-Wolf and the Sheep-

After the unscheduled interview incident, Hailey and the security officer had to report it to their respective superiors. Hailey, still shaken up, was comforted by their worried team members. A person from upstairs came down and scolded Hailey for her actions. At the end of the day, she was exhausted from bitter remarks.

When everyone including Hailey was about to get off work, Adams came into her office unexpectedly. Hailey could just barely see her co-workers glance at her and left quickly trying to avoid contact. Hailey was so surprised by Adams' visit that she barely managed to speak.

"Dr. Adams... why...I mean...what brings you to our lab?", said Hailey.

"Dr. Johnson, I was wondering if you'd like to join me to dinner. My treat." Adams spoke in a well mannered tone.

"I'm actually really tired today. Maybe we can arrange it to a different date?" said Hailey.

Adams calmly took out his cell phone. "This is Adams, I need you to fire Mr. Jones and make sure he doesn't speak about this facility to the public." Adams closed his cell phone, and looked at Hailey who stared at him in confusion.

"That was the head of security. Mr. Jones, the security officer who was in charge of Patient 018, will no longer be working for us as of today", said Adams.

Hailey froze and couldn't move her lips. Adams took a long time to stare at her, waiting for her response, then started to take out his phone again and pressed few buttons. "Yes, it's me again. Forget what I just said. I need you to lock up Mr. Jones in one of the empty quarantine cells and-". Before Adams could finish his terrifying sentence Hailey yelled, "Yes!"

"Please... just don't hurt him. He did nothing wrong. I lied to him about having a mix up in the interview schedule". Hailey was so scared, she began to shed some tears in her eyes.

Adams, without speaking a word, hung up and left the office. Hailey quickly followed him who escorted her into his car. Some of the scientists in the parking lot looked at the two people in confusion as they drove out of the facility.

It was approximately an hour drive from the facility to a nicely decorated wooden cabin surrounded by trees. There was a small lake and few cars were parked near the water. There were ambient sounds of the wild life singing nearby. The scenery was so nice, Hailey felt like she was on a vacation.

Adams politely ushered Hailey to a dining table then immediately went to the kitchen and started cooking without taking off his suit. Since no one was home, Hailey could only guess Adams temporarily left his family for this case. Strange enough, the cabin was too tidy and clean for a busy man who lives alone.

"Dr. Johnson, may I call you by your first name since we are off work?", Adams asked.

As soon as Adams saw Hailey give a shy reply, he went for the fridge to take out some vegetables and meat. "Hailey, I want to give you a life advice that you really need. When you make a mistake or do something terribly wrong, you have to pay for it. Since I really like you, I don't want to see you get hurt. However it doesn't mean you are off the hook." Adams continued to prepare the meal by chopping up the ingredients and putting them into a baking pan.

"You have to understand; I won't hurt you in anyway, but you need to learn the lesson one way or another." After Adam put the pan in the oven, he sat down on the dining table. "Now we wait for few minutes and let that sit in the oven."

"Dr. Adams, I have every reason to believe this isn't a simple disease we can manage on our own. If you give me more access and clearance with the patients, I can really help", said Hailey.

Adams crossed his arms and began to make a face showing disapproval. "Stand up and take your dress off.", said Adams with sincere and determined voice.

The whole cabin became so quiet that the creaking of the cabin sounded loud. Hailey didn't know what to do or say in this uncomfortable silence. All she wanted to do was escape this situation. She knew exactly what would happen if she refused, but she had to say something.

"Sir...please... don't do this,", Hailey said, trying her best not to show she is terrified.

All Adams did was stare at her without replying. At the edge of the table was his cell phone. The device that is capable of ruining Hailey's life. She took a quick glance at it and started to slowly undress.

Shame, anger, and fear was all Hailey could feel. She stood half naked with only her under garments covering her. She tried to cover her breast with one arm and her groin with her other hand. Even though she wasn't was fully naked, Hailey felt she had no clothes on.

Adams thoroughly looked at her body and said, "Now take the rest off".

Without saying a word, Hailey began to take her bra off. As soon as she lowered her bra straps, the oven timer in the kitchen rang. Hailey and Adams both looked at the kitchen.

