A little girl was playing by her garden. It was cold, so she was wearing a thick coat and boots. It snowed the day before, so the streets and roofs were covered in white. The sky was colored gray, a few sun rays filtering through the clouds.
The girl was playing with a ball, occasionally throwing herself at the snow. Her parents were watching close by; they couldn't convince her to go inside again. But they didn't want to interrupt her fun either, so they just let her be.
The weight of the war was hanging above their heads. They moved their beds to a bunker so that they could be safe in case anything happened.
A bird sang, standing on a tree branch. The calling was high-pitched, and irritating. Then it suddenly flew away, screeching, with other two following it.
As if with an omen, something roared overhead. It was barely audible, but it was unmistakable: a plane.
Both parents stood up at once and stared at each other, eyes full of terror and understanding. They called for the girl to come back, but she was so absorbed into her game that she didn't listen. Her mother, driven by instinct, ran to her and carried her up, returning to the house immediately.
As they had feared, their land has become the battlefield. They stood hidden in the underground, hoping everything would pass quickly.
People were already running outside. Not just soldiers but citizens as well, people who were trying to get home safely. Soldiers, probably following direct orders or thinking it was some sort of resistance, killed them swiftly with a single shot.
They would keep going like this for a while, sleeping in unease and wondering whether disease or man would kill them.
Day after day of unceasing investigation led to nothing. In time, the team was in a hiatus. There were few improvements per day, and the cure seemed to escape their grasp with every reach. The worm was not evolving much, but it was already resistant enough to fight for its survival.
Half team was thinking about giving up, only Derek and Alkaev were encouraging everyone to keep going. The director was barely speaking, working alone in the lab. Others just looked at him, wondering what could be so secret that it shouldn't be shared with everyone.
Something they needed: money. The first barrier into creating any cure, and currently not many people would be so kind to donate something for the cause. In fact, many believed that the cure should be done by now, and they refused to waste more so doctors could rejoice. There were no donations, and they had to rely on their jobs alone. Some even offered a part-time job to raise their funds, but the idea was easily discarded. They needed their energy and rested brains.
Derek was sitting in the main room, with most of the other doctors, scientists and translators. They were in silence, barely moving. A clock resonated in the room; the methodical and repetitive beat was keeping them alert.
A sudden noise startled them, and they all turned their heads almost at the same time to the source. The door to the lab opened, people coming out of it. Their eyes full of concern, though they were leaded by the director, who was looking calm as usual, with both hands kept behind his back. For the first time in many days, he was the first to speak. He addressed the whole room, speaking with a firm and deep voice.
"There's something you've all overlooked." Derek couldn't tell whether he was angry or not, not even his expression gave anything away.
"We didn't overlook anything!" Bellerose interrupted, her voice tinted with indignation. "The worm just evolved! Right there, in front of our eyes!"
Some people stood up, surprised, but they didn't move. Expectant for them to continue, they stood still.
"How did it evolve? How did it change?" Someone asked, in fairly bad English.
"We don't know." Simone replied, stepping ahead. This was his first time in the meeting, and he seemed to be nervous about the situation. "Its whole body twitched, it seemed to grow too."
"What did we overlook?" Derek prompted the director to speak. He had fallen silent again.
"There is someone who can help. Two years ago."
Two years ago? Derek repeated internally. They were trying to save millions of people's lives, why did he have to talk in riddles? He seemed slightly amused at Derek's irritated expression, but he didn't say anything else.
"I don't know." Bellerose spoke with a heavy sigh. "I don't know what it could be."
The rhythmic sound of the clock seemed louder. It became more difficult to breathe as everyone fell in silence, thinking about the director's ominous words. Was he trying them? Seeing that they would be able to create a cure in time? Or was it just a game, with the world as his chess pieces? He must be feeling like a God... Derek thought grimly.
"Apple$oft... Gill Bates..." Derek heard the man next to him mumbling something. He couldn't remember him at all, but he remembered faintly that his surname was Kozel, and he was from Ukraine. Derek leaned closer and whispered.
"Any clues?"
"It's just an idea, but..." He began, with a low voice. "He said two years. It was 2016, I was thinking about what happened that year."
"And?" Derek prompted, trying to stop his voice from revealing his curiosity.
"Gill Bates invented something in 2016, right? Just before New Year. A machine or some software that can detect something wrong with a person with fifty percent accuracy. We could use it to see how the worm evolved..." He kept quiet and looked away, still thinking. Derek resisted the urge to stand up and announce that idea. He wanted to discuss it a bit more. "What do you think, then?" Kozel's gaze snapped back at him. "What if Gill Bates is willing to help us? He should have been working in that prototype by now; we could use it to our advantage, right?"
"Right. And?" He repeated one last time. He wanted this person to announce it himself. His gaze darted towards the director, hoping Kozel would catch the signal.
Apparently he did, because he glanced at the director, then at Derek all again. With one last meaningful stare, he stood up, addressing everyone.
There were no channels now. Nobody had the time or will to create anything. They all knew that nobody would watch it anyway.
If someone turned on the TV now, they would only find old episodes of old and unfinished shows. The news channel used past broadcasts as well. Many people watched them anyway, knowing that, even if everything was a lie, it was sweeter than the truth. After all, they only showed scenes before the PAX-12 outbreak.
