ic Hot and Bothered (IC)

[Supercape]

Monday 5th March, 2024

 

Freedom City

 

Inside the Laboratory of Predator

 

It was a day of no particular character. Temperature average, sunlight average, normal mix of mediocre impact news. The sun had risen, the clocks were ticking. It was mid morning. 

 

But Predators day was about to get real interesting. 

 

A knock on the door. 

 

the Camera's swivelled to scan the knocker. 

 

A man in his fifties, thick glasses, thick brown moustache, sweating (despite a tepid heat to the day), nervous, jittery. Wearing a courdrouy jacket and green turtleneck. Not colour coordinated, at all. 

 

But Predator reconised him. 

 

Dr Norris North!

 

The head of WEST, the world exotic science taskforce, set up after various global calamaties to investigate and if necessary contain any science that might get out of hand. Dimensional, spatial, temporal distortions. Strange energies. Mutated viruses. They functioned under the auspices of the united nations, somewhat like the world health organisation, except with less funding. 

 

"Please! Let me in!" mumbled Doctor North into the speaker. 

 

 

 

Edited March 5 by Supercape

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean glanced at the monitor. She recognised the man on the screen, but her eyes slid over to a second, smaller monitor displaying a series of scans. She nodded to no one.

“Let him in, Cynthia.”

 

“Yes ma’am.”

A pleasant, synthesized woman’s voice responded. The door to her workshop/lab opened with the same synthesized voice greeting him.

“Welcome, Dr North.”

 

Jean set aside her soldering tool and stood from her workbench. She wore a short lab coat over blue slacks and a yellow blouse. Her tail swayed behind her as she walked over to greet him herself. She smiled and offered him a hand to shake.

“Dr North, it's a pleasure to meet you.”

She tilted her head thoughtfully as her ears turned towards him.

“To what do I owe this visit? Given the unannounced nature, I would guess it’s something urgent.”

She waves a hand in the direction of a small kitchenette set up across the work space.

“Can I offer you some coffee?”

[Supercape]

GM

 

Dr North was clearly discombulated; restless, agitated, his fingers writhing awkardly and independently, his neck muscles dancing a tango under his skin. His facial expressions seemed mercurial one moment, stony the next. 

 

"No coffee... no coffee... doesn't agree with me," he said, althuogh one might have assumed that he had consumed his own body weight (twice over) in espresso. 

 

"I am Dr North..." he explained, sweating. "Yes, I am Dr North. Director of the World Exotic Science Taskforce. There is... science. Yes. Exotic Science... do you mind if I sit down?"

 

Dr North say down, and then, unable to contain himself, got up immediately, wiping his sweat from his brow. 

 

"You are... Predator?"

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean merely lifted an eyebrow at Dr North as the man declined the coffee, despite appearing to have consumed enough for a small elephant, she bemused.

 

She waved him to a small, mostly clear table and took a seat caddy-corner to him. She remained seated when Dr North stood up again, obviously nervous about something.

 

“I am.”

She reassured him, giving her most friendly smile. A task she’s found to be a little more difficult with nervous humans. The subtleties of her vulpine muzzle not always translating well to human expectations.

“Not many seek me out, given the abundance of local science experts on hand. How can I be of assistance?”

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Assistance? Yes... I need to ask you for assistance..." mumbled Dr North, pressing his fingers to his temples as if in pain. 

 

"Could... maybe... yes... could I have an asprin? I am feeling rather hot..." he said, tugging at his shirt. 

 

Sweat rolled down his skin. He looked hot, that was for sure. 

 

"Yes, an asprin. Maybe that was what I was supposed to ask you for. Although... my purpose? my purpose was something else... now what was it?"

 

He shook his head. 

 

"Do I fool you? was that it?" he asked Predator. "Yes, do I fool you?"

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean watched Dr North as the man paced nervously. While his behavior was not normal, it wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility. She had met a few people in her time that gave an air of perpetual nervousness.

 

When the doctor asked for aspirin, Jean began to stand up-

 

On 3/6/2024 at 4:01 PM, Supercape said:

"Do I fool you? was that it?" he asked Predator. "Yes, do I fool you?"

 

Jean stilled immediately.

She eyed the doctor carefully now. She had had no reason to doubt his being before now, but the man’s demeanor had caused her to switch mindsets. Her inhuman eyes narrowed as she really looked at Dr North.

Now that she used a critical eye she noticed small things. The excessive sweating was far more than most humans, even when they were nervous. His confusion and agitation took on a new light as she reevaluated his demeanor.

