Helios stared at the vial containing the poison of the pufferfish. The thought of this deadly toxin had haunted him for days, and now he was ready to use it. It was a poison not entirely unknown. Many people had poisoned themselves through improper preparation of the pufferfish. The lethality of this poison was nearly undeniable.
He had carefully studied its effects in various reports. However, these reports had exclusively focused on oral ingestion, which made it all the more intriguing. Never before had the poison been injected – at least not under controlled and documented conditions. Surely, there had been illegal experiments, but that was something else entirely, and Helios was accustomed to doing things with scientific precision. There was no doubt that this poison, even in injected form, would serve its purpose – to bring about the death of a person. A slow, agonizing death that left just a hint of time to comprehend the full extent of the effects.
Helios could have opted for a lesser-known poison, one whose effects may never have been fully documented. But that route would have made it more difficult to gather accurate data and control the process. The pufferfish toxin was perfect for his purposes. It was reliable, documented, and its effects were clearly understood. It was a guide for his new task. From today onward, he would also control death.
He had carefully examined the prisoner's medical records, gone through the details of his health history, and based on that, prepared the poison. With utmost precision, he had mixed three drops of the poison into a carrier solution to allow for injection. The entire process was well thought out and precisely dosed. No waste, no mistakes.
The decision to inject the poison, rather than administer it orally, was a precaution. In the worst case, the prisoner could have spat the poison out, increasing his chance of an unforeseen outcome. But it wasn't just that: a single drop of the poison could also pose a danger to everyone else present. By injecting it, the risk was minimized. It was a clean, precise method. Dangerous for the subject, but safe for everyone else in the room.
The amount of poison he administered was just enough to kill the prisoner – but not so quickly that he wouldn't have enough time to observe the entire process. This timeframe was crucial. After all, it was part of the deal. Helios wanted to experience the experiment, the process, the body's reactions in real-time. He wanted to see how the body responded to the poison, how the prisoner experienced the slow transition from life to death.
Helios had already taken blood samples from the prisoner for later analysis. A comparison sample. Once death had occurred, he wanted to determine whether the poison left any changes in the blood. He knew that this moment could be significant in the history of medical research, and he was determined to document the results.
His heart pounded loudly in his chest, and he could feel his hands tremble slightly. It was not fear – but excitement, pure, untamed curiosity. What would happen when the poison entered the man's body? How quickly would it take effect? Would the prisoner even be aware of what was happening? How would he react to the creeping death? Would he feel fear? Would he experience pain? Would he experience the moment of death as a painful, unbearable transition into darkness?
So many questions, waiting to be answered at last. And now the moment had come.
Helios handed the syringe to the executioner, his movements calm and precise, striving to maintain a neutral expression. He wore his mask, the simple black metal mask he always wore in the lab and hospital. It covered his mouth and nose but left his eyes and the upper half of his face exposed. He had consciously chosen this mask. For these secret, scientific activities, it was the ideal protection. No sign of emotion was allowed to show in his expression. No one could see how much this moment fascinated him.
His outfit was equally well thought out: a dark blue, tailored suit that radiated professionalism and precision, along with black leather gloves – for practical reasons, so he wouldn't accidentally come into contact with the poison. Every movement was calculated, every gesture a part of the plan.
As soon as he handed over the syringe, he removed his gloves, reached for the clipboard and pen, and then turned his gaze toward the prisoner. He watched as the government official – Edward – spoke to the man, reading out his crimes and explaining that he would now have to face the consequences of his actions.
Helios couldn't help but suppress a small, almost imperceptible smile. The words of the official, which the prisoner heard, were nothing more than empty phrases. The man would no longer comprehend any of this once the poison had coursed through his body. It was a farce, a mere formality.
But the more Helios heard the list of offenses, the clearer it became to him just how much this man deserved to die. Each violation, every cruelty he was accused of, seemed to be another confirmation of the verdict. The thought that he was now witnessing such a process filled Helios with a strange, unsettling satisfaction.
What a bad boy, he thought to himself quietly, almost with a hint of amusement, though it did not show on his calm face.
The prisoner screamed, but the rough cloth that gagged him muffled his cries into a desperate, dull whimper. He was strapped to a cot, his movements completely restricted. Not a millimeter could he move. Half-naked, dressed only in his underwear, he lay there, displayed like on a platter, at the mercy of his fate. At Helios' mercy. When would it finally begin? His thoughts raced. Every second counted. He had to observe exactly what happened to the prisoner's body.
Helios wanted to see every twitch of his muscles. He wanted to know when the first change would show. Would the skin discolor? Would the muscles twitch, as if fighting the poison? How would the body react to the injection? Every slightest clue mattered.
Edward, the government official, turned to the executioner and nodded at him. "Let's begin," he announced in a calm voice.
