Omega Zero

by Kurtis Eckstein

  “I don’t give a damn what they told you,” she snapped, her voice still quiet but full of venom. “Either I speak to him alone, or I’m not giving you the information they want.”

  Robert gritted his teeth, before turning his fury on me. “You are not allowed to touch her in any manner – that’s an order. Are we clear?”

  I tried to play dumb. “Well of course not,” I agreed. “I don’t want to get what she has.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly, before he glared at her again. “I’ll give you five minutes. That’s it!”

  “Ten,” she snapped quietly.

  Robert balled his hands into fists, prompting me to speak up again.

  “Does it really matter how much time I talk with her?” I wondered. “I mean, I’d imagine she doesn’t get visitors often. Must be lonely,” I added, giving her a sympathetic look. I had to admit, even I was proud of my acting, even more so when Jordyn’s emerald eyes widened in surprise.

  Robert seemed to be biting the inside of his cheek as he evaluated the situation. “Ten minutes,” he hissed again, before stomping out of the room.

  I glanced over my shoulder as the door closed, and then focused on her again. We both just stared at each other for a moment, before she glanced to a chair next to her bed.

  “Come. Sit,” she whispered.

  I did, prompting her to speak up again.

  “Closer. I don’t want him to hear what we talk about. And take off that stupid mask. It doesn’t do anything. I’m not going to get sicker from you breathing on me.”

  I complied again, pulling the mask underneath my chin as I scooted until my knees were right up against the bedframe. I felt really silly in the gown, like I was wearing a baggy dress.

  Once she was satisfied, she fetched a piece of paper out from underneath her blankets, and slid it towards me. I glanced at it to see what was written.

  ‘There’s a mic under the bed. Find it and cover it with your blood.’

  My eyes widened slightly, before I focused on my sixth sense, scanning her bed for anything unusual. Her brow furrowed when I didn’t move, but I ignored her while studying the wires and other contraptions that allowed the bed to change positions.

  And then I found it, looking very similar to the one Ava had discovered after I pretended to try to kill Liz. I shot my blood out to encase it, leaving barely a thread connected to my body, only to scan the rest of the room and find one more in a closet.

  When I focused on her again, her eyes were wide.

  “Done.” I paused looking at her body. “What about that?” I wondered, pointing to a rectangular device in the bed next to her. It had wires running from the base to the inside of her gown.

  She glanced down at it without moving her head. “Oh, that’s my heart monitor. They’re monitoring it down the hall. It doesn’t have a mic.”

  I nodded in understanding, looking up to examine her again.

  “What?” she asked with a small smile.

  I shrugged. “You just look surprisingly alright. Better than I was expecting at least.”

  She laughed quietly. “Wow, thanks.”

  “I just meant, the guy that brought me here made it sound like you were on your deathbed.”

  She grimaced. “I sort of am,” she admitted. “I’m non-stop running an extremely high fever they can barely keep under control, I have severe inflammation everywhere, including my brain and spine, and my body doesn’t want to keep anything in, so they have to feed me through this ridiculously expensive IV fluid. The swelling in my brain is the biggest concern, but all of my organs are finally beginning to fail.” She took a shallow breath. “If they didn’t keep me in a medical coma most of the time, then I would have gone into septic shock and died a long time ago.” Her voice lowered even more. “But now, even that isn’t helping.”

  I hesitated as I considered that. “So…are you saying you’re going to die soon?” I asked quietly.

  She grimaced and glanced away without moving her head again. Her hands were unexpectedly trembling. “With your help, I’m hoping not,” she whispered.

  “My help?” I repeated. “How in the world could I help?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “That’s just how my ability works though. I used to be able to only detect what powers other metahumans have, but now I can just decide what I need, and I’m able to locate the person who can help.”

  “So being sick made your ability stronger,” I confirmed.

  “At a great cost,” she clarified. “You know about the virus that made us, right?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, although I didn’t know until just a little bit ago. The guy who brought me filled me in.”

  “Well this strain is much stronger – too strong. It modified my DNA a second time, which made me really sick in the beginning, but now my own body is the enemy. I’m not dying from the virus itself, I’m dying from my body’s attempt to kill it. And it just won’t die, not even after five years.”

  “Oh,” I replied simply, not sure how else to respond.

  She paused then as she considered her next statement. “It was me, you know. I’m the reason they found you.”

  I nodded, prompting her eyes to widen in shock. “Yeah, I kind of assumed that might be the case, although I’m surprised you’re telling me outright. I might be angry, for all you know.”

  Her eyes tightened. “Yes, well…I want you to be aware of my role, before I tell you how you might be able to help. I’d feel too guilty deceiving you.”

  I scoffed at that. “Then you’re too nice. If your life is on the line, you shouldn’t be sabotaging your chances to get better.”

  She grimaced. “Maybe. But I don’t feel like I deserve your help, and I don’t want you to feel forced to give it.” She paused again as she reached into her blankets to pull out a second slip of paper, attempting to lift her arm to hand it to me, only for her hand to tremble violently and fall back down on the bed.