 

Jean kept a lowered her tone as she turned towards the kitchenette, even as her mind ran through the symptoms.

“Cynthia.”

She addressed her computer in a quiet voice.

“Contact the on duty medical staff. Notify them of a possible emergency.”

She ordered as she moved to the sink and filled a small cup with cool water.

 

“I’m afraid I’m not following, Doctor.”

She said, returning to a normal volume when she turns back to her guest. Jean attempts to approach Dr North to guide him back to a chair. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"On our way..." came the response of the paramedical team. ETA, 1 minute. 

 

Doctor North sat down, and looked quite ill. His skin was almost alabaster white, his eyes blood shot red. 

 

"Who am I? Who am I?" he kept mumbling. 

 

His wandering eyes eventually found a lock on Predator. 

 

He started scrabbling at his chest, tearing away his drab clothes, nails scratching red lines across his sternum. 

 

"It's in me... alive! Hot! So Hot!"

 

His pupils were dilated - he paused, one second, then swung out a raregful fists at Predator!

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean attempted to settle Dr North into a chair, only for the man to lash out. She could see the swing coming. It was wild but if she tried to dodge it she knew it would connect as it was, she could see it being a particularly hard blow.

 

Instead, she stepped into the swing. The blow still glanced off her cheek, though with surprisingly more force than she anticipated. It was going to leave a bruise. Though, if it had connected the other way it could well have been devastating.

 

“Dr North!”

Jean said sternly as she grabbed for the man and forced him into the seat.

“Do not make me restrain you.”

She continued in a more practiced tone as she produced a penlight. She quickly checked his pupil reactions before checking his pulse with her fingers on his neck.

 

“Cynthia, monitor for unregistered or aberrant signals into or out of the lab.”

“Yes ma’am”

 

“I need you to focus doctor.”

Jean placed an open palm on his chest. The lab wasn’t set up for medical purposes, perhaps she should see about moving to a larger facility she thought off-handedly as she felt for anything abnormal.

“What were you doing before you came here?”

She needed to keep him talking. He might give some clue as to what was happening.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"What? Before? Can't... remember... ugh.... hot..."

 

The doctors pulse was approaching 200, his respiratory rate was nearly sixty. His temperature? Warm to the touch... no, hot tother touch. 

 

The doctors metabolism had shot off the scale. No human could survive this.

 

He was a candidate for spontaneous combustion...

 

To emphasise the point, hus body started convulsing, in the grip of a full blown tonic clonic seizure.

 

And his strength! The convulsions threatened to break the chair!

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean realized she needed to cool the man down before he literally cooked from the inside. Her mind raced, recalling the corners of her lab for anything that would help. She reached for that spark of genius she needed to save the man in her lab.

The medical staff were still about, what, 40 to 45 seconds away.

Suddenly her mind snapped pieces together and she was moving.

 

“Cynthia, run the shower. Temp as low as it will go.”

"Yes, ma'am."

She picked up the doctor, chair and all if need be, and raced for the emergency shower set nearby. It was surrounded by frosted safety glass for privacy. The water was already running as she set him under it. The water’s temp slowly dropping as quickly as it could.

But it wouldn’t be enough.

 

Jean raced across the lab, grabbing several items. She assembled them as she moved, grabbing a small bottle of liquid coolant she used to help keep her armor running smoothly.

 

Running back to the shower she snapped the bottle into the makeshift sprayer. She opened the valve a little at a time and carefully began coating the outside of the shower. She had to do it slowly and carefully or the glass could shatter. While the safety glass wasn’t the concern, direct exposure to the coolant could be dangerous.

 

A possible hazard to herself that Jean was ignoring at the moment.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The doctor was still convulsing in the chair as Jean wheeled him through the lab and into the shower. 

 

The water was ice cold - and colder still. Enough to freeze skin; and it was fortunate none splashed on Jean. But on the Doctor the water merely sizzled and ran down his skin. 

 

Sizzled. That was how hot the doctor was!

 

It seemed to do the trick though; cooling the doctor and terminating the seizure. Whatever was going on with the doctor seemed to have slowed, even stalled. 

 

His temperature seemed, for the moment, in a reasonably healthy equilibruim; the shower and his metabolism fighting for dominance but without any winner. 

 

The Doctor snapped open his eyes, and glared at Jean with mad intensity. 

 

"I was meant to fool you! Did I fool you? Tell me! Did I fool you? Did you think I was doctor North?"

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean was watching the doctor now with scrutiny. She tossed the now empty makeshift sprayer aside.

