Tinkering

[»Míríel«]

The lab, a place where few people went, if they could help it. It was not a place that harbored warmth and happiness, instead it seemed to hold horror. But such was not the case for a lady who was walking among the rats and dark passageways to get to the place. This was a place for expression, somewhere to forget your fears and focus on tinkering. A shadow of a smile flickered on her lips. Tinkering, that was one of her favorite things to do ever since she was a young girl her parents tried their hardest to keep her out of stuff. While her sister was busy playing to dolls, Victoria was building planes and ships out of blocks or other toys. When she grew older she got more sophisticated with wood and some metal. All the neighborhood had seen her as strange, even her own mother and father didn't know what to do with her.

Finally her feet brought her inside of the room. She paused for a moment to sigh a breath of relief. Finally a place of quiet. Brushing her long black tresses back from her face she proceeded to tie them in a loose ponytail with a pale jade green ribbon. Even in her leather apron, mint green shirt, and black pants, she had a strange sort of attractiveness about her. Perhaps it was the bright gleam of intelligence in her eye, or the elegant way she moved from tool to tool, taking pieces off a contraption and adding others. slowly and surely little strips of hair wrestled free of the ribbon and began falling about her face. But Victoria was lost in what she was doing. It was almost like she had been transported into another world, one of mechanics and imagination. Now nice to work where people weren't always looking, especially those wicked creatures called females. She almost shuttered at the thought.

[*ƒiƒi*]

Thaddeus

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Cursing quietly under his breath, Thaddeus leaned halfway over to dig through a garbage bin of old tools, looking for his good wrench that had been tossed out into the junk heap by his clueless apprentice. He held back a holler of pain as he jammed his finger against a rusty screwdriver, making a trickle of blood trail down his dirt-brown palm. Unable to see, he pushed himself in further and activated his robotic night vision, lighting up the bin within an instant, which would have been a good thing, if it didn't reflect right off the metal and shine back into his human eye.

"GOD ALMIGHTY--!" he shouted, scrambling to pull himself back out when he felt his feet being lifted off the ground. He had dumpster-dove too far.

Scrambling to get a footing again, Thaddeus flailed his feet and tried to shield his vulnerable eye, making an awful ruckus amongst the old hammers and tongs. Eventually he managed to plant his feet on the ground after a good struggle, and still covering his blinded eye, slowly he emerged from the bin, only to slam his head into the incinerator above.

"Tch..!" he grunted while the hunk of metal reverberated loudly from the impact. Grinding his teeth and rubbing his head with one hand and covering his eye with the other, he put himself straight and sighed shakily. As he blinked rapidly he gradually regained sight in his assaulted eye, and only then did he notice the visitor behind him. Spinning on his heels his still illuminated eye opened widely, making the bright beam of light shine right into her face. He stared at her for a moment with curiousity before realizing how white her face was.

"Oh, my!" he exclaimed before hurrying to shut off the function, making the laboratory dark again except for the green glow from the isolation tanks.

"My apologies, Ms. Black.. I-I didn't realize you were..." his voice faltered, and he sighed again. What a conundrum you've caused, Thaddeus, he thought grimly to himself.

[»Míríel«]

Victoria was just in the middle of attaching a rather difficult piece when all the ruckus began. The sudden sound of crashing and shouts caused her to jump. She had been so immersed in her own thoughts that this was all together quite frightening. Whirling around she just managed to catch Thaddeus stumble and hit his head on the incinerator. It was an amusing sight, but Victoria wasn't sure whether to laugh or stay quiet, so she did the latter.

Then she was greeted by a blindingly bright light. "Eh.." She winced. What had he been doing? She knew better to ask no matter how much she wanted to, though that didn't mean she wouldn't.... When he apologized she let a little smile come to her face as she replied, "No matter, Mr. DeMarco, I came in rather quietly, there was no way for you to know." Reaching up with her hand she pushed a strand of hair away from her face. This motion, unknown to her, left a black mark of grease upon her sun-kissed skin. Her hands by now had gotten stained with the black stuff. It was strange to see such a girl down here among the grease and grim, but somehow none of it got on her shirt, a small miracle really.

