Entering the office of Leonardo Sterling, I saw a lot more burgundy. The walls, the chairs, even the ceiling. Although dark, it was a strangely cosy looking room, most of its furniture brown, a few plants rooted here and there, and many other nameless decors.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAAgGakgA8dA
He pulled a chair out for me before sitting in his own all-high-status-looking chair. I explained the twisted history of 202 to him, whilst he listened with attentive ears. I told the story the way Director had told it to me (something warned me that I'd get a lot more than cold glares from Everest if I breathed a word about the Original Cure to Leonardo Sterling). In the end the story was that the formula for 202 was always wrong, and that was it (I also cut out that abomination of an affair with Reynolds Corporation).
800Please respect copyright.PENANAXjNnSBRYLM
"So," he said, "they want you dead because 202 isn't efficient – in fact it's deadly – so, to cover up the fact that you it's the 202 that killed you – if you die – they planned on killing you off beforehand, so that the cause of your death can pinned on a something that has nothing to do with 202?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAQ0znWG3KIJ
I nodded.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAmDA37CnBMf
"And by doing this, they figured that they'd still be able to sell it?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAbFn9ET4VM4
I nodded.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAWJZOVTfunQ
"And, Gemma has found the counter cure for 202, which I've verified for sales under the impression that it's a typical antibiotic?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAMxJOUoZWry
"That's pretty much it."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAJNFwjrZBLd
"How?" he inquired.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAaSwNfgJHYE
"Well, Director's pretty much mental—"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAa9zitqMo1d
"No, I meant, how did Gemma manage to find a counter cure for 202? How did she know that there was anything wrong with 202 in the first place?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAGeiZ9QwbLm
Ah, crap.
800Please respect copyright.PENANA5Kef2kg9W6
I itched my chin, followed by my ear, thinking hard for an elaborate lie. It was useless. "Uh... well, you see... I— I don't know?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAksKH93QTa2
Leonardo raised an unconvinced eyebrow. "Emerald, if you want me to help you, you need to tell me the truth," he said like a father giving his son some fatherly advice.
800Please respect copyright.PENANApNCpkA8zoL
"I am telling you the truth!" –Ish.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAQePfO2OuW9
"The whole truth."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAsDSWvlkrH6
"You just want the tea," I muttered –and regretted as soon as he replied:
800Please respect copyright.PENANAhLMwVNPI2M
"So there is something you're not telling me."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAqg9Wpjoj4O
Crap, again!
800Please respect copyright.PENANAjoP6rERnmF
"Fine! Yes!" I gave in. "But I can't!"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAj1uHgRZrDz
"Why not?" His voice remained as legato as ever.
800Please respect copyright.PENANADVCtPvLodS
"Because... because— it's too complicated, it's too unsafe."
800Please respect copyright.PENANA8x9rE5btwQ
"Nothing you say will leave this room," he assured me.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAK5gPPy1oPe
I eyed him suspiciously.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAk9DUhWrjD3
"Would it help if I said 'cross my heart and hope to die'?" he offered.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAMqFK5QWF4V
"Maybe."
800Please respect copyright.PENANABrx0m5Da8P
"Then," there was a mischievous smile playing on his lips, "I solemnly swear upon mine beating muscle that 'tis the truth I have spoken, and if it is to be a lie, I pray to plunge mineself into most merciless death."
800Please respect copyright.PENANA5lNuoY3JWy
I face palmed myself. "Just become a playwright, already."
800Please respect copyright.PENANA3StgDdP40o
He grinned. "So are you ready to speak the truth – the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANA7nuN2bg8uM
And so, syllable by syllable, word by word, sentence by sentence, I unraveled the truth – the whole truth and nothing, but the truth... okay, I may have added a few carefully handpicked adjectives to describe Gemma – which Leonardo gave the curtsy to smile at in an amused fashion.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAXFfhJjs8B1
However, all the while, it felt almost... traitorous. It felt traitorous to reveal everything to a third party – even if it was it a very cool third party. Surely, there was a reason why no one knew about the origination of the Original Cure. Surely, there was a reason why no one knew about the Reynolds attack. And here I was, spilling all of these secrets to a guy I had only met a couple of hours ago. On the other hand, it wasn't as if I deliberately wanted to tell him everything. It was simply an act of necessity... or something along those lines.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAd2TnSUm0PD
Throughout the whole explanation, Leonardo did nothing but listen with the occasional nod and widening of brown eyes. Once I had finished, he flexed his fingers a couple of times in a thoughtful way, and asked, "how?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAFyh9W5FK1E
"How what?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAIQPyS8CfJA
"How did Gemma manage to pass her counter cure as an ordinary antibiotic?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAFrO8LBpJaF
I shrugged. "Beats me."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAUdlaGsZSz1
"How did I not see?" he pondered more to himself than me.
