Everybody Loves Grant Money! [ViPoi/Closed]

Katsu froze for a moment as he entered into the conference room, his eyes scanning the people who were there. Shit. I knew I had to deal with the Bigwigs, but this is nuts. Slouch, Vermillion? Katsu knew at that moment that any chance of trying to bullshit his way through this meeting just burst into flames and blew away on the wind. Everyone in this room, lawyers excluded, was knowledgeable enough to catch him in any kind of subterfuge. Slouch and Vermillion were downright legends in the Scientific community. This was not going to be an easy meeting.

Yet as Katsu approached the chair appointed to him by the Administrator he couldn't help but feel a bit giddy. These were some of the most intelligent people on the entire planet; those who had spent their entire lives amassing knowledge. What kind of information could they have stored in their heads? Oh Katsu could barely contain his excitement. To be able to pick these people's brains for just a day! Of course the inclusion of these people gave Katsu a clue on just how bad a condition the Earth was in after the Saiyan Invasion. Katsu had heard that the previous General, General Chartreuse, had been killed in action, and the new General Mint had plainly stated that the Earth's military wouldn't be able to recover back to 100%, but seeing Slouch, Vermillion, and Azure himself in this one room slammed it home. The BBA was in a bad way. They needed something to get the military back into fighting shape before some enemy decided to try and invade again. It was an interesting thought, one which Katsu assumed would provide future opportunities.

For the here and now however Katsu had to try and convince these people that he was more than some straws to be clutched at while drowning. “Administrator. Dr Slouch. Major. Everyone. Yes, I have a lot to say, although I'm afraid most of it to start with is of the bad news variety. First, give me a moment...”

Placing his briefcase on the table Katsu brought up the terminal screen, placing a dataspike into the port and beginning to clack away the keyboard, his fingers flying across the keys with a practiced ease every modern scholar acquired. A small alarm would suddenly go off as the entire room would begin a lockdown sequence. The windows would have reinforced plating close them down, the doors would lock, and information streaming from the net would be forcibly shutdown. The room had essentially entered SCIF mode. If any of the scientist's or Vi Poi looked into the cause of the lockdown it'd show that there was suddenly 7,000 different attempts to access classified data within the database located in the room, each attempt from a different IP. The rapid barrage had caused a Denial of Service effect and caused the security to engage SCIF mode in order to prevent further access attempts. It was basically the hacker's equivalent of poking a turtle until it hid in its shell.

“Sorry about that. I don't have normal access to force the room into SCIF mode so I had to do that instead. Just following the contract parameters referring to project secrecy. Now that we're secure I can do...this.” Katsu never looked up once from the console as he continued to input commands and data. The room's holograph projector would activate, putting a wealth of data up on the wall behind Katsu. The data would also be accessible by the terminals placed around the conference table, and Vi Poi would be able to access the data in the same manner he had been checking the internet earlier. It'd be easily recognizable as the research data for the Serum, although it seemed a great deal of it was missing.

“So, the first of the bad news,” Katsu finally looked up from the console and stood back up, “Due to the Saiyan Invasion, particularly a certain Oozaru, the laboratory where our research was being conducted was promptly crushed under a hundred tons of building and monkey flesh. Worse news: It killed every team member but me, and even I was in a coma for almost a month. Even now I have amnesia of the past three months, only bits and pieces of the Invasion itself filtering into my memory. Worst news: it crushed every databank in the building, and because of the serum's nature the team was unable to export any of our data offsite.

“The Serum was after all designed to be usable on any of earth's sentient denizens, not just humans, which created a problem during the invasion. Because it had to work for the various races of Zoanthropes on Earth, it was designed to be compatible with more than just human DNA. Now, Saiyans are different from humans, yes, but as everyone here knows there's a lot more in common between humans and saiyans than there are between humans and Monkey phenotype Zoans. In short, the Serum couldn't be backed up in an off-site location because by the time we got word of the Saiyan invasion they were already within range to intercept any broadcasts our facility made, and since Saiyans could potentially utilize the Serum it was deemed unsafe to broadcast, as per facility protocol.

“Essentially, we were boned because of the fact that we couldn't create offsite backups at any stage of the project, meaning that all of our data was on-site when the site itself was flattened by an Oozaru.” Katsu had a bit of trouble keeping the bitterness from rising up in his voice. To a scientist like Katsu the regulations and protocols that security minded people forced upon him were a shackle, something that hindered progress. Because of the contract Katsu had signed swearing secrecy he hadn't even been able to keep any of the data he had at his home laboratory. Katsu had suspicions that perhaps Dr Sodia had managed to secure some of the data against regulations in her own home, but Katsu didn't have any proof of that and no access to her home at this point, so there was little point bringing it up in this part of the conversation...

