What Memory Remains

Chapter 10 (revised)

"Do not approach him, I repeat DO NOT APPROACH HIM!" The Director yelled into his radio. "All personnel do not engage with Zenapharr! Let him speak with me! You only endanger yourself by trying to stop him!"

    "But sir, he's destroying the Injection pod!!"

    "I don't care ! We can build another one! I just don't want anyone else dead! Three is enough! I'm on my way!"

    The Director hurriedly made his way down the corridor , almost to the elevator which would get him to level C where Zenapharr had begun causingg a ruckus.

"Only God knows what set him off....gotta find a way to put a leash on him," he muttered to himself. "Got everybody on pins and needles already, after this....people will start quitting. What a nuisance." Everything had gone according to plan so far, minus the incident with Dr. Pennington. Yet, the result of his failure with his son was not surprising. He was never crazy about experimentation involving family. Albert was too close to it.

Director Krane had high hopes for the experiment, seeing the potential genius in Dr. Pennington's work. The fact that he could revive a dead person to any kind of functionality was in of itself more extraordinary than anything he'd seen.

Due to the sensitive nature of this, they kept it under tight wraps, giving only Albert access to the labs and having any knowledge of its purpose or use. The implications of biological weaponry using the Lazarus Chamber could be catastrophic. Krane always tried to push the envelope when it came to scientific development, but he took great care with who he shared that envelope with.

This knowledge in the wrong hands could potentially end the world if unchecked. Luckily, the reanimation process didn't work due to any viruses or bacteria, so it could not be spread through bites or contact. Only through the Lazarus Chamber itself could the patient be brought back. Even then...there were way too many applications or modifications that could be tampered with.

 As much as it saddened him, he would need to soon dispose of the Lazarus Chamberr, it was too much of a liability at this point. The fact that Dr. Pennington was no longer in is right mind meant that it couldn't be brought to its full fruition. This meant also that Pennington would be a liability, and would meet his end soon enough.

As he stepped off the elevator, he could already hear the chaos ensuing in the Injection Room. He braced himself for the worst...even with all the firearms, Zenapharr's speed was uncanny and they were essentially at his mercy. But there were other ways to control someone beyond the physical.

The blue-haired assassin was yanking wires out of the walls, throwing desks around, and it was obvious he wasn't trying to actually hurt anyone. He was trying to get someone's attention. Near him lay the three bodies of the unfortunate souls who tried to stop him; and it was short of ridiculous. One had a very obvious broken neck, one was slammed into the ground so hard that he was embedded into the metallic flooring, and another was disemboweled.

"Zenapharr!" The Director called, maintaining a safe distance
 and moving slowly. Zenapharr turned and met his gaze, and Director Krane saw right away that the half-elf's eyes were burning fiery red with anger. "I'm here to talk. You don't have to keep destroying everything. It looks like you've already rendered this machine inoperable."

"You come here and speak to me of not destroying something? What about my family? What about their lives you destroyed? What about countless others who were led to their death like cattle to a slaughterhouse?"

"I'm not sure what you're referring to," the Director feigned, unsure of what exactly Zenapharr knew.

"My informant gave me the suicide letter from Dr. Pennington." Zenapharr closed the distance in a split second, meeting the Director face-to-face. "I know what you did to my family. You killed them...all in the name of some science project. What should keep me from ripping this entire facility apart? From killing Dr. Pennington." He then paused, and looked at Director Krane suspiciously. "...and from killing you."