Galatea 2 - Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25: INVESTIGATION FOUR

A singular bulb dangling from the middle of the room exploded with light, though only the swollen half of Giles’ face neglected to react. His working eye darted in between the man in black and the General, likely contemplating which one of the men he planned on taking out first.

The binds that held him to the chair could not keep him, that much was for sure. No, the only factor sparing these men from his wrath was the absolute beat down that Vanessa had delivered unto him. They had injected him with a sedative earlier, one designed to make his body less responsive to his brain inputs. Alas, it had a borderline intangible effect on his motor functions compared to the blunt delivery of a brutal kick to his right leg from his Galatea.

But in time, these would repair. The virus would continue to fix his body even if he were functionally comatose, possibly even braindead, though it was not a scenario he was eager to test.

“Now, we understand that you are unwilling to cooperate on revolutionary social progress in favor of selfish hoarding for pet projects, is that correct?” The man in black asked, opening with a deceptively-worded question.

“I suppose that’s the way a disingenuous fuck would word it,” Kevin responded, ire in his otherwise relaxed voice.

“Disingenuous? How accusatory,” the man in black responded with his own sanctimonious, passive-aggressive tone. While he was certainly still the more composed member of his temporary duoship formed with General L’Enfant, these two-on-one interviews with highly unusual circumstances were really starting to thin his patience.

“Listen asshole, we’ll find a way to crack the passcodes of your computers eventually!” L’Enfant spat. “You’ve got the entire technical force of the US army against you. Might as well spill it now just to save us the trouble!”

“Yeah, I’d rather be dead then reveal anything… And I know you two don’t have the entire US Army behind you.”

He had dropped the bombshell so casually, it took a few seconds for either of the interviewees to recognize exactly what he was insinuating. Their steady breathing was replaced with sharp inhales, their hearts skipping a beat.

“Ah, good to know my assertion was correct,” Giles spoke with a chuckle, though it quickly devolved into a sputtering cough as a trickle of blood passed his lips. But the pain no longer concerned him. Even broken and battered, he knew he had the edge on his adversaries.

The two men opposite of the table argued amongst themselves in whispers, contemplating how they planned to approach the next stage of this interrogation when their prisoner was no longer fooled by their gambit. Unfortunately for them, L’Enfant was the first to speak up, calling the professor’s bluff.

“Your assertion is clearly not correct, you rat bastard! You know nothing of our operations, and you’re in no position to insinuate so!”

“My advanced hearing says otherwise. You guys really need to be more quiet about your plans when escorting prisoners!” A shit-eating grin spread across the half of Kevin’s face that wasn’t swollen beyond recognition. The two men exchanged nervous glances.

“You really should have neglected to mention to your hired guns that you’re not really associated with the Government, and you should have definitely neglected to mention that your government isn’t aware of this facility in the middle of the ocean. Let me guess, you just want to sell my formula to the highest bidder, hmm?”

L’Enfant, enraged, retrieved an oversized handgun from his pocket and pointed it directly at Giles, standing up from his chair. “Then give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just pump you full of lead right now?”

“Oh, see, it’s not me you should worry about. It’s her. And I’m not talking about the blonde one.” Giles’ tone suddenly adopted a far more sinister edge to it. “If I could hear your little spiel about being an unauthorized offshoot of the Feds, you better believe she could as well. And if you think she’s just biding her time for no reason at all, then I’m afraid you two have another thing coming.”

Now the man in black stood from his chair, realizing just what horror had befallen them.

“Flying her out to an island base in the middle of the ocean… one that the government is oblivious to its existence, that’s probably the worst mistake you could’ve made,” Giles continued. “She’s not trapped in here, you are!”

“No! She’s barely moved an inch in that cell, I keep tabs on her myself! How could she possibly break through the titanium bars?” L’Enfant responded, desperate for a comeback to throw out.

“General, I’m afraid the ‘how’ has long been answered by one simple fact: She’s Galatea. Whether she likes it or not, I designed her to be perfect—only for her to push the envelope of perfection beyond what I could have anticipated. She’s built to have the resources and the will to deal with any situation. Heh, you think you have time on your side when it comes to cracking my codes? Once she’s burned this place to the ground I will personally track down each and every one of your specialists and subject them to a torture far more horrific than any of your creatively bankrupt minds could hope to conjure! You should have never brought her back into that cage, she’s definitely planned her—”

L’Enfant fired a bullet right into Giles’ skull, the hollow point piercing his good eye. The professor collapsed back into the chair, his head leaning back at an unnatural angle. A macabre web of blood splattered on the wall behind him.

“Christ, you animal! You weren’t supposed to shoot him!” the man in black protested, shouting at the General. “We needed him!”

“We’ve already confiscated his stuff. I’m willing to go into debt if it means unlocking the secrets of the human species. Another scientist of his caliber is sure to exist in this world, one who’s less of an asshole!”

The man in black just shook his head in disappointment, knowing General L’Enfant’s decision had been rather rash. “He was the least of our problems! If what he said was true, you just wasted a bullet better spent on slowing down Vanessa!”

“You’re unbearably naive. We’re a thousand strong in this facility. This so-called ‘Galatea’ is all alone. Not even the only other genetically enhanced person in the entire world wants anything to do with her.” The General than rushed out the door

“How could you possibly know that?” the man asked, his tone still incredulous as he desperately attempted to keep up with L’Enfant’s lengthy strides.

“Pfft, clearly you haven’t spent a few months listening in on their will-they-won’t-they melodrama. These two women absolutely hate each other.”

~

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

The ever-so-slightest twitch of Vanessa’s finger and the Rube Goldberg machine of her invention sprung into action. The camera wires were cut, the locks were picked, and the wall-mounted turret was jammed.

The lock clicking immediately alerted the guards, but by then it was too late. The four nearby rushed to shut the door as Vanessa’s telekinesis slowly opened it—all four of them were no match for a solitary hand from Vanessa thrusting the door aside like a show curtain, her languid strides sashaying out of the cell with perfectly tempoed sultry hip movements. Too long she had been cooped up in a cage, her form restricted from displaying itself at peak performance, emphasis on “performance.” She couldn’t just dispose of these faceless men and call it a day—no, there was showmanship to a life like hers!

Already disoriented from her mere forceful arrival, the four heavily armed guards around her cell stood no chance.

“Well, boys? Shall we dance?”