*Alex Carol POV*
*Location: Vought International, California*
*Date: Febuary 2nd, 1992*
Taking a sip of my coffee, pure black as that was quite literally teh only thing that would wake me up at this point. The fact that I was able to get a nice medium-sized building in California was a blessing. CYOA gave me a lot of money, which I had put to use right away, basically copying another company, minus the...disgusting attributes associated with it.
Vought, despite its flaws, did have a good basic idea of superpower individuals, using them to sell various bits of merchandise and movies. Selling them to major cities to help reduce crime as well, all of it is a nice, profitable idea under the right circumstances. The only problem was that I had already injected myself with a dosage of Compond V, wanting to test it on myself, and well, I was a bit curious to see the effects on me.
You see, Angelic Aberration made me half-human, half-angel (from Evangelion), and while I would have preferred testing this on someone else. I also knew that three other indviduals in this world were duplicates of me, having their own CYOA powers and abilties. They probably went down a more technological path, seeing as how I already discovered one of my duplicates who was building what was essentially a Star Wars-themed space company.
The only reason I knew for sure he was a duplicate was the fact that we looked remarkably similiar before I injected myself. Both of us had white hair, a clear sign perhaps of the new DNA our bodies contained. We were also well-built, not bodybuilders, but we had some decent muscles on ourselves. He, however, had extremmly short hair, I mean nearly shaved all his hair-hair, whereas I had medium-length hair that was a bit bigger in the back and shorter in the front.
Now, after injecting myself with the radioactive super-drug, I had grown taller, my body becoming thinner, and my skin pale as a ghost. My eyes...my eyes were now a sickly yellow instead, and my durability and strength went up a considerable margin, adding on to my angelic strength, as we'll call it. However, that wasn't the thing I was most happy about; I had become a speedster, not as fast as the Flash or hell, not even A-train, but my speed had increased drastically.
Now, combine that with the Master Martial Artist option in the CYOA, giving me access to both Exploding Heart Release Fist and Void Fist, and I was an extremmly dangerous individual. However, this was all to make sure I didn't have to rely on outside help; I wasn't interested in fighting. No, I had actively chosen the Slothful option in the drawbacks section. Of course, I had a few more basic martial arts, but nothing to brag about; in all honesty, I was rather more focused on the more...monetary part of it.
It was perfect for someone who had a sedentary lifestyle such as my own, after all, while I was grateful for the body I now had, despite injecting extremmly dangerous drugs into me. However, I would always prefer being behind a desk working with this new knowledge in my head. Sure, I had a book detailing how to create every known version of Compond V, including V-24 and all its...flaws.
I now have access to all the knowledge of one Dr. Genus, the head of the House of Evolution. Both have their ups and downs; however, I couldn't deny that the prospect of combining these two kinds of sciences could produce intersting results. But for right now, I was happy with the current production of Supes and the future merchandise and potential movies involved with them.
That's when the phone began to ring, more specifically, a red phone I had picked out to differentiate it from the work line, aka this company's scientific division. I was a bit afraid to pick up, but did so anyway, aware of how high the possibility of this being bad news was.
"H-H-Hello, sir, this is Doctor Phineas Dorral, and well, I-I-I hope that I am not interrupting anything, as I have the latest lab reports." I could hear his nasally voice and timid tone even when we weren't face-to-face.
Sighing, I rubbed my temples, already dreading the horrible news he was about to drop on me. "Out with it, how many test subjects did we lose?" I thought I heard a gulp from the other side, probably wasn't expecting me to get straight to the point.
Meaning he was probably not the scientist I had hired directly, but rather one of the others who was hired by my...scientific partner, I guess you could say. Not quite a clone but rahter someone who, well, I guess you could call a psychopath. A perfect fit for the lab environment I had placed him in, and someone I could use in the future once I began to artificially create humanoid animal hybrids in the future.
Those had the potential to be far more useful than the Supes we were currently producing right now.
"Su-Su-Subjects #5-10 seemed to have...had an adverse reaction to the Compound V, resulting i-i-in well three exploding and *gulp* the other two gaining...monstrous bodies." I quietly cursed to myself, already thankful for the forms they had to sign, and the fact that they didn't have close family to speak of.
"What about #1-4?" I asked, hoping that perhaps we had at least a few successes.
"Well, Subject #1 has shown remarkable muscle growth to the point he is easily able to crush car doors with his bare hands, and is bulletproof or at the very least bullet-resistant. His speed, however, has not seen any improvement and may be slower than a normal human due to his increased mass." Decent enough, and if memory served me right, subject one was Richard Griffin, a homeless man who was desperate for work.