Looking at Thaddeus she raised an eyebrow. "Seems like you are a busy man of late. Need any....help?"

[*ƒiƒi*]

Thaddeus

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"Ah.. actually, I could use some assistance," he managed to sputter while clenching his teeth with discomfort. Pointing a rust-dusted finger in the direction of the body-sized freezers, he took a seat on the long metal slab table used for a disassembling large projects. It groaned in protest underneath his weight, but what more damage could be done to him if it decided to snap?

"Open the freezing component furthest to the left and retrieve me one of those frozen gear belts," he ordered, still attempting to shove his robotic eye back underneath his artificial skin, but it was being unusually rebellious. He winced and twitched, but it simply refused to be covered over. Eventually, so completely beyond frustrated, he took his palm and slammed against it with force, cringing as he heard the copper frame dent. He has used his metal arm, quite violently so.

"Curse this flimsy plating.." he muttered bitterly. Sometimes this body was the greatest of blessings, and other times, he agreed with his boss--it was a worthless pile of junk. Well, he thought, one must take the sugar and salt, I do suppose...

[»Míríel«]

Victoria smirked slightly as he mentioned the need for assistance. As long as she had known him, which hadn't been that long, he had never been one to turn down a helping hand. With a sigh she walked over to the body sized freezer and made sure to put on a thick glove before opening the deep freezer. Thaddeus was very strange, sometimes Victoria wasn't sure everything was screwed in as tight as it should be. Especially when he slammed his cyborg hand to his face, attempting to put his eye in. There were definitely some loose bolts somewhere. But who was she to talk? He was brilliant, in his own way, and there was so much to learn from him. After all he didn't become a black ace for nothing.

Having the glove on her opened the freezer and after looking around the freezer sighted what she was looking for. Taking the belt out with her gloved hand she closed the freezer with a shudder. It was so cold. Reaching out she held it toward him. "Your belt sir." She smiled slightly, "You know...if you made the plating stronger it wouldn't be such a problem, then again you could use the other hand." She smiled up at him.

[*ƒiƒi*]

Thaddeus

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With a sigh of relief, he took the belt from her hand and put it in his own, ungloved. The freezing belt felt so refreshing against his bruised skin that he pressed it against his aching skull, allowing the numbness to slow down his functions. Thaddeus leaned back against the operating table, allowing his eyes to drift closed and his senses slip into a nirvana. His fingers drummed absentmindedly against the slab; it was the only thing that kept him from dozing off. That, and he knew that if his boss found out, more than just the plating of his eye would be permanently damaged.

He sat up and looked at Victoria with a dazed expression at her rather obvious statement. "Ah.. yes, I suppose I.. could have..?" he answered, narrowing his eye and shaking his head lightly, dismissing her oddity.

"As for the plating, our oh so financially inclined leader has more important things to worry about than my constant malfunctions, or so he says.." he replied irritably, hurt that he couldn't take the time to keep his right-hand man in the best of shape. With that thought, he snapped his fingers and threw his legs over the side of the table in a hurry.

"Speaking of that, I ought to be collaborating the firing intervals for the automatic flame-thrower..." Still holding the obnoxiously long gear belt to his head, he knocked a few things down as he stumbled over to the workbench where the new weapon lay in disarray. He glanced over all the parts he had gathered, his finger resting against his chin and leaving a soot mark behind. He grabbed a rag that hung lazily on an old coat rack and rubbed it off, then handed it to Victoria with a sheepish smile, noticing the grease smeared across her own face.

"Must always start with a clean face as well as a clean slate, agreed?" he stated.

[»Míríel«]

Victoria watched at Thaddeus proceeded to place the belt against his aching forehead. How he could stand the cold she didn't know, then again he was half machine. Shaking her head she turned and placed the glove back in the spot that it had been, right by the freezer. Those freezers and all the other things sort of made her wonder, why were they so...body-sized. It made her grimace, she didn't want to think about such things.

