Secret Society

Titus and I walked to the cabin, and I took the time to explain to him my unique situation. Since I wanted to place my trust in Titus, I decided to be upfront about everything.

"So the school has you out here, learning all these things... Alone?"

I looked at Titus oddly. His view on things was always surprising, since he didn't care about the things I was learning, but more so that I was alone. I smiled and simply said I wasn't alone entirely. I told him I had a teacher.

When we got to the poisonous plants, I told him about how a single cut or even contact with some would poison him, and that he should take his time going through the plants. 

We spent almost 50 minutes making our way through the plants, before we finally succeeded and walked into the cabin. Inside Alice was sitting on the couch reading, but she didn't bother looking up from her book.

"Does he know?"

"Yes."

I answered simply. She nodded and didn't say anything else. Titus was standing by my side confused, but didn't speak up about it. He was actually more engrossed in staring at Alice. I shook my head and laughed. I grabbed his arm and dragged him into the basement.

"She... She's gorgeous."

Titus said in a trance, even after I was sitting down in the basement at the alchemy table.

"I was like that at first too, but I would watch how you act. She's not simple. Also come here, I wanted to talk to you about a way we can get past your weaknesses."

Titus broke free from his trance at my words. He had been ridiculed his entire life because of his inability to get stronger, and when I said I had a solution he was instantly interested.

"What is your solution?"

I grabbed a few different ingredients, before using my skill to mix them into a flask in my other hand. I had produced a thick black liquid, that smelled awful, and looked disgusting.

"What the fuck is this? It stinks!"

I shook my head at Titus, picking up the flask and shaking it slightly. 

"It's a potion that causes someone to rapidly develop their muscles, like a steroid, but it causes terrible damage to the user. However..."

"However I can heal quickly... Negating the negatives.. This.. Is incredible Darius! I never thought of a poison to be used like this!"

I smiled, but I shook my head after handing the potion to him.

"It isn't very useful, except for you. For everyone else, it is an item that will cause permanent damage to someone's body, but for you it's useful. Now be warned, it isn't a good batch, but with some tuning we could create something that maximizes the benefits for you. If you're willing to drink this nasty shit everyday."

Titus, without missing a beat, he grabbed the potion and drank it in one go. After he gagged and struggled to suppress the urge to throw up. In the end he managed to fully swallow the potion, and quickly ran upstairs to get some water. He then came down again, this time in a much better mood.

"I can feel the energy coursing through me! I wish there was some exercise equipment, but I think even just doing push ups is good!"

He then dropped to the ground and started doing push ups. I watched him silently, before shaking my head and taking out the book of poisons. I began to read from where I left off this morning with Alice, and I did this while taking notes in a new notebook on the effects of the potion I mixed for Titus.

I named it the PED Mix #1. PED stood for Performance Enhancement Drug. It was around three hours after he took the drug, that the effects began to wear off. I wrote this down, and made some notes about what could possibly be a fix. One would be the dosage, but that was unreasonable. The other solution would be application. If it was injected directly to his blood, would there be a better performance?

I made several notes, before getting up and helping Titus to the table in the torture room. I explained I was just going to watch the side effects, and that I wasn't going to leave him in there. He nodded and simply laid his head back on the table.

I closed the door, before watching from the window. It wasn't long before I confirmed my suspicions.

In the mix, there was a plant that had effects that would make the consumer go berserk, becoming feral and losing it's reasoning. The reason it was used in this mix, was because it also promoted a good synergistic effect when mixed with the poison that stimulated the muscles. However I took more notes, because while it had a synergistic effect, the side effect was not good. 

There were other poisons that stimulated rapid muscle growth, so I noted them down and began to formulate some different combinations. At one point Alice came down to investigate the screams she heard, and saw me watching Titus while I took notes. 

She quietly walked over and peeked into the room.

"Are you two boys hungry?"

Was all she asked. I looked up from my notebook, and looked at my watch. It was almost 9 PM, and I estimated that the effects should wear off in about an hour. I also considered Titus's health, and decided to nod my head.

"Is it possible to get him something high in meat? As many carbs as possible too..."

"Yeah, I'll order something for delivery. I'll go get it, since I know it takes you forever to make it past the plants."

I looked at her with a face. She was teasing me, but she also wasn't wrong. I simply nodded and went back to observing Titus. Alice went back upstairs, and about an hour later we headed upstairs to the living room. Titus had to be helped by me, but it was all worth it. 

Already, there was a visible improvement to Titus's physique, as he had gotten a little bit of muscle on his body. While it would look like nothing, if we had been in the gym he could have seriously put on some muscle.

Alice had already placed the food on the table in the living room, and we simply sat down to start eating. I thought there was too much food for the three of us to eat, but a while I realized I was too inexperienced.

Titus was scarfing down an outrageous amount of food, and even with that there was more food. I looked at Alice in surprise, and she explained simply to me.

"You didn't account for the amount of nutrients he needs to facilitate muscle growth and recovery combined. You were halfway correct."

I nodded and understood now where I was wrong. She was right, I only accounted for the nutrients he needed for recovery, but not what he needed for growth. This would further enhance the effects of the drug, which I noted in my notebook. I didn't realize when, but I was bringing my notebook everywhere with me.

