of the Enhancement Solution that - as far as he could tell from the simulations and analysis he had run - overloaded and killed only those whose intelligence was lower than a certain level, which he had estimated to be approximately that of a lower Lapillus. Anyone whose intelligence was above that level would be in a certain amount of pain at having their brain altered, but it would not overload them as it would to those below them. Of course this was not ideal, but the only further positive altercation that he was able to make was to create a time delay of two days before the victim died.

A thin smile touched his lips at the thought. How comforting it must be to a person, to know that they had exactly forty-eight hours to enjoy both the enhanced intelligence and stabbing headaches that accompanied it, before they kicked the bucket.

It was back in January, when he had reached this dead end with this version, that he had decided that he had to also test small combinations of different factors on Phaedra - she had only reluctantly agreed. Yet the idea had turned out to be a brilliant one, and with the mounds of new data that had resulted, Dameon had been able to make a few key tweaks, and the third draft had come to be.

His chest was puffing out slightly now, such was the pride that he felt. He could not resist removing the vial one more time, rolling it between his pale fingers. It was a kind of muted euphoria that he felt - muted because of the exhaustion that he felt from being up so late. Yet blood was pumping through his veins, and it felt like a bonfire was lit inside of his chest. It spread to the very tips of his fingers, down to his toes, and filled his heart with an almost alien warmth.