"Bones twist and backs break. I guarantee it'll be a piece...of...cake."Fearsome words twisted and discomforted the retreating thug as he clutched the knifetighter. On the ground scurrying away, he backed into a brick wall stained with blood, the remains ofhis pals. The mysterious figure laughed with monstrous delight, taunting and mocking the thug.Bearing razor sharp teeth and sickle tongue, its silhouette flailed to and fro. This poor thugpicked the wrong girl to mug. He sliced and jabbed into total darkness, terrified and uncertain. Aswift swipe and the knife got ripped from his grasp. The figure stepped into the single ray of lightproduced by a lone, flickering lamp."Please," he begged.Pushing his head back as far as possible, he could see in true form what had turned thetables as it crept into the light. What was prey had now become the predator, a tall female figurewith white hollow eyes and sharp killer teeth. Its tendrils, flailing to and fro shattered the coward'sknife in two. Crouching down like a slideshow in the flickering light, face to face with vicious delight.This creature ran its claws all over its prey's face, across the forehead and down his cheek,enthralled by the taste of sweat and the stench of fear.Its face crept closer and closer, huge blood stained teeth grinning from cheek to cheek. Thedevilish maw suddenly gaped open and the thug shut his eyes anticipating his demise...Nothing happened, only the sound of dripping blood on asphalt. Slowly, the thug opened hiseyes. The flickering glow highlighted the creature, features unlike before. Though still purple in body,there was a face so pure, so innocent, staring intently back through the creature's gaping maw. Herexpression changed from blank and she grinned fiendishly."Get one last look. I hopFrenzy Origins-2-"Regina, just a couple more hours and we'll be there!" Bryan said enthusiastically. Sitting in a cargoing somewhere, Regina stared out the window letting out a slight grunt of acknowledgment.Bryan, Regina's brother was driving, taking what little family he had with him. Given thecircumstances, Bryan could say they were both escaping a life gone by with a purpose to start anew."We didn't have to go you know," Regina moped, sighing heavily."Look," Bryan responded, "this will do you some good. Staying in Chicago wasn't helping.New York's a great place. You might actually like it.""Really?" Regina asked sarcastically, "it's been two years, Bryan. No amount of therapy hashelped. What's moving to a different city going to do for me?! Heck, I know the main reason why!""Come on don't be like that." Bryan quickly replied, attempting to reassure Regina, knowingall too well there was more to this trip then what he stated."I will be like that. You can't fool me. This has nothing to do with me. Otherwise we'd still bein Chicago." Regina turned away from the window to look at Bryan his vision firmly fixated on theroad ahead. "I know full well why we're going. You get one phone call from your former lecturer andsuddenly you're all giddy and excitable. Next it's 'pack your stuff, let's go to New York.' Just behonest, dammit.""It's an...opportunity," Bryan replied, something had intrigued him to go back to New YorkCity. He refused to imply what the reason was."Aha! You had to think a moment! I knew there was something. So yet again it's all for yourbenefit, eh?"Bryan laughed cheaply and shook his head, "I will not be drawn into a debate about this, sis.I figured you could do with a fresh start.""How can I have a fresh start, Dr Bryan?" Regina said as she turned back to face out thewindow.Bryan turned his head momentarily to follow Regina's gaze and sighed. He had been to NewYork a few months prior studying at Empire State University under a Dr. Connors. Biology had beenthe main focus of Brian's studying and then explored other unique fields particularly the unknownand spectacular, space organisms. Circumstances back home in Chicago forced Bryan to cut hisstudying short."Easy," Bryan finally responded after a moment's silence. "Just open your mind to theconcept. We've both been through a lot these last couple of years. The best we can do is move on."Regina turned to face him. "Yes, I've been here before. Yes, there is a reason for me to come back.But I think you deserve a chance to 'reinvent' yourself. I've an apartment I leased when I was astudent, we can stay there. Whatever happens I'll be here for you and will always look out for you!"Bryan