Chapter 100: Discovery

It took one second for Rebecca to recover from what she had just witnessed. Rick going back to bed and back to sleep, completely ignoring her had been so outrageous that her brain had short-circuited. It had been unable to compute the audacity of the man before her.

Once she did however, her level of rage, which was already its maximum, simply went through the roof like never before. In fury, she grabbed the blankets and sheets covering Rick and pulled them away with a mighty tug.

This resulted in a nasty glare from Rick who had opened his eyes. It was the first time he had looked at her that way. She didn’t care. Rebecca wanted answers to her questions and she had many. Annette had not been forthcoming at all and she had spent the whole trip from Washington DC to here preparing herself to get what she wanted to know.

It all began this morning.

Rebecca was in her lab doing some tests on the T-Abyss. She had needed some results made previously by Annette and asked for them. The black haired woman, eyes on her microscope didn’t bother looking up and had simply told her on her desk. When Rebecca got there she grumbled because of course Annette’s desk was full of papers. Lone ones, piles or even stacks of them. Some were notes, some were forms, some were results.

She wondered how Annette could work like this. The older woman was very meticulous, she would give her that, in fact more than she was, and was also well organized. Yet, between the start of a test and the end of it, Annette was messy and chaotic. Order, utter chaos, order. That’s how her colleague worked.

With no other choice, Rebecca began to go through each document, discarding the notes at first glance, then taking some time to actually read the papers to find the right ones. Since all their tests were the same and the papers standardized, she had to actually briefly read the content of each result to be sure she had the correct ones.

‘Homo Dominus? Subject Zero? What the heck is—’

Rebecca’s thought was interrupted by what she was reading. Her eyebrows never stopped going up in surprise then down in a frown as her eyes took in the information that was written in black on white.

‘Hyper regeneration, superhuman strength, speed, senses. Everything is far beyond what a normal human can do.’

Page after page, she kept on familiarizing herself with what was written on the report. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The composition of the cells, of the tissues, the amounts of pretty much everything that had been recorded were vastly different from a regular human. An impossibility for a regular Homo sapiens. Then came the information which completely made her lose her mind.

‘That’s impossible! Virucidality? That can’t…’

Rebecca had begun connecting dots now. She was well aware of the effect of the T-virus on people having a natural resistance to it. It had been well documented. The results in her hands were vastly different however. Whoever that person was, they didn’t present the normal physical changes born from a resistance to the virus.

‘It’s more than this. Those people do not grow. Their abilities don’t develop further. That person on the other hand keeps… What the heck is that! No one has been reported to naturally survive an infection of the G-Virus! Nor the T-Abyss! They’re too… My God… If we could…’

The report was suddenly snatched from her hands. Looking up by reflex, Rebecca saw Annette opening a drawer and putting it inside before slamming it close then locked it. Without a single word.

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

Annette didn’t bother to spare Rebecca a single glance and went back to her station to continue her research with her microscope. The former STARS didn’t take this well nor laying down. She grabbed her colleague by the elbow and forced her to face her.

“It’s Rick.” The accusation was full of confidence and very firm.

“It’s none of your business.”

Rebecca scowled, ignoring the emotionless expression Annette was giving her and her answer. “That’s why he brought you to the BSAA. To cover for what he is. Why? Do you know what the study of—”

Annette grabbed her mouth with her hand to make her stop talking. “Some things are classified at the highest level, Dr Chambers. One more word about it may get you into trouble.”

It was a threat, pure and simple. It was also a leading lie and truth. While Rick’s medical file and knowledge about what he was was very restricted and indeed classified, Rebecca wouldn’t get in trouble from the American Government. She would get into trouble with Rick however.

Rebecca scowled even more, not one to be threatened easily. She removed Annette’s hand and spoke. “He could help save…”

“He can’t.”

Annette’s tone sounded absolute. Like a done fact. Any retort Rebecca was about to make was postponed when her phone rang. Glaring murderously at her colleague she took the call.

“Director?” She didn’t appreciate the interruption nor Annette going back to her work as if nothing happened.

“...”

Her eyes widened when she heard O’Brian tell her she was departing to British Columbia immediately for a job. “Right now? But sir, I’m not a field…”

“...”

“Oh… Yes, that’s within the scope of my skills but…”

“...”

“Understood, sir.”

The call ended leaving Rebecca very angry but also dumbfounded. She wasn’t supposed to be on the field. It wasn’t what she had signed up for. She had been warned that she could be if the situation required it but never thought it would happen within months of her recruitment. Not only that but her survival of three viral incidents put her above any members of her team that was departing within the hour and so exceptionally put her in charge.

Giving one last look at Annette, she swore to herself they would continue this conversation when she came back. After hanging her lab coat, Rebecca left the room and went up to O’Brian’s office to know more about her sudden assignment. Her focus switched from Annette to Rick when the man told her he was the one requesting back up and that in consequence she would get to meet him.

