Moira Mactaggert (scottish_moira) wrote in oh_marvelous, @ 2010-04-05 09:41:00 |
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Every day, we've got to make a choice
Characters: Moira MacTaggert and Nick Fury
Setting: S.H.I.E.L.D. Laboratories and Nick Fury's Office.
Content: SCIENCE!
Summary: Moira fixes S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mutant suppression serum, and hopes she won't regret this.
The mechanical ding of one of the laboratory machines drew Moira's attention away from her notes. She got to her feet, strolling across the lab and retrieving the glass capsule from the machine. It shimmering with a pearlescent liquid, shifting back and forth as she rolled it in her hand, then smiled. All tests positive. If her formulas were correct (and she was confident that they were), then she held in her hands an effective suppression serum, to temporarily limit mutant powers.
The serum and formulas they'd given her were as she expected; messy, ineffective, of very limited duration. Half the components in the formula were superfluous, or actually inhibited the serum's efficacy. It had taken her a matter of hours to rework the formula into a much simpler, more elegant form, and exponentially increased its usefulness--meanwhile polishing off all those pesky little parts which might cause side effects.
She worked with the assistants S.H.I.E.L.D. had provided, explaining to them in detail the functions of every single element of the formula, including the mathematics and physical preparation. What she didn't tell them were the functions of the components she removed, never mentioning that a couple of them had held real potential in creating a far more powerful (and more dangerous) serum. She had created the tool that S.H.I.E.L.D. requested, but would not give them any weapons stronger than necessary. And muddled in among all the actually useless components she'd removed, it would take a mutant geneticist on Moira's own level (there weren't any) to even notice the disappearance of certain potentials, compared to the amount of streamlining she'd achieved.
Finishing her notes and providing the S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists with the results for them to check over and replicate, she took the completed capsule and made her way to Nick Fury's office. She was let through without much delay, even though she had no appointment, and she immediately strolled forward and set the capsule down on Nick's desk.
"Good morning, Nick. I apologize for the delay, but I believe this should be sufficient for your requests. I've provided your scientists have all the formulas and notations required to produce and replicate the serum. It will need to be tested on humans, of course, to check my work, but if my calculations are correct, this injection should suppress all active mutant powers for a period of 24 hours. Due to the extreme variance of mutant DNA, the actual efficacy of the serum will vary on a case-to-case basis, and it functions only as a suppressant--it will not effect permanent physical mutations. For example, a mutant with wings would still retain those wings, or a mutant with granite skin would not suddenly change his anatomy. It should, however, suppress any mutant powers which are produced on a chemical or molecular level.
"Field use of the serum will want to pay especial attention to the mutant's unique metabolism. A mutant with super speed, for example, might be able to clear the suppressant from their system within a matter of hours, or even minutes. There should be no side-effect, even from repeated use, though of course I can only speak for my calculations, and I'll leave the field tests in your capable hands. Have I forgotten anything?" She stopped and smiled at him, completely confident in her abilities.