Regenesis (Book 1): Impact (77 page)

Vane
nodded and said it was true. “I’m trying to see what angle they might have, but
I can’t see anything except for a future project that will inevitably provide
both of our companies with extremely fruitful results.”

“Have
you talked with Sho about this?”

“I
have. He’s quite eager to begin working with them.”

Drake
smiled and said he thought he would be.

Jonathan
cleared his throat and asked what Drake stopped by for. “I can’t imagine you
want to be here on a Saturday evening when you could just as well spend your
time with one of your friends or your girlfriend.”

Drake
laced his fingers together and said he wanted to talk about Regenesis. “I know
you’re trying to avoid mentioning it and giving me all the details, but I feel
like I deserve to know, considering my father may have died because of it.”

Jonathan
let out a breath and admitted that he never wanted to bring it up. “It isn’t a
simple matter Drake.”

“I
assumed as much,” Drake said, “Considering the fact that I’ve already tried to
find out everything I could, but every trace of it seems to have vanished from
the company’s past.”

“That
would be your father’s doing.”

“Why
would he do something like that?”

Jonathan
asked if he saw the video of his father’s death, which Drake said he had. “Do
you remember that your father said it was a genocide waiting to happen?”

“Yes.”

“Well
that was what it turned out to be.” He rubbed his eyes and added that they
never wanted it to end up that way. “We tried to create Regenesis as a panacea,
a cure-all drug.”

“To
cure all cancers, or all diseases?”

He
shook his head and said it was supposed to cure everything. “It would have
cured every disease, virus, addiction, wound, and pandemic. Regenesis would
have even cured deformities, mental diseases, and even toxins and venoms. And
it wouldn’t have simply applied to humans; it would have cured plants and
animals as well.”

“You
could have cured everything,” Drake whispered while he stared at the floor.

Jonathan
nodded and continued, “It would have been the end of disease, of illness, of
famine, starvation, and through time it would prolong life and promote peace
throughout the earth.”

“It
was basically the key to utopia…” Drake paused through his concentration to ask
what the side effects were.

“The
drug’s nature was…complex, to put it simply.”

“Please,
explain it to me.”

“The
drug would kill the user and revive them three days later, cured of whatever
ailed them previously.”

Drake
said he followed him thus far, but stopped and asked, “Did my mother take it?
And if so, why didn’t she recover?”

Jonathan
hesitated to say anymore, but reluctantly revealed that the drug only had a
twenty-percent success rate. “Myra, your mother that is, and your Aunt Annetta
had very aggressive cancers and unfortunately there wasn’t time to increase the
probability of the test. At the time one of the major and only known side
effects of the drug was death, as it would kill the subject regardless of
success or failure. However your mother and aunt were running out of time and
options and agreed to be a part of the first and only wave of human test
subjects.”

“But
it failed and they never came back to life.”

Jonathan
nodded. “There was only ever a twenty percent chance they would survive and
sadly they did not, which is why your father deemed it a hazard and
discontinued the project altogether.” Jonathan adjusted his glasses and added
that there was one final effect of the drug. “If the user managed to survive
the initial three days of death and revive, they would completely lose their
memory.”

Drake
looked and him and asked why that was the case.

Jonathan
said he wasn’t sure. “That was one of the reasons we called it Regenesis.”

Drake
furrowed his brow and focused on the thoughts that raced through his mind. He
asked, “Since you know of that other side effect, does that mean there was a
successful human trial?”

“Only
one. Her name was Olivia Moore.”

“David
Moore’s wife I assume?”

“Yes.
However, because of her memory loss she failed to remember who David was and
the two separated months later. She was a part of the same test group as your
mother and aunt, and even after one successful human patient, your father
decided to terminate the project.”

“When
did my father begin working on Regenesis?”

“He
thought of the concept for Regenesis a few years before you were born. However
it wasn’t until two-thousand and sixteen that he truly began formulating the
remedy,” Jonathan told him. “He had quite a group that helped him with the
project, all sworn to secrecy given the nature of the drug. But he abandoned it
after your mother died in two-thousand and twenty-four.”

“But
he started the research up again, didn’t he?”

Jonathan
nodded. “A year ago actually, though this time he only employed a few people.”

“David
Moore, Mark Ross, and Victor Jacobs?” Drake asked.

“Yes,
except for David,” Jonathan corrected him. “David worked as part of the first
wave of engineers for the project. After his wife left him he and your father
had a falling out and he left the company.”

“Alright,
but what about the other two?”

Jonathan
confessed that he wasn’t sure how Tony only employed two men and expected to
complete Regenesis. “But I have to admit that they were making progress…that is
until about three months ago when they hit another wall. And after that they
were each killed one by one.”

“Do
you have any ideas who would have wanted them dead?”

“I
wouldn’t have any idea.”

“Do
you think it could be any of the people my father contracted to work on the
project in its first initial wave?”

Jonathan
frowned and said it was possible, but unlikely. “Who would want to kill someone
over a cure of all things?” Jonathan took a moment to repeat his condolences,
but reaffirmed his ignorance in the matter. “Your father kept me out of the
matter because I would have only been in the way, and he needed someone at the
helm of the company while he tinkered.”

Drake
stared out at the Emerald City and watched the skyline gradually grow shades
darker. He asked where his father’s research notes were and asked to see them.

“Can
I ask why you want it?”

