Emptying the whole vial in one go he feels nothing.
"What? Nothing." He looks at the vial again. He plops down in the chair. "I know I did everything right..." he places his head in his hands.
[Hidden Quest Completed: Synthesize and Consume Own Herbal Concoction 1/?]
[Rewards:
Option 1: 3000 EXP
Option 2: 50000 chips
Option 3: Apothecary +1]
"Well fuck me running..." Zander passes out in the chair. Jessee runs over to him and sees that his eyes, even though they are closed, are moving at rapid speeds. He's transferred to a white room.
Zander wakes up in a white room. "Where in the hell am I? Lola! Show yourself you BITCH!" He screams the last words.
Kris appears before Zander in the black cocktail dress that he saved her life in. "Now is that any way to address your old partner. Welcome to my domain newbie." She flashes that incredible innocent smile before him.
Zander runs up to hug her. "I thought you couldn't appear before me? I thought you were just an AI." He passes through her body and stumbles. "Stop fucken around and let me hug you damnit!" He walks up to Kris.
"Zander you dumbass. I don't have a body. You're inside your own head stupid. Now let me show you something." Kris walks over to a table that just appears out of thin air. "On this table does that vial look familiar? If not, it should. Let me show you this to help you." Next to the vial appears the jimsonweed.
Awe struck Zander speaks slowly. "So what does that even mean... oh.. shitballs." He walks over to the plant and vial. The flower is glowing a sinister reddish purple color.
"Zander, Zander, Zander, you don't get it do you. You do remember that trip we took back when you first started working with me. You know that one where you tried to get me to skinny dip with you?" She leans in close to him, places her hand on his face and transports his mind back in time.
.....
The year is 2018 Earth, Ontario, Canada, Nighttime.
Zander and Kris are walking along on one of the Native Indian lands with an older Native who's pointing out deferent herbs, plants, trees, and their uses and benefits. He stops at one interesting plant and tells them it's different names and why it's both respected and feared. He shows them the white bell shape and the purple way down on the inside. He goes on to explain how they have lost a bunch of their youths to this plant and the experimental nature. "If you guys remember nothing from this medical walk please remember these names. Jimsonweed, Thronapple, Stramonium, Devil's Apple, Jamestown-weed, Stinkweed, Devil's Trumpet, and Apple of Peru. Many youths will call them by these names. We personally only use them for religious ceremonies because of it nature. You need to remember this too. NEVER, EVER, EAT THE SEEDS. This plant doesn't like to be ingested. Plant nothing around it. It's from the night shade family and is very unpredictable. We had rumors of a foreigner making and selling a love potion from this plant." The older gentleman continues on with his talk and information season while both Kris and Zander ponder this stranger of a plant.
....
Back to Present
"You looked amazing that night if I may say so." A big smile on his face
"You're missing the point." She shakes her head. "Why I ever put up with you is beyond..." she's SCREAMING into her hands.
Realization dawned like an Amish lightbulb.
....
Past - later that night
In what can only be described as an old medicine man hut, Zander and Kris are sitting cross legged from the Tribal Chef and Medicine Man. The hut is nice and cozy with a small fire pit. The Medicine Man is speaking to them about what they are about to experience and go through. He has passed them the flower that they saw earlier that night. "You'll see things and hear things. Be not scared. You're going on a spiritual journey. After tonight you'll both be more contented. Do not run from what you see and hear. Let it enter you and guide you. When you awake from the journey you'll have something most important and that others won't have. Just remember, don't do this without guidance." While the Medicine Man is talking they are starting their journey and his voice is fading.
....
Present
"Oh bloody fucken hell!" He grabs the vial and asks anyway. "I put the seeds in my batches didn't I"?
Kris just stands there arms crossed.
"Fine don't answer... oh no!" He goes to the floor like all his strength has melted away. "How do I get back to my body"?
Kris is on her knees in front of him. He can see down her cocktail dress. He looks up into her face.
"Destroy the vials and the other way of trying Zander." She kisses him on the lips.
He's SHOCKED and jolts upright, hitting Jessee in the breasts.
"Sorry hun. How long was I out"?
"20 seconds maybe a minute tops. Why"?
"Did you come across any files that were about failed experiments or tests or vials, anything"?
She types away at the holographic board. After a few seconds of scanning the files she pulls up another video timestamped about 2 months before Dr. Blacksoul went into cryogenic sleep. She hits play. "I've done it! I've cracked the code of the Zondora Female Soul Substance! As you see I'm walking you around my indoor garden. See this wonderful little nightshade plant, this is the exact same code as their Soul Substance. This little vial right here is a distilled liquid of this plant. Yes you have to use the seeds to get the effects." The video goes fuzzy for a minute before coming back on. "Now to test this out. I'm going to give it to this nice human man." The man drinks it and after about 20 seconds the man rips all his clothes and runs full speed into a wall in the laboratory over and over and over again until he dies. "No you idiot! How could you ruin this." He goes over and kicks the dead body a few times. One HEAVY sigh and he regains his composure. "Well damnit. As you can see, there is no way to synthesize their Soul Substance." He walks out of frame. "Damn you woman. 12 years of trying to get your Soul unlocked and now this! What good are you other then a sex toy for my experiments! Delete this recording and make sure no one ever finds out it's a failure EVER! You worthless bag of..." the recording ends.
Zander looks at Jessee then back at the screen.
Jessee brakes the silence first. "You repeated his experiment with the exact same plant. Did you get the same results as him"?
"No. Mine worked; however, not the way we hoped." He holds up the three vials for her. "This plant belongs to the nightshade family and doesn't like to be ingested. That's why that guy died. Before I came here, my old partner and I had been invited to participate in a religious ceremony with Native Indians in a country called Canada back on Earth. We became closer then before closer without having sex. That plant and the help of the Medicine Man of their Tribe guided us. Without their help one dies from ingesting that plant." 'I miss you Kris.'
He hangs his head low.
"So you made a psychedelic trip or journey drug. What's wrong with that"?
"What's wrong is I'm not a doctor of death... or am I"?
Jessee holds Zander close before speaking. "You're a Medic not a doctor of death." She smiles at him. Taking the vials, she throws them across the room braking them. "Problem solved. Now let's go mister. I have something I want to share with you." She kisses him as she stands up.
Before Zander gets up a timers goes off.
BEEP BEEP * BEEP BEEP * BEEP BEEP
"Bingo"!
He runs over to the other way of making the flower into a Soul Substance. He separates the stuff and and pours the liquid into four vials. He then uses his inspection skill.
[Zondora Female Soul Substance (Synthetic)]
(Elite Level. Yellowish Blue in color. Effects bonus unknown on the human body chances of something great very high. Chemical formula C17-H23-N-O3. No permanent effects. Created by Zander Solo)
He throws it back like a shot. This time the effect is immediate.
[Hidden Quest Completed: Unlock Zondora Female Soul Substance DNA]
[Rewards: 3400 EXP, New title earned: Zondora Female Master, 500,000 Chips, and +1 to any skill level]
[Level up, +1 to all stats, +10 to HP, +10 Relationship with Jessee]
(Zondora Female Master: you cracked the DNA code of the Zondora Female Soul Substance. Your mastery over their DNA now allows you to control the Females. Any contact with them leads to 90 percent chance of them not being able to resist your charisma. Can be higher big man)
'Kris assign my +1 to data mining please".
'What about your other reward. Which option'?
'Option 3. No brainer.'