It was getting dark outside when they returned to their computers. Delphine had opened a bottle of red wine and they were drinking again.
"Let's start with an index search," Cosima proposed. "Looking for keywords like 'stroke', 'vein' and 'capillary'."
Delphine quickly entered the search words and started the search. It took a while to show all the matches, which appeared one by one in the result list.
The diabetes project was one of the first that appeared in the list.
"That is close," Cosima commented. "But not close enough. Even by reversing the effect he wouldn't have died fast enough."
'Arteriosclerosis' was one of the next in the list. They nodded in agreement. That was an option they needed to check.
'Cerebral hemorrhage' was the one that finally took their attention. Delphine opened a few files with documentation and read the summary loud.
"Bingo," Cosima said. "This one is hot. Can we see the sequences?"
"Oui. There should be 4 files in the data folder." She opened another folder and they looked at the file list.
"Let me guess. That one is the ID sequence." Cosima pointed to the entry.
ID_20160902_CEREBHEM_021"Yes. And these are GOOD and BAD sequences. There is a naming convention to ensure that we can clearly identify them."
"And the 'DYAD' sequence to be complete," Cosima nodded. "I see your company is giving employees pain in the ass to keep the records well sorted."
Delphine raised an eyebrow. "This is for safety reasons. Imagine you'd use the wrong sequence on the wrong patient."
"What does that entry here mean?" Cosima pointed to an entry below the sequence files.
Delphine opened the file. "This is interesting," she commented after reading the notice at the beginning of the entry. "There has been a variant of the sequences. Looks like somebody is working on something similar. Like a general cure against strokes."
"Then there should have been another project in our result list," Cosima observed. "What if somebody was messing around with these data?"
Now Delphine looked really worried. "That would be terrible," she confirmed and scrolled down further. "Here is another hint. An internal dossier referenced as 'CER53AT884'. Let me find this."
Quickly she opened the search form again, copied the reference number to the field and hit 'Enter'.
The result list consisted of one link. She clicked it, but instead of a file only an alert opened: "The entry you were looking for has been classified as 'top secret'. Remote access not possible."
"Wow," Cosima exclaimed. "Looks like somebody is hiding something."
"Merde!"
"Is there another way to see the dossier or the files of that project?"
"Yes there is," Delphine confirmed. "But only from a machine in the virus lab."
"The sanctum of DYAD," Cosima commented.
"Oui."
For a moment they were silent. "There is something bad happening right before my eyes," Delphine explained. "The virus lab is the part I am responsible for. We design and test the carrier viruses there. The access is restricted to only a few immunologists and other specialists."
"Sure. You don't want any of these to leak out, contaminating everything with some fancy virus."
"Bien sur."
"Then we should go there and find out all about it," Cosima stated leaving no doubt about her intentions.
"There must be a way to smuggle you inside," Delphine thought. "You need a code card for every single person to pass the lock."
"Did Leekie have access?"
"Yes," Delphine nodded. "And I already have an idea where he was keeping his card."
"Then let's get it. And hope his access rights have not been restricted already since his death..."
Although it was after 10pm the decided to visit the Virus Lab at the DYAD headquarters to find out more about the project modifications they just discovered.
The first halt was again the home of the Leekies. This time no suspicious cars observed the main entrance as they entered the house.
"Wow," Cosima grinned. "I didn't remember you had electric light last time we visited," she joked.
"Did I mention you're cheeky?" Delphine teased.
"Yeah."
They entered a great hall with a large painting of Leekie staring at them. I wouldn't be able to live in this house with Delphine, Cosima told herself. Even if she really liked me enough to move in with me.
A large staircase spiraled upstairs to the private rooms. Cosima followed Delphine in the bedroom. The furniture and decoration looked expensive and modern. Cosima looked around while Delphine checked the large wardrobe until she found the key card in the pocket of one of Leekie's business jackets.
"Ok, let's go." They left quickly and reached the parking area of the DYAD headquarters.
