Darzul
Veteran
General
Posts: 218
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Post by Darzul on Jun 24, 2010 20:56:15 GMT -6
Onthinor Apek sat in the chair, the familiar greenish glow from what looked like a floodlight giving him his dose of mysterious energy known simply as Radiation A. The light then clicked off - Radiation A was recieved in the smallest concentration relative to the others. Radiation therapy with B and C, represented by red and blue floodlights respectively, lasted about 10 minutes apiece. Apek had never recieved Radiation A for more than 15 seconds at a time.
The cocktails of drugs came next. A mixture of hormones that occurred naturally in all people to encourage growth and development of organs and trace amounts of anthrodynamozine, a synthesized hormone which only occurred naturally in Uniques, was shot into Apek's system 10 cc's at a time. He recieved a dose between radiation sessions, and it always made him feel queasy.
He saw an IV stand nearby, loaded with two bags: one of a clear liquid which he assumed was simply a larger dose of the cocktail, and one of whole blood, labeled 'Type V' - a pint directly from the general, reserved for soldiers who had sustained the most serious injuries. Or, in Apek's case, for people who were likely to recieve and hopefully survive serious injuries.
"Well, captain, today's the big day," the attending doctor said as he scribbled notes on a clipboard.
"I know," Apek said. "I'm just sorry I had to miss the ceremony. But I'm sure the general will be here soon, he usually keeps his commencement speeches pretty short."
"I meant today's the last day of your therapy," the doctor clarified. "You get your final burst today. But yeah, I wish I could have seen the ceremony too. My daughter's graduating today. Apparently she took basic with a demon," the doctor said, looking up from the clipboard and glancing at Apek. "Apparently it stands about 7 feet tall, does magic." He chuckled. "I guess the Army is well-known for its...liberal recruiting process, but I feel like they'd have to draw the line at a demon."
"First of all, the demon in your daughter's basic training is a half-demon, and he is not an it. Second, I happen to know that general Vorca thinks very highly of private Mesozoic - soon to be corporal Mesozoic - who, I might add, will likely be one of the best heavy weapons operatives ever to wear the uniform. And finally, in my dealings with him he is a good man and a good soldier. A little respect would be appreciated."
The doctor cleared his throat awkwardly. "Sorry," he added quietly. The doctor than set about preparing his equipment for the activating burst.
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Darzul
Veteran
General
Posts: 218
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Post by Darzul on Jul 5, 2010 21:55:03 GMT -6
Darzul walked past the security doors, and past the security guards, descending down the stairs and into the lab.
"Hey, Onnie," Darzul said, looking at Apek strapped into the chair. "Doctor," he said, nodding at the physician who now worked on inserting the IV of Type V blood into Apek's arm.
"All set, captain," the doctor said. "The blood is on its way into your bloodstream. You should feel a tingling sensation soon."
"I sent word to the twins," Darzul said. "They should be here soon, and then we can get started."
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Post by rilkan on Jul 15, 2010 23:45:30 GMT -6
Together, the twins rode away from the graduation ceremony, a few minutes away to the entrance of the labs that housed the Empowerment Initiative. Escorted to the doors by the men who'd been sent to retrieve them, the twins passed through security without incident.
Making their way down the stairs into the lab proper, Maku and Taka noticed Darzul and a doctor standing near Apek, who was seated in the center of the room. The twins glanced at each other, then Maku placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"You're up."
Taka nodded, trying to downplay his nerves as he turned to the General and his Captain. "How's he...I mean...how are you doing?"
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Darzul
Veteran
General
Posts: 218
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Post by Darzul on Jul 16, 2010 0:00:10 GMT -6
"Everything's going smoothly so far," Darzul told the twins, "but the interesting part is yet to come." He looked at Apek. "Alright, soldier. Moment of truth. You ready?"
Apek took a deep breath, then released it as he nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."
Darzul simply looked at the doctor, and nodded.