proclaimed as he glanced towards Regina, "I promise.""P-Promise?" Regina replied with a slight smile."Promise," Bryan repeated. Regina slumped into her chair as Bryan gazed forward, focusingon the road again."Do you miss them?" Regina asked quietly."Hmm?" Bryan grunted in response, quickly glancing over as Regina turned her head to facehim.Frenzy Origins-3-"Do you miss mum and dad?" There was an awkward silence. Bryan bit his lower lip androlled it into his mouth before returning to normal. Regina could've sworn that a slight tear beganforming in his eye."All the time. I wish I was there for you, all of you. Maybe I could've done something to stopit."Regina's expression went blank and turned back to the window. Closing her eyes, she beganrecalling the accident. It was a bright summer day, the smell of petroleum in her nostrils and a faintscent of freshly mown turf. Regina remembered the murderer, a strong smell of vodka and rum,vacant expression and disorderly appearance. Shirt half tucked, ruffled hair from hours of couchcrashing, someone unfit to drive.A head on collision, glass shattered and shards rained down. The body work rippled inwards,crunching down from sheer force as the seats collapsed into each other. A distraught Reginawitnessed her parent's demise. Her father's torso was crushed by the brute force of airborne cargofrom the colliding truck. He just bled to death and no one realised until at the hospital, by then hewas too far gone.Regina recalled that final, terrified expression on her mother's face. In a desperate attemptto protect her daughter, she suffered from several broken bones and never recovered, she died afew days later. Regina got away with a few scrapes and bruises; nothing fatal, but the trauma wasirreparable. That fool driver survived, walked away with nothing more than a few cuts, a gashedhead, scarred conscious and his license revoked. Regina demanded more. He killed her parents andgot off scot free?Pain flared up as it all blurred into fog. Every time she remembered it made her head burn.As the miles tumbled and the world went by Regina felt nothing more than to just make themost of this solitude before the next stage in her life. She began to drift off to sleep, trying toremember better days gone by.* * *As the sun trailed beyond the horizon, an edgy atmosphere was brooding among the hierarchy atopthe OsCorp headquarters. A council of suits encircled a large table. Addressing the board, Zoe Kingstood tall and confident as she presented the recent turnovers and developments the company hadachieved lately.Despite being thirty-four, she had already managed to become CEO of her own companyalong with husband Ellis. Zoe owned one of Europe's largest manufacturers of chemicals and oflesser note cosmetics. They recently succeeded in an ambitious bid to buy the entirety of OsCorp; aformer leading supplier of high-tech equipment and scientific advances to the military.However, OsCorp lost its way with the death of founder and disgraced CEO Norman Osborn,and then later his son Harry took the reins. He single handily lead the company to the brink ofbankruptcy. Harry's unexpected death saw the company plummet even further, forcing theremaining owners to sell up.Zoe's company, Kings Armament Tech succeeded in purchasing the remaining assets.Despite securing the company and its entire inventory, Zoe felt uneasy regarding the acquisition.Ellis' intervention ensured that OsCorp became a subsidiary to their company.Frenzy Origins-4-Every word Zoe uttered pinged around the large boardroom. Each tone asserted herauthority and instilled confidence among her peers.Ellis, watched on enviously as Zoe entranced the board to her tune. Invisible strings seemedto protrude from her fingers as she willed each member to nod on her command."In summary, ladies and gentlemen. The future is looking bright for OsCorp. You can all sleepsound tonight.""Excellent news Zoe," replied the head of the board, an elderly sixty-something with signs offossilising. "You failed to address one thing, however."Zoe hesitated for a moment taking one uncertain glance towards her husband."And that is?" she asked."The new armored prototype. The one your head of weapons development has beenworking on and cannot stop talking to us about." He took a glance at the paper before him."The...Raptor suit. Your employee took it upon herself to express her concerns to us. And we sharethose same feelings as well." A deep intake of breath followed