Chapter 70

"Well, if it isn't little Dio, who always manages to find an excuse not to let me research his powers."

Dr. Victoria greeted him as she turned her back to type in the password to close the door.

Dr. Victoria October is responsible for all matters related to biology, genetics, and medical science in A.R.G.U.S.

She claims to be the leading expert on post-human biology on the planet.

She is a woman who appears to be in her thirties, with short black hair and a prominent white streak in the front, much like Rogue from Marvel.

Victoria always wears black lipstick and black clothing under her white lab coat and is always seen with her trusty cane to assist with walking due to an old leg injury that has affected her mobility.

"Pleasure to see you again, Doctor. You've done an excellent job saving so many people."

Dio said while looking around.

Dr. Victoria October has two labs here. One of them is further below where they are, up an entire floor just for her.

It's her personal lab, which now has about ten other scientists who were sitting on the floor looking very down.

"These scaredy-cats were helping me with research when the chaos began."

Victoria said as she slowly used her cane to make her way to the other side of the room, where she sat in a chair facing them.

"Why weren't you infected?"

Diana asked with curiosity.

"A.R.G.U.S. laboratories have independent ventilation systems to ensure there's no chance of infecting the whole building if we were to mess up."

Victoria replied.

"Just like the morgue!"

Another voice sounded in, one that Dio recognized.

"John, where are you?"

Dio asked with joy if his friend was okay.

Dr. Johnny Peril is responsible for all matters related to the occult in this place, and he helped him a lot in the beginning by finding material on magic.

"In the morgue."

Johnny replied, and Dio could see that his voice was coming from a landline phone on one of the tables.

"Whoever attacked us didn't disrupt internal communications, so I called all the floors one by one to find safe people, and after finding Dr. Victoria, we started creating a plan to end this horror movie."

"Any luck?"

Diana asked.

"No, none at all."

Dr. Victoria shouted unexpectedly happily about it.

She turned her back to them while pressing something on her computer, and the screen displayed an enlarged image of a virus.

"The virus produces a lot of adrenaline, which makes it hard to think clearly. The infected remain in this state until their hearts literally explode due to the adrenaline. Since its creation, scientists have been desperate to find a cure, and now, before achieving that, we have a virus mutation. We'll literally have to throw all our work in the trash and start over. Haha!"

Victoria explained, and then burst into laughter.

It was this personality that initially made Dio hesitate to approach her.

There is a lot about her that screams "Mad Genius," and their background in D.C. makes it sense to be wary of them.

However, Dr. Victoria October is a good person, even though she has an unpleasant personality.

It took him a while to understand that.

"This new variant not only makes everyone more chaotic but has also been modified to take down the first ones."

Johnny continued the explanation over the phone.

"What do you mean?"

Diana asked.

"The effects of Maru usually start almost immediately after contact with the virus. But now they have their first convulsion, and they don't wake up until a few minutes later with pumped full of adrenaline."

Johnny explained.

That's how the intruders did it.

They would have had to deal with frantic A.R.G.U.S. soldiers if they had infected everyone in the base at once; the effect would have happened immediately.

But by having the infected first experience convulsions, the enemy could quickly move through the entire base while leaving everyone defenseless and grabbing what they wanted.

When they left, everything would self-destruct.

"What was the sequence of events during the attack?"

Dio asked with curiosity.

"We have no details about that. We only received the chief's signal to seal the base, and then when everyone was inside heading for the banker, the ventilation was flooded with the virus."

They were surprised and unaware that Steve was under control.

Whoever did this is long gone, probably with Steve and whatever they came to retrieve.

"We can't stay here for too long; we have to help the people outside."

Diana said while looking at the exit.

"I'm all ears, Diana. If you happened to know of a cure, you'd tell me now."

Dr. Victoria replied, now gazing through a telescope on her desk.

"Right here!"

Diana said while lifting her lasso.

Glancing quickly at Diana, Victoria immediately returned to her work and said.

"Yes, unfortunately, we only have one lasso, and there were over two hundred people in the building when this chaos started. I think there are about fifty infected survivors after some quick calculations.

"We don't need a complete cure, just a way to take them all down at once, and then we can use her lasso."

Dio suggested.

Victoria turned to him once again.

"That might work, but the problem is finding something that will take them all down at once."