This brought her to this very moment.

Her standing in winter gear, covered in snow and facing a lounging, glaring, Rick in nothing but underwear and T-shirt.

“Why?” Rebecca was the first to break the heavy silence between them.

Rick was honestly not in the mood with this. “Why what?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about you? Why hide it?” Before he could protest she cut him off. “I saw the report. I may not have seen everything but I’ve seen enough.”

Rick moved on the bed and grabbed the blanket and sheets she still had in hand. “Not your business for starters, also because the less people know the better.”

“But you could—”

“No.” This time he was the one to interrupt her. “I can’t help anyone. Had you read the whole report you’d know. My blood… Is a virus for everything else. Everything organic it comes in contact with and doesn’t have my genetic material… It kills. Without exception. My Leukocytes don't discriminate. I am a bio organic weapon, Rebecca. Spreading information about myself is a sure way for bio-terrorists to come after me and to create a virus humanity may not be able to fight. I also don’t want to be a test subject for every moral lacking asshole out there.”

Rebecca bit the inside of her cheek forcefully. The argument had merit but the study of what his blood and cells could do was worth the risk in her opinion. It didn’t explain Annette’s report.

“Yet, Annette, the one person you brought in to keep your secret is not only measuring what you can do but doing tests.”

After a moment of silence, Rick spoke up “I’m well aware.” The frown of confusion on Rebecca’s face pushed him to explain himself. “Annette’s goal is not to use my blood as a cure for all viruses in the world. True, the current vaccine for the T-Virus was partly based on the study of my blood but not regarding my leukocytes. It's regarding how the virus itself is countered. Trust me, the study has been going on since 99 and nobody is close to understanding how they work.”

“What’s her goal then? You don’t seem upset by her studying you despite your words.”

“Anette’s goal is Humanity’s evolution. Her research is all about measuring the limits of… my body or DNA, or whatever interests her. She also secretly hopes to reproduce those effects for everyone and bring a new race to life. Although… I believe she has given up on engineering it.”

Rebecca’s head recoiled a bit. “This… makes no sense? If she has given up why does she continue to—”

“She didn’t outright say it but I know her like the back of my hand. She’s searching for a solution to my infertility.” Rick told her point blank. Her eyes widened as wide as saucers and her eyebrow nearly disappeared into her hairline at the revelation. “It would take more time for the rise of a new Homo species to be dominant over the Homo Sapiens but it would be a sure thing. Since I’m sterile, I’m the beginning and the end of whatever she calls it. Humanity’s evolution will stall in comparison and follow its normal speed. She can’t stand it.”

“Homo Dominus.” Rebecca shared. “She named you… your species Homo Dominus.”

“The man who lords…” Rick shrugged. “I suppose it’s better than the bland Homo Superior.”

“I… Who knows? Beside Anne— Jill and Chris.” Her eyes narrowed as she remembered the conversation they had about Rick’s ‘medical condition.’

“Meathead knows I’m a superhuman but doesn’t know the details. So does Angela because she witnessed it in Harvardville when I fought G. Only Jugs, Rachel, Annette and O’brian know extensively in the BSAA.”

Rebecca pursed her lips, in sadness. “You weren’t going to tell me.”

“No. The less people know, the better, the safer I am. Too many people already know to my taste. It had nothing to do with you, Becca. Angela, meathead, O’Brian… If I had a choice, they wouldn’t know either. Only Jugs, Rachel and…” Rick was about to say Claire’s name without thinking but caught himself before he could. “Not that I don’t trust any of you but a secret shared by many people is not a secret. It’s information.”

Silence hung in the air once again between the two. Rebecca didn’t like one bit what she had heard. Oh, she could understand and she was agreeing with it but it didn’t sit well with her. At the very least, she appreciated his honesty and the fact he didn’t deflect or gaslit her.

“I would suggest for you to go.” Rick’s voice cut through the silence. “It’s late and there is a lot to do tomorrow, especially for you. You also made a scene and everyone saw you barged into my room. They may talk if they don’t see you leave.”

Rebecca, still frowning, blushed. Despite the dark of the room and the light of the moon shining through the window, he could tell her cheeks were getting red and hot. However, without further ado, Rick covered himself and laid back down to get some sleep considering the conversation over.

He immediately found out it wasn’t the case. Not for her. “I don’t care if they talk.”

‘Yeah, I should have figured.’ Inwardly, Rick sighed. “Then hop on and keep me warm but for the love of any god out there let me sleep.”

“We’re—”

Rebecca took a pillow to the face making her stop talking. She balked at Rick’s audacity. In a split second, she inhaled deeply to let him have it but he was faster.

“Out.” He nearly growled the word.

Huffing in protest and anger, Rebecca walked to the door to step out of the room but not without making a lot of noise slamming it.