[Chapter Fourteen]

He couldn't think of a much more appropriate answer for them. He couldn't just possibly say that even if the sky fell he would still be able to sleep so comfortably. When his head hit the pillow, he had already become unconscious that he had no time to think of any problem at all, how could he even have the time to observe Dr. Parks's condition. The said doctor had more and more signs of fatigue as the days progressed into more than a week, although some of them are concerned, they have work to do. It was not until he finally fainted that a schedule was made to accommodate everyone and can observe the specimen around the clock and work on their assigned task much faster.

The other two people that were with him did not seem to be convinced with what he said, but they proceeded to go back to their own individual work as if the matter was not brought up at all. With all of them being entirely focused on their work they had not noticed that the time had already flown by so fast. They have already worked for almost four hours, in complete silence. The specimen just kept staring at them before sitting on the bed comfortably whilst adding pressure on her fingers that are pressing against the little ragdoll.

Inside the room, in the dormitory, Dr. Griffin had been patiently noting the characteristics of the fungi. He is a microbiologist but this type of work is relatively easier since all he had to do was compare the observations of the sample and the present studies on fungi. The first important thing to take note of is that the fungi are not a mushroom but a mold. This kind of thing is normal to be found on dead bodies, especially if the body died somewhere where the living conditions allow these molds to live. He knew that he must also consider the time when the molds first made an appearance if the body was alive before it had molds or it had died before the molds are present in its system. Dr. Griffin now spent most of his time observing and comparing the data. He had only one conclusion, this mold is a new one. It was something that had not been written down, named, or seen before. The sample had every bit of the characteristic as most of the ones they knew about. It looked like a Fusarium, but the characteristics really do differ a lot. While the Fusarium type of mold may be able to lead to its toxins damaging the nervous system but the spores of this mold could not grow on the brain.

“Unless…”, Dr. Griffin’s eyes were bulging out of their sockets. He had a moment of clarification but ultimately did not move to let the others know. Molds are quite common in places that are wet and barely have any sunlight. This could only mean that the specimen had either died somewhere wet and hidden or someone used a dead infected body to see the reaction. Either it had been there when the specimen was barely living or in the early stage of the Z-53 infection. He suddenly stood up, thinking that his theory should be able to explain the phenomena why they found the mold where they shouldn’t have. His door sounded a loud bang when he pushed against it. He needed to discuss with the whole team, he thought.

“So, you mean to say is that the mold in the specimen, might have been intentionally grown in its brain?”

“Yes and no, it’s still a theory. If we are just to look at where it was found, don’t you all think it’s quite suspicious that it is only present in the medulla? It should have been able to scatter somewhere else.”

“It could also mean that the specimen did not die, it sustained injuries and was left in a coma due to the fungi in the brain. The injuries festered because it was left untreated and became like that. But that does not explain the relatively fast recovery of the specimen.”

“Come to think about it, Fusarium is only the genus of this mold”

She had heard them debating again, she was surprised at first when there were nine people again inside. She thought that these people had to see her three at a time. They were occasionally looking at her before going back to talking amongst themselves. It was quite amusing to her. The microphone has been on the entire time although the volume of the sound was adjusted to be very low, when these people started raising their voice she could hear a bit.

“Dr. Aberly?”

“Dr. Aberly!” Collective gasps of surprise sounded, the old doctor only seemed to not look too well. He had suddenly said he felt faint and he fainted after. Before that, when he heard the word Fusarium he seemed to be recalling something in a dazed manner. Dr. Philips tried to capture his attention but the old doctor would not say anything to them. He kept muttering under his breath incoherent words. The entire room was alarmed, they quickly took off their and Dr. Aberly’s protective equipment before rushing him back to their building. They could not offer any help to him inside the room with the specimen in case that the condition would worsen.

Dr. Aberly felt numb, his head felt like it was spinning. He had but little time to assess himself and get his thoughts under control, he did not know whether he had hit his head. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the worried face of Dr. Lucy. This female doctor was really close to him and they treated each other as family. The Iv was dripping slowly supplying him with the nutrients his body needs. Originally the group that was sent to study the specimen came from Director Felitchs, he was really unwilling to help with this research.

“After all these years, the past is catching up to me...”, he deeply regretted being part of such an unethical work. He didn’t have any choice, to begin with when he was suddenly pushed to work on it together with other doctors. Those that he had worked with were naturally killed and he was the only remaining doctor who participated left alive.

“That man was cruel...”, he continued to mumble listlessly. “He had his daughter and grandchild but still wanted to attain more”, his eyes by now have turned red and misted over. The whole team was not there to discover his sorry state.

“Dr. Aberly…”, Lucy did not know if she wanted to know the words behind what had happened to the old man for him to become so sorrowful.

“His daughter’s child did not die from anemia…”, he started only for him to follow it up with a self-deprecating laugh. He knew of the truth now, that specimen was not just an ordinarily infected child. He knows but he can’t run his mouth nor tell them anything. He had promised someone from his previous team of researchers and doctors. He does not need to know the outcome of the DNA analysis from the samples of hair, fingertips, blood, or urine to know the child’s identity. This time he knows he cannot escape anymore from this situation, they have found it. He could not possibly explain the deeds he had done.