“Hypothetically speaking, if you had the supplies, would you be able to?”
“Hypothetically speaking? I could.”
“You need to,” said Christopher. “The others you injected need it and so do you.”
“I don’t think I do. I’m fine.”
“Look,” I interrupted. “You were always kind of cold and distant, but Christopher mattered to you more than anyone. You weren’t detached with him. He knows the real you, the pre-injection you. You should listen to him.”
“You’re his girlfriend,” said Brandon, turning to look at me. “I found lots of pictures of you on my phone. Were we friends?”
“We dated for a while, but you were never serious about me,” I said. Once those words would have stung, but now they were simply the truth.
“Did you love me?” said Brandon.
He tilted his head and seemed to have a genuine interest in my answer.
“I cared about you,” I said. “Not love. We weren’t that close. We didn’t talk about important things, never discussed the future, and we liked scientific conversations over dinner.”
“I see,” said Brandon. “Do you think I should take this antidote?”
“I do.”
“I like my head being free of distractions,” he said. “You sound like you were an emotional distraction.”
“Maybe I was, which is why we didn’t work out and could’ve been why you broke up with me. That happened months before you experimented on yourself.”
“I’m curious,” said Christopher. “Do you remember your reasons for injecting yourself with a dangerous serum that killed all the test animals? Was it fear, intimidation, thirst for knowledge, or unbridled ambition? Did you ever consider what might happen or how your family might feel if you died?”
Brandon’s jaw dropped at Christopher’s vehement tone and he shook his head. “I don’t recall.” His face looked thoughtful, with a small crease between his eyes. He glanced out the window, then turned back.
“If I said yes, how would you get scorpion venom as a base? I need it to make the antidote. My boss supplied me with the means to synthesize venom. He’s missing, so I can’t create more.”
“You haven’t heard from him?” said Christopher.
I liked how he slid that into the conversation. It would be fantastic if that information came into our possession.
Christopher kept the question casual, but his tell of the tightening around his eyes, showed me how tense he was. He jammed his hands in his pockets as he waited for the answer.
Brandon shook his head.
“He stationed his men outside, watching,” I said. “Today, just before we came in.”
“I don’t think I like that,” said Brandon, his frown deepening.
“We called the cops. The goons must have seen us too and guessed we’d report them because they split.”
“If we can get the venom, you’ll do it?” said Christopher.
“I’ll make it. I don’t know if I’ll take it.”
“How much would you need for six doses?”
“Six milliliters,” said Brandon. “That’s a lot of real venom. Scorpions produce minute quantities at a time.”
“We’ll try to get it,” said Christopher. “You start work on the rest. Get whatever equipment and supplies you require. We could have some of the venom soon.”
“You going to tell me your source?” said Brandon.
