Chương 11: Chapter 11
The studio room in the common residential building for students and teachers greeted Erzketau with the usual silence. Almost like home, it even smelled like home – with brewed coffee. He found it a bit much time-consuming to drive home down in the city and back, but now he had to work in several shifts, perform all kinds of roles: a teacher, a mentor for interns, and a chief of the operation block, and there were no fewer surgeries on the schedule.
"Mei, cook me some protein," he quietly commanded, put his things on the table, went to the couch, and fell feeling pretty groggy.
It isn't clear who invented the tales about the overestimated performance of the zirks, but at times, he very much wanted reality to match the fiction. They could get just as tired as humans could. If one trains their endurance, discipline their body and spirit, then anyone can sleep for four hours a day without compromising their health. However, on days like this, Tau did not know where to draw strength from. Now he has only a quarter of an hour to put his thoughts in order and try to relax, then eat and get to study the 'intelligence' – statistics on hormonal boys, and this can take a decent amount of time.
He just laid on the couch, gently massaging his temples, the bridge of his nose, trying not to think about anything in particular, and he succeeded for a long time. But... very quickly, the peaceful seashore scenery in front of the inner gaze was shattered and replaced by the scene of a recent conversation with Rangira. Over the past year, kaia has already brought this topic several times, after Tau himself, inadvertently, betrayed his ambiguous feelings for a human, but this time the conversation turned out to be somewhat more acute, in his opinion.
"He's making amazing progress, isn't he?" the beginning, as always, did not foretell any troubles. "A couple more surgeries, and I'll be calmly napping on the sofa while the boy does the job."
"Mhm... True, although few people bet on him," Erzketau absentmindedly assented.
"You bet little on him, you mean?" Kaia teased.
Tau did not answer, continuing to tune the equipment.
"Or did you change your mind? Admit it; you give Chris private lessons in transplantology?"
Tau looked up hard at kaia. Here we go again.
"No, I don't, and you are well aware of this," he grunted in irritation.
"That's right, and that's why I am perplexed that it is so. How many years have passed? How much more courage you need to scrape? What stops–?"
"You stop right there!" He intersected her. "What's the use of this venting of yours?"
"What's the use of yours? What is the use of lashing out at me, crushing the test tubes, and being indignant at the fact that you are stupid and doing nothing? Move on or do something. Alternatively, go to a specialist, resign, fly home, I don't know..."
Tau gave Rangira a wild, almost murderous stare.
"You just don't understand, or you don't want to understand," Tau replied, threateningly quiet. It was getting on his nerves. All in all, who cares... why does she care about his personal life is? She has been on Earth for too long, and she has gone too deeply into the study of energy practices since she is generally imbued with his situation, moreover, wants to nudge him to some kind of action. "He does not need 'all that'; he is different, he's–"
"Yes, special, cut and tailored just for you and is waiting for you! Can't you see?"
"Nothing to see there! Emphatically polite and cold, both with everyone and with me." Zirka said through gritted teeth.
"Do you see yourself objectively? That's who exactly does not need 'all that'. Eternally morose – ask anyone what they see when they look at you. The outside does not always reflect the inside."
Tau didn't reply to that, continuing to pretend that he was still focused on the robots.
"Why don't you ask him? It's as simple as that. Yes means yes, no means no. And you won't wreck your nerves and those around you."
"Am I wrecking your nerves?" He stared at Rangira in disbelief. "I'm just–"
"Yes-yes, an example of the equanimity and composure. This is what I'm talking about, and this is the essence of the problem."
On the other hand, maybe it was me who stayed side by side with earthlings for too long, Erzketau thought at that moment, that I forgot how to listen to the advice of intelligent living beings while learning to snap at them.
"If I'd ever seen a hint, I would have reacted long ago," he finally uttered with a sigh. "But so far I haven't noticed anything like that," he raised his open palm in the direction of Rangira; blocking the new stream of persuasion that kaia was preparing to unleash upon him. "That's it, I don't intend to continue. If I ask directly, it will be awkward. Not for me, but I am sure he will get embarrassed and uncomfortable to study and work here."
