New Elysium: Weapons of War (Book 2)

Patient Zero - Part 14

"The world is breaking down
And I cannot leave the ground
I am wordless and no one can save us now"  - "Wordless" - I Will Never Be The Same 

"Jack?" Leah's voice floated into his ears. He'd always thought her voice almost musical with its lilt. Even before they'd fled to New Elysium with Dex he'd found her attractive. Now staring at her over the unconscious man that Cyril was scanning he found himself barely able to look her in the eye.

"It's the virus," Cyril pronounced looking down at the man.

He had been brought to the med ward, for now, he was restrained but still unconscious.

"Are you sure, Cyril?" Jack's voice was tight as he looked between Cyril and Leah, two of the people he trusted the most on New Elysium. In their current situation, probably the only two people he still trusted.

"It is, the elder version as well," Cyril whispered. There was no reason for them to whisper but it seemed like the right thing for them to do.

"I don't know much about how it worked, back in the day. But from all that I've heard, this is it. It's a self-replicating digital code, so really more of a computer virus. That's why it can spread through the systems. But it has some aspects of biomimetic code as well. It infects the augments at first, through the interface hardware, and from there, jumps over the neural connections, where it's translated to a biochemical signal that spreads through the organic parts of the host. I'm not certain if whoever created it intended the victims to become so... violent. This seems to be more of a side effect of the amygdala being most susceptible to the signals. Essentially, they revert to their most basal, primitive instincts, that's why they become so violent. The code itself only tells them to spread the infection."

Jack sighed and banged a fist against the wall. No, the creator of the virus had certainly not intended that. He knew that, but he couldn't very well say it out loud. His own past sins were following him here, interrupting the good he was trying to do. No matter how far he ran, he couldn't outrun the past. 

He stole a long glance at Leah, and for a moment felt a small amount of guilt. He'd been keeping Dag busy on purpose, outfitting the new ships. And Dag, his friend, believed him...

The reality was much different.

Dag was a friend who had died, supposedly. And then he'd come back with fucking Red of all people. And Red? He'd somehow accidentally turned himself into some sort of symbol, one that Jack wanted to martyr for the cause. Only he wouldn't obey, wouldn't cooperate like he had in the past. He was completely different, and Jack couldn't stand that.

He shut his eyes before staring down at the man in front of him, suddenly feeling like a coward. He hadn't told Leah and Dag that Dex had run from him with an outdated android that Amy Larsson, another cog that didn't fit, had brought.

"So there's nothing I can do for him?" Leah's soft voice interrupted his thoughts.

Jack was about to answer but then realized that he wasn't supposed to know anything about it. They didn't know that the virus had been his brothers and his creation. They didn't know who had caused the first Outbreak, and thereby the Purge. He decided that if they knew, it wouldn't help anyway. They would never understand why he had done it. Not even Ember had.

Leah looked down at the unconscious man, with a look of pain and compassion on her face. He allowed himself to stare at her for a moment while she wasn't looking.

"No," Cyril answered Leah's question, "I'm afraid not."

Jack straightened, pursing his lips together as he listened to her sigh. "We need to figure out how to stop the spread if it's in the system..."