Un spectacle de merde en relations publiques

Dr. Kharnigore, CEO of Umbrella Corporation, Sat at her desk in her private office at the top floor of the Umbrella Corps skyscraper. At seven feet tall her scales shimmered almost iridescent under the office lights. "Merde..." she cursed softly as she saw the reports. "How hard is it to make a simple delivery!" she sighed "This is going to be a total shit show." her concerns were not about her fearsome appearance or reputation; nor about their latest projects "New You" enhancement process having one too many failures they were about the Clusterfuck of chaos unfolding in the city below.

News had just reached her that the recent shipment of experimental regenerative enhanced reptilian bioforms or RERB04's had been accidentally released in downtown Brockton. The creatures, engineered to be hyper aggressive with reduced pain receptors and an oversized adrenal gland were meant to be used in warfare against the Endbringers, but the bastards had broken containment during transport. This could become a disaster of monumental proportions, both in terms of public safety and what this would mean for the shareholders if word of their origin happened to leak.

Dr Kharnigore could only mutter once more under her breathe as she reached for her intercom "Merde".

She wasted no time and activated the emergency containment breach protocols, deploying some of the companies best recover teams and security personnel. From her office chair she monitored live feeds showing the havoc the creatures were causing, many of the buildings near the crash site had shattered windows, broken walls and doors and everywhere the streets were littered with viscera and civilians unable to evacuate in time. "This is the just like last quarters zombie virus outbreak, I will never understand peoples obsession with walking corpses" she sipped her wine as the recovery teams did their best to capture as much data as they could. "Honestly the smell of them almost makes the money not worth the effort. Well, Almost." The screens continued to show streets overrun with panicked civilians, and heroes battling her escaped monstrous creations. And though her heart sank as she calculated the civilian body count, she couldn't help but admire her creations, tenacious efficiency.

As CEO, he first thoughts were immediately about damage control. The Umbrella Corporation's involvement had to be downplayed. They would need to pay their contacts in the media as Rumours of rogue bioweapons from her company causing carnage in the streets would tarnish their carefully cultivated image and possibly damage stock prices. That is, if this incident could be tied to the biotech firm.

But even as she strategized how to spin the narrative, her primary concern was retrieving valuable data from the chaos. Sure, they were not deployed for their intended target but the data received back could identify potential flaws or benefits in the products genetic structuring.

The specialized retrieval teams working under the guise of humanitarian aid were instructed to gather as much combat footage and biological samples as possible. This data was invaluable for improving future batches of bioweapons—enhancing their adaptability, resilience, and combat effectiveness against parahuman threats and would make for good marketing to those in power not happy with the current status of empowered individuals.

"Urgghh" she thought, "The cost of spinning this in the media to our benefit is going to cost a fortune, not to mention the bribes, but.. those losses could easily be recouped by using this situation to pressure congress into upping their Anti Empowered defence budget and then snagging the contract." Perhaps this clusterfuck can be turned into a profit after all.
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Some time later, Dr Kharnigore entered the dimly lit confines of the Umbrella Corporation's high-security research facility currently under the direct authority of the Tinker augmenticist Fractal. Dr. Kharnigore casually studied the bank of monitors displaying data from the recent RERB04's incident in Brockton Bay as she various research assistants moved too and fro working diligently to catalogue and report on the available data.

Her tail swayed subtly behind her, a testament to her excitement as she correlated the data, thinking of how to improve future batch's as she moved to speak with her fellow Tinker who sat  across the room, seated amidst a clutter of holographic schematics and glowing screens, Fractal hummed softly to herself as she analysed the results of the latest Impromptu public weapons demonstration.

Fractal sat almost bouncing in her seat, fractal light patterns played across her obsidian skin, as videos displaying the various Parahumans played on the surrounding monitors, at Kharnigors approach she turned to look up eagerly at her boss. "Hey Doc, check this out," she exclaimed, gesturing to a holographic projection of one of the escaped bioweapons. "I managed to isolate the genetic code that directly controls its regenerative capabilities. It's fascinating, definitely a breakthrough... even though it caused a bit of a mess downtown."

Kharnigore nodded, her gaze narrowing as she scrutinized the data. "Indeed, the regeneration was impressive enough to delay their complete annihilation, but it's also what allowed them to break containment so easily. We need a way to control it more effectively, perhaps integrate a failsafe mechanism to limit their spread if they ever breach containment again. Though honestly they should have been in a state of dormancy for the trip."

Fractal nodded enthusiastically, the fractal patterns shimmered across her face with excitement. "Right, right! We could modify the genetic markers to induce controlled apoptosis under certain conditions, like exposure to specific environmental triggers or proximity to designated containment zones, heck if you want I could jerry rig some micro bombs with an acid payload, then we surgically graft them to the main arterials or their brain stem with a remote detonator and boom. Problem solved."

Kharnigore considered the suggestion, once again very impressed by Fractal's quick thinking. "That could work. It would give us a tactical advantage and minimize collateral damage. Have you run simulations on the potential applications?"

Fractal's fingers danced across the holographic controls, summoning up a series of complex algorithms and theoretical models. "I've been crunching the numbers all night. With the right adjustments, we could not only enhance their combat effectiveness against parahumans but also mitigate risks during transport and deployment. Plus, it aligns with our goals of maintaining ethical standards in bioweapon development."

Dr Kharnigore paused for a brief moment as a faint smile tugged at her lips. Fractal's dedication and expertise were undeniable. "Sure, we wouldnt want our ethics to be lacking in this line of work." Both tinkers paused long as they stared blank faced at once another before they both broke out laughing. "Compile your findings into a detailed proposal and send it to me directly, I am sure once we implement these upgrades we can convince the investors and secure additional funding for your research."

Dr Kharnigore paused as she noted a pillow and blanket draped haphazardly across a couch at the back of Fractals office. "And do try to go home at some point for proper rest, you realize you get a free apartment as part of the perks of working directly under me right?" she smirked as she turned to look over her shoulder at Fractal. "If too many people keep finding you sleeping in the labs and meeting rooms they're going to think I am not paying you sufficiently"

Fractal paused in her work to turn and if she still had a face might have gawped at Kharnigore "We get a what!?".

"An apartment, its in your contract? you, did read your contract right?" Dr Kharnigore gave fractal a playful, yet worried look.

"Well sure I did" Fractal quickly turned back to her monitors as her fingers began dancing across her keyboard pausing to add "Well I read it just up til I saw the part about the pay rate, and then, my memories kinda blurry but I think I just skipped the last few pages to sign."

Kharnigore gave Fractal a pained look "Ok, once your done crunching the numbers send me the proposal and tomorrow were gonna have you sit down with HR so they can walk you through your benefits."

Fractal nodded distractedly, waving off a promise to the meeting as she was already lost in thought about refining her proposal. "Absolutely, Doc! I'll make sure it's comprehensive and persuasive. Oh, and speaking of heroes, did you hear about the latest rumours? Apparently Gold Skull has been sighted in town again, you know they say his battle with hero was—"

Kharnigore raised a scaled hand, cutting off Fractal's excited rambling with a warm but firm smile "Save the hero geek out for our break lunch later. Focus on perfecting that proposal first and If you have it done before midday you can choose what were having"

Fractal gave a quick fist pump, her fractal patterns shimmered and swirled with renewed determination. "Challenge accepted! Doc, I know this great place where the walls are covered in Hero memorabilia and the staff even dress up as the classics and.." She paused when she noticed the look Dr Kharnigor was giving her before looking noting the time and nodded sheepishly.

"I'll get right on it."