"Do sedatives not work?"

Dio asked.

"The adrenaline in their blood significantly reduces the effects of a common sedative."

Victoria explained as she got up and went to a shelf on the side of the room.

"But we can use this."

Victoria said while taking something from the shelf and showing them a small, sealed glass vial.

"What is this?"

Diana asked.

"Nerve gas."

Victoria replied casually.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Are you crazy?"

Both John and Dio shouted at the same time.

'Even though I'm not an expert on scientific matters, I know how dangerous nerve gas is.'

"Relax; this bad boy here was created by me. I haven't even reported to A.R.G.U.S. about it yet."

Victoria replied while playing with the glass vial.

"Will this help us?"

Diana asked.

"It was created to target the motor system first, so those exposed to it are paralyzed and unable to find a cure or a way to save their lives."

Victoria explained.

"How long until it's lethal?"

Diana asked again.

"Three minutes, but since all the infected are pumped up on adrenaline, I'd say the time jumps to ten minutes."

"Nobody's going to ask why this lunatic has something so dangerous in her lab!"

Johnny yelled over the phone.

"Specifically, on a shelf?"

Dio added.

"ON A SHELF!"

Johnny yelled.

"Oh, that's from my personal collection, so don't worry about it."

Victoria replied as if it were the most normal thing in the world to have deadly viruses stored on a shelf.

This prompted Dio to look at the other glass vials on the shelf.

"Do you think this will work, Dr. Peril?"

Diana asked and looked at the phone.

John took a few seconds to respond.

"It makes sense that the high concentration of adrenaline in the body would reduce the effects of nerve gas. I'd say this is our best chance."

Johnny said.

"Do we have antidotes for everyone?"

Diana asked Victoria with determination.

"The only reason I haven't released this gas yet is that it's easily cured with a readily available medication."

Victoria replied.

"We can also use the ventilation."

Dio suggested and understood that Diana had decided to go with this plan.

"Here!"

Victoria shouted and threw the vial at Dio.

Dio held the vial as if it were the Holy Grail, and his heart began to race with fear.

"Just break the vial."

Victoria continued.

"Can both of us be infected?"

Diana asked.

"I've already tested it using the data I collected from the demigods. It won't even give you a cold, cursed divine genetics."

Victoria replied with anger and showed up in the last part.

It seems that analyzing and cloning the DNA of the gods is impossible, so there isn't an army of Diana clones walking around.

"But we still have the biggest problem: how to gather all the people scattered throughout this place and then cure them using the lasso before distributing the nerve gas antidote."

Dio said.

"I have a plan."

Diana said, who was already walking to the laboratory's glass door

Victoria joined them and opened the door for the two of them.

"I'll gather everyone in the cafeteria, get the antidote, and wait for the right moment."

Diana told Victoria.

"How will we know the signal and when the gas was used?"

Victoria asked.

"Internal communications are still functioning; we'll call."

Dio said while leaving the door with Diana.

As they walked to the next floor, Diana explained her plan.

"It will be extremely challenging to gather them all in one room because people who have the virus typically attack anyone around them. It's also possible for them to pick targets that are getting too much attention, which is what we'll do."

Diana explained.

The infected people had no sense of teamwork, so if they gathered them all in one place, they would likely kill each other.

However, the situation would change if they made themselves their top priority.

"What if it doesn't work? This aspect of the virus might have been altered as well."

Dio asked.

"If it doesn't work, we can only pray to the gods and save as many as possible."

This was one of the rare occasions when drawing attention to oneself was a good thing, so they needed to do it right.

"σηκωθείτε!"

(Rise!)

On the stairs, two skeletons arose from the mist at his side and ran similarly to him.

Diana looked at him and said

"You're growing faster and faster. I might have to ask for your help when dealing with Circe soon."

"Please don't."

Dio replied while imagining a battle against an immortal sorceress known as the Greek goddess of magic.

They reached the lower floor.

'If I remember correctly, this floor was where strategic research against threats was conducted.'

In front of him, Diana wasted no time and struck her two bracelets together.

"BLAMMMMMMM!"

The noise was so loud that the windows around them started to shake and looked like they might shatter.

Fortunately, Dio had reduced his super hearing when he saw what she was about to do; otherwise, he would be furious now.

...

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