Russell Brooks - Pandora's Succession

The answer then became clear to Fox. He didn’t want to believe it for himself, but he had to accept it, given all of the facts. The events of 9/11 were the worst and most unforgettable ever perpetrated on US soil, in a single day that he could remember. Since then, leading world governments and their militaries have been on high alert, while the general public wonders where and when the next major attack will take place.

Now it wasn’t a matter of where the next attack would take place, it was all about when. And there was no government or nation who could accept that an even worse catastrophe was in their midst. And up until then, Fox wouldn’t have either.

“You want to wipe out the world’s population.” This was all Fox could think of when he looked at those chilled blue eyes of hers.

“Now you’re catching on. It’ll be a swift end to the forces that are destroying this world, resulting in a new beginning. I’m a learner. I believe that we as humans are meant to make progress. I’ve had the opportunity to live in a dysfunctional family with opposing views. What’s the end result? A zero-sum, that’s what. With the way things are going, the complete and utter annihilation of all life on this planet is bound to happen. It’s just a matter of when. I simply plan to accelerate what’ll be the inevitable. In the end, the chosen few will remain and we’ll all start life again and this time it will be an improvement.”

“You can’t be serious. You’re talking about global genocide.”

Marx laughed. “No. A global cleansing. Something about you told me that you’d be trouble when we first met. Already from our first encounter we haven’t seen eye to eye. At the CDC compound in Uganda, you saw the corpses. I saw an organism that can self-replicate at an incredible rate.”

“And you’re bound to run into a lot more like me. What’ll you do, kill us all?”

Marx stared at Fox with a glare that put a freeze on everyone around her. Even Tanaka lost his smile. But then she curved her lips inward, exhaled, and rested one hand on the table beside her glass. “Too blind to see things for what they are, aren’t we? But you don’t have to worry because it’s perfectly normal. There’s a reason I’ve kept you alive this long.” She signaled with a hand gesture. “You know things. You’re of no use to me dead, at least not until I have an idea of what you know.”

Again there was a short blast of loud music that signaled the waiter’s return. This time he carried a small metal box on his tray. He placed the cigar-box-sized container on the table beside Marx’s glass. He then walked away, the short burst of loud music soon followed.

“Can you guess what’s inside?”

“Sodium Pentothal, or Truth Serum, its more common name. But of course, you, a scientist, should know the dangers of mixing drugs with alcohol, so maybe it wasn’t such a good idea giving me this beverage.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be under constant supervision.” She opened the box and took out a syringe.

Fox smirked. “You’ll need more than that.”

“Oh, please. Look beside you.” Marx glanced briefly at the two ninjas while she held up the syringe. “I could have the truth beaten out of you or maybe have you taken back to the lab where I’d have you converted. If you haven’t guessed it yet, I love having fun with science. Especially when living specimens are involved.”

Fox felt that she appeared to be overconfident. She might expect him to resist while being held down for the syringe but probably nothing else. The burning candle in the centerpiece, he could use that. Dr. Marx was rather insistent on him drinking. Let her see what she wants to see. He could still get away. Alcohol on an open flame might not be much but it should distract them long enough for him to tackle Tanaka and grab his gun. But the two ninjas would be quick to respond.

“So let me get this straight. Your brainwashing drug, should you choose to use it, would disrupt my reasoning abilities in the RES?” Fox specifically did not refer to the drug by its real name, Clarity, since it was only Parris who had mentioned that to him. Marx looked at him with a half-smile as she raised the syringe to eye level. “The RAS, Fox. It’s not called the RES.” She tapped the syringe causing the remaining air bubbles to surface. “And that is the area which screens out conflicting information going to the brain. This will first disrupt the ability to reason, along with personality formation.”

“In the hindbrain.” Fox raised the glass and stopped short of his mouth.

“No, the forebrain and the hypothalamus.”

“Oh, I’m not so sure of that.” Fox held the glass in hand and turned to the ninja to his left. “Do you mind checking that out for us? I’m curious to know who’s right.”

“Just give me his arm,” snapped Marx.

In that instant, Fox threw his drink onto the open flame in front of him. There was a loud popping sound and a flash of flame and sparks. Fox kicked up his legs and sent the table flying at Tanaka. He launched from his seat and reached into his pocket to grab the sand while he spun around. He then threw it into the eyes of one of the henchmen. At that the henchman doubled over with both hands at his eyes, Fox engaged the other as he blocked off a set of rapid strikes to his chest and face.

Dr. Marx backed away from the melee as Fox temporarily overpowered him, giving him time to tackle Tanaka to the floor and snatch his Sig P226 firearm from its holster, spin around, go down on one knee, and pull the trigger twice. As he expected, the same henchman, already in mid-air flight towards him, caught both bullets in the chest, and crash landed beside him. Fox was about to plug the other henchman when he was kicked in the hand, causing a shot to be fired into the ceiling. Fox was then kicked in the stomach which sent him crashing backwards into a table behind him, knocking it over.

This ninja was no ordinary street thug-he was a trained assassin. But then, so was Fox. His opponent attacked him, but Fox blocked the attacks and soon overpowered him, flooring him. The henchman tried to get up, but Fox had already thrown his leg out and connected the front of his shoe to his temple, knocking him out.

The Sig was still within his reach, and he snatched it up and aimed it at both Marx and Tanaka. “It’s time for a change of authority around here.” He could shoot them both right now and end this, but it would still leave him at a dead end since he didn’t know where Pandora was hidden, not to mention how many locations it could be stored at.

But now that he was in control, he would be the one to ask them questions, not only to uncover where to find Pandora, but also how to undo the effects of the Clarity drug.

“You.” Fox pointed the gun at Tanaka. “Get up.”

Tanaka’s grin faded and he did as told. Fox then pointed the gun at Dr. Marx.

“And you. Go stand beside him.” Marx, however, was much slower and obviously didn’t feel as threatened as Tanaka. Her stare went cold as she tightened her grip on the syringe as though to crush it in her hand.

“You won’t need that anymore, so give it to Tanaka.” Her eyes narrowed and the same coldness he felt when he first met her seemed to penetrate his bones, to which he responded by pointing the Sig at her head.

“Now!” Fox said, this time louder.

Marx sighed and handed the syringe to Tanaka. “You continue to impress me. I suppose you’re going to force me to take the truth serum to get the information you want. Pity it won’t work.”

“Oh yeah, why’s that?” Fox moved closer to them, stopping short about five feet away.

“I designed truth serum upgrades for the military, as well as their blockers,” she answered. “In fact, I’m on one of them right now.”