And I can't let that happen, Tau sighed to himself. I've adapted to the state of affairs. Though making Chris's life difficult is the least of what I'd want.
Replaying this conversation in his mind, Tau was convinced again that Rangira truly wanted the best for him, and that he had turned into an unimaginable grumbler if he realized that just now. Yet, the most undesirable thing that gave rise to such conversations with her – they stirred a dormant hope. Every time he was lying on the couch as he did now, or in bed, or sitting at the table, he thought, "What if Chris, being an uninterested loner and asexual in public, in reality just waiting for the right... someone?"
"The cooking program has completed its cycle. Your coffee has cooled down to an acceptable consumption temperature," the AI sang. Tau sighed, stretched out to feel each joint, then got up and went to sort out the kitchen utensils. Only after he got to the table and sipped his coffee, he felt strength returning a little. Yes, it was time to tune in to the operating mode. He can think about his colleague and Chris a bit later. Perhaps he really should go ahead and come up with a decision, putting an end to this hassle, and just stop overthinking. Embark on a new course, quit, transfer somewhere on Earth or beyond, and remember how to grow detached and distant; remember how to be a Zirkaazte who's focused on his work.
"You have absolutely nothing to worry about," Chris assured Mr. Xian Po for the fiftieth time, on the way to the operation room, where his implantation will take place. Although Xian Po did not utter a word, unquestioningly following his doctor in charge, all his worries were displayed on his forehead, in a focused gaze averted to the floor, and knitted eyebrows. "Until now, not a single surgery has entailed any complications or side effects from any of the organ systems."
"No, I'm not worried about that," he unconsciously touched the tip of his nose, "but about how much this will help... I mean, can we really have a baby?"
"Of course. Patrick, son of mister Leone, the first-born of the M-estrogen program, so to speak, and those seven babies born after him are not enough proof of this. You will be able to have a child with your spouse. Don't worry," said Chris for the fifty-first time, opening the door of the preoperative ward and letting the young man inside. "You have excellent test results, I do not see any reason for distressing or stirring the alarm, as well as my supervisors, in fact, I speak on their behalf and their opinion completely coincides with what I have just voiced to you. Of course, it will take some time to recover, primarily physically, then we will follow closely how the organ is adapting in your body, how your body is adapting to accepting a new organ."
"You said that so far no one has managed to synchronize the waves with the uterus, and ovulation does not occur naturally."
"Yes, you are absolutely right," Chris confirmed, helping the younger Mr. Xian Po to put on and adjust the exoskeleton, "although quite a long time has passed, unfortunately, there were no cases of synchronization. The main scheme doesn't work exactly as we would like, and as planned. Nevertheless, speaking from my personal experience and not only mine, that's the only thing that didn't come true in the implantation phase, and in fact, it only means that if one wants to have a child, they will have to seek medical assistance."
Xian Po stood slightly trembling, but not interfering with the specialist.
"But an additional, albeit expected, plus is," continued Chris, gesturing to the patient in the sterilizer booth, "that if you do not want to have offspring, you will not have to worry about contraception at all. Well, in general, this is not so much due to the lack of hormonal bundles. Ovulation in female Zirkaazte does not occur cyclically, and this process is completely initiated by the zirks themselves, therefore they also do not care about contraception. Still, they are the main idea and prototype of our uterus modules. It's just that so far, ovulation does not work for us either according to human or to zirks' scheme, and the very structure and location of the module is responsible for the control of unwanted pregnancy, since the entrance to it... um... the uterine sphincter..., to put it mildly, is difficult to access for the human copulation organ. So, due to its physical properties, humans cannot fertilize each other of their own free will."
"Yes, I also read this when we were preparing for the surgery and stuff, well, to understand what we will have to face," Xian Po nodded, leaving the booth. "Simply astonishing, you agree?" Chris made an expressive gesture with his eyes. Of course, how can this not astonish anyone? "But in any case, the most important thing for me and my partner is for the module to cope with carrying a healthy child."
"Don't worry about this; we will monitor the process of your recovery after implementation very carefully. Do not even hope that you will be allowed to go to fertilization before the module takes root in your body and before the test results show satisfactory performance to continue your experience."