as his fellow board members allstared expectantly. "That was an expensive venture and to lose the prototype so far intodevelopment has set us back a considerable amount.""Over ten-million dollars," another member added.Zoe's composed figure showed no sign of waning. She expected this. She expected heremployee to go straight to the board. It was just like her."Exactly. It is unacceptable. So, for now, we will carefully monitor the situation. But - and Ithink I speak for everyone in this room - security protocols must improve. We cannot risk the loss ofanother multi-million project to go AWOL.""We both understand your concerns, sir," Ellis replied before anyone could answer. "I canassure you: we will do everything possible to address this issue.""Well, we certainly hope so, Ellis. We'd hate to end such a prosperous working relationshipprematurely." The head board member tidied his files with an audible shuffle. "Anything else?""No, sir," Zoe replied."Very well. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you." A chorus of wheels along soft carpetsqueaked and minor bustle followed almost instantly. One by one, the board members left the ovaltable and made their way out of the building. Ellis escorted Zoe out of the room; placing his handgently on her back with briefcase in the other."You were great. It's getting harder to tell convincing bullshit," Ellis said to Zoe as theystarted to walk down the corridor. "How the hell our predecessors kept this place afloat I don'tknow. Millions put into single projects, corporate sabotage, murder," Ellis scoffed, "It's a wonder thiscompany's still operating.""Hey, you were the one who said we should broaden: What better way to tap into theAmerican market than buy up one of the leading suppliers to the US military?" Zoe remarked with aprotesting finger."I did. And I don't regret it one bit. Relax, sweetie. Let's go home. You could do with a lovingfoot massage.""I had a better idea.""And what was that?"Zoe wagged a slow finger, tutting like a disapproving parent. "Not here. You must be agentleman to me in public.""Ok, my Queen..." Ellis replied humorously, "Home it is then."Frenzy Origins-5-Ellis placed his hand over Zoe's shoulder and escorted her out of the building into theirwaiting Rolls. The two got comfortable and Ellis called to the driver to take them home. During theride, Ellis tried making advances, Zoe was uninterested. Something she had forgotten about creptinto her mind. She rummaged through her bag."Are you alright?" Ellis glanced at her as she frenetically scoured her belongings."Huh? Yeah, yeah. I'm just...I was supposed to contact one of my clients today. I swear I hadtheir contact info in here." Zoe finally felt the creases of paper between her fingers and produced agreen tinted file. She flicked through the pages with fast fingertips. "Veronica Pyke," Zoe repeatedconstantly, trying to find a record on the person concerned."Someone I should know about?" Ellis questioned."Just a personal client I need to keep track of. She's made outlandish claims of a medicalbreakthrough. Though given the progress she's made, I probably should've just taken it as hearsay,"Zoe explained and continued, "she's had a time frame and she's not delivered.""Why wasn't I informed?" Ellis replied, taken aback by Zoe's 'personal client'."She's a personal client. Strictly off the books. Call it a...investment of great interest.""I assume then the board knows nothing of this."Zoe mumbled an acknowledgement. "Of course not. They won't care unless there's genuineprofit. Right now, I don't know if there is. I trust you'll keep your lips sealed about this.""My lips are sealed," Ellis calmly replied kissing Zoe.Silence haunted the limo for the remainder of the journey, occasionally punctuated by theambience of the New York street chorus.