Athena, file a request for a new lab assistant, asap please. I can’t do the injections myself because the subjects are far too small to handle, and our current nurse… suffered an accident.
Video footage:
The tiny man on the table, who had injected the previous subjects, is preparing a syringe. Suddenly a huge coffee mug lands on him as Dr. McKeyla comes into the lab and crushes him by accident. She only notices a few minutes later after taking a sip and seeing the stain.
***
Athena, are you recording? Ok. So, this is my workspace:
The camera swings around a laboratory. The room is big enough for a few people to work in comfortably, but there is no one else there. It appears to be her private lab. It is white and well-lit. The walls hold many cabinets and drawers for storage. Countertops appear somewhat cluttered and unorganized. The camera stops at the center island-table. At the back of it are various vials and beakers and machines used for mixing, separating, cooling, and storing them. At the front is a cleared area, a keyboard, and several monitors of various sizes and angles stacking upwards. The camera tilts upward and there is a long, white, robotic arm extending downward from the center of the ceiling.
Say hi, Athena.
The robotic arm perks up and waves at the camera. It appears snake-like in motion. The “head” is composed of several tools and gadgets that fold in on themselves.
“Hello, Dr. McKeyla,” the AI robot says, in a calm feminine voice, perfectly balanced to sound human but not too human.
The camera swings around and for a moment, before it cuts, we see Dr. McKeyla’s face - a statuesque woman in her early thirties with blond hair and an impassive expression.
***
All right. I’m finally ready to begin actually testing the serum.
Additionally, once the serum enters the blood stream, the nanobots transmit signals back to Athena, showing me a readout of the test subject’s biology. I can see blood flow, breathing, bone structure, brain activity, organ activity, etc. It’s quite invasive and very interesting to watch.
4
video record from file “Project Cockroach” -
Footage begins. In the top left of the screen, in lavender letters, is the word “Recording”. Camera is low on Dr. McKeyla’s tabletop. Various lab equipment is in the background. A man, 4 centimeters tall, fidgets nervously in a labcoat. There is a miniature table near him with syringes and vials.
The sound of high heels draws closer. The camera swings upward, into Dr. McKeyla’s face. She seems to inspect the camera for a few moments. Then, it swings around again, and seems to settle at her eye level, overlooking her lab. It moves again, accompanied by clicking heels, and stops at a mirror. Dr. McKeyla is now wearing glasses. She takes a moment and adjusts them, and the camera moves with them. She straightens her labcoat, seems to approve - and then turns back to the table.
Dr. McKeyla: “The glasses seem to be working, Athena. Okay. First day of actual serum testing.”
She sits on a lab stool in front of the table.
Dr. McKeyla: “Athena, are you ready?”
Athena: “Yes, Dr. McKeyla.”
The robot arm moves to attention, like a serpent to a snake-charmer. The camera turns its attention to the man on the table. After a moment, it zooms in on him.
Dr. McKeyla: “You’re the new lab assistant. What was your name?”
Letters in the top right of the camera blink: “Micro-Audio Enhancement Active”
Lab Assistant: “It’s Charles, Dr. McKeyla.”
Dr. McKeyla: “Do you know what to do?”
Charles: “Yes Ma’am. Inject the patients.”
Dr. McKeyla: “Good. They’re subjects, not patients.
Charles: ”Uh… yes Ma’am.”
Dr. McKeyla: ”Athena, bring in the first subject.”
A long, transparent tube drops down from the ceiling. There’s a pressurized, hissing sound, followed by a hollow ‘thunk’ as an object shoots down into it, and a moment later a tiny man drops down onto the table. He is dressed in common clothes, and looks around to get his bearings. The tube recedes upward.
Dr. McKeyla: ”Funny isn’t it? Pneumatic tubes. Who would have thought this technology would ever come back into use.”
Charles: ”Ma’am?”
Dr. McKeyla: ”Let’s begin. Approach please.”
The camera focuses on the new arrival, who walks forward.
Henry: ”Hello, I’m Henry Altman. I’m glad I can be of help here. I’ve been waiting a long time to be useful. Anything for mankind right?”
Dr. McKeyla: ”That’s nice. Go ahead, Charles.”
