Tiberian Midnight
Z98
Okay, I originally was planning to write a romance piece involving Dr. Ross and General Conner. However, since I forgot to bring a copy on disk with me to China, I scrapped that idea and wrote this instead. It's about what happens a few years after the Third Tiberian War is concluded and involves the Scrin again. Also, any inconsistencies are because my memory isn't that good and I forgot something that might have happened before in my previous fiction.
I don't own Tiberian Sun or Command and Conquer.
Chapter 1
Dr. Caroline Ross, head of the Nod Tiberium Technology Lab, and wife to General Richard Conner, the leader of Nod, was currently watching as radiation from Tiberium was mutating human tissue. "What kind of wavelength is the radiation?" she asked a technician. "Not alpha, beta, or gamma," said the tech, "It's more than ten times as strong as gamma though. The tissue is degenerating." "If it doesn't mutate first," said Carol, "All right. We have samples of tissue that mutate and tissue that are completely destroyed. We need to figure out why some tissue are mutated and why some are just destroyed." "Pretty rare for tissue to be just destroyed," said the tech, "However, this tissue is most likely to be destroyed." "All right, compare it with the other samples that were destroyed," ordered Carol, "Look for any anomalies or something similar between them." Another assistant started typing in the supercomputer. Information on the other tissues came up. "Okay," said Carol, "It seems that all of these samples have very high amounts of white blood cells." "Maybe the white blood cells kill the mutated ones before the Tiberium can fully convert them," suggested a doctor. "Possible," said Carol, "Let's try this. I want a sample to have three times as much white blood cells as this one here." She pointed at another chart. "Yes ma'am." "How long will it take to prepare it?" Carol asked. "Two hours," said the tech. "Well, since we all have some time to burn, let's go get some lunch before we come back to work," she said.
Carol sipped the energy drink. After drinking them for so long, they were losing their effectiveness. She continued reading the report on the dissection of a Tiberian Fiend. The creatures had extensive nerve systems, as complicated and extensive as the dolphins that were all but extinct. A few were preserved by GDI, but that was about it. The creatures were intelligent. They were carnivores, which was obvious, and could actually eat the Tiberian Visceroids. Very interesting. There was also the fact that they had Tiberium growing out of their backs. The Tiberium helped in camouflage and offered some protection. How they grew on their backs was another puzzle that the NTTL was still investigating. She then heard a beep. She took out her palm pilot and saw that Dr. Boudreau had sent her a message. She opened it.
Long time no see Carol. Anyway, we've been making progress in our study of the Tiberium vine creature. We lost several drones and probes, but we've been able to gather some information. The thing is incredibly resistant to armor piercing rounds and large shells, but bullets seem to be able to kill it with ease. I'm sure both of our husbands already know that. GDI is starting a program to kill as many of these as possible, but General McNeil has allowed us to build walls and pavement around several smaller samples. We've been studying those. If you want, you can send in a team to help us. Gabriella Boudreau Langley
Carol smiled. She still remembered the time when Dr. Boudreau was her boss. She jotted down a note to assemble a team to assist GDI in their research. These days, since the peace treaty GDI and Nod signed, there wasn't all that much war and fighting. These days, it was the scientists that were fighting, fighting to defeat Tiberium. The Elite Cadre had developed purifiers that cleaned the air of Tiberium gas. That had helped greatly. With the air purifiers, the human race now had centuries before Tiberium made Earth inhospitable, and by then, they should have developed a way to end the Tiberium menace. That is if the Scrin didn't come back. However, GDI and Nod were also getting ready for that. Large mining colonies were set up to gather huge amounts of Tiberium to supply the materials to rebuild. That was actually starting to affect the total amount of Tiberium on the planet. Well, time to get back to work. Now they had to see if white blood cells actually did change the effects of Tiberium poison.
General Richard Conner was sitting through another meeting. Generals Kristoph Kenneth of Space Command, Robert Andrews of Army, and Wulfe Langley of the Black Hand were present. "The reformation of the Black Hand is going well," reported Wulfe, "We are still currently training, but our troops are getting better and better." "The EVA training is also working well," said Robert, "We are currently building another space station, the Revelation." "Biblical," commented Richard. The generals grinned at the comment. "This will be the platform for our new Positron Cannon," continued Robert, "GDI has an Ion Cannon, we have our Positron Cannon. It will be very useful if the Scrin ever tries to come back." "What about the lunar project?" asked Richard. "Proceeding according to schedule," answered Kristoph. "Where is General White?" asked Richard. General Rebecca White was the only female member of the Nod Inner Circle. She was in command of intelligence. "Right here sir," said Rebecca as she entered, "Sorry about the delay, but I needed to confirm this. It seems there is discontent within the Forgotten." "What are they mad about this time," said Richard. "They just don't like us," said Rebecca, "An extremist faction is gaining strength. That faction could very well attempt to attack us." "What is GDI saying about this?" asked Wulfe. "They aren't happy with it either," said Rebecca, "They are currently trying to pacify them, but it just isn't working." "So what are our options?" inquired Richard. "I currently do not have any suggestions," answered Rebecca, "I'll notify you when I have more information to make an educated suggestion." Richard nodded. "Very well. What is the status of the Tiberium research?" "You should know sir," said Rebecca. Richard smiled at that comment. "Carol won't tell me. She says I need to get the information through normal routes, which means from all of you." "They are currently studying the affects of Tiberium of certain kinds of tissue," said Kristoph, "Also, they have been studying various types of Tiberium creatures. GDI is currently studying the vein hole creature. They'll probably link up with us for that." Richard nodded. That was quite true. "All right. That's everything. Dismissed." Everyone got up and left. Richard went back to the Command Center. They had moved again from the space station to a military base outside of Jerusalem. The NTTL had also been moved. They needed more room than the space station had so another large base was built by Nod Command for the sole purpose of studying Tiberium. An underground train conveyed the people back and forth. There was even a hospital where Tiberium patients were treated with treatments developed by the scientists. Nod had almost overcome their previous inhuman image. Almost.
