Daniel ended abruptly. He took a sip of his tea, eyes cast down.
Janet wasn't willing to push him back to conversation so early, but she still hadn't reached the crux of what she aimed to discuss.
"It seemed like you liked her." She played around with him.
"I like no one, Janey." His pupils found hers, "But, spend too much time with anyone, and suddenly, you can't let go of them. God, I hate being human."
"Isn't that nice? Having someone to care for?"
"It's nice when you're out and about, above the surface. Down here, it's hell. A cold, brutal, Antarctic hell. With lots of bugs biting your toes." He shivered.
Janet almost felt sorry for him. "I suspect we're nowhere near the finish line, are we? So, why don't you keep going."
Kept going, he did. For the next fifteen minutes, Janet listened with patience to anecdotes of Danny and Kathy. Until, she finally cracked him.
"She kept saying we need to be careful. 'Kathy, Kathy, Kathy,' I tried explaining it wasn't that simple. She might have been the lure, sure, but it was my face and name out there, not to mention my blood. Anyway, that didn't matter, because we both knew none of us had the brains to manufacture it, should it all go wrong."
"Let's talk about that," Janet caught him in his speech, "You said that she was a 'floundering bafoon with a pretty face.'"
"Kind, pretty face." He corrected.
She ignored that, "As you admitted, both of you weren't smart enough to carry the whole thing out. Katherine didn't make the drug, and neither did you. That is why you're here. That is why I'm here. That is why we're all here, and living. So, tell me, Daniel, where did the drug come from?"
Daniel regarded her with a curious eye. "You ever read, Janey?"
"Yes, often."
"So, you know the difference between fiction and reality?"
"Indeed."
"And would you say, so do most people?"
"Of course."
"Well, I got news for you." He leaned forward, "Some people don't."
His voice reduced to a whisper, as if afraid someone might hear.
"There are three kinds of genius." Daniel held up three skinny fingers, and brought them down one by one, "The Einstein. The Oppenheimer. And the downright insane."
.....
That was Stein.
I wish I could tell you his first name, but I really don't know. I must have asked at least once, but I'm sure he ventured not to tell me. His only backstory, that I'm aware of, is that he was a friend to Kathy (she was the one who brought him to me), his parents were divorced and preferred to keep their distance from him, and that he was once a pharmacist at an asylum. Until they admitted him in as a patient.
Everything was a game to that guy.
A test.
A trial to determine for himself the victor and the loser. For him, black and white meant discerning who gets to live and who doesn't. He fed off of it. That man saw himself at the epicenter of all experiment. Always the spector, never the knight. I guess he saw me as an opponent against life. Or death. Or destiny. Or the world. Whatever it was, he stuck by me because he was sure I would lose.
I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty damn easy to convince that bastard.
"So, you're immortal, huh?" He rubbed his chin in contemplative thought.
"Immune, would be correct."
"Mm, that's not it. You can't be immortal. You must be immune." My face fell flat. Why had he asked if he wasn't gonna listen? "And, you aren't at all contagious."
The car took a sharp right. I sat with Katherine at the rear with the scientist facing my front. The windows were covered and a barrier was drawn between us and the driver. The sun shone through the curtains in a slant, shedding a blinding light on the man's goggles as a subtle smile was found curved under his nose.
"Fine! I'll make your secret drug."
Katherine let loose a celebratory laugh as I turned to her in a "that was easy" kind of look.
"But—" Stein crossed his arms, "—I know I'm not being released for your useless child's play. My cooperation you'll find alot more expensive, though my goals fairly simple."
Katherine ventured to say something but I held up a gloved palm. Snickering, I asked, "Money is child's play?"
"Yes, Dr. Taine. Money is child's play." The white bucket he called a head of hair fell like grass over his forehead, "Your focus is limited. You keep yourself directed to meager riches; money, fame, power, praise. Don't equate me to the likes of you. My aim is greater, I intend to observe all I can. Learn how it is others fight in the ring so I can deduce for myself the strong from the weak."
"Alright. What do you have in mind?"
"We push the bounds of your experiments. And, you keep me out of the crossfire. That is all."
He was an unnerving creature. It was odd, too, his goggles. You could hardly see through them. As though he wanted a peak inside everyone's secrets while keeping his own shielded. It took me a while to learn but I soon came to realize that Stein was one of us. I'm sure he knew it too. His heart was rotten.
"Then, I guess we keep your thirty percent." I drew out a hand.
"Hold on, Doctor. Just because I don't aim for it, doesn't mean I won't take it."
He really did get on my nerves sometimes. Who am I kidding? Most of the time.
Agreeing to his terms was like giving a child a toy to play with. Only, that toy was his father's rifle that he was not allowed to touch. Despite that, every experiment was carried out in calculated precision. Rarely was there ever a failure.
Now, I'm not a scientist. I only know how to take out a heart, so I can't tell you exactly what Stein performed on me. Just that my blood was extracted from various parts of my body, mixed in with chemicals I don't remember the name of, and badda bing badda boom, you have a drug.
I still remember the glint in Stein's teeth as he held the vial to his face. As black as old ink, it contrasted deeply with his white lab coat. I sat hunched over the metal table (Katherine rubbed alcohol on the incision made in my arm) as I watched history unfold itself.
"What now?" I urged.
"Now, we find a test subject. And, it can't be you." Stein turned, "No offence, Taine, but you're not exactly normal by any means."
"Tell me something I don't know." I chuckled.
"If we're looking for patients, I might be of some assistance." Kathy chimed in.
"Why you? I can just hop back in at the Agency and look at the records." I offered.
"Need I remind you, you were fired." She raised an auspicious eyebrow.
Stein cackled under the strobe light. Me getting kicked out of the job I earned many degrees for was a topic of mockery he never left behind, nor did he ever falter in reminding me of it. Often times, I'd return from a long day of business and fake smiles, and he'd pop in my room with a pointed finger accompanying that same lousy joke. Saying that if it weren't for them, I'd be a vagrant with my disposition. Of course, I gave him a real beating for it.
Seriously, I've lost count of the many pens I've lost by throwing them across my desk.
But, I can't help but agree with his conclusions.
Now, don't go telling him that. I'd never hear the end of it.
If anything, I'd like to remind him of the time we made that bet. He was always weird with dolls. I mean like those porcelain dolls, ones where you break them and there's supposed to be something special inside. Well I broke one of them once. Not on purpose obviously, the guy had complete liberty to tinker with my body however he wanted, after all. I don't think I need to tell you he went nuts. He didn't let me see what was inside, just kept screaming at me, "What have you done?" I told him to walk it off. That he wasn't a child, and that he shouldn't have put them so close together. One of them was bound to fall.
I was furious. But, whatever. I got him a new set the next day. And, he bet me that the day he breaks it open would be the day I get caught. I think it was his way of saying "don't".
But, he couldn't have ever predicted that I would let myself be found.