The executioner, long practiced in his role, began with the preparations. Helios stepped closer to the table, his gaze relentlessly fixed on the prisoner. In his eyes, he read something very familiar: fear. So much fear that it seemed to hang in the air. It was almost palpable.
He stole a quick glance at his watch. 10:50 PM. The executioner held the syringe ready, and Helios watched intently as the executioner inserted the needle into the prisoner's arm and pressed the contents of the syringe into his body. He wrote down the start time.
It really was happening. The moment he dreamt about so many times turned into a thought. A mere thought into a scientific, allocable truth.
Earlier, Helios had examined the prisoner: measuring vital signs, inspecting his eyes and mouth, recording all the data. He had noted down everything that seemed important. Later, he could always strike out irrelevant details, but for now, he wrote everything down.
His mind was working at full speed. His eyes scanned the prisoner from head to toe, every movement, every twitch – everything. There was no room for distractions. He needed to know what was happening, and he needed to know immediately.
Perhaps he should have felt guilty. After all, it was his substance that would take this man's life. The executioner performed the final action, but it was Helios who had provided the deadly weapon.
Helios was filled with anticipation. To him, this was an experiment, and he was determined to see it through to the end, to find answers to the questions that swirled in his mind.
He felt no remorse, no qualms – only a cold, analytical curiosity. When would the poison show its first effects? How long would it take for the poison to unfold its full power?
Helios removed the cloth from the prisoner's mouth to ask him a question. But before he could say a word, the man screamed at him, cursed, and spat. In one swift movement, Helios shoved the cloth back into the prisoner's mouth. Another look into the man's eyes revealed nothing but pure desperation.
Helios rolled his eyes. This isn't going to work.
"How long will it take?" Edward asked, glancing at his own watch, almost absentmindedly, as if he were used to such procedures.
"Got somewhere to be?" Helios asked, with a slightly mocking tone. His gaze remained fixed on the prisoner, as if he didn't want to miss a single moment.
"No, but I have to get up early tomorrow," Edward sighed, clearly annoyed.
"Hard to say," Helios replied without taking his eyes off the prisoner. "The pufferfish poison is one of the deadliest, but there is little reliable data on the amounts at which people have died from it. In most cases, though, the effects set in pretty quickly."
The atmosphere in the room had changed. The prisoner had grown quieter. His breathing was heavy, irregular. Helios removed the cloth again and studied the man attentively. This time, he received no curses. Only a deep inhalation. The man was gasping for air, yet his chest seemed barely able to hold the breath he needed.
Helios placed the stethoscope on the prisoner's chest. The lower areas of the lungs were no longer ventilated. The sound was heavy, muffled, and spastic. A typical sign that the poison was beginning to paralyze the body. Helios wrote everything down.
That happened damn fast. Helios was fascinated as he glanced at his watch. Only three minutes had passed, and the man was already dying. The poison had taken effect faster than expected. With calm, precise movements, Helios measured the prisoner's vital signs and noted every detail. Everything was going according to plan.
"At least it seems to be working," Helios said quietly, more to himself than to the others in the room.
It was incredibly thrilling to watch this process. Helios had watched many people die, especially his guards. Death had never been foreign to him. Since his childhood, he had been surrounded by this constant companion. But what had once triggered paralyzing fear – the idea of erasing one's own existence – had now become something else. Curiosity. How fragile life was. How quickly a person could die and how little it sometimes took for someone to lose their life. These thoughts filled him with a strange fascination. He almost felt like an explorer entering a new territory.
Edward, standing next to him, yawned and broke the silence. "Guess I'll still get some sleep tonight after all."
"I'm happy for you," Helios said dryly, without taking his eyes off the prisoner. He couldn't care less what Edward wanted. He was focused, unwilling to miss a single second of this extraordinary moment.
The prisoner was still struggling with his breathing, his chest rising only slowly, and his efforts to get air were becoming increasingly desperate. Slow, shallow, irregular breaths – it was only a matter of time. Helios leaned forward and asked in a cold, professional voice, "How do you feel?"
The man barely mumbled, "Fuck... you…"
So, his observations would have to be enough. That was fine too. The prisoner no longer had the strength to react; he was too weak. Helios could learn more from the few twitches of his body than from a thousand words.
By now, five minutes had passed.
"I have to admit, the poison is cleaner, but also more brutal," said Edward, who now spoke up again. "Cutting off the head is faster."
The executioner grunted in agreement. Since Helios had joined them, the executioner hadn't said a single word.
More brutal? The man was dying pretty quietly.
"I hope you've already brought the coffin," Helios said. "The body could be toxic after death, and anyone who touches it could also die. Even though that's just a theory."
"We have it, don't worry. I really don't feel like dropping dead because of this asshole," Edward responded with an impatient gesture.
