The recording began playing. No one ever expected Neuren to reply, or that he would do it so quickly. A big screen was placed at one side of the room, with a few doctors and patients in front of it. This was one of the only screens in the whole building that actually worked and was visible by all. It was used to transfer messages between terminals, and so every one of the professionals present would see and hear clearly. Lately it has been gathering dust and spider webs.
Sharon and Catherine were standing next to Derek. He was next to Kazuki and Luan, and on other sides of the room, about ten more people, including cured patients.
Everyone had just finished watching Derek's video and internally thinking about it. Not getting to any conclusions, but instead... just repeating it into their heads, over and over and over again.
But when the English doctor announced a new video was out (and, considering no other living being was uploading anything online other than pictures to show the damage to their countries, that was a surprise), so everyone gathered around the main screen and waited until the others remembered what they had to do to watch it.
"I've never been great with these things," Derek had said to another doctor, sighing. "I think Alkaev was the machine nerd."
Either way, now everything was assembled and they were just waiting for the rest to come from a different room. Derek gazed at it worriedly; Bellerose was there, with a group of doctors examining her. They were testing the cure on her body, however, no good results yet.
When they came back, they didn't say anything. And that isn't good, Derek analyzed. They would have told us otherwise.
One of them, a Chinese prodigy named Chen, also the last of his nationality, was the first to speak. While his English was quite bad, he had learned a lot and he learned to speak without the need of a translator.
"She isn't good, Mr. Derek. But she needs to rest."
Derek nodded and made a signal for him to sit down. Then he played the video.
A strange man was seen there. Nobody recognized his face, but barely anyone paid attention to it. What amazed them was the creature resting on his shoulder: a worm, bigger than any of the others they have witnessed.
And when the man introduced himself, everyone already knew who he was.
"Greetings. I am Neuren, creator of PAX-12 disease, the one who found the Neurax Worm and brought it to life, the person who has been recording quite a few videos in the past, and last but not least, a genius with a brain far more developed than any of the remaining humans watching me right now."
While some of the things he said were rather pretentious, nobody cared about that this time. Caroline looked at him more carefully. Hadn't she seen this man before? That was probably her imagination.
"You can consider this a video response to Doctor Thompson's video. Or something." The worm moved slightly, almost falling from his shoulder, but Neuren moved it back protectively. "Neurax also says hi. As you know, the two of us have been working together since... Three years ago? More? I can't remember how much time has passed since then. But whatever, nobody cares about time anymore."
Derek realized that he was right. His mind was entirely focused on the cure and his own survival, that he didn't care if it was night or day, if a month had passed or if only a few seconds. But he guessed that, at least, two years have passed, so three years was the most logical answer.
Neuren took a small piece of paper from somewhere the camera wasn't looking. He then placed a hand on the worm, protecting it from falling. The others then realized they could see his features clearly; this time he wasn't hiding behind a voice changer or a mask. Was it because he knew he was going to die, or he just forgot? Either way he didn't seem to care at all.
"That doctor offered a bunch of questions on that video, which I will gladly answer. Why? Well, I believe my video will go down in history someday. And after all, why shouldn't I share with you all the genius that I am?"
"Gosh, he is so annoying and nerdy," Caroline commented suddenly. The first light-hearted comment anyone heard in a long time.
"Question number one: how many people have died? Well," he looked at the camera again, "I don't have estimates to show you, but at least half of the world population died because of PAX-12. Of course, that means that there's another great portion of the world that died differently, like committing suicide or being victims of the worldwide chaos. So maybe, about eighty-percent of the starting world population?"
Everyone present thought that was quite disgusting, seeing Neuren barely respecting the deceased. So many people have died because of him, but he insisted on shrugging it off as if it wasn't such a big deal. Then he looked back down at the paper.
"Question number two: am I stronger, or lucky? My only answer is that I took my precautions, which of course I won't share with you. But I can tell though, that a bit of good luck was on my side. Or maybe I am ignorant of my own sickness? If I had to be honest, living with this creature inside of me... doesn't sound too bad." He petted the Neurax on the head, as if it was just a lost puppy. "Although it is quite possible I am infected right now, with the Neurax standing right next to my ear and having direct access to my brain."
He spent quite a while gazing at the creature, somewhat amazed. Then he cleared his throat, returned to look at the camera and continued.
"Question number three..." He stopped. He hadn't written any scripts, so everything was coming out improvised. A flash of fear and sadness showed into his eyes, and while this wasn't exactly visible, his breaking voice gave him away. He cleared his throat again. "Why?"
The possibility that Derek presented, that Neuren was just a victim on this macabre turn of events, got him thinking for a few seconds before he recorded. Considering what he had lived through his whole life, and considering his mental condition, it wasn't impossible that he worked on his own accord. But the possibility that he had been infected since the very beginning... it existed. And the moment he realized that, he could feel shadows looming over him.
