Chapter 118: Herzbrecher
A few minutes later, Nora exclaimed, "Mein Gott! This is Herzbrecher!"
"What?" Jack asked.
"Herzbrecher! Heart crusher! It causes excruciating pain and symptoms that mimic a heart attack."
"Is it lethal?"
"No, not unless someone has a weak heart. What is this, Jack? What’s going on?"
He briefly told her what he knew, finishing with, "...still not sure I understand why he would need to inject her with Somnusol first."
"I think I understand," she said. "Herzbrecher is slow acting, but once it’s in full force, the person will be rendered incapable of speech. With Somnusol, she’ll be unconscious until after Herzbrecher has taken effect."
"You said it would take ten to fifteen minutes for Somnusol to wear off. Would this Herzbrecher wake her up sooner?"
"No, nothing will wake her up before it wears off. It was once considered for use as anesthesia, but besides being metabolized rapidly, the person will build up a tolerance to it in hours, instead of days or weeks. And past a certain dosage level, it becomes fatal. Now it’s mostly used in research...and for illegal purposes. Once metabolized, it’s undetectable."
He didn’t need to ask what illegal purposes it could be used for.
He triggered another memory sync so his physical self would know that the woman wasn’t in immediate danger.