Charles comes up to Henry and asks him to roll up his sleeve and clench his fist. Then he injects him intravenously in front of the elbow, before placing a cotton swab and bandage.
Henry: ”Ouch! Getting right to it, huh? What’s in that, anyway?”
The camera turns to the stack of monitors on the table. A large one in the middle lights up with a simplified image of a man’s silhouette. The white form starts to fill up with green, indicating something taking effect. When it becomes fully green, readouts appear beside it, displaying biometrics.
Dr. McKeyla: “The nanites in the serum relay information on the body to Athena. We can see everything about the subject. Heart rate, brain activity, organ function, bone structure, pretty much anything. Athena will record, label, and categorize every subject and result. However, I still like to take notes by hand.”
Henry: ”Wow! Works fast!”
Dr. McKeyla puts a notebook and pen on the table, and then reaches into a drawer with a box of latex gloves, and snaps them on. She writes “Subject”, and, after a moment of consideration, “C1”. Then she places her other hand palm up on the table.
Dr. McKeyla: ”Approach, Subject C1. I’m going to do some testing.”
Henry: “Oh! Okay. I don’t know if I mentioned, my name is Henry. So I go right up into your hand? Alright then. By the way, what are we testing?”
Dr. McKeyla: “Structural integrity. Do you feel anything odd when I do this?”
The Doctor, with the man in her palm, curls her fingers around him.
Henry: ”Hghk! Oh uh, when you squeezed me like that? Uh, nothing odd really. Just knocked the wind out of me for a sec, heh. I see you taking notes there. What did you mean by struc-“
Dr. McKeyla: ”How about now?”
Henry: ”Agghk…!”
Her gloves make a rubbery crinkling sound as she forms a fist around the man. She opens her hand a moment later, revealing the man on his side, gasping for breath. He gets to his hands and knees. Dr. McKeyla waits for him to recover, and starts tapping her pen on her notebook. On the monitor, parts showing the respiratory system and chest area blink a dull red color before fading, as well as parts of the brain.
Henry: ”You… you’re hurting me.”
Dr. McKeyla: ”Nothing unusual though? Just regular pain?”
Henry: “N-no, what exactly are we doing here, Doc? I don’t think I signed up for th-“
Dr. McKeyla: ”It’s Dr. McKeyla. Only my friends call me Doc. Now, I’m going to squeeze very hard this time. Are you ready?”
Henry: ”No, wait wait wai- AGHK-“
Dr. McKeyla’s gloved hand squeezes into a tight fist. After a few moments, muffled cracking sounds come from within. The monitor figure turns bright red in several places. When she finally opens her hand, Henry is twisted and broken in several places. His eyes are bloodshot and his breath comes out in rasps.
Dr. McKeyla writes down several notes while the man twitches feebly in her open palm, blood seeping through his clothes in several places. Some jagged bits of his bone are visible. Eventually, she sighs.
Dr. McKeyla: ”First test, Subject C1. No effect noted. That’s all right, I didn’t expect any effects this early on. For ‘mankind’, right Harry?”
She closes her fist one last time, squeezing until blood oozes from between her fingers. On the monitor, the figure flashes with a red X through his body, and then dims to a flat grey, all readouts ceasing. Dr. McKeyla swivels in her chair, pulls out a waste basket, and opens her hand. An unrecognizable lump of bloody meat and clothes sticks to the glove for a moment before falling into the trash. Then she pulls the gloves off and tosses them in as well.
Charles: ”…Henry…”
Dr. McKeyla: ”What was that?”
Charles: ”…H-Henry. His name was Henry.”
Dr. McKeyla: “Sure. Are you going to be able to keep doing your job, assistant? You look pale.”
Charles: “…uh…are they all going to go like…like that?”
Dr. McKeyla: ”You knew there were risks involved. It’s all for ‘mankind’, and he volunteered. If you can’t do this job, tell me now and I’ll get a replacement.”
She puts her hand down on the table, somewhat near to Henry and with no gentleness, causing him to jump.
Charles: ”I’ll - I’ll keep going. I’ll keep going. Doctor.”
Dr. McKeyla: ”…Good. Athena, bring in the next subject.”