Pride & Humility

XXX

Beta: TaintedLetter

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Kimblee was certainly a bit of a monster, but he was a polite monster. Already within the first few minutes of conversing with Kimblee, Elizabeth found she preferred his company over Raven's. He had a charismatic way of speaking that drew others in, even if what he was speaking about was casual murder.

His eyes gleamed with a touch of madness, but at times it reminded Elizabeth of her own gaze.

While Elizabeth was certainly wary of the man—he was still enough of a wildcard that Papa viewed him as a potential threat—she couldn't bring herself to outright hate him. Especially since he was acting on behalf of Papa, and he was treating her so nicely.

It was oddly refreshing to talk with someone new who wasn't slimy like Raven, or terrified of her like everyone else.

Especially a fellow alchemist who happened to have read up on all of Elizabeth's published works!

Kimblee, like Raven, and Elizabeth, was on a mission on behalf of Papa. All of their missions were different, but they aligned in that they all had to visit Fort Briggs. Kimblee was officially hunting down Scar and a man named Marcoh. Scar was to be captured dead, or alive, but Marcoh was preferably wanted alive. Raven had to "fix an issue" at Briggs, and Elizabeth had to conduct testing her new fungus.

Her fungus was... certainly dangerous. Fort Briggs would be ideal testing grounds due to its isolation, and environment. The cold weather would prevent it from being able to grow outside of the fort, and since it was so isolated there was a slim chance a civilian would accidentally inhale it.

It was designed to produce unique effects when inhaled by a mammal—specially engineered to target humans. If it worked properly it would trigger a mindless berserker mode in their host, heating up their body temperatures to 43°C (110°F), and beginning the destruction of the brain cells. The "berserk" mode would induce rage—the amygdala would stimulate the hypothalamus—hysteria, and trigger the hyperarousal response (fight or flight). In theory this should turn the human into a "berserker" and unable to differentiate who is ally or who is foe. They would inevitably die from the infection due to the high body temperature if they are not put down first. The fungi would continue to feast on their organs, reproducing inside, waiting for an unsuspecting coroner, or friend to touch the body—and boom. The spores would bellow out of the body, infecting the next person.

It was a perfect weapon for war. All it took was a few spores to end up in enemy lines and it would cause mass confusion, death, and chaos.

The only danger such a creation posed would be if it mutated to be immune to Elizabeth's current antidote.

However, no fungi could withstand the cold of Fort Briggs. Worse case scenario would be chuck the infected out in the blizzard, let them die, wait for the fungi to die inside of them, and then recollect the body to synthesize a new cure.

Besides, there was no true danger as long as Elizabeth wore the proper gear when handling the spores. She wasn't an idiot, she knew how to take precautions.

Elizabeth, Kimblee, and Raven, headed out to Fort Briggs about an hour after Elizabeth and Raven had arrived. They took one of the military cars, with another car following closely behind them with Elizabeth's spores being kept inside.

They were let inside the massive obsidian fortress without fuss, but unfortunately they could not proceed further without General Armstrong, who was apparently indisposed.

The one who came to greet them was a man with dark skin, silvery hair pulled back in a spiky high tail, and wore sunglasses to cover his eyes. He introduced himself as Major Miles.