Carol watched with fascination as the white blood cells attacked the mutated cells. The large amount of white blood cells destroyed the infestation, but it was too late. The tissue still died. "Okay, we know that white blood cells will attack and kill mutated cells in their early stages. Now, we just need to find out how much white blood cells are needed to be able to destroy the mutation and still allow the tissue to survive." "That's going to be hard," said the doctor, "From the data we gathered, the Tiberium mutated the tissue too quickly. Even if we kill the mutation, we still have to replace the parts killed, which we can't do." "So we have to ask GDI to do more research on bionics," said Carol, "We're making more progress than them in actually studying the effects of Tiberium mutations. If we find a way to replace the destroyed parts, we might be able to use this as a treatment. Of course, we will still try to find some way to reverse the damage done to the tissue." "Reversing mutations won't be easy," said a tech, "We've found things that can neutralize Tiberium, but they won't be much help in actually curing a patient." "Okay, we keep going with this. I want a hundred more tests conducted with this procedure," ordered Carol, "I have to attend to another project right now." "Yes doctor," said a tech. Carol left the room and walked to another sector of the labs. She entered an area marked with a radiation sign. She entered the locker for women and changed into an environmental suit. She then went into an airlock. Then after that, she entered the actual lab area. Inside there was a massive environmental dome. Inside that dome there were samples of Tiberium, blue and green, growing. The dome was magnetically shielded to prevent any of the radiation from escaping. She then entered one of the smaller domes. Several scientists were currently cutting apart the plant part of Tiberium. This had had the crystals removed and only the plant remained. They were actually dissecting a plant. A laser sensor was analyzing the compounds. All of this was taking place inside a glass case set on a large counter. The scientists were monitoring the process using several consoles. "How are we doing?" she asked. "This is some kind of hybrid life form," said one of the scientists, "Its structure is like that of a plant, but there are certain mechanics that should be in an animal." "Such as?" "The first thing is that we seem to have a stomach that processes the raw minerals that it absorbs. We also believe that the crystals are a waste product of the plant. The radiation it emits is natural, and the radiation is caused by what looks like a reaction in the stomach. It looks like a mini fission reaction, though how that's possible I'm not entirely sure." "Is any energy being generated?" asked Carol. "All that energy is being used to process the minerals," said another scientist, "You must realize that the fission is incredibly small. We still aren't entirely sure how it emits so much radiation, or such a unique form, but it might be because of the process of creating the Tiberium crystals." "Incredible," said Carol, "Any luck finding anything resembling DNA?" "Actually, we're making progress in that sector. However, we still need more time to isolate it." "Very well," said Carol, "I'll be joining the dissection team working on those Fiends." Carol the left and went to another dome. The dead carcass of a Tiberian Fiend was lying on a massive table, also with a large glass cover over it. Robotic arms were in the glass and were being used to pick apart the body. "Report." One of the scientists looked up and recognized her. "We just finished with looking at the stomach," she reported, "We found the remains of a Visceroid in it." "Any luck with why Tiberium crystals grows out of its back?" Carol asked. "We think that Tiberium spores attach themselves onto the back of a Fiend and grows. When the Fiend burrows underground, the Tiberium leeches in materials to continue growing. We also believe that the Fiends might actually eat the Tiberium plant." "It took us all this time to actually discover this much about these Tiberium life forms," said Carol. "Before, we were too busy trying to kill each other," commented one of the doctors. Carol recognized him. He was another former GDI scientist that had enlisted with the NTTL after the war was over. Carol joined the dissection team. They removed what they believed was the heart and also two of the three lungs. They believed that two of the lungs were for actually taking in the Tiberium gas and the third took in pure oxygen, filtering out the Tiberium gas and sending it into the other two lungs. They were still studying how the Fiend did it. They worked for two more hours before they stopped. All the organs they had removed were placed in storage units. Carol had to go through a five-minute wait as magnetic forces were used to remove the radioactivity the suit had acquired. She then took it off and placed it in the bin where other used suits were. These would be cleaned further to ensure that no one would be wearing a contaminated suit. She changed into her lab clothes and went to get a snack. After finishing it, she went down to the hospital. She always felt a duty to help in the healing of the people there. The fact that she was a former GDI scientist did help when dealing with troublesome patients. "How is everyone?" Carol asked the attendant. "We're going to lose Patient 291 today," he answered sadly. Carol nodded. There was only so much they could do. However, Tiberium was unforgiving and they still had not been able to find a way to repair the tissues." "However, Patients 292 and 310 have been cured," the attendant said in a lighter voice, "We've removed the Tiberium infested livers they both had and replaced it. We've done several scans and they are not showing any signs of further Tiberium poisoning." "That's good news," said Carol. She went down and started helping the doctors.
