Exposure

Chapter 1

It was the kind of day I hated. For one, I was away from the cabin Shaun and I live in and actually out in the open where I have to talk to people face-to-face. For another, it was actually sunny out today. Just over eighteen months ago, that wouldn't have been a problem, but all that had changed and this was the kind of time I really didn't need that.

I'm a clone. When I first woke up in the CDC facility some years ago now, the Retinal Kellis-Amberlee the original Georgia Mason had suffered from was absent from me. They hadn't been able to induce a reservoir condition without their subjects amplifying, so they'd skipped that step with me. That had been what tipped me off to my status as a clone. I hadn't missed my condition, especially since the original Georgia had been able to unknowingly transfer her resistance to the live-state KA virus to Shaun thanks to a long and very carefully concealed history of making the beast with two backs under the Masons' roof and ever since I'd come back he'd been trying to pass that immunity on to me. Although I'll be the first to admit that was only a very small part of it. The amount of times we'd tried, it would have been literally impossible for it not to have been passed on to me if it was going to be at all. I didn't need a reservoir condition any more.

Then about eighteen months ago, my organs had started to fail. It's definitely a risk with cloned organs and the fact that I'd been drinking more Coke than water ever since I broke out really hadn't done much to avert the situation. They'd had to transplant new organs over which should last for about fifty years and Shaun takes great care to all but force-feed me water now.

The problem came when they put the new organs in. The KA virus lies dormant in everyone. Once a viral load leaves the body, it becomes live. Contact with this live virus can trigger amplification. That's just the 'normal' of today's world. That's essentially what happened to me. The vial load in the new kidneys and liver went live, but since the organs were taken from a throwaway clone and so basically mine anyway, it instead caused me to redevelop retinal KA. As that very popular pre-Rising phrase goes: FML!

That being the case, it should be pretty obvious why a sunny Canada was a bad thing for me. It didn't do much to help my mood. The second problem was that I was due to head back to America with Shaun that day. He was resting up at the cabin for the long drive before heading down to meet me at the airport where I was receiving an important package. I was there to sign for it, which brought me to my third problem: he should have been there to pick me up half an hour ago! Looking over at the desk clerk told me that her frustration wasn't going to simmer down before I got her a result, so I tapped my ear cuff to try and raise him again. The beeper rang for several seconds as I waited for him to pick up.

"Where are you, Shaun?" I muttered. I'm very much all about not panicking until you have to, but I'm really not into the whole 'being separated from Shaun' thing. He was the same with me. That was why he became haunted by a version of me that lived in his head after I'd died the first time. Dr Abbey had given him medication for it which nowadays left him a lot drowsier than he used to be, especially in the mornings. That was the last thing I needed right now.

"Wha-?" Shaun's bleary voice came over my ear cuff followed by the sound of him rolling over and trying to get up. "Wa's goin' on?"

"Where the hell are you?" I scowled. He couldn't see me but I couldn't help it. "I'm standing here at the airport with a piece of really important cargo and no van to transport it!"

"Sorry, babe!" He instantly sounded more lucid and alert. And he never used pet names unless he was really trying to make up for something. "I set the alarm clock, but-" There was a hollow slamming noise that I assumed was him picking up the alarm clock and hitting it against the corner of the bedside table. "It's broken or something!" The nuisance beeping of the alarm clock filtered through my ear cuff followed by it cutting off as he hit it again. I knew he'd set the alarm clock since I watched him do it. Definitely time for a new one.

"Look..." I was unable to keep the sigh out of my voice. "It's great you found a way to shut up the George that lives in your head but we've got a deadline to meet here!" I could hear noises through my ear cuff as he frantically threw on clothes while trying to talk to me. It made me grin on the inside. Shaun wasn't usually late to the party on things, or at least hadn't been before he got medicated, but at the same time it was still so typically him. It was exactly like how he used to act on those almost unheard-of times he used to oversleep. When he replied, he definitely sounded like he was kicking into gear.

"Okay, let me just wake myself up and I'll be down in fifteen."

"Got it." I hung up and turned back to the desk clerk. "I apologise for the wait. Since the contents of the package can't be allowed to get too hot, I can't take it out of this office. I can sign for it now, however."

