After staring at Professor José for a long time, Alexandre nodded. "Alright, I think you're telling the truth." His expression became bitter. "Thank you for enlightening me."
Contrary to what he let on, Professor José was actually touched by Alexandre's experiences. In fact, he even felt some guilt for having been indirectly involved in causing the suffering of these children. José said, "I know it must be hard, living what you endured. When the FBI interrogated me regarding my involvement in the project, they showed me images of what the guinea pigs had been subjected to. I had a lot of trouble sleeping that night."
The doctor paused for a moment, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his dislocated shoulder as he chose his words carefully. "Alexandre, you must move on. For your own good. Don't let the past control and confine you. The people who are involved in the Genesis Project and Virus Z research… if you keep poking your nose into their business, you risk going back to a cell. This time, you might never come back out."
Alexandre's eyes narrowed. There had been a strange tone in Professor José's voice. "When you say I'd go back to a cell, you don't just mean a prison cell, do you?"
José looked uncomfortable and tried to evade the question. "I also had questions, you know, especially when I took on the Aurora project. But if I just kept my head down. After all, if I didn't do the work, someone else would have…"
Alexandre brushed aside the words and refocused on the question. "Answer me. You implied they're still experimenting on human guinea pigs, didn't you!?"
Professor José sighed, realizing he couldn't avoid the issue after letting the words slip in the first place. "Alright, fine. Human experiments in the White Zones? I doubt that's happening. But in the Black Zones? …Anything goes over there. I know nothing for certain, but I'd find it impossible to believe that the government and the Terra Corp lobby are refraining from experimenting when they can get away with it. They're using technology from overseas, you know."
Alexandre was shocked. "Wait, what do you mean!?"
The doctor winced, realizing he'd again said something that he shouldn't have. The pain in his shoulder was making it very difficult to think. "Fine, since I clearly won't be able to dissuade you… You heard me right. The Aurora Project has almost nothing American about it. When the Genesis Project was finished and we had the recipe to transform humans into biological weapons, the CIA recruited me. Not only because of my technical ability, but also because of my fluency with multiple languages.
"I speak Spanish, French, Russian, and Chinese perfectly. They provided me with thousands of coded files written in Russian and asked me to translate and adapt them for the micro-computer you know as the Pip-Boy. For the most part, the Aurora technology came from someone other than me."
Alexandre frowned. "That doesn't make sense. If Russian technology was so advanced, why didn't they eliminate the problem before it became an apocalyptic pandemic?"
The doctor shrugged with his good arm. "Unfortunately, at my level of access, I don't have an answer. Of course, I asked! It was one of the most important questions I had for my research. But whenever I did, I was ignored or threatened. Eventually, I simply stopped asking." Then he added, "It might sound a bit pathetic, but at the time, working for the CIA was about the only bit of guaranteed security I could see in life."
He gave a long sigh. "I made my choice. I don't regret it, given the circumstances. I only wish the circumstances had been better. I really do hope you can one day find circumstances to let you make better choices than I did, young man."
Alexandre nodded. "Thank you. Thank you for your answers." His tone became slightly sheepish. "Sorry about your arm!"
The doctor gave a bitter laugh. "You little bastard. If you'd told me from the beginning that you were one of the Genesis guinea pigs, I'd have helped you!" Then he added, "Come to think of it, you're… Well, you're still alive. That means you're one of the first-generation Hunters, right? The first wave to successfully transform… which means you received a permanent dose of S.G.C. that doesn't need to be boosted."
Alexandre was reluctant to reveal something so sensitive, but Doctor José had already given him a lot of information that would help him later on. Besides, it might be that the two of them would need to work together in the future. So he said, "You're right. I got my dose in the Genesis Project and have never needed another one. For me, the change is permanent."
The doctor gave a low whistle. "Wow! You know, Terra Corp would pay a mountain of gold for the chance to vivisect you!"
Alexandre laughed nervously. "I'll take my freedom over gold, thank you very much. Kindly keep my secret to yourself."
Dr José chuckled. "Too bad, I'd like to retire early! But don't worry, I'm a man of my word. I won't divulge what I know! However, I do have a present for you!"