>>5340164After paying Smith’s alien junkyard a visit, engaging in some light haggling, and dropping off your armor for some additional hardening, you head for Zeiss’ lab; an abandoned studio nestled snugly in Crime Alley.
As the name would suggest, it’s not exactly the friendliest place in town. Just ask the Wayne family.
You keep a tight hold of your backup piece during your short-but-still-too-long foray into the urban jungle. If anyone knew the value of the cargo you’re carrying, you’d have to fight off a mob of hobos, thieves, and anything else crawling out of the woodwork.
Index didn’t provide a whole lot of information about the good doctor, mostly just that he’s a brilliant but disgraced bio-chemist that’s been paying the bills by moonlighting as a back-alley surgeon / researcher.
The only other academic you know seems to be more focused on the humanities rather than science, so he’ll have to do.
The address you’ve been given seems to be legit, judging from the barely legible red cross scrawled on top of a heavily secured steel door.
Since there’s no doorbell, you just being pounding on the door.
After a minute or so, a viewing port in the door is slid open and a grouchy looking man gives you the evil eye.
“We’re closed. Come back tomorrow.”
> “I think I have something that might interest you.”“Terrific. Come back tomorrow with it.”
As he goes to slam the port shut, you quickly reach into your bag and surreptitiously produce the vial of Xenothium.
> “Does this happen to change your mind?”“Is that...? You better get in here quick, before I come to my senses.”
After what sounds like a dozen separate locks click, the door abruptly swings open and your host leads you inside.
As you head towards what you assume to be the lab, Zeiss begins to grill you.
“So, what exactly are you here about? Xenothium doesn’t exactly grow on trees, and there are plenty of more ‘legitimate’ operations if you’re looking for some kind of analysis.”
He seems to be a pretty blunt guy, so you’ll just cut straight to the point.
> “Is there any way of refining this into some kind of serum, something that’ll make me stronger?”Zeiss looks at you like you’ve grown multiple heads, before something in his expression seems to change.
Before, you were nothing but an annoyance, but now his eyes are lighting up like he’s stumbled across a great discovery.
“Perhaps. I’ve been dabbling with matters of human enhancement for some time, but the results are impossible to speculate on without further testing.”
He claps his hands together.
“In the spirit of discovery, I’m willing to make a trade. In exchange for the vial of Xenothium and allowing me to run some post-injection tests, I will use the bulk of the aforementioned Xenothium to synthesize a chemical cocktail for you.
Are these terms acceptable?”
It’s a bit shady, but you have no reason to decline just yet.
You provide your reluctant consent to his bargain and hand over the vial.
