Lockdown Nation Read online

  “Hey, you okay?” asked Sam.

  Our eyes interlocked. I knew I had to tell him now. “You know, I used to keep this poster of Adenine Cash with me. I met her during the junior school orientation day. I used to look up to her, wishing I would be a great scientist like herself. She gave me a signed poster of herself and every time I hit rock bottom, I would look at it, reminding myself of what I wanted to be. And now I’ve discovered who she was…I’ve become lost.”

  I put down the pipette. “I used to think highly of Hershey too. They used to be my source of motivation but now I’ve lost all my confidence. I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “Hey, check this out.” Sam whipped out his phone.

  My cheeks burned with shame when he showed me a photo of myself.

  In the photo, I stood overlooking the sea underneath the Whiteshore sky. Blue against blue. My shirt and hair danced in the wind. Hated to admit it was a great shot. For someone who disliked her photo being taken, I was glad Sam captured this moment for I wouldn’t know if I would ever be back there.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered urgently.

  “You wanted someone to look up to, so here’s a photo.” I stared at him. “You’ve come a long way, Roxy. Give yourself some credit. Sure Cash and Hershey might have inspired you in some ways, but you wouldn’t have ended up here if you didn’t put in the work. You can do this, Roxy. It’s not the time to be afraid.”

  Sucking in a deep breath, I aliquoted the reagents into the reaction tubes. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I got up to set up the PCR machine. “It’s time.” I put all five tubes into the machine, shut the lid, and hit ‘START’.

  The machine trembled into action. The fear trickled into my chest. I turned away from the hologram of the process animation and distracted myself by wiping down the bench and putting away the apparata.

  The words from grandpa’s journal flounced mockingly in my head. As if my anxiety and impostor syndrome hadn’t tortured me enough.

  “How long is it gonna take?”

  “Half hour more or less.”

  “Let’s go grab our free coffee while we wait.” Sam pulled at my arm. I hesitated. “Come on. Let the machine do its job.”

  I glanced at the PCR machine once and followed Sam out. We loosened our lab coats and hung them at the rack by the door. The smell of coffee, perhaps the lack of chemical atoms in the air relaxed me.

  The barista at the cafe greeted us with a beam. “Hey, guys. How’s the research going?”

  Sam and I traded looks. “It’s great, thanks,” I said.

  “That’s excellent. What can I get for you two?”

  “Can we have our free coffee please?”

  “Sure. Please be seated. I’ll bring them over.”

  Sam and I got a table in the corner. Five minutes later, the barista brought our drinks. Iced cappuccino frappe in Erlenmeyer flasks. I stirred my drink thoughtfully while Sam downed his in one go.

  “Thanks,” I muttered.

  “What for?”

  “For being here with me. For trusting me to do the right thing,” I said.

  Sam shrugged. “I don’t want to lose you again, Roxy. I can’t sit at home and do nothing knowing what’s going on.”

  The cacophony from the adjacent table punctuated our conversation. Sam and I turned around at the loud salesperson opening the silver briefcase to reveal a matte black disk-like device to the disinterested man. Chin on fist, his companion’s eyes bleared over. He nodded matter-of-factly every few seconds.

  “This gene-editing explosive device, Gene Blast, our latest invention, will come in handy in mass genetic modification of agricultural products.” The man in the blue button shirt retrieved the disk in his hands, turning it around at his potential client.

  “Look at the climate nowadays, it’s unpredictable and hostile. What do you do during a sudden drought, flash flood, locust plague? Well, gone are the days you cut your losses and hope for a better season. With this state-of-the-art precision gene-editing technology at your fingertip, you can genetically modify to increase the resistance of your farm bounty against any threats any time.”

  An idea sprang into mind. “Mass genetic modification?” I muttered to myself.

  The other man pursed his lips. “Is this universal for all plants?”

  “At the current state, Gene Blast covers a wide range of crops you can check out by installing the Gene Blast App you will use to calibrate the settings for gene delivery…” The shadows of Sam and I fell on the salesperson as we hovered over the table. “Um, how can I help you?”

  I jutted my chin at the Gene Blast. “Does it work on humans?”

  The men traded a wary look. “I suppose. We haven’t tested it out.” The salesperson shrugged. “I guess the fun part of science is to experiment it yourself!”

  I picked up the black disk and looked at it. “Cool. We’ll take 20 of these.”

  The salesman jerked back in shock but quickly replied, “S—sure. May I have your grant number please?”

  I whipped out my ID without breaking eye contact with the Gene Blast. The idea took shape, a smile grew on my face. “Put it on express delivery. I need it by tomorrow.”

  “That will be an extra 10% surcharge on delivery fees,” said the salesperson.

  I glanced at the ID on his lanyard. “Your name’s Mike?”

  The salesperson slipped out a sheepish, corporate-appropriate laugh. “Yes, that’s my name.”

  “Now, Mike. Did I stutter?” I said.

  Mike nodded sheepishly and his fingers danced on his tablet.

