Bloodborne: First Blood {1}

Chapter 𝟛𝟠 - I Ask, I Recieve

1946

And to say that the day we had figured out Dottie Underwood and the doctor's scheme was a bad one would be an understatement.

For some background, and this might be surprising, Howard and I were...on break. The reason, things had been said and it was decided that we needed time. When I found out Howard had been keeping Steve's blood a secret I had no words, there was only shock.

Losing two best friends while my abilities were deteriorating was a lot to deal with already, not to mention fighting for respect in the SSR office. I was sick of being treated like some secretary.

Now though, I was with Mr. Jarvis, Peggy, Sousa, Thompson, and all the other SSR agents. We all crowded around Chief Dooley who had one of Howard's highly explosive devices on. It was meant to be a vest that could keep you warm in harsh conditions. One that couldn't be tampered with from the outside, safe to say that everyone including the scientists was freaking out.

However, I had been around Howard for a long enough. I constantly spent time trying to figure out how to stop some of his more dangerous inventions from working. He taught me science while I taught him to defend himself because face it, with all the enemies he has he needs it.

I focused on the fact that Mr. Jarvis said the vest couldn't be externally tampered with, but he never said anything about it being internally tampered with.

"...Alright, I think I have an idea." The whole room turned to look at me.

"But, Ms. Harding it can't be—"

"Tampered with externally I know, that's not my plan though."

Thompson grew more nervous by the minute. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

I then turned to the scientists to get what I needed. "Here's the deal. I need safety glasses, 100 milliliters Aqua Regia—"

"The acid?"

"Yes, the acid and, I need a large bowl with 500 grams of ice, an eye dropper, gloves, and sodium hydroxide, ten percent. Also a towel for the Chief. Start packing him with ice to make him comfy."

"You heard the woman, go!" Thompson commanded which they all scattered.

Peggy stood next to me. "What exactly is your plan Tina?"

"The acid should melt the metal and buy some time before that thing blows. At least Dooley won't be going with it."

Chief Dooley looked at me with a little hope in his eyes. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"I wouldn't do this if I didn't."

Soon the scientists came with what I needed and the agents had packed the Chief with ice, now I had to get to work with tens of pairs of eyes on me. Great.

I had put on my protective equipment before getting started, it was as simple as using the eye dropper to drop some of the acids into the small spaces inside the metal buckles that kept the vest intact. The metal soon melted and—the vest slipped off of the Chief's body. I could hear his intense sigh of relief.

Then, I neutralized the acid by pouring it into the bowl of ice along with the sodium hydroxide to bring the pH of the mixture to a smooth 7.

While I saw the proud faces of Jarvis and Peggy looking at me as well as the agents finally letting out deep breaths. It wasn't over yet.

The vest was still active and it was about to blow. I picked up the vest telling people to move out the way.

"Move! It's gonna blow!" I ran to the nearest window, opened it, and threw the vest as far as I could outside. As soon as I did that, there was a huge explosion that shook the walls and floor of the SSR. The windows got broken, glass flew to everyone and agents flew back.