The doctor started the IV drip following the blood transfusion Apek had already recieved. It was simple saline solution, but the doctor then grasped a large syringe, filled with 50 cc's of anthrodynamozine, and injected it into the drip.
Apek winced slightly as the fluid entered his bloodstream. The radiation emitters were then activated, and Apek's face changed to a grimace of discomfort.
"Okay, captain, home stretch," the doctor said. "Two minutes under the lights and it'll all be over."
Apek could only respond with a pained groan, uttered through gritted teeth.
Darzul glanced at Taka. "I know it looks bad, but he's okay for now. Don't approach him unless it's absolutely necessary, no need to risk getting hurt."
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Post by rilkan on Jul 16, 2010 0:20:18 GMT -6
Taka nodded at the General, trying to hold himself back. Standing by while other people were hurting never sat well with him, even before he'd gained his abilities. Since then, running to help had become second nature, and the impulse was difficult to ignore.
Glancing at the clock on the far wall, Taka counted the seconds. He hoped desperately that his being here would be an unnecessary precaution.
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Darzul
Veteran
General
Posts: 218
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Post by Darzul on Jul 16, 2010 0:27:49 GMT -6
"One more minute, Onthinor! You're almost there!" the doctor exclaimed.
Darzul stood by, watching as Apek underwent the process that had made him who he was today - or rather, a much safer version of that process.
Apek's groans of pain began to increase in volume as the seconds ticked away. Soon they had built to a horrific crescendo of misery. Apek's bloodcurdling wails filled the lab.
Instantly thereafter, he ceased to make sounds entirely. He began to convulse violently, and a trickle of blood came from his nose.
"Shit, something's wrong," Darzul said. He turned and looked at Taka. "Okay, this is what we brought you here for. Put on the vest and go work your magic."
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Post by rilkan on Jul 16, 2010 0:41:37 GMT -6
Taka was already securing the vest by the time Darzul admitted that things weren't going to plan. Rushing to Apek's side, Taka took a deep breath, then placed his hands on the Captain, one on his temple, the other over his heart.
As soon as he laid his hands on the man, he knew this wouldn't be easy. The blood had been affected first, spreading the anthrodynamozine to Apek's muscles as it passed through his system. When the drugs reached his heart, things had gone into overdrive.
The good news? If he survived, Captain Onthinor Apek would be gifted with superhuman strength. The bad news was that his already-superpowered muscles were shattering his not-yet-superpowered bones.
His hands glowing bright white, Taka focused on repairing the damage to Apek's skull and ribcage, protecting his vital organs as best he could. After repairing 6 broken ribs, 2 serious skull fractures, and a spot of still-minor brain damage, Taka thought he could hold on long enough to keep Apek alive until the change worked its way to the bone.
The only problem was that his energy was depleting fast, and as he focused on keeping Apek more-or-less whole, he didn't feel the blood running from his nose and down the front of the lead vest.
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Maku
Veteran
Chaos Embodied
Posts: 149
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Post by Maku on Jul 16, 2010 0:55:18 GMT -6
Maku, however, did notice the blood, and rushed into the irradiated center of the room as quickly as he could throw a vest on. He didn't bother to secure the thing, and lunged for his brother just as his knees gave out.
Even as Maku tried to lay him down, Taka's hands struggled to keep contact with Apek, and the light surrounding his hands surged brightly as he poured all he could into the Captain. With a gasp, Taka opened his eyes, and Maku noticed with alarm that the whites of his eyes had gone red. Then, his eyes fluttering shut, Taka's hands slipped from the Captain's forearm, and the younger of the Riskan twins lost consciousness.
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Darzul
Veteran
General
Posts: 218
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Post by Darzul on Jul 16, 2010 1:05:05 GMT -6
"Oh, God," was all Darzul could mutter as he ran toward Maku and Taka.
"Get him a shot of adrenaline, now!" Darzul roared at the doctor.
