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They peered at the high-resolution screen, the two women with their team behind them.
Elise spoke first, tired but eager. “I think we have it. Now for testing on people. Normals, that is.”
The being – the woman - now calling herself Raphaela agreed. “Everything looks as if it will function within parameters. Properly formulated as a vaccine it protects almost one hundred percent. It should cure about eighty percent of recipients on the first dose.”
“Good enough for now. We’ll keep working on it, but I want this batch cultured as fast as possible, then tested. If it’s as good as we hope, we’ll distribute it to everyone – complete with production information and samples.”
“Elise, you are exhausted. Let your staff handle this.” Raphaela looked warmly down upon the smaller woman.
“You look tired too. How about we both get some shuteye?”
Just a hundred yards away the nano team were slapping themselves on the back as they watched the multiple displays, showing replication charts, statistical analyses, electron micrographs and, most important of all, the patient.
Inside the isolation room Larry sat up on the hospital bed and shook himself. He reached for a glass of water, drinking it down then addressing the video teleconferencing equipment on the wall. “Hey, guys. I’m feeling fine, now. There was a little fever and nausea, but it’s all passed. Someone want to come in and draw blood?”
A technician folded himself into the tube-suit, an arrangement that allowed those outside to interact with those inside without a cumbersome decontamination procedure. He drew three opaque vials from Larry’s hep-lock, putting them into the wall’s shuttle drawer for retrieval outside.
One long hour later the results came back – everything normal. The nanites worked, defending an exposed Eden against the Demon Plague without major side effects. Tiny Fortress had come through.
Larry sat alone, thinking. So why don’t I trust it? Too good to be true?