Delphine greeted the security guy at the reception area and they took the elevator upstairs to the carrier development department where the virus laboratory was located.
"Ok you go first," she said when they stood in front of the heavy security door that separated the virus lab from the rest of the world. Cosima took the key card out and pulled it through the card reader. After a few seconds the door opened with a 'Bling' and she stepped inside, the door closing immediately behind her.
Delphine followed quickly and showed her the way through a corridor to an office.
"Don't we need some security suits?" Cosima asked.
"Non," Delphine answered. "The department has a lot of people working on the virus projects. Only a few of them need to work in the clean rooms. Most of the operations are performed by nanobots there. And we will observe everything from the control room here."
She opened another door and they entered the control room, which consisted of a few desks with computers separated from the clean room by a large window of security glass.
Delphine picked one of the desks and started the computer. Cosima pulled another office chair to the desk so that both woman could look on the large flat screen.
Cosima moved closer to her, pulling her friend into a kiss, but Delphine pulled away. "Not here," she said. "There is a surveillance camera recording everything here..."
She quickly logged into the system and started the data research she had interrupted earlier.
This time the internal dossier was available. Delphine clicked on the entry CER53AT884 and opened the entry.
The dossier consisted of a small notice only: "For research reasons the sequence files have been modified and will be maintained in the Project 'NEOSTROKE'".
"I thought it was something like that," Delphine commented and opened the project overview from the local repository. A long list of project names appeared. She scrolled down to the entry NEOSTROKE and opened the folder, which was marked with a 'limited access' icon.
It looked much like the project folder they had previously checked. The main difference was, that there were a few ID files in the folder.
ID_20160921_NEOSTROKE_001_DCORM ID_20160921_NEOSTROKE_002_ALEEK"Merde!" Delphine exclaimed.
"Is that what I think we've found?" Cosima asked. "A secret sequence definition for the virus that killed Leekie?"
"Oui. That's what the file name suggests. It will be easy to confirm, that these sequences are part of Aldous' and my genetic material."
"So you're supposed to be another victim of the murder," Cosima concluded, her voice low from consternation. "You were supposed to be in the same hotel room where Leekie was killed."
"But I was on the rooftop with you, smoking and drinking..."
"...and heavily flirting," Cosima interrupted her. "Looks like I saved your life then."
Suddenly a noise behind them made them jump and turn around, staring at the intruder in shock. A woman around Cosima's age with blond hair in a business suit had appeared out of nowhere and now directed a pistol at them.
"Good evening, ladies," she addressed them. "Keep quiet and avoid doing something stupid. And please move your hands above your heads."
"Duncan...," Cosima mumbled surprised.
"Niehaus," Rachel Duncan answered with a voice cold as ice. "I might have known it's you again who stuck their nose in things that do not concern you."
"Rachel," Delphine stammered. "What does that mean? What are you...?"
"It means the game is over, you nosey idiots. You finally found out about the plan and came here to help me complete it."
"I haven't done anything to give you a reason..." Delphine started to argue.
"You exist," Rachel shouted at her. "You took Aldous and you are standing in the way. You've always been. You thought you could stop the big plans we have for mankind by preventing our research on a cure against aging."
"You crazy bitch!" Cosima shouted. "You have no idea what you are messing with! Don't think you'll get away with that."
"We'll see, Niehaus. This time you'll fail it completely and nobody will find some stolen documents on the net." She stepped towards the both women and pushed them back.
"Don't make a move or I'll have to kill you the ugly way," she spat and opened a drawer from one of the desks to retrieve a roll of duct tape.
"Get on the floor," she commanded, "and on your belly." She tied their hands with the duct tape and when Cosima started to protest, she also stuck some tape over their mouths to silence them, her pistol never out of reach.
Both woman were frozen with fright. Was there anything to do to save the woman she loved? Cosima's brain was working feverishly without any idea that would give them a hint of a chance.
