welcome back.
we've been very busy. he gestures to twenty mercenaries or various ethnicities, all standing at attention, not a single muscle moving among them. these are neo-vipers. the baddest of the bad.
you tell me. the doctor beckons a waiting lab assistant who rolls out a glass case containing an eighteen foot long king cobra. the doctor bends down and gazes at the snake.
the king cobra is a magnificent creature. its venom can kill a full grown elephant with a single bite. he rattles the case and the cobra hisses at him, revealing its hood. the doctor steps up to a neo-viper and shows mccullen an incision scar behind the neo-vipers' right ears.
we introduced into each subject one thousand cc's of the nano-mite solution. as expected, subjects became extremely ill and fell into a coma-like state for approximately forty hours. the doctor produces a small handheld device from his pocket, a file photo of a neo-viper appears on the device's screen.
when they returned to sentience, brain scans showed complete inactivity in the self-preservation region of the cortex.
they feel no fear. the neo-viper grabs the cobra and squeezes, the cobra bites his arm, latching on, sinking its venom into his veins. the neo-viper doesn't even wince.
cortical nerve clusters revealed complete inactivity--
they feel no pain. the doctor keys another command and the neo-viper obediently lets go of the cobra and removes his arm from the case.
frontal lobe concepts of morality are disengaged.  no remorse.
of course. .the real world applications are endless.
so you tell me: is it working?
the science is staggering isn't it?
but research and science are expensive propositions. if i can make a suggestion? mccullen stops and looks at him, there is something truly menacing and evil behind this doctor's mask.
selling one batch of warheads on the black market could fund--
are you ready, mr. zartan?
for you and me both.
your commitment has been inspiring. mccullen enters.
my genius lies only in taking what others created to the logical next steps. all modern gains in science are made through theft.
--another "recruit"?
i'll prepare him for the surgery. the doctor beckons the neo-vipers who shove duke after him towards another door. duke and ana exchange one last look. mccullen keeps his eyes on her as she watches him go.
the atomic bomb that was dropped on hiroshima destroyed seventy percent of the city. seventy percent.  did you know that, duke?
of course, the vault i took shelter in wasn't that well-made. he unclips his breathing tubes and lowers the mask to reveal a scarred and burned face.
double bubble? duke is beyond shocked.
a moving ceremony, i'm sure. the three volley salute. the flag on the coffin.
because i found out the truth.
the man who created this technology was not our enemy. in fact, he was hired by our very own government to create it. when it was deemed too unethical, they sent us to kill him. he didn't survive the blast. but i.  lived. and i escaped with his research. unfortunately i tested it on myself first, and lost my lungs and vocal chords in the process. but now i've perfected it, and you will get a first-hand experience.
no.  and she never will. he glances at the smart robots and duke realizes.
so, i had her brought here, gave her a way to deal with her pain, gave her purpose. made her strong. i gave her a new life, duke.
he saved my life, for starters. now to mention infinite resources to work in the field of my choosing.
i didn't want any job. you can't play nice with science, duke. it's sometimes necessary to experiment, to fail, even to destroy to attain a goal. it's a fact that mccullen has the guts to embrace.
and because you then abandoned her, let's not forget that part. and with that, he leaves duke to the smart robots, which menacingly begin to move in.
for now.
i didn't think it could. i've never seen anyone defeat the programming, even momentarily. duke recovers and angrily grabs one of ana's pistols and kills the two neo-vipers, then turns the gun on the others. the doctor lifts his pda, finger on the "terminate" button.
if i press this, ana dies.
your choice, duke.
don't you know you've lost, duke?
i want you to call me.  commander. and from now on, i'll be on a first name basis with you, destro. mccullen's silver face goes blank.