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“You love your work.”
“I really do.”
“But that still doesn’t explain why you were abducted. Why kidnap someone in order to steal research to develop a drug that doesn’t work?”
“It’s the body’s response. It’s dangerous.”
“A lot of drugs are dangerous. Come on, Sydney. What aren’t you telling me?”
She chewed on her bottom lip, then her eyes locked on his and she said, “It’s not that kind of drug.”
Aaron’s jaw flexed. He was losing patience. “What kind of drug is it?”
She opened her mouth, but whatever she was about to say, it looked like she hoped the floor would swallow her before she had to say it. “In its current form … it’s a biological weapon.”
“What?” He didn’t mean the anger that came through, and he pressed a hand on his forehead when she flinched. “Sorry. My understanding of bio weapons is that they are viruses, bacteria, that type of thing. You said you’re working on a drug, not a virus.”
“That’s how we talk about it, as a drug. And essentially that’s what it is.”
“But it’s a virus?”
“No, it’s a fungus I’ve engineered.”
“You mean like a mushroom?”
She frowned. “Mushrooms are fungus, but that’s not what this is. ”
“Why fungus?”
“There are certain ones that naturally boost the immune system. I’ve taken that science and I’ve increased its ability to do that.”
“And what makes it a biological weapon?”
“Technically, you could release the spores into a community and infect everyone.”
“So everyone’s bodies would improve and then be destroyed?”
“Yeah. And as a fungus, it’s hard to detect as a weapon. We all know not to eat mushrooms we find in the woods, but if you carried a fungus around, no one would notice. You could take it anywhere and release it anywhere. In air, in the water. Anywhere.”
“And you’ve been testing this drug? The fungus itself?”
“Yes.”
“So you have samples.”
“Yes.”
He pressed his lips together to keep calm. Once he got control over himself, he said, “You have a biological weapon in an unsecured location.”
“It’s secure.”
“With a fingerprint lock.”
“Yes.”
“So it was never your research they were after. It was the fungus itself.”
“Probably both.”