  “Sorry,” she whispered, sliding her hand a little closer.

  I reached out and took it, if only to stop her from exerting so much effort for such a simple task.

  “That’s the information they want from me,” she said quietly.

  I stared at the folded piece of paper in my hands, and then slowly stuck it in my pocket. “So basically, I could just walk out now, having gotten what we came for.”

  Her eyes tightened again. “Yes,” she replied quietly.

  “And if I do that, you’ll probably die soon, right?”

  “Yes,” she repeated, her voice even more strained.

  “How long do they think you have?” I wondered. “A few months, or weeks?”

  She went to shake her head, only to wince when she turned her neck just slightly. I realized that was the first time she had tried moving her head. “Umm, if the swelling in my brain and spine continue, that’s probably what will kill me first, even if they put me in a coma again. Maybe days.”

  I sighed heavily in reservation. I didn’t see any reason not to help her, and while I knew the whole Trinity and Zane thing was a lie, part of me wanted to make sure Jordyn survived so that Zane had someone else to focus on.

  “What do you want me to do?” I wondered.

  Her eyes brightened. “You’ll help?”

  I shrugged. “I mean, I’m not sure how I can help.”

  She pursed her lips. “Me either,” she admitted. “But I’ve thought about it, and I can only think of two ways you might be able to help. One possibility is that you’re also a carrier like me, a vector for the virus, except with a different strain of the virus inside of you – one that’s not killing you.”

  “Vector?” I wondered.

  “Like a host,” she clarified. “An organism that spreads a disease, but doesn’t get sick from it. And if that’s true, then it might just be you’re okay because you can regenerate quickly, which wouldn’t help me out. However, it also might be that it’s a strain that can hide from the immune system, which would help me assu
ming your virus could either defeat the virus I have, or else create a hybrid virus.” She took a deep breath. “The second possibility is that maybe I can give you the virus I have, let your body adapt to it, and then you can give it right back, basically like a vaccine.” She paused when she saw my shocked reaction, only to continue slowly. “With your regeneration ability, you could probably create a vaccine to any virus in your body in a matter of seconds.”

  “So what are you saying?” I asked seriously.

  She grimaced. “I want you to put your blood inside me,” she admitted. “I want to either infect you or get infected by you.”

  I just stared at her in disbelief, before scoffing. “Well, so much for following their hospital protocol.”

  She nodded in agreement, wincing as her head inclined. “They’re terrified of what my strain of the virus might do if it mutates, even restricting certain procedures like surgery to avoid the possibility of it spreading, but…” She choked up for a moment. “I know it’s selfish of me, but I really don’t want to die. And I really don’t want to be in this bed anymore. The last five years have been hell, and…” Tears began filling her eyes. “I’d really like to see Zane again before I die.” She sniffled, her hands shaking as she tried to wipe her eyes. It was a struggle for her to lift her arms to do so.

  After a moment, she continued. “They asked me about him, you know?”

  Unexpectedly, I felt my blood run cold. “What did you say?”

  “That I couldn’t find him,” she whispered. “I assumed there must be a reason why they were asking. So, I figured I’d leave it up to him to decide whether or not he wanted to be found, and just deal with the consequences if they discovered I was lying.”

  I sighed heavily in relief. “They think he’s dead,” I explained quietly.

  She inclined her chin slightly. “Yes, I kind of figured as much. Which means I’d have to escape this place eventually if I’m ever to see him again.”

  I sighed. “I suppose I might be able to help with that too,” I replied, looking away towards the wall.

  She didn’t respond, and we were both quiet then as I considered where that left us.

  Not knowing what I was dealing with made helping her out feel risky, but on the other hand I felt like I couldn’t just let her die either. I mean, she used her power to find the person who could help her, and that was me, so maybe it would be okay?

  I shifted my gaze back towards her, having made my decision. “Well, I guess–”

  My heart froze.

  Jordyn’s eyes were rolled into the back of her head, and her body was beginning to tremble.

  “Shit!” I exclaimed, bolting straight up from my chair. The shaking and jerking rapidly escalated until it was clear she was having a full-on seizure.

  Suddenly, I could sense five people running down the hall in our direction, which left me with no time, being that Robert was still right outside the door.

  My blood shot out of my body and into her thigh, rapidly finding a large vein. I then relaxed myself within her, so that I could flow freely throughout her body. Robert, of course, had realized something was going on, prompting him to burst through the door a moment later, the curtain being the only reason he couldn’t see what I was doing.

  Realizing I was out of time, I carefully receded before he could witness my blood, trying to force myself to leave a tiny amount behind in the event that me infecting her was what needed to happen. I also took some of her blood in exchange, to possibly create a vaccine in my body like she suggested. I had no idea if those precious few seconds were enough to do whatever needed to be done, but I also couldn’t risk them seeing me with my blood in her. No doubt they would assume I had been the one responsible for causing her seizure.

  Dammit! I should have just done it when she first asked!

  I expected Robert to either yell at me, or demand I leave, but he surprised me by freezing when he saw her. And in that moment, I witnessed something I hadn’t expected.

