Chapter 16: When heroics fail part 1

The team decides to take on a serial robber. Alicia works on a treatment for Kris's venom.

“A series of robberies have occurred downtown,” Paul started, standing beside a large projection. “Several convenience stores have been hit and several cashiers injured.”

            Kris raised her hand and Paul pointed at her, maintaining the serious environment. “First, why do you have a presentation for this?”

            Paul smiled, clicking a small remote. The projection changed to a map with red dots. He was utilizing one of Kris’s many blank walls for his presentation. The rest of the team sat on the couch and dinner chairs, watching the screen. “Because I like to be organized and have visuals,” He answered.

            “Second, why do we care?” Kris asked, crossing her arms and leaning back into the couch.

            “I was getting to that,” Paul said. “And I’m hurt that you didn’t trust me to get to that. Anyway, witnesses say that the criminal was a woman of color, who managed to rob the stores using rubber bands and paperclips.”

            Theo leaned forward in his seat. “Is that a super power or are we chasing down a regular criminal?”

            Paul tapped his foot, becoming impatient. “Do regular criminals manage to incapacitate people with rubber bands?” He asked rhetorically. “No, they use guns or knives.”

            Alicia snapped her fingers. “Gunfinger,” She said, sounding excited.

            “What?” Paul said genuinely confused by the non-sequitur statement.

            “That’s how she did it. You wrap a rubber band around your hand like your index finger is the barrel of a gun and your thumb is the trigger. The rubber band is hooked on your finger and moving the thumb will send it flying.”

            Theo nodded like what she said made sense. “Hook a paper clip on the end and with enough force,” Theo expounded. “It could hurt someone. Heck, knock them unconscious if they were really unlucky.”

            Paul went to his computer and started typing. The presentation changed, the title being replaced with the new name. “Alright, codename Gunfinger,” Paul declared. “How do we find her?”

            “We could case convenience stores in the area,” Alicia offered. “Try to find a pattern in her crimes like when she strikes and what days.”

            Paul took a moment to pull up when the robberies took place. He took a step back to look at the presentation screen. “See a pattern?” He asked.

            “All of them were after midnight,” Tae commented.

            “The days seem random,” Theo said, rubbing his chin. “A Monday, Thursday, Saturday, then a Wednesday, so she could attack tonight or a week from now.”

            “Can you go back to you map?” He suggested.

            Paul put the map up. There were four points. Two were close together then one was further west and another north. “What was the order of the robberies?” Alicia asked.

            “One of the pair,” Paul answered, pointing to the close dots. “Then north, then back to the pair, then west.”

            Paul zoomed out, showing more of downtown. “Her range seems to be this,” Paul said, circling a section of downtown with a hand gesture.

            “How many other convenience stores are in that range?”

            With some finagling, Paul found four. “Four, that’s great,” He stated, facing the team. “Now we can each pick one and sit outside, wait for her to rob it.”

            “What? In our uniforms?” Kris questioned. “Or civvies over our suits?”

            “Yeah, that should work,” Paul responded. “It works for our patrols. Keep your mask in a pocket and don’t look conspicuous.”

            Paul thought briefly then continued, “Q, you’re with me.”

            Q pointed at themselves as if they were surprised. Paul smiled at the reaction. “Yes,” Paul explained. “I think it would be better if you were with a more… offensively powered team member.”

            “I saved your a*s at the bank,” Kris muttered.

            “Easy,” Paul replied, raising his hands. “It’s just for this mission. Now people, pick your places. We’ll rotate each night to reduce suspicion.”

            “What if Gunfinger robs somewhere else?” Tae asked.

            “Then we’ll adjust our strategy,” Paul answered, leaning on the wall behind him. “Maybe, widen the area we’re searching or shift it in a direction.”

            “Could we talk to the store clerks from the robbed places?” Alicia said. “We could see if they can add anything to our understanding of Gunfinger.”

            Kris nodded along to the statement. “Yeah, odd things she said, what she looked like,” Kris added.

            “You and Alicia can do that before we start casing,” Paul declared. “I’ll look up witnesses for you.”

            Paul went to his computer, switching the map to a web browser. He found someone after a few minutes. “Aaron Peters,” He said. “He posted this today on social media. ‘Going to work a week after the place was robbed. I should be scared to go back, but I’m just glad I get to keep my job… Even if it gave me a concussion.’”

            Alicia stood up. “So, he’s at work right now. Kris, let’s go have a chat with him.”