800Please respect copyright.PENANALZL4ZUe2bq
"Because you didn't test it on anything else. She told you it was for antibiotic- resistant strains of bacteria for influenza, right?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANANyPp75u70O
"Yeah. So naturally the FDA would have—"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAaHN8mziJn1
"Only tested it for antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria for influenza!" we finished at the same time.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAZ4ybD5uznC
"But it still doesn't make sense," he said. "Gemma still wouldn't be allowed to release her drug as a counter cure specifically for 202 on the market. According to her FDA report, she is only allowed sell it as a prescription for influenza. So, why did she go to the troubles of hiding the fact that it was a counter cure for 202—?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAWD2OCGXBKc
Then it clicked. I slammed by hand down on Leonardo's brown desk with so much enthusiasm, it made him jump a little. "Because she doesn't want the world to know that there is something wrong with 202! Just yet," I added. "Think about it. If she told you: an FDA commissioner who's responsible for the release of 202 – that there's something wrong with 202, you are obviously going to prevent 202 from release. That would make her drug useless; there's no point in creating an anti-cure for 202 if no one is going to take 202 in the first place. But!" I shouted in a sudden state of excitement, "if she tells you that her drug is for influenza – and influenza only – then, you wouldn't know that there is anything wrong with 202, so you'd allow its release. And after the world realises that they're screwed, Gemma will strut in with her counter-cure and save the day. Just imagine all those dollar bills."
800Please respect copyright.PENANA7mNayPvA32
He stared at me for a whole minute without a blink. Then: "If you ever need a job, just remember, I'd turn down Einstein to have you as my secretary."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAdpnl4yj14x
"You're just saying that."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAANaw7rLRV7
"I'm not! I mean, sure I'd have to ask my father – he sort of owns this whole place—"
800Please respect copyright.PENANA8EPRkvKWRO
"Your father owns this whole place?" I interrupted.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAbtPoPtMJi7
"Yes – even that plant over there," he pointed sardonically at a plant in the corner of his office.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAzKgiWuoQYP
"Wait," I stopped him. "I thought you..."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAztTzt1VBUb
"Someday. Maybe. If I don't pursue my dream of becoming a world famous rockstar," he sort of smiled at his own joke. "But, yeah Doctor Zaramo Sterling owns all twenty four hospitals in twenty four states, but I guess all that burden is to be passed down to me soon. He's old," Leonardo added in a whisper.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAaLq9jTtYc5
I visibly turned the name Zaramo on my tongue.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAJMgS7fT5XT
"My father's half Tanzanian," he explained, noticing me do this. "Half American, hence the last name Sterling," he added, as I took in his tanned complexion and
curly hair. "My mother's Italian so I've been privileged with a highly Italian name like Leonardo and a highly American middle name like Jared.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAWro2yyLLEt
"Wow. That's half Italian, quarter Tanzanian and quarter American. You're exotic."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAe3ef90WyIX
He smiled. "So, what happened to the Original Cure?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAXE2PM1S18M
"Oh, it got destroyed in the Reynolds attack," I responded, back to reality.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAMTUAcMWL5P
"No, I mean the boy. What happened to him?" Alright, I didn't tell him the part about Director trying to kill me using Everest, either. What? It would have just confused him, all that blood fusion business. Instead, since Leonardo didn't know anything about the abnormalities that the radiation caused, I vaguely described that whole episode as "Director tried to kill me."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAkIlJ4nVi1w
"Oh, Everest. He, you know— morphed into an ice berg," I muttered under my breath.
800Please respect copyright.PENANArLqLJ5HBva
"What was that?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANApG4i7NwzPB
"Nothing. He's... around and about." —twenty minutes away.
800Please respect copyright.PENANA8j96P8x7g0
Leonardo seemed to be flipping Everest's name around in his mouth the way I did with his father's name.
800Please respect copyright.PENANA8o4cFlu6Hr
"What?" I asked.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAjkaJZPYOiX
"Nothing, it just sounds vaguely familiar."
800Please respect copyright.PENANA7H9rzLJGFl
Vaguely familiar!
800Please respect copyright.PENANAxP9sAMWn3k
"What? What?" I practically leapt over the table. "Tell me everything! Anything!"