  Genuine fear. The kind of fear shown only when someone they loved was dying.

  Shit! Did he have a thing for her? An unrequited love kind of deal? I had just assumed they didn’t really know each other, but maybe I was wrong?

  It took the medical staff entering the room and barking out orders to bring him out of his shock. We were both shoved out of the door while they went to work, one of them putting something in her IV, while the others shifted the pillows to prevent her from hitting her head on the bed’s railings. It appeared there wasn’t a lot else they could do for her.

  I was completely baffled that she seemed fine one moment, and was having a seizure the next. And my biggest concern was that I didn’t know if she would be fine after the seizure was done, or if she was actually dying now.

  In the event that I needed to adapt to her strain of the virus and create a vaccine, then I’d have to find my way back here somehow in order to basically give her the shot that would save her life. But obviously if she was dying right now, then it was too late. Still, I had to try…

  I finally focused on Robert in the hallway, appearing as if he’d seen a ghost. His dark skin looked almost gray.

  “How important is it to you that she stay alive?” I hissed towards him.

  His eyes turned into saucers, before he gritted his teeth together with a livid glare. “What in the hell did you say?” he snapped.

  “I want to know what you would do to make her better,” I rephrased, realizing he had misunderstood.

  He gave me a hard stare for a long few seconds, before responding between his teeth. “Anything.”

  “Because of her power?” I wondered.

  His eyes narrowed. “What are you getting at.”

  “You’re going to bring me back here,” I replied firmly.

  “No. I’m not.”

  “Why do you think she wanted to see me?” I demanded. “Knowing what she can do, why do you think she wanted to see me specifically.”

  His eyes widened. “You can help her?” he whispered.

  I didn’t answer him. I already felt like it was risky telling him this information, and definitely wouldn’t have done it had I not seen the look on his face when he saw her seizing. But I mean, even if he did snitch to his superiors, what were they going to do? They wanted her alive too, so they might even let me try saving her, but the problem was that Jordyn didn’t seem to want them to know. Possibly she thought the higher ups would consider the risk of the virus mutating to be too great to save her life. She had admitted she felt selfish for even asking. But as far as I was concern, it was worth the risk. The idea that this virus could really kill the whole world just seemed too alien to me.

  Impossible really.

  “You’re going to bring me back here,” I repeated in a hiss.

  He straightened up more, seeming to have collected himself. “Their top priority right now is getting the information they need from her. They won’t let you see her again. Ever. And there’s nothing I can do to change their minds.”

  I paused as I considered that, realizing he must have decided he didn’t believe I could really help her – that it was too good to be true. He certainly didn’t believe it enough to risk disobeying orders – not even enough to wait around to try to let me see her after the medical staff were done.

  And if what he said was really true – that I wouldn’t be allowed to see her again – then I was just going to have to play along for now. And then later on, I might make a midnight trip here when no one was looking. I’d just have to pay attention to my sixth sense the whole way back, to make sure I could find this place again. However, the problem was, escaping the base on foot didn’t seem feasible. There were too many cameras, and who knew what else. The base didn’t have a fence, yet no one dared to run away. Surely, they had sensors or something to alert if someone tried escaping. Not to mention I’d have to run all the way here into the middle of a city, which was full of even more cameras they might have access to.

  U
nless…

  Unless I didn’t travel here on foot…

  I attempted to hide my own shock as I realized for the first time what I had done twice now without even really considering the implications of it. Unfortunately, my surprise leaked through.

  “There something you want to say?” Robert demanded.

  I nodded, reaching into my pocket as a diversion. “Yeah, she already gave me the information we need,” I replied, holding out the folded piece of paper for him.

  He gawked at it, before snatching it away and reading what it said. “Damn. Okay. Let’s go. This isn’t the first seizure she’s had. She’ll be fine.”

  I scoffed, following him down the hall. I couldn’t believe we were really going to leave when Jordyn was seizing in the other room. Maybe my priorities were just different than his. Maybe he just put a larger priority on the fact a terrorist organization had bombed a tenth of the world. Maybe one person’s life wasn’t as important as getting this information to his superiors, even if he might care about that person.

  How noble.

  If that’s what the military looked for in a metahuman soldier – one they could trust – then I would certainly never be who they wanted.

  Never.

  I was going to find my way back here later, and no one was going to stop me.

  Because I could fly.

  As we passed the area where the medical staff had been sitting to observe the vital signs of the handful of patients on this floor, a rapid beeping unexpectedly turned into a solid shrill tone as someone’s heart stopped.

  Chapter 12: Flatline

  Robert and I both came to a halt, staring at the source of the sound. For a split second, I was in denial, thinking that it couldn’t be her, but the other three sets of vital signs displayed on the large monitoring screen were completely normal.

  Robert looked like he’d seen a ghost again. “M-Maybe they took her heart monitor off,” he stated to no one in particular, sounding like he was trying to reassure himself.

  Unexpectedly, the pulse jumped up to a normal level, though the beeping signaled by the heart’s activity was still a shrill tone, the line flat.