"That's fine, honey." The clerk slid a form over to me, seeming relieved that we were finally getting moving. "Just name and date this thing and then we can get the package turned over to you. There's seats in the foyer where you can wait in air-conditioned comfort. That should keep the package cool enough." That was a relief. I didn't know what was in there. Dr Abbey didn't tell us. The only thing she told us was that it was something she desperately needed and to not let it get too hot or else it could render it useless. Since she ran an underground and more than slightly illegal lab, there was a chance the package could be intercepted. She couldn't take that chance. Despite it being a bit around the houses, it was actually easier for her to send it to us and then have us play delivery service and take it to her.

"Thank you." I nodded. I signed the fake name I'd been using since we came to Canada and then waited as she vanished into the back room. I was left waiting for about a minute and a half before she emerged again and placed a metal cylinder on the desk. I checked the information on the label to make sure it was the right one and then took it in my arms. It was surprisingly heavy and I ended up cradling it like a baby as I waddled over more like a heavily pregnant woman and sat down. The air con was instant heaven against my skin and although the sunlight was harsh through the glass doors I was able to turn away far enough that it didn't affect me. It also kept the container in my shadow, which was helpful.

Shaun rocked up fifteen minutes later as promised. The van's brakes screeched as it ground to a halt in what was basically a power slide. I quickly did the blood test at the door and made it outside as quick as possible. The blood testing panel on the van door was much more risky, making me actually have to set the canister on the floor briefly since I didn't trust myself to hold it one-handed. Once I'd set it into the back of the van and put the seatbelt on it to make sure it wasn't going to move, I sat down next to it and strapped myself in too. Usually I would ride up front with him, but we weren't about to take a chance with a container marked 'FRAGILE'.

"You finally ready?" I asked as I grabbed my micro camera off one of the computer banks and fixed it to my shoulder. I walked over and sat in the seat by the computer, running through the various programs and subroutines we had until I found the Umbrella HQ back door to our system. Each back door could only be used once. On this one occasion, we'd revealed the existence of this one so that Dr Abbey could monitor her precious package.

"I'm connected and online." He gave me a nod, his determined expression making my heart jump a bit. I forced myself to stay focused on the console as he started the van and pulled out of the parking lot so we didn't get arrested for obstruction. I tapped my ear cuff to get a connection.

"Dr Abbey, are you there?"

"I'm online and ready." She definitely hadn't been waiting by the phone for our call. Whatever was in this package must have had her excited. "I see the back door now. Umbrella HQ. Nice one, whoever thought that up."

"I think that was Maggie." Shaun grinned as we turned onto the main road. "You know how tight she was with Buffy and how those Fictionals loved their movie nights."

"Yeah, yeah, don't care." Dr Abbey's tone was rushed. She was definitely running on adrenaline. "Killcams up and running. Georgia, do you mind showing me my package? I want to see it." I swung around and aimed the camera towards the metal cylinder strapped into the seat. "Oh, you put the seatbelt on it! Cute. Listen, this container is something I desperately need and if it gets damaged then I'll have to wait four years for a new one. You guys fuck this up, that's it for four whole years. No pressure."

"Doesn't sound like it." I muttered as I settled in for the long drive ahead.

"After George's near-death experience and multi-organ transplant, Dr Abbey said she wanted to see her back every eighteen months. So I'm damned if I'm doing a Mahir and getting left behind. But now there's this additional complication of this package. I don't know what's in it. I just know that she's paying us more to deliver it than anyone in their right mind should pay in shipping costs. It would have been simpler to just have it shipped to her but as she says, her channels aren't exactly legal. That's why we get custody of it. And whatever it is, she clearly wants it. Enough to make us camera up and let her keep an eye on it the whole way through.

It's not that I mind being watched. Although you'd better believe we're turning off the cameras when we're asleep. There are limits. But it will be nice to see her again. And the others. They should be meeting us there. We've lost so many now that I guess it's good that we still keep close. And I know if Buffy or Becks were still with us then they might reason that the more eyes we have watching something, the less chance of something going wrong. Ever the optimists.

We sure could use them now."

-From Adaptive Immunities, the blog of Shaun Mason.

June 3 2046.