Episode XXXII

Acidity was in a bad mood. He didn’t like being poked and prodded. He didn’t like the tank he was being kept in. It was heated and the acid was kept fresh, but it felt stale and artificial compared to the thermal pools at the resort, and it wasn’t big enough to swim around in. He also didn’t like never being let out of the tank. The fact that four of the scientists had acid burns on their hands and faces might have something to do with their reluctance to let him out, but they had brought the attacks on themselves. If they locked him up and treated him like an animal, how did they expect him to act?

Anyway, he didn’t want them to know how intelligent he was. He was careful not to talk to them or show any sign that he understood English. He needed to retain every advantage if he wanted to escape. Including the advantage of having two of them as his servants! That was a thrilling discovery. He had known when he injected them that it was something good, but it wasn’t until he had a chance to be alone with them later that he realized they would do anything he said, as long as he kept giving them new injections every couple of days. Already, they had kidnapped the woman who had caused his capture, and they would surely aid in his escape as soon as he could come up with a good plan. The only drawback to these minions was that the injection slowed them down both physically and mentally; they could be depended on to follow orders but not to think.

Once he escaped, the first order of business would be to deal with Marla Stewart. He hadn’t decided yet whether to kill her or inject her. Maybe he would inject her, order her around for a while, and then kill her later. He also wanted his things back from the hotel room, but had recently discovered that getting them might be impractical. When the scientists were collecting blood and tissue samples, they had taken him out of his tank for an extended period. They (and he) had realized that he continuously secreted acid from glands all over his body. On the one hand, this was useful for flinging acid in the faces of his captors, but on the other hand, it meant that most things he came in contact with were in danger of dissolving.

At any rate, he wouldn’t be able to do anything until his minions returned. This was the other reason he was in a bad mood: They were late. He had sent them to feed the prisoner, and they had been gone nearly two days. He wasn’t sure how long it would take for the injection to wear off, but they normally were begging for a fresh one after a day and a half. If they were gone too long, and it did wear off…in a sudden fit of rage, he hurled himself against the side of the tank. This accomplished nothing, but it hurt, so he forced himself to calm down. After brooding for another hour or so, he drifted off to sleep.

Acidity was awakened by the sound of violent coughing. He was disoriented at first, but quickly realized that the coughing was coming from one of his minions, who had finally returned. When the coughing subsided, the man stumbled across the lab and up to the tank. He doesn’t look drunk, Acidity thought. What’s wrong with him?

“Lord Acidity,” the man began before collapsing in another coughing fit. When he was able to stand again, he undid the latch on the tank lid, allowing his master to push it open and climb out while he coughed some more. “Please,” he gasped. “I need…an injection.” Acidity gave him one. The effect was almost immediate. The man stood up straight, stopped coughing, and aside from the glazed-over look in his eyes, appeared to be in much better health.

“Is that better?” Acidity asked.

“Yes, my lord. Thank you, my lord. The headache and dizziness are going away.”

“Good. I’m glad you are feeling better. Now, please tell me something. WHY ARE YOU LATE???”

“Please don’t be angry, my lord! I came back as soon as the police let me go!”

“Police? You let yourself be caught by the police?”

“I couldn’t help it, my lord! They pulled me out of the lake.”

Acidity took a deep breath and reminded himself that his minion was an idiot. “You were supposed to be feeding the prisoner! What did you do, decide to go for a swim?”

“No, my lord! She threw me in!”

Stay calm, Acidity thought to himself. Just keep asking questions. He won’t lie to you. “Who threw you in?”

“M-Marla Stewart, my lord.”

“WHAT?!?” Acidity punctuated this outburst with a violent hand gesture, which had the unfortunate effect of splashing acid on his minion, who began writhing on the floor when the corrosive liquid hit him. “Oh, quit whimpering and get up!” He ordered. The man stood up. “How did she manage to throw you in the lake? You are bigger than her, there were two of you, and you had a gun. Explain this to me.”

“I-I don’t know, my lord. She broke Ed’s hand and then she bent the gun barrel. And she picked me up and threw me like I didn’t weigh anything. She’s very strong, my lord.”

“Very strong.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“But you tied her up and drove her down there with no problems.”

“She didn’t fight us then.”

“She bent the gun barrel?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“With her bare hands?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“You saw this happen? With your eyes?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Okay, I give up. Let’s pretend I believe your story for a minute. She fought you guys off, beat you up, and threw you in the lake. Then you swam to shore and got picked up by the police. What happened to Marla and Ed?”

“I don’t know, my lord. I was on the other side of the lake.”

“She threw you all the way across?”

“She threw me to the middle, my lord.”

There was a long pause. “Okay, what did you tell the police?”

“Nothing, my lord. They held me for questioning because they thought I was on drugs, and because someone saw me fly through the air and told them about it. But I told them nothing.”

“Did you go back to the cabin when they let you go?”

“There was no time, my lord. I was desperate for a new injection.”

“So it’s probably safe for me to assume that Marla has escaped and Ed is no longer my servant.” The man gave no reply, and Acidity didn’t expect one. He thought for a few minutes, then started talking to his minion just to put his thoughts in order. “If Marla is really as tough as you say, then she’s a big problem. Before I can deal with her, I’ll have to get out of here. I was waiting to escape until I could come up with a plan to make sure they don’t recapture me, but now I’m down one servant with no immediate prospects of getting any new ones, as long as I stay here. It’s now or never. I’ve got to leave tonight. What time is it?”

“About one-fifteen, my lord.”

“So we’ve got less than five hours. I need to go somewhere where they won’t find me. I can’t go back to the resort, because that’s the first place they’ll look. Where is the acid for this tank stored?”

“In canisters in the next room, my lord.”

“Good. We’ll take as many of those as will fit in your car. I’ll also need a disguise, so that I can check into a hotel. That will have to work until I can come up with a better location. I can’t go back to my home, because I don’t know if anyone’s made the connection between me and, um, me, and if they haven’t then I’m probably thought to be dead. I still wish I had a way to be sure they won’t come after me again. Why did they want me in the first place?”

“Grant money, my lord.” Acidity hadn’t been expecting an answer, and was pleasantly surprised to receive one.

“Grant money?”

“Yes, my lord. A research project like you could bring millions of dollars.”

“So who have they told about me?”

“No one yet, my lord. They wanted enough information to write a good introductory paper.”

“So they’re motivated by finances?”

“Mostly, my lord.”

“Hmm…How much do you think the equipment in this building is worth?”

“At least ten million dollars, my lord.”

“So they’d probably not like to lose it?”

“Definitely not, my lord.”

“Good. Maybe after we burn the building to the ground, they’ll think twice about messing with me again. Come on! We’ve got a lot of preparations to make and not much time.”

* * *

At 6:19 that morning, fire trucks arrived at D.S. Scientific Studies Lab in response to a 911 call made by a paperboy with a cell phone. By the time they got there, the building was mostly collapsed, and the remains were entirely engulfed in flame. Chemicals in the building made the fire difficult to control. When it was finally extinguished, analysis revealed that the fire was started by several explosions from various locations inside the building, and that the chemicals which were supposed to be stored in fire-retardant containers had been dumped out. Twelve lab employees were killed in the explosions, which occurred a few minutes after they arrived to work.

An hour or so earlier on the same morning, two men checked into a seedy hotel in the slums on the north side of Daze Springs. One of the men was wearing a biohazard suit. The woman who checked them in didn’t ask questions; that was a good way to get hurt in that part of town. After paying for a week in advance, the men hauled several large canisters into their room. They had no other luggage.