Chapter 248: The First Living Subjects

Chapter 248: The First Living Subjects

The lines on Vrizzik’s forearm brightened as the apparatus began drawing mana from the crystal chamber. Noah watched the scholar hold his arm against the support, his other hand resting beside the shutdown control. A series of readings appeared on the laboratory display. Vrizzik checked them, adjusted a setting, and looked back at the runes. The skin around the older scars remained unchanged for the moment.

"It’s holding steady," Vrizzik said, leaning closer to the monitor. "The readings haven’t dropped."

The Black Coil representative pressed the intercom from the observation room. "So, does that mean it’s working?"

"For now. I still need to see how long the connection holds." Vrizzik looked at the timer and flexed the fingers of his free hand. "Don’t get too excited yet."

For a short period, the values remained close to one another. Vrizzik opened a recording window and saved the measurements while keeping his forearm in place. Then one of the values began climbing. He frowned and lowered the apparatus’s output. The reading fell briefly, only to rise again. A patch of skin near his wrist reddened, and he drew a sharp breath.

"Vrizzik, look at your arm!" the representative said.

"I see it." He adjusted the control again, but the instrument sounded a warning. Pain spread across his forearm, and his fingers curled against the support. Vrizzik reached for the shutdown control and pressed it. The light along the runes disappeared. He remained seated until the last reading had fallen to zero, then worked the fastenings loose with his uninjured hand.

Noah moved his attention closer. The marks near the wrist had darkened, and fresh irritation surrounded one of the embedded fittings. Vrizzik pulled a medical kit from beneath the bench and treated the area, pausing when he touched the worst of it. He could still move his fingers, though he avoided bending the wrist. He finished the dressing and returned to the display before he had put the kit away.

The representative came through the partition door. "I told you to stop before you injured yourself again."

"I shut it down as soon as the warning went off." Vrizzik brought up the recording. "Look at this. The connection lasted longer than in any of my previous tests. It only started becoming unstable after several seconds."

"Can you get it working without injuring yourself?"

"Not with this design. I need to find out why the readings started climbing."

The representative examined the chart without sitting down. "I saw the runes activate. We can at least show our backers that much, can’t we?"

"Send them the recording. But this device isn’t ready for anyone to use."

"They aren’t expecting a finished product tomorrow. They just need to see some progress." The visitor glanced at Vrizzik’s bandaged wrist. "And you need to stay healthy enough to finish the research. How many more tests can that arm take?"

Vrizzik closed the recording window. "I’ll have to improve the design before trying again."

"You’ve been testing this on yourself for months. You said you needed results from other subjects, too."

"I said I needed more data. That doesn’t mean I’m ready to start testing other people."

"The Coil can get you test subjects. We can provide medical staff as well."

Vrizzik stared at him. "You know what happened at the institute. People were injured because we rushed the experiments."

"And you’ve been testing on yourself ever since. Look at your arm. How much more can it take?" The representative picked up the empty crystal case. "I’ll take this recording back. They’ll decide whether to approve your next delivery."

"I’ve already requested more materials."

"Then give me something they can actually work with. They’re getting tired of hearing that you’re almost there." He put the case under his arm and headed for the door. "I’ll contact you when they’ve made a decision."

Vrizzik remained at the bench after the visitor left. He replayed the final seconds of the experiment, watching the reading rise each time. Then he opened records from earlier tests and placed them beside the new results. One comparison occupied him for hours. He stopped only to change the dressing and eat the food he had left in the laboratory refrigerator.

Through his connection to Eldrath, Noah continued observing the work. Vrizzik tested parts of the apparatus without attaching them to his arm, discarded one arrangement, and made alterations to another. The scholar’s bandaged wrist kept him from repeating the full trial. Several times he held the injured arm up to the light, examined the skin, and put the support aside again.

On the second evening, Vrizzik received a message from his former institute. It was an automated notice confirming that his professional registration remained suspended. He deleted it, then opened an old paper on industrial runes and searched for the section on output regulation. For a while, he read with his injured hand held above the desk. When the swelling made it difficult to move his fingers, he took another dose of medicine from the kit and continued with his other hand. He made no attempt to contact the institute.

Three days passed on Eldrath before a delivery vehicle stopped outside the building. Noah had remained with the scholar throughout the interval, returning his attention briefly to his own quarters whenever Vrizzik slept. The first crates contained new measuring equipment and medical supplies. Two men carried them into the laboratory. Behind them came three goblins, watched closely by another pair of Black Coil guards.

The three wore ordinary clothing, but none carried a bag. One had a bruise beneath his eye. The youngest stood near the doorway, staring at the apparatus on the central bench. When a guard directed them into the adjoining room, the youngest hesitated until another guard stepped forward. Vrizzik came out from behind the bench before they could close the door.

"Who are these people?" he demanded.

"They’re your test subjects. The medical supplies are in the first crate."

"I never agreed to this."

"You said you needed more data, so we brought you people to test. Now you’ll be able to compare the results."

Vrizzik caught the door before it closed. "Have you even told them what these experiments involve?"

"They know they’re here to participate in research."

"That’s not what I asked." Vrizzik looked toward the three goblins. "Do any of you know what they’re planning to do to you?"

The oldest glanced at a guard before answering. "They told us we’d be examined by a doctor and then allowed to leave."

"Once you’ve completed the tests," the guard corrected.

Vrizzik let go of the door and faced the representative. "Take them back. My arm hasn’t even healed, and I still don’t know what caused the last experiment to fail."

"The Coil isn’t going to keep paying for you to experiment on yourself." The representative lowered his voice. "We pay for this laboratory, your equipment, and your protection from the authorities. They expect results, Vrizzik."

