Chapter 311- Not The Cure

Zeel stared at the object for a moment, a glass jar containing the head of a creature that had two long fangs for teeth.

"That's a fake vampire head that was created about a thousand years ago but the aging made it look real and your organization was dumb enough to keep it here as a prize," Zeel said staring at Jenny strangely.

Jenny smiled and nodded her head since it was indeed a fake they used for study purposes.

"See, you can tell just from a glance," Jenny admired, finally viewing Zeel as a person instead of a cold-hearted murderer.

"You can probably do it too," Zeel replied, still examining the contents of the lab.

"How?" Jenny asked unconvinced.

"It's not that complicated… when you look at someone having a bad day, only an inch away from pulling out a gun and shooting everyone.

Your body becomes weary and you feel like you should stay away from that person… That's what you call 'sensing'… humans have been doing it for thousands of years…," Zeel replied.

Seeing that Jenny was doubtful, Zeel scanned the room and noticed a soldier looking away stationed on the opposite side of the room.

"Look at this," Zeel said, picking up a small sponge from the table and showing it to Jenny "Look at what happens when I do this…"

Zeel stared at the sponge and whispered loud enough for Jenny to hear "Danger!" then he tossed the sponge through the air at the soldier.

Jenny felt like Zeel was joking but the next moment the soldier leaped out of the way and aimed his gun at the incoming sponge ball with fear written all over his face.

Luckily, the soldier was experienced enough not to shoot and resumed his post without any complaints.

"Trained professionals can sense danger easier because that is what their mind is conditioned to do, but sensing encompasses a large number of things…

Sensing where components should go, sensing when someone is near, sensing how to make someone happy…

Humans do it all the time unconsciously… it's just the more selfish you are, the less of the world you are able to feel," Zeel stated and Jenny finally understood the ins and outs of what Zeel was trying to say.

"Last Christmas I just passed by a store and knew it would have the perfect gift for my mom…"

Zeel nodded before Jenny could fully explain.

"It was probably sensing," Zeel answered and paused looking at Jenny for a while before asking "Do you want to feel what it is like to truly sense something?"

Jenny was reluctant at first, but seeing that Henry had not yet arrived with the greeting party, she opted to keep Zeel entertained before he spontaneously decided to murder someone.

"Sensing is easy… it is like taking a part of someone into yourself… humans call it sympathy… so," Zeel said and placed both his hands on Jenny's forehead.

"All I have to do is suppress your instinct for self-preservation," Zeel said, his nanites pulsing as a section of Jenny's brain was momentarily stunned.

Jenny was unsure of what happened next but suddenly, all the world around her made sense. She looked at the guard and it was like everything about him was screaming at her to notice him.

Jenny could tell that the guard had a crush on her since she first started working here, and even as he stood there still as a statue, Jenny could feel his emotions gravitating towards her.

Zeel quickly removed his hands from Jenny's forehead and she was slammed back into her body as her instinct for self-preservation clouded the world around her once more.

"What's wrong?" Jenny asked, hoping that Zeel could let her experience sensing for a bit longer.

The feeling was as addicting as it was scary to feel everything around you speaking and screaming for attention.

"Sensing is bringing specific things towards you to get a feel for it, but you were trying to go to those things instead.

That would be projecting yourself into the astral plane… and that's bad," Zeel said, regretting showing Jenny how to make fire when she hadn't even begun to play with rocks.

"Is that all there is?" Jenny asked, furthering the topic along, hoping to learn more from Zeel.

Zeel shook his head and frowned deprecatingly as he recalled his first lessons about sensing.

"First, you sense the entire world around you and everything wrong with everyone but that's dangerous because everyone has something wrong with them.

You can sense when someone didn't eat a lot or have an argument with their spouse, or when they want to fart… everything just screams at you and you'll sense it all.

You will die from a melted brain before the end of the day if that happens.

That's when you have to normalize… you have to shut off your connection to the world and only sense what your mind deems 'abnormal'.

It's like being given the vision, only to rip out your own eyes the next moment.

And once you shut off the connection with the world, you will never get it back. So everything around you goes silent and you return to normal.

