Once again, Jessica had little visibility and just held onto Evelyn’s arm firmly. Jessica felt the strong winds blowing against them on both sides. Instead of emerging in the forest, this time the fog cleared as they entered a dark cave-like hallway. Vau, Jordan, and the others waited for Ori, who was bringing up the rear, before proceeding. The group then waited for a glass door to open, and once they walked through, Jessica saw they were back in the control center. This time, they must have entered from the same door that Tony exited the other day.
Most of the group headed straight for the briefing room. Jessica hung back a little, watching Evelyn as she walked farther down the hallway to a separate doorway. Aja appeared to wait there for her. The two had a quick exchange before Evelyn walked back to Jessica and held out a skeleton watch. “Aja took your watch when she found you by the pond. It’s very dangerous to have it if you can’t control your thoughts.”
“How could one spray of that chemical do so much damage?” Jessica asked.
“Well, you also probably took some impact either from your collapse or your crash or both. Plus, this didn’t just happen to you; it happened to Zach too, and your minds are entangled. Your memory was and is impacted by recurring medicinal treatments that are happening to Zach,” Evelyn said.
Ori came over to join in. “Now that you’ve regained your memories, there’s a chance that Zach can recover his. But, we’ve got to act fast.”
Jessica nodded in understanding as she took the watch and secured it on her wrist. She followed Ori and Evelyn into the briefing room. Jessica felt her stomach turn, and a sense of panic overcame her. “Malik is in danger?”
“He is,” Vau said.
Jordan added, “We just needed to make sure that you were good before we took action.”
“I’m fine. Please save him,” Jessica couldn’t help but say, even though she knew that’s what they were all there for.
“We got him,” Ori said. “Go ahead, Carlos, what were you saying?”
“Outside of the morning hours between three and five, for there to be such severe interference with Zach, not to mention a recruit,” Carlos looked at Jessica, “a scribe no less, the person must be incredibly driven and blinded by ambition. We know that these requests have to be coming from Roy Mengele.”
“Who’s that?” Jessica asked.
“He’s the president and CEO of Confidence Biotech,” Jordan said.
“Since when?” Jessica asked. How much time has passed?
“Jessica,” Ori said quietly, “you understand that Malik’s world is quite different from the one you remember?”
“I suppose,” Jessica replied.
“What do you remember about Confidence Biotech?” Ori asked.
“They were a questionable company, but I was never able to substantiate anything definitively criminal. We believed they were taking advantage of senior citizens, claiming to have a solution for dementia, but their clinical trial data was fishy. Complaints would pop up, but then seemed to be quickly quieted.”
“That’s exactly how they are or would’ve been if Zach’s path hadn’t been interrupted. In the reality you lived in, the one that should be the truth, you’re exactly right. But when Zach was attacked, it threw everything off,” Evelyn said.
Jordan spoke up. “What’s happened with the absence of Zach and you is that Confidence Biotech has become one of the most powerful companies in the world. They’ve used their tactics to convince the world’s powers that they’ve created a solution for the virus. Their answer is inhumane, yet they are still pursuing that strategy to the bitter end.”
“That bitter end is with Malik,” Tony said. “He’s the last link to a sustainable, effective, humane resolution for the virus.”
“Unfortunately,” Carlos said, “Roy is circling.” Carlos shook his head. “If Roy and his Biotech contact tracers get ahold of Malik, it’s game over. Roy is so far down this path that he will do anything to be viewed as the savior.”
“We’ll stop him,” Ori said simply.
“How?” Dr. Serrano asked. “There’s such limited time.”
“We’ll intervene directly,” Evelyn said.
“And you believe Gabriel will comply?” Dr. Serrano asked with some surprise.
“His job is to watch over humanity until they either destroy or embrace one another. Since the virus is an act of nature, it’s technically Aja’s jurisdiction,” Ori said. “But by now Gabriel has to realize that if Earth is at risk, there can be no humanity. And if we can put back in motion a path that allows Earth to survive, we have to think about the type of society that will exist. Because humans are a part of Earth’s ecosystem, some will survive the reset. But even those people will bring to the future what they thought worked well in the past. Suppose people believed that sacrificing some for the benefit of others is the way to develop a society. In that case, the next version of mankind will be no different from this one.”
“And Gabriel knows,” Evelyn interjected, “that any one society with that type of belief system is prone to endless war and oppression. Gabriel would have to continue to watch this loop of human existence, on repeat.”
“But,” Ori said, trading off with Evelyn like this speech was rehearsed, “with a universal reset, like the great deluge or solar flares, humanity is much more likely to come together and embrace one another for mutual survival. That only happens if they get through this test as one.”
Dr. Serrano considered this and asked, “So is there a way back for them from this barbaric path they’ve gone down?”
“Aja has agreed that we should be more assertive since it’s for the survival of the entire planet, not just humanity,” Evelyn responded.
Ori added to her reply, “Gabriel needed proof that there was another solution to the virus that was being overlooked. He and I made a deal. If Malik finds that solution, Jessica gets her time back. Now that Jessica has her memory back,” Evelyn placed a hand on Jessica’s shoulder as Ori continued, “we can help Malik tap into what’s at his fingertips.”
The room was quiet for a moment. Carlos made eye contact with Dr. Serrano and then turned to Ori and asked, “All right, what do you need from us?”
Ori smiled but said no more and just looked at Jessica.
“Jessica,” Tony said, “it’s your moment.”
“What can I do?” Jessica asked.
“Zach gave you a small hard drive that was encrypted,” Tony said. “We need you to remember the password.”
“And in the meantime,” Ori said, “we’ll go help Malik.”