  I shot Sam a smirk. He arched his brow quizzically at me.

  ☣☣☣☣☣☣

  “So, are you going to tell me about your grand scheme now?” Sam and I hustled back into the lab throwing the lab coats. “Are you planning to retire and start a farm or something?”

  “No, Sam. It’s a device for mass genetic modification!” I cried out. Realizing I was too loud, I lowered my voice. “Look, that’s what the virus is doing. They’re spreading at a dangerous rate. Even if the anti-Cranax gene is 100% effective, we can only do so much with a gene gun.”

  Sam blinked rapidly and rubbed his chin. His face cleared in understanding. “You’re planning to repurpose the Gene Blast into a mass genetic editing weapon to cure the Infected.”

  I pumped my fists in excitement. “Yes!”

  “But is it gonna work though? That guy said it’s for agriculture.”

  I shrugged. “The fun part is to experiment it yourself!”

  “That’s fair.” Sam nodded. “And now it’s the moment of truth.”

  Panic swelled in my chest. I stared at the hologram above the PCR machine showing a green sign ‘COMPLETE’. I sucked in a breath and psyched myself up for the worst when Sam patted me on the back. He smiled. “You can do this, Roxy. You can do so much more than you think you could.”

  With a nod, I smacked on a pair of gloves and went through the sterilization process. The flashbacks of my time at Connor University flounced in my head. I transferred the PCR tubes to the DNA analysis machine and ran it.

  I plopped onto the stool behind me and Sam followed suit.

  The familiar string of codes appeared on the blue hologram, I looked to my right, half-expecting to see Armani Ng. Instead, Sam beamed back at me. A wave of sadness washed over me as the CCTV footage from ANNUS flooded my mind. Armani Ng was long gone.

  My mind took a trip down memory lane when the beep from the machine scattered my thoughts. I hopped up so urgently I knocked the stool over. Sam’s quick hand caught it before it fell on the floor.

  I plugged in my tablet and transferred the analysis report. Once complete, I thrust the tablet into Sam’s hands. He looked at me in shock and confusion.

  “I can’t look at it. You check for me, please,” I said.

  Sam frowned at the tablet. “How am I supposed to know what to look at?�
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  “Okay, okay.” I sucked in a breath. “Tell me the numbers. Read the first one. I’ll get the idea.”

  “What numbers?”

  “Any numbers!”

  “Okay, okay. 5.43…um…milligram, I suppose.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Sam. “You sure you got the decimal place correct?”

  Sam rolled his eyes at me. “In my line of job, if I put a punctuation mark in the wrong place, I’ll be doomed. So my eyes are pretty well-trained in this case.”

  “You sure? Does it have a minus sign in front of it?”

  “I’m positive. Why don’t you take a look at it yourself?” I almost dropped the tablet when Sam thrust it back into my palms.

  My frown deepened. I blinked quickly at the results. “T—they’re positive. Blot my gel. I’ve never gotten such good results from PCR before.” Hot tears brimmed my eyes as I turned to Sam and threw my arms around him. “Father of Science! I’ve got friggin positive results!”

  I squeezed him hard and planted a kiss on his lips. Sam’s eyes fluttered open. His muscles tensed against me when I realized what I was doing and let go of him. My cheeks scorched with shame. I looked away. “Thank you, Sam. I would’ve done it without your help and motivation.”

  Sam fought to feign a neutral expression. “You’re welcome, Roxy. Anytime. Shall we go now?”

  “Absolutely, but first we need to get a self-freezing storage case to keep these babies.” I smiled at the reaction tubes sitting in a row on the analysis machine.

  16

  MANDY

  The radio came to life as Mandy revved the car engine. Her finger stopped on the power button when the voice on the radio rang a bell.

  “I’ve committed treason against the President of Asia Nova, President Professor Peyton and I wholeheartedly apologize and accept my mistakes. Therefore, hereby I’m resigning as the National Counsel and my status in the Council. In reason we trust.”

  Mandy’s heart shriveled at every word. Though the midday sun blared through the windscreen and baked the interior of the car, it sent a chill down her spine.

  The look of horror on Carlisa’s face reflected hers. “Blot my gel…he must’ve caught the virus.”

  The news anchor’s voice followed, “The following voice clip is from Ronin Yamashita’s Social Sense account and it seems like he’s come to his sense after his previous allegation claims against the President—”

  Mandy turned off the radio and stared at Carlisa. “I never liked that guy since National Service but I hate to say he was our only hope. I don’t know what to do now.”

  Carlisa shook her head. “Me neither. But I have a feeling this is more complex than Ronin publicly resigning and apologizing. You said Peyton exiled him to the quarantine island. He didn’t give a damn about explaining his disappearance and why would he put on a show now?”

  Mandy’s brows deepened with question. “What do you reckon?”

  Carlisa shook her head. “My gut feeling’s telling me he’s either trying to break our spirits or give us the warning to stay out of this.”