[Word Count: 1048] Vi-Poi

[OOC: No record exists of Katsu ever injecting the serum and before this meeting he would not have told anyone, just F.y.i.]

The problem with having an Android capable of reading all the data you brought to a presentation at once was that they tended to read ahead, far faster than humans could in the same timeframe. So Katsu was a little annoyed when they started talking about the project as if they knew exactly what to do. A team of 32 different scientists across the spectrum had worked together to create the single dose of serum before the Oozaru smashed everything flat, and all of them were flat out geniuses. Katsu wanted to grit his teeth, but made himself speak calmly and quietly, “Gentlemen please. You're all operating on the concept this serum is based around altering DNA to produce its results, which given the data I've been able to give you is a completely understandable conclusion to come to, but the problem is that this data is over eight months old now. The only reason I was able to salvage this information is because it was backed up on paper away from the main lab.”

Katsu sighed as he typed in some commands on the console, altering which information was available to those around the table. It'd clear out almost 95% of the data he had managed to recover, leaving only three pages worth of data, “It's my theory that at some point we realized that in order for our serum to be something that we could give to every Earthling we would need to follow a different route than DNA manipulation. There's too many variables in DNA to reliably say that any one concoction could be safely used on all the different phenotype Zoans that exist on the planet. Given that our team included not just Bio-engineers like myself but Robotics Engineers, Chemists, and Theoretical Physicists... I think that we decided on a different method based on a pure chemical driven reaction over a Genetics driven one.”

While Katsu was speaking he saw all the scientists looking over the specific data he had pointed them at, noting their confusion. It was no surprise. Katsu had pored over that data for the last three days trying to make heads or tails of it and had only barely scratched the surface of its meaning. It didn't surprise him that no one at the table could really understand what they were looking at. “From what I have been able to piece together from the fragments of my own memory, the reports that had survived, and data I've managed to pick up after recovering from being hospitalized I think I've managed to point out some things for everyone.

“ Firstly, I think someone on the team made a breakthrough just a few weeks before the Saiyan Invasion. I assume it was either Doctor Ride or perhaps Dr Morton, but I don't know for sure. Either way, we made a fundamental change in the workings of the serum that makes most of the data I've managed to recover invalid.” Katsu had said that Ride or Morton had probably been the one, but Katsu did not know that it was he himself who had made the breakthrough, against all odds and common sense. “Secondly, we had managed to create at least a single dose of the prototype serum by the time the Saiyans invaded, because as the Admin hinted at, I have been injected with it. Included in my files is my biometrics record.”

Katsu pulled up the records he had been talking about, letting everyone, even if they were at the edge of the room at this point, view his biometric data. DNA, fingerprints, iris patterns, tastebud patterns. The whole works on display, with timestamps of the data, showing when Katsu had the various tests taken. Two particular sets of data, one set just a week ago, and one set three months ago, were highlighted. There was no difference. “You'll note my DNA at least has no appreciable difference. Yet I'm sure the Admin has noted my power level at this moment is 7,500. I would like to note that my previous Powerlevel before the Invasion was... 7.

As Katsu had made his last note he suddenly rushed forward directly at Vi Poi, the pointer and middle fingers along with his thumb of his left hand extended into a stabbing motion, aimed directly for Vi Poi's left eye. Katsu had the full intention of ripping it from his artificial skull if he wasn't stopped, and while obviously Vi Poi would have no trouble stopping that blow it'd be just a big blur of motion to the “normal” humans around. If Katsu managed to pull the orb free he'd step back a few feet before tossing it back to Vi Poi, but in the much more likely chance Vi Poi deflected his strike he'd follow with a leg sweep following the motion that Vi Poi deflected him towards before a big uppercut to try and plant Vi Poi's head in the ceiling.

Whether or not Katsu was successful he'd back off at that point, moving back to his original position, assuming Vi Poi left him in a position capable of doing so. “While my demonstration there might not be the best we have to remember that I am not a soldier, or even a martial artist. I had absolutely no sensitivity to Ki whatsoever before the Invasion, yet now...” Katsu made a motion with his right hand, a small orange ball of Ki flaring into life and hovering above his hand. “We managed to create a prototype, and I believe to save my own life I injected myself with it in the invasion. It has not changed my genetics, but my Powerlevel and ability to sense Ki has literally risen a thousand-fold. I think that no matter what else I say, that number alone should entice you to continue funding this project...”

