Crey Industries: The Infiltrator

[JJohnson1701]

Crey Industries was a respected industry in the nation, and made billions annually.  But there were rumors, no matter how much Crey spent to quash them, and to pay off or to pressure leakers to stop.  Monsanto did the same.  Crey's rumors, however were of genetic experimentation, cloning of heroes and villains to find what gave them their powers.  Others said they were cloning existing heroes and grafting new powers into them or adding weapons into their bodies.  Sometimes, the rumors are true.

--Crey Lab--

"Dr Lawrence, Dr Williams, please proceed," said the man with slicked back black hair in a trendy, bespoke suit with blue tie.

"Yes, Mr. Andrews," said Dr Williams.  He was a mid-60s man in a lab coat.  His co-worker, Dr Alexandra Lawrence was a beautiful woman, who despite her age of early 40s, was still well kept and garnered more than her fair share of looks outside the lab.

In the floating tank behind a thick pane of bulletproof glass was a female form, her blonde hair floating in the semi-clear pink liquid, which served to sedate the person, tubes going in every limb, and tubes clipped to her nose for breathing.  Three Crey interns were checking everything. 

"Sedatives at 250% and steady," said Williams.  A normal human would be out at 20%.  But the woman in the tube was not normal.  She was genetically engineered for regeneration, that is, she had the ability to regrow limbs, heal from any toxin or substance, so she needed more sedation than a normal human.

"Kheldian alloy at temperature," said Dr Lawrence.  "Carbon nanotubes are in place and will withstand the alloy to allow blood cells to exit all bone, but still maintain bone unbreakability."

"And the internal armaments?" asked Mr Andrews.  He was part of the off-the-books part of Crey that gave the company deniability.  He wanted internal armaments for his infiltration agents, so three metal claws were inserted into the forearms of this woman, and one in each foot, constructed out of Kheldian alloy, making them unbreakable to conventional human science.  He had shepherded this project from inception, since superheroes and supervillains were a way of life for Paragon City, he thought Crey should use some of their special powers for its own benefit to eliminate some of their competition, control it, subvert it, or get a heads up on its movements.  And what better way to infiltrate all the male-dominated industries in Paragon City than with a pretty face?

"Begin the injection," Andrews said.  Williams nodded and pressed the button.  Heated Kheldian alloy flowed into the tubes and into the floating body.  The liquid around the tubes bubbled as it was chilled to help keep her sedated.  The molten alloy reached the dozens of tubes dotting her form, at her skull, ribs, spine, feet, everywhere.  As it reached her she started thrashing, though she was sedated.  It was molten metal being injected into her body.  Her eyes opened, and the restraints strained at her thrashing.

"Sedation!" Andrews yelled.

"Upping the dosage!" Williams called back.  "Up to 280, 290, 300%!"

"That would kill her!" Dr Lawrence shot back at him.  But it didn't.  Her thrashing subdued a little, until the injection finished.

"Injection complete," said Williams.  "Metal cooling rapidly.  Carbon nanotubes held.  There are gaps in the metal coating to allow blood cells to escape the marrow."

"Project X-81 is a success," said Dr Andrews.  "Now we finish training and see how she performs in a real infiltration."

[JJohnson1701]

--Six Months Later--

On the sixteenth floor of the Sentinel Building, overlooking Atlas Park, a number of rich and famous people from around the country in the realm of business were hobnobbing, enjoying wine, cocktails, and other adult beverages.  Some may even have been superheroes in their 'extracurricular activities,' though several mystic items kept out villains.  Everyone was dressed to the nines with tuxedos and ball gowns; the men were all in bespoke tuxes, while the women were all showing off their forms, providing plenty of eye candy for the powerful men there.

A blonde-haired woman with her hair done up in a bun, two nice curls framing her face, her bangs completing the picture.  Her black dress was tight, and about 2" above her knees, and showed off her body but something drew eyes to her; it may have been her genetically engineered pheromones which were more potent and active than normal, her perfume, or it could've been her physique, as she was as endowed as any hero or villain in Paragon City, but the mystic talismans didn't alert the guards as to her having any superpowers at all.

