Weirdos IV: The Emerald Heart

Chapter 14: Input

"Good evening, my lady."

Hector Vidal and Miranda Amadea of the Philippine Weirdo Research Institute bowed deeply at the leader of the Legion of Death. It's already late in the evening, but the two senior scientists welcomed Serafina warmly into the ultramodern building housing the world's leading research institution in the field of weirdos and weirdnesses.

"To be honest, this is my first time here in your institution," Serafina said as she gave an impressed glance at the lobby. "I must say, I now fully understand why our country is the leader when it comes to the study of weirdnesses."

"That is such a high praise from you, my lady," Hector said with his trademark twisted grin. "But please, this is just the lobby. Miranda and I will be honored to show you our personal laboratory upstairs. I am confident that you will find it extremely. . . ah, entertaining."

Serafina smiled. "I cannot wait."

Hector Vidal is one of those people that Jaeron placed in the institutions that had played a big role in the comeback of the villains. Despite being a genius, his obsession with weirdos and twisted way of treating the various specimens in the laboratories caused Hector's colleagues to look at him as a crackpot. His perverse ideals made it easier for Jaeron to bend his mind towards the dark side. Hector was the director of the PWRI for several years until he gave his position to his friend.

Miranda Amadea, on the other hand, is a communis. In spite of that, her intellect and connections earned her a spot in the highest ranks of the Legion of Death. With her friendship with Hector, she was able to climb her way up the PWRI. Now she's holding the highest position in the institute, but her appointment is nothing more than puppetry. Both she and Hector are now working to help strengthen the Legion of Death even further with the help of their data and research.

"Even though the Legion has conquered the entire country, Miranda and I still work in secret, my lady," Hector said as they ascended a set of stairs. "We prefer that no one discovers the connection between the PWRI and your group. As you can see, we've covered our connection with the Legion pretty well. No one has suspected a thing, not even our fellow scientists who occupy the highest seats in this institution."

"Just continue your good work, my dear Hector. Stay silent, and let all your achievements make the noise for you," the lady in black replied.

The three of them finally reached Miranda's main office at the top floor of the building. As the director opened the doors guarded by biometrics and retina scanners, Serafina gazed at the vast glass wall of the office where a huge portion of the capital city can be seen.

"That is a very beautiful sight," she said, her eyes gleaming as she took in the commanding view in front of her.

"This is actually my favorite spot here in the office, my lady," Miranda said as she stepped aside. "Please proceed inside so that we could show you our little gift for you."

Serafina stepped into the vast laboratory first, the two scientists in lab coats following her closely.

Unlike last time when Jaeron visited this place, the far end of the laboratory is now occupied by about a dozen of huge cylinders housing masked persons with tubes and pumps connected to their bodies. All the cylinders have a tube connected to an enormous transparent tank holding what looks like gooey black liquid. The tank also has tubes leading towards a long working table where flasks, test tubes, and various apparatus are standing. As Serafina stepped further into the white room, her eyes gleamed with malice while scanning the cylinders.

"Now this is a lot more beautiful than the view outside. I can see that things are really going smoothly for you," Serafina said.

"Well, we have transferred production here when the Legion took over the government. With the help of the villains, we were able to infect more people—some of which became our pets that you can see now. We harvest their destructive magic in order to create more Freak Shots. All our forces have been supplied with weapons armed with our infectious bullets," Miranda said as she walked around the long worktable.