Page 3 of Alpha Infected
The athletes smiled at the board members in greeting.
“First, we’ll establish a baseline of our athletes’ max performance without SE RX-2.”
The athletes each stepped onto their treadmill and began to run. On the wall behind them, a digital screen blinked to life. Each subject gradually increased their speed until they were sprinting at their maximum. Whatever number was on each treadmill was displayed on the digital screen in big red numbers as well. After a minute of running, they slowed to a walk and stopped.
“And now we’ll administer the enhancer.”
The doors opened again and three doctors in immaculate white lab coats with a gold KV Perkins pin on their lapels entered. They snapped on latex gloves before picking up one of the syringes and approaching their previously assigned subject.
As Bray watched, he noted that one of the doctors looked nervous. The vibe she gave off could severely undermine the board’s confidence in the demonstration. Bray discreetly cleared his throat to catch her attention. When she looked at him, he narrowed his eyes in warning. The doctor got the hint and instantly wiped the unease from her face.
One by one the three athletes were injected with strength enhancer RX-2. Once the shots were completed, Bray turned back to the board members.
“SE RX-2 takes about one full minute to enter the blood stream. It’s so fast that it can be administered just before an athlete begins competition and it leaves the body after about an hour,” he said, reciting the information from the original version’s test trials.
Everyone waited a full minute for the enhancer to take effect.
“Okay, guys,” Bray said once the necessary amount of time had passed. “Let’s see your new strength enhancer RX-2 performance.”
The trio got back on the treadmills and started running again. This time they started sprinting with hardly any buildup, blasting past their previous max speeds. Their feet pounded on the treadmills, the numbers on the digital board rapidly ticking higher and higher. Each athlete ran with relaxed ease, as if they could keep going forever, showing no signs of being winded or tired.
Bray had to whistle sharply to get them to stop. Once the treadmills slowed to a halt, they stepped off with wide smiles on their faces.
“Amazing,” one of the board members whispered.
“Whew! That felt good!” Rashad said before he did a spontaneous back flip.
The board members laughed with delight and ripples of conversation began to sweep up and down the conference table.
“Jenny, why don’t you show us how strong you are,” Bray requested.
“Of course, Mr. Egan.”
The petite brunette went to the side of the demo area where a weight bench had been set up. She racked the weights up to three hundred pounds then settled on the bench.
Bray held his breath as she lay down and gripped the bar.
After a long pause, she lifted the heavily-weighted bar off the rack. Jenny pressed the weights up five times in quick succession, looking as if she was lifting a couple of fluffy pillows in the air. Then, she took one hand off the bar, adjusted her hold, and slowly pushed the weight up single handed.
At the stunning feat, the board members gasped in awe before bursting into applause.
Bray relaxed and smiled with smug satisfaction. He’d pulled off a perfect demonstration. Dr. Burke was a fool. That enthusiastic applause was exactly what Bray had expected to hear. He officially declared the company’s new product a success.
At his signal, servers came in carrying trays filled with glasses of bubbly champagne. They circled the room, passing out champagne to all the board members, the doctors, and the test subjects.
Bray stood at the head of the table and raised his glass in a toast. “To the future of KV Perkins Pharmaceuticals,” he said proudly.
The toast echoed around the room before everyone took a sip of the expensive champagne.
“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,” Bray said as he began to close the meeting. “The official demonstration has concluded, but please feel free to stay and chat about the wondrous advancement you’ve just witnessed.”
There was another small round of applause before the board members moved to speak with each other and the test subjects. Mr. Chang, the chairman of the board, came over and shook Bray’s hand.
“Bray, you’ve done it again. Stock prices are going to soar after this.” Chang leaned in close and lowered his voice. “I see a hefty bonus in your future,” he said with a wink.
Bray’s dick tingled again. “Thank you, Mr. Chang. Our team of scientists deserve credit for today’s successful demonstration as well,” he said humbly.
“Of course. Couldn’t have done it without their brilliant minds.”
