“Well, excellent,” he said, then addressed the room. “Our meeting will continue upstairs on the fourth floor. Please follow me.”
Gavil’s excitement was hard to contain. He knew Williams had great things in store for him and he couldn’t wait to get started. The other thirteen metas whispered softly to one another as the elevator moved up, but Gavil stood apart from them. He wasn’t here to make friends or even be civil; he was here to command and be feared. It all started now and he could taste the venom of it churn in his mouth. It was delicious.
Once inside the laboratory, Dr. Williams began explaining briefly what it was they were about to do.
“You see, children. My scientists have continued work on various subjects here on the fourth floor of this hospital. Our science has gone beyond and what is now considered standard operating procedure to us is still unknown and unaccepted outside the walls of our Facility.” He was pacing the room, gloved hands clasped behind his back as though he were giving a lecture at a university.
“One of the areas we have been studying is the effects of our Infinite II serum at different dosages. If ‘X’ amount of the serum turns a human into a meta, then what does ‘two times X’ do? Or ‘three times X?’ Do you see what I mean?” He stopped and looked up at his students checking for understanding, as any good teacher would.
Satisfied with their facial expressions, he continued. “What we found is that ‘two times X’ increased the performance dramatically. The strength and intelligence factors nearly doubled. Also, a very interesting theory about Infinite II came to light. Listen carefully, my children because this is very important.” He paused to look pointedly into each set of eyes watching him. His students sat motionless, completely focused on what the doctor was about to say.
“The theory states that the Infinite II serum, in a certain dose, is able to exaggerate the subject’s natural personality traits,” he said slowly so to be sure his audience had time to process the meaning of his words.
“For example, if a human child came to us as a subject and they already had a propensity for athletics, once dosed, they would be a physically ‘gifted’ meta who could outperform other metas in athletics.” He continued to watch the faces of his audience. He was looking to see who was able to take this new knowledge and quickly apply it to themselves and those around them. He was checking for the highest levels of thinking in his students.
It was no surprise to Dr. Williams when he saw it was Gavil who showed the clearest understanding of this theory and its effects even with this minimum amount of information. He smiled at the thoughts he knew were going through that violent meta’s mind.
“If a human child was good at reading people’s body language, tone of voice and word choice, then as a meta they might be able to…”
“Read someone’s mind,” Gavil finished in a whisper. His thoughts were replaying the events with the female meta M57.
“Precisely, Mr. Young,” Dr. Williams beamed with a sick sense of pride.
“Right now I want each of you to think about yourselves. What seems to come naturally to you more than others around you? Now imagine doubling or even tripling that ability.” Williams smiled as he watched each of his chosen.
Gavil spoke out, “What happened to the subjects who were given three times the dose?”
“Ah, now you’re thinking!” The doctor tapped his temple with his finger and didn’t notice when it came away bloodied.
“Three times the dose did one of two things. Either it a) tripled the subject’s strength, agility and fighting skills, or b) it killed the subject within forty-eight hours. However, all of these subjects were very difficult to command. It’s as though they changed into mindless animals. None of them were stable enough to be released into the Facility. They were useless as soldiers and therefore terminated,” Dr. Williams said coolly.
“What I’m offering you, cadets, is a very special opportunity not only to defend your meta family and our way of life, but also to become more.” He stepped aside and motioned to the table full of syringes.
“Now that you know the effects, you may choose to inject yourself with the Infinite II serum. Each syringe is already perfectly measured and waiting to give you more strength, more power and more of your natural abilities. The choice is yours.” He stepped back from the table, as though respecting their individual decisions in the matter, but knowing full well what they would do.