A few days later, when the door to the Forensics Division swung open, Nygma was staring blankly at a row of monitors. All kinds of data scrolled across the screens, but Li Jie couldn't make sense of any of it.
"Ed, how's it coming?"
"Perfect timing."
Nygma turned his chair around and took off his goggles. There were dark circles under his eyes, but his gaze was frighteningly bright-the peculiar, wired excitement that came from staying up night after night.
"Come with me."
He beckoned to Li Jie, and the two walked to an empty room a short distance away. A new piece of equipment stood in the corner: a metal cabinet a little over waist-high, with a "Biohazard" warning label on its surface.
"I was just about to tell you." Nygma walked over to the metal cabinet and patted its lid. "I've finished dealing with this."
"Finished dealing with it?" Li Jie pulled up a chair and sat down. "Meaning... we can burn it now?"
"Already burned it." Nygma lifted the lid. The cabinet was empty, with only a faint layer of scorch marks on its inner walls. "Twelve hundred degrees for forty minutes. Completely sterilized."
"But before burning it, I performed a thorough dis... dissection and analysis." Nygma walked over to the nearby workbench and switched on the projector. "The Talons' bodily tissues... are very interesting."
Slide after slide appeared on the screen: cellular structures, tissue fibers, bone marrow samples. Li Jie squinted at them for a while, then simply gave up trying.
"Ed, you know that although I can understand quite a bit of this, there are still gaps in my specialist knowledge. I'll need you to explain."
"Ohhh, I see."
Nygma nodded lightly. "Which parts?"
"Uh..." Li Jie slapped his forehead and sighed. "Do you really