There was a group of people, amateurs at most, making videos and uploading them. They believed that the world was supposed to know everything that was happening, so they created their own news channel. With very few funds, they decided to make their own investigations. They even got people who would freely translate and subtitle everything they said, so that everyone could be reached.
"Hello and welcome to another edition of Worm News!" A girl, twenty years old, was presenting the titles. A boy about her age was sitting beside her, flipping through some papers. The girl pointed towards him, smiling at the camera. "Here we are with Josh. Say hi, Josh."
Josh looked up nervously, then calmed down and nodded at the camera, as natural as he could.
"Thank you Kate. Shall we begin?" His gaze met hers, and they did a high five. Then Josh returned his gaze to the paper and then, the camera. "Today we have something really interesting to share with you all. Care to tell us, Kate?"
"Of course. There's recent information that the worm has mutated."
"That is terrible!" Josh replied, acting a gasp.
"But wait—it has mutated into something beneficial for us."
"How is that possible?"
Kate extended her arm to grab something that the camera didn't catch. She inspected it for a while, and then she showed it. It was like a mobile phone, but very thin, and with many non-understandable graphics on the screen.
"If we remember correctly, Gill Bates invented the iCure two years ago; a new device to detect many lethal diseases. It was almost ready to detect aneurysms."
"That's right!" Josh seemed to lit up in a second. He placed both hands on the desk. "And from what we can see, the worm can develop aneurysms on their hosts, right?"
"Right." She nodded to him and her gaze returned to the camera. "But doctors are using the iCure device to help and cure them, trying not to interfere with the worm. Dangerous or not, it will help future researches, and now we're one step closer to the cure."
"That is impossible!" Neuren yelled suddenly. The plan had gone wrong, and now it looked like he was helping the cure, rather than fighting it.
"It's unlike him to make a mistake. Might he be regretting it?" He heard Josh saying on the computer. He clenched his fists; he was only regretting his own failure. He would've never guessed that a past event would backfire now.
He closed the window that was broadcasting the show, unable to hear anymore. He stood up and walked to his apartment window. The moon was shining high, majestic, and cold. He opened the windows, feeling a cool breeze on his skin. There were no people outside; at most just a few, abandoned and broken cars.
He placed both hands on his back, sinking his nails on his wrist. When the pain became almost unbearable, he retreated his hand, showing deep marks on his skin. He was never good for handling anger and frustration, and now he felt worse than ever.
He turned around and went to the computer again. He didn't say anything, but everything about his expression and movements showed the fury he was feeling inside.
He looked towards a small hallway on his apartment, one that led to his room. How long is she going to sleep? He thought, irritated. He began walking to his room, but stopped midway. "What's this?" His gaze pointed to the last symptom evolved. There was something there he didn't catch before; something that replaced the DNA cost.
Devolve symptoms, he read internally. The cure was going faster due to his mistake, and a way to fix it would be to devolve aneurysms.
Yet it would cost too many DNA points, and in this critical moment, he had not enough to go wasting however he wanted. His strategy had gone wrong because he didn't know that his opponent was ready, and it was up to him to turn the tables again.
His goal was the coma symptom. With that, people could fall slowly, one by one, until they couldn't retaliate anymore. He was so close to it, but so far at the same time.
"At least it's not that bad... is it?" He said out loud, his hand twitching. "It's not that bad..."
He looked at the ceiling as if remembering something. But now his mind was empty. He closed his eyes, and slowly drifted to sleep.
"Are you okay?" Derek spoke with a quiet and comprehensive voice to his fellow companion. They had known each other for a relative short time, but that was enough to make Derek respect the other doctor.
"Yes." Alkaev spoke with such confidence that it could almost be true. "Don't worry."
They both stood over the balcony. At night, before some could go to sleep, they had a few minutes to waste, especially now when it was so difficult to proceed.
"There should be a full moon in Russia too." Alkaev spoke suddenly, without looking at Derek. "I wonder how they are doing."
News from the war has brought incredible pressure to most people working on the cure. However, in his case, he felt he'd never feel at ease if the cure wasn't ready and his country saved. Even if he stayed in England for the project, his plan was to return to his home country once everything was over.
"Do you think we'll make it?"
Derek wondered for a few moments, and then replied as confidently as he could.
"Of course. I don't think anybody would like to see the world die because of a single man's desires."
"But we don't know if it's one." He pointed out. "It could be two, three, or a team like ours."
"If that's the case, I hope they are inexperienced." Derek said with a heavy sigh. "We have the best doctors, microbiologists and scientists of the world."
"I guess it was a shock for us. First a worm that controls minds, then a guy that controls worms."
They fell silent quickly. Derek knew what was in his mind. He wondered what it would be like to have his own country destroyed, while he worked effortlessly to stop it in the only way he knew. He had to admire the younger doctor's dedication and refusal to give up.
"Thompson, I expect that you don't give up either." Alkaev said firmly, as if he read his mind. "Even if everyone else in this meeting dies, I hope you stand tall against the world. Just as I wish I could have done."
This one wasn't supposed to be so short, but the first version was even worse so good.
I may not update as often as I used to. I'm in too many other projects at the moment aaand with real life (so I had almost no time to re-read this chapter and there might be a few mistakes). But I will get this fanfiction done and I want the deadline to be the 31st of December of 2015.