  Mandy’s head spun. As the questions plagued her mind, she shook her head and cranked up the air-cond. “This doesn’t feel good at all. We need to get to Assunta soon.”

  She pulled out her phone and dialed Assunta’s number. Her fingers drummed impatiently to the beeping tone. Her eyes darted around furtively as if what they were doing were illegal. Once the line connected and she heard Assunta’s voice on the line, her heart jumped.

  “Dr. Assunta?” She straightened up and gripped tightly onto the steering wheel.

  “Speaking. Who’s this?”

  Mandy’s name hung at the tip of her tongue when an idea struck her. “I have an important parcel to deliver to you, Dr. Assunta.”

  “A parcel? I haven’t ordered anything?”

  “Have you heard the news today?”

  Mandy pinched her eyes closed and sucked in her breath. Assunta cleared her throat. “Of course. I’ll send you my address.”

  “No, let’s catch up over a coffee instead.”

  Assunta hesitated. “Yeah, sure. I know a nice place we can go to. I’ll send you the details.”

  Mandy hung up. She closed her eyes, trying to process everything that happened until her phone vibrated. Assunta sent her a GPS location to a café. She flicked the address to the car GPS and set the destination. The car eased into the highway and followed the directions downtown.

  The twenty-minute drive led them to a coffee shop. Mandy followed the direction of the GPS to a parking spot. The two hopped out of their ride and traded a knowing look. No words had exchanged between them but the same idea went through their heads.

  What if this happened to be a trap? They had lost too many allies to take any chances.

  Mandy checked the Zapper at her hips and signaled at Carlisa to get behind her. The flashbacks from the fast-food restaurants sent a chill down her spine. Hand on her Zapper, her wary eyes scrutinized every face she came across with.

  They stood in front of the rendezvous point at the rustic outdoor coffee shop surrounded by leafy plants and hand-carved wooden décor. Through the spaces between the barricade, most tables had been patronized by friends chattering away oblivious to the impending danger. Wait staff dressed in bohemian outfits breezed around with exotic cocktails.

  “Hey, Mandy!” A familiar voice called out above the humming drone of voices.

  Mandy and Carlisa craned their necks searching the source when their eyes fell on the lady waving frantically at them in the crowd. Mandy stared at her briefly, then she made out Assunta.

  The two joined her.

  Assunta looked different from the first time Mandy had met her. Even when she removed her sunglasses, Mandy still had to get used to her new look. Under the giant sunhat, Assunta glanced around, fearing if they might have been followed. She had a flowy beige top and white palazzo pants on, as if on a summer vacation.

  Mandy and Carlisa took their seats. A waitress hurried to their service. Mandy asked for tap water for two. Once the waitress scurried away, Assunta gestured at Carlisa, expecting an introduction.

  “Dr. Assunta, meet Carlisa. Carlisa, this is Dr. Assunta,” said Mandy.

  Assunta and Carlisa nodded but their expressions wary. Assunta groped at her side, where the shadow of her Zapper bulged against her pants. She cleared her throat and straightened in her seat. “Are you going to tell me what happened to Ronin now?”

  Mandy lowered her voice. “Ronin, Axon, and Vaxine…they’re being captured.” Assunta’s eyes widened at Mandy. “The plan was to confront Peyton.”

  Assunta muttered a cuss and turned away. Her face betrayed her anger. Though her voice remained calm. “I thought you would be more intelligent than to confront an Infected.”

  “We have some significant findings on the strain of the virus that infected Dr. Hershey. We suspect Peyton caught the same strain and it was the only way to prove our hypothesis.”

  Assunta’s brow arched with interest.

  Mandy retrieved her tablet and opened the Cranax database. “Look at the differences in the Hershey and Peyton’s virus sequences compared to a standard Infected’s.”

  Assunta put on her glasses and peered at the screen.

  “This is why Hershey’s antidote doesn’t work on some Infected. Ronin suspected the expression of these Infected genes are controlled by the same strain of virus Hershey and Peyton got.”

  Assunta gawked at Mandy as if she was mad. “And you’re making such claims based on what?”

  Mandy powered off her tablet and stared seriously at Assunta. “There’s something you should know about a covert experiment conducted by Hershey and Quillon.” The color on Assunta’s face paled with every word that fell off Mandy’s lips. When she finished reiterating the twins’ experiment, her face matched the color of her pants.

  “Blot my gel.” Assunta turned away and cupped her hand on her fo
rehead. “So you’re saying an underground syndicate’s trying to mass infect the entire population of Asia Nova?”

  “We believe that’s the goal of Project Hive Mind. Hershey was part of it.”

  “For what?” Assunta sounded devastated rather than shocked.

  Mandy shook her head. “We don’t know.”

  Assunta pinched her eyes closed as she let the information sink in. She opened her eyes when she calmed down. “And what do we do now?”

  Carlisa and Mandy traded glances. Carlisa answered, “You’re part of the Cranax emergency coalition. Ronin’s a goner so someone has to step up and take one for the team.”