The two went through the back door, where Chris was to put the patient on a gurney and begin preparing for anesthesia. Xian Po asked something else before passing out, Chris answered automatically, but after completing the procedure, he could no longer remember what those questions were. This particular guy had bombarded him with questions during all these two months and today Chris answered half of them for the second, if not the third time. A fussy young man, very meticulous and greedy for any kind of information regarding implantation; the complete opposite of his spouse, who was worried about only one thing – who the children would look like. If he had asked that a couple of years ago, when the first operations were carried out, and Sandro was just dreaming of pregnancy, the answer would have been 'not you'. Now, the genetic material was treated somewhat more simply, literally, anyone who, in principle, had live sperm, except for the parent, who would bear the fetus, could become a donor. Even if the second parent was not foreseen, the bank kept a sufficient number of 'neutral' spermatozoa, which were previously worked on by the best genetics, who turned off the mechanism for transmitting information of appearance, along with serious diseases and undesirable conditions. It was wrong to say that the ovaries did not at all synchronized with the host's organism after the rehabilitation period. If during the transplant operation all the uterus modules were identical and genetically sorta 'sterile', then after a while their nuclei were supplemented with the information of the host, albeit recessive, so that estrogen people would not produce clones for themselves. For this feature to work, the project had to be postponed. The launch of Phase-3 was officially announced in June 854, timed to coincide with the opening of the seventh building. However, in truth, as Chris learned from Madame François, it was originally planned to start operating back in 852.
Just knowing the answers to the younger Xian Po's questions with absolute certainty helped him not to look like his head was in the clouds. Nevertheless, all his thoughts were occupied by that damn flash drive that was lying in his desk drawer. In a hurry to get home as soon as possible, he did not even notice how he crashed into someone.
"I beg your pardon," he mumbled.
"Chris! Wait! Where are you rushing to?" he ran into a young man from his group, Connie, when he, along with another student, who seemed distantly familiar to Chris, was waiting for him at the operating room to give the self-study materials that Chris was asking for. "It was transplantology just now, but you did not come."
"Huh? But…" Chris muttered in confusion, simultaneously remembering if he had mixed some hours in his schedule, "I'm on the facultative attendance…" Had Erzketau got it wrong?
"Yes, I know, the Grinch just asked me to deliver this to you, but he ran away, like, away from the island, so it seems," Connie explained. "Do you know my boyfriend?" He pointed to the second guy with a smile, "Bradley; and this is Chris."
"Bradley picked you up from the restaurant, in the summer. Of course, I remember," Chris remembered just now, and held out his hand to shake; Bradley nodded affirmatively. "Well, thank you very much, I really appreciate this. Gotta go."
"Yeah, see ya," Connie mused.
"Is this the one? The Grinch's pet?" Bradley asked as Chris turned around the corner.
"Well, yeah," Connie tried to keep his face, but not succeeded. It was obvious that he considered this fact annoying, "If I didn't know him better, I'd swear they sleep together."
After standing still for a moment, the couple headed towards the dormitory, chatting about something in common, and thinking each of something of their own.
During the last couple of months, Chris, unfortunately, has not made any progress in decrypting the information stored on the memory card and the secret of its arrival to his mailbox.
Before contacting someone for help, since he had achieved absolutely nothing, trying to view the contents of the micro black box, Chris decided to rename the file. Why did he do that? Probably so that not to infect everyone around him with premature worriedness. If the file can be read, then undoubtedly, it contains information on the project, which was hidden from the masses. And it's fine if it's concealed from all not related directly to estrogen, implantations, and the like; but another thing is if it was even concealed from his generation, who went all the way to Phase-3 and, perhaps, unaware of where the experiment will turn. If such thoughts arose in Chris's head immediately after seeing the name of the file, then what can its presumptive content make to the viewer? If one can't read it, then maybe it's for the best. Then he, without raising a panic, will be able to go to the authorities and demand explanations, or even warn about the danger that can affect them and all earthlings.
Oddly enough, he went seeking the answer, to Sandro. The fact that the young man enrolled in the biology department was only a whim of his father, but the secret passion of his has always been programming. His coding abilities and knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence were legendary. After graduation, he planned to transfer and continue his studies and career in the development and maintenance of medical programs. Moreover, some of his achievements were already applied and used in the Biosphere research centers.
