Penance

[Reyn]

FILE COPY - DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

METAHUMAN INCIDENT RESPONSE AGENCY

SUSPECT DOSSIER - FILE Nº S-1345-O

SECTION Nº1: BASIC CHARACTERISTICS

NAME
D.O.B.

CITIZENSHIP(S)
RACE
ETHNICITY
LANGUAGE(S)

CHARGES
REGION OF OPERATIONS
ALIAS
FILE Nº

HEIGHT
WEIGHT
BLOOD TYPE

HAIR COLOR | TYPE
EYE COLOR
VISION
LATERALITY

MIRA DESIGNATE:

DR. LEE FARLOW
10-28-1989

UNITED KINGDOM
CAUCASIAN
BRITISH
ENGLISH

ATTEMPTED MASS HOMICIDE
UK^[1]
"CONTAMINANT"^[2]
S-1345-O

177.9 CENTIMETERS
49.9 KILOGRAMS
O-

BROWN | 2A
GREEN
20/400
AMBIDEXTROUS

ORG-3

Figure 1. Farlow, from cameras on a 2017 National Rail service.

SECTION Nº2: METAHUMAN ABILITY ASSESSMENT

I. PRIMARY FACTORS.

A. TOXIN GENERATION
Observation of Farlow's activities strongly suggests that he is able to produce a number of poisonous substances from within his body. He is believed to be responsible for a string of four mass poisonings across the London Metropolitan area, as well as two direct homicides. In all incidents, no residual chemicals were found anywhere Farlow was spotted; in other words, it is unlikely he created them through conventional reactions, or carried them in any sort of container. Furthermore, he did not wear any sort of protective equipment, implying an innate resistance to the substances used. Through these attacks, it is estimated that he is directly responsible for the deaths of twelve individuals, and the hospitalisation and/or serious, possibly lifelong illness of dozens more.

His methodology appears to be the same; enter a public place, position himself by an area of high foot traffic, and expel whichever agent he intended to use to poison the crowd. Once the first victim showed obvious signs of ill health, mass panic usually followed; the chaos of which provided a smokescreen through which to escape^[3]. It wasn't until the third attack that it was identified as the work of the individual "Contaminant", and wasn't until the fourth that "Contaminant" was identified as the pharmacologist Dr. Lee Farlow.

Both single-target homicides were carried out in the same way as each other, with intravenous injection of saxitoxin. Unlike the flightiness shown during the more indiscriminate poisonings, Farlow is believed to have stayed with both victims until their deaths^[4].

B. ABNORMAL METABOLISM
Farlow was considered to suffer from pica, though it is now speculated that he is able to gain some sort of nutrition from the inedibles he consumes. Furthermore, he does not display many of the more serious ailments his low bodyweight should carry, though he definitely is not healthy.

SECTION Nº3: OBSERVED EQUIPMENT

I. PRIMARY OBSERVED EQUIPMENT.

A. HYPODERMIC NEEDLES
Used only during the two single-target homicides. Likely stolen from University College London, as Farlow was employed there, and supplies had been reported missing.

DOCUMENT APPENDIX

URGENT NOTICE 11-15-2017:

All information regarding charges, body-count, and active status is no longer accurate as of 11-15-2017, 10:45. Farlow has been taken into custody following an incident on flight BA-2690 from LHR to DFW. Ten casualties have been confirmed, and a further thirty passengers have been admitted to hospital- eight of which requiring emergency medical care, including the pilot and copilot. The plane made an emergency landing close to the MIRA NYC branch, where Farlow voluntarily turned himself in.

Further examination of his PMPD manifestations, psychological profile, and risk level will be carried out, and an updated dossier will be released upon completion.

DOCUMENT FOOTNOTES.

1. Attacks appear centred around the London Metropolitan area, but suspect has means to travel.

2. Alias given by BBC news report following the third incident. Though not something he came up with himself, Farlow appears to identify with it- or, at least, does not object to its use.

3. The second incident had him leave before this point, after the building's carbon monoxide alarm was sounded.

4. Victim B was found propped up in an armchair at time of death. The position he was in, as well as the distance from any signs of struggle, suggest he was placed there some time after paralysis.

END DOCUMENT

SUSPECT DOSSIER - FILE Nº S-1345-O

FILE COPY - DO NOT DISTRIBUTE - CONFIDENTIAL DOSSIER ENCLOSED

 

[Reyn]

He had been hunched over the entire time he waited, peering through the blur over his glasses, hand covering the mask covering his mouth. The prisoner's uniform hung over his body like a bedsheet, only filled out at the wrists by the seals he had asked them to give him. They were, perhaps, a little too bulky for purpose. He had insisted a simple membrane would be enough to prevent anything escaping, but they had to be cautious. Besides, it wasn't like Farlow was in any position to argue with them.