* * *Across town, safely within the confines of Dr. Connors lab at Empire State University, Veronicaobserved her life's work taking shape."Introduction of sample yields positive results. By combining the DNA of multiple reptiles Imay have finally found the solution." Veronica Pyke said into a Dictaphone, whilst peering deeplyinto a microscope.While nothing to the common eye, Veronica's Petri dish bore an ominous substance. Acrimson red liquid; blood, though no ordinary blood. Blood was the base for her experiment,engineered with dozens of reptile and amphibian DNA."The...uh, introduction of various reptilian DNA has managed to greatly accelerate the rateat which cells regenerate. Which, in turn, results in rapid limb regeneration." Veronica continued tospeak into her Dictaphone.She stepped up from her desk and slowly hobbled over to a wall of small glass enclosures.Each with a lizard inside; iguanas, young crocodiles, sail fins and more. Veronica stared at one eye toeye, her breath formed on the crystal glass."Our lizards have been injected with a supplement of this vaccine and results are...verypromising. Where it would take days, weeks for one of these reptiles to regenerate limbs it now onlytakes mere moments." Veronica said with glee but followed with a sigh and paused as she pacedback and forth along the wall of glass. "However, I have yet to replicate this same success withmammalians. I've no subjects to test on nor am I a hundred percent certain it will work. Uh, the DNA Frenzy Origins-6-structure of a mammal varies significantly to a lizard. Virtual simulations show promise. However,antibodies fight off the serum like an infection..."Veronica felt discomforted; she switched off the Dictaphone for a moment and scratchedher left shoulder. She pulled her sleeve up, revealing a tight bandage wrapped around her upperbicep. Placing the Dictaphone onto a nearby desk, Veronica took her lab coat off and unravelled thebandage, revealing several spots where needles had been inserted. The spots were sore, veined andbleeding slightly. Veronica scratched the spots gently trying hard not to irritate them; she sat downand scanned the enclosures once more.All the lizards were just doing what they do; basking in the individual lights that eachenclosure had, standing to attention or finishing a morsel that Veronica had fed them. The meagresound of rustling in the enclosures was the only ambience that filled the room, echoing around thebleach clean lab.Veronica swung her right leg back and forth, producing a mechanical grinding sound. Shelooked down at her trouser leg and pulled it upwards. Veronica had lengthy legs, fine and slim,however the beauty of her right leg was obscured by cruel machinery; a leg brace, the sign of abroken fibula.This handicap saddened Veronica; she relaxed her head and shook it regretfully. Releasingthe trouser leg Veronica grabbed the Dictaphone again and clicked it on."I must find a way to bypass the body's natural defences. No amount of human scienceworks." She clicked off the Dictaphone and slammed it on the desk. Veronica sniffed, "I must find away." She got up and went back over to her microscope and gazed inside, much to her disgust. "No,no, no!" She cried out.Throwing her arms up, she aggressively brushed the microscope aside with great force andlet out a tremendous roar. She quickly walked over to her piles of research she'd accumulated. Largeamounts of documented research. Veronica took wads of paper and soaked it in chemical vials thenproceeded towards a trash bin."What's the use? I'm ruined."Producing her lighter, she tried to set the paper alight. However, Veronica moved tooquickly, her brace buckled and cracked. Veronica whelped and came crashing to the ground with athud. Paper floated in the air and Veronica's lighter slid under a preparation table. She groaned inpain. At that time the lab doors swung open and along came Dr Connors and saw Veronica chestdown on the floor."Veronica!" Curt came rushing over and leant down, producing his left arm with hand open. "Comeon." Veronica looked up at him, he was visibly concerned. She reached out with her left hand andgot a tight grip on Curt's, she steadied herself on her left leg and reached out to the nearest desk.Before trying to put pressure back on her right leg, Veronica applied more strength to herarms and hands. "Come on," Curt repeated again, "sit down." He brought Veronica the nearest stoolhe could find.Curt then grabbed Veronica's lab coat and did his best to put it over her, she pulled theremainder over so it just hung off of her. "There. You OK?" Curt asked Veronica, she didn't sayanything. Veronica sighed heavily and faced towards a window, observing the afternoon sky.Curt glanced around the lab, mostly undisturbed besides the carpet of paper, dropped whenVeronica collapsed. Some of the lizards had taken an interest in the commotion. Curt smirked and Frenzy Origins-7-noticed the microscope on the floor, he picked it up and placed it gently back on the desk next toVeronica.Peeping through the microscope, Curt could see why she had gotten angry: "Didn't work, didit?" he asked