Lab of the Syndicate

In the back room of a dusty dive bar...

The man sitting in the tall chair behind the desk in the shadows was old, some in the organization thought, too old. He never paid them much heed though. They all feared him enough that their opinions would not hurt him before his cancer did. And with the treatment he was getting, he might not even have to fear that for long.

His disease had progressed slowly at first, but by the time his doctors caught it, it had begun to accelerate. His time in hospital rooms and doctor's offices was refreshing in a way; even though he set it up so as to have private sessions in either setting, it reminded him of what life for normal people was like. He missed it sometimes, but given his current position of power, he wouldn't go back to it. Not truly. He had tasted what true power felt like, and it had painted him for good.

In front of the old man sat a group of his officers. Two men, one woman. They were trying to dissuade him from his newest venture.

"Our three cornerstones are strong, and your points are stronger than ever. Opening this kind of facility will only draw attention to the business, and hurt it," complained the first man. His tall gaunt cheekbones and black hair made him look a bit ghoulish, except for a messy moustache. He was another one from the old guard, though not quite as experienced as the man in the shadows. "My enforcers have expanded control over the East Side to more than double what it was last year... the city is better protected than ever." The gaunt man chuckled a bit at his euphemism.

The gaunt man was in charge of community relations in a sense - he and his went to local businesses and ensured that they had insurance against the worst the city had to offer. That some of that worst belonged to the Syndicate was an afterthought, really. The man knew his business well, and had worked his way up from the lowest tier of the ladder. If anyone in this room could be trusted, it was him.

"Not to mention, our entertainment has been booming," interrupted the younger man, long blond hair tied back in a bun, aviator sunglasses on despite the dark room. While the youngest one in the room, he had proven himself ruthless and calculating. When he had started, some members had laughed at his appearance; that had ended quickly. All the more reason for the man in the shadows to keep him close, along with a close eye on him. "You know as well as I that the Wenthrop amendment is going to pass at the state house soon, courtesy of our lobbying. It'll help a lot of businesses, not just ours." Meaning the other upstart organizations, surely. "But if we're going to take full advantage of it, we'll need to allocate funds towards expanding our existing clubs and lounges. The return is practically guaranteed."

He was right, the return on sex work was going to be a safe bet. But the man in the shadows hadn't gotten to where he was today with only safe bets.

"And, since you're here, I'm sure I can guess your objection," the man in the shadows pointed at the women.

She didn't look like it, but she was the most powerful of the three in the room. She looked normal enough, tied brunette hair and a knitted sweater making her look older than she really was, but her appearance belied an intelligence few could match. It would be she who would inherit responsibility for the newest venture, given her role as the head of narcotics manufacturing and distribution.

"You very well may," she said carefully. "I'm not so naive to insist we keep peddling the same year after year... in fact we've already been creating fresh spins on the classics every now and then. But all it takes to keep customers interested, and pull in new blood, is tweaking the additives. Additives the public pharma industry already kindly research and develop for us. All we've needed is somebody on the inside to send us the latest processes and patents the companies insist on guarding so carefully, and this more than pays for itself. We don't need to do R&D ourselves, as long as we have plenty of their recipes to work with."

"I see." the man in the shadows said, before coughing loudly. None of the three officers acknowledged the cough; they were not so green as to begin pointing out weaknesses in the man in the shadows himself, as eager as they were to poke holes in his plan. The man in shadows leaned over, opened a desk drawer, and pulled out a sheet of paper.

He placed it on the desk facing the officers.

"Do you know what this is?"

All three's eyes turned to the paper. The youngest opened his mouth first.

"A... medical bill?"

"So it is. You are all aware of my condition."

The three each awkwardly nodded.

"Look at the numbers. This bill for a month of my treatment costs more than we get on the street in a year per customer. As long as we are stealing patented designs, we'll never be able to charge as much as the white market does for the same product. This isn't a matter of living comfortably." The old man stood up from his desk.

"This is a matter of dominating this market as thoroughly as possible. With our own R&D, we can fund the development of which are beyond anything addicts have already experienced, are safer to ensure repeat customers, and best of all, are completely legal. We'll have to go through the 'proper' channels of course, getting FDA approvals and tests done, but with our recent successes we have all of the means necessary to expedite those hurdles."

"No offense, but you do know we probably won't see a return on this investment for a good while, right?", the blond man said. "Even with the most accelerated pharmaceutical trials, it'll still take years to know what works."

"Not sure we'll be around to see it," the gaunt man said, addressing the man in the shadows.

"I... I've changed my mind." the woman said, surprising the other two. She was staring intently at the paper. "Right now we are barnacles on the boat, holding on only so long as the boat stays in the water."

The man in the shadows smiled almost imperceptibly.

"Many of our source companies for the we make get into trouble every few years, and slow down development to make sure things are safer," she continued. "We consequently have to slow down our own changes, and business suffers. The same problems arise with international suppliers. With our own lab, we could ignore many of these setbacks, and use synthetic compounds instead of ones we have to grow and import. While slow, it'll still be faster than it is now."

"I can see the logic in that," the gaunt man acceded. He could see when the tide turned, and turned with it.

"I still think this is a mistake," the blond man said guardedly. "But... I'll support the decision."

"Good," the man in the shadows said. "Begin making the arrangements. Before much else, we'll need... researchers."