It had been- what, ten minutes, now? Fifteen? Fifteen minutes since the meeting had been scheduled, according to the wall clock he had been watching through the window of the cell. In that time, he hadn't moved much. Occasionally, his hand would move from his mouth to the desk, tapping erratically on the surface for a few seconds, but he'd bring it back up fairly quickly.

Annemarie decided not to make him wait any longer, and opened the cell door.

"Good evening, Lee."

It was hard to hide the bitterness in her tone, so she didn't bother. Being sent over from MIRA England to deal with this case was bad enough, but now they had roped her into being the bearer of good news- a role she'd rather take with just about anyone else. He looked up at her greeting, returning it with a nod of his head, and probably smiled politely somewhere behind his mask and his hand. She did not smile back.

If anything, the visible guilt made Contaminant more repulsive. It wasn't that it was fake, per se--the initial psych-eval strongly suggested otherwise--it's just that it felt... undeserved. He shouldn't feel sorry for himself, even through other people. He shouldn't feel nervous, even after turning himself in. He had no right to feel anything at all. He had given that up when he gassed a fucking art museum. And a nightclub. And wherever else he was spotted- she didn't want to dwell on what she knew of his case, lest she find the strength to turn around and change her mind entirely.

It wasn't her mind that mattered, though. It was the board of fucking executives- and, evidently, it was Farlow.

She took a seat opposite the man, and placed the folder face-down on the desk- hidden from him so she could look away from his face when she turned it over for him to read later.

"It's been postponed again. They want to run another evaluation, now that the tests on your PMPD have been completed. There is-" She sighed- "A proposition they're likely to make. I'm here to gather your initial thoughts, so they can see if it's something worth pursuing. It will require your full co-operation."

Maybe she was expecting Farlow to cheer up a little more visibly at this news, but nothing much seemed to change. He nodded again, finally removing the hand from the mask on his face. She squinted behind it to check for signs of tampering, which obviously weren't there. He had been nothing but perfectly compliant up until this point. Perfectly, infuriatingly compliant. There was a beat of silence before he spoke- and, when he did, his voice was slow and cautious.

"What's it about?" Farlow said, "The proposition, I mean- I assume the eval's gonna be another psychological one."

Yes, because you're unhinged. Don't try to bait me into telling you that.

Her hand moved over to the folder, but stopped before she could properly turn it over. She allowed, for a moment, a brief lapse in her professional demeanour, and let a frown fall across her face.

"Your new file says you can synthesise any chemical you come into contact with." She said, "I don't need to tell you this, but a mutation like that could be incredibly useful. The higher-ups reckon you could save thousands for us."

"What- lives or dollars?"

The attempt at humour made her sick- worsened by the fact that she actually agreed with what he was saying this time. At the very least, she could take solace in his immediate regret, as she watched him retreat back into his body like a frightened shellfish. Her hand returned to the folder, and she finally turned it over: a temporary dossier, with the mutations updated and the threat stake removed. The latter, as expected, was what drew his eye.

"The proposition is this." She said, "Following your second eval, if all goes well, you'll be given a new identity, sent back to our headquarters in London, and placed on a team with EHS. You'll be monitored the whole time you're there, and you won't be allowed to leave the compound unsupervised. Or go anywhere unsupervised."

She shrugged.

"But you won't be executed, they think that would be a waste. That's the problem with you, Lee. You're too useful."

Ah. She wasn't meant to call him a problem to his face. Farlow shifted in his seat and leaned forwards, resting his hand on the desk, and his head on the hand. A look of interest, for certain, which meant- well, he'd do what he had been doing the entire time he had been in custody: co-operating. Co-operating well enough to keep him out of the grave yet again. Wasn't the incident on BA-2690 supposed to be a suicide attempt? What happened to that?

After a long pause, Farlow spoke again.

"I can make... a lot of things already. Yeah. Wouldn't even have to train m'self. Antibiotics, anaesthetics," He shuffled in place, "Chemotherapy drugs. They all work fine, if it's efficacy they're worried about."

But it wasn't, and he knew that.

He sighed, running his hands through his hair for a moment, before committing to the movement and burying his head inside them. His breathing, though filtered, was heavy enough to send a chill down Annemarie's spine. She looked up to the air vent in the corner, almost willing it to turn on, but the sensors hadn't picked up anything unusual. The mask was fine. She was safe. Farlow was still co-operative.

"So, you'll accept it?"

He nodded in response.

"Of course you would."

She slid the folder back under her arm and stood up, tucking the chair under the desk as she went. Farlow finally looked up- confused, almost pleading with her to stay inside, to not leave him in solitary again, even though he knew it was now only temporary. It was clear, however, that she wanted to spend as little time with him as possible. She had got the response she needed, and the specific one she expected. All she wanted to do now was report back to her superiors and leave this mess behind.

"Dr. Fischer will be meeting you tomorrow- same time as now, though he's likely to be early." She frowned, "I'll be honest, Lee- I almost want you to be lying about all this."

Farlow shrugged.

"That'd be easier, wouldn't it?"