Emily P.O.V.
Neese comes on the intercom announcing our descent into Nebula's sevens docking bay. Twelve hours seemed so long when he first mentioned it and now it seems like it was only five minutes. I sit upon my bed and stretch my arms above my head yawning. Now is the time to collect some useful information and bring down the reptilians plan.
Opening my door I nearly bump into Z startled. I jump and take a few steps back. Z smiles at me with a glint of amusement. She has certainly changed her attitude lately and I find it very weird.
"Z must you always be right here? There is no danger, you can leave me be at times Ya know?" Sauntering back to a chair in my room I take a seat. Z walks in and leans up against a wall a few feet away from me.
"Emily, danger could be anywhere, lurking in the shadows, waiting for your guard to be let down. I failed you once and I won't make that mistake again" crossing her arms and her face so serious.
Her acting strange and turnover effectiveness has me on edge. I can't help but wonder even more so what the hell truly happened to me that she isn't saying. Even more confusing is why I can't remember anything past being kidnapped.
"Whatever" I sigh with annoyance getting up from my chair. I exit my room and make my way to meet up with the others.
Z isn't too far behind me as we get closer to the others I can hear them discussing amongst themselves. Trying to figure out our first course of action. Coming in their sights they clam up immediately.
"Don't stop conversing on my account, what's the plan?" I look at each one of them waiting.
" They have a state of the art lab here along with a whole archive of the old earth and every disease ever found. The problem is we have a disagreement on what should be done first" Roland drops his hands to his side.
"And not to mention we can't split up the three of us needed for the research and we need you so we can take some samples," Nicole adds.
"Neese and I can go, while the three of you settle Emily in the lab, we can go research and find out as much as possible, there shouldn't be any imminent threats here" Z eyes meet mine and I can't help but think she is just saying it to try and reassure herself more than the others.
Agreeing with Z we split up and head out to the lab while Neese and Z go to the archive hall to see what they can discover.
Approaching the lab it is taller than any building I had ever seen growing up. It's grey with elongated blacked-out windows that cover the sides from top to bottom, in the middle is a transparent elevator that has a long tube that goes down and then splits into two just before it hits the front door. A few feet away from the tip of the roof the signs of the lab say Nebula Seven Research. With its impressive height, I can't help but feel a little intimidated about what awaits me on the inside.
"Nervous?" Natasha asks me to match my pace.
"Just a little, maybe a combination of nervousness and wanting to get started on finding a cure," I respond.
"We will find one, just have to be patient and stay positive, I'm not going to sugar coat anything for you, this process is going to take a while" Natasha places a steady hand on my shoulder.
"And at times it may be painful, but we will do our best to make you as comfortable as we can," she adds.
I just nod, there is no going back. I need to do this and failure is not an option. We must succeed in finding a cure. Not just for myself but for the endless civilizations that could fall if the reptilians attack using specimen X. They haven't developed one or at least I can hope they haven't.
The lobby to the lab is remarkable. The area is wide open and evenly spaced with furniture to the right and left. Straight in front is about an eight-foot long desk with about four meta beings behind it. One of them is rather tall covered in fur with a tiger shaped face but is pure brown and elongated muzzle like a bear. Wearing a dark black tunic, gold piercing in each ear. Another has a giant turtle looking shell about my height assuming I am around five-eleven. Their face is of a snail, their eyes are stretched up and their mouth looks to be a small hole.
The other two could be twins identical to one another a single detail that hasn't gone amiss. The two are solid white silhouettes and they don't really have any facial features. Instead, they have what I could describe as ink plots spread across swirling around making different shapes and figures.
"What kind of beings are they?", I ask Natasha pointing in their direction.
" They are called Nezos, a prominent species that can modify their plots to any shape or picture they wish. They lack any internal organs making them hard to kill"
" And the other is a Mezos, having internal lungs and a tall height the Mezos is a tall creature with plenty of strength yet a soft temperament unless otherwise threatened," Nicole adds peering over her shoulder as she walks backward trying to talk to me.
"So what of the other?" I nod my head slightly.
Natasha and Nicole take another quick glance, " Oh that is a seizous, the most brilliant of creatures I must say, very dependable, the only organ they actually have one single lung, you will see more around here that look similar to the one behind the desk. Seizous are perfect for helping with research."
I think my brain is already beginning to overload and I start to regret ever asking. It's amazing how all these different meta beings I come across remind me of some species from the Earth I had grown up on.
Passing the desk we come to a small hall that has maybe four elevators all along the same plain white wall. Their doors are glass making the inside see-through. That would be helpful back then to avoid awkward run-ins with strangers coming in or out.
Natasha, Nicole, Roland, and I squeeze into the elevator and make our way to floor sixty-three. Looking around I almost feel like I am in a hospital with the way the floor is set up. To the right, there is another elongated desk, across from them a row of doors with signs written in strange symbols that I still haven't learned.
"Reminds me of a hospital"
Roland looks at me with a no shit look to him.
"This is the recovery wing, the beings or those who have agreed to help with research come to recover if they suffer any bad side effects from the experiments, medicines, or other various illnesses." Nonchalant he keeps on rambling.
