Chapter 39: Dirty Sewers

"Agh… what the hell was I thinking, letting you imprint on my Core?!"

"Shut up."

As Doctor Finch cried and complained, Cyanide silenced him with two words and a simple thought. Unable to speak any longer, the Doctor could only whimper along like a sad little puppy.

They were, of course, inside the sewers of the city. It wasn't hard to get down here, considering there were plenty of large craters and holes on the streets as a result of all the destruction that occurred when the apocalypse struck. Despite the Doctor's words, Cyanide had dragged him along on this mission. His reasoning was that "The Doctor is a useful source of information. And if he can't provide any, at least he can be a meat shield."

Doctor Finch certainly didn't want to become a meat shield, so he hoped to the heavens or whoever was listening that Cyanide didn't ask him any questions he didn't know the answer to.

"So. Where is the mutant?"

"W-Wha-?! I don't know that!" The Doctor cried. "B-But, wait, I promise I can be of use to you!"

"Oh?" Cyanide raised an eyebrow. "What, you can heal me if I get injured?"

"I'm not THAT kind of doctor!" The old mutant cried. "I can't heal you, and if you die, you die, but I can create useful solutions, so long as you bring me the ingredients."

"Hm…" Cyanide fell into thought momentarily, then decided it couldn't hurt to have a little talk down here since he hasn't heard anything suspicious yet. "… Elaborate."

"Hmph. You think that I've just been sitting in my lab for all these years, doing nothing?" Doctor Finch scoffed. "It is just as you say, kiddo! I hate whoever is controlling all this to the bone! I hate this mutant body of mine, I hate everything about this world!"

Cyanide thought that last part sounded like an emo kid declaring his inner thoughts, but decided to not say that out loud. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at the second-last part of that sentence.

"You hate this body, you say? Does that mean… you have a solution that can turn mutants back into their normal forms?"

"Gods, no!" The Doctor exclaimed, slapping his own forehead. "That's impossible!"

Cyanide sighed. How disappointing.

"But," Doctor Finch then continued, gaining Cyanide's attention once more. "I do have various solutions that have some 'interesting' effects on mutants, to say to the least…"

"Oh? How so?"

At this, Doctor Finch smirked and folded his hands behind his head. "As long as I get the ingredients, I can produce all kinds of solutions that work effectively against mutants. Paralysis, putting them to sleep… or even mind control."

'Mind control… that's going to be useful,' Cyanide thought in his head.

"What ingredients do you need?"

But to his surprise, the Doctor snorted.

"Cheh, you're nowhere near strong enough to get the resources need. You already have the base ingredient needed to make any concotion, the Anxerdyte, but with your current power, kiddo, the best one I can make based on the ingredients you bring me is one that can enhance your power or speed for a bit. If you want the good stuff, you'll have to bring me good stuff."

"So… Anexterdyte is that useful, huh?" Cyanide chuckled. "And where can I find said good stuff?"

"Well… Acaelus Headquarters is a good place, but… you don't want to go into that part of the city. Not as you are right now, anyway."

Cyanide opened up his holographical map with a swipe of his hand, and spotted the Acaelus Corporations' Headquarters located at the exact center of the large Mutated Zone in this city, Lumina. But of course—that was where the virus was first developed. He still didn't know how the hell they managed to create a sentient virus that overpowered its own makers, but it looked like he wasn't going to get any answers without going there anyway.

With a sigh, he closed up the map. "What about right now? What kind of ingredients do you need to make those… strength-boosting solutions?"

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"Mutant Blood, plus some herbs that you can't find here in the city. You'll need to head out into the wild. There's a forest to the north of Lumina—that's your best bet."

"… I see," Cyanide muttered after a while.

"So?" The Doctor chuckled awkwardly. "Was that enough to convince you to… uh, not use me as a meat shield?"

"Should the situation call for it, I'll still be using you," Cyanide replied without any hesitation.

Needless to say, Doctor Finch was furious.

"Goddammit! So I said all that for nothing!"

*****

After a while of walking in the sewers on the surprisingly wide sidewalk beside the dirty water, Doctor Finch was ready to give up.

"Man… can we please go up to the surface already? We've been walking around down here for an hour now without finding anything…"

"You are the one who said the Stage Five Mutant would be down here," Cyanide said coldly as he continued without even sparing a glance at the old Doctor.

"I-I was, but I take back what I said, kiddo! The mutant could very well be on the surface!" Doctor Finch declared. "Let's uh, head back up, then look for it again… oi, are you listening?"

But Cyanide had fallen dead silent, and was crouched on the floor with narrowed eyes. He appeared to be observing something.

"… Kid?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"The electromagnetic field here… it's strong."

"What?"

Cyanide shot a sideways glance up at Doctor Finch, then slowly got back up and pointed at the ground with his chin.

"Go on. Try it yourself. Touch the floor."

Doctor Finch was perplexed, but did as told and bent down. Then, he gently touched the ground.

"Y-Ya?!"

Instantly, he jumped back, feeling a jolt of electricity travel through his veins. It was as if the concrete had shocked his bare fingers.

"How the hell…? Impossible… cement isn't a good conductor!"

"Yes… but theoretically, it is still possible for it to give off a charge, so long as there is enough electricity," Luna said.

"W-Well, that's true, but the amount of electricity needed for that is…"

"… Would an entire city's worth be enough?"

At Cyanide's comment, Doctor Finch's expression froze, and after a few seconds, he sighed.

"… There's no getting out of this one, huh?"

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