[Felix POV]
When everyone was already in the office, I realised something: there's no equipment and materials for them to learn about business.
No computers and no sheets.
I told them that one of them needs to go to the store, buy maybe 20 computers, and the rest can do what they want.
Nobody wanted to go, and I told them I'll send them funds to buy the equipment.
Someone volunteered, and I sent the person some money to buy them.
After the person left, I told everyone they should get familiar with the premises or they should go somewhere and return after 1 hour.
I told Melina to follow me to the other room since my window still has a missing window.
I'm not even here, I'm still in my basement.
"So Linda, did you make a decision yet, or you're still thinking?" I said to her. She didn't reply and thought for a while.
"Oh, I'm gonna call you Linda from now on since you gotta maintain your cover."
She looked at me and said, "Did I have a choice to begin with?"
"Yes, you still have a choice."
"Then why are you asking me?"
"I answered that, didn't I?"
"I'm not talking about that. You could've waited for Dreykov to send another Black Widow to you and ask them. So, why me?" Melina asked me as she looked at me, trying to study me.
"Ohh that, it's because you're not brainwashed. You helped Dreykov develop a brainwashing drug of some sort for the Widows. I don't know why, but you did. So I don't know if the next widow that comes to me will be brainwashed or not," I said to her, which she reacted to slightly. She has perfect control of her emotions and feelings.
"So you do know everything." She looked at me when she said that.
"No, I know everything that is in the systems. Anything that is not put in the system, I don't know."
"Why are you telling me this? I can tell Dreykov about what you said," she asked as she looked at me curiously.
"It doesn't matter whether you tell him or not, it's not like you're going to return to the Stone Age where there were no computers and satellites," I said with a little bit of arrogance.
She looked at me but said nothing.
"Okay. I'll accept your offer, but I can pull out anytime, right?" she said to me.
I was surprised by what she said.
"Pull out? What are you talking about?" I asked as I was confused by her statement.
"Aren't you going to experiment on me?" she said in a confused manner.
"Oh no no no no. I won't do that. The experiment is more like an injection, it'll only take a second, then the dose will do the rest."
"That's not even an experiment. You could just inject me without asking."
"Your accent is beautiful. No, I need your permission first because I don't know what might happen if I inject it wrong," I said to her.
She didn't say anything afterwards and just left the room to stroll around.
I decided to pack one Genetic Serum and put it in my car. I told DRIVE to go fetch Priscilla after starting it and to take her to the headquarters.
After DRIVE left, I called Priscilla to let her know about DRIVE.
The repairman for the windows arrived, and I showed them the broken window.
The guy who went to buy computers arrived 80 minutes after he had left.
He bought 30 computers when I told him to buy 20, but that ain't bad.
He wanted to give me the change back, but I told him he can keep the change. I gave him $200,000 to buy the computers, and the change was $50,000 because he bought the high-end computers.
We set the equipment up, and SPACE upgraded the system with my OS to run smoothly.
I gave them some fake scenarios, bank statements, and journals to train them.
After a while, Priscilla arrived in the afternoon. She entered the building and looked around.
"I didn't know you had headquarters," she said as she saw me (a hologram).
"Yeah, it hasn't been long since it was just built," I said to her. Melina was walking behind me. She was surprised when she saw Priscilla.
"Okay. So why did you call me here?" she asked as she looked at Melina beside me.
"Just follow me," I said as I began to walk towards the office. We passed people just pressing their computers, and they saw us.
"Are those employees?" Priscilla asked as she looked at them.
"Not yet, they're in training."
We arrived at the office.
"Did you bring it?"
"Yeah, your car reminded me when I got out to take it. I didn't even know cars could talk," Priscilla said as she took the serum out of her bag.
"Okay, I see that you have it. I want you to inject her with it," I said as I pointed at Melina.
"Why can't you do it? You didn't even introduce us," Priscilla said as she looked at Melina and me.
"Because I'm not here," I said to her and said, "This is Melina, and Melina, this is Priscilla."
Priscilla shook hands with Melina and looked confused as she looked at me.
"What do you mean when you said you're not here? I mean, I can see you here," Priscilla said as she looked at me from head to toe.
"I'm a hologram," I said as I made my leg disappear in front of her.
"Oh shit," Priscilla said as she looked freaked out for a second but remained composed afterwards.
"Okay. Can you lie down for me, Miss Melina?" Priscilla said as she turned towards Melina.
"It's not necessary for her to lie down. She's perfectly healthy and is not suffering from anything. I just want to check something," I said to Priscilla.
Priscilla didn't question it and just injected Melina with the serum as she sat down on a chair in the office.
I made a hologram model of Melina in my basement to check the process of the serum, of how it spreads in a body with a missing organ.
The serum spread across her system and somehow stabilised the previous experiments that were done on Melina's body. Melina was injected with substances because Dreykov and other scientists in the Red Room were trying to replicate the Super Soldier Serum, but they couldn't replicate it. So every substance that was made was tested on Melina in hopes of being a Super Soldier Serum.
So you could say, Melina Vostokoff is a lab rat, and since the Red Room is the only home for her, you could say she's the product of indoctrination.
The genetic serum stabilised those experiments on Melina's body, and somehow it enhanced it better than before.
The serum did nothing in the uterus part but just opened the closed part of it. It didn't regenerate the part but it tried to fix it.
I realised what I need to do.
[Melina POV]
So all she had to do was inject me with the serum.
