Professor José said to Alexandre as they stepped into the elevator, "Let's not talk here. You never know who could be listening. The cameras in the infirmary area might be fake, but that certainly doesn't mean all of them are!"
"Alright," said Alexandre. "Have it your way."
***
Alexandre stepped through the door of a suite at the Crown Plaza, following behind José.
"Nice room, eh?" asked the doctor. "Make yourself at home."
It was an ultra-spacious unit, over 150 square meters and quite luxurious, with a magnificent view of the sea. Every surface was brightly lit by the midday sun.
Professor José walked over to the bar along one wall. He splashed whiskey into two glasses, then carried them both to a leather armchair and sat down. "So tell me," he said, sipping one of the glasses, "what do you want? Money? Hunter-crafted items? Prostitutes whenever you want at the academy? They might not pay me anywhere near what I deserve, but when it comes to paying back my debts, I'm good for it. I can get you anything you want on this damn island."
Alexandre pulled a mahogany chair across from José and took the second glass from the doctor's hand. He also took a sip, savoring the spicy rye of the whiskey. "Patience!" said Alexandre. "First, we'll have a little chat, you and I."
José's expression turned sulky. "Look, I owe you a favor, but there are limits. If you want some kind of top-secret information about the academy, you're out of luck. I'm not telling you anything that'll get me jailed… or worse. Come on, just tell me how much cash you want and let's call it a day."
Alexandre reached over and put his hand on Professor José's shoulder, as though he were about to give some friendly advice.
Then he began to squeeze. "Perhaps you should give that decision some more thought, Professor. Hasty decisions can have terrible consequences."
Professor José snarled, "Fuck off! You think you're the first Hunter to threaten me!? Get out of my room!"
There was a sudden loud pop and José screamed in pain, feebly grabbing at Alexandre's hand on his shoulder but unable to move it. Alexandre had just squeezed his arm out of its socket.
"You bastard!" the doctor wailed. "Assaulting an academy staff member is grounds for dismissal and arrest! I'll have you dragged off to prison, you bastard!"
Alexandre replied coldly, "Stop crying like a baby. You're a doctor, so you know very well that there's no permanent damage. Look, it's obvious that you've been complicit in the negligent deaths of many other candidates, just like with that girl in the infirmary. I have no pity for your kind. Tell me what I want to know or it's about to get much worse."
José didn't reply, but only stared down at the floor in frustration. His face had gone white from pain.
Alexandre continued, "My guess is that, even for you, it's not easy to get the S.G.C. dose right. Unlike most drugs, the proper dose must rely on much more than just body weight. If the dose is too high, even a normally immune candidate will transform. If the dose is too low, the transformation fails and the academy just wasted tens of thousands of dollars. Especially since you were complaining about a lack of staff, these mistakes must be frequent. You frequently sacrifice innocents just for the sake of time, you piece of shit."
The professor snarled, "What do you want me to say!? For years we've been asking for more doctors to carry out the S.G.C. injections. We need more personnel for processing and oversight. But no, we don't even have ten doctors to process over a thousand candidates in a week! The higher ups are demanding we give injections in batches when we should be scrupulously making a custom plan for each patient!"
Alexandre exerted further pressure on Professor José's arm, causing the agony of dislocation to intensify. As the doctor screamed, Alexandre said coldly, "You're nothing but scum. If you think I'm going to show you mercy, you're wrong."
Professor José laughed bitterly and said, "Fine then, kill me! If I tell you anything, Director Hart or General Pantherson will kill me themselves. At least if you do it, I'll have the pleasure of knowing that you'll still be in the dark!"
Alexandre finally released the man's arm. He could tell that the doctor really wasn't going to give in under these kinds of threats. Moreover, Alexandre stood to lose far too much if he actually killed Professor José right now.
So instead, Alexandre said, "Fine, then. I won't kill you. Stop sniveling, I have something to show you." Alexandre reached down to his bag, unzipped it, and removed his laptop. Then he produced the USB key of information that William had given him and inserted it. He opened a file on the drive and allowed the precious information to fill the laptop's screen. "Take a careful look at this, professor."