43: The Ghost of Drug Island

Sitting around Vulcan’s workbench in the depths of her lair, two Genomes brainstormed around a sketch. For the past hour, they had struggled to solve one of the world’s most important questions; some would say, the only question worth answering.

How many guns could you fit into one power armor?

“It’ll be better with rocket launchers,” Ryan said, discussing his armor’s design. Vulcan had chosen a design that fit the courier’s body rather than an enormous mech; an exoskeleton rather than a tank. “Two hidden switchblades below the arms, a big chest blaster, mounted turrets…”

“The goal is to increase your power, not blow up half of Rome,” Jasmine told him with a grin.

“Personally, I can settle for the Dynamis HQ.”

“In that case, you will need a bigger laser.” Vulcan scribbled on the design. “Nuclear-powered.”

“Let’s call it the Chernobyl,” Ryan said with a deadpan face. “You think some of their Genomes might survive it?”

“Yes, but they will become radioactive. If the laser doesn’t kill them, cancer will.”

Ryan looked at Jasmine with absolute respect. “So cruel, it becomes art.”

“I know,” she replied. “Now that I think of it, I could actually design a cancer ray. That would be fucking nasty.”

It was such a fun date, spending quality time with his girlfriend designing weapons of mass destruction. Then again, the courier had spent most of the weekend at Jasmine’s place, so the two had grown more familiar with each other. Jamie was too busy dealing with his new promotion, and while Dynamis hadn’t yet delivered on its promised retaliations, Vulcan had all but ordered Ryan to lay low for a while.

Well, as best as someone like the courier could.

“If your theory is correct and all true Genomes produce a Red Flux variant, then it should be possible to contain this hypothetical energy, even if we can’t observe it.” Jasmine brainstormed out loud while looking at the ceiling, both feet on the workbench. “I mean, your plushie keeps a creature from this Violet dimension sealed from what you told me.”

“I wouldn’t say sealed is the best ter—”

“Doesn’t matter, it can still contain it and prevent its energy from leaking out,” Jasmine interrupted him. “If we combine both our technologies, then we could design something keeping this hypothetical ‘Violet Flux energy’ inside you. Instead of dispersing the heat, we’ll ramp it up.”

And in theory, this would increase the energy his power would be able to access. “I love it when you talk dirty.”

“I’m so fucking excited about this, Ryan.” Jasmine was trembling from impatience. Much like Len and all Geniuses Ryan had met, she felt happiest when doing mad science. “We’re going to discover the source of powers, change the whole world. Scratch that, we’ll own it.”

“If you could, would you change your power?” Ryan asked innocently. “Trade it for something else?”

“Nah, I’m pretty glad to have mine. Hell, I wish I got it earlier, though I wonder how much my state of mind back then affected my power.” Jasmine glanced at him strangely. “You?”

Ryan sighed. “I dunno,” he admitted. “I’ve hated and loved my power in equal measures, but now, it’s just part of who I am. I can’t imagine myself without it.”

“I get it,” Vulcan replied, though frowning. “You’re a pretty private guy, you know that?”

“Do you want to know my secret identity?”

“You’re asking me questions you don’t want to ask yourself, and I don’t like that,” Jasmine replied. “I ain’t your psychiatrist, Ryan. In the end, everyone is on their own.”

“I know,” Ryan replied, his mood turning sour. “But it would be nice to be able to count on someone else long-term.”

“Close your eyes peacefully, knowing someone has got your back for life? I thought I had that once. Didn’t work out.” Jasmine pointed at her mech with her chin. “The only things you can count on are those you made yourself.”

Yeah, Ryan felt the same way about his car. “Do you know of the hedgehog’s dilemma?”

“What’s that, a pet disease?”

“Two hedgehogs seek to move closer and share heat during cold weather, but they cannot avoid hurting one another with their spines. They want to snuggle, but that would mean lowering their guard.”

Jasmine quickly caught on. “Are you the hedgehog, or am I?”

“We both are.”

“Well, that’s fucking pessimistic,” Jasmine replied.

“It’s experience talking.”

Truth was, Ryan sincerely hoped that Jasmine’s armor technology would produce results; that somehow, things would be different this time.

Maybe he was a fool, but the courier would never stop believing things could improve.

He faced deadlines though. Though he had lost many men, Hannifat Lecter was still toiling inside Mechron’s bunker, and Ryan didn’t see any way to evict him without casualties or revealing the base’s existence. The best solution he had found was to recruit Shroud to invade the bunker, but the glass manipulator refused to move without his team’s support, and Leo Hargraves wouldn’t hit New Rome until next week.

“It could have happened differently,” Ryan said.

“What?”

“Your power,” the courier said. “It’s not just the potion. It’s part you, part random.”

His girlfriend frowned. “What do you mean?”

“If you give two different Red Elixirs to one person in the same circumstances, he won’t get the same ability. If you give the same Elixir to one person while he’s afraid for his life or feeling safe, he will get a different power, though within the color’s classification. Same if he’s healthy, poisoned, or irradiated.”

“You can’t repeat an experience in the exact same circumstances,” Jasmine replied, skeptical.

Ryan could, and he did.

At one point, the courier thought he might eventually find a way to replicate his power… but while he had learned a great deal about Elixirs, he also learned it couldn’t be done.

Jasmine moved from her seat, grabbed a water bottle, and sat on Ryan’s lap as if she owned the place. He responded by putting his arms around her waist; she was warm to the touch. “But if I humor your theory,” she said, putting her back against his chest, “what you’re saying is, if someone had gotten my Elixir, they wouldn’t have become a weapon Genius?”

Ryan shook his head. “And if you had received my Elixir, you wouldn’t have gotten my power. The Elixir partly adapts itself to the person drinking it. And once the unique power has been assigned, nobody else can get the exact same one as yours.”

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That was only true for the original Elixirs though.

“Makes sense. Augustus probably managed to use two without going crazy due to a unique genetic quirk, according to Dynamis’ research.” Jasmine rested her head on his shoulder, her face thoughtful. “How did you get yours?”

“A friend found it among a batch of three. I took mine while trying to get out of a hopeless situation.” The real tragedy was Len though. Shortie had won a power she would have loved under normal circumstances, but one that couldn’t grant her dearest wish. “And you, darling?”

“Stole it while trying to flee Libya,” Jasmine said with a scowl. “If you think Italy was a shithole during the Wars, then you haven’t seen my homeland. Now Dynamis owns the oil field, and nobody controls anything else. It’s all tribes and marauders killing each other.”

“Can’t be worse than Monaco.”

She raised an eyebrow, a little curious. “What’s up in Monaco?”

“Trust me.” Ryan looked at her seriously. “No matter how desperate things get, don’t go to Monaco.”

She chuckled at his confusing words. “Comb my hair.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I ask you to, minion.”

Ryan chuckled playfully, raising Jasmine’s hair and assembling it into a bun. The courier looked at the neural interface below them with interest. “Can you make a second one of these?”

”Sure,” she said. “I’ve got to admit it though, it’s not really my tech. It’s Dynamis’.”

“Dynamis?”

“Hector has a decade-long project about downloading minds in new bodies to achieve immortality. Scan a whole brain and transfer it into someone else’s. I guess the man doesn’t want his sons to inherit anytime soon.”

“I always knew corporations would eventually find a way to trademark humanity.”