[thinking of it as the scientific endeavor it originally was makes it a little easier to talk about. Norman swallows]
My company was commissioned by the government to create a chemical which would make their soldiers stronger, faster, give them heightened senses. And it all worked on paper - perfectly, right down to the last molecule. I made sure of it myself: so many sleepless nights in the lab or at my desk ... but when we were at the animal testing phase, they rushed us. Said we needed to have a viable product ready within two weeks, or they'd pass on our contract to our biggest competitor.
[he remembers that stomach-turning moment, when General Slocum had all but dressed him down in front of his entire production staff, and his partner had failed to have his back. it had felt like being punched in the gut and then kicked from behind. and he'd thought that had been the worst thing he could feel...]
Desperation stole my common sense ... I know that now. But back then, all I could feel was the panic, the fear of losing my entire life's work, the legacy I'd built from the ground up so that I'd be able to give my son a good life. A ... a better one than I'd had. I made my partner meet me in the laboratory after hours, so I could run the first test on myself.
cw: brief mention of animal testing (concept only, no details)
[thinking of it as the scientific endeavor it originally was makes it a little easier to talk about. Norman swallows]
My company was commissioned by the government to create a chemical which would make their soldiers stronger, faster, give them heightened senses. And it all worked on paper - perfectly, right down to the last molecule. I made sure of it myself: so many sleepless nights in the lab or at my desk ... but when we were at the animal testing phase, they rushed us. Said we needed to have a viable product ready within two weeks, or they'd pass on our contract to our biggest competitor.
[he remembers that stomach-turning moment, when General Slocum had all but dressed him down in front of his entire production staff, and his partner had failed to have his back. it had felt like being punched in the gut and then kicked from behind. and he'd thought that had been the worst thing he could feel...]
Desperation stole my common sense ... I know that now. But back then, all I could feel was the panic, the fear of losing my entire life's work, the legacy I'd built from the ground up so that I'd be able to give my son a good life. A ... a better one than I'd had. I made my partner meet me in the laboratory after hours, so I could run the first test on myself.