Jaene III:
Jaene sat in her fathers office. As always it was lit by a single candle, the large bookshelves and papers organized into perfect alignment. Just as he liked. She shifted uncomfortably in the chair, watching he calmly write across from her. He hasn’t acknowledged her presence nor did he look up from his paper. After a few more minutes of this, he finally spoke up.
“You’ve returned. With our product still with you.”
She could hear the lingering question behind those words.
“The deal was successful at first. But there were complications.”
“Complications?”
“Soldiers. They intercepted us. Shot some of our men. Eugene too. I took the virus to make sure they didn’t get their hands on it.” Jaene fumbled with her hands as she recounted the events. Still her father looked undisturbed.
“A wise choice.” Was all he said.
“Aren’t you..worried? They knew about our deal.” She pried, trying to get some sort of real emotion out of the man.
“It’s of no consequence. A bump in the road. Eugene isn’t the only person seeking our product. Tell me how goes the production of Virus Y?” He continued onto another paper, still not raising his head.
Jaene was greatly annoyed by her fathers indifference. How could such an event be of no consequence? Still she answered him.
“It’s..not ready. The drawbacks are too high. It’s the natural state of things. You increase one attribute and another diminishes as a result.“
“But it does have the intended effect?” He cut through her explanation. She nods.
“Good. Have some samples prepared. Twelve to be exact. I’ll have another deal made within the..”
He trailed off as the sound of a phone ringing echoed from his pocket. Putting the pen down he checks the phone, eyebrow raising. The first real expression he’s made since she came back.
He gave her a quick gesture, she knew to sit by and be quiet. He raised the phone to his ear.
“Eugene? You’re alive.”
There was a pause, Jaene’s brow furrowed.
“I heard your deal went south. We have your money here.”
Another pause, she swore she could hear the obnoxious sound of Eugene’s voice on the other side.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Tell you what, how about I send it back and..”
Her father stopped speaking, suddenly intrigued by what the Eugene was spouting on the other line.
“It just so happens that I have a dozen being prepared as we speak. We can continue the deal in the usual spot. I’ll even throw in a discount for your troubles.”
Jaene bit her lip nervously as her father wrapped up the call. He finally looked at her since she sat down.
“How would you like to participate in another deal?”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Jaene tilts her head in confusion.
“What? What happened?”
“Eugene is willing to move past the hiccup you two faced. All he requires are the samples of Virus Y. And the original sample of X that you had to take.”
Jaene nodded but her eyes were full of questions and suspicion.
“That’s too simple. Why didn’t you ask how he escaped? Or why he even wants to do another deal after all that?”
None of it made any sense, Eugene should be getting interrogated right now. Yet he’s on the phone already preparing for another deal.
“Because I know the answer to all of that. He’s a pawn. Clearly he was caught, and is being used to lure us in.” Her fathers calm reply while speaking of such things never ceased to annoy her.
“So why are we agreeing to this?”
“I intend to root this problem once and for all. You’re going to go under the pretense of a deal. But you’re going to see to the personal capture of Eugene. I’ll send some good men with you to handle the real enemy using our dealer against us.” Her father stood from his desk, coming to her side as he spoke. He could see her hesitation, and pushed further.
“You’ll arrive two days early to scope things out. If it’s too dangerous for you then you can fall back and regroup here. The town isn’t very large so there’s not many places to hide. The same disadvantage applies to our enemies.”
Jaene’s eyes narrowed at the mention of retreating. Her hesitance slipping away. Her father’s mouth curved into a small smile seeing this.
She relented.
“Alright. I’ll go.”
A quick pat on the shoulder signified his approval.
“Good, now get Virus Y ready for transportation, and I’ll handle the rest.”
Standing from her seat she made her way out of the office, rubbing her shoulder where he placed his hand.
She won’t fail.
----------------------------------------
Ada II:
While Eugene finished his call to the anonymous boss of the A.L.F, they listened. Emma tapped into the call for them, giving them all the information they needed. Eugene was decent at pretending to be mad about the losses, though she suspects some of it wasn’t just pretend.
With their newfound evidence, came a new mission. Intercept the new deal. The thought of a dozen samples of that virus bothered Ada. The way he spoke so calmly, it angered her. How could one responsible for so many lives lost be so calm?
Ada accompanied Chris to the board room. Despite the man’s role and rank in all this he still needed this mission cleared by the directors.
He stood before them, arms stationed behind him like a true soldier. Ada stood by the door watching the interaction.
“Directors. We’ve received intel about a new deal. In FreeTown, Eugene and the head researcher of the A.L.F will be meeting again. A dozen samples of this unidentified virus will be handed over. Me and my team plan to intercept this deal, and apprehend the researcher.” Chris carried bass in his voice as he scanned the room for any reactions or objections.
Director Chaplin spoke first.
“Why not simply let the deal go through? We have Eugene in our custody, we could get this virus without conflict.”
Ada resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Always the easy way out with these people, and it was painfully obvious he wanted to get his hands on the virus. Director Chaplin was the only one here directly from CIA, a simple bridge between P.A.L and the government.
If Chris was as annoyed as she was he didn’t show it.
“We believe getting the researcher into custody will prove more beneficial. She has all the information we could need about this virus. Emma Stone and our researchers are impressive but their jobs will be easier if they know exactly what they’re dealing with.”
Murmurs went through the room, finally Director Serge cut through it all. His voice carrying authority that even Ada found herself respecting.
“We authorize you to pursue this mission Captain Moore. Bring the researcher into custody and we will take one step forward in ending this conflict.”
That settled it.
Chris and Ada left the room, walking side by side in the long halls of their base. It was silent, the need for words causing tension. Ada rolled her eyes, she’d have to initiate with the stubborn man.
“You really think Emma can’t handle cracking it alone?”
Chris maintained a stoic expression.
“It’s not that she can’t handle it, it’s the fact that it’ll take longer if she tackles this without much prior knowledge. All she knows is the attacks and my reports with the skirmishes I’ve had with infected.”
Ada hummed in acknowledgment.
“Guess you’re right. I never asked but what type of infected did you deal with?”
Chris paused for a moment before resuming.
“It’s like rabies. The host starts writhing and eventually attacks. From what I’ve seen if you get bit by someone, it’s a quicker turn than the direct source.”
Ada hadn’t know that. The reports she read were vague and she didn’t access the medical records. All she knew were stories and the troubling memories from childhood.
“You gotta tell me more one day. I sometimes forget just how much you’ve seen. You were in this a lot longer than I have.”
“Maybe one day. But for now let’s focus on the mission. Inform the others, I’ll meet you all in the armory in twenty.”
With that his path diverted from hers, his large frame slowly disappearing from her sigh. Ada sighed. She could never read that man. Doing as she was ordered she made her to the armory.