Impact: Regenesis Part 71

They missed the school's football game the night before because Nick didn't feel like traveling all the way back to the Kenmore area for a single football game, but he told Amy he couldn't get work off. She wasn't happy about his continued distance from her, but Nick convinced her that he had to work the night of the game to ensure he had the night of the homecoming dance off. It was an obvious lie, and it didn't help that he told it while Lauren was within earshot. She didn't say anything, but he knew she wasn't pleased with his natural ability to lie.

Nick finished tying his shoes and after an apprehensive breath told them he'd be off. Strom stopped him and asked Nick if he felt well enough to go out for the evening. Lauren tried to object to Strom's query, but he defended his question and reminded her that two of Nick's a.s.sociates just died. "He might need to take it easy," Strom said.

"And what about his girlfriend?" Lauren asked. "He can't simply ditch her, that is, unless he wants her to flat out dump him by tomorrow morning."

"The question remains, do you feel up to riding around on that bike of yours and spending the entire evening going from here to there with your girlfriend and back?"

Nick told them both that he was fine. "Either way, I can't really disappoint her anymore as is."

He told them he would be back around one or so and promised to enter quietly. He took his helmet from off the stairs that led into their make-s.h.i.+ft home, climbed the steps, quietly unlocked, opened, and closed the door before Lauren asked Strom if Nick was truly alright. Strom told her he'd be fine and resumed reading Franny and Zooey.

6:20 PM.

Seattle, Was.h.i.+ngton Jonathan walked at a brisk pace toward his office while he read through a doc.u.ment that cited the Kitayama Corporation's prior work history in joint ventures with external companies. An offer for a cooperative project surfaced and Jonathan felt he needed to judge whether business with the generally distant company would be a sound investment or not.

He opened the door to his office and nearly shouted when he found Drake within and sitting in his chair. The man took a moment to compose himself and asked why Drake stopped by. "No one informed me of your visit, otherwise"

"I just sort of dropped by," Drake told him. He looked at the papers in his hands and asked what it was.

Jonathan adjusted his gla.s.ses and told him it was just a compilation of doc.u.ments that mentioned general effectiveness of the Kitayama Corporation. "They've made some offers to join us in a few joined projects in our gaming department, as well as extending an offer to encode our software for nearly a decade as a sign of good faith."

Drake frowned and asked why they had such a sudden change of heart. "They're normally cold toward us if I remember."

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 Sat.u.r.day 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 a.s.sumed 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 gla.s.ses 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 a.s.sume?"

"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, Was.h.i.+ngton 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 pa.s.sed 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 entree.

"It was hectic to say the least. I forgot I had a paper to write for my English cla.s.s, 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 Dafu 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 gla.s.s 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 h.e.l.l'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 rea.s.surance 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 rea.s.sured 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?"