Victoria turned to meet Thaddeus looking at her with a strange look, as if he didn't understand her. Ah well, so much for a try with humor, she should have known better. Now he was looking at her as if she was a complete, and utter odd-ball. Nothing she hadn't had before.

So Thaddues had asked their leader for better elements to build himself. Strange, if the right hand man couldn't get anything to help himself, what hope did that did to the common black card? Though she did know that the leader of the black cards did tend to favor females. "Probably not you, he'd pay more attention to those flirty preppy girls who only care about going to the mall or flirting around with every guy they met. Most guys like that. Right?" Never in her life had she found someone that could accept her for who she was, they usually got wierded out about her. Why would someone like her leader even want the slightest company of someone who had black fingers from grease and soot and who usually spent all of her time tinkering. "HE deserves more then that." She smiled. The truth was Victoria enjoyed being a loner, someone who didn't have to worry about someone else, but there was a slight part of her, something down deep, that wanted a companion, a friend. But that had been buried for so long, it might take some uprooting to uncover.

Now Thaddeus was stumbling around with the belt pretty much trailing behind him as he headed towards his table. Following behind Victoria couldn't help but stare at his handiwork. He certainly knew how to put things together. Even though the weapon was surrounded with chaos, and only half built it had a sort of elegance about it, something only people who loved mechanics and science would understand. To others it probably just looked like another strange contraption. Suddenly she noticed the sheepish grin and the offering of a rag from Thaddeus. Her green eyes grew wide as she stared at it in confusion before taking it. A clean face? Looking into a nearby metal piece she could just see her reflection in it. A black smear across her cheek. Blushing slightly out of embarrassment she quickly rubbed at the mark, only making it spread farther. With a sigh of dismay she continued to work at it until the grease had nearly come all the way off. Turning back to him and handing the rag back she nodded. "Agreed."

[*ƒiƒi*]

Thaddeus

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Clasping his hands together, Thaddeus took the goggles that he had placed to the far left of the workbench, wrapping the strap around the back of his ears so they perched on the top of his head. He handed a pair to Victoria and looked over his progress so far, trying to determine what would be the most efficient first step to take. Scratching the back of his head, Thaddeus scanned the assortment of components with a wry expression. Something had to be wielded...

He snapped his fingers in a moment of realization. "Of course!" he exclaimed, mostly to himself. Flitting across the laboratory, he reached for the blowtorch that lay amongst the boxes of flammable material and malleable metals. In one swift movement he flicked his goggles over his eyes, donned his gloves and started up the flame, bursting blue from the tip of the blackened torch. The weapon itself was about three feet in length, not to mention much thicker than a typical firearm. As the sparks flew from the flame, the slab of sheet metal that Thaddeus held in his hands began to melt at the edges, allowing him to curve it and shape it as needed.

As he became more and more enthralled in his work, Thaddeus hadn't even heard the heavy footsteps pounding outside his door, nor the slam as the door hit the wall with force. But, worst of all, he didn't hear his name being called repeatedly, until finally...



"THADDEUS!"

Nearly dropping the blowtorch right on his foot and sending the whole lab up into flames, Thaddeus jolted out of his skin and quickly shut the flame off, removing his goggles and spinning on his heels in a flurry, only to come face to face with his boss.

His mouth hung open as the blowtorch clanged to the ground, his hands laying flat against his sides. "Oh, ah, my apologies sir... I was just--"

"Oh, save your story," he barked back. Taking a strong stride forward, he pushed past Thaddeus who retreated into a corner like a wounded puppy. Maverick's critical eye glanced over his weaponmaster's work, his face changing from an expression of disinterest to a grimace of disappointment. He clicked his tongue and turned with his hands behind his back in Thaddeus's direction, whose face went pale as he approached.

"Thaddeus... Do you honestly expect me to be able to lug around such a hefty, awkward weapon? It'll only be more useless than you are if we take it on a raid!" he said, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"Lighten the framing, and shorten the barrel. It needs to be light and concealable." With that, he turned to stalk off.

