Chapter 19: Rebirth of the Cure

Dr. Atlas called the lab facility he worked at and requested the photos. While they waited, Ferral and Atlas continued studying the crocodile’s corpse as well as the samples that were collected. The two primarily worked in silence, only being broken by the occasional question about the material. Once the photos were sent, the two examined them. The spread of the mycelium matched that of what was in the crocodile. They were right.

“But why?” Dr. Atlas paced back and forth. “It can’t just be because you guys have animal DNA, right?” “Animals can evolve faster than humans.” Ferral said, “And radiation affects them more physically than humans. Look at Chernobyl.” Atlas continued pacing, biting his left thumb as he thought. “Still….”

“It’s obvious why it spreads more inside animals and experiments.” Ferral continued, “And it's an effect of involuntarily evolving them too. But how to stop this is still difficult to figure out.” Dr. Atlas walked over to his phone and looked at the pictures again. “This is just an advanced form of radiation poisoning. But there’s no way to fully get rid of this fungus; we’ve tried. It simply spreads too fast and easily.”

The two were stumped for hours. It felt as if there was no solution to killing off this fungus….

Until Ferral looked at his hand, and something clicked. “This fungus is an experiment.” He muttered. Atlas eyed him, curious. “Elaborate.” Ferral rushed over to a desk on the other side of the main room. He opened a drawer with several journals inside. He pulled out a dark blue one and started flipping through pages. As he walked back, Ferral kept scanning the pages. Once done, he slammed the journal shut. “I’m right!” He declared, tossing the journal on the control table.

“Right about what?” Atlas asked. “Do you know how us experiments are made?” Atlas shrugged, “Only the surface level. You’re made when human DNA is spliced with an animal's.” “You’re right, but there’s more that goes into it.” Ferral walked over to the control panel, typing rapidly on the keys. Atlas stood next to him, “I don’t get it. What does this have to do with the fungus?” Ferral finished typing, and a projection of a human outline popped up.

“Experiments are created when human and animal DNA are spliced together, yes, but there is an added extra element…” The human outline started glowing red. “Radiation. Six thousand millisieverts of it, to be exact.” Atlas gasped in shock, “Six-thousands?! An adult would die from that within a month!” “An adult would, but not a child. Now, obviously, it is a very controlled dose of radiation, but a child is far easier to adapt and accept the change far better than a fully grown adult. That’s why experiments were created when we are newborns.”

“And the radiation level at that nuclear testing site was a little over the six-thousand mark.” Atlas said. “But, that’s only a small similarity. How is it similar to experiments? It’s not being mixed with any kind of animals.” Ferral turned to him, “Isn’t it? Soil is a mixture of many things, including organic material. Part of that organic material is animal remains, and I imagine serval died after getting caught in your testings. Sounds like all the required ingredients to create an experiment.” Dr. Atlas rested his hands on the control panel, trying to process this information.

“But you said it was controlled testing.” Atlas said, running his hand through his hair, “We weren’t trying to create this.” “And you didn’t have to. Animals evolve faster than humans, but fungi evolve faster than animals.” Ferral looked over at the crocodile, “I used to wonder what would happen to an experiment if they were to be exposed to more radiation, but now I know. Intresting…”

Once Atlas finally got his thoughts together, he looked over at the samples again. “Even with all this information. We still don’t know how to stop it. We’ve tried for years to figure out a way to neutralize your animal DNA, but it’s impossible.” Ferral didn’t say anything for a moment. “It’s not impossible…” He replied. Atlas cocked his head, bewildered. “It’s not impossible, because I’ve already done it.” Atlas’s eyes widened, “Y-You have?! When?! Why?!” He berated Ferral.

“It was a long time ago. Seven years ago, to be exact. I was…in an odd mindset.” Ferral paused for a minute. “It was a serum that would permanently alter the DNA of an experiment. Killing off all the non-human parts.” “What happened to it?” “Destroyed. Along with all the notes and tools to create it.” Dr. Atlas sighed, “So we can’t make it again?” Ferral shook his head, “We can, I have a photographic memory. But it will take some time because we’re making it from scratch. A few weeks, maybe.” “Then we’ll have to act fast.” Ferral nodded.

And so, the race to re-create Ferral’s old cure began. As the fungus continued its rapid spread, it was only a matter of time before it invaded Amber Village.