Music was playing, people were talking and chatting, and  Michael Labrum, the new hotshot CEO of a start-up company for bio-research in how to regrow limbs for amputees using super-powered genetics, without giving people superpowers.  He was about 5'11" and classically handsome.

"Hello miss...?" he said, as he grabbed a drink for the woman in front of him.  She took it and smiled.

"Jamie Dougherty," she said, giving the name she was given for the assignment.  She had used it a few times before now, and was taking a liking to it.

The man kissed her hand as she extended it.  She had a pearl bracelet and a pearl necklace that drew attention to her assets, and also served to counter the mystic talismans at the door.

"You're quite breathtaking," he admitted.  His heart was racing.  "Would you like to take this conversation somewhere more private?"

"How about your office?" she suggested.  His company was hosting this shindig, so his office was just across the floor, away from everyone else.

--Labrum's Office--
It didn't take long, but the pheromones had a cumulative effect, and soon both were kissing and in a state of undress, shall we say.

"I...need...you to..." she managed to get out between heavy breaths and kisses with Michael "give me your password..."

"Whatever you want, baby," he said, clearly thinking with something other than his brain.  He pointed to a model of the USS Enterprise, a Bandai model from 2004, last year, and panted, "The name and the registry, all together.  My username is my e-mail address."

"Thank you," she said, as she kissed him one last time, and pushed him away, her strength much greater than his.  Her left hand on his shoulder, holding him back, her right hand pressed to his chest in an uppercut motion, she released her claws into his body, then retracted them.  The look of surprise on his face was haunting and blood coughed up out of his mouth.  He slid down in front of his desk, as he bled out within seconds.

She washed her hands in the office sink, getting the blood off her hands, as she managed to put her dress back on and put her hair back up using the mirror, and reapplied her lipstick.  She walked over to the computer and put in the CEO's e-mail and password, and got to work.  She pulled out the hard drive from her clutch and connected it, and began copying everything from the hard drive and server.  Luckily, it was USB and fast.  After a few minutes, she had all the plans - the genetic plans, the technology, financials, everything - and she went ahead and disconnected the hard drive.  Then she turned around and saw the man had several pictures.  A wife and children, twin girls and a boy.  Then another with just the children, dated 2004.  Something stirred in her.  She didn't see a ring on his finger.  She then saw a ring and a picture of the woman, dated 1974-2004, "Gone but not forgotten" written under the frame.

She looked at the man, dead in front of the desk.  Her heart started racing.  She never thought about it before but, what was she doing?  Those children would have no parent...like she had none.

--Outside the party--
In one of the alleyways near the Sentinel Building, a mugger stole her purse, and she screamed as it was taken from her.  A hero, Synergy, bearing a blue and gold uniform, ran to try to catch the man but couldn't because he had no 'travel power' as he put it.  He comforted the woman, who assured him she was okay and he left to fight more crime elsewhere. 

The mugger made his way through the sewer system to Crey's building, bearing the purse their operative had taken with her.

"Thank you, Tim," said the doctor.  Dr Andrews opened and took the hard drive out, and plugged it in.  Everything Labrum was working on was in there.  "You'll find your payment wired by the morning.  And get yourself cleaned up."

"Yes, doctor," he said, as he went to the showers.  He hated the infiltration work, but he was a perfectionist and his disguise wouldn't raise any suspicions of being tied to Crey.

--Atlas Park--
She sat in one of the benches, legs crossed like a lady, and she felt tears coming down her face.  For the first time, she felt regret from her kill.  She had stalked many people and killed many people, but this was the first time she regretted it.  What was she?  What was she doing?  She was just an assassin or an infiltrator.  Was she more than this?  Could she be?  X-81, she may be, but maybe there was more to life than killing.