"B-but, sir.. If I remove density from the metal reinforcement, the pressure from the flame could possibly..." Maverick gave him a stern look, and he sighed in defeat.

"I'll get right on that, sir," he finally answered with his head down.

He nodded with slight approval. Just as he was about to cross the threshold, a dark figure came into view. He came to a halt, taking a small step back, and craned his head to smirk at Victoria, Thaddeus's new trainee. Maverick stalked over to her, his hands shoved in his pockets, and grinned at her brightly.

He brushed against her lightly and told her,"Do be sure he doesn't kill himself. I don't believe I can afford to build myself another cyborg minion." He chuckled quietly to himself before prowling off and looking around Thaddeus's lab and wrinkling his nose with distaste.

"When was the last time you cleaned down here? It smells like dead radioactive rat."

[»Míríel«]

Victoria took the goggles from Thaddeus and quickly strapped them on. Then she waiting in anticipation, but it seemed that her "mentor" had forgotten what he was about to do. Just as a sigh was about to pass her lips Thad snapped and exclaimed, "of course!" "Good, he remembered.. I wonder what he is going to...." Then she saw him reach for a blow torch. "Wielding...great." Now Victoria was glad for the glasses, her had tinting on them that helped protect her eyes. She hated the light, especially when it got to the intensity of fire. Watching Thaddeus get into his work made Victoria he absorbed also. To watch his hands, how exact and precise they were. He made it look so easy. She knew that if she tried what he was doing it would probably turn out to be a big ball of dripping metal, something that would not be pleasant. To tell the truth she never had dealt with wielding before she had come here, after all her parents didn't just hand a blowtorch to a kid. Even when she was 18 her parents tried to keep her from using the stove. "What do they think I am going to do, blow up the place?" She remembered thinking, but then again her parents did have some reason to be thinking such things.

The sound of a door closing erupted through the air, causing Victoria to jump back a bit. Who on earth?! " Never would she have guessed who had entered. Frantically she tried cleaning her fingers on the apron, but it was no use and so she gave up on the attempt to look clean, not like he would come and talk to her anyways. Glancing toward Thaddeus she was shocked to find that he was still busy at work. Her eyes grew wider as Maverick kept calling his name louder and louder. Couldn't Thaddeus hear him? It took Maverick to yell for Thaddeus to have a reaction, one that almost caused a disaster.
Removing her glasses as soon as the flame had been turned off Victoria clutched them in her hands, raptly listening to their conversation. A slight bit of anger boiled within her. It was obvious that Maverick didn't care of understand the laws of mechanics and science. Heck, he didn't even try. There are some things in this world that just wasn't possible, but that didn't seem to stop him. Then again isn't that why she was on his side, he seemed invincible and smart, plus he had a stunning appearance. When Thaddeus backed down Victoria felt a pang of disappointment, even though she knew he would back down. She would have also if she had been in Thad's place.

When Maverick caught sight of her Victoria looked curiously up into his face. Why was he heading her way? Cocking her hip slightly and letting her arms hang naturally you would never have believed for a moment that she had slight bubbles of anxiety bubbling within her, after all she looked perfectly confident. In fact it almost looked like she expected Maverick to come by and talk to her. "Yes sir." She said smoothly. "But I believe he can take care of himself. No matter how hopeless he might seem." She smiled at Thaddeus, hoping he would take the hint that she was only joking. When Maverick walked past her little station and mentioned the smell of a radioactive rat, her green eyes grew as big as saucers. “Oh! I'm sorry that's my fault!” Rushing over to her table she picked up a vile that she had been working it. IT had a sort of strange greenish liquid. Taking another vial full of a black liquid she mixed the two, drop by drop. Then after a second the liquid turned perfectly clear. Studying it for a moment she smiled. But it only lasted for a moment, for she turned back to Maverick with a apologetic expression on her face. “I am sorry sir, I completely forgot about my poison in all this excitement...If let go for to long it begins to give off a scent...” Turning back to the vial she put a cork on top and picked up what she had been working on earlier. It was a bracelet, something that looked like just another expensive ornament. But Victoria knew that there was a lot more than met the eye. She had finished this piece a bit earlier and had set about starting the poison that she loved while she worked on yet another piece. Pressing a button it released some tiny springs that revealed little needles that had been disguised in the design. These needles, when dipped in the poison could become quite lethal. Usually Victoria used then to just put a little scratch on someone. It would swell only slightly to what looked like a mosquito bite, then disappear. Then person would get a high fever, the severity depended on how deep the scratch. Poison what a wonderful thing.