"Ah... saved by an oven... Hailey, do you know what the key difference between a wolf and a sheep is? Predator and prey? Yes, but the most important difference is that the wolf can do anything it wants with the sheep. It can choose to let it go, or slowly feast on it as the sheep watches its body get torn apart." Adams slowly stood up to walk towards the oven then said, "Speaking of feast, dinner seems to be ready. Put your clothes back on, you don't want to eat half-naked."

As Hailey was quickly getting dressed, Adams brought dinner to the table. "I may be an American, but my parents are from Britain. This is my mum's Shepherd's Pie recipe. My kids love it. Mind you, this isn't a cottage pie since it does have lamb meat in it. Let's dig in shall we?"

Hailey and Adams spent the rest of the dinner eating quietly. It has been the longest day in Hailey's entire life. The awkward silence and the uncomfortable conversations she had was enough to drive her insane. After they finished their meal, Adams brought something to drink for a chat before they leave.

"Hailey, I think you are a brilliant scientist who can accomplish a lot. You just need a person to guide you."

"Sir, years ago, CDC fired me for a mistake I didn't make, then coincidentally you offered me a job outside of CDC. Please, tell me. Who am I working for, the CDC or you?"

"You are working for future of humanity. I took you in because I think we can achieve far greater than what CDC aspires. CDC was only a leash that binded you from becoming someone greater. I got you fired, because Deputy Director Jenson refused to hand you over. I'm gonna be honest, I made mistake there. I should have just planted those mistakes on Jenson instead of you"

"Could you excuse me for a moment? I need to go to the bathroom."

Hailey took a brief moment to think what Adams said. If she really was working for the future, it's didn't matter who she worked for. Hailey's passion was science, and she had been commited to it ever since she was little. However Hailey wanted to escape Adams, after everything that happened to her recently. It was also clear that he was the one who got her fired from her previous job.

After they finished their short conversation, Adams took Hailey to her house. Before Adams opened the door he said, "I hope you liked the pie. The lamb might have been a bit stale, I'm not gonna lie." When he saw Hailey give a forceful shy smile, he got out to open the door for her.

As Hailey came out Adams said, "By the way, when you were in the bathroom earlier, I received a call from the quarantine floor. It seems Patient 018 have succumbed to his head injury. We'll be doing an autopsy and biopsy starting tomorrow. You'll be able to go over his sample along with other patients' samples by start of next week." When Adams saw Hailey was in shock, he knew she wasn't going to respond. Without adding further comments he got into his car and drove off.

-Audio Log #25 - Ample Samples-

Samples came in yesterday. I couldn't wait, so here I am working on a Sunday, wearing a hazmat suit talking to a tape recorder. Sarah is working double shifts this weekend, so I have nothing to do. I might as well play with the samples to kill some time.

It's currently 9 PM and I've only examined half of the patients' samples. I've confirmed that it is indeed a virus that's causing the disease. They look very similar to a rabies virus; I wonder if they act the same as well. Patient 018 did act aggressively, so it is a possibility.

So far, I'm seeing different strains of the virus, sometimes multiple in the same patient meaning it mutated several times already. What's weird is that, viruses do mutate faster than other pathogens, but they don't usually do it this fast. It could mean the virus is replicating rapidly, but patients' symptom development speed says otherwise. There are too many variables to know the nature of the virus.

I'm suppose to be getting Patient 018's samples, it should be-

(Oh is that it, just leave it with me, thanks)

Speak of the devil, I got samples from 018. Guess I'll examine as I record. Post mortem examination report says cause of death was head trauma, likely from hitting the head when he collapsed from the gas. Basically...I killed a man by pressing a button.

Since I need more time to go through the virus variants anyways, I'll just search for cytopathic effect on cells in search for presence of the virus. Hopefully I'll find something... and I'm seeing structural damages in some cell. Very likely the virus is present; I'll have to see more of these later.

Now examining brain tissues under electron microscope in search for prions... It seems... I was right! The prions have infested the brain.

Wait... Prions are known to have extremely long incubation period, several years if not decades. How can this be possible? Does this mean 018 was infected long before other patients have?

It is possible that the prions wasn't present in other patients' spinal fluid. We'll need brain biospy from them to confirm they have it. The biggest question is... Is it a new type of prion disease? If so, how did it end up with a new type of virus. This can't be a coincidence.

I have to tell my team about this tommorow. This only raised more questions rather than solving any. The nature of this disease is far mysterious and complex than I initially expected. I just hope we aren't too late to solve it.

Hailey out.