+++++

            Alicia and Kris walked into a relatively empty convenience store a few blocks from Kris’s apartment. Alicia spotted Aaron immediately because he had a bandage on his cheek and bruising around his temple. He was working alongside another person behind the counter. “Aaron Peters?” Alicia asked, approaching the counter.

            The man tapped his nametag. It read “Kate.” “Yes, I’m Aaron,” He droned. “But that’s not my legal name. What do you want?”

            Kris hovered behind Alicia as she started lying, “We’re here with the Kattegat Times. We would like to get your story of the robbery that took place here last week.”

            Aaron looked surprised. His expression changed to something calmer and he answered, “Sure. Can you cover for me?”

            His coworker nodded, and Aaron led the pair into the backroom where a small foldable table and a pair of chairs were set up. “Have a seat,” Aaron suggested, taking a seat himself.

            Alicia sat down as Kris stood beside her. Alicia pulled out her phone, opening an audio recording app and hitting record. “Alright,” She said, placing her phone on the table. “Can you start with when you first noticed the robber?”

            “She came in and lingered around the store for a while, combing the aisles. I noticed her right away because we didn’t have any other customers in there at the time. It was about twenty minutes after midnight.”

            “What did she look like?”

            “She was edgy I guess,” Aaron answered. “Wearing skinny jeans, a dark tee with metal jewelry- a necklace and multiple earrings. She also had black hair with a single bleached stripe working as her bangs.”

            Kris shifted her weight and asked, “So, what did she do?”

            “She walked up to the counter and pointed a finger gun at me, telling me to empty the register.” Aaron paused. “Honestly, I laughed at her until she shot me. The paperclip hit my cheek, actually cutting me. I watched as she slipped another thick rubber band off her wrist and for lack of a better word, reloaded. I took her seriously the next time she asked for money.”

            “I gave her the three hundred we kept in the register,” He continued before his brow furrowed. “She pocketed it and then did something weird.”

            Alicia leaned in, placing her elbows on the table. “What did she do?”

            “She reached over the counter and patted my shoulder and told me not to let the man get me down. Be true to yourself. Then she shot me again, hitting my temple so hard I passed out for a brief second. Long enough to fall over. That’s how I got a concussion, from the fall, not the shot.”

            “Interesting,” Alicia commented. “Could you describe her face?”

            “Not really, she wore a half-mask. She wasn’t wearing it when she walked in, but she had it on when she came to the counter.”

            Kris gesticulated, reasoning out something as she spoke, “If she was wearing a half-mask, surely you saw some features.”

            “Yeah,” He admitted. “She was wearing some gaudy red lipstick, or gloss, and had a quirky smile on her face; it was lopsided, only came up on one side. Oh,” He said, his eyes widening. “Her eyes, I remember. They were two different colors. One was brown and the other was green.”

            “Huh, that’s interesting. Do you think that one of them was a contact?”

            Aaron shook his head. “No, they were real as life, staring right through me into my soul.”

            There was a lull in the conversation. Alicia looked down, thinking. “Do you have security footage of the incident?” She asked.

            “Not anymore, the police took it as evidence.”

            Kris scowled. “Do you want to say anything else?” Alicia continued.

            Aaron thought about it. “The robber didn’t seem like a bad person, maybe just… desperate.”

            Alicia stood up. “Thank you for your time,” She said.

            She closed the app on her phone and put it away. Aaron stood up with a question, “Are you going to publish this?”

            Kris shrugged, taking on the façade. “It depends on what our editor thinks. Right now, he thinks this story will blow over by next week when the woman, criminal, gets caught.”

            Aaron laughed. “She not going to get caught unless the police get smart,” He commented.

            Kris and Alicia shared a short-lived look. “Thank you again,” Alicia said.

            “Sure.”

+++++

            Kris and Alicia returned to her apartment to see the rest of the team with Chinese food. “You better’ve gotten us food,” Kris said, walking to the dinner table.

            Q handed her a box. Kris sat down, and Alicia followed her lead, joining the team at the table. Paul finished chewing and asked, “What’d you learn from the interview?”

            Kris stirred her meal while answering, “She wore casual clothes and a half-mask, you know something that only covered around her eyes.”

            “Speaking of eyes,” Alicia mentioned after swallowing. “She has heterochromia.”

            Paul appeared confused. “What?”

            Theo explained briefly, “Two different eye colors.”

            “Ah, cool,” Paul intoned. “Continue.”

            “She walked in without a mask and put one on in the store. Aaron said she was nice, even went so far to comfort him about his situation,” Kris continued. “A transman being defined as a woman by his job.”

            “That’s terrible,” Tae commented.