Perfect for this new enterprise in a Parahuman world, was it cruel, perhaps, but I know for a fact I was not a good person. Even then, it was a win-win for both of us; he got superpowers and a new career as a superhero, with us getting a brand-new frontliner for a superteam.
"S-S-Subject #2, well...she seems to be telekinetic, easily able to move large boulders with her mind and crush them with e-e-ease, and seems to be...more excitable now, like a kid discovering a new toy." Well, that was a bit disappointing to hear, but hopefully it didn't turn malicious in the future, otherwise...well, I'd take care of her, or someone else would.
However, I highly doubt...Lana Higguns, I believe her name was woudl do so, an eighteen-year-old runaway whose parents didn't even notice she was gone. Someone who had this glamorous idea of a superhero and the ideals as well, of course, the paycheck she got didn't hurt either.
"Su-Su-Subject #3 experienced a minor seizure before h-h-her body acclimated to the new powers, resulting in what I can only call an Alexandria duplicate, perhaps a-a-a smidge weaker." Great, and while normally she would be a frontliner for whatever super team we present to the public.
The problem is that people would compare the two and downgrade her, which would be worse if her powers turn out to be weaker than hers. Even then, I haven't fully tested the mental results of Compound V on the human brain. Although it was possible that in the show, the mental issues were a simple byproduct of their environment.
No way to know for now, and as for subject three...Rosa Taylor, an orphan who had recently lost her job and was desperate for cash. Same as all the rest, her own sad tale that I am happy to take advantage of, sure, I probably could've used clones to test Compound V, but in all honesty, if I had used them, the public would question whether or not I was using a Parahuman power to make physical projections of myself, and abusing them.
This wasn't that much better, however, I will admit, using people who think they are without a hope in the world, or too blinded by their ideals and hopes to see the poison in front of them. Was I cruel for doing so, undoubtedly, but I was more...pragmatic. There was one thing Cauldron was right about in the web series that mirrored this world, well, a distorted mirror anyway. We needed all weapons we could get when going against Scion, both physical, mental, and every other kind of power.
If I made a little money, alongside the various investors I had presented it to as well. After all, I may have had the basic business capital to invest and start a small-scale company, but I needed more to fully bring the idea to life. It would take years to fully build my vision of a well, let's say better Vought, to fruition, to create an army of Supes, and sell them across the world if I can.
"Subject #-#-#4, however, was a resounding success, Superstrength and durability beyond the others and claws that grow and break off at will, sharper than any steel." I smiled a little hearing that, and hoped that this was the one who was also the most mentally stable.
"Anything else to note about...I believe he was named Michael Croban, beyond physical changes?" I asked, taking another sip of my coffee, wanting to hear a bit more good news today, even if the deaths...were unfortunate.
"N-N-No, sir, I believe he is adjusting well to the new abilties b-b-but if you want we can keep an eye on him if you say, sir."
"Yes, keep an eye on all of them and begin testing the upper limits of their abilties and call marketing as well, see if they can come up with a good theme for them." I said, taking the last sip of coffee and setting it down on my desk.
"Yes, sir, right away, sir!" He said nervously as he hung up on me, gettign right on that and probably informing the science division lead.
Once that was all done, I just lay back in my chair wanting to relax for a bit before the various meetings I had today started. Thinking of all the possible merchandise we could create, present to the masses, and any city that needed the extra hand, for a price, of course, after all, the age of Parahumans was still beginning, as it wasn't all that long ago now that they started popping up.
Add in the various criminal organizations that have probably just been created due to the influx of various CYOA choices, both earthly and perhaps even interstellar, well, you have a petri dish of chaos. Well, to be fair, these things were probably already here, as I highly doubt we all created this reality; the being or beings who brought her simply provided some tools to help us survive and perhaps make things a little better.
"Oh, well doesn't matter. If the world gets better and I make a little money, then everybody wins, well, unless one of the others tries to interfere with my plans."
*Test Subjects #1-4*
*Name: Richard Griffin*
*Alias: Apis (Egyptian mythological bull that also represents strength)
*Rankings: Brute: 6: Increased muscle growth leading to super strength and durability, basic package for Parahumans*
*Thinker: 1: Increased information gathering capabilities*
*Name: Lana Higguns*
*Alias: Heka (Egyptian deity of magic)*
*Rankings: Shaker: 5*
*Blaster: 4*
*Mover: 3*
*Name: Rosa Taylor*
*Alias: Sekhmet*
*Brute: 6*
*Mover: 4*
*Thinker: 1: Increased basic intelligence*
*Name: Michael Croban*
*Alias: Horus*
*Ratings: Brute: 9*
*Changer: 2: Basic transformation in claws*