General McNeil, supreme commander of GDI, was actually bored. The only trouble spot that remained was the extremist mutant faction that wanted to go to war with Nod. However, he knew for a fact that they would lose. Just because Nod was no longer the evil organization they were didn't mean they couldn't win some minor war. Actually, the Brotherhood was making good progress in studying Tiberium. More than GDI was making. Many GDI scientists had resigned and now worked for the NTTL. The current head of the NTTL was actually a former GDI scientist. So far, Nod had abided with the peace treaty. Maybe this time Nod actually had a good leader. "General." "Yes Eva?" "General Langley wants to see you." "Very well, send him in." The new Eva mark II actually had a personality. She also had a holographic image that she could use to speak directly with officers. The image of James William Langley appeared. Now days, people usually called him by his middle name. "Hello William," greeted McNeil. "Sir." "So what brings you here today?" asked McNeil, knowing that William rarely traveled to the Philadelphia II anymore, not even for meetings. He almost always used a video link to communicate. "Gabriella's been on my ass to contain instead of destroy one of the Tiberium vine holes in Canada," explained William, "I gave her the excuse that I needed to talk to you about a sensitive matter that I couldn't trust a video link with, which I actually do have to do." "What's the problem?" "No problem," assured William, "However, I know why Nod is building that second space station. Remember that Ion Cannon that Nod has on their warship? The one that attacked Kane's headquarters at Cairo? Well, we just learned that it was a prototype for a Positron Cannon. I won't bore you with the details, I doubt either of us would understand it, but it is as powerful as our Ion Cannon, if not more. However, the cannon will be pointed out towards space, so we don't have too much to worry about." "A Positron Cannon," McNeil said thoughtfully, "Interesting. Why haven't they told us?" "They're probably going to tell us once they started installing it," said William. Just then, Eva appeared. Her hologram had long black hair and green eyes. "Did you say that Nod has a Positron Cannon?" she asked. "You should know," said William, "You record our conversations." Eva twitched her noise, as if in annoyance. "Well, for your information, I don't record anything when privacy mode is activated. Besides, I'm interested in this Positron Cannon." "Does she always interrupt meetings like this?" asked William. "No, most of the time she's well behaved," said McNeil, "Most of the time. While you're here Eva, why don't you brief the general on Nod's ballistic arsenal?" "Very well," said Eva in a defeated tone, "The Brotherhood discovered that the unknown matter in Tiberium is as potent as plutonium, but it seems that there is no radiation fallout. They've been using it to create a massive ballistic missile arsenal. Currently, we believe that they have over five hundred ballistic missiles. They are scattered around the world." "Damn," said William, "I'm surprised I didn't know about this." "We were lucky to get this information," said McNeil. "There is one more piece of information that you two might find interesting," said William, "It seems that Nod has revived their Stealth Soldier program." "What?" said McNeil. "Stealth Soldiers. Nod soldiers equipped with miniature stealth generators," said Eva, "Equipped with a particle weapon and an advanced combat armor. They're as hard to kill as a Cyborg Commando." "Any reason why they would do this?" asked McNeil. "Probably because they can," answered William, "Nod never had the chance to actually continue with many of their projects, so they're now using the peace as a chance to continue a couple." "Well, we have to take the good with the bad," said McNeil.
Umagon woke up in a strange hospital. "Well, you're finally awake," said a man. She waited for her eyes to adjust and looked at the man. The first thing she saw was that there was a Nod symbol on his chest. She tried to get up but found that she was strapped down. "To hell with you," she said. "We expected you to react this way," said the man, "but you should know that the war is over. GDI signed a peace treaty with us." "Why should I believe you?" she spat out. "Just a sec," the man said. He left for a few minutes, during which she tried to get loose of the straps, but found they were too strong. The man returned with a communications device. "Here." The image of Michael McNeil appeared. "Umagon, you okay?" "Who the hell are you?" she said. "What do you mean? You don't recognize the blunt?" replied McNeil. She considered this. It did sound like McNeil. " All right, assuming you and Nod did sign a peace treaty, why the hell am I in a Nod installation?" "Because they have better medical facilities and more experience dealing with Tiberium poisoning than we do," explained McNeil, "Look if it's any reassurance, the person that has been treating you is a former GDI scientist. She's been using new treatments that Nod has developed, and they seemed to have worked." "What do you mean?" "If you have a mirror handy." The man placed the mirror in front of her face. She gasped. There were no signs that she was a mutant. "Kane is dead, and Nod's new leader is working with us, not against us," assured McNeil, "After they finish treating you, you're going to be released back into GDI custody. Just trust me on this." "I'll believe it when I'm away from them," Umagon said stubbornly. "Just at least try to be cooperative," said McNeil, "That way, you'll get to leave sooner." Umagon grunted. She wasn't all too sure, but if she got to leave sooner, it was worth it.