            Paul stopped eating to think. “So Gunfinger is sympathetic to queer issues? That suggests that she’s an ally or a part of the LGBTQ community.”

            “Will that really help us find her?” Kris asked pessimistically.

            “I don’t know,” Paul responded dismissively. “The community here isn’t very big or well knit. Odds are if she is queer, I won’t know her or know someone who knows her.”

            “So, our best chance is to catch her in the act,” Theo stated.

            “Agreed,” Paul said. “Right then, let’s suit up and head out at-”

            “Wait, Aaron offered an interesting perception,” Kris interjected. “The police might be onto Gunfinger. They ‘know’ what she looks like and might already have a plan to stake out the other stores.”

            “I don’t care if they notice us or bother us,” Paul declared. “They don’t know what they are up against. We go out anyway, but keep an eye out for undercover cops, okay?”

            The team nodded. “Okay, great,” Paul said, glancing at his watch. “We’ll start patrols at ten, then move to your spots before midnight for the stakeout. Our first mission is a go.”

+++++

            “Good morning, Nicki,” Alicia said before yawning.

            Alicia walked into the lobby, catching up to Nicki. “Hey! Good morning,” Nicki responded cheerfully. “I haven’t seen you in quite some time. Have you been busy working?”

            Alicia and Nicki walked through the lobby towards their department. “Yes,” Alicia replied, matching Nicki’s tone. “Pagel and I have been trying to catch up with you and Lawrence for the Orange Day experiments. And now, I hear that you guys are doing something with people?”

            “From the news?” Nicki asked for clarification.

            Alicia nodded. “Oh yes, we are moving our research to human subjects because there is a significant amount of people presenting supernatural abilities,” Nicki continued. “We estimate that at least twenty percent of people in Kattegat are presenting powers while a countless many more are dormant.”

            Alicia’s eyebrows raised, taken aback by the statistic. “Wow, really?”

            Nicki nodded enthusiastically. “Because there are so many people, we are trying to gather a wide subject pool of anyone and everyone. We are getting government assistance to be able to afford boarding for all our subjects. They have also offered people interned by the government, but we haven’t decided whether to take them up on that yet.”

            “So, what do you exactly plan to scientifically determine?”

            “Right now, our plan is to amalgamate case studies,” Nicki answered. “We are going to record the abilities and the DNA of each subject.”

            Alicia pretended to think about, knowing full well that that would lead them to the same answers Pagel and her found. They were quickly approaching Alicia’s lab. “That sounds like a good start,” Alicia commented. “Can I assist you analyze the data?”

            “I would have to ask Lawrence,” Nicki replied. “But I think he will say yes.”

             They stopped in the doorway of Alicia’s lab. “Either way, I’m very excited to see the results. I’ll see you later?”

            “Of course!” Nicki said smiling. “Do you want to get dinner sometime?”

            Alicia’s grin was replaced with a look of shock. “Oh,” Nicki responded, turning pink. “I’m sorry, maybe not then. You’re busy; it’s fine.”

            Alicia waved her hands rapidly, putting back on a smile. “No, no sure,” She said. “I’d love to have dinner with you. It was an unanticipated proposal, that’s all.”

            Nicki’s smile returned, though her face stayed pink. “I’ll message you later then and see when you are available,” Nicki replied. “Have a nice day; good luck with your research.”

            “You too!”

            Nicki started walking down the hall as Alicia stepped into the lab, spotting Pagel right away. She looked around to see a multitude of lab mice in cages, taking up most of the space in the lab. “Wow, animal research,” She commented. “It’s a handful.”

            Pagel looked unamused, crossing his arms. “You can’t date the enemy.”

            Alicia rolled her eyes and went to the cages. Grabbing a marker, she labelled the first ten cages “1.” “Nicki is not the enemy,” Alicia responded, labelling the next set. “And I’m not dating her.”

            Alicia labelled a third set and started moving those cages to a different counter. “It’s probably not even a date,” Alicia continued. “We’re friends getting dinner together, no big deal. So, can I do my research now?”

            Alicia finished moving the thirty cages over. Pagel smirked. “Alright,” He said. “What are those mice for?”

            “These will be the treated venom subjects,” Alicia declared. “The thirty over there will be the Orange Day subjects. How do you want to proceed?”

            “We can start with the treated venom subjects,” Pagel answered. “Group one will be given a low dose, group two will get a double dose, and group three will get multiple doses over time. For group three to be thoroughly researched, we will need more venom from Coral.”