Meanwhile Rachel searched through her posh leather purse and retrieved a vial with a transparent liquid. She unlocked a door of the built-in wardrobe and picked a syringe and a pair of latex gloves, which she put on. Teen she opened the vial and carefully draw the liquid into the syringe.
"Okay Cormier. Say good-bye to your nerdy girlfriend." She reached for Delphine's arm trying to pull up the sleeve of her blouse, just to find it was fixed with the duct tape.
"Damn!" She placed the pistol on the table and opened the drawer of the desk again to retrieve a scissors to cut open the duct tape and most of the sleeve. Then she threw the scissors to the floor and pulled the sleeve of the blouse up to find a location for the injection.
Delphine's eyes were in panic and her arms were shaking in fear, but Rachel found a vein and pushed the needle of the syringe into it, slowly injecting all of the liquid into Delphine's bloodstream.
Then she took the needle and syringe, pushed both into her purse and took the pistol again, pushing Delphine to the floor to meet her death.
Cosima silently sobbed as she stared at the motionless body of her lover beside her. She didn't even dare to move to her to hold her close, to feel her warmth one last time, while the virus was slowly killing her.
"Okay Niehaus," Rachel scolded. "You're next, though I need to prepare your death juice first. Any preferences for a way you'd like to die? Stroke is the easiest. Though I am thinking to change your brains and turn you into some imbecile cretin and let you memorize the pain of losing your cute little love toy."
She moved closer to Cosima and punched her face making her nose bleed, then caught some of the blood on a glass.
"That should be enough for the ID sequence," she grinned. She fed the blood sample into a gene scanner and started the scan from the menu of the device. Then she sat on the desk and started browsing through the project files. "Down syndrome sounds like fun," she scoffed.
Cosima whimpered her eyes still locked on Delphine's body on the floor.
She almost jumped when Delphine opened her eyes and looked at her. She isn't dead! she realized. And her hands aren't tied down...
She nodded to her friend, trying to tell her with just a move of her head that she understood.
And then she remembered the scissors which was still laying on the floor between their bodies.
Take it, she tried to tell Delphine with the move of her head and very slowly the French woman moved her hand, following Cosima's directions until could get hold of it.
Meanwhile Cosima checked what Rachel was doing and observed that the pistol was laying out of reach for her. With a quick glance at Delphine she asked if she was ready and when Delphine confirmed with a little nod she counted to three with a move of her head.
With one single move both women jumped on their feet and approached Rachel, Delphine attacking her with the scissors and Cosima pushing the pistol with her elbow throwing it to the floor and away from Rachel.
Rachel cried out and squirmed with pain and her blood splashed all over the desk and the monitor.
Moments later Delphine was close to Cosima cutting off the duct tape from her wrists, then grabbed Rachel's arms holding her firmly.
Cosima reached for the pistol. "Don't move, Duncan!" she exclaimed. "Call the security guy, darling. We need an ambulance and the police of course. Glad we have everything on the surveillance video."
"I'm still surprised you didn't die," Cosima mused and pulled the blonde woman into a hug.
"The vulnerability of the procedure has proved to rescue me," Delphine confirmed.
"Now I am even more grateful for the body modification Leekie made for you," Cosima grinned.
Both woman were sitting in one of the DYAD offices, which has been flooded with police officers. Rachel Duncan had been taken to the hospital. She had lost a lot of blood, but she was out of danger now.
"Glad she didn't know about the body modification," Delphine smiled. "I can't wait to see her face when the prosecuting attorney tells her during her murder prosecution."
They both giggled.
"I am glad none of us was dying," Cosima declared. "I would have never gotten over it if you had died."
"Same with you," Delphine answered and then they kissed again.
"Dr. Cormier, Miss Niehaus," a police officer interrupted them. "Would you mind answering a few questions for us?"
"Sure," Cosima sighed. "If you don't mind the blood and everything..."
