Hemostasis 3.7
Butcher returned just towards the end of my conversation with the local new director, whom I was distracting as best I could. Except it wasn't difficult at all, since she herself loved to talk. A woman in her forties, with a typical frozen Vought smile, continued to recount how "gorgeous" this place was.
"...of course, we cannot replace a home for the children, however, we do the best we are capable of. We try to give the children a place where they can feel safe and where they can always share their feelings and thoughts with others. Where everyone is open, calm, and living like one big family..."
I think this is what infuriates me the most about the culture of Vought and corporations like it. The falsehood and hypocrisy that literally exude from every movement, word, or even just a sigh. As if they physically cannot help but lie.
As if it is so ingrained in their essence that they simply cannot imagine how one can tell the truth. She babbled some nonsense about how wonderful Red River is and devoid of any flaws, which made me barely able to keep a straight face and not laugh.
But as soon as she finished speaking and the cameras turned off, she instantly turned to me. A smile still remained on her face, however, I didn't even need to use my abilities to understand how false it was. All such liars are given away by their eyes—one can perfectly read in them how much such a person doesn't care about you and generally everyone around them.
"And what do you say, Mark? Don't you miss the orphanage?"
I didn't even understand what she said at first. It sounded like such nonsense... Was there really no one better suited for this position? Of course, she looks like the perfect manager, with a perpetual smile on her face, but her communication skills were clearly lacking.
Yeeeah, evil corporations are getting shallow these days, they can't even hire normal villains.
"Red River was a unique place, the experience of which helped me a lot in my later life." I continued to pretend, keeping a polite smile on my face. "It really taught me a lot. In fact, it made me the person standing before you. However, still, I love my family more. But you know, since things have gone this way and we are remembering the past, I have one small favor to ask of you."
"Of course, I will try to do everything possible for you!" the woman nodded actively.
She was loud. Too loud. Moreover, practically cartoonishly hyperactive and positive, which made all her lies seem only funny and nothing more. Stupidly funny, like when you see an unsuccessful actor, but amusing nonetheless.
"Excellent, excellent, in that case... I would like to meet my old acquaintance, Marvin, do you know him?" I asked casually. "Strong, sturdy, loves comic books, and especially Soldier Boy with Homelander. We used to be roommates..."
For a moment she seemingly froze, clearly not knowing what to say. Her pupils dilated, her pulse quickened, her muscles tensed, she started breathing faster... A very interesting reaction. Speaks volumes even without words.
"Excuse me, but he left our orphanage a long time ago and became part of a wonderful family!" the woman answered overly cheerfully. "Therefore, we won't be able to meet him—he's not even in this state anymore, as far as I remember. Although years have passed since then, so I don't even know where he might be."
I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Yes, it's evident that not every person in Vought is a professional spy and a master of deception. Sometimes people get into important positions not by merit.
"Really? And I seem to have been told that he is still in the orphanage... Besides, haven't you only been working here for a few weeks? And if he left you years ago..."
Here, even a person without abilities would have noticed that she was panicking. Her eyes started darting from side to side, and her hands couldn't find a place for themselves.
"No, no, no, you were clearly lied to..." the smile on her face finally turned into a nervous and strained one as she shook her head diligently. "He hasn't been here for a long time, he left this place a very long time ago and we are sure that he is happy now! I, um, found out about him from the director... yes, he told me about him, that... yes, he just said so... Anyway, um, you won't be able to see him, since he is now already with his family! And since we've finished talking, maybe we should move somewhere else? Because after the director's death so many things have piled up, I need to attend to them, I beg my leave..."
She practically ran away from me nervously, while I looked thoughtfully after her. I don't like this reaction very much. I feel as if something is wrong here...
. . .
"So what did you find out?"
"We found out everything, fuck."
I couldn't restrain myself, so I simply rolled my eyes upon hearing Butcher's grumbling. Seriously, what is wrong with him? I had never in my life seen a person who would hate supes so fiercely. Only after interacting with the Boys did I realize that everyone wasn't gathered here just for the sake of it.
