As expected, everyone involved in the project of determining the ingredients of the tablet was given a confidentiality form to sign the following day. Watson, the head researcher, was a little greedy and hoped Frayer and Buckley would tell the government, but they shot him down.
They simply made empty promises to look into it later with Robin.
March 21, 2023
Everyone was present for the final meeting, and since it had passed the first lab test, it was time to send it to the FDA for approval. The FDA approval would take time because it would be a collaborative process. The FDA and Labcorp would then test the drugs on a large population to see if they were effective. It was usually done in America because it was FDA-approved, but it could happen in other countries as well.
For example, a cancer vaccine was already being tested in the general population in England (yes, this is a real thing, but I'm not sure if it will begin after the NHS protest). And, because Labcorp was multinational, the FDA could ask Labcorp to test in other countries and observe the reactions under FDA supervision.
Following the board meeting and approval, a batch of medicines brought by Robin was delivered to the Labcorp, which would then be taken to the FDA for initial testing approval. The meeting was tedious, but it was more important for Sigret because she had submitted all of the legal papers with no gaps. Labcorp's attorney also spoke up and collaborated with Sigret. A woman as beautiful as Sigret would always make people a little more enthusiastic of them.
Frayer and Buckley had been worried the entire time as they were looking at the three. Their legs were constantly shaking, and they had beads of sweat on their brows. They had known the terror of these 'magical' women, but they now seemed as harmless as rabbits.
---
Diana was having difficulty imagining what she could do in light of the new boxes that had appeared at Labcorp. She had just spoken with her mentor, who had just assigned her a difficult task. She thought her life would be easier after she broke down the primary ingredient, but instead, some bird decided to poop on her head.
You see, Diana and her mentor had another secret identity. Spies for CIA and the United States. The spies which were totally off the record. The thing is when Diana first discovered the secret of berries, JARVIS and Sigret were already informed due to the electronics she had at her home. Robin was also informed but it didn't matter to him because he didn't really think that this was important.
Even if they knew about berries so what, was there anything she could do with it? No. Frayer and Buckley made sure that the main ingredient would be confidential to the Labcorp. But the thing is that Diana and her mentor were old school spies trained by the CIA. The mode of contact had always been off grid which made JARVIs and Sigret unaware of their other identity.
Even for AI, this was strange because these people were living on a grid filled with technology and were still able to fool two near perfect AIs. Diana was now tasked with informing the CIA that Labcorp had obtained a strategic drug that could significantly boost their economy.
It was not known when it had started but CIA had always inserted spies on top laboratories in the world. They would choose some scientists from those laboratories and instill upon them a sense of patriotism and also money which is sent in cash. CIA had been very strict on these rules because of only one reason.
Their fear of the rich people!
The CIA was one of the few organisations left in the world that was motivated by national interest rather than 'pocket interest'. Of course, this did not preclude them from collaborating with the wealthy and profiting, but the nation was always on their tail. The wealthy possessed far too much power, and the only way to ensure that technology did not come after them was to go old school.
Earning profit was always secondary. It was anti-climactic but this had been the case. Diana and her mentor were just one of the people who CIA had sent. The mentor being the CIA spy who joined much further in his career and Diana being one of those new recruits who was trained since a very young age.
Her task of contacting the actual boss was a very lengthy process and she hated doing that because it meant she would have to extra careful. But orders were orders, so there was nothing she could do about it. And thus she started the process of sending the signal to her boss which would take days.
Meanwhile, the FDA received the capsules a few days later and was blown away by the new drug. They didn't believe it at first, but after seeing how the drug could heal any injury, they almost passed out. Even those with broken spines could recover.
Because the current FDA director was closely related to Pfizer, he contacted Frayer and Buckley to shed some light on this new drug. This drug was supposed to make Labcorp very wealthy, but it will also hurt their own bottom line. Of course, Frayer and Buckley claimed that this was a new drug developed by the labs and that it was only available to them, and they refused to reveal anything. And also never use Robin's name.
But the FDA could already tell that Robin, the Labcorp's new investor, had done something. The FDA and other pharmaceutical companies wanted Labcorp to vomit the formula, but Labcorp refused to say anything.
This went on for a few days until they gave up. They attempted corporate espionage only to be arrested. They even attempted to intimidate the researchers, but they were apprehended by police on previous charges before they could even get close. JARVIS made certain that nothing came into contact with Labcorp.
They even tried to apprehend Robin, only to have him imprisoned on previous charges. This increased the fear of the other pharmaceutical companies. FDA was forced to go through the normal process because both Frayer and Buckley threatened to sue if FDA did not.
The drug passed the first process, and the next step would be to test it on a specific population. For this reason, the FDA decided to conduct tests in a small country. Malaysia was chosen as one of the test sites. The FDA feared that the drug would cause side effects, so they needed a small country with many ethnic races from all over the world that could be closed off whenever necessary. These steps were taken after becoming afraid of COVID.
"They really don't trust their own companies. Do they?" Robin asked as he saw the test grounds of the new drug.
"It was expected after COVID scare." Myrene said.
"Why don't we go to Malaysia for 2nd phase. You have a girlfriend there and it is high time you meet her."
"She isn't my girlfriend." Robin argued back. She was talking about Cathrin with whom he had got a little close.
"We shall see." Sigret smiled knowingly.
----
April 1, 2023.
Robin's private plane touched down at Kuala Lumpur's Kuala Lumpur International Airport. He finally agreed to Sigret's words and decided to travel to Malaysia. The second phase would begin in a few days, and he had arrived a little early because there was a comic-con in Kuala Lumpur on April 3rd, and Cathrin had decided to cosplay with her friends.
Robin decided to notify her that he would be present at the comic con in order to surprise her; though Robin may deny it outright, he was interested in her. Robin had also decided to dress up for the occasion. His height and body allowed him to cosplay a variety of tall characters such as Jojo's characters, Zoro from One Piece, and even some Hidden Cloud Village ninjas from Naruto, but in the end he chose to cosplay Geralt of Rivea.
Robin had always obsessed on this character for some reason and though his body color didn't actually match with game one but he still wanted to do. TARDIS had all the machinery to make a clothes that could replicate the ones from games so he didn't have to care on that matter.
Only thing would be required were the eye contacts and the hair color which could be easily done. As Robin had just reached the hotel and was busy unpacking, Sigret came in a little more heavy steps.
"Is there a problem?" Robin asked as he could Sigret had a little ugly face.
"There is a leak in our labs."
"Leak? What do you mean?" Robin asked.
"Someone told the CIA that the new drug were made from berries."
"What?" Robin eyes brows creased as he heard that. Shit just hit the fan pretty fast.
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Read 19 chapters ahead on my p@treon.com/thelightedghost