𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XXXVI pt. II

oOo

Their bubble was popped when Glenn appeared at her door – not very surprised to see her siblings in there with her – announcing that Dr. Jenner had called everybody to the computer room, having something to show them.

They abandoned what they were doing and left with him. There were some others also joining the rest of the group as they arrived.

Jenner looked at them, likely noticing the complete numbers, and commanded Vi to power up the main screen.

A loading screen showed up shortly up front and then several images of anatomical planes of a brain appeared, mainly in shades of blue, bathing the room in a cold atmosphere.

Dr. Jenner told them that few people ever got the see what they were seeing, and that got Diana to burn with pure curiosity.

Carl, who was standing with Lori beside Alice, asked Jenner if what they were seeing was a brain, and he affirmed that it was an extraordinary one, not that it had mattered in the end.

He gave Vi another command and the image on the screen changed, zooming in on the brain until the nerve cells were visible and they could observe the synapses flashing back and forward along the cells, carrying information.

Diana had never seen anything quite like that; they had incredible instruments at their disposal.

Shane asked what the lights were and Diana almost had to bite her tongue to keep from answering.

Jenner explained to them the purpose of the synapses and then announced that what they were witnessing was a vigil, or rather, the playback of one, of Test Subject 19, someone who had been bitten and infected, and who had volunteered to have the scientists record the process.

What a morbid thing, Diana thought, but she would've done the same. If her death could've in any way or form contribute to the furthering of science, toward finding an answer, then she wouldn't have minded.

Dr. Jenner looked upon the screen with great melancholy, and Diana wondered if he'd known the subject personally, if it had been one of his friends or colleagues whom he had to watch die an awful death. Then he said, "Vi, scan forward to the first event," which the computerized female voice repeated, and the screen changed once more.

The MRI video showed them the same brain as before, but now the infection had started affecting it, darkening the regions around the brain stem and spreading outwards. The activity of the synapses was still there, but lessened and completely different from before.

"What is that?" Glenn asked in wonder.

Jenner pointed at it and explained, "It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs."

As he spoke, the person in the MRI video starting convulsing as their last moments approached, the darkness of the infection reaching out further and further until the entire brain was dark, the person's life erased like it had never been there; dead. No more lights flickering, no more memories, no more emotions, just plain lifeless.

Diana thought she should be feeling sad, but she couldn't muster it up; she knew what it all meant, but to her, it was just a silhouette on a screen.

Dr. Jenner paused, looking down. "Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be... gone."

When Sophia mentioned Jim, Diana was reminded of how glad she had been that Sam and Irene hadn't had to suffer through his fate, and now that sentiment came back doubled. It served as some comfort to know that they had not been erased from this existence in this pitiful manner. They had died human.