            “Correct,” Alicia replied. “Before we contact Coral, I would like to get the results back from the first two groups. We have enough venom for all twenty subjects?”

            “Yes, she approximately puts out thirty milligrams,” Pagel said. “Best case scenario she injects it into a guy that weighs a hundred fifty kilograms and it’s .2 mg/kg dosage. Worst case scenario, it’s a sixty-kilogram person and it ends up being a .5mg/kg dosage. We are going to work with the worst-case scenario. So, these mice should all weigh a kilo.”

            “Alright, easy math. I’ll get on it.”

            Alicia went to the supply room. She opened a fridge and pulled out the container. She brought it back to the main room. Putting on some nitrile gloves, she fetched packets of needles. She took off the lid and drew out less than a milliliter of treated venom with the needle. Pagel came over, holding a mouse with both hands. Alicia carefully injected the mouse with the toxin. Pagel returned him to his cage and started a stopwatch. “Come watch our first one,” Pagel requested.

            Alicia walked over to the cage. Pagel and Alicia watched as the mouse stopped moving. “Get his vitals,” Pagel instructed, taking out the chart.

            Alicia took the mouse out his cage. She checked his pulse and breathing rate. “I don’t know what is normal for a rat,” Alicia started. “However, he has a pulse and his respiratory muscles seem to be functioning. Skeletal muscles are not rigid but remain unmoving. I will continue to monitor subject one approximately every five minutes until skeletal muscle control is restored.”

            Alicia set a timer and moved on to the next subject. Pagel assisted as they injected the first group. Alicia and Pagel divided up the mice to check on. Alicia sat for a minute and checked her phone. There were no new notifications. Alicia was a little disappointed. A timer went off. She got up and approached the sound. “Subject one,” She said, resetting the timer and opening the cage. “An hour and two minutes after injection. Pulse is still strong and steady. Subject is-”

            The mouse in her hands started to squeak and twitch. Alicia quickly put it back in the cage. She watched as the mouse eventually stood up and began to move. She stopped the stopwatch. “63 minutes and 27 seconds, subject one has recovered from the treated venom.”

            Alicia stepped back and examined the other mice. They all seemed to be recovering. She paused each subject’s stopwatch when they started to move. “All subjects have recovered from the venom in under 65 minutes,” Alicia declared with a smile. “Group one appears to be a success, sir.”

            “That’s excellent,” Pagel said, writing down the various times on a chart. “Let’s start group two.”

+++++

            “Subject eleven, time 128 minutes,” Alicia said. “Heartrate is slower compared the first group, however it is steady and consistent. Same with the breathing rate.”

            Alicia put the mouse back in its cage. She turned to Pagel, leaning on the counter. “What are the chances that these mice’ peripheral nerves are damaged?”

            Pagel rubbed his chin in contemplation. “It’s possible, but unforeseen,” Pagel answered. “We should start the Orange Day research while we wait.”

            “Alright, I’ll suit up and move the mice into the fume hoods,” Alicia responded.

            Alicia walked over to the supply room. She opened the closet and took out a hazmat suit. She quickly put it on before fetching the chemical mixture and placing it in the fume hood. “Fume on,” She ordered as she left the fume hood.

            It kicked on, making a whirring noise. She grabbed a couple of cages with Pagel right behind her. They stacked the cages inside the fume hood. “So, do you want to spray them while they are in the cages?” Alicia asked.

            “Hmm,” Pagel said, thinking. “Here’s my plan. We shut off the fume and turn the air on low, so it circulates before that we will spray each subject with the mixture and return them to their cage. Make sure they have food and water. We will check on them tomorrow.”

            A timer started beeping. “I’ll check the venom mice,” He said. “You can finish up here.”

            Alicia nodded as Pagel left, shutting the door behind him. She got to work. “Fume off, air on,” She muttered as she took a mouse out of its cage.

            The fume hood responded. Alicia carefully sprayed the first subject and placed it back in its cage. She repeated the process, keeping the hood’s glass door low. When she finished, she closed the hood completely and observed the mice for a few minutes. They seemed to be unaffected. She went to the switch on the wall and turned on the ventilation in the room. There was a knock on the door. “Wait a minute, sir,” Alicia called.

            She slowly took off her hazmat suit and opened the door. Pagel was smiling. “Have they recovered?” Alicia asked.

            “Yes, at the 135-minute mark,” Pagel said, taking off his hazmat suit. “You know what this means?”

            “There is an LD50,” Alicia answered immediately. “Or at least we haven’t reached it yet.”