[*ƒiƒi*]

Thaddeus

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Thaddeus, in all the wisdom he had left, retired to turning back to his work, attempting to hide from the view of his critical taskmaster. Hastily he snatched up the blowtorch, flicked the copper goggles back over his eyes, and set to trimming the frame by Maverick's orders. If he told you to do something, you didn't wait for an engraved invitation unless you wanted an engraved tombstone instead. As the weight began to melt off, Thaddeus glanced nervously behind him, only to see that Victoria had captured his attention. Oh, thank Holy Madonna... he thought to himself, knowing the only time he could ever get anything done was when he knew he was not under the immense pressure that was Maverick.

As the plating thinned out, he set to pounding it back into the desired shape with a clang of his hefty hammer, the sheer force of it making his arm quiver. Ah, the sounds of workmanship. He paused for a moment to wipe his brow with the already oily cloth that hung lazily from the old coat rack. He assured himself that this time, it had to be this time, he would give his belittling leader absolutely nothing to say.


Maverick sniffed with amusement at her statement about his weaponmaster. "You think so, hmm?" Smirking to himself, he followed the eager young mechanic over to the foul-smelling vial of liquid that she instantly set to neutralizing. He breathed deeply through his nose, and exhaled with satisfaction. The only scents that remained was that of axle grease, rust, and rotting wood, all of which Maverick's nose had grown accustomed after spending hours of time down here, playing around with Thaddeus's latest inventions.

The two of them had been working together for years now, and not much had changed. Thad still always referred to him as "sir," he was still frightened of him like a small child facing a monster, and tried his hardest to please him, no matter what. Now, granted, Maverick didn't mind any of these things. It just seemed like they were stuck in one place, never able to move forward. It was a huge hindrance, but he had to change it, one flaw at a time. Thaddeus's mind worked like the metal shell it was built within; it had to be programmed.

Raising an eyebrow, Maverick gingerly took the deadly jewelry from Victoria's hands and looked it over, tilting it this way and that. A devious smile crossed his lips as his eyes narrowed, his gloved finger brushing the surface of the button that sent sharp needles protruding from the smooth surface. Yes, this would do.

"Quite inconspicuous craftsmanship you have here, Miss Victoria. Well done," he praised her, returning the bracelet to its original resting place. He turned his back to her and stalked over to Thaddeus, who was deep within his work. This time around, he would not result to screaming to get this mechanical monkey's attention. Casually he removed his black glove, shoving it into his front coat pocket. With a canniving smirk, Maverick gingerly touched the middle of Thaddeus's spine.


"HOLY..!" Thaddeus yelled, jumping about ten feet in the air as an electric shock rocketed right up through his spine and slammed against his main wiring. He whipped around with fury blazing in his eyes, until he caught the smug face of Maverick. His shoulders sagged and took a tentative step back, the anger fading within an instant from his eyes.

"You've taught her well, I see. Now, if only you could learn how to stop acting like a schizophrenic squirrel yourself," he remarked, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"Ah.. But, sir... Squirrels can't have schizophr-" he was muffled by his dirty oil rag that was shoved into his mouth. He could only watch as his leader slinked away, confused as ever.

"Just finish the weapon! We have a raid approaching within a few days. Don't forget, either of you," he threatened then turned to take his leave, winking encouragingly at Victoria as he passed.