“I
plan on continuing what my father began.” He stopped Jonathan from voicing any
objections by reiterating his father’s faith and devotion to the idea. “If we
can make this work, we can save this world from suffering and pain.”

“And
what if you’re targeted just like your father was?”

Drake
shrugged and said if that was the case he’d be able to figure out who killed
his father and why they wanted him dead in the first place. He looked at
Jonathan and told him that Regenesis wasn’t going to remain a thing of the
past. “Too many people lost their lives because of it for me to simply discard
it because there’s someone out there who doesn’t want me to try to save this
world. Now,” Drake looked back outside, “Where is everything?”

---*---

6:50
PM

Seattle,
Washington

Nick
sped down James Street in search of the Italian restaurant Amy chose to meet
him at. Their dance wasn’t until nine, so it allowed them an opportunity to eat
out in Seattle, which they hadn’t done since Ian’s party. He’d never eaten at
the place so he wasn’t entirely sure where it was, which led to his tardiness.

He
actually passed it twice before he clued in. His mind wasn’t really ready for
the evening to begin, or for his date, or to spend the evening at one of the
last places he’d ever want to be, but Nick felt indebted to his girlfriend for
how distant he always was. He truly cared for her, but his mind had always been
elsewhere since his brother’s death.

Once
he parked Nick headed into the restaurant and found Amy at a table near the
entrance. She stood up, greeted him with a hug, and reclaimed her seat as he
took his and set his helmet on the floor next to his chair.

“What
took you so long?” she asked.

Nick
apologized and told her he lost his printout of the directions to the
restaurant on his way there. “I knew it was somewhere around Pioneer Square,
but I really didn’t remember where.”

She
told him it was fine and that she hadn’t ordered yet because she wanted to wait
for him. Nick opened his menu and tried to quickly find something he could eat
without the need to worry about staining his clothes prior to the dance. He
asked Amy how her day was while he searched for an entrée.

“It
was hectic to say the least. I forgot I had a paper to write for my English
class, but that aside I spent a majority of the day getting ready for tonight.”

Nick
paused and noted that she wore a sleeveless ruby dress with black high heels.
Her hair was straightened and pulled back. He didn’t even notice when he joined
her, but Nick was sure to compliment her then, just before he returned to the
menu. He scanned the page briefly before he asked how her trip to Oregon was.

“It
wasn’t too horrible,” she admitted. “I was just cooped up around family for too
long, y’know?” She then asked him about his weekend. “Did you work the whole
time?”

He
nodded and said it wasn’t very pleasant. “I’m just glad the week’s almost
over.”

Amy
smiled and said she was as well.

A
waitress stopped by and asked if they were ready to order or not. Amy said she
was, but asked Nick if he needed more time. He shook his head, ordered shrimp
fettuccini, a side of asparagus, disregarded the salad, and said he only wanted
water to drink. Amy selected lasagna, a side of broccoli, a small Caesar salad,
and asked for water as well.

Amy
asked if Nick heard about the Dáfù attack as soon as the waitress left them.
“It’s so sad that so many people died.”

Nick
said he’d heard but didn’t know the true extent of the damage. “Do you know if
they’re going to rebuild the museum? Or is it a lost cause?”

“Oh
I think they’ll rebuild,” she told him before she took a sip of her water. “Why
wouldn’t they?”

“All
of the art’s gone.”

She
said it was, but reminded him that they could house more. “What’s so terrible
is all of the people who were killed. In fact, I think almost everyone died
except for a few people who claim they were rescued by some local hero.”

Nick
repeated his ignorance on the matter shortly before he picked up his glass of
ice water and swirled the crystal chips within in a counterclockwise manner.

She
continued by mentioning some of the other strange occurrences in the area. “I
guess there were two murders at some hotel in Bellevue and there’s some weird
communication breakdown in Baltimore as well that’s resulted in a citywide
riot.”

Nick
frowned and asked her why she wanted to talk about things like that. “People
died, they’re still dying for all we know, so why should we talk about it?”

“If
we can make a difference by talking about it, shouldn’t we try our best to
spread the word?”

He
told her he doubted it would do much at that point.

“You
don’t want to talk about it?”

“Not
really,” he sighed. “It’s just depressing is all, and I’m not really in the
mood for talking about things like that.”

“But
what else do you want to talk about when we’re being attacked by terrorists and
all hell’s breaking loose?”

“Why
do you want to talk about it?”

“Because,
frankly, I’m afraid.” Amy looked at the empty place on the table between them
and confessed her desire to chat about it to gain reassurance that everything
would be fine.

Nick
apologized and told her he didn’t realize how frightened she was. “What’s
bothering you the most?”

She
shrugged and said the news that a couple was murdered in Bellevue and that
their daughter was missing scared her. “I’m worried about her is all…”

“But
you don’t know her.”

“I
know, but she must be really scared and all alone now.” Amy frowned and said
she hoped she was alright.

“I’m
sure she’s fine.”

Amy
looked at him and repeated that the young woman was kidnapped. “How on earth is
she fine when someone’s captured her and is doing who knows what with her?”

“She’s
fine,” Nick reassured her. “Trust me.”

“What
are you talking about?”

“I
just have a–”

“A
feeling?” she finished. “What makes you think you know she’s safe Nick?”

He
shook his head and told her to forget about it before he took a drink of his
water.