“Who am I speaking to?”

She asked analytically. Without a full medical scan she would not jump to any conclusions as to the biological, or possibly non-biological, nature of the entity sitting under the running water of her lab’s shower.

“Are you possessing Dr. North or are you a separate entity?”

 

She wanted to try to get him, or whoever was controlling him, talking. And was this meant to be some kind of attack? Is this some kind of limitation of the control over the doctor? Or, a limitation of a construct impersonating him?

 

Jean mentally shook herself, she needed to focus.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Doctor North drooled from his mouth, his body still warm despite the coolant. The skin was blistering and peeling, revealing a pale skin so thin that it was slmost transclucent. 

 

"I am meant to be Dr North. Does that make me Dr North? Cant... think... straight...." Doctor North? mumbled. 

 

The blisters started appearing more and more frequently, the skin cracking and bubbling. Doctor North's eyes popped wide open, the pupils dilated. 

 

For one horible second, he went stiff as a board, his eyes in rapture. 

 

And then the process completed. With a little burst of flame from his sternum...

 

Doctor North exploded!

 

It was not a fiery explosion, but it was a spectacular one. Fragmented strips of flesh, splatters of blood, and assorted goo fell around everywhere. Including onto Jean. 

 

Doctor North - or whatever it was (it certainly didnt look human) was dead. All that was left was a few remnants of skeleton (gently smoking) and an empty of vail, cracked, that rattled around the ribcage!

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean watched Dr North. His answers were no help, she thought.

 

She saw the signs, but all she could do was raise an arm to shield her face. He wasn’t going to burst into flames, he was just going to-

 

Bits of what was once a Dr North covered the inside of her containment shower as well as the floor in front of it. Her clothing, hair, hands and feet were equally covered.

 

She stood there staring at the remains.

“Hmm. Cynthia, cut off the shower.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

‘Need to preserve the scene.’

Jean thought in a detached manner. Her mind was already compartmentalizing what had happened. She moved carefully, so as not to compound the contamination unneeded, pulling bits and pieces from herself and placing them into various sample dishes she absentmindedly thought she would probably need a new shower. She grabbed a pair of gloves and forceps, returned to the remains to pluck what was left of the vial and drop it into a sample container as well.

‘This is going to take a while to clean out of my fur.’

She thought.

‘Gods, I hope I don’t need to shave it again. Fantasy isn’t here to speed up its regrowth.’

 

When the medical team arrived she explained the situation to the confused responders and had security and a forensic team dispatched to contain the scene and report it.

 

Until they arrived Jean complied with the medical team’s requests to examine her, but only half listened to them. She was replaying the events since the entity claiming to be Dr North arrived at her door.

 

Given what she witnessed and the remains left behind, she felt confident ruling out traditional mechanical means of detonation. That left two options, bio-engineered and mystical. She couldn’t be 100% sure, but she felt confident also ruling out mystical. Nothing about what had happened gave the impression of it.

That left bio-engineering.

From the way he spoke, it seemed to Jean the entity was meant to be mistaken for Dr. North. A clone, obviously.

But why Dr North? Was it something personal, or was he chosen at random?

Why send it to her? She did not know the doctor personally, they had never met before.

She hadn’t been able to talk to it much, so she could not verify if it had any of the doctor’s knowledge or memories.

And why have it explode? Was it an attack, or merely a failing of the clone? The vial suggested the possibility of the former.

And of course, who had sent it…?

 

There were just too many unknown variables still.

 

The next step was obvious though, she needed to contact WEST and, hopefully, the real Dr North.

[Supercape]

GM

 

'Twas no easy matter to get through the layers of bereaucracy. WEST was a small organisation, funded by the United Nation, and was deluded by crank calls and calls by cranks. Fortunately Predator had some clout, as a super-scientist. Still - it was a frustrating 30 minutes until she got connected to the local Freedom City WEST office, manned by two agents.

 

"Doctor North? He is in Alaska... hold on... ill patch you through...."

 

There was an uncomfortable silence...

 

"I am afraid there is no answer on his mobile. Is he in danger?" asked the agent, a hint of concern in her voice. 

 

"We can coordinate with local law enforcement?" she said, in the manner of someone accustomed to underfunding and frustrating "liaison" work...

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean had washed as best she could without an actual shower while she had waited to finally be connected to a liaison in the local office. For a moment she had wondered if it would have been faster to go over in person. That would have been pointlessly dramatic, she decided.

 

“Alaska?”

She acknowledged as she waited again for them to call him.

