Pause

Chapter 14

"... sorry he's dead, but I don't regret my actions."

"Nor do I, soldier."

Micah came to, hearing Ulises' and Farah's voices.

"Ugh... what happened," he uttered.

"Heyyyy look who's back with us," Ulises said.

"Micah. Good. How do you feel?" Farah asked.

Micah looked past the field medic tending to him and eyed Farah. "Like a fucking transport hit me at top speed," he replied to her.

"I'm afraid to say," Farah began, "that the alpha-creature was right. You're infected with the Biogen."

Micah closed his eyes.

And then he realized something. He wasn't coughing. His breathing seemed normal.

He stood up.

"Eeeasy there, sir," Ulises said as he helped Micah from tipping backwards.

"Ulises... I think I can walk." Micah then tried.

He walked slowly, but normally to the sample box two yards away from him. The imprint from his body showed in the sand next to it, as well as the drag mark leading away from it. He noted that they chose to drag his body away from the sample, as opposed to touching the potentially infectious box. He then picked up the box and held it in his hands as he looked back at Farah and the others.

"You say I'm of the Infected, but I don't feel any of the symptoms," Micah said, walking back over to them.

"We noticed that too," the medic said. "You show none of the external symptoms either. Other than your loss of consciousness and what the... 'it' said, we'd have never suspected you carried the virus. In fact, your episode looked like a simple case of heat stroke before I did a standard bio-test. But the virus is in your blood, a less-severe strain of it, or so I'm guessing."

"I had everyone tested too, including me, just in case," Farah added. "All of us are clean. All but you, Micah."

"Which means I either picked it up somewhere in our travels or skirmishes, or..."

"The alpha-creature," Farah finished his sentence.

"It marked you, it said," Ulises remembered out loud. "Shit! Is it tracking you?!" he said to Micah.

"We'll assume it is," Farah announced. She turned towards the unit's rest area.

"SOLDIERS! Pack up! We're out of here ON THE DOUBLE!"

* * *

Their unit reached the dark obelisk lab. The door had seemed to remain open. Sand had blown into its entrance over time.

"I'll take point," Micah announced.

They ventured in.

"This is... kinda cool looking," Farah said.

They walked through the inner corridor. It held the same black crystalline surfaces as its outside. The walls felt warm to the touch. Despite that, the air was much cooler than the arid climate outdoors.

They entered the doorway into the control room, where Micah and Ulises first encountered Oberon. Everything was still online. The seats and table where they previously sat still had their crumb-scattered plates on top of it.

"This looks cozy," Farah remarked.

"The Doctor was... eccentric," Ulises said.

Micah ignored them. "All right," he said, leaning his rifle against a wall after securing the room. "Time for action."

He began working for hours, Farah and Ulises assisting him. The other eleven in their unit kept a strict guard around the structure, its perimeter also secured. A soldier was stationed at the room's exit. He watched as his superiors meticulously worked.

"Eureka," Micah finally said. He didn't know what that word meant or where it came from, either.