"Patient 041 is awake," said an officer. Carol nodded. She had been treating Umagon for the past five months, and she had finally seemed to have recovered. They had used several radical treatments and procedures, but Umagon had survived and was well. There was almost no Tiberium in her system anymore, which was good news. However, she would have to attend to that later. She still had to finish this. They were currently working on controlling the mutations that Tiberium created. The information gathered from this might actually help later on in their search for a cure. Right now, the Tiberium was altering the structure of a muscle sample. It was becoming hard and strong. Controlling the effects of the radiation was made easier by the notes that Dr. Mobius, the first expert on Tiberium, had made. It was transforming it into something else. "What is happening to the muscle?" she asked one of the techs. "According to our sensors, the cells are mutating and reforming the very structure of the muscle tissue. Certain things are hardening and others are softening. We don't really know how that's possible, but we still need to run more tests." "Okay. Put this sample in storage and conduct more experiments," ordered Carol, "Keep all of the samples unless they become dangerous." "Yes ma'am."
The team she had sent off the Dr. Boudreau should be arriving now. It was comprised of six men and five women. Each knew a lot about biology, chemistry, and Tiberium. They would be of some help to the doctor. Nod currently had an extensive archive of information about Tiberium. It was actually larger than the GDI archive. There were still dozens of men and women who looked over the information downloaded from the Tacitus. They had only gotten through 29% of the total amount. However, it was found that the Tacitus had more information on Tiberium based technology than Tiberium itself, which didn't really help the researchers. Still, the Tiberium power reactor might come in handy. She passed a window looking out to where several silos full of Tiberium were. Nod still had a legion of cyborgs left, and they were used to protect this installation. However, Richard had discontinued cyborg production. Carol approved of that. Every time she saw a cyborg, she shuddered. These cyborgs were once living human beings. However, the old Nod had made monsters out of them. Two soldiers passed her in the hallway. Nod uniforms had also changed. They were now completely black and looked sturdier. The new armor provided better protection from bullets as well. Carol entered the hospital sector of the base. She went to Umagon's room immediately. "Hello, I'm Dr. Caroline Ross. I'm the one who's been treating you." "I know," said Umagon, "One of the nurses filled me in on what's happened over the past few months." "Are you okay with the arrangements?" Carol asked. "I can't say I am, but it's better than being in the interrogation room," Umagon said with a smile. "We converted that room into a storage room," said Carol, "We're running out of space for all of our projects." "And what are those?" asked Umagon. "Effects of Tiberium on tissue, dissection of Tiberium creatures, and the study of Tiberium itself. We also have this hospital facility and we also research for new ways to treat Tiberium poisoning." "Was a cure ever found?" she asked. "No," answered Carol, "However, we are making progress. We are experimenting with a new treatment right now. It's still in the testing stage, but it shows some promise." "I never thought that I would owe my life to Nod," said Umagon. "I never thought I would marry the supreme commander of Nod," said Carol, "But I did. Now, get some rest. I'll check up on you tomorrow or have someone else do that. I've been kind of busy these past few weeks." Umagon nodded. Carol then adjusted the I.V. and then left.
Richard entered his bedroom. He saw Carol in the desk looking over some notes. He walked over to her and hugged her from behind. "How was your day?" he whispered into her ear. Carol smiled. "Fine. Umagon woke up today." "Hmm, well, once she fully recovers, she'll be going back to the GDI," he said, "Research going along well?" "We're making progress," said Carol, "I sent a team to Dr. Boudreau to help with the study of the Tiberium vein." "Shouldn't it be Dr. Langley?" said Richard teasingly. "She never took her husband's name," said Carol, "and don't expect me to as well." "Of course," said Richard, "Anything interesting happen during all your research?" "You have to get that information through proper channels," said Carol. "So how about supreme commander asking a subordinate?" said Richard, "Or would you rather it be husband to wife?" Carol lifted his arms and got up. She let Richard hold her. The two kissed for a while before Richard went and got ready for bed. Carol was already in her nightgown and got into bed. She was very tired. Work in the labs was very draining. By the time Richard had showered and returned to the bedroom, she was fast asleep. Richard kissed her on the forehead and settled down himself. The last thing he felt before falling asleep was Carol snuggling up close to him.