[»Míríel«]

Victoria nearly fell over by his praise, but the only sign on her face was a slight coloring of her cheeks. He, HE had praised her, the leader of the lack cards had praised her. Giving him a half smile she nodded and watched as Maverick placed the "jewelry" back on the table. "Its nothing Victoria you are just a geek, a strange one, he wouldn't like you just the little piece you have created. He is just encouraging you so that you make more things for him. Don't loose your head...concentrate!" Then the voice of Maverick echoed in her ears: "You've taught her well, I see. Now, if only you could learn how to stop acting like a schizophrenic squirrel yourself" She wanted to melt. "Focus Victoria! FOCUS!" picking up the bracelet she turning it around in her hand and then placed it down once more.
Then came the wink, oh the wink! Warmth flooded over her like a waterfall. It was useless fighting against her instinct. Why did she have to fall head over heels over just about any guy that paid attention to her? So many heartbreaks were because of her not being able to control her heart. So many...
Turning to Thaddeus she raised an eyebrow and picked up a small hammer. "Quite a guy eh?" she motioned to the door with her head. Then getting a thoughtful expression on her face she continued. "You ok?" Thaddeus seemed a bit...flustered and confused. Poor guy he was so loyal to his leader, so loyal but sometimes Victoria didn't know if Thad could understand his loyalty. It seemed a bit blind to her. After all they were polar opposites it seemed. One was the extreme ruler and the other the extremely submissive subject. Must be an interesting relationship. For Maverick it had to be mentally killing to never have anyone to banter with and for Thaddues it must be physical and mental chaos trying to figure how to make everything that was ordered work.
With a sigh, trying to rid herself of all the thoughts of Maverick clouding her head, she walked over by Thaddeus. "Need any help?" Then glancing down her jade eyes grew wide. "Um Mr.Thaddeus...You might want to turn the blowtorch off....."

[*ƒiƒi*]

Thaddeus

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Spitting and coughing in the utter disgust of it all, Thaddeus yanked the filthy rag from his mouth and attempted to shake the grimy taste from his poor tastebuds, but to no avail. He grimaced and shook his head slightly, the slime of the remnants of the black liquid still lingering on his gums. The piece of old cloth fell to the ground, and he just shifted his glance and nodded in exaggerated agreement. Maverick was more than just "quite a guy"; he was an absolute mastermind. And no matter how much Thaddeus wished to deny it, he knew that no matter how complex or infallible his designs became, his level of genius would never be enough to rise to his master's stature, nevertheless pass it. Disappointing indeed, but a fact he couldn't possibly ignore.

"You ok?"

The question startled him from his trance-like worries, and he snapped up and tried to shake it off like a cold breeze. "Y-yes, of course. Of course," he sputtered, trying to cover up his moment of insecurity with a stone face. Of course, the facade only lasted for a mere moment before the unpleasant thoughts came flooding back tenfold as he watched the fading figure of the most powerful blackened force of them all.

He's just a man, Thaddeus! A mortal being! He will pass just like the rest of them. What's got you in such a tizzy? the logical side of his robotic mind reasoned, but the human Thaddeus knew so much better. That man, his leader, was not just a mere man. He was tainted; tainted with the hellish force that was power. It would take much more than just a strong will to defeat one such as himself, something that comforted Thaddeus as much as it worried him.

"Need any help?"

His distant gaze swerved over to Victoria, who seemed so far away from himself. He narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer to her, trying to make his focus shift onto the eager young lady in front of him. "Ah... Pardon?"

"Um Mr.Thaddeus...You might want to turn the blowtorch off....."

He tilted his head and looked at her with confusion, until he realized the immense heat beating around his face. In a panic he jerked his head downward and fumbled with the still explosive blowtorch sitting around lazily in his clumsy hand. Within a moment the flame was choked into submission, and Thaddeus breathed a deep sigh.