And while Mother's Milk told me almost immediately the story of his father, who spent years fighting a legal war with Vought, ultimately failing and dying of a heart attack, the bearded guy remained a mystery. No one wanted to spread why, but it was unlikely anything positive.
"Butcher, we agreed..." Milk tried to calm the most violent of us, but he just wouldn't settle down.
"We agreed that I would behave like an obedient little dog while we are doing our common business. But if someone asks stupid questions, they get the corresponding answers," the bearded guy grumbled.
I only sighed, shaking my head. Even though my body was in adolescence, mentally I was much older. Enough not to fall for such childish behavior. It's obvious that Butcher has anger management issues, and in general, his mental state is not the best.
I treat him more like a sick person than someone who really causes problems. I don't care what the dog barks.
"*Mon frère*, spit it out already, what did you manage to get. We are all a team here and must know that we didn't work for nothing."
Butcher looked at Frenchie from under his brows, then shifted his gaze to me. In his eyes, all the hatred could be read plainly, directed either at me or at the entire race of superhumans. Astoundingly crystal clear fury.
It's even impressive that a human is capable of experiencing something like that. Only after about five seconds of such staring did he take a phone out of his pocket, on which a photo of some papers was open.
"We finally managed to find the place where Vought hides their shit. And we can finish with that project on spying on Lamplighter. Hard to imagine a more boring fucker, even his fetishes are shitty. But this," Butcher raised the phone up, smiling like a maniac, "this will definitely allow us to pin Vought down."
"And are there any concrete facts, what is written there?"
Butcher threw an annoyed glance in my direction once again, but this time without childish attempts to insult me. Progress!
"Here is information about some facility where they transfer the most aggressive supes who can no longer be kept in society. The last batch will be transported from the institute exactly tomorrow night. There are few details, however, we know the main thing—where this place is located. I'm sure the corporate eggheads are conducting experiments on them there, or something even worse. And I swear by everything I know about them—these assholes don't particularly bother hiding their dirt. They believe in their exclusivity and the fact that if you commit crimes off-camera, no one will find them."
I chuckled, hearing Butcher's fighting speech. Experiments on supes... I guessed that something similar was taking place. It couldn't not exist, unfortunately. And I'm even sure that Vought isn't alone in striving to study the superhuman phenomenon from a scientific point of view as deeply as possible.
Governments of countries around the world clearly also dream of such superweapons capable of tearing ordinary people to pieces by the dozens. And that's not to mention other, more useful supes like telepaths. The US, as Mallory hinted to me, clearly already has such.
I wonder, is it possible to make artificial supes? To derive some formula, inject it into a human, and get if not Homelander, then someone like The Deep, Lamplighter, or myself? Vought is a pharmaceutical company, I'm sure they tried to pull something like that off.
I'm not sure how realistic it is to alter human biology that much, and considering the lack of additional organs in most supes, I don't think it depends on physiology. At most, I can believe that Vought studies the bodies of superhumans and creates new medicines, weapons, or simply technology based on them.
In any case, such research is very interesting. There could be both weapons created against superhumans, and all sorts of things that only strengthen them. The pantry of Vought's secrets is dark, but definitely full of everything interesting. And even though it is associated with great risk, I have a little idea...
"How far away is this place? Still in the state?"
Butcher raised an eyebrow questioningly, looking at me, after which he took a few steps forward and looked me up and down.
"And what do you care?" that self-confidence and feeling of superiority returned to his voice, as if he didn't even consider me a human being. "You've completed your task, congratulations, kid. Now you are all-all grown up. Do you want me to buy you a beer? In any case, there are no more problems, you are free, go star in underwear commercials with your own face, or whatever you do in your free time."
"Butcher..."
Mother's Milk tried to calm the bearded guy by putting a hand on his shoulder, however, he simply pushed it away and continued to look at me like a real maniac. Alright, I'm tired of this...
"I understand that you have some tragic story with your wife or something similar, which made you such a 'cool' grim antihero who will complete his mission and blah-blah-blah. I'll be honest, I don't care what you have there..."