800Please respect copyright.PENANA0d00kIV09S
"Woah, woah, relax. All I'm saying is that I've heard his name before."
800Please respect copyright.PENANA3oFdY9KJyR
I sat back down in my chair. "Well, yeah, Mount Everest is a thing."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAwAj2BjZ5IR
"No, not that... it was a long time ago. I was probably a kid. Have you ever met him?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANARa0bbAESPC
"Well, I mean— yeah." Oh, what the heck! "He came to the States with me to find Gemma."
800Please respect copyright.PENANANaXbM0w7ka
"Why isn't he with you?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAQBqJxKJywM
"Someone had to stay at Reynolds Corporation."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAlZjRMJ2D7D
"So, you ditched him."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAWQR2Aa683X
"What? No, I didn't."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAfVBfDPgvvr
Leonardo chuckled. "I'm kidding. Why were you so excited when I recalled his name? Don't tell me you travelled all the way here with someone you know nothing about."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAY7RDYpGCVe
I scoffed. "That's exactly what happened."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAQcoaEHNrM9
He blinked several times. "Did you at least try to ask him—"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAeZFIwu9BZ3
I held my hand up. "Let's not go there. Anyway I guess we used to be friends."
800Please respect copyright.PENANA9eNv0OjJ7i
"You guess?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAb6WVzda83z
"Like I remember any of it. Director wiped my memory after the Reynolds attack to create 202," I stated, factually.
800Please respect copyright.PENANA0dh18nypEp
"He... what?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAFyGY0LeJSP
I shrugged, "probably with a memory serum or something."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAm6P8ZHzEWF
"Why is the Front, like, centuries ahead of the rest of the world?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAdTaEnhCZP5
"They are a bunch of evil geniuses. That's why I need your help. You need to postpone the release of 202 and Gemma's counter-cure. Make them run more trials or fill out new FDA report, whatever!" I yelled, flaying my hands about.
800Please respect copyright.PENANALZujF7rW03
"Calm down," he said.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAdLcaQTV03R
I fixed my composure.
800Please respect copyright.PENANA4VO2127Kk9
"Breathe. Okay?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAh0w71NnOfX
I nodded.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAfieKLDEqUX
"You can manage that much, right?"
800Please respect copyright.PENANAwwNXvan00X
I rolled my eyes.
800Please respect copyright.PENANACSszv7PP8F
"Kidding. And don't worry, I will postpone the release of 202 and Gemma's drug – which is unnamed, still, so it wasn't going to be released anytime soon, anyway."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAABjRzdG8FY
I smiled. "Okay, good. Good." I got up. "Thanks."
800Please respect copyright.PENANABTGgaUmdWm
"Don't mention it."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAgB92g5Dcub
"I hope to see you soon," I said, at the door.
800Please respect copyright.PENANAM727wqaucO
"You too, Em."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAa2dkVTnLN3
"Bye, Jared."
800Please respect copyright.PENANAq5FdHN1q9V
"Leonardo."
800Please respect copyright.PENANA0p9n3BzJgK
____________________________________________________________________________
800Please respect copyright.PENANAtJ9aPWGBSn
800Please respect copyright.PENANAYQNTAdkj0Z
Author's note: if you're a tad confused read the second paragraph
800Please respect copyright.PENANADbNvhc4TVE
Funny (and irrelevant) story, I actually had to itch my own ear before I wrote that part about Emerald itching her chin and ear whilst trying to construct the perfect lie, then, I thought, "hey! What I just did is a good gesture!" so I included it :)
800Please respect copyright.PENANAyyFXKyGot1
Some more medical knowledge:
When a drug is developed in a clinic, for it to be released on the market, it needs to be verified by these people called the FDA who will check for the safety, efficacy, dosage, side-effects etc. of that drug. If a new drug is developed, its developers need to fill out an FDA report which the FDA will analyse and choose whether to reject or verify the drug. An FDA commissioner (in this story, Leonardo Sterling) is sort of the head of the FDA – in other words, they're very important for the release of a drug. An FDA commissioner can choose to reject a drug at anytime or stop its manufacture if it is already out. Basically, there's a reason why Emerald chose to hunt down Leonardo Sterling.
800Please respect copyright.PENANA2jrhXjcswV
That's all :) I hope you're less confused. Also, what do you think Leonardo in this chapter?
800Please respect copyright.PENANAxcaXYkX6Tx
Thanks for reading!
-Ruth
800Please respect copyright.PENANA6DeY01kaqi