The doctor, who had frozen with the horror of what he had witnessed, immediately sprang into action at Darzul's orders. He began rifling through vials of medicine, opening a syringe with his teeth and free hand.
Darzul then grasped the large syringe that had held Apek's final dose of anthrodynamozine, and set it in Maku's hand.
"Fill this with my blood," Darzul said, his belt tugged free from its loops in a single yank, and cinched around his arm almost as quickly. "Then inject it into your brother's arm."
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Maku
Veteran
Chaos Embodied
Posts: 149
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Post by Maku on Jul 16, 2010 1:28:42 GMT -6
Maku took it as an order, slipping the needle into the General's arm and pulling the plunger back. The syringe filled with red, and Maku wasted no time pulling it out, and injecting Taka with Darzul's regenerative blood.
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Darzul
Veteran
General
Posts: 218
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Post by Darzul on Jul 16, 2010 1:47:44 GMT -6
The doctor gave the young Unique 3 cc's of adrenaline - more than sufficient to bring him around if exhaustion was the only problem he faced. He noticed the Unique's twin, the soldier, extracting blood from Darzul and promptly injecting it into his healer brother. Between the adrenaline and that miracle potion flowing through the general's veins, the boy would most likely be fine.
Apek's seizures slowed, then stopped completely. His breathing and heart rate were both slow, but steady. His condition was consistent with the trauma he had faced.
As the doctor finished injecting Taka with the adrenaline, Darzul saw the timer reach zero. He saw that Apek was finally starting to come around, and he wasn't about to let radiation poisoning kill the man after all he'd survived already.
"Turn off the emitters," he uttered whilst standing on the foot rests of the chair, his back beginning to hurt as Radiation A began to take its toll.
The doctor leapt toward the computer console, and with the press of a few buttons the emitters stopped.
Apek's eyes flew open. He turned to look at his hand, lifting it to his face. He scarcely noticed the steel band breaking as he lifted his arm away from the chair. He then smiled, and lifted his other arm. That restraint gave way just as quickly and just as easily.
Apek promptly hopped high into the air using the phenomenal strength in his legs, and grasped two of the three radiation emitters. His new strength allowed him to more than easily hold his body weight in the air, and as he crushed one emitter with his bare hand, he simply swung to the other two like a gymnast and did the same.
He then landed near the computer console, and brought his fist crashing down on it. His fist glided through the machinery as easily as water, and sparks shot out from the console.
"Onnie, what the hell are you doing!?" Darzul yelled. "You just smashed millions of Coins' worth of equipment!"
"I know," Apek said, turning to look at the general. "But those two minutes were literally a torment the likes of which I could never have imagined before today. I'm glad it worked, Darzul. I really am. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you do it to anyone else ever again."
Darzul was taken aback. He had forgotten all about the tremendous pain the procedure had wrought on him. It had been so long since pain mattered, he had stopped keeping track of it.
"I'm sorry, Onnie," Darzul said, humbly but honestly.
"It's fine," Apek replied. "Things did work out better than I'd hoped. Quite frankly I didn't think I'd ever survive the procedure - I wasn't even sure anyone else in the lab would, with the probable exception of you, sir." Apek then smiled. "I guess I should look at the positives: I feel like I could bench press a truck."
Darzul chuckled. "So there's always that," he said. He then turned and looked at the group. "Okay, let's get out of here and get you guys paid, so we can all go about our business."
He glanced at Apek as the group walked through the security doors leading out of the lab. "You know, Onnie, I understand smashing the emitters. But we could have used that computer for something else," he said in a lightly chiding tone of voice.
"Oh, shit," Apek sheepishly uttered, ascending the gently sloping ramp. "Sorry about that, sir," he said. "But I guess when you're on a roll, you're on a roll," he told the general as the group exited the ground-level gate, emerging at the motor pool fuel pumps as the doors closed behind them.
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