"Where did you get this from?" The ex has asked right away.
"Um... why? Are there any problems with the content?" He answered evasively with a question.
"Alright, if you don't wanna say, then don't. In general, the app that would read this file simply does not exist." Chris frowned in confusion but didn't interrupt. "I looked through all possible archives of apps, written both with the old code and the modern one, which has been used on Earth for several hundred years since the zirks' infestation – not a single match."
"Can you write an app that will read it?" Chris asked, puzzled.
Sandro sighed.
"The difficulty lies precisely in the fact that I cannot do this. Let me explain...," he spun in the chair, then turned back to the table and tapped quickly on the keys. "Here," a window strewn with numbers, letters, and other symbols revealed before Chris; he knew them all, but their set was completely devoid of structure and meaning. "This is what I see, in whatever application I try to open this…," Sandro glanced at the monitor, "this '111.xyz' file or whatever. That is, its encryption system is not inherent in any of the versions known to us. If you ask me, I haven't the foggiest clue whether it's a text file, table, or database, or something else... After sitting all night, I could not figure out what app I should write, as you say. Moreover, the file size is too tiny, and this makes it even more strange and alien, so to speak."
Chris stared blankly, not knowing what to do with the new information. Leone, scratching his cheekbone in thought, said further:
"If we assume, at least assume... however, if you ask me, everything is obvious enough and suggests itself. This file was created in a different encryption system from the Earth system."
"And the Sirkazai system you mean?" asked Chris, trying to clarify this to himself.
"Quite right."
"Holy crap. I don't even know what to say," Chris stepped away from the table and collapsed on the sofa. "Thank you for your trouble."
"Oh, come on, I didn't do anything," the curly guy waved his hand at him, "rather just the opposite." He paused for a minute, listened, looking at the doors to the backroom, and then turned a serious look at Chris, "Listen, Chris, I know what you will ask of me next, and, of course, this all will not go beyond this room and those who are currently in it. I am aware of how unsafe this information is in itself, so I will not spread it. I have someone to protect," he again threw a furtive glance at the door, behind which Ivan was putting their baby Patrick to sleep. "Also, I would advise you not to think too much about this. Regardless of how you got this drive, where it came from, and... Anyway, if I were you, I would give it to a place where they might know better what to do with it."
Chris glanced at him but immediately averted his eyes. Then he got up, put the flash drive in his pocket, and headed for the exit. Sandro followed him up.
"I think you have thought about it, but made a different decision, well, it's not for me to tell you. Just don't do stupid stuff, okay?" The young men shook hands in goodbye. "At least don't do it on your own."
Chris chuckled, said goodnight, and retired to his room. He had something to think about again this night. He was not going to give up just yet. The coordinators ought to know something, everything or not, but someone at least one of them could definitely give Chris an answer, and tomorrow he will make every effort to figure out who.
***
To his great surprise, Chris was given the full charge to care for a new patient, whom he now had to examine every day and report to Dr. Marie about his condition once a day only. Chris didn't complain, he had wanted it for a long time and had hoped for a sort of promotion. Still, this is another conquered step on his way to the goal. Although, there was a drawback; with all new responsibilities, he had practically no time left for extraneous thoughts. However, Chris did not lose heart and nevertheless found a couple of minutes to interrogate everyone, in his opinion, involved. 'Interrogate' was too strong a word for what he performed. After all, he had no intention to disclose that he had found out something classified and tried to ask as carefully as possible, formulating questions like, 'I wonder what's next after sub-phase-2', 'Do you happen to know, when will the third sub-phase start'. He understood how stupid and profane it was, but he had to begin with something. Shirokawa measured him with an unreadable look, which could be interpreted as 'what are you blabbing about'; Rangira showed no surprise or any other emotion that Chris wanted to catch her on, and only replied, 'We just need to keep doing our job'. To understand what she meant by these words and whether she suspected anything was extremely difficult to no chance at all. There was no point in approaching Erzketau even for a tick. So what else could he do? Chris did not know, but he felt that the truth was being hidden from him. He spent several days thinking hard and then decided to push some more on Madame Marie. She held a high position, had, perhaps, the highest level of access even to the most classified sections of the information, as did Shirokawa and Erzketau. Yes, Chris had to go to her. The long-standing friendship of Madame with his mother turned into his very hands, which also served to develop such a warm and trusting relationship between Chris and Madame. Dr. François was always ready to help him, like a close aunt, the last remaining soul mate. He will do it shortly; would need to pay her a personal visit, run over for a cup of tea as he did about once a month to chat, discuss new methods of identifying hormone-susceptible individuals, or heat-insensitive flora and fauna, and find out what he can.
