Murray Hill || A Superhuman Tale - 1

Chapter Seventy-Four

The reprehensible old creature staggered along in front of them and required the occasional push to keep him going. Still, he guided them, encouraged by an intermittent cuff to the head or tweak of his broken finger.

But the old monster's belligerence diminished in no way. At first, he took recourse to threats and name dropping. He was, he assured them, on a first-name basis with the current U.S. president. Moreover, he spoke daily with "Mallory," the next U.S. president, who he kept fully apprised of the details of the "world-changing research" he was doing at the facility.

At one point, his voice thick with indignation, the old man even pulled up and rounded on Tommy and his companions.

"You fools are throwing yourselves against the full weight of the U.S. government," the old degenerate screeched. "The research we're doing here will revolutionize society—mankind even. Do you really think anything you do will stop it?"

The volume of the old felon's voice had continued to rise throughout his short diatribe, and his last words were so choked in outrage that he barely was able to vent them.

For the first time, it struck Tommy that the old man truly felt his words would move them. It was difficult to imagine such tunneled vision, even for someone as long-lived and as experienced as Tommy.

All this horror is nothing more than a ghastly repeat of what Aaronov and his friends did under the Soviets, he thought, very nearly laughing as he did. Build an army with the strong, experiment on the weak. How did I not see this coming? It should have been obvious. Did Aaronov and his kind really expect it to work differently this time?

Tommy grabbed the silly old fool and pushed him onward. As if reading his captor's thoughts, the old man attempted to turn again.

"Do you think I don't know who you are, Kyle Wigand ... or whatever your name is?" Like Jeff, the old man seemed to believe that this observation would astound Tommy or buy the man some advantage. "You were the one who killed Tatia Krivov in New York, weren't you? She was the most powerful warrior ever born ... like a daughter to me ...."

The old man again rambled, this time for a few moments, before Tommy got his attention by breaking another digit. The villain's cries and screams were as nothing to him. All mercy and compassion for this creature and his kind had deserted Tommy Haas, forever.

After several more minutes of goading and pushing, they arrived at a basement door that was large, solid, and locked with a pad and keycard system. The old man nursed one more broken finger after having made an insulting and threatening comment in Russian to Christy Sue.

But the stubborn old man refused to open the door.

"I don't know the code," he lied. He had regained something of his composure after his earlier ramblings. "Look, I don't know any of these people's names. I learned my lesson about becoming personal with the patients in Russia."

Tommy bridled at the old man's use of the word "patients" to describe his victims, but the vile wretch hurried on.

"I don't even know if your friend is here. Look, it isn't too late to turn back—we might even find a place for you here." Hope began to creep into the fiend's voice, and, pulling out his most idiomatic English as he waved his arms about, he continued. "For chrissake, guys, everybody is getting rich here. There's more than enough for all of us. This is all nothing ... nothing. When Mallory is president, this place will be a boomtown. She has plans, big plans."

Sam had remained silent, but the man's pleading looks had shifted back and forth between the two of them, ignoring only Christy Sue.

"Better than that," the old monster went on, "we're on the brink of some huge discoveries. Once we crack the genome, there's no end to what we can do. Anyone can be Gifted! ... and ... and even guys like you ... you can have whatever you want. It'll all be just a gene manipulation away." He paused, dramatically. "Do you want to be able to fly? .... Once we're finished here, it's just a matter of time ...."