Chapter 15

A week had passed since Conor got hospitalized. He was discharged already and was now enjoying his time at home. Mr. Atlas- who apparently had formed a bond with Conor unbeknownst to him- came by to visit every day.

Unfortunately, the motive of Conor's accident was still unknown. Conor reckons that they should just call the investigation off but Mr. Atlas insisted that it should be continued. For further security concerns, he also arranged for tight guarding of Conor's house.

Conor wasn't happy with all these. He had requested Mr. Atlas for his bodyguard aka his tail to be removed but he was let down. One news made him happy though; his research can finally start.

The lab was ready, a team was assembled, and appliances were brought in. Conor went to visit the day the lab was opened to restricted personnel and he was happy with all the things that they had.

'Here are your teammates. Get to work, we all are depending on you guys.' Mr. Atlas said and left. Conor looked at him leave the door and turned around to face the room filled with a few men and women.

'Alright. Welcome to our research facility. I am Doctor Conor Sam but you guys can just call me Conor, no need for formalities. Before we go through further introduction, I would like to say a few words. First of all, this lab might be your second home now. You might need to spend days and nights here without going home. So, I have requested them to prepare larger lockers.' Conor said.

Everyone nodded curtly.

'And then, please remember this. We, the people in this room; we are humanity's last hope. No room for error is spared here. If we fail, we die. Simple. Please do all your work carefully and make sure every little detail is accurate. Okay now let's get on with introduction and task division. You there, please introduce yourself.' Conor continued.

A young guy in his 20s stood up and introduced himself. His name was Cooper Ferguson and he was a sim specialist. The guy next to Cooper stood up and greeted Conor. His name was Zachary Henderson and he was a botanical specialist. All the others introduced themselves until a girl stood up.

Conor wondered if it was just him or he really seemed to recognize the young girl. She had a familiar look. Was it her eyes? Or the structure of the face maybe. The girl opened her mouth to speak but Conor cut her off.

'Pardon me but have I seen you before? You look very familiar to me.' Conor asked.

'Well, you might recognize me. My name is Alyssa Brent.' The girl spoke with a sweet voice. 'I'm your friend Professor Brent's great-great-great-great-granddaughter.' She continued. Conor was shell-shocked. No wonder she looked so familiar. Now that he came to think of it, her eyes looked a lot like her ancestor; a bright blue shade.

Shortly afterwards, the introduction session was over. Conor raised his voice and said; 'Let the work begin!'. Everybody scurried off to their workplaces. Conor watched them go and prepare for their first task, which was to survey temperatures and climatic behaviour in order to find out where humanity can move to.

Conor got off the mini platform that was placed in the middle of the room and walked off into his room before closing the door and indulging himself in some research papers.