Chapter 27: Countdown Till Doomsday

The next day, the same group of scientists met in room H3-F again. Dr. Atlas let Ferral know he had told the others about the plan and went over the formula for the cure. Now, it was just a matter of creating it. The room was filled with conversation, talks of whether this cure will actually work and what people will do if it does or doesn’t. As Atlas, Ferral, and Leona walked in, the crowd suddenly went silent. All eyes were on them, condescending looks on their faces. They were still upset with Ferral.

Once the door closed, Leona stood beside it. Dr. Atlas and Ferral made their way to the front of the room. Atlas could practically see the thick air in the room. He felt queasy, hoping that everyone could get along. Ferral didn’t care; he’d gotten used to humans frowning as he passed by. They stood behind a large desk with a digital whiteboard behind them. Atlas cleared his throat, “Good morning, everyone.” He gave a small wave, “We all know what our goal is starting today, right?” A few nodded or muttered a “yes.” He looked nervously around the room, “Great. Mr. Ferral here will tell us how the cure works and a bit of the tools he brought with him.” Dr. Atlas motioned with his hands at the boxes that were on the table in front of him.

He looked at Ferral and nodded, Ferral nodding back. “Please, be nice,” Atlas said under his breath before joining the group. Ferral rolled his eyes, turning around and grabbing the stylus pen that was hooked on the side of the board. He twirled the pen a little before beginning to write out equations on the board. His hand moved fast as he wrote, even drawing out a large DNA strand on the right side.

Once he was finished, Ferral put the pen back and turned around. “So, I’ve been told you already know about the formula for the cure.” He said, getting a few scattered nods. “The cure works by precisely targeting and killing off all of the animal exons and replacing them with human ones. Think of it like gene splicing mixed with a very fast-acting flu shot.” He continued by explaining how they’ll modify the formula a little to kill the entirety of the fungus rather than just the animal parts. As he continued this lecture, the group watched rather intently. He erased the board and began writing a few equations. They were entranced with how Ferral moved and wrote. How he talked, there was such a strong presence.

He turned around, still talking while taking some of the supplies from the boxes. He explained what each part did, even putting together some of it. As he worked, there was a very small smile that appeared. It wasn’t big enough to be noticed by most, but Leona could see it. The way his face had softened while fiddling with the parts.

She remembered how his face used to light up when you would ask him about topics like math or science. He could talk for hours about what she thought sounded like nonsense. Even now, to her, it was like he was almost speaking a foreign language.

Ferral pulled out a red journal, opening it to a page with a blue tab at the top. He showed everyone, pointing at the images of some of the parts at were on the table. There was a point where he started to become more animated. Moving his hands more and straying off topic, like talking about books he used to read about theoretical evolution. His smile grew more, and there was a passion in his voice. It wasn’t until he looked back at the crowd, their faces bewildered by the sudden change of topics. Dr. Atlas was grinning ear to ear, and even Evertte cracked a slight smile. Leona in the back, giggling.

Ferral could feel the heat of embarrassment spread around his face. He took a deep breath, “Anyways,” He cleared his throat, pulling a small vial with a red liquid out from the boxes and placing it on the table. “This will be the finished result.” Everyone crowded around the vial. “Wait, how do you already have this?” One of the scientists asked. “This was created by me a little over seven years ago. It was supposed to be the cure for us experiments.” The group marveled at it, Leona’s eyes widening when she heard this.

He actually did it?

“Don’t get too attached to it,” Ferral spoke, “This isn’t the version we want to make. So it wouldn’t work on this fungus.” He threw the vial at the wall, shattering it. All the liquid inside stained the wall. Some were startled by that sudden outburst. “Why did you do that?” Atlas questioned. “Precautionary measure,” Ferral replied, his voice returned back to serious and cold. “Well, if there are no more questions, let’s get started.”

And off they went. Everyone is working meticulously on rebuilding the scraps that were brought and adding them to the machines the facility already has. Ferral was seemingly overseeing the whole operation. There wasn’t really room for him to work, but everyone did come to him with a question when they had one. But the group found doing this was more difficult than anticipated; members struggled to understand how these pieces really worked. Atlas and Everett understood enough. Leona didn’t bother.

Throughout the day, some of the scientists had to take a break, leaving the room. Toward the afternoon, the door opened, and a woman entered. She was new. Long braided blonde hair, with striking blue eyes. She wore glasses over her freckled face. Her eyes darted back and forth until locking onto Atlas.

“Armin?” She called out. Atlas turned his head, and a large smile grew on his face. “Hannah!” The two ran toward each other, embracing tightly. Atlas spun Hannah in the air. “I missed you so much, meine Liebe." Atlas smooched her cheek. “I missed you more, schatz.” She replied. The other scientists in the room awed, adoring their reunion.

Ferral was taken aback. Atlas brought Hannah over. “Mr. Ferral, this is my girlfriend, Hannah.” The two shook hands. “So, you’re the infamous Ferral?” Hannah joked, “Pleasure to meet you.” “Yes, same to you.” Ferral replied, “Apologies for my puzzled look, I was too busy not knowing you existed.” Atlas chuckled, “Sorry. We were just so caught up in work, I forgot to mention.” After some small talk, Hannah and Atlas walked back toward the door. They shared one more kiss. “I’ll see you for dinner?” She asked. Atlas nodded, “Of course.” She grinned, turning and leaving the room. Atlas looked at Leona, “What a woman, huh?” Leona laughed, “She seems delightful.”

“Far more than a certain chief’s wife.” Leona called out toward Ferral. He looked at her, annoyed. Everett looked up from her work at Ferral, who caught her gaze. But they didn’t say anything and quickly went back to their work.

Once the night arrived, everyone called it a day and exited the room. “Mr. Ferral, wait!” Atlas jogged over to Ferral and Leona as they walked to their room. They stopped and turned to face him. “If you two are interested, I’d like to invite you to have dinner with me and Hannah.” “Sure, I’ll join.” Leona accepted. They looked at Ferral, who did everything in his power to say, “No.” “Yeah, sure.” He eventually responded. Atlas was delighted, having Leona and Ferral follow him.

Meanwhile, inside the now-abandoned facility, something was dragging the thunderbird’s carcass. Wrapped around its right leg, the fungus moved through the cracks of the floor. It eventually stopped by a large pod, ripping off the bird’s foot. The tips of its talons had some dry blood. The pod hummed to life, glowing a bright blue on the inside. The door of the pod opened, and a large clump of the fungus slithered inside, the thunderbird’s severed foot joining it.

The door shut, and blue liquid began to fill the inside. The fungus floated in the middle, the mycelium growing and spreading out. It spread, slowly forming into a shape…a human shape.