On a happy occasion, he didn't even have to ask for it, since the doctor invited him herself. Chris was in the staff room when she flew in wearing the surgical uniform, looking for a tablet with the necessary documents.
"Honest to god, one more day like this, and I will serve them all! Chris, why are you smiling? Ran off from the assistants' hoard, but they won't give new ones until winter!" She fished out a flat tablet from under the rubble on her desktop, squeezed it under her armpit, and strode to the exit, then she braked sharply, "Hey boy, a classmate threw me some old pics when came calling me for a class reunion. Come visit me after work. Not today! I'll be dead and aggressive! Tomorrow, I'm waiting for you tomorrow. A'ight?"
"Sure, I'll come."
"I'd also like to give you my old materials. Those on which I wrote my first dissertation," she shouted with one foot outside the door. "Maybe you'll find there a motivation to join the dark side."
The dark side in Madame's language meant the medical corps and herself as a future professional mentor for Chris. Although he was only glad to seize the opportunity to speak to her as soon as possible without witnesses, her proposal at that very moment got his interest more than Madame could have imagined. When she expressed this idea two years ago, Chris gently refused because he just wasn't ready to decide right away. However, after a while, he sometimes wondered what he would do after he received the necessary experience and knowledge on the implantations, the course of pregnancy and got his hand at babies' delivery. He hasn't planned much yet, just publish a few articles and prepare for a Ph.D. Still, he did not see himself in the perinatal corps in the future and realized that his current position was just a good impetus. Yet the impetus for what? Perhaps he will be able to get a double benefit from the upcoming tea party.
Chris already knew the way to Madame's apartment very well. From the day of their acquaintance, she said that a young man could come over any time with any questions or requests for help; the doors of her studio will always be open for him. Before this visit, he was getting into the mood for a while, planning a dialogue, and therefore chose a longer rather than a short path.
"Marie, I have to ask you something," Chris said, placing the cup on the saucer and straightening up in his chair; he drew in a full lung of air and spoke the reheard text. "You have already heard this question from me, but just like Rangira-kaia and like Professor Shirokawa, you pretended like you don't understand. Although I dare to believe, something is happening. A case of critical importance, I'm sure I'm right. Moreover, I'm sure that you know the answer to this question, but for some reason, keep silent. In addition, I want to believe that this is only out of the best intentions. I don't want to think that any malicious ideas towards humanity are involved. This is the case when I really would not want something to stand between us and interfere with our mutual trust. You were a close friend of my mother, you always treat me warmly, never refuse to help and... and I dare to believe that you will tell me the truth after all. I want to find that out for my own sake. But if you will still pretend that you don't understand what I want from you," Chris leaned forward slightly and continued in a low voice, "and I want to know what will happen... no, how the experiment will proceed further, what's it gonna be after the second sub-phase. This is very alarming, and I would be saddened to go with my suspicions to the relevant structures responsible for the safety of the planet. I beg you; I literally beg you not as a student, not as an experiment participant; I'm asking you as Christopher Newman, son of Olivia Newman."
Dr. François listened to him in silence, without interrupting, with a calm face and only a small wrinkle between her eyebrows indicated slight alertness. However, when Chris finished his monologue, she smiled softly and answered in an even voice with the usual caring undertone.