"These experiments could leave someone permanently injured."

"That’s why we brought medical equipment. You’ve been telling us for months that you can improve the design. Now’s your chance to prove it."

Vrizzik looked again at the three goblins. The youngest had backed against the wall, and the oldest was quietly asking a guard where they were being taken. Vrizzik shut the adjoining door himself and stood with his hand against it for several seconds. When he returned to the bench, he asked for a day to examine the new instruments and prepare the room. The representative agreed only after confirming he would be present for the trial.

From the adjoining room, Noah could hear the captives talking once the guards stepped away. The youngest asked whether anyone knew where they were. The older goblin said he had been taken after leaving work and had not been allowed to call his family. The third said little beyond asking for water. When a guard returned, their conversation stopped. Vrizzik could hear them through the door. He stood at his workbench for a moment, looking toward the adjoining room, then went back to the equipment.

Noah watched Vrizzik work through the next day. The scholar had a medical station brought alongside the apparatus and checked its monitors. He reread his last results and changed the external support, selecting an arrangement he had already tested on a nonliving model. He made no new markings on his own injured arm. In the adjoining room, the three captives ate meals brought by the guards and remained under watch.

The following morning, Vrizzik chose the oldest of the three for the first trial. Two guards brought him into the laboratory. The goblin stopped when he saw the support beside the crystal chamber.

"You’re going to put that thing on my arm?" he asked.

"Yes. It fits around your forearm. I’ll be monitoring the readings throughout the experiment."

"What happens if something goes wrong?"

"I’ll shut it down immediately. There’s a medic standing by."

"That doesn’t tell me what’s going to happen to me." The goblin pulled his arm back when a guard reached for it. "I was told a doctor was going to examine me."

"Enough talking. Sit down," the guard said.

Vrizzik held up a hand. "Let me talk to him." He waited until the guard stepped aside. "The experiment could injure you. I can’t promise that it won’t."

"Then don’t do it."

For several seconds Vrizzik said nothing. The representative’s voice came through the intercom. "We brought him here for a reason, Vrizzik. Get on with the experiment."

Vrizzik lowered his eyes and began preparing the equipment. The guards remained close while the subject sat in the chair. Noah observed the scholar checking the support twice before securing it around the goblin’s forearm. Vrizzik positioned the medical monitor where he could see it beside the mana readings. The captive watched his every movement.

"Tell me right away if anything hurts," Vrizzik said.

"I’ve already told you I don’t want to do this."

Vrizzik hesitated, then turned to the controls. The apparatus activated, and the first readings appeared. For a few moments, the rune structure responded as it had during the trial on Vrizzik’s own arm. The captive stared at the faint light along the support, breathing quickly. Vrizzik watched the readings and kept one hand near the shutdown control.

The first warning came from the medical monitor. The goblin jerked his arm and cried out. Vrizzik stopped the apparatus immediately, but the captive was still shaking when the runes went dark. The two guards moved toward the chair. Vrizzik ordered them back and called for the medic waiting outside. He loosened the support while the medic examined the injured arm and checked the captive’s condition.

"Is he going to be all right?" the representative asked from the doorway.

"He’s conscious, but he needs treatment and monitoring," the medic replied. "There won’t be any more tests on him."

Vrizzik helped transfer the subject to the medical station. The skin beneath the support was injured, and the goblin flinched whenever anyone came close to his wrist. He remained awake as the medic treated him. Once the medic had finished the immediate care, the guards took him to a separate room where he could be monitored.

The injured goblin tried to sit up as the medic finished dressing his arm. "You said you’d stop if it hurt. I couldn’t even get the words out before it happened."

"I shut it down as soon as the monitor sounded. I’m sorry," Vrizzik replied.

"Then tell them to let me go home."

Vrizzik looked toward the guards at the doorway. Neither moved. The medic asked the subject to lie back so she could finish checking him. Vrizzik stepped away without answering.

The representative approached the terminal. "The runes activated. You saw that, didn’t you?"

"And you saw what happened to him." Vrizzik opened the recording. "The readings changed almost immediately. It behaved differently from the test on my arm."

"Then you’ve got something to investigate. There are two more subjects waiting."

"I’m not testing anyone else today. I need to understand what went wrong."

"You’ve said that after every test."

"If I use the same design again, someone else could get hurt. Give me time to go through the recording."

The representative watched him for a moment. "The Coil expects a report before the next delivery. I’ll tell them you’ve completed the first trial. Make sure you’ve got more progress to show me when I come back."

Vrizzik gave no answer. He sat at the terminal and began comparing the new recording with his earlier results. The representative stood beside him for another moment, then walked out to speak with the guards.

Noah remained focused on the laboratory. Vrizzik had the two recordings open side by side. He replayed the brief period before the subject’s condition deteriorated, then checked the medical monitor’s record against the apparatus readings. He moved between them several times, selecting sections for closer examination. His own wrist rested on the table beside the keyboard, the dressing still visible beneath his sleeve.

From the corridor came the sound of a door opening. The representative was speaking to a guard about the two remaining subjects. Vrizzik looked toward the door when he heard them, then returned to the results. He had begun preparing another set of changes to the support when the representative came back into the room.

"We can bring you more subjects with the next shipment if you need them," he said. "Just make sure you’ve got a new design ready before they arrive."

The first subject’s medical readings were still visible on a second screen. Vrizzik had not closed the file, and a warning remained beside the record of the failed trial. He moved the new design aside and brought the recording back to the front of the display.

Vrizzik stopped typing. Through the open doorway, he could see the two goblins waiting under guard. He looked at them for a moment before turning back to the measurements on his screen.