Occasionally, you will sense sparse things like someone trying to kill you, or danger coming for you.

If you're someone like me that has seen death your entire life, it becomes harder to sense things because you are used to things like death and torture.

So it's almost like you're more blind than when you started sensing things in the first place. You won't be able to sense people who want to kill you because you are accustomed to death.

You will only be able to sense things just as you're about to die. You can't sense when someone who you love is going to die, only when you are going to die.

It's a burden and a blessing to be able to 'sense' things,"

"That sounds like a lot," Jenny murmured "To know that you are able to know but not knowing regardless," she said and asked, "Is that confusing?"

"Don't worry," Zeel said causing Jenny to sigh in relief until he continued his statement "Most humans don't make sense to me anyway,"

Jenny faltered in her steps and was about to rebut Zeel when her watch lit up with green light signaling it was time to resume her duties as a diplomatic escort.

Jenny led Zeel through a hallway and into Henry's private quarters.

The room was once a vault that served to keep Henry, or rather Edward Hyde, locked inside, but now it was much more aesthetically pleasing to afford Henry some reprieve from his isolation.

Of course, the security of the room had only increased to keep Henry inside since nobody knew when Zeel's method to keep Henry's dual personality restrained would fail.

"Nice prison you got here," Zeel admired, joining Henry around his tea table that held all the utensils necessary for tea creation but having no tea regardless.

Henry smiled relaxedly and replied "Ever since your help restraining my 'erroneous' nature, I have been afforded the ability to decorate a little,"

"This is a huge facility," Zeel admired looking around "Runs under the entire London City,"

"It's amazing what money can buy," Jenny murmured while placing one more seat around the table.

Soon Nick was escorted into the room followed by a couple soldiers.

Nick stared at Zeel wearingly and nodded his in a strange way as a show of respect before taking his seat directly next to Zeel.

Henry and Jenny watched the strange greeting Nick had performed to Zeel and had several thoughts running through their minds.

It was like Zeel and Nick were in a plane of their own that nobody else was allowed to enter.

Sadly, Zeel didn't return Nick's greeting because Nick had yet to fully acknowledge his status as a Herald.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Morton," Henry opened the conversation, rising from his seat and performing a bow of sorts "My name is Dr. Henry Jekyll,"

"Doctor of what?" Nick asked, feeling a bit more relaxed when Jenny placed a hand on his shoulder.

"These days I specialize in Immunology perhaps. Infectious diseases," Henry replied, walking to his desk.

"Why am I here?" Zeel asked, sensing that Henry wanted to make a bargain of sorts "You have nothing that I want…"

"To explain what I possess that you may find useful Mr. Crawford, I would like, if I may, to tell you a story," Henry said and waited for both Zeel and Nick to nod before continuing.

"… A story about a patient of mine... A man with promise, a man who believed he was beyond reproach… until he got ill.

The disease manifested itself in subtle ways at first… And then it grew… into… an… overwhelming desire, an unquenchable thirst for chaos.

For the suffering of others," Henry said, licking his lips like he could taste the fear radiating off the trembling soldiers in the room.

Zeel slapped his hands on the table causing a single spoon to float into the air and tremble.

This spoon trembled until a sharp ringing sound swept across the room, canceling the aura of fear that Henry was dispersing across the room unconsciously.

Henry regained his wits and smiled at Zeel thankfully, then he continued his story "He was quite fortunate that he, himself, was a physician, and if evil was a pathogen… he reasoned…

then there must surely be a cure…"

Finishing his story, Henry walked over to the table from his desk and placed a vial of green liquid onto the table.

Zeel was dismissive at first, but when he closely examined the vial his pupils shrunk into pin-needles and dragon scales started to spout on his hands.

Zeel quickly restrained himself and Henry continued after seeing that Zeel was no longer at risk of attacking.

"I am not offering you the cure Mr. Crawford," Henry said and paused "I am offering you the pathogen…."

A long silence ensued… but Henry misinterpreted the nature of Zeel's Draconic instincts.

Only Zeel knew that his Draconic-nature was not riled up due to anger, but due to something much more common amongst dragons – Greed.