He managed a half-hearted smile and apologized, "I'm.. terribly sorry. My mind is oft wandering onward and upward..." Suddenly, a low groan was heard from outside the laboratory, what couldn't have been more than fifity feet away. Thaddeus's brow furrowed in frustration at the outburst of pain.

"Poor chap. Should've never used that high of concentration of radioactivity on such a feeble body build..." he muttered to himself, his finger tracing his chin in deep thought. "It seems that human experiments go terribly wrong as much as they go somewhat right..."

[»Míríel«]

Victoria smiled slightly at her mentor. He was back to his mumbling self. Thad made her smile, whether from his awkward nature of his pure skill she didn't know. Though she did know one thing, he always kept it interesting. You never knew what to expect when Thad was in the room, which was very often. "Oh nothing..." She waved at him and headed back to her table. Thaddues didn't need any help, nor did he really ask for any. After all he was the mentor for a reason.

Picking up a needle from the bracelet she slowly, carefully dipped it into the poison, until it was about halfway submerged. Her green gaze stared steadily into it, waiting for the metal to change color a bit. This poison you couldn't touch with your bare hand, unless you wanted it to start seeping in through your skin almost immediately.

Everything was going well until a groan was heard from nearby. Thinking at first it was Thaddeus Victoria didn't pay any mind to it, but then what caught her attention was what came out of his mouth. "Human experiments?" Victoria dropped the needle into the vial and let out a little curse under her breath. Spinning around on her stool she faced Thaddeus. "What do you mean radioactivity on a feeble body build? What have you been up to?" Her green eyes grew wide and shifted nervously to the freezer that she had been by recently. Chills ran up and down her spine.

[*ƒiƒi*]

Thaddeus

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Thaddeus straightened himself out and looked at her with a peculiar eye, as if she had just asked what color his britches were. He would think it quite obvious, especially to one with a trained mind such as herself. Regardless of his opinions, he decided to humor her and said flatly, "We, Maverick and I, were testing the capabilities of human genetics, seeing how far they could be exaggerated and improved."

He folded his hands behind his back and paced a short distance, feeling uncomfortable being so close to her now accusatory gaze. "The only problem.." He heaved a sigh. "We overestimated the subject's tolerance to foreign particles.. It completely mutated his DNA."

His mouth twisted into a frown as he shook his head in sympathy. "Poor fellow. His head may have been as thick as a brick wall, but his body was less than reinforced..." Thaddeus glanced out past the barred door to the laboratory and winced slightly, as if the dim lights from the cellar pained his eyes. "We ran out of options and had to quarantine him. Who knows what... fluids he could ooze out of those seaweed-like pores of his? The effects of even his touch are still unknown and certainly vary."

He smirked wryly as he added, "Maverick finds him quite useful. He's a great assistant in scaring our new recruits into submission."

With another sigh, Thaddeus clasped his hands together and glanced around, eager to move on from the subject. "One must not dwell on past mistakes, hmm? Sirius was not a failure entirely... After all, he can still eat and defecate by his own means..." He shuddered at the thought but flung it from his mind as soon as it entered.

[»Míríel«]

Victoria sighed as she received a strange look from Thaddeus. She should have known better than to ask about anything. She had always expected that some sort of testing had been going on, and the cases were human size. But Victoria has always hoped that those two facts were coincidental. Oh well now she had no doubt in her mind. "Humans are quite...eh weak you know. They even have problems with silly bacteria that would have no effect on any "special" people." She smirked slightly before frowning and with a sigh continued. "With you excepted. You are the only reason that I still have some respect for that race. But that give you almost no excuse for not knowing the frailty of your race..."

At the mention of his touch varying things Victoria narrowed her eyes. "Effects? What effects?" Perhaps these fluids could lead to a very interesting poison or some weapon that she could create. She got a sort of tingling inside her, invention, how it powered her soul. When he mentioned scaring the new recruits she raised and eyebrow. That was an effective way of doing business. "Seems like Maverick uses everything to his advantage." Why did her knees feel slightly weak at the thought of his name? Reaching behind her back she pinched herself on the arm to keep herself from blushing.