That, still, doesn't explain how exactly he hadn't died so far and how he hadn't felt any more symptoms. Everyone had each symptom he developed. Even people who had been infected before. Because of that, it was impossible to think that he had been a victim as well. Unless, there are some supernatural things involved.
He laughed at his own stupidity. Supernatural things, yeah sure. As a man of science, he never believed anything that didn't have an explanation. That included ghosts, spirits and gods. But maybe the explanation was more realistic than he expected.
Whatever. Now he would never know. Even if there was a way to check out how many days the worm had been inside its host, he didn't have the tools to do that and he doubted the doctors would ever help him.
"Why?" His voice relaxed. It sounded as firm and cold as always, but this time without his ironic touch. "Because I hate humans. If I didn't have to live next to another human ever again, the world would be a better place. Animals would keep evolving and I am certain they wouldn't be as selfish and self-centered like the rest of you. Plus, I wanted to help my friend over here."
That was pretty much the answer Derek expected. Well, aside from I am being controlled, help me!
Though he was quite surprised when he called the worm his "friend". How far did their friendship extend? Maybe Neuren was sicker than he anticipated. He was quite eager to question him, understand what lied beyond his brain, but he wondered if he would ever have a chance to do so.
"That is all. As for me being a formidable opponent, I thank you for your words, Mr. Thompson. I'll let the worm take some of the credit. Either way... We both failed. Congratulations, humanity. You will live to see the future."
His tone changed slightly with this last sentence. Almost melancholic, he looked. Everyone expected him to act as the victim; however, he presented himself with facts and no regrets, other than failing to eliminate humanity. Maybe, if he tried a little, at least the most sentimental of the people present would consider forgiving him. But he looked as if he didn't want forgiveness anyway.
Derek couldn't accept it. He knew Neuren had another reason to do what he did. He wanted to know that man, his rival whom he never met face to face. Maybe he should have said that in his video, but due to Bellerose's incident, the idea never crossed his mind.
"Now I must take my leave. I can't sit around and wait until you find me and take me to jail, can I?" he said with a slight smirk. "Goodbye, humans." His voice changed, now more high pitched, as if he was impersonating the worm and giving it a voice. "Bye, pleasure to be on your brains!"
Then, he just turned off the camera. The people present were mostly confused, and above all, mad.
"What is he going to do?" Caroline said, almost yelling. "Does he really have an escape plan or something?"
"I don't know, but probably," Sharon replied maintaining her calming self. "That guy seemed oddly familiar though."
"Hm? What did you say?"
"Oh nothing."
Derek shook his head and went to the screen, turning it off. There was not much else to do rather than curing the rest of the infected.
The phone rang again. That was the third time that day; the people who called before were already quarantined and safe from infection, but Derek was worried the wounds in their minds would never heal. It's time to take psychology classes...
"Mr. Thompson, what about the worm eggs that still linger in the air?" Luan asked, stroking the little rat on the table.
Derek had thought about it. But he wasn't sure there was any actual solution, rather than keep curing everyone who got infected.
"The worm will be smart enough to keep away from those people. With time, we will gain resistance towards it. It can't evolve without Neuren, and we don't have to worry about him anymore."
"Do you know?" Luan eyed him with a questioning glance. "Or is that what you hope?"
Derek didn't reply. He couldn't reply.
"A young girl just three blocks away from here. She said she saw a family inside a house that could be alive, but they weren't moving."
A group immediately stood up and left. It seemed like all their energy had been drained right after watching the video. And Derek didn't need to be a psychic to understand why.
Even though they fought back, even though they managed to find the cure, even though Neuren finally retreated and decided to leave the worm and the disease alone, nobody felt the joy of victory. Too many lives were lost to even call it a victory.
And, with Bellerose in her critical condition, things were even worse. She was a strong figure, a role model and the motivation for everyone to continue, because she was the one who would never let others slack off and give up.
And when everyone passed by the door where others were treating her, the pity glance they gave was pretty obvious. She wouldn't have much more to live.
"At least... We live to see the future," Derek murmured, everyone silent to hear what he was saying. "But in the end, was it worth it?"
"Don't forget how much we fought," Luan began, "and how relieved we were when the drug worked." He raised a hand to his shoulder; the red-eyed rat sniffed it curiously, whiskers twitching. "When the youngest person passes away, all of this will be forgotten. We just have to clean this whole mess."
Derek nodded, faking being convinced. He knew better than anyone that some wounds must be healed with time. He remembered, though. Why did I become a doctor? To save people, like his mother, who were destined to die. Did I save people?
He looked around himself, all the familiar faces he had seen every day for so long. He looked at Caroline and Sharon, the two best friends, together. They were so young, so full of life yet. The phone ringed again, and he sighed in relief. He did what he had to do.
But one question remained in his heart: as a doctor, he had an obligation to help others. Then... would he be able to help Neuren?