Z98
Okay, I originally was planning to write a romance piece involving Dr. Ross and General Conner. However, since I forgot to bring a copy on disk with me to China, I scrapped that idea and wrote this instead. It's about what happens a few years after the Third Tiberian War is concluded and involves the Scrin again. Also, any inconsistencies are because my memory isn't that good and I forgot something that might have happened before in my previous fiction.
I don't own Tiberian Sun or Command and Conquer.
Chapter 1
Dr. Caroline Ross, head of the Nod Tiberium Technology Lab, and wife to General Richard Conner, the leader of Nod, was currently watching as radiation from Tiberium was mutating human tissue. "What kind of wavelength is the radiation?" she asked a technician. "Not alpha, beta, or gamma," said the tech, "It's more than ten times as strong as gamma though. The tissue is degenerating." "If it doesn't mutate first," said Carol, "All right. We have samples of tissue that mutate and tissue that are completely destroyed. We need to figure out why some tissue are mutated and why some are just destroyed." "Pretty rare for tissue to be just destroyed," said the tech, "However, this tissue is most likely to be destroyed." "All right, compare it with the other samples that were destroyed," ordered Carol, "Look for any anomalies or something similar between them." Another assistant started typing in the supercomputer. Information on the other tissues came up. "Okay," said Carol, "It seems that all of these samples have very high amounts of white blood cells." "Maybe the white blood cells kill the mutated ones before the Tiberium can fully convert them," suggested a doctor. "Possible," said Carol, "Let's try this. I want a sample to have three times as much white blood cells as this one here." She pointed at another chart. "Yes ma'am." "How long will it take to prepare it?" Carol asked. "Two hours," said the tech. "Well, since we all have some time to burn, let's go get some lunch before we come back to work," she said.
Carol sipped the energy drink. After drinking them for so long, they were losing their effectiveness. She continued reading the report on the dissection of a Tiberian Fiend. The creatures had extensive nerve systems, as complicated and extensive as the dolphins that were all but extinct. A few were preserved by GDI, but that was about it. The creatures were intelligent. They were carnivores, which was obvious, and could actually eat the Tiberian Visceroids. Very interesting. There was also the fact that they had Tiberium growing out of their backs. The Tiberium helped in camouflage and offered some protection. How they grew on their backs was another puzzle that the NTTL was still investigating. She then heard a beep. She took out her palm pilot and saw that Dr. Boudreau had sent her a message. She opened it.
Long time no see Carol. Anyway, we've been making progress in our study of the Tiberium vine creature. We lost several drones and probes, but we've been able to gather some information. The thing is incredibly resistant to armor piercing rounds and large shells, but bullets seem to be able to kill it with ease. I'm sure both of our husbands already know that. GDI is starting a program to kill as many of these as possible, but General McNeil has allowed us to build walls and pavement around several smaller samples. We've been studying those. If you want, you can send in a team to help us. Gabriella Boudreau Langley
Carol smiled. She still remembered the time when Dr. Boudreau was her boss. She jotted down a note to assemble a team to assist GDI in their research. These days, since the peace treaty GDI and Nod signed, there wasn't all that much war and fighting. These days, it was the scientists that were fighting, fighting to defeat Tiberium. The Elite Cadre had developed purifiers that cleaned the air of Tiberium gas. That had helped greatly. With the air purifiers, the human race now had centuries before Tiberium made Earth inhospitable, and by then, they should have developed a way to end the Tiberium menace. That is if the Scrin didn't come back. However, GDI and Nod were also getting ready for that. Large mining colonies were set up to gather huge amounts of Tiberium to supply the materials to rebuild. That was actually starting to affect the total amount of Tiberium on the planet. Well, time to get back to work. Now they had to see if white blood cells actually did change the effects of Tiberium poison.
General Richard Conner was sitting through another meeting. Generals Kristoph Kenneth of Space Command, Robert Andrews of Army, and Wulfe Langley of the Black Hand were present. "The reformation of the Black Hand is going well," reported Wulfe, "We are still currently training, but our troops are getting better and better." "The EVA training is also working well," said Robert, "We are currently building another space station, the Revelation." "Biblical," commented Richard. The generals grinned at the comment. "This will be the platform for our new Positron Cannon," continued Robert, "GDI has an Ion Cannon, we have our Positron Cannon. It will be very useful if the Scrin ever tries to come back." "What about the lunar project?" asked Richard. "Proceeding according to schedule," answered Kristoph. "Where is General White?" asked Richard. General Rebecca White was the only female member of the Nod Inner Circle. She was in command of intelligence. "Right here sir," said Rebecca as she entered, "Sorry about the delay, but I needed to confirm this. It seems there is discontent within the Forgotten." "What are they mad about this time," said Richard. "They just don't like us," said Rebecca, "An extremist faction is gaining strength. That faction could very well attempt to attack us." "What is GDI saying about this?" asked Wulfe. "They aren't happy with it either," said Rebecca, "They are currently trying to pacify them, but it just isn't working." "So what are our options?" inquired Richard. "I currently do not have any suggestions," answered Rebecca, "I'll notify you when I have more information to make an educated suggestion." Richard nodded. "Very well. What is the status of the Tiberium research?" "You should know sir," said Rebecca. Richard smiled at that comment. "Carol won't tell me. She says I need to get the information through normal routes, which means from all of you." "They are currently studying the affects of Tiberium of certain kinds of tissue," said Kristoph, "Also, they have been studying various types of Tiberium creatures. GDI is currently studying the vein hole creature. They'll probably link up with us for that." Richard nodded. That was quite true. "All right. That's everything. Dismissed." Everyone got up and left. Richard went back to the Command Center. They had moved again from the space station to a military base outside of Jerusalem. The NTTL had also been moved. They needed more room than the space station had so another large base was built by Nod Command for the sole purpose of studying Tiberium. An underground train conveyed the people back and forth. There was even a hospital where Tiberium patients were treated with treatments developed by the scientists. Nod had almost overcome their previous inhuman image. Almost.