 

Perhaps that had been why he was chosen? Less likely to have him run into himself or cause suspicion if the real doctor was somewhere remote and secluded.

 

When Dr North proved to be unreachable, Jean would have to admit to being concerned as well. She attempted to sound reassuring to calm the liaison.

“Please do, I hope he isn’t, but it would be better to be safe than sorry. If he is well, and wishes to lodge a complaint I will take full responsibility. Was anyone else with him?”

After a moment's consideration she added.

“If possible can you send me his last known coordinates? Just in case we need to act. Hopefully, he’ll be found in good health.”

 

Jean did not think she would need to travel to Alaska, but anything could happen. The man that had entered her lab was unlikely to have traveled all the way from there, it had to have been the product of someone, or something local. She had heard rumors of someone being behind several bio-weapon attacks, including a recent one in the park that drew news coverage and involved several heroes.

 

She thanked the liaison and asked to be informed of any updates on the matter. Getting the local authorities out to check on the doctor would take time. But, securing transportation for herself there and back would take even longer. Perhaps if she called on her friend Ashley, she could speed up the process…

Jean shook her head. Ashley had her own responsibilities as the hero Patriot.

 

She turned her attention back to her lab and the samples she was able to collect. Setting aside her current ‘to-do’ list, she started a new mental list.

"Cynthia, begin full record keeping mode."

"Yes, ma'am"

While she waited to hear from the West office she started testing and analyzing the flesh and blood from the remains, as well as the remnants of the vial and its contents under the watchful eye of the lab's cameras and microphones.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Predator carefully scooped up the mush of flesh - and did a good job of it, carefully preserving all the evidence in uncontaminated scientific tubes and bottles. Perfect for analysis. It looked like flesh, but under the microscope it was clearly different. Further chemical analysis clearly showed that whilst it was based on human DNA, it was not human. Complex interwoven DNA strands for starters, but more importantly, every cell seemed, essentially, a stem cell, capable of regenerative powers, able to assume the function and form of any other cell. And supercharged, to, perhaps explaining the North-persons enhanced strength and lethal hyperthymia. The metabolic rate was of the scale. 

 

As for the tube? It was designed to slowly release the chemical inside, perhaps some metabolic booster, perhaps some stabilising agent (for the flesh was clearly unstable). As far as Predator could tell, it had, at a certain moment, released all its contents in one massive infusion, resulting in the spontaneous combustion. 

 

Fortunately, Predator had acted quickly, cooling the flesh. Without that, there would be no evidence but ash. 

 

 

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean stood staring at the results. 

 

By her estimates, the materials and process to create a duplicate like dr North would render this far too expensive for any large scale plan. Even a small scale operation would have cheaper options, she would think.

 

But somebody had not only gone through the trouble to create it, but sent it to her.

Again that begged the question: Why her?

 

Jean picked up the bottle with gloved fingers.

And was it an attack, or simply a show? A spectacle to show-off? A taunt? A challenge?

 

She moved to her computer again.

“Cynthia, list all the ingredients in the bottle sample. Run a search for companies selling each one. Identify costs and availability by both quantity and number of sellers. Also, note any that require special permissions or containment requirements.”

 

“Yes, ma’am. Beginning search… Should I include international shipping under special permissions?”

 

“Yes, excellent idea. Thank you, Cynthia.”

 

“You are welcome, ma’am.”

 

While her AI ran it’s search, Jean turned her attention back to the flesh samples. If the flesh required a stabilizer, then perhaps she could come up with something to detect the emissions created by the cellular entropy.

Granted, it would have a very short range and wouldn’t be pin-point accurate, but it could prove a useful early warning.

She nodded to herself and began to gather the needed parts as she continued to think of her next step. As she worked, Jean left a message with her league friend to fill her in.

[Supercape]

GM

 

With a bit of tinkering here, and a bit of tinkering there...

 

Getting the olfactactron working was a bit of a challenge. It needed seven perpendicular marzal veins in a semi-lotoid postion. By isometric encabulation of the delta spurving bolts, Predator could align the modial capacitors on the prefamulated amulate, alowing the spurving veins to move in a fluroescent skor motion, hence reducing side fumbling and allowing logarathmic retroactivation of the drawn cardinal meson pipes. 

 

And, thus, hey presto, Presto had manufactured the Fleshometer. 

 

Investigation into the flow of chemicals and import / exports was more complicated. Shell company accounting was not really Predator's forte. It was a mess, that was for sure....

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean gave the Fleshometer one more look.

She hadn’t been able to fine tune it as well as she’d have liked. Her design was fine but she was limited by her resources. The micro-compensation-comparators just weren’t on hand.

