California.
Another death in the lab.
Repeated experimental failures have made Carlton Drake eager for quick success. His trusted bodyguard, Terry, brings him scruffy, bearded homeless men one after another. He lures them into the lab with nothing more than a meal, a paltry sum of money, and the empty promise of a bright future.
Dr. Dora Scoles once again watched life vanish before her eyes. This time, it was faster, more swift. She wanted to stop Carlton, but she didn't dare take that step.
Dora ultimately couldn't contain her guilt. She didn't dare disobey Carlton Drake's orders, nor did she dare stop him herself. So she turned to Eddie Brock, a journalist who often focused on grassroots reporting and major news. He was also the first to expose some of the Life Foundation's inhumane experiments.
Although she didn't know where the other party's intelligence channels came from, this only proved that they were very powerful. With no better options and no one else to trust, Eddie Brock, the reporter who had severely offended Carlton, was the only person Dora could think of collaborating with.
The other party is a journalist and has the channels to report these inhumane things!
If the news is exposed, the Life Foundation will inevitably receive strong attention and criticism. Even if it does not affect Carlton in the end, it will at least make the other party afraid to act recklessly again.
This was what Dr. Dora was thinking. It was also what she told herself deep down: just this once! If she failed, she would just suppress her guilt and become Carlton's tool.
Dr. Dora found Eddie Brock, and another test subject had died in the lab. However, when Dora told Eddie everything clearly, the reporter who had dared to expose the Life Foundation's shameful case in front of the camera did not immediately agree to join forces with her.
"Look at me, thanks to you, I haven't worked for several months now. My girlfriend left me, my house, my car, I'm almost losing everything. Now I can only come to the cheapest convenience store nearby to buy some food every day." Eddie pointed to a small convenience store across the street.
"This is all because of my actions. I don't want to have anything to do with the Life Foundation anymore! I can't help you, find someone else."
Dora sighed as she looked at Eddie Brock, his beard scruffy, his hair a mess, and his appearance ungroomed. She wasn't a forceful or decisive person, otherwise she wouldn't have hesitated so long before finally deciding to test the waters and defy Carlton. After Eddie's clear and direct words, she sat in silence for a moment, then stood up to pay the bill and leave. As she finally left, she pushed a business card across the table in front of Eddie and offered a final, hopeful plea: "If you change your mind, feel free to contact me."
Dora thought the matter would just pass, her efforts fruitless. But just a few hours later, she unexpectedly received a call from reporter Eddie. He said he'd finally figured it out and wanted to meet for a discussion. Dora was perplexed. What could Eddie have gone through in those few hours to have changed his mind so quickly?
Still have a conscience?
Dora couldn't figure it out, but that didn't stop her from agreeing on a meeting place with the other party.
"What do you want me to do?" After meeting, reporter Eddie, who looked more energetic and capable than when they met a few hours ago, asked Dora straight to the point.
"I'll take you quietly into the lab. There won't be anyone there at this time of night, so you can take some photos of the evidence." Dora said what she was thinking. "Then I'll find a way to get you out, and all you have to do is expose the evidence you've taken and make a big news story. That's your specialty, how's that?"
"It's a great way to cooperate. Everyone does their job. You act as the insider, and I get the evidence." Reporter Eddie nodded, approving Dora's plan.
"Before you enter, you must listen to me in everything. After you enter, don't touch anything and try to take pictures of evidence without causing any noise. Okay?" Dora asked.
"I will do it." Eddie thought about it and felt that it was not difficult to do, so he agreed.
After the two finished their discussion, they prepared the tools and drove to the Life Foundation in Dr. Dora's car.
When entering the gate, Dora asked Eddie to lie down and hide, and after exchanging a few words with the security guard, she was let in. Dora brought Eddie to the front of the laboratory silently. God knows how long she had been calculating in her mind and observing the movements of the security guards on duty at night.
After opening the door with her card, she pushed him in. She had already heard the security guard's footsteps, and she planned to stay outside to deal with the security guard and find a way to send him away.
Eddie slipped into the lab and was greeted by a series of small, tempered glass cubicles, each containing a emaciated body. Each room's LCD screen displayed the body's vital signs. Most of the bodies inside were either dying or dead, having not yet been cleaned up.
Eddie took out his tools and filmed every room one by one, bit by bit, capturing all the information and images. However, at the end of the filming, a familiar woman suddenly got up from the ground, ran to the tempered glass door with disheveled hair, pounded on the glass wall with her fists, and screamed frantically as if she had seen a savior: "Eddie, Eddie! It's me! Maria! Are you here to save me? It's too scary here, save me! Let me out! Let me out!"
Eddie was startled by the woman who suddenly pounced on him. He subconsciously put his hand on the door lock, but was reminded that he did not have permission. Under Maria's frantic pleading, Eddie forgot Dora's advice to keep quiet. He looked around, found a hard metal object, and began to smash the glass wall with force.
Fine cracks appeared on the smooth glass wall, and under the extraordinary strength of Eddie and Maria, it finally shattered. However, the shattering of the glass wall also activated the laboratory's security system. Red warning lights and warning sounds began to sound. When Eddie tried to pull Maria away, Maria, who had been able to remain conscious, suddenly became mad and pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. Her hands tightly grasped his neck, and a trace of black liquid seeped into Eddie's body through her hands.