Veronica, she shook her head."Again, the serum dissipates, albeit slowly. It will regenerate cells, but after a period thesolution is eliminated by natural antibodies," Veronica said."That's progress isn't it?" Curt replied, wondering how flawed the current sample was."Yes, it is. But if it fails to regenerate before the antibodies hit, then a subject's woundwould only partly heal. Or just make it worse. Could you imagine an amputee, like yourself, walkingaround with half a deformed arm? That is if the serum even manages to regenerate that much."Veronica acknowledged Curt's missing right arm. An injury he picked up as a war surgeon."There...must be something."Curt noticed Veronica's focused expression. She had another theory."What are you thinking?" he asked."Antibodies recognise it as a virus. What if the sample was acknowledged as a part of thesubject's body? A way of tricking the immune system." Veronica looked up at Curt; he was in deepthought. Veronica stared at Curt, expecting him to say something."Uhh. I have something that might help. Only possibly though so...don't get your hopes up."Curt walked to the far end of the lab, where his station was situated. Veronica watched him closelyas he opened a series of pressurised lockers, stationed in a cylindrical pillar besides his personaldesk. The pillar hissed and wheezed as each individual lock was released by Connors's key.He placed his hand inside for a moment; Veronica leant forward slightly, trying to catch aglimpse of what was inside these lockers. When Curt finally retracted his arm, there was a canister ofsorts in his hands, no bigger than a soda bottle. Inside was dark liquid ooze, yet there was somethingquite strange about it. As Curt sealed the lockers and returned to Veronica, the substance was alive."What?" Veronica was stunned as Curt stood before her, producing this canister. "Whawhatis it?""It's some kind of intergalactic organism. Came down on a meteor a few months back." Curtdictated, rotating the canister in his hand, the substance, still wiggling around inside."An alien?! You're joking, right?" Veronica was stunned. She gazed up at Curt's face, he wasserious, his face never twitched, not once."I'm certain. I've one of my former students coming in to take a look at this, but I'veascertained that this substance, alien or not, is a symbiote.""You mean a parasite?" Veronica asked - assuring her understanding was correct."You'd probably know more about this than me, I'm not a biologist." Curt said, puttingconfidence back into Veronica. He passed the canister to Veronica who gripped it with both handsand turned back to the window, shining light onto the substance to make some kind of analysis. Theooze writhed around inconsistently, tendrils and deformities splayed from its being, clawing andcrawling around the claustrophobic container."Unlike any parasite I've seen before...but a parasite needs a host to survive." Veronicaturned back to Connors, standing, with hand in pocket. "How has it survived?" She was full ofquestions and expectations."That canister is pressurised, so it hasn't been exposed for extended periods, it keeps it in asemi-hibernating state. Plus, it's gained mass since I came into possession of it.""Where did you get it? And how did it get 'larger'?"Frenzy Origins-8-"Another former pupil gave me a small sample, must have been, uh...about two months ago.He wanted my opinion, I didn't think much of it at the time, but I continued to study it. Never seenanything like it before."Curt walked over to the window and turned back to face Veronica. "I'd say it was perhaps afew days following that big story about Spiderman and the Sandman at that construction site, youremember that?" Curt asked pointing to Veronica, who just nodded in response. "This symbiote, thissmall organism, managed to reproduce itself. Though, rather than there being two organisms, theoriginal, the one my former pupil gave me uh, consumed the offspring, hence why it is larger than itonce was.""Survival of the fittest?" Veronica replied, quoting the terminology of Herbert Spencer."Yeah, you could put it like that." Curt finished. "Anyway, we'd better tidy this up.""Huh?""Good first impression for my returning student?" Curt said as he began picking up thediscards of paper from the floor. Veronica took one last look at the canister and placed it on the deskbehind her, putting her lab coat back on she crouched down besides Curt and helped him clear awaythe documents
