[Marvel Super Soldier Serum]
[Super Soldier Serum from the Marvel universe. Enhances metabolism and all bodily functions, bringing the user to the peak of human potential. Allows the mass production of super soldiers.]
[Improves all physical attributes, including strength, resilience, resistance to injury, recovery, neural responses, and brain function. Repeated doses provide no additional benefit.]
[Price adjustment: World adjustment -10%.]
[Item Mod: 18,000 eddies per dose.]
[Alchemy Table Recipe Expansion: 180,000 eddies.]
[Technology Expansion: 270,000 eddies.]
Rocky read the description and promptly downloaded the Alchemy Table recipe expansion.
The serum offered excellent enhancements, useful to him both personally and commercially. The price fit his budget, too. Vik would have to wait a little longer for his money.
Everyone wanted a stronger body: cyberpunks, gang members, even corporate troops. Not everyone was a chrome fanatic, and sometimes no substitute for strength was truly your own.
Beyond exercise, the market already offered various drugs to improve physical performance, but their effects were mediocre. Biological augmentation was another promising option, though the technology was still developing and hadn't achieved widespread use.
The Super Soldier Serum was in another league. It could turn a scrawny kid into a muscular powerhouse. Not merely muscular, either. His body would reach the limits of human potential.
Forget everyone else. If the Animals, with their muscle-building animal hormones, found out this existed, they would go mad trying to get it. They might spend everything they owned.
Rocky didn't need much persuasion to choose it as his next product.
Once the mod was installed, he went to his workshop and examined the recipe. Like the stimulants, the serum required intermediate ingredients with their own recipes. This time there were even more of them, making production more complex and time-consuming.
That also gave him more room to experiment. By adjusting the recipe, he could produce a weaker version.
He didn't want a Captain America on every street corner. The serum only needed to outperform the other enhancement drugs on the market and give him a solid competitive advantage.
He frowned at the ingredient lists. Unlike last time, several materials were relatively rare. Their prices weren't too bad. Finding suppliers would be the real problem.
At his terminal, he searched supplier listings and black-market forums. It proved harder than he'd expected. Between online searches and introductions through his contacts, tracking down everything took two full days.
Five days later, all the materials he needed had finally arrived.
* * *
The Alchemy Table kept running until the final stage of production was complete.
Rocky held several doses of blue serum. Unlike the version in the Marvel universe, the mod produced a concentrate. One dose was enough for the full enhancement.
Using it was simple: inject it directly. No special procedure was required. What happened while it took effect, however, remained to be seen.
He decided to test it on himself first. As far as he was concerned, there were benefits and no drawbacks.
To properly monitor and record the results and have someone on hand if anything unexpected happened, he called Vik over to his clinic.
"What's this?" Vik examined the blue serum Rocky handed him.
"A new drug. Super Soldier Serum. Improves physical function across the board."
Vik immediately guessed why he'd been invited.
"You want to inject it?"
"Right. I'd like you to keep an eye on me and record the changes in my readings."
"You're sure it's safe? What testing have you done?"
Vik's concern was habitual. Rocky was about to put something he'd never seen before into his body. Ordinary drugs needed extensive testing before anyone could be sure they were safe for human use.
"Completely safe. Trust me, Vik."
Between the Alchemy Table's recipe and the workbench analyzer's findings, Rocky had two sources of assurance. He was certain there wouldn't be a safety issue.
"All right."
Rocky lay back in the operating chair. Vik connected the monitoring equipment, adjusted the settings, and checked that everything was working. Then he brought the blue serum over.
"Ready?"
"Go ahead."
The needle entered Rocky's body. Vik slowly depressed the plunger, feeding the blue liquid in. It was a small dose, and the injection was soon finished.
Rocky lay still, concentrating on every change.
Hot. Itchy. So sleepy...
His eyes closed before he could stop them.
When he opened them again, Vik was sitting beside him. For one alarming instant, he thought he'd been transported to another world all over again.
"How long was I out?"
"Only two hours. How do you feel?"
"Great. My thoughts and reactions feel sharper. And I've got more energy than I know what to do with."
He sat up and took stock. He'd never felt better. His senses were clearer, and explosive strength filled his body.
Looking down, he found that his build hadn't changed much. His muscles looked denser and more defined.
"Your readings are on the terminal. Take a look."
There was unmistakable disbelief in Vik's voice. Whatever the data showed, it had startled him.
Rocky went over to examine it. As a ripperdoc himself, he could read the results perfectly well.
The serum had done exactly what its description promised. Every bodily function, including his metabolism, had improved. The weaker an area had been, the more pronounced the improvement. He'd gone from someone whose main advantage was strength to a thoroughly rounded fighter.
The enhancement extended to his brain. He no longer had an obvious weak point. Calling him superhuman wouldn't be much of an exaggeration.
No wonder the serum's inventor had called it the next step in human evolution.