Read Online Genesis by Keith R. A. DeCandido - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Keith R. A. DeCandido
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All the other slots were intended to house small cylindrical tubes.
The figure walked over to the far wall. That wall included a window of PlastiGlas, a stronger version of Plexiglas that Umbrella had patented the year before. Under the window sat a horizontal slot, which the figure opened by activating a control. It slid downward, allowing the case to be placed into the small chamber on the other side of the window and slot.
Smoky condensation puffed out through the slot, as the temperature inside the chamber was quite low, and only the Hazmat suit kept the figure from feeling the overwhelming cold that issued forth.
The slot closed once the case was ensconced within. The activating of several other controls brought about two more actions: two waldoes unfurled from sides of the PlastiGlas window and the bottom of the chamber slid open to reveal fourteen vials. The latter action was only possible when the slot below the window was shut.
Manipulating the waldoes, the figure systematically placed each of the vials into the slots. Each vial contained corkscrew-shaped tubes that looked like a cross between a DNA double helix and a Silly Straw. Half were filled with a deep blue liquid, the other half with a liquid in a kind of sick green.
The T-virus and the anti-virus.
Worth millions to Pharmaceuticals as the basis of a revolutionary product that would allow vain middle-aged people to look more like vain younger people.
Worth billions on the open market in its raw form as a biological weapon.
Behind the reflective faceplate, the figure smiled. This was a weapon of mass destruction beyond any world leaderâs wildest dreamsâor nightmares.
Once all fourteen vials were in place, the case shut automatically, and sealed itself. Four circular dials on the four corners of the case lid rotated ninety degrees, indicating that the case was sealed tighter than a proverbial drum. Only someone with the key code could open it now.
With the tray cleared of the vials and the case sealed, the computerâliteral-minded as everâwould allow the slot to open once again. When it did, the figure grabbed the case and brought it out of the temperature-controlled room and into the adjacent laboratory.
Like all the office spaces in the Hive, the lab was utilitarian, favoring cold metal and hard plastics, not only in the furnishings, but everything from the moulding to the computer desktops. It had no warmth to it at all. Like a tomb.
Soon enough, it would be a tomb in reality as well as imagery.
The figure removed the Hazmat suit, put on a pair of rubber gloves, and entered the keycode. The case obligingly opened, an action that served two functions: toverify that the keycode worked and to allow the figure access to one of the vials containing the blue liquid.
Pulling out the vial with a protected hand, the figure sealed the case once again, placed it in a duffel bag, zipped the bag up, and hoisted it onto one shoulder.
Before departing the lab, the figure tossed the vial toward the center of the room, then turned, exited, and closed and locked the door.
The vial tumbled end over end through the air in a graceful arc until it collided with the edge of one of the metal desks.
Glass shattered. Interior tubing broke. Shards splayed out onto the cold metal floor, blue liquid pooling around it.
A miasma emitted from the blue liquid into the air.
It headed toward the air-conditioning vents.
Maintaining as complex an underground system as the Hive required tremendous feats of engineering. It also required a beyond-top-of-the-line air-conditioning system that regulated the constant flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide in proper amounts to keep the five hundred people living and working there alive and comfortableânot to mention the assorted lab animals and guard dogs.
It was an efficient systemâit had to be, or the Hive would not be viable.
So it didnât take long at all for the T-virus to make its deadly way through
The figure walked over to the far wall. That wall included a window of PlastiGlas, a stronger version of Plexiglas that Umbrella had patented the year before. Under the window sat a horizontal slot, which the figure opened by activating a control. It slid downward, allowing the case to be placed into the small chamber on the other side of the window and slot.
Smoky condensation puffed out through the slot, as the temperature inside the chamber was quite low, and only the Hazmat suit kept the figure from feeling the overwhelming cold that issued forth.
The slot closed once the case was ensconced within. The activating of several other controls brought about two more actions: two waldoes unfurled from sides of the PlastiGlas window and the bottom of the chamber slid open to reveal fourteen vials. The latter action was only possible when the slot below the window was shut.
Manipulating the waldoes, the figure systematically placed each of the vials into the slots. Each vial contained corkscrew-shaped tubes that looked like a cross between a DNA double helix and a Silly Straw. Half were filled with a deep blue liquid, the other half with a liquid in a kind of sick green.
The T-virus and the anti-virus.
Worth millions to Pharmaceuticals as the basis of a revolutionary product that would allow vain middle-aged people to look more like vain younger people.
Worth billions on the open market in its raw form as a biological weapon.
Behind the reflective faceplate, the figure smiled. This was a weapon of mass destruction beyond any world leaderâs wildest dreamsâor nightmares.
Once all fourteen vials were in place, the case shut automatically, and sealed itself. Four circular dials on the four corners of the case lid rotated ninety degrees, indicating that the case was sealed tighter than a proverbial drum. Only someone with the key code could open it now.
With the tray cleared of the vials and the case sealed, the computerâliteral-minded as everâwould allow the slot to open once again. When it did, the figure grabbed the case and brought it out of the temperature-controlled room and into the adjacent laboratory.
Like all the office spaces in the Hive, the lab was utilitarian, favoring cold metal and hard plastics, not only in the furnishings, but everything from the moulding to the computer desktops. It had no warmth to it at all. Like a tomb.
Soon enough, it would be a tomb in reality as well as imagery.
The figure removed the Hazmat suit, put on a pair of rubber gloves, and entered the keycode. The case obligingly opened, an action that served two functions: toverify that the keycode worked and to allow the figure access to one of the vials containing the blue liquid.
Pulling out the vial with a protected hand, the figure sealed the case once again, placed it in a duffel bag, zipped the bag up, and hoisted it onto one shoulder.
Before departing the lab, the figure tossed the vial toward the center of the room, then turned, exited, and closed and locked the door.
The vial tumbled end over end through the air in a graceful arc until it collided with the edge of one of the metal desks.
Glass shattered. Interior tubing broke. Shards splayed out onto the cold metal floor, blue liquid pooling around it.
A miasma emitted from the blue liquid into the air.
It headed toward the air-conditioning vents.
Maintaining as complex an underground system as the Hive required tremendous feats of engineering. It also required a beyond-top-of-the-line air-conditioning system that regulated the constant flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide in proper amounts to keep the five hundred people living and working there alive and comfortableânot to mention the assorted lab animals and guard dogs.
It was an efficient systemâit had to be, or the Hive would not be viable.
So it didnât take long at all for the T-virus to make its deadly way through
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