Roland I'm sure has not picked up on the whole try to make the human in the group feel comfortable a bit. Because he has been far from comforting. All the rooms are private so I can't see who or what is behind each room door that we pass.
"Don't worry Emily, no one has died yet" as if to torture me more he had to add that.
Thanks, Roland, you are so very comforting….NOT… that thought plays over and over in my head. For someone so smart he sure doesn't know when to quit talking.
"Great...that's great, " I groan, slouching down a bit.
The twins giggle and Roland just looks confused as hell. As if he hasn't realized how much he had just added to my already ridiculous thoughts about this whole thing.
"What'd I say?" He blurts out defensively.
"Roland, you were far from comforting," Nicole teases.
Looking at me he looks startled and starts mumbling a bunch of nonsense that kinda comes across as an apology. Seeing Roland fumble with trying to get the right words to create sentences amuses me I have to admit.
"Okay, so change of subject before Roland has a panic attack, we are on this floor because there is a secret lab here that only a very small list of us know about. Fully equipped with updated technology this should come in handy with finding answers and help quicken our work for a cure"
Natasha gestures to a blank wall to the dead-end part of the hallway about ten or so doors away.
"Ummm, what am I supposed to be looking at?"
"The door, it has cloaking advancements that make it appear that there is nothing more than a wall here, another good way to keep you safe and hide us from the reptilian while we try to develop the cure" Natasha responds and we continue going.
On cue, the door appears from its stealth mode and opens as Natasha places her hand against the smooth surface. This lab is nothing to laugh at, spacious and definitely updated with so much future tech that would make nerds go batty. The walls are black and the lights are a LED brightness with a how of blue in them.
Multiple monitors cover each wall, there is a separate room with a row of three long curved pillars that tilt inward with five bulbs on each. Computers are captured throughout as well. An examining table is off to the right corner of the room with both sides having enough room for people to stand next to it.
As they continue to give me the grand tour, the more I see the more I can't believe how real this is. Even with a lab, there is a small built-in apartment behind a separate door. Five bedrooms average side and one bathroom with two private stalls and locker room style showers.
Next, we go by the kitchen area, nothing fancy . It has the average necessities for individual needs. The kitchen itself isn't as big as the rest of the lab or apartment. Estimating that the kitchen is about forty feet by fifty it has two refrigerators, one stove, and the rest belonging to counter and cabinet space.
Lastly, we stop at the living room which has a more wide-open concept to it. A rather large-sized TV is mounted on the wall; a sectional that is a sky blue color is evenly shaped to sit neatly against the other side of the living room against the wall.
"Well that is all that there is to it, we have everything we need here, so we don't have to stop and make unnecessary commutes every day," Nicole says checking out the room.
" I would have never guessed that this existed. It is absolutely amazing"
"Now that we have toured might we actually get some work done today preferably?" Roland interrupts the conversation between Nicole and me. He has clearly grown annoyed by the procrastination.
Nodding in agreement as we leave the apartment and went back to the lab. I take my usual place on the examining table sitting Indian style as the others work on getting the equipment online.
As the final monitor clicks on a slight beeping comes through and then Z appears on screen.
"Hey Z, any luck?" Natasha asks.
"We have found some details that may be interesting, it seems that specimen X was developed by a large corporation. It was meant to be a short-lived pandemic that would turn a profit and die off. Secondly, the disease can evolve and keep evolving, at the stage Emily is at she should be dead."
"Wait what do you mean dead?" I snap.
"Dead as dead not breathing-"
Interrupting Z I come across rude and impatient but all I mean to be is calm. Yeah, calm is not one of my strong suits that's for sure.
"I know what you meant Z, what I was asking is how sick do I have to be to have the conclusion come up that I should be dead?"
Sighing Z holds out a paper with small writing on there. The top says the state department notice of pandemic mortality rate. On the page, it explains how specimen X specifically and strategically attacks the body's cells, breaking down the immune system and slowly eating away at the human host's from the inside out. The number that it shows is less than five percent.
When I first awakened and they ran the tests specimen X had already gotten past the five percent mark. So now the question is raised if I am more than five percent consumed (for lack of a better word) how am I alive.
" If we have read this correctly and she is indeed more than five percent and still alive then we can officially conclude Emily is a walking cure" Neese slides in next to Z on the monitor.
"So now the trick is how do we manipulate your cells and get your body to fight back against specimen X." Roland looks at me.
I can tell everyone is having the same thoughts their gears have begun to rate in a full clockwise motion.
" First we need to do another test to see how much specimen X has grown inside her body."
Nodding to Nicole I lay back and remain still. With Neese and Z still on the video call Natasha draws a small amount of blood and then Roland types in a command to run a full body scan. After about five minutes the computer pulls up my results.
" That can't...it must be a mistake!" He exclaims.
Roland's tone is all but calm, he is in shock, and we all look to one another as if we would know why he is acting how he is.
"What is it Roland, spit it out" Neese commands him sternly.
" Emily is now ninety-five percent infected"
To say silence fell over the room would be a huge and very misleading understatement. It is as if time has frozen us still and right in our places. No one moves let alone blinks. The air feels thicker and I believe my heart just stopped.
Ninety-five percent infected and I am still alive and walking around, by that number I should be dead or at the very least too sick to move. How is this even possible?