One click of a button enabled nozzles to empty the cylindrical containers that the drones carried and spray an imperceptible mist downward to the military base. After a few minutes, the sprayers exhausted the virus. The drones went back to them undetected.
Nimbly, Luke kept his equipment in their respective cases, sheathed the emptied virus container with an insulated film, and hurriedly, they embarked on their vehicle. The driver floored the accelerator pedal as soon as everyone was on board.
"What's the hurry?" Luke asked as he settled inside the truck.
"Enemy scouts," Nica answered. "They're probably around here. Lucky that we won't encounter a group of them."
"What are they exactly?" Luke asked.
Kristo leaned to him, "They look like humans, speak like humans, but they are faster and stronger than us. Yet, somehow their combat abilities diminished, only depending on their brute strength. You can't fight them hand-to-hand or you will die in seconds. But Nica here can handle herself pretty well. You see, he can kill them with only her knife. Exceptional knife skills."
"That's Sergeant for you, Corporal Kristo!" Nica smacked his shoulder.
"Let's say they are not really humans, Luke. So, whatever that has been playing on your mind about them, you are wrong. I know you are having second thoughts about killing them. You imagine the women and children in their communities, well they are not. Children and women are equally stronger than us." Nica elucidated.
"What about their economic status, are they still following our Government system?"
"Yes. Can't you see Brigham?" One soldier on his side answered. "It's expanding. They are building new structures and new towers. We can say they are doing good with our bodies and our lives taken from us."
"What do you know about trade routes? One way to spread viruses is through carriers of people going out of the borders."
"Well, the same. They used airplanes, trucks, ships, just like us," the soldier replied.
"What's surprising though," Nica interjected. "They don't have any crimes. It is what Major said. I am not really sure. They are systematic and maybe they follow a leader of their race. The identity of the leader is still unknown."
"So, what is the use of us here fighting this war if they are living our lives greater than us? Maybe they are meant to be living our human race. They are winning, I suppose," Luke said.
"Cut that crap! They are conquerors, Luke!" Nica exclaimed, and released a deep sigh, subsiding her frustration. "Yes, they are winning, unfortunately. We cannot attack the City at full force without retaliation from the four military bases. We will lose. They have the weapons, thirty years more advanced than us. Our bases are scattered all over Strata Continent. And the main objective is to at least, destroy their food supply routes, and prevent a seamless expansion. We are not doing that much, we only inhibit their growth."
"What is the progress so far?" Luke asked.
Silence fell inside the truck. Nobody wanted to answer. Or nobody knew the answer.
"I understand Command needs an out-of-the-box strategy. I understand that we need people like you, the Evolvers," Nica sighed. "You are our only hope, so, don't ever mess this up. We need you more than the Major knows."
"You say out-of-the-box. I am not sure about that. As you said, there is no certainty in wars. Well, I am here and I will do my best." Luke said.
"Can your virus deliver?" Calyx asked. He usually spoke whenever everybody fell silent.
All the ears inside the truck had lent to the anticipated exchange.
"It's a level 2 Nebula Virus. It cannot do much for now, I am only banking for the infection. But it can't kill now."
"So, what is the use of dispensing it? I heard Jameson dispensed his first Virus about level 5."
"I will develop the virus again in my lab. And we will be back here to trigger the virus upgrades."
"What? Why not upgrade it to be fatal and spread the virus?"
"That if you want it to kill but not to spread. It would only kill hundreds and our enemy would establish safety protocols to isolate the spread. Then, I am just wasting mutation genes killing only a few."
Silence fell again unto them. They understood now, and Luke somehow gave them a reasonable argument about the matter.
"You can do it, kid! I believe in you." One soldier said, tapping his shoulder.
***
Back at the base.
Luke directly monitored his virus transmission by the use of his death tab, a device that enabled him to have visual interpretations of his virus spreading to a population guided by satellite InfraNano Imaging capabilities. Command had genetically modified the virus that could also transmit signals using the electromagnetic spectrum.
'Four hours,' Luke thought.
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[Location] Fort Cygnet North Base
[Description] A military base. Arid and cold climate. All food supplies are processed. Hold a median air fleet of 15 jet fighters, 10 tanks, and several ground vehicles.
[Population] 5400 soldiers
[Infected] 75
[Death by Virus] 0
[No. of days infection] 0.18 (4 hours)
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'It's a slow rate. Only around 20 heads infected in an hour,' Luke assessed.
If it was a large-scale infection, Luke should have hundreds of thousands daily infection. A level 2 Nebula virus with only 40 points infection rate and low level capabilities could deliver an expected slow rate.
At the end of 24 hours, his virus would infect about 500 Bugmen in the base. The mutated virus shelf life if came in contact with a host would deteriorate its shelf life for only fourteen days, before the host's immune system fought the abnormal cells.
'I have fourteen days to trigger severity and fatality,' Luke calculated. 'And the infectivity rate is not enough to eradicate everyone in the base.'
Luke needed a boost of infectivity level.
The effective virus transmission to the target population depended on the population's behavior. In the case of a military base, they had training exercises and exposed to natural environments. Therefore, consuming a lot of air. Hence, Aerosol Vector and Airborne Shell Persistence provided a deadly combination to the contagion rate.
Secondly, the soldiers tend to touch things a lot without frequent washing of hands. The hands are placed first in surface-to-human pathogenic transmissions. With this, another capability he needed to upgrade - Contact Carrier ability.
His predicament had presented. He needed more mutation genes to make the virus deadly and increase its infectivity level. Auroracrest Peak, a mountain situated twenty miles away from their base, would provide utmost amount of animal mutation gene points.
The timetable had been overlooked.
"Monday, let's do Contact Carrier Capability," Luke said.
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[Mutation Option]
Contact Carrier, 100 points – Resilience of virus shell against surfaces, increasing infectivity from contact surfaces to hosts. Requirement: Aerosol Vector
Infectivity Level - +10 points
Remaining Mutation gene points – 450/500
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Luke wanted to reserve other mutation genes for symptom evolution. He assessed the current infectivity level and the capabilities were sufficient to infect the whole Fort Cygnet base.
"Mutation successful, Luke," Monday responded after commencing evolution protocols.
'Now, we go to Auroracrest,' Luke thought.