"Chris, I'm human too, I hope you haven't forgotten that. I am also a representative of the human race, and I would never put the Earth and its inhabitants in danger. I can assure you that no matter where you heard of that phase, you were misinformed." She sighed deeply, then sipped her tea, and after staring into Chris's eyes for the whole minute, as if trying to find something significant in his eyes, Madame continued, "Well, I think no one will mind... Perhaps it will be even safer for everyone if you hear the truth from me rather than invent it yourself. Sub-phase 3 does not exist. It was developed earlier, but only as a theoretical plan, that requires many improvements and the implementation of which is in question. This was an extreme plan in case the sub-phase 2 had failed." She took another deep breath as if not knowing in which words would be easier to explain it to Chris, but he listened as carefully as Madame had listened to him before. "I will tell you everything, but you must promise me complete open-mindedness, the maximum breadth of view that you are only capable of because this is very sensitive information that affects not only the human but also the friendly race of the Earth. And not even for the sake of my reputation among colleagues or the value and secrecy of information, but for many other reasons, I very much ask you to treat this with all respect and delicacy."
"Marie, we're talking about the M-estrogen project, right?" Chris intervened for a second, grinning at the corners of his lips. "I suppose that this fact should already speak about the extreme sensibility of anyone related to it, don't you think?"
"Yes, you are right. Okay, then, if you are sure that you are ready to receive this information, and will be able to cope with it, then know that sub-phase 3, in short, implies the two races crossbreeding. But," she threw up her hands at the same moment Chris's eyebrows shot up, before he had time to say anything to this, "again, I repeat and I swear to you that this was conceived only at the stage of initial development and only as a backup plan, which was also taken into account while the preparatory work was underway when developing modules and planning a project, but... this is a theory and it is simply not valid at the moment. I don't know what needs to happen for the project board to start considering resuming the development under the third sub-phase. Say what you like, but the sub-phase-2 has already entered the active stage, and everything is going great, so there is absolutely no need for humanity to resort to other scenarios at this stage. The research was carried out quite deeply, though, what do zirks do not deep enough?" Madame chuckled ambiguously. "And it is thanks to them that we have achieved that we have hacked the oocytes, namely, how they are able to capture DNA with a certain gene code during fertilization. The first step on the way to this was to ensure that they capture, in principle, only human DNA. Therefore, in theory, if we assume the possibility of sub-phase 3, then the descendant of such a cross... um... union, that is, will look like the grandmother or grandfather of a human individual."
Chris sat as if thunderstruck. He expected everything and anything, but not what he just heard.
"I understand," he said with numb lips. "Or not. I understand what you mean, but I don't understand why...," he wiggled the fingers of one hand in the air as if it could help him to catch the thoughts and words that were hovering around him, to intelligibly express his subsequent question. "I mean, how...? That is, how do you imagine it? The zirks... mate with us?"
"They with us or we with them," Madame drawled thoughtfully. "You know, when it comes to survival, every option and every chance is taken into account. And there would still be those willing, so..."
"Willing what? I don't understand, hell, I don't understand anything at all. Most of all, of course, I don't understand why even such a theory was built?"
"Chris, can you just imagine if fertilization hadn't happened? If it didn't become possible in the end. If Sandro hadn't had Patrick if he hadn't been able to conceive and carry. What then? In fact, there are far more theories and contingencies than the one that worked. Many brainy lizards are ready to spend sleepless days, just to set up more hypotheses."
Chris sighed in exasperation. That's the information he was definitely not ready for.
"My god, all I wanted is just one question answered and received a bunch of more questions."
Madame grunted and stood up to pour more boiling water into the tea.
"When constructing a theory, you can never be sure of its success. Uteruses, after all, are more from there than from here. Yeah... So, don't you think that such an assumption is still more logical? If it didn't work with human sperm, then it would be necessary to think wider so we have what we have. Being a mad scientist, I wasn't surprised as much as it surprises you. And we were driven by good intentions solely, no matter what you think."
"I don't. I'm not capable of any thinking at all... I need to sit in somewhere quiet and learn to think again." Chris rubbed his temples, sipping on warm tea again. "I still don't understand one thing. They can't, well, I mean, they're not... how were you going to get them handing over their genetic material to people? I mean, this is nonsense!"