I feel like my body is changing.
Is it done? It didn't take long, let alone a minute.
"How do you feel?"
Well, I don't know what should I tell him.
"I feel lighter and more healthy. I don't know how to describe it. I feel rejuvenated."
"Well, the injection induces a systemic integration with your existing cellular structure. Given that residual effects from prior experimental interventions remain embedded within your physiology, the serum functions primarily as a stabilizing agent, effectively consolidating and harmonizing those alterations into a unified state. This is why you're experiencing the sensations you described."
So that explains it.
[A/N: She can understand him because she has a PhD in biology or something.]
"So you're saying she's been experimented on before, and you needed the serum to stabilise those experiments."
Wait, she doesn't know about me. I thought she's his subordinate or something to him.
Who is she to him?
"No. I didn't know the serum could do that. I just wanted to upgrade the serum."
Wait, what does he mean "upgrade the serum"?
"So you knew about her previous experiments before you asked me to inject her with the GS?"
"Yes. Oh, that's a nice name."
"What would've happened if something went wrong?"
"At most she would've been in a coma or something close to it, but nothing would've gone wrong."
"Excuse me."
I better ask to make sure.
"What do you mean when you said you wanted to upgrade the serum?"
"Oh that, the serum you were injected with does not regenerate or restore a missing organ. So yeah, you're still going to be injected with another serum after the upgrade."
What! Does it have side effects or not? He's not telling me everything, but everything I want to know.
"Wait, what do you mean a missing organ? Does she have a missing organ?"
So she knows nothing.
"Yeah, she doesn't have a uterus. So I'm trying to restore it."
"What? Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's not something to make conversation with. Besides, there's nothing to say except informing you about it. The rest you can ask her."
He does have a point. You can't make conversation with that. It's not even him missing it.
"I'm about to go and try something."
And there he goes.
"So, how did you meet him?"
Seriously, she's asking that.
[Felix POV]
The GS worked.
The GS enhanced the body but didn't regenerate the organ. What if I double the dose? Can it regenerate the organ?
«No sir, it won't regenerate it, but it'll kill or immobilize the individual.»
"Okay, I understand that. What if I use Terrigen crystals to upgrade the serum, would it be able to regenerate it?"
«No sir, because the crystals are rubbish. They were already used and thrown away. Those guys sold you garbage, sir. I don't know about the real Terrigen crystals.»
"What if I use Netharanium? Can it upgrade the serum?"
«I don't know, sir, because the mineral came from the same individual with Promethium. From a "demon."»
"So you say the same demon came with the material from the same dimension or hell?"
«No, I say the same "demon" came with the material because the material doesn't have the same energy as Promethium.»
"Okay. Why are you emphasising the word "demon"?"
«Because the individual is not a demon per se. They're more like early developments of humans.»
"You mean Homo sapiens?"
«I mean Neanderthal, but you could say Homo sapiens, but they're not.»
"Okay. Forget about history, let's focus on the task."
Maybe I should use the lizard experiment, but I might end up creating the lizard serum by mistake.
How about I use Cavorite? I mean, it can channel and amplify the GS serum.
I don't have a lot of Cavorite, but just rejects from NASA since they abandoned the project after the fiasco of Carol Danvers.
How the hell did they get a material made by NASA?
Doesn't matter how, but I gotta use it.
I combined the GS with Cavorite's properties and not the entire Cavorite material.
"Simulate the serum with the subject."
SPACE simulated the serum with a hologram.
«Sir, it is a success.»
I managed to create one dose but saved the progress of it to create some later.
I went back to the headquarters (hologram).
I was surprised to see Melina and Priscilla laughing.
What the hell is going on?
[Priscilla POV]
"So, how did you meet him?"
I better start a conversation since it's only us in the room.
"I came to apply for a job, and that's how I met him."
She's Russian. How could a Russian apply for an unknown job out of nowhere?
Wait, unless she is a cop working for the FBI or CIA.
"So, how is he so far?"
"Pain in the ass."
That's one way to describe him.
"How did you meet him?"
"That's a good question. I didn't meet him, he met me."
I mean, that's how it went.
"I was diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease since birth, and I was weeks away from death. Then here comes a boy out of nowhere eating my lunch."
"He ate your lunch?"
"Yeah, I was at work, and it was lunch time. I was eating my lunch with my friend, and he just sat at our table saying weird stuff."
"Ain't that a surprise?"
"He said some stuff and injected me with the serum. My disease was cured afterwards. He bought me a house away from where I used to live. Yeah, that's how it went."
There's nothing more than that.
"He's an irritating bastard who thinks he knows everything."
He does think he knows everything, and he ain't wrong.
"Well, he ain't wrong, right?"
"Yeah."
I laughed after Melina said that, and after a moment, Felix returned.
[Felix POV]
"Okay guys, I finished with the serum."
Looks like they were having a conversation after I was gone.
Better call DRIVE to pick up the serum.
"I'm going to call DRIVE to deliver the serum, or we can do the test tomorrow."
"Who's Drive?"
It's only right that Melina doesn't know.
"It's his talking car."
Well, DRIVE does talk.
"His car talks. The black car you came with."
"Yeah, it fetches me from my home."
Looks like they're going to talk with each other if I don't stop them.
"Okay guys, we can do this tomorrow since it's already late, or we can still do this. What's your pick?"
They chose to continue tomorrow.
I wrapped up the training, and everyone went home. Priscilla booked a nearby motel.