[Word Count: 991] Vi-Poi

There was, quite simply, absolutely no way for Katsu at his current level to be able to handle the level of speed that the Admin had decided to utilize for his counterattack. One moment Katsu had a pleased look to his face as Vi Poi stated his offer to just beginning to frown as Vi Poi changed the subject, and the next there was a solid iron H-bar slammed into his chest with enough force to shatter concrete. Katsu might have a higher than normal PL than most humans, but there were definitely still a lot of limits, and one of those was his ability to handle impacts. It just wasn't up to par, and that single strike sent Katsu flying backwards at high speeds, slamming into and through the reinforced doors that he had come through earlier, flinging him out into the waiting room beyond.

Bits and shards of metal had showered the room, and the secretary at her station had screamed in panic and dove under her desk to avoid the worst of it. Katsu however still was connected to the doors he had blown right off their hinges with his passing, laying on the ground. His lungs had flat out collapsed under the pressure of Vi Poi's swing, and Katsu, as soon as he realized he was still conscious, began rolling back and forth on the floor, trying ever so desperately to scream, to voice his sudden pain and hurt. For a moment Katsu panicked at his predicament, but he was a smart guy. He knew he could make himself breathe even if his lungs had collapsed. He had the knowledge, he had the ability. So Katsu reached within himself, into his own chest cavity, and with telekinesis he sucked a great lungful of air in with an audible gasp.

Coughing and gasping, Katsu still rolled on the ground, with the immediate need for air gone he had resumed dealing with the intense pain in his chest. Katsu had never been a martial artist or a soldier, after all, and the pain of having a super-powered Android slam a reinforcement beam of steel into his chest was the most powerful pain Katsu had felt up to that point. It took a bit to process.

When finally Katsu could control his breathing, and it didn't feel like his ribcage was going to crumble into dust, he grabbed onto the secretary's desk to haul himself to his feet, leaning over it at the secretary still hiding behind it for a moment, “By the Higgs Boson, these meetings can just be brutal, don't you think Ms.? Though I don't suppose everyone gets the I-Beam treatment when the Admin attends.” His little attempt at humor done with, Katsu telekinetically picked up the doors as he trudged back into the room, fitting the door back onto their mangled hinges, bending anything that needed bent in order for it to work.

Katsu almost collapsed into his designated chair, coughing once as he sat down. “While I am overjoyed at the offer, Admin, I feel the need to reiterate the fact that I don't have the formula for the serum itself. I'll need to look into the various effects of the serum on my own body. The serum itself seems to have been completely metabolized by my body, and I'm still running tests trying to pin down any information I can. I hope to reconstruct the serum from this data, but I may not be able to gather enough data from myself to do so. If that happens I'll have to backtrack our entire project and try to recreate the serum from scratch, which took our entire team of 32 people almost an entire year to pull off. I don't have the knowledge of my previous team.... yet, at least.

“I'll take that offer if it's still on the table, of course, just need to make sure you're clear of the position of the project as of this moment.”

[Word Count: 670] Vi-Poi

Clutching his ribs as the Admin continued to speak, Katsu gave a grin when the android referred to the serum like a protein bar. Laughing very carefully, Katsu shook his head, suppressing a sudden cough with difficulty. “A bit more effective than just a candy bar, I'd think, Admin.”

Katsu would stand in order to properly shake Vi Poi's disconnected hand, not having much shock or discomfort on his face from having to do so either. When you were a scientist you learned to accept what was coming at you and just go with the flow, it made studying things so much easier. Katsu would also take the little card with Vi Poi's contact number, giving a quick nod, “I plan to be able to hand the BBA this serum long before a decade passes. The serum is still needed, from what I hear. BBA forces are critically weakened by the recent Invasion, and being able to convert the normal soldiers into KAOS members would give the planet the strength it needs to keep ourselves relevant in the big Space Opera, and out of the clutches of the SSE.”

At that point there wouldn't be anything more to speak with the Admin about. He'd given the order, and now Vermillion and Slouch would have to follow through, although Katsu was pretty sure both of them were at least half as joyful at Katsu's approval as he was. Approaching Dr Slouch and Vermillion, Katsu started going over some of the data he had with them. Any amount of help he could get from the greats was certainly more than appreciated, and this was the best opportunity to show these two his own intelligence and creativity, his worth as a scientist, in hopes of establishing greater resources for the future...

[Word Count: 302]
[Total WC: 3,488]

All done here! I'll take Zeni please! As a Human I'll claim my 10% bonus as well!