I wrote a quick note, and continued eating occasionally. I then picked up my plate, putting it into the sink and washing it lightly before putting it into the dishwasher. I then began to grab my bags and bring them to my room. It was something I had forgotten to do last night, so I was doing it now.

When I finished, I saw Titus quietly sleeping on the couch, seemingly having finished eating.

I picked up his plate, and Alice's, before loading the dishwasher with all the things we used to eat dinner tonight. I turned it on and walked over to Alice.

"Teacher, is it okay if Titus stays here? He is extremely useful to my studies of making potions, and I think he is someone I can trust."

I said straightforwardly. She looked at me for a moment, before looking at Titus on the couch. She thought for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders.

"That's fine, but if he proves to be a threat, you will have to deal with him... Do you understand what I am saying?"

I paused and thought about the risk I was putting Titus in. However I felt like we had reached an understanding. So I nodded, resolute.

"Mm.. Then I don't mind. Having allies is important, and it was something I wish I had a knack for. Perhaps you can grow this into something more? Also... I'll show you the secret exit so you can order food too."

I almost fell over, just barely managing to catch myself on the counter.

"There was a secret entrance to avoid the plants?!"

I exclaimed. This caused Alice to laugh loudly before catching her breath.

"Of course there is, but you should still practice going through the plants. It also is important to develop the habit of doing misleading things, even when you think no one is watching. Because eventually someone will be watching, and you won't know, but your good habits will save you."

I took her words seriously, and nodded my head. I would continue to walk around the plants, but I would not do so in emergencies. We then sat together and went over some information Alice had to show me. She was teaching me about information gathering, and some channels she currently used.

"The black market is good, but they are free from any penalties for false info. So there are a lot of fake sources. Best case would be to create your own network, but that's not as easy as you would think. It requires a massive amount of funds.."

She explained many things that were important and useful, so I made sure to pay close attention to her teachings. It was around 11 PM that Titus woke up, and I told him to go up to my room and sleep for now. I still didn't sleep much, so I knew he would get more use out of it.

We continued to go over basic alchemy, for another few hours, before I went to try and sleep as much as I could before school.

 Again though, I had nightmares. It got so bad tonight, that I had woken up in a daze and grabbed my pistol. Thankfully I didn't fire it, but I was still scared that I had grabbed it on instinct in reaction to a nightmare.

I was developing a severe case of PTSD, and I was worried now about my future.

'I need to do something about my mental health... Maybe I need to talk to someone..'

I was thinking these things, before getting up and preparing for the school day. I woke up Titus, and we both got ready. Once we were dressed, we left through the plants and went to our classes together.

****

"That potion was really killer Darius! Look! I have a bicep! I didn't know I could even grow one!"

We both laughed at his comment, and I handed him another potion.

He looked at it, then at me.

"Its the new one. Use it after lunch to get the most benefit from it. It shouldn't wear off until after class ends, but once it does you need to hurry with me back to the cabin. You will probably go berserk again, so we need to contain you. Safer yet, if you wait until after school you can just go to the gym by yourself, and make sure you leave after two hours. That should give you plenty of time to make it to the cabin before the effects wear off."

Titus listened and nodded. He was not stupid, and he understood first hand that the side effects were serious.

"Then... Let's do that. I'll go to the gym after classes are done. But what about you? Do you want me to call you or something?"

I laughed at his question.

"I'll be in the library reading. Call me when you're done and we'll head back together. Also..."

I looked at his shoes. They were clearly well worn, and were torn at different places. His clothes were similar, except for his school uniform, everything else looked handed down.

"You're with me now. We'll get you some new stuff this weekend on our days off."

"Wh-You don't have to!"

I stopped him by holding up my hand.

"I said you're with me, I'll take care of your clothes. Also... As the second in command to my organization, you should look the part."

I said, jokingly. However Titus didn't think it was a joke. He instead walked in front of me, and grabbed my shoulders.

"We're creating an organization?! Like a secret society?!"

"Wha- No Titus! I was joking!"

"NO! Don't joke! Let's do it!"

I looked at him confused.

"Do what Titus?"

"We should create a secret society! You were able to help me with your alchemy and creative thinking! I bet you could help a lot of people out there! Also... I think you're a real hero. Not just someone who virtue signals without actually changing anything."

'A secret society huh... I mean... It could work. Even Teacher Alice was talking about building a team. I don't even know anyone other than Titus who would be willing to join me, and I can't exactly go around advertising my SECRET society.'

I thought about it though, and felt maybe what I needed really was a trust worthy group of people who wanted to be real heroes, willing to do things others weren't. I didn't know how I would gather these people, but for now I guess just committing to the idea was enough.

"You know what... Sure Titus. Let's do it!"

"Now we're talking! What's the name gonna be?"

I thought for a moment, before going through a list of different names with Titus. We couldn't agree on a single name though. Until we agreed on a somewhat vague name.

"What about... Calling ourselves the Doll House?"

I offered.

"What? Doll House? Isn't that a little girly?"

I smacked him on the arm.

"Yes, but that's not the point. What the name represents is the image of faceless dolls, moving without a master pulling the strings... Everyone would eventually be disposable, meaning that everyone had the same value."

Titus thought about it, and felt that I had a point.

"It does seem much cooler when you think of it that way... It still sounds super girly though... But you're the boss."

With that we had decided on a name for our organization, which would later become infamous throughout the world.