The Scientist:

Maria stood in the center of the cold lab, her eyes laid on the empty chair. The chair once used by the former head of the research and experimentation department, Jaene.

A smirk carved into her face, her hands shook with barely contained excitement.

This was her chance. Everything she was planning could come to the forefront with no one to stand in her way. She could prove her worth without her standing in the way.

Maria tapped the table, the dim blue lights shifted to a large monitor on the flat surface. The map highlighted the Mexican area. Soon the trap would be laid, and her theories could truly be put into place.

Caught up in her own fantasy, Maria almost didn’t notice the sound of lab door opening.

She turned to meet the visitor.

“Erik! You’ve left your room..” Her surprise couldn’t be hidden, neither could the plans she had on the screen.

Erik looked disheveled. His hair, usually slicked back and tailored to perfection was anything but. Small dark circles had formed under his eyes, and his facial hair grown out considerably. He hadn’t been shaving it seemed.

Erik didn’t respond to the woman, instead his focus was on the table that so kindly kept her plans open for him to see. Maria stepped to the side, the inside of her mouth bitten from her nervousness.

“What is this?” Erik asked, his gloved hand traced the screen.

“Our preparations. In your absence, I’ve found places to distribute our viruses. Furthermore, we have allies that will spread the seed. The combat data alone would be worth millions-“ Maria’s gloating was cut short when she saw the look in his eye.

“You’ve planned and distributed our product..without my leave?” His head turned robotically toward her, the dead look in his blue eyes turned into a glare that spoke volumes. She could see how easily he’d dispose of her, how much blood he’s spilt, how far he was truly willing to go.

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It was terrifying..bottomless..

And so very sexy.

Maria resisted the urge to fan herself. The sight was enough to get her going, but she also knew he was very serious.

“I took initiative. You were dealing with..the betrayal of your daughter Jaene. With this you were able to recover while your work remained unharmed.” Maria externally seemed calm, but inside she was filled with fear, and an exciting arousal. The words left her lips fast, she probably wouldn’t even be able to recite them if asked.

Erik seemed to calm just slightly at her answer. His attention turned to the table again. Maria’s rabid heartbeat slowed just a bit.

“Proceed.”

With his approval, she continued.

“There are several villages isolated from the rest of the world. Only small towns here and there. Those will be our testing sites. My variant of the Virus X will be used here, soon this entire area will be infected.” A red circle encompassed the isolated region in Mexico, highlighting the village and the jungle environment.

Erik said nothing, his calculating eyes the only proof he was following.

“The local cartels are spreading the solution for us, meaning we won’t have to worry about going ourselves. As expected the Mexican government will dispatch their military to deal with our bio weapons. But they’ll be outmatched. They’ll need help. The assistance of those who specialize in dealing with bio weapons.” The smirk returned to her face, her plan unfolded before her own eyes.

Erik seemed to see where she was going now, his hum of acknowledgement caused her heart to flutter. She hadn’t even gotten to the major details yet, but those could wait. A surprise gift from her to him.

“Excellent work. You’ve done well to strengthen the shadow.” Erik said, the tension eased quite considerably from before.

Maria wanted nothing more than to jump for joy at those words. However she stood firmly in her spot. Something told her he wouldn’t like that very much

“To a new world.” Maria batted her eyes at him, an attempt to elicit any kind of reaction.

“To a new world.” He mirrored, his expression unchanged. Still it excited her, the way his chiseled jaw clenched under her gaze, his cold gaze tracing the table.

The table that held her plan.