After my words, Butcher swung and tried to hit me. Well, what was he hoping for? My body and mind are many times faster than an ordinary human's, so I simply caught his arm in a hold, after which, with a lightning-fast movement, I twisted it, pinning the psycho to the floor.
I myself remained as calm as possible, as if communicating with a capricious child. Curiously, Mother's Milk and Frenchie did not intervene, seeing that I was calm and wasn't going to harm Butcher.
"As I already said, I don't care exactly why you have problems with supes. But I do care what Vought does in their laboratories, experimenting on children and other innocents. I do care about all their crimes. I will care if you accidentally release some biological weapon that will kill me. Therefore, I will do everything so that the guilty get what they deserve, the victims are saved, and Vought's secrets harm no one. I am ready to tolerate your childish behavior, however, if you interfere with the business, I will intervene... Besides, you guys might be not bad, but defeating a superhuman is not that simple. And there, I assure you, a whole army of supes will be waiting for us. Do you think you can manage without my help? I will go with you because without me you will die and fail the mission."
After that, I released his arm from the hold. Butcher immediately began to mutter something so unintelligible that even my enhanced hearing didn't allow me to make it out. I simply stepped aside and offered Butcher a hand, inviting him to get up.
He looked at me with a completely unreadable gaze, in which a mix of a dozen emotions seemed to have blended. But still, he accepted the offer and grabbed me, getting up briskly.
"Alright, kid, I see that you can be useful in the field. You'll be on probation, if you perform well, then... In short, you're coming with us, the main thing is, don't screw up. And yes, no poser costumes. Otherwise I'll puke right on the mission."
I smirked, simply nodding. Inside, I experienced special feelings—after all, my first real superhero mission was looming ahead. Not playing in front of cameras, but a real, serious task, upon which the lives of many people depend. And this means only one thing—I have no right to make a mistake.
. . .
"See anything, kid?" Butcher asked, preparing for the operation. He was shoving some sealed jars into his backpack.
"A lot of supes." I answered quickly. "A whole lot. Dozens... no, about a hundred. Most are sitting underground, roughly at an equal distance from each other. A dozen are sitting somewhere too deep, I can't reach them and understand more. And... hmm, there is a very strange supe there. A woman, but her body... I've never seen anything like it. It's even hard to describe, it's as if she has a completely different biology. On a fundamental cellular level, something is wrong with her. I definitely can't tell what's wrong with her from this far away."
It was unusual to sit in the grass at night like this, looking through binoculars, as if we were in a war. Or rather, only Butcher and Mother's Milk were looking through the binoculars, while I tried to survey the place using my ability. Feeling bodies from a distance of half a kilometer is a real challenge to my powers.
I had to abstract myself from my senses as much as possible and focus exclusively on the ability, but right now it was necessary.
Vought's secret base, where supes are kept, what a surprise, once again turned out to be disguised as another building. I'm starting to recognize their style. They used the Sage Grove Center to help the mentally ill, and I must admit, it was indeed quite smart.
Reporters and cameras rarely like to look into such places, especially considering the fact that we found not a single official connection between Vought, the orphanage, and the psychiatric hospital. And this is considering the CIA resources provided by Grace Mallory.
I was torn from my thoughts by a voice ringing out from our walkie-talkie. Barging in all together here was a bad idea, so we decided to leave one person to keep an eye on arrivals.
"It doesn't matter who was found there anymore. Their van with supes is heading here from the east and will arrive in plus or minus twenty minutes."
Martin, as it turns out Mother's Milk was officially named, brought up a good point. Except Butcher was clearly ready for this; rising abruptly, he headed towards the hospital.
"We gather up and push in there. We won't sit here like bitches and wait for them to complete their plans. We need to move now, while they are distracted. We'll break inside, find out everything, and either escape from there, or beat the shit out of them and escape from there. Who's with me?" William spoke quietly, pressing himself to the ground.
I could argue with Butcher that right now they are maximally armed and ready for a confrontation... but heroes are not afraid. And this, of course, is not connected to the fact that I have wanted to test my abilities in combat for a long time. A very, very long time. I quickly got up, helped Frenchie, who was already holding a bag with everything useful for breaking in, after which we headed towards the center.
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