The toxins wafted from the beaker. He knew better, but he lowered his mask and inhaled deeply with a small smile. Anyone looking would be reminded of an old grandfather pouring over a pot of stew, tasting it before serving to his family. One taste of this soup, though, and anyone would drop dead.

Which is exactly what he intended to happen.

“Lance! Mary!” He called his partners from the nearby rooms. Together, they had spent the last three years together, forming and testing hypotheses on the efficacy of a new drug. In its final stages now, he needed just one more thing to truly make it all come together …

“What’s up, Dr.?” Lance asked, entering the room with Mary.

“The vial has the drug,” he said, pointing to it. A small stream of smoke issued from the cork. “We just need to test it.”

“I’ll get the mice,” Mary said, turning.

The Dr. pressed a button and the door slammed shut. He pressed another, and it locked.

Mary turned. “You did that?”

“We don’t need mice,” the Dr. nodded. “We need to test on our target audience now.”

Lance looked at Mary and back at the Dr. “Target audience? Humans?”

With a slim smile, the Dr. nodded and drew a syringe from his coat. “So you understand?”

***

His partners contributed more to the release of the drug than they ever thought possible, but sadly were not able to be there as he collected all of the accolades.