Chapter twenty-eight: Cure
He'd been tracking the doctor down for years, and everything had been leading up to this. Once he had the information he needed to recreate the cure, he could finally start fixing and improving mankind. He'd been counting on this moment for it all to work.
And yet, his old friend didn't remember their past at all.
Winston stared blankly down as the other started to laugh.
He stood up, and released the one he'd captured. "Get up," He muttered.
Jack glanced up at the other in surprise, before scrambling to his feet, finally able to look at his attacker. He seemed like wouldn't look all that threatening normally, it seemed, all freckles and comfortable clothes- but the look on his face and the feeling he was giving off made a much more dangerous impression.
And then Winston punched Jack in the face.
It didn't hurt him, of course, but it did give him a bit of a shock.
"You don't remember?" Winston breathed. "You don't fucking remember, after all the trouble that I've gone through to hunt you down?"
"It's not like I've done it on purpose somehow," Jack growled. "I wish I could remember just as much as you do."
"I doubt that you feel as strongly about it as I do, Jack," Winston snapped. "Nobody could."
"I do remember a few things," Jack blurted. "But if you actually told me something, anything, perhaps I'd remember more."
Winston frowned, narrowing his eyes. "What things do you remember?"
"Are you going to punch me again?" Jack asked cautiously.
"I won't hit you as long as you stop testing my patience, Jack," Winston said, giving a smile.
"Fine," Jack straightened up a little. "The first thing I remembered was being in a hospital room. I had barricaded myself in, and I was scared. I had blood on me and something about that was bad, I could tell."
"That would be how you changed," Winston suddenly added. "It travels through blood, spit- things like that."
"What? What is it, what are you talking about? How did I change?" Jack said wearily.
Winston shook his head. "We'll get to that. Go on, I want to hear what you think was going on."
"Some kind of infection which turned people into monsters, it seemed like," Jack guessed. "Although... you don't look like you've changed, but you're stronger than I am," he continued curiously. "From what you said before, you volunteered to be like this, isn't that right? And I didn't- you might have gotten it differently, not through infection like I did..."
Winston's face lit up with delight. "Oh, you are still just as brilliant. You're correct, I was given an injection of it, not a diluted virus."
"You speak as though the one you were willingly injected with wasn't a threat at all, but instead-"
"A cure," Winston said, eyes glinting. "It was a cure."
"A cure for what?" Jack asked, interest building up.
"Continue with your memories first," Winston said, shaking his head.
Jack took in an breath, shifting in discomfort. "The next one was my encounter with you, I believe." Jack waited to see if the other would say anything in reaction, and continued when he didn't. "You were saying that we were the same, and I didn't believe you. Then you hurt me," Jack said slowly, starting to feel a little afraid again. He didn't really want to think about that again. "But you said something else. That it was my fault. What did that mean?"
Winston eyed him curiously. "You really don't remember."
"No."
"I said it was your fault because it was," Winston explained. "You created the cure, after all, which the weaker virus version of it came from."
Jack tensed as a realisation struck him. "That's why I was going to destroy my research papers. That's why I kept talking about guilt and how things got messed up and I got selfish. God, of course, it was so obvious!" He cursed himself.
"You were the one who got rid of the research papers?" Winston growled. "Should've known. I tore the labs and your office apart trying to find something, anything, you know."
"I seemed to be getting rid of them for a good reason, from what I'm hearing," Jack said in irritation. "This cure sounds very dangerous."
"That was because you started letting others change it and dirty your idea, but the cure should've been perfect!" Winston argued, panic in his voice. "It can still be perfect."
"I don't think so," Jack said cautiously. "Whatever I was trying to do, it wasn't a good idea... a terrible idea, really."
"Do you know what the cure was supposed to achieve?" Winston said slowly. "It would cure any sickness. Make you stronger. Smarter. Less violent and disgusting."
Jack drew back in awe. "And I was actually... successful in that goal?" he started in excitement, before his face fell again. "Wait, no, I wasn't successful at all. You, the only example I have of this cure- you're not 'less violent' at all."
"There were side effects, yes," Winston agreed in uncertainty. "but only because others had started working on the project as well. However, I am stronger and capable of a lot more thinking than before," He cleared his throat. "And I told you I volunteered, yes? Well, you gave a few patients the opportunity to try the cure first. Patients with terminal diseases. I wasn't going to live past my twenties. I didn't even think about saying no, I accepted to try this miracle cure instantly."
Jack's face blanked. "I can see now why you're so dedicated to this cure. It sounds life changing," he breathed. "Wait, why was this all happening in a hospital rather than a lab?"
"Well, it was happening in a lab that was in the hospital... but you were both a doctor and a scientist, and I suppose you were able to work on the cure there. I wouldn't know the exact details- only a patient, remember?"
Jack gave a bitter smile. "I don't know if I'd call you 'only a patient'."
"Perhaps not. Anyway, it wasn't meant to have those side effects, or get out and spread an infection- that wasn't your fault. You attracted some interest with such an ambitious project, and by allowing others to work with you you were given access to more equipment and things such as that."
"Wait, you didn't let the infection get out?"
"Me?" Winston gave an offended look. "Of course not! I had nothing to do with that, I just observed a little bit of what happened to the people around me in reaction to it. I didn't want it to happen, nor did I enjoy the side effects that I had to live with."
"I'm surprised you admit to having the side effects in the first place. Who could've caused a virus to get out, though?"
Winston frowned. "I can't always control myself perfectly, my emotions just... take over. I'm not happy with it, no, I want it to stop. I'm perfectly content with pretending I'm fine any time other than this, but I'd like you to understand the urgency here. I need to be fixed. I don't like the 'accidental' things I cause to happen to others, such as what I did with you- they just happen." He waved a hand and scoffed. "To your question, I don't know. Someone let out a few failed test subjects, and it spread just like that. It was definitely done on purpose, though."
"Done on purpose, huh... that's not good at all. That's a very bad sign," Jack said quietly. "This definitely would not have been what I had been trying to create. I was quite naive if I let the possibility of such a thing happening even exist."
"You were naive, yes. You know, there was a name a few of the other people working on it used when you weren't around, which I thought was rather fitting," Winson muttered.
Jack looked at the other for a moment. "What was the name they were using?"
"The humanity cure. I don't think you were the only one with plans for the future of this cure, Jack."
