Jaene II:

A day or two passed, though her perception of time may have been off due to not seeing the real sun. Upon her arrival here, she did not mind her predicament too much. However the weeks went by, she realized how much time was being wasted by sitting here.

Neither Chris or Director Serge have come to visit, which worried her more. Had they decided she wasn’t worth the trouble freeing?

The door opened again, Jaene stared at the entrance waiting to see who was on the other side. It wasn’t Director Serge or Chris to her disappointment. A woman that looked a few years her junior came into the room. She had a short head of brown hair, her eyes matching. They had a curiosity in them.

Jaene took notice of her attire, the white lab coat being extremely familiar. It was almost nostalgic, and equally sickening to see it. Unlike her own, the woman had the proud P.A.L letters stamped to its shoulder area.

Jaene hadn’t realized how spaced out she was until the woman’s face contorted to one of worry.

“Hey, you okay?” She waved her hand, her assessing eyes were different than Chris’s or any of the soldiers Jaene has met. It wasn’t suspicion, but simply genuine concern. If Jaene had to guess, this woman was also some sort of doctor or medic.

“I’m fine.” Jaene nodded quickly, she took a seat at the table, expecting the usual routine. Appearances aside, this was still someone who worked in this base. She was most likely here for questioning.

The woman sat down, but instead of being across from Jaene like most have been, she positioned herself directly beside Jaene with her hand outstretched.

“I’m Emma.”

The realization struck Jaene. She somewhat recognized her now. She was out of standard uniform, but it was her. This woman had been on Chris’s team.

Jaene accepted her hand, the shake was awkward on her part but Emma paid no mind, a smile that could blind just about anyone on her face.

“What do you want to know?” Jaene asked. Emma was more polite than the rest but she obviously came here for something.

Her smile didn’t disappear however.

“Guess I was obvious, I’m just curious about your work. The serum to be specific.” Emma squeezed her hand, she spoke quickly and excitedly.

A frown formed on Jaene’s face. Emma saw it, the sunshine that emitted from her dimmed slightly. The sight made a pang of guilt shoot through Jaene’s chest.

“Of course..what did you want to ask..?”

Jaene shifted in the chair, her focus on how Emma still held her hand tightly.

“Its purpose I understand. You wanted to enhance the human body. How far does it take it? What are the side effects? Is it ready?” Emma shot rapid questions, Jaene couldn’t even answer them individually in time.

Emma seemed to grow a conscious, her eyes widened as she let go of Jaene’s hand. Her face was flush with embarrassment.

“Sorry that was a bit much.”

Knowing she couldn’t be silent nor openly judgmental, she simply shrugged it off.

“No worries. To answer your question, the increase is dependent on the dose. What you have currently would serve to increase everything physical about twenty percent. The side effects and its readiness are a bit more..complicated.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Emma soaked in the information with a hum of affirmation.

“What do you mean complicated?”

“Something I’ve found is there’s always a trade off. Virus, or serum if you’re enhanced it’ll subtract something in return. Viruses are more likely to cause…terrible drawbacks such as the Virus X.”

The mention of it made her feel sick, the memories of that night in Spring City crowded her mind for a moment. Those poor people were suffering, infected or not.

Emma continued on, the expression on her face showed she saw Jaene’s internal struggle.

“And your serum also has a setback? What kind?” Emma asked, trying to move Jaene’s focus away from the incident.

“I was developing a program, one that could get the exact percentage of the serums readiness. Along with the symptoms and drawbacks. I never completed it, and I don’t think I could start over.”

Although Jaene wasn’t excited by the idea of working on the serum again, disappointment still lingered in her heart when she remembered the loss of such a helpful program.

Emma’s eyes lit up in intrigue. Some of her earlier excitement returned.

“A program? I could help with that! We also have a guy here who’s pretty good at programming, definitely better than me. He does something similar but with more crime related issues.” She was practically bouncing in her seat now.

“That’s great..” Jaene offered a weak smile. She wasn’t even sure if she was leaving this place to even work on it.

Emma returned the smile but it didn’t quite carry the same energy as earlier.

“I guess I’ve been a little much and you have so much to worry about. That’s messed up on my part. Sorry.”

Jaene frowned at the confession.

“No don’t be sorry, really it’s fine. I should be the one apologizing to you.”

Emma gave her a look of confusion.

“Why?”

Jaene stared at Emma as if she’d grown a second head. Was the young scientist really so out of the loop? That was impossible, she was on Chris’s team. She even assisted in Jaene’s first capture! She must’ve knew who she was currently talking to.

“I know well enough what I’ve caused by now. I don’t know you, but Im wiling to bet you’ve been in this fight for long enough to have suffered by my hand. For that, I’m sorry.”

Jaene averted eye contact, she didn’t want Emma to see the tears pricking the corner of her eyes. She was surprised they were forming, Jaene assumed she’d ran dry weeks ago.

“I can’t say I’ve been in this a while. Definitely not as long as everyone else, but I’ve seen my fair share of bio weapons. I’ve patched up my team, because it feels good helping others. That’s why you did what you did right? Because you believed you were helping people?” Emma’s eyes were distant, as if she was in a place Jaene could not see.

Shakily Jaene nodded. Though she didn’t feel any better. The excuses were flimsy defenses, still she felt awful.

“Then I can’t hate you for it. In any case you helped me find my worth. So keep your apology.“

The same smile returned, more reminiscent of the sun than the fake backdrop of her prison.

The sight and words made Jaene feel better than she’s been for a while. Emma was perhaps a little naive but it still warmed her heart to hear it nonetheless.

“And I think the captain doesn’t hate you either. He’s hard to read but there’s always patterns with him. Trust me, despite his face and what he says sometimes, he has a soft heart. I know it.”

Jaene didn’t try to hide her surprise. Chris had shown kindness and understanding but he made his uncertainty about her very clear last they spoke. He hadn’t visited since. However Emma didn’t seem the type to lie, maybe there were some truth behind it.

Was that possible? Did the guy have some soft side to him? He resembled stone, he felt like it as well. A broad stoic man who was married to his job. Regardless he had her respect, but she couldn’t quite see what Emma was alluding to.

She almost couldn’t see Emma stand, her thoughts were swarmed with the contents of their conversation.

“Our captain wants you out. I’ll stand with him and do whatever I can to help.”

Jaene resisted the urge to cry again, prompting her to harshly inhale. Emma didn’t mind, her hand graced Jaene’s shoulder.

“Hang in there.”

Jaene nodded, she waved goodbye to the departing Emma.

Now being alone, the dam broke.