"Oh, that's what's bothering you! How shall I put this? Kid, no offense, but you're a little bit... Hmm," she scratched her nose, weighing the answer. "No, not stuck, I think you rather skipped that stage of development, when sexual desire prevails over all other drives and cravings, and turned straightaway into an old librarian," Madame knowingly patted his knee while he struggled to choose the appropriate reaction to such a turn of her thoughts. "The answer is in front of you. You might be right; you really should stop and take a look around."
He shook his head, not denying, but as if still trying unsuccessfully to comprehend what he had heard.
"No, I still don't see the logic with this interracial venture," he admitted ruefully.
"Oh boy, it's like two plus two! Plus three – it works without the IVF stage! It would've, I mean," she quickly added, "if this sub-phase had been considered necessary."
"WHAT? You're kidding. Without IVF? Our uteruses don't ovulate. Even if they did, there's no way they could be entered!"
"Yes, the first point is a problem, although it can be solved by injection. Nevertheless, I can tell you, ours did put more hopes on ovulation than on compatibility with human sperm. Besides, if you were ovulating, it would be just a holiday and a complete dissolution of the IVF department! They have this," Marie, obviously having fun, raised her hand to the level of Chris's eyes and motioned her index finger, bending and unbending, while actively gesturing with her eyebrows, "well, you know, a dolphin penis."
Chris choked on his tea so hard, splashing half the table, that Madame had to pat him on the back for about five minutes until the young man cleared his throat.
"Lord... I guess I don't want to know that," he croaked.
"You still have so much to learn! Please read my materials. I'm dying to hear your thoughts. And just quit the maternity experiments already and come to my squad; let's treat dolphins together," she giggled darkly at her joke, "are you feeling bad, Chris? Probably, after all, I shouldn't've told you."
"No, it's just that all this is so beyond the scope of my understanding that I am, to put it mildly, perplexed. I need time to reboot. And, of course, I appreciate your frankness and patience."
"Oh, leave it, that was so amusing, don't worry." She put her empty cup down and leaned back in her chair, suddenly narrowing her eyes at Chris. "So are you gonna tell me where you got the information about sub-phase 3?"
"Generally, there's nothing to tell here," Chris relaxed a little, he was glad to switch to a safer topic, "Someone sent me a flash drive with this information, or rather, there was no information, only a file titled 'Phase 3 – sub-phase 3'. The rest, as you probably already guessed, I just concluded myself."
"I see. May I ask you–?"
Chris rummaged in his pocket and fished out that 'black box'. He took it to Madame, not knowing if it might be useful, just in case.
"I must say that I honestly thought about taking it to the security desk, but... I'm just too curious, can't keep my nose out of trouble," Chris laughed nervously, "should've shortened this nose a long time ago, together with my tongue though."
"Don't worry, Chris, really," Marie François moved closer to him, "you are completely safe, even though I've told you such a load of the classified information today. I will talk, of course, with those in charge, they should be aware of it, but I don't think that any of them will cause troubles. This is the case for the security service, but they will be more interested in the sender, not the receiver. All that we can hope for, that I can ask you for is–"
"Oh no, don't even doubt. I am mute as a grave!" he made terrible eyes, which caused a new burst of laughter from Madame.
No, he won't tell anyone for sure.
"I don't doubt you. We just need to investigate this properly. Still, it's good that this flash drive came to you, or so far to you."
Thanking Madame once again for her openness and trust, Chris reassured her that the information he had heard that evening would not leave his lips and went home.
***
"Marie, thank you. For informing me on the situation update and," Erzketau distracted from admiring the view outside his window and turned to look at Madame, "it's just a miracle that he went to one of us for an answer. Although I am sure that you, Dr. François, played a significant role in getting him to choose you of all people."
"Tau, you flatter me. I haven't done anything that not anyone would do in my place: being sincere, understanding, and frank. This is the most correct tactic in many situations." The doctor smiled sweetly, while Zirka squinted at her and turned back to the window. "I have to go; leave the flash drive to you."
"Thanks. Not only for that."
"The pleasure is mine."
When the door closed behind Mari, Erzketau tapped his band, initiating a call. The other side answered literally after the first beep:
"Kri."
"We've got a leak, Kizre," Tau hissed to the screen.
"Humans?"
"You'll tell me that. I want to see you in my office right now."
"Gotcha."
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