Carol watched with fascination as the white blood cells attacked the mutated cells. The large amount of white blood cells destroyed the infestation, but it was too late. The tissue still died. "Okay, we know that white blood cells will attack and kill mutated cells in their early stages. Now, we just need to find out how much white blood cells are needed to be able to destroy the mutation and still allow the tissue to survive." "That's going to be hard," said the doctor, "From the data we gathered, the Tiberium mutated the tissue too quickly. Even if we kill the mutation, we still have to replace the parts killed, which we can't do." "So we have to ask GDI to do more research on bionics," said Carol, "We're making more progress than them in actually studying the effects of Tiberium mutations. If we find a way to replace the destroyed parts, we might be able to use this as a treatment. Of course, we will still try to find some way to reverse the damage done to the tissue." "Reversing mutations won't be easy," said a tech, "We've found things that can neutralize Tiberium, but they won't be much help in actually curing a patient." "Okay, we keep going with this. I want a hundred more tests conducted with this procedure," ordered Carol, "I have to attend to another project right now." "Yes doctor," said a tech. Carol left the room and walked to another sector of the labs. She entered an area marked with a radiation sign. She entered the locker for women and changed into an environmental suit. She then went into an airlock. Then after that, she entered the actual lab area. Inside there was a massive environmental dome. Inside that dome there were samples of Tiberium, blue and green, growing. The dome was magnetically shielded to prevent any of the radiation from escaping. She then entered one of the smaller domes. Several scientists were currently cutting apart the plant part of Tiberium. This had had the crystals removed and only the plant remained. They were actually dissecting a plant. A laser sensor was analyzing the compounds. All of this was taking place inside a glass case set on a large counter. The scientists were monitoring the process using several consoles. "How are we doing?" she asked. "This is some kind of hybrid life form," said one of the scientists, "Its structure is like that of a plant, but there are certain mechanics that should be in an animal." "Such as?" "The first thing is that we seem to have a stomach that processes the raw minerals that it absorbs. We also believe that the crystals are a waste product of the plant. The radiation it emits is natural, and the radiation is caused by what looks like a reaction in the stomach. It looks like a mini fission reaction, though how that's possible I'm not entirely sure." "Is any energy being generated?" asked Carol. "All that energy is being used to process the minerals," said another scientist, "You must realize that the fission is incredibly small. We still aren't entirely sure how it emits so much radiation, or such a unique form, but it might be because of the process of creating the Tiberium crystals." "Incredible," said Carol, "Any luck finding anything resembling DNA?" "Actually, we're making progress in that sector. However, we still need more time to isolate it." "Very well," said Carol, "I'll be joining the dissection team working on those Fiends." Carol the left and went to another dome. The dead carcass of a Tiberian Fiend was lying on a massive table, also with a large glass cover over it. Robotic arms were in the glass and were being used to pick apart the body. "Report." One of the scientists looked up and recognized her. "We just finished with looking at the stomach," she reported, "We found the remains of a Visceroid in it." "Any luck with why Tiberium crystals grows out of its back?" Carol asked. "We think that Tiberium spores attach themselves onto the back of a Fiend and grows. When the Fiend burrows underground, the Tiberium leeches in materials to continue growing. We also believe that the Fiends might actually eat the Tiberium plant." "It took us all this time to actually discover this much about these Tiberium life forms," said Carol. "Before, we were too busy trying to kill each other," commented one of the doctors. Carol recognized him. He was another former GDI scientist that had enlisted with the NTTL after the war was over. Carol joined the dissection team. They removed what they believed was the heart and also two of the three lungs. They believed that two of the lungs were for actually taking in the Tiberium gas and the third took in pure oxygen, filtering out the Tiberium gas and sending it into the other two lungs. They were still studying how the Fiend did it. They worked for two more hours before they stopped. All the organs they had removed were placed in storage units. Carol had to go through a five-minute wait as magnetic forces were used to remove the radioactivity the suit had acquired. She then took it off and placed it in the bin where other used suits were. These would be cleaned further to ensure that no one would be wearing a contaminated suit. She changed into her lab clothes and went to get a snack. After finishing it, she went down to the hospital. She always felt a duty to help in the healing of the people there. The fact that she was a former GDI scientist did help when dealing with troublesome patients. "How is everyone?" Carol asked the attendant. "We're going to lose Patient 291 today," he answered sadly. Carol nodded. There was only so much they could do. However, Tiberium was unforgiving and they still had not been able to find a way to repair the tissues." "However, Patients 292 and 310 have been cured," the attendant said in a lighter voice, "We've removed the Tiberium infested livers they both had and replaced it. We've done several scans and they are not showing any signs of further Tiberium poisoning." "That's good news," said Carol. She went down and started helping the doctors.