 

She set the device aside and pulled up the information Cynthia had managed to collect. She poured over it but finance had never been a appealing subject to her. She had always left that to Catharine. She had been overly qualified, due had been loyal.

Jean missed her and the rest of her team. But she could dwell on that. There was something going on and Jean was determined to find out what it was.

 

She saved the data for reviewing again later and called on the local WEST office again, hoping for an update as she prepared to head out herself.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The agent at the WEST office recognised Predator's voice, and this time was clearly anxious. 

 

"Director North has gone missing!" she said. "We can't make contact. The Hotel he was at said he just vanished, bills unpaid! Two days ago. We had some phone calls from him over the last two days, just checking in. I've reviewed the logs... he sounded a bit... odd. Confused, maybe. Oh maybe I'm reading too much into it. But, do you think he is well? WEST agents can get exposed to some odd energies. Maybe his brain got scrambled!"

 

She paused for breath. 

 

"I've checked the local hospitals. Local police no nothing. Last confirmed sighting was the White Regent Hotel, Anchorage!"

 

"Do you think you can help?"

 

 

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean frowned and glanced back at the table where her collected samples sat.

“I hope I can.”

She replied, trying to sound confident.

 

“I have some samples I need to have double checked. Do you have facilities on site or a satellite lab that I can take them to?”

She asked, already moving to gather some of the samples for safe transport.

“Also, I would like to request a debriefing on what Dr North was looking into in Alaska, as well as access to his personal file. I understand it may need clearance from higher up, but it may be important.”

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Fascilities... I... uh.... yeah...."

 

Predator could almost hear the awkward expression on the other end of the line. 

 

"Well, we got some fascilities...."

 

A bit later...

 

The WEST office in Freedom City was small, and obviously not well funded. Officer Lyong was waiting for Predator. She was a woman of entirely average build, extremely dark skin, and spiky (dyed) red hair. She was obviously competent, and dedicated, but also a bit socially awkward. This was not  helped by the rather meagre funding WEST had. 

 

Basic kitchen. Tattered chairs. The cheapest coffee. Although Lyong did offer Predator a cup. 

 

What could be said about the WEST office is that it had up to date computers and communications. WEST were more an advisroy body who relied heavily on their (limited) leverage with other agencies. Everybody, politically, agreed for the need for the united nations to fund the world exotic science taskforce. But stumping up the money, building the infrastructure... a work in progress. 

 

However they did have a basic laboratory, able to analyse any chemical, cell, or energy. And they were likely to be a small target for interested parties. 

 

Although somone obviously had Dr North in their sites. He was well and truly missing in Alaska!

[Spacefurry]

Predator

 

Jean had arrived at the WEST office unarmored. There was no need to cause a scene. She had brought the samples in a cold case for safe transport. 

 

She could tell Lyong was nervous and graciously accepted the offered coffee. She only hoped her appearance wasn’t adding to the woman’s nerves.

 

The office wasn’t encouraging but looked to be maintained as best they could, which was encouraging. And when she saw the lab she wasn’t surprised. The building wasn’t very big and accounting for office use, it was on par with her own lab. Though she did see some different equipment, perhaps they could determine more from the samples. Or send them off to another lab.

 

She offered the case to Lyong.

“I’m sure you can see these are handed off to the proper personnel. I believe it’s connected to Dr North’s disappearance.”

 

“Now, what can you tell me about whatever North was working on? Had anyone made threats against him? Any possible rivalries?”

She asked, trying to sound calm and optimistic in an attempt to ease Ms Lyong.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Threats? No.. at least.. well..."

 

Lyong shrugged. "I mean, we get crackpots all the time. They saw some glow in the attic, or some mutant cow. When we, ah, screen the crank calls out, some of our customers get angry. We have had to work with local police and mental health services a lot..."

 

She didn't look happy at that part of her job. 

 

"So yeah, we get crank threats to us, and Director North, all the time. But nothing out of the ordinary recently. As for what he was working on, apparently some new drug, called Synthetic, was developed in Alaska. Hit the streets. Dangerous - massively boosted your metabolism, but then the user gets so hot they set themselves on fire. Or explode, sometimes..."

 

She shuddered. 

 

"Normally just another drug. But Synthetic seemed to be potentially a biological weapon, or at least a drug that could cause massive disruption and death. For a few minutes, the user gets super strong and fast. So... yeah, North was investigating. He was a bit secretive about Synthetic, but he always is secretive. And stressed, to be honest..."