The Test.

Rick teleported to the base and wanted to head to his room to take his painkiller medicine, but Marcus's chief assistant met him at the very entrance.

"Master said that you should immediately go to the laboratory, we need to conduct some experiments," the man said in an indifferent voice. He and Rick were far from the status of friendly colleagues, basically just like everyone else who worked in this place.

Everyone who came here, first of all, craved the attention of Marcus, and their goal was to gain the trust of this mysterious and cold-blooded person. Going through the selection was tantamount to going down to hell and returning back from there, so it would never have occurred to any of Marcus's wards to betray their Master or work as a spy.

And Simon was one of his most faithful lackeys. Deep down he sincerely hated Rick for the fact that this man appeared next to the Master without any tests and treated the latter as an equal. Well, it was so until Rick betrayed Marcus. But even then, Master did not get rid of him and left him as a personal servant. Simon did not understand how this Richard was different from the others, but he also could not ask his Master about this.

What Marcus hated the most was when outsiders were sticking their nose into his affairs and questioned his decisions.

"What kind of experiments are we talking about?" Rick tried to maintain his usual indifference, but inside he strained from this order. Time inexorably played against him, without the pain medication his brain could turn off at any moment, and then he no longer knew what would happen to his memory when he regained consciousness.

"We want to test chip tracking, and you will be the first test subject. This is the order of the Master," Simon answered, and Rick distinctly noticed his contented grin.

The only drawback of the chip was the inability to track the movements of the object in whom it is embedded. For Rick, this was a big plus, because in this case, the system could not see that he had three chips installed instead of one, but it seems that they completed the development of this function.

The man silently followed Simon towards the laboratory, analyzing his possible actions. He would not be able to cope with such a crowd of upscale assassins alone. Moreover, he had already sufficiently compromised himself in the eyes of Marcus, and he could not endanger the lives of Corey and Ashley. It only remained to meekly follow the order and keep an indifferent look.

Many research centers would envy Marcus laboratories, the latest contemporary developments in the fields of electronics, bioengineering, biochemistry, quantum physics and implantation - both official and the ones tested on the black market - everything could be found here.

As well as the most zealous researchers and doctors who wouldn't mind risking a person's life in order to achieve the desired results of experiments. Many of them were descendants of the Nazis who fled to the USA and Latin America after the fall of the Third Reich, so they shared the views and approaches of Marcus with great approval.

Simon pointed at one of the chairs to which the computer with the wires was connected.

"The procedure should take no more than one minute, we will do the calibration, after which you can return to your room."

Rick lay down on a chair and closed his eyes, the man felt a sharp object dig into his shoulder.

"What is this?" He asked, turning his head and seeing a syringe with unknown fluid.

"This is a new type of pain medication. We don't know what effect this procedure will cause, therefore we exclude possible consequences," the laboratory assistant who was giving the injection explained.

"Have you decided to test this tool at the same time?" Rick asked and looked at Simon's grinning.

The corners of the lips of the latter turned up, he clearly liked to look at Rick from top to bottom, as in a normal situation he was half a head shorter than Stein.

"Do you have something against that? This is not the first time you are a test subject. Any problems? I'm sure, Master will listen to them with interest."

"No," Rick answered with indifference, turned away, and closed his eyes. His body began to fill with lightness, the pain gradually receded, the confidence that he could get out of this situation without consequences reassured the man, and he himself did not notice how his consciousness went out within a few seconds.

"So it should be like this?" Simon asked the laboratory assistant who was sitting at the computer and watching the test results. The chip identification was successful, it was reflected in the system, but after the procedure, more than ten minutes passed, and Rick never regained consciousness.

"I-I don't know, in theory, no," he answered in a confused voice. Sensors connected to Rick showed a weak life activity, as if he was in a deep sleep, close to a coma.

The system emitted a loud squeak and the heart rate dropped to zero. Simon and the laboratory assistant looked at each other in confusion. Losing one of the subjects was not a problem, but Marcus would hardly have approved if Rick had been the one they lost.

"What the hell are you looking at me?! Do something!" Simon barked, the palms of his hands sweating with tension. All sensors on the computer had full zeros.

"Yes, sir!" The laboratory assistant got up from his chair to go up to Rick, but then collapsed back, "Um... sir..."

"What???" Simon asked irritably, his eyes fixed on the screen.

"Mr. Richard..."

Simon raised his head, "Oh, shit!" The chair on which Rick was lying was empty.