General McNeil, supreme commander of GDI, was actually bored. The only trouble spot that remained was the extremist mutant faction that wanted to go to war with Nod. However, he knew for a fact that they would lose. Just because Nod was no longer the evil organization they were didn't mean they couldn't win some minor war. Actually, the Brotherhood was making good progress in studying Tiberium. More than GDI was making. Many GDI scientists had resigned and now worked for the NTTL. The current head of the NTTL was actually a former GDI scientist. So far, Nod had abided with the peace treaty. Maybe this time Nod actually had a good leader. "General." "Yes Eva?" "General Langley wants to see you." "Very well, send him in." The new Eva mark II actually had a personality. She also had a holographic image that she could use to speak directly with officers. The image of James William Langley appeared. Now days, people usually called him by his middle name. "Hello William," greeted McNeil. "Sir." "So what brings you here today?" asked McNeil, knowing that William rarely traveled to the Philadelphia II anymore, not even for meetings. He almost always used a video link to communicate. "Gabriella's been on my ass to contain instead of destroy one of the Tiberium vine holes in Canada," explained William, "I gave her the excuse that I needed to talk to you about a sensitive matter that I couldn't trust a video link with, which I actually do have to do." "What's the problem?" "No problem," assured William, "However, I know why Nod is building that second space station. Remember that Ion Cannon that Nod has on their warship? The one that attacked Kane's headquarters at Cairo? Well, we just learned that it was a prototype for a Positron Cannon. I won't bore you with the details, I doubt either of us would understand it, but it is as powerful as our Ion Cannon, if not more. However, the cannon will be pointed out towards space, so we don't have too much to worry about." "A Positron Cannon," McNeil said thoughtfully, "Interesting. Why haven't they told us?" "They're probably going to tell us once they started installing it," said William. Just then, Eva appeared. Her hologram had long black hair and green eyes. "Did you say that Nod has a Positron Cannon?" she asked. "You should know," said William, "You record our conversations." Eva twitched her noise, as if in annoyance. "Well, for your information, I don't record anything when privacy mode is activated. Besides, I'm interested in this Positron Cannon." "Does she always interrupt meetings like this?" asked William. "No, most of the time she's well behaved," said McNeil, "Most of the time. While you're here Eva, why don't you brief the general on Nod's ballistic arsenal?" "Very well," said Eva in a defeated tone, "The Brotherhood discovered that the unknown matter in Tiberium is as potent as plutonium, but it seems that there is no radiation fallout. They've been using it to create a massive ballistic missile arsenal. Currently, we believe that they have over five hundred ballistic missiles. They are scattered around the world." "Damn," said William, "I'm surprised I didn't know about this." "We were lucky to get this information," said McNeil. "There is one more piece of information that you two might find interesting," said William, "It seems that Nod has revived their Stealth Soldier program." "What?" said McNeil. "Stealth Soldiers. Nod soldiers equipped with miniature stealth generators," said Eva, "Equipped with a particle weapon and an advanced combat armor. They're as hard to kill as a Cyborg Commando." "Any reason why they would do this?" asked McNeil. "Probably because they can," answered William, "Nod never had the chance to actually continue with many of their projects, so they're now using the peace as a chance to continue a couple." "Well, we have to take the good with the bad," said McNeil.
Umagon woke up in a strange hospital. "Well, you're finally awake," said a man. She waited for her eyes to adjust and looked at the man. The first thing she saw was that there was a Nod symbol on his chest. She tried to get up but found that she was strapped down. "To hell with you," she said. "We expected you to react this way," said the man, "but you should know that the war is over. GDI signed a peace treaty with us." "Why should I believe you?" she spat out. "Just a sec," the man said. He left for a few minutes, during which she tried to get loose of the straps, but found they were too strong. The man returned with a communications device. "Here." The image of Michael McNeil appeared. "Umagon, you okay?" "Who the hell are you?" she said. "What do you mean? You don't recognize the blunt?" replied McNeil. She considered this. It did sound like McNeil. " All right, assuming you and Nod did sign a peace treaty, why the hell am I in a Nod installation?" "Because they have better medical facilities and more experience dealing with Tiberium poisoning than we do," explained McNeil, "Look if it's any reassurance, the person that has been treating you is a former GDI scientist. She's been using new treatments that Nod has developed, and they seemed to have worked." "What do you mean?" "If you have a mirror handy." The man placed the mirror in front of her face. She gasped. There were no signs that she was a mutant. "Kane is dead, and Nod's new leader is working with us, not against us," assured McNeil, "After they finish treating you, you're going to be released back into GDI custody. Just trust me on this." "I'll believe it when I'm away from them," Umagon said stubbornly. "Just at least try to be cooperative," said McNeil, "That way, you'll get to leave sooner." Umagon grunted. She wasn't all too sure, but if she got to leave sooner, it was worth it.
