"Did you see that odd coffin that was brought into the lab? What the hell are the higher ups doing with a dead body? We don't do archaeological research here."
"You mean that really heavy looking marble thing? Maybe it's got some kind of disease or something that we'll pawn off to the military, or maybe their trying to kick that new strain of influenza down a peg since it's really starting to take a toll."
"Well.....whatever it is, I'm sure they'll make an announcement if it's really concerning us. Not like a company this big gives much of a shit about common research clerks like us anyway. Better to just keep our heads low and feed our families. You know I heard Charles got fired the other day for failing to report his research to the higher ups and now he's almost on the streets because no other company is willing to take him thanks to Van Loa's reputation alone. I know we've got some of the most comfortable corporate jobs you can get nowadays, but hearing some of the darker things about our company when I talk to some of my friends at other places makes us sound like we're some kind of black market kingpins rather then a cutting edge bio tech firm."
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"Sir, lights are all green. All the equipment is ready. We're prepared to proceed with the procedure at any time. But....sir, if I may. Testing our new regenerative formula on a corpse seems a high waste of materials. Even with one this remarkably well preserved, activating the cells may take effect, but we have little chance of reactivating the body as a whole. And, even should we return the body to a healthier state, it will just die once again in moments."
"Enough...we proceed as planned, but don't worry. None of you are required for this operation. I, and the med droid will be the sole operators in this room. I just needed help with the set up. And last I checked this is my company. Even if you feel like running to the board I own sixty percent of this place and built it from the ground up. I will conduct whatever experiments I please. Now, you may all return to your business elsewhere. And know that this is an A level clearance experiment. If I hear about anything that concerns this project outside of this building, each of you is going on the chopping block." Said an elderly man with a bit of thick ash grey stubble along his thin chin and sunken eyes. He turned to the instruments he had surrounding the body that sat coldly atop the sterile table and started checking all of them with an electronic pad in hand. Checking each reading as he waved out the rest of the staff.
Some left with grumbles, others just exiting quietly but all still heading the elderly man's words as they had no power to go against him. He was famous not just in the company, but the world as one of its foremost scientist and the one who had near singlehandedly turned Van Loa from a fledgling pharmaceutical company into one of the top bio tech firms on the planet. His name was Martin Ambros and he alone was responsible for several of the most recent advancement in the medical and technological fields, including activated gene therapy to regrow limbs, functioning nano bots that could monitor the health of their host, and plenty more that he had either created or helped create. Many scientist begged to work with him and learn at his side, but he was a very secluded man most of the time. Outside of research that would often require more then a single pair of hands to complete, he didn't have much of a social life. His focus was divided between research, building his company, and using what little time he had left to take care of himself. Or at least that was the common thought since no one was ever able to get very close to the man.
None of those in attendance could claim to be smarter then the man and thus could rarely bring themselves to second guess him without serious reason, but on this occasion a few had selected that poor man to try and get him to reconsider just because the experiment of healing a dead body seemed ridiculous in its usability. But Martin wouldn't hear it.
The door closed and Martin checked the camera's to make sure all staff were out of the room and the door to the lab was sealed tight. Once that was done he took off his fake glasses and rubbed at his eyes with frustration and stress. He'd been working non stop for weeks after his latest breakthrough and knew that he needed to make sure this experiment was completed at least within the next five years, or he'd be in serious trouble.
Martin took a deep breathe and looked over the cold corpse on the table again with a fresh pair of eyes. The body had dirty blonde hair and a thick scraggled beard that stretched down the man's firm but somewhat chubby chest. The body was overall rather muscular, but had plenty of fat left on it for what was supposed to be a dried up corpse. The most major thing to stand out though was the large open cut that stretched across the man's stomach and up against his chest. It was a rather deep stab wound that extended and opened further with some type of cut up against the chest. While the skin was pale and bordering closer to a grey then pink in hue, that wound was still plenty red, as if it had only been opened a day or two earlier.
Martin sighed, looking down on his old friend and quickly muttered under his breathe and formed a few hand signs, thus sealing the room in a noise canceling barrier, followed by another barrier to cancel any scrying magics, as well as one that would keep his mind at full alert for him to work. Once that was done he looked over the machines once more to make sure that there was no noted interference before moving on to begin his surgery. First came simple repairs to the wound. That included stitching up the would cleaning the would and forcing out any dust or impurities it had accumulated over the years lying in it's crypt. Luckily, Martin had taken care of most of that already, but nature wasn't so easy as to sit still for nearly two thousand years, no matter how powerful he was. With the dust and small debris cleared, leaving just the body's structure, he began to cut out and remove the truly dead and withered pieces of the body that had already atrophied and withered within the cut. Leaving just the preserved parts of the body.
Now came the difficult part. The regenerative solution wasn't the only one he had prepared for this procedure. There was a large number of solutions he had prepared for this operation in hopes of its success and to account for any number of variables he wasn't able to foresee. Taking another breathe and wiping the muck from his attire. He then took a large sealed vial of a viscous red and purple liquid and began chanting. One hand hovering over the would while the other unsealed the vial and began to pour it into the wound. The chanting grew louder and Martin's eyes glowed with an ethereal light that spread from his face to his arms and finally illuminated the wound and liquid together in a firey burning light. Golden burst of flame like lights and energy burst from the would in a rage as Martin continued his chanting. His voice deep and almost otherworldly as he spoke. As if it wasn't him speaking but an almighty god that spoke through him.
Finally, the energy burst forth from the wound in a bright blinding golden light and circled around the room. Almost struggling within the sterile lab before conglomerating in the ethereal shape of a dragon.
Unperturbed, Martin continued to chant and brought forth a heavy looking metal case. He opened it up and held it up before the glaring visage of the energy dragon and soon, the dragon seemed to charge at him with fury, but was suddenly sucked into the case and all the swirling energy with it. With a quick snap of his arms, the case was resealed tight and another few spoken words had the metal sealed into a solid and unbroken brick with no way to reopen it.
Martin was left sweating and panting after the exertion of performing such great magic as to seal the magic of a dragon. A being of the greatest attunement to magic known to man outside of the Faeries or Elves. It had taken millennia, but he was finally able to surpass such magic with a combination of science and knowledge of the mystical world. He set aside the now far heavier case and took a few moments to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his brow. His eyes glancing at the still still body on the table, but with a bit of a smirk on his lips as much of the hard part was over. The most dangerous and difficult problem to helping his friend was the dangerous and unending threat of the dragon's magic stopping the healing process he'd developed over centuries. But now that he was sure that at least the majority of the Dragon's magics were no longer in the wound, he was certain he could heal it.
It took a while longer, but he was eventually able to regain his focus and truly begin.
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