Experimental Wing
The experimental wing of the West Branch looked like a gigantic glass cage on the first floor.
Jenny had on a white lab coat and a beaming smile while filtering through a large series of print outs containing Howard's vitals. Having connected dozens of electrodes, wires, and strange devices to his body, Jenny smiled and looked over at Monica with strange, gleaming eyes.
"Do-Do you mind if I just do one test! I-I want to see how he compares to a human when he's attacked. Could-could you hit him for me? Not too hard." Jenny said, blushing as she looked over at Howard and said "sorry" underneath her breath. Hitting him once on the leg, a reading appeared on the monitor, causing Jenny to smile widely like a mad scientist.
Staring over at Monica one more time, Jenny gulped watching her slowly stand up and walk in her direction. Holding out her hands, she immediately started to apologize repeatedly, realizing she could die in an instant if Monica chose to end it.
However, stopping a few inches from her face, Monica smiled so wide that her joy seemed to infect Jenny, causing both of them to laugh together to Howard's dismay.
"Heh, I've been wanting to hit Howard for a very long time. Do you know what he did to me last night?" Monica said, grinding her fist into a ball. "He-he kept biting my neck! He-he almost left a mark!"
"Oh, that sounds delicious," Jenny laughed, brushing back Monica's hair. "Can I have a bite?"
"What are you like Barabin?" Monica gently pushed Jenny away and walked over to Howards side. She felt a tremendous desire to hit him with all the fury she'd built up inside. Seeing flashes of Howard touching other women, including Jenny, a large ice spear formed in her hand, slowly growing outward at a quick pace. "You-you can bite me later after I kick Howard's butt?"
"Is-is it not normal to like blood. Anyways! Forget I said anything! Please-please just hit him hard in the arm! Not too hard. Just hard enough to cut him."
"Wait, can we talk about this?" Howard said, laughing. "Can't I just hit myself?"
"The movements would mess with the electrodes. Anyways, don't ignore my question! Do you guys drink blood?" Jenny fixed her glasses, and gently tugged on her turtle neck trying to hide the teeth growing inside of her mouth. "I-I need to know that before the experiment. It's been bothering me for days!"
"Only 1 in a 100 drink blood," Monica said, gently placing the spear against Howard's arm and smirking. "However, Barabin would know more about it. Why? Are you craving to bite me Jenny?"
"No! Of course not! HAHAHAHA" Jenny sounded a tiny bit awkward, but tried her best to hide the strange feeling deep in her heart. "I-I'm just wondering why I can't use fire, or ice like you guys. I-I'm just feeling a little bit useless. Maybe me drinking blood would help?"
"Nope, to most of us it just tastes bad," Monica slammed the spear into Howards' arm, smiling as it blurred and hit hard against his chest. "Heh, how'd that feel Howard."
"Did you hit me?" Howard said, yawning, "You've hit me harder when we first met. Come on. Don't hold back!"
"I-I won't!" A large ice mark appeared on Monica's arm, causing an ice to spread across her arm. "You-you're going to get it!"
"That's enough... Don't break him. In fact, that was perfect. Please go over to the next station so I can give you your shot," Jenny smiled, looking at the results flashing on the screen. Seeing a few numbers flashed, Jenny nearly dropped her pen. Howard's body had such a vast amount of Ki Cells inside of it, that even if he got shot he'd heal instantly.
'I see… He can't be killed because he's practically immortal. If every human had millions of cells dedicated just to absorbing energy meant for healing in strength, we'd all be in his shoes.'
'Immortality is pretty simple to achieve if you know the right ingredients. Just like certain creatures are immortal, certain jellyfish, I suppose a human can also be immortal,' Jenny giggled and rubbed her hands.
'However, the strange thing about the Horned is that they can even affect space. It's like the laws of the universe don't apply to them,' Jenny laughed and rushed over to Howard, grabbing a syringe and filling it up with a cartridge. 'Anyways, let's just hope this formula works. According to my research, it only has a one in two chance of failing.'
"Why? Why do you look so weird?" Howard said, trembling. "Has-has that thing been tested yet?"
"Of course, on me," Jenny said, smiling and laughing. "Now, I might make you bleed a little bit. If you don't mind, I'll just draw some blood as well."
"Such a little scientist," Monica scoffed, putting her hands on the side of her body.
Both her and Jenny were the same age, and both of them excelled at school, however, Jenny had been on the surface a year longer. Depending on the Horned, some would awaken when they were as young as thirteen while others would awaken as late as twenty-one.
The younger someone awakened, generally, the stronger and more powerful they'd become. However, unlike one might think, the reason a Horned would get stronger wasn't because they had a greater aptitude. The reason was simple, perseverance!
With what Jenny had seen in her her own blood, when Ki Cell Division occurred each cell came back perfect, almost as if it got younger every time it split. In terms of perseverance, the reason why this mattered more than age had to do with the fact that all Horned would never truly age!
They looked older because of their genetics gradually unfurling as time went along, however, because of Ki Cell Division they'd constantly remain in an optimum state! However, at the same time, doing any experiments successfully at the molecular level was extremely dangerous. She'd almost killed herself yesterday testing the formula about to enter into Howard's veins.
"Howard, just a warning. This-this has only been tested on me. You sure you want it?"
"I-I trust you," Howard said smiling, "Like I said, I always liked watching you from across the street. Heh, before Monica became my girlfriend, I'd definitely ask you to sleep in my bed."
"Never-never going to happen!" Monica said, pulling up his sleeve and grabbing the syringe. "Let-let me do it okay? Right here, right?"
"Oh, you know the proper vein. Yup, right in the center of the elbow, careful not to puncture it," Jenny said, laughing and watching it enter into his skin. "Just-just remember to sucks ome up afterwards. I-I need it for an experiment."
"You're the doctor," Monica stabbed Howard swiftly, injecting him before a small trail of blood filled a tube in the back of the syringe. Smiling at her work, she immediately grabbed a bandaid, pulling on Howard's arm and walking towards the exit.
"Wait, leaving so soon!" Jenny said, seeing Monica exit the experimental cage without saying a word. "What-what if something goes wrong! He should stay here!"
"He-he's mine for the next 5 hours. Deal with it," Monica turned back with a strange expression, giving off a feeling similar to death incarnate. "You-you got your blood. Just make sure before you do anything funny with it, you talk to Barabin."