"Patient 041 is awake," said an officer. Carol nodded. She had been treating Umagon for the past five months, and she had finally seemed to have recovered. They had used several radical treatments and procedures, but Umagon had survived and was well. There was almost no Tiberium in her system anymore, which was good news. However, she would have to attend to that later. She still had to finish this. They were currently working on controlling the mutations that Tiberium created. The information gathered from this might actually help later on in their search for a cure. Right now, the Tiberium was altering the structure of a muscle sample. It was becoming hard and strong. Controlling the effects of the radiation was made easier by the notes that Dr. Mobius, the first expert on Tiberium, had made. It was transforming it into something else. "What is happening to the muscle?" she asked one of the techs. "According to our sensors, the cells are mutating and reforming the very structure of the muscle tissue. Certain things are hardening and others are softening. We don't really know how that's possible, but we still need to run more tests." "Okay. Put this sample in storage and conduct more experiments," ordered Carol, "Keep all of the samples unless they become dangerous." "Yes ma'am."
The team she had sent off the Dr. Boudreau should be arriving now. It was comprised of six men and five women. Each knew a lot about biology, chemistry, and Tiberium. They would be of some help to the doctor. Nod currently had an extensive archive of information about Tiberium. It was actually larger than the GDI archive. There were still dozens of men and women who looked over the information downloaded from the Tacitus. They had only gotten through 29% of the total amount. However, it was found that the Tacitus had more information on Tiberium based technology than Tiberium itself, which didn't really help the researchers. Still, the Tiberium power reactor might come in handy. She passed a window looking out to where several silos full of Tiberium were. Nod still had a legion of cyborgs left, and they were used to protect this installation. However, Richard had discontinued cyborg production. Carol approved of that. Every time she saw a cyborg, she shuddered. These cyborgs were once living human beings. However, the old Nod had made monsters out of them. Two soldiers passed her in the hallway. Nod uniforms had also changed. They were now completely black and looked sturdier. The new armor provided better protection from bullets as well. Carol entered the hospital sector of the base. She went to Umagon's room immediately. "Hello, I'm Dr. Caroline Ross. I'm the one who's been treating you." "I know," said Umagon, "One of the nurses filled me in on what's happened over the past few months." "Are you okay with the arrangements?" Carol asked. "I can't say I am, but it's better than being in the interrogation room," Umagon said with a smile. "We converted that room into a storage room," said Carol, "We're running out of space for all of our projects." "And what are those?" asked Umagon. "Effects of Tiberium on tissue, dissection of Tiberium creatures, and the study of Tiberium itself. We also have this hospital facility and we also research for new ways to treat Tiberium poisoning." "Was a cure ever found?" she asked. "No," answered Carol, "However, we are making progress. We are experimenting with a new treatment right now. It's still in the testing stage, but it shows some promise." "I never thought that I would owe my life to Nod," said Umagon. "I never thought I would marry the supreme commander of Nod," said Carol, "But I did. Now, get some rest. I'll check up on you tomorrow or have someone else do that. I've been kind of busy these past few weeks." Umagon nodded. Carol then adjusted the I.V. and then left.
Richard entered his bedroom. He saw Carol in the desk looking over some notes. He walked over to her and hugged her from behind. "How was your day?" he whispered into her ear. Carol smiled. "Fine. Umagon woke up today." "Hmm, well, once she fully recovers, she'll be going back to the GDI," he said, "Research going along well?" "We're making progress," said Carol, "I sent a team to Dr. Boudreau to help with the study of the Tiberium vein." "Shouldn't it be Dr. Langley?" said Richard teasingly. "She never took her husband's name," said Carol, "and don't expect me to as well." "Of course," said Richard, "Anything interesting happen during all your research?" "You have to get that information through proper channels," said Carol. "So how about supreme commander asking a subordinate?" said Richard, "Or would you rather it be husband to wife?" Carol lifted his arms and got up. She let Richard hold her. The two kissed for a while before Richard went and got ready for bed. Carol was already in her nightgown and got into bed. She was very tired. Work in the labs was very draining. By the time Richard had showered and returned to the bedroom, she was fast asleep. Richard kissed her on the forehead and settled down himself. The last thing he felt before falling asleep was Carol snuggling up close to him.
