I gritted my teeth and hissed a bit as the syringe stung. If only that had been the extent of the pain.
I saw Strom step back to watch his handiwork before a wave of cramping pain washed over my body, my wrists and ankles pulling against the restraints to no avail. All over my body, I could feel my muscles slowly bulk up as the syringe did its job on me, making my tactical suit feel a size too small though it held together for now. The pain next seemed to pool in my sides, piling on until I couldn't hold in my cries as I felt...something pushing out against my suit there, something from my own body. I felt strange sensations of open air on skin when the pain passed, and after a moment to catch my breath I dared to open my eyes and look at the reflection off the glass separating me from the suits.
What I saw made me gasp. Four extra arms had grown out of my sides, looking just like my normal arms if they weren't covered by the sleeves of my tactical suit. They moved around a bit aimlessly until I used my...middle right arm to point at Strom accusingly: "What have you done to me!" It took me a moment to realize what I had just done, my arms pulling back in the same shock that must have been evident on my face as Strom answered: "Well, Sally my dear, I have to admit that the work you'd done in infiltrating GENETICS had rather impressed me once I found out. The web of connections you weaved, the precision you used to strike down the experiment I had sent for you -- like a spider you were. And, since this is my first attempt at using arachnids in my project, I thought it appropriate to save it for you, my dear."
A spider! He was using me as his test subject for a spider monster! No, not with that smug smile -- he was the real monster here! I was about to retort my thoughts verbally when pain seized my face and I had to lean back against the table I was strapped to, shutting my eyes in the process. I wouldn't have long to wonder what his sick experiment would do to me next as I could feel the pain pooling this time in my eyes and jaw, specifically my canines as I felt them sharpen and lengthen somewhat. It was too much -- I had to open my mouth to let out another cry of pain, which led to me feeling something drip onto my tongue, something that certainly didn't taste good and reminded me a bit like rubbing alcohol.
"Ah, interesting. The poison sacs developed early."
What! As soon as I could I opened my eyes to demand Strom what he meant by that, but all of a sudden it got really bright and I had to use one of my new arms to shield them. There was a small mirror to my right that was affixed to my eye level -- later on I assumed that Strom put it there to taunt me by letting me see me become less and less human step by step with my own eyes -- and from there I could eventually see what happened once I managed to angle myself right. It wasn't that the room got brighter, it was my own eyes that had changed: they were all black now, like my eyes were nothing but the pupils dilated as big as they could be.
I couldn't figure out yet how to turn down the brightness settings of my new eyes, so I could only hear Strom announce the next step: "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, the game is almost ready to begin, so if we can all move to the observation deck to watch it unfold..." It seemed like my sense of hearing was jacked up as well thanks to Strom, as I could now hear the murmuring of the potential financiers as they began piling into an elevator somewhere, though nothing specific that told me what they might have been thinking. "And as for you, Sally, my dear..."
"You will pay for this, Strom." I don't know if it was my altered hearing, my vocal chords being altered as well, or just the seething anger I was trying to keep a lid on, but my voice sounded deeper, more guttural when I said that.
"We'll see about that. I should tell you a couple more rules for our game before we start. One, the game will start five minutes after the last of us leaves -- your shackles will release you at that point."
"And this prison cell you've let your suits gawk at me in?"
"Oh, I'm sure the famed Agent Six can figure a way out of. Two, I said that I would leave your mind intact. The formula I used will allow that...temporarily."
"Tempo-- you bastard, you're going to make me a mindless monster anyway!" The restraints held me back once again, even as the two free arms on my right side pushed up against the glass.
"Only if you don't reach the top floor of this facility in...approximately two and a half hours. It is where the antidote can be found. Can't have you changing your mind and trying to escape right away to go running back to MI6, now, can I? Along those lines, this is just stage one of the physical process. The longer you take getting up, the more changes your body will undergo."
I dreaded finding out the answer, but through the lingering pain I forced myself to ask: "What changes?"
I heard the elevator doors open but no other indication of other people -- Strom and I must have been the only ones left. These seemed to come from a different direction, though. "...You know, I think I'll keep that a secret for you to find out on your own. Rest assured, my dear Sally, it will be appropriate for your situation. Perhaps you might even find them to your advantage." I heard his footsteps recede towards the elevator. "Either way, I'll be watching. Waiting to see what you will do now, my dear Sally." The doors closed and I heard the fading whir of elevator machinery.
I took a deep breath to calm down. Much as I hated to admit it, I couldn't see any other way out of this except to go after him and play his game. I'd have five minutes to figure out what to do to get out of this experiment cell, alongside figuring out how to adjust my eyes so that everything in my vision isn't a wash of light.
And also to remind myself that I am Sally Sunday. Agent Six. And I will not become a mindless monster.