Chapter 1.1.8 — Venture 1 / Lock 1

Dr. Venture led Clara out of Emmett’s apartment and through the upstairs hall.

Venture wasn’t sure what he had expected to see, but inwardly he was relieved–Emmett Laraway was a gifted undergraduate engineering student, both focused and closed off. So far, he’d been trustworthy, and in their short visit, Venture’s scans hadn’t found any trade secrets locked away on Emmett’s network. The young man was a bit naïve when it came to the world and to supers, but nothing that could hamstring him.

“What do you think?” Venture asked without pausing.

Clara walked slightly behind him in the halls, and he had no doubt she understood his question and was giving it the hard consideration he’d come to expect from her.

Too much consideration.

“This isn’t a quiz,” Venture added. “I want your honest assessment.”

“You’ll have to teach him a lot.”

“We will have to teach him a lot; that goes without saying. Do you think he’ll join us?”

“...You should’ve asked him to join us before he almost died.”

Now Venture sighed audibly. Clara could be as shrewd as her mother.

Venture replied, “There’s no point in arguing.”

“Agreed.”

They rounded the last flight of stairs, and Venture was about to pry more for Clara’s opinion, but a student walking down the hall made him pause.

The young man wore a baggy sweatshirt which sloped across his broad shoulders, his eyes quickly scanning Venture and Clara. Venture recognized Lachlan Harris from his prior reconnaissance and because Lachlan worked for a mutual employer–Gnosis.

Venture would’ve written Lachlan off completely, except that as they passed one another in the hall, Venture’s glasses saw even more details about Emmett’s roommate.

Lachlan’s muscles practically rippled, even beneath the baggy clothes. His body was suffused with Mutagen-X—he was practically oozing it out of his pores.

Lachlan eyed them suspiciously as he passed, but he walked with the confidence of a super.

He wasn’t just an intern with Gnosis–he was a test subject. And judging by his Mutagen-X levels, a long-term and promising subject as well.

If Venture had more time, he could’ve scanned deeper, but a passing scan told him everything he needed to know:

Emmett’s roommate was a new super, and unless Gnosis had worked out the kinks in the Mutagen-X compound, possibly a dangerous one.

~

Both Venture and Clara were silent until they got back into his car and closed the doors.

“Was that Emmett’s roommate?” Clara asked.

“Yes.”

Clara pulled out her phone and started texting—presumably Emmett. Venture put a hand on her phone to pause her.

“Don’t tell him.”

Clara put her phone down and stared back in confusion. “But he’s a super.”

“I know. Nothing good will come from outing him to Emmett though. If Emmett figures it out on his own, or Lachlan confides in him, that’s between those two.”

Clara looked at her phone again, but set it down without texting again. “And you still want Emmett to work with us?”

“It’s an interesting development, but it doesn’t change things.” Venture backed the car out and started driving out of the parking lot. “Definitely interesting.”

Clara shook her head. “I don’t think Emmett will see it the same way. Do you think he’ll be alright?”

“I could enable his chemical controls, then Emmett could up his own dopamine and serotonin levels,” Venture offered.

Out of the corner of his eye, disgust flashed across Clara’s face. She replied, “He seemed alright enough.”

Venture nodded. So, chemical controls were a step too far in her eyes…

Ultimately, Venture agreed—Emmett wasn’t even aware of his baseline augmentations yet.

“I’ll keep surveillance on him in the meantime.”

~ ~

Lock kept walking through the apartment hall and resisted the urge to look back over his shoulder as he passed Dr. Venture and Clara Venture. That wasn’t hard.

What was hard was avoiding looking at Venture’s glasses as ultraviolet readouts ticked across the lenses.

If it weren’t for his enhancements, Lock might’ve slipped–might’ve looked inadvertently or tripped over his own feet out of surprise.

So Emmett’s boss could see in UV…

Two months ago, Lock had stumbled on the fact that Dr. Venture had ties to Gnosis. He was both a prominent customer and a research contributor. No one had been loose-lipped enough to say more than that.

It wasn’t that weird. Over the last year, Lock had realized that all kinds of people wanted bioenhancement: Everyone from politicians wanting bullet resistant skin to celebrities wanting easy-to-maintain physiques to security and military personnel wanting general physical enhancements.

So, Venture seeing UV wasn’t weird–

But Venture’s glasses hadn’t lit up until Venture passed Lock in the hallway.

Venture had scanned him.

Lock’s mind raced as he jogged up the stairwell to the top floor. It wasn’t common knowledge that Gnosis was experimenting with Mutagen-X, much less that they were experimenting so freely. Lock was one of dozens of volunteers.

The closer Lock got to apartment 449, the faster he was walking.

When Lock opened the door and found Emmett making a sandwich, he didn’t know what to think–

Just a few days ago, Lock thought Emmett was dead. Well, more than thought; Lock had seen Emmett’s bus get cut in half. Then his roommate hadn’t responded for hours…

“Hey,” Emmett said through a mouthful of food.

“Hey yourself,” Lock replied, managing a smile. Despite his apprehension, he was relieved to see Emmett alive and well. Lock walked up and hugged Emmett—careful not to squeeze too tight. Emmett hugged him back.

Supposedly, Emmett had spent the last few days at a girl’s place…

Lock had believed that shit too–right up until he passed Dr. Venture and Clara in the hall of their apartment.

“So, tell me,” Lock said, “who's the lucky girl?”

A mix of surprise and a smile crossed Emmett’s face, but he took a solid few seconds to finish chewing. Probably to buy himself time to think of a reply.

“Marianne,” Emmett said, covering his mouth.

Lock shook his head and smirked. “Three days… You dog.”

Emmett shrugged and took another bite. “Miss me?”

Lock’s memory flashed again to the bus, to the screech of tearing metal and the fire.

Lock scoffed. “Nah. Did you just get back? I saw the doc and a girl on the way in.”

Again, a flash of surprise. Emmett replied, “Yeah, they gave me a lift. The bus is gone. Did you see that?”

Lock nodded as he walked by, glancing around the room. He did see—he was there.

“I was worried about you, man,” Lock said earnestly. “Glad you weren’t there. I figured all your talk about wanting to know more about supers finally caught up to you.”

Lock sighed—not because of his roommate, but because nothing in the apartment seemed out of place. And he hadn’t left anything incriminating laying out in the living room.

Lock asked, “Say, did you give them a tour?”

Emmett took the last bite of his sandwich, stalling again. He nodded. “Not our rooms, though.”

Lock nodded. Good.

Cause Lock didn’t want the Ventures getting any closer to the apartment. He couldn’t trust the doc, but hopefully, he could still trust Emmett.

~ ~ ~