            Alicia took his suit and placed both back into the closet. Pagel stepped out of the doorway and Alicia went into the main room. “Correct,” Pagel replied. “We don’t need to test a higher dose unless Coral starts attacking children. Now let’s move on to group three.”

            Alicia walked to the third set of cages. “How many doses do you want to give them? How often?” Alicia questioned.

            “As many as we can issue and as quickly as they can recover,” Pagel said. “We want to try for the worst-case scenario.”

            “To do that, we will need more venom from Coral,” Alicia stated. “I also think we should get a sample of the membrane that contains her venom, so that we can make sure that if we inject her with the mixture to treat her that it won’t poison her.”

            “That makes sense,” Pagel responded. “We could completely dry out one of her glands for this part of the research and also take a sample of membrane while we’re at it.”

            “No offense, sir, but I’m a scientist, not a doctor.”

            She prepped an injection. “I do not know how we would perform surgery on Coral without risking her life,” Alicia continued.

            Pagel frowned in thought and turned away to grab a mouse. He held it out for her to inject. She did slowly. As it froze, he commented, “I think she would be okay with risking her life.”

            Alicia made a little dismissive noise. “I wouldn’t let her, Q wouldn’t let her,” Alicia said. “Paul would be so pissed.”

            Pagel put the mouse back in its cage. “If she consents, none of you can stop her,” Pagel stated deliberately. “The best thing you can do is prepare for the surgery. Study and practice endlessly until we are ready to try it.”

            Alicia crossed her arms. Pagel sighed. “I will call her and inform her myself of this option if you refuse to do it. Or would you rather poison her by not doing the necessary testing?”

            Alicia dropped her posture and picked up another needle. “Fine, I’ll call her,” Alicia replied reluctantly. “I will inform her of all of her options. She may decide to risk poisoning herself to forego surgery. I will try to sound neutral about all of her options, so she may decide for herself.”

            Pagel nodded and got her another subject. “Thank you,” He said. “I know it’s hard for you.”

            Alicia didn’t respond. She inserted the needle and depressed the plunger. They didn’t talk as they dosed all of subjects in group three. “I’m going to call her now,” Alicia said, before removing her gloves and leaving the lab.

            She walked to her car and sat inside of it. She called Kris, who answered a few seconds later. “Hey Kris,” Alicia said, faking a happy tone. “I wanted to update you on our research into treating your venom.”

            “Alright, what is it?”

            “Well, our chemical mixture was successful in reducing the type of neurons affected by the venom.”

            “Plain English, please.”

            “What we did to the venom sample caused it to affect only skeletal muscles. This means that the subject was unable to move but could still breathe and pump blood. It incapacitated subjects without being fatal.”

            There was a moment of silence before Alicia could hear a little laugh. “That’s great,” Kris responded cheerfully. “How soon can we put that in me?”

            “About that,” Alicia said, dropping the faux joy. “We need to determine whether injecting you with our chemical mixture will poison you. Furthermore, we haven’t finished our research; we would like to determine the long-term effects of your venom. We require more venom for that.”

            “I’m okay with giving you more venom,” Kris answered. “But how do you plan on figuring out the poisoning thing?”

            “There are two options,” Alicia said, sighing. “We inject your glands with it and monitor you for signs of poisoning.”

            “Okay, sounds risky… And the other one?”

            “We perform a surgery to get a sample of your glands’ membrane and test its permeability to our chemical mixture.”

            “Surgery,” Kris repeated.

            “Yes, while it sounds like the safer option,” Alicia said quickly. “Pagel and I would be performing the surgery and we have no previous experience with that. We would have to cut through you skin and adipose tissue to reach the gland. Then there’s the chance that we will spill some venom into your open body cavity-”

            “I’m immune to my venom,” Kris interjected before pausing and admitting. “I checked.”

            Silence dominated the space again. “Okay,” Alicia said quietly.

            “I guess my decision depends on what the chemical mixture will do to me if it actually poisons me. If it’s minor or can be treated quickly, I’m okay with trying that method. Anything more severe and I’ll take the surgery.”

            “Alright, I will look into the effects of the chemicals on the human body in the amount necessary to neutralize the venom in your glands. When I have conclusive answers, I will inform you and then you can make your final decision.”

            “Cool,” Kris replied. “It’s exciting to get some answers. How soon do you need me for venom?”

            “Well, we just dosed our long-term subjects,” Alicia answered. “A regular dose of your venom lasts an hour and some change, so we would appreciate if you came in sometime today.”

            “Can do,” Kris said. “See you soon.”

            Kris hung up before Alicia could say anything more. Alicia sighed and got out of her car.