Helios listened to the prisoner's lungs again, which were becoming weaker, and wrote down all of his observations. It was astonishing how little time it took to end a human life. It was a new experience for him to witness this process in such a short period. His heart raced with excitement, but he remained focused, blocking everything else out. Only the observation mattered now.
He pressed the stethoscope firmly against the prisoner's chest. The man was only gasping now, his breath barely audible, and the lungs seemed no longer properly ventilated. The heart beat in slow, heavy pulses. Helios looked directly into his eyes as the man took his last breath. It was a moment that would be deeply engraved in his memory.
This criminal was the first person he had ever killed. Even though he hadn't done it with his own hands.
He checked the vital signs one last time, took more blood samples, and examined the body for any particular signs. It was 10:57 PM.
"He's dead," Helios announced in a calm, almost neutral tone.
The poison had killed the man within seven minutes, and it had been less painful than he had originally thought. It was efficient and fast – and yet, it had been more humane than he could have imagined.
Helios tried to suppress the joy within him. This was a scientific moment, not a personal triumph. But he couldn't fully hide the adrenaline rush, the pure excitement over the success of the experiment. He wrote down the final details, documenting his findings before stepping away from the scene.
"Well then, into the coffin with him and clean up," Edward said as he turned back to the scene.
The executioner brought over a simple, roughly constructed coffin. The box was nothing special, inconspicuous, and pragmatic. In a few minutes, they had placed the dead man inside. Helios carefully packed away his papers in a suitcase. The formula would need to be adjusted a little for government use, but the testing phase was not yet complete.
"Thank you for handling this, Mr. Vale," Edward said quietly as he joined Helios while the others were finishing the final preparations. "We really spent a long time considering how to handle this matter. There were so many ideas, and all of them were barbaric."
Helios studied Edward, whose gaze was still fixed on the dead body. Since his arrival, Edward had had only eyes for the prisoner, whose name was completely irrelevant to him. Number 2897 was the only thing he had remembered – a number that now had no meaning anymore. Except for his notes.
Edward, the well-built government official, seemed more like someone destined to catch criminals than to watch their death. It was not hard to tell that he took his job seriously. He looked good, and Helios could imagine that he probably had one or two admirers. It wasn't something that interested him, but he couldn't deny it.
"No problem. Although the formula still needs to be adjusted," Helios said with a slight, almost imperceptible smile.
Edward looked him up and down before sharply saying, "You're remarkably calm for what just happened."
Helios closed his suitcase and locked it with a fluid motion.
"As you know, I've been through quite a bit. Death doesn't scare me, and this is science," Helios explained calmly, his gaze detached. "Besides, thanks to you, I have the opportunity to test these substances. Who knows, maybe some of them will still be useful in medicine."
Edward continued to eye him critically, then turned back to the dead body.
"Hard to believe when such a substance can kill a person in seven minutes," he said, gazing at the coffin.
"That's what studies are for," Helios responded in a calm voice. "If the poison turns out to be a potent means of death and unsuitable for medicine, I won't conduct experiments on people who are not supposed to die."
"You've done a lot of research, haven't you?" Edward asked, still skeptical.
"Of course, I've informed myself. Nothing is more dangerous than half-knowledge, and I prefer to have everything under control," Helios answered, confident that this research represented a significant step in his own scientific work.
"I've already heard many stories about you, Mr. Vale. But nothing could have prepared me for this meeting with you."
Helios chuckled softly. "That doesn't exactly sound like a compliment."
"No, that's not what I meant," Edward replied, shaking his head. "I'm just surprised that you're so young and yet have already accomplished so much. While I can't really judge after tonight whether you're a genius, my gut tells me you've got quite a bit going for you."
Helios looked at Edward calmly, his gaze unwavering. Then, he gave him an honest smile, which almost seemed a little mischievous. "Thank you for the compliment," he said, gesturing toward the dead body in the corner of the room. "Is it already decided when the next execution will take place?"
Edward nodded as he took a look at his papers. "Friday evening. Same time. So, the day after tomorrow. We currently have a few people waiting for their execution."
"I'll be there," Helios replied. "I'll test a new dose on Friday and then use a different poison. It would be wise to have several options in case it's not possible to get a specific poison."
"You're probably right," Edward agreed, and a hint of appreciation crept into his voice. "It's good to be prepared, especially in matters like these."
Edward extended his hand, and his expression now carried a certain seriousness. "I look forward to continuing to work with you."
Helios accepted the handshake and gave it a firm grip, a barely noticeable smile playing at his lips. Still hidden behind his mask. "The feeling is mutual."
He released the hand, glanced once more at the dead man – the first person he had killed with his own medicine. The thought filled him with a mix of excitement and satisfaction. He felt incredible, eager to test the next poison and continue his research.
Fortunately, he only had to wait two more days.