Chapter 77 *
Scarlett’s POV
"Is that a serious question?"
"Dead serious."
I leaned against the wall. "Yeah," I said. "I believe."
"Why?"
"Because I've seen the proof." I kept my voice steady. "Twenty-five years ago. New Mexico. Roswell. Lincoln County. About thirty miles west of town."
Patterson's eyes widened.
"Specific coordinates?" His voice was barely audible.
"West longitude 105 degrees. North latitude 34 degrees." The numbers came automatically. Burned into my memory. "A spacecraft crashed on a mountaintop."
I paused. Let that sink in.
"CIA found it. Investigated the wreckage. And inside, they discovered something. A serum. A drug unlike anything on Earth."
Patterson had gone completely still.
"That's where Cosmos-1 came from," I continued. "Not from human research. Not from any government lab. From an alien spacecraft."
The silence was deafening.
"How..." He had to stop. Clear his throat. "How do you know this?"
"Because my father told me." The words came out flat. Empty. "Dr. Simon Quinn. He was assigned to Bethesda Advanced Medical Research Facility. He was the lead researcher. The one in charge of studying the serum."
"Jesus Christ."
I closed my eyes. Tried to push back the memories.
But they came anyway.
The serum had incredible properties. Regenerative capabilities beyond anything human science had achieved.
It could rewrite DNA. Transform cells. Enhance both physical and mental capabilities to superhuman levels.
Intelligence that surpassed the greatest geniuses. Strength that defied natural limits.
They'd tested it on volunteers. Thirty soldiers. Young men eager to serve their country.
At first, everything went perfectly.
The results were miraculous. Enhanced reflexes. Incredible strength. Mental acuity that bordered on prescience.
The military was ecstatic. They talked about creating a new era. Super-soldiers who could change the course of wars.
Then came the night everything changed.
The thirty test subjects underwent a sudden, violent mutation.
Their strength increased exponentially. But their minds... their humanity... vanished.
They became monsters. Savage. Bloodthirsty. Driven by pure animal instinct.
They attacked everyone they saw. Tearing. Biting. Killing.
And they were contagious. Anyone they touched became infected. The virus spread like wildfire through the facility.
Researchers. Security guards. Administrative staff. All infected. All turned into mindless, violent creatures.
The entire facility descended into chaos. A real-life horror show.
My father had been there. He'd watched it happen. Watched his colleagues get torn apart.
The military made a decision. Fast and final.
They burned the entire research facility to the ground. Everyone inside. Whether they were infected or not.
Cosmos-1 was declared too dangerous to exist. The project was terminated. All samples destroyed.
All research banned.
The surviving scientists were scattered. Sent to remote locations. Put under permanent surveillance.
My father and mother ended up in a rural clinic. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere they could be watched.
That's where they found me.
Three years old. Nearly drowned. Pulled from a river by a farmer.
I'd been abandoned. Left to die.
The authorities said I was severely developmentally delayed. Possibly brain-damaged.
I didn't speak. Didn't react to stimuli. Just stared blankly at nothing.
My parents took me in. Adopted me. Named me Marina.
"Scarlett?"
Patterson's voice pulled me back to the present.
I opened my eyes. Blinked away the memories.
"Sorry. What?"
"Are you alright? You look—"
"I'm fine." I wasn't fine. My shoulder was on fire. Blood was still running down my legs. "Keep talking."
Patterson looked down at the metal case.
"Cosmos-1," he said quietly. "We called it that because it was the first drug we'd ever discovered from the cosmos. From outer space. From beyond our world."
He lifted his eyes to mine.
"But what I have here? This isn't Cosmos-1. Not the real thing."
I straightened up."What are you talking about?"
"I never stopped researching. You're right about that." He opened the case. Showed me the vials. "But I couldn't get actual Cosmos-1 samples. Those were all destroyed. Your father made absolutely sure of it."
He held up one of the vials. The liquid inside glowed faintly blue.
"This is a cellular regeneration serum. Based on the theoretical principles of Cosmos-1. But it's synthetic. Human-made. It doesn't have the alien component."
"So you recreated it?"
"I tried." His smile was bitter. "I tried for years. Never got close. This?" He gestured at the vials. "This can speed up healing. Help with tissue repair. But it's not even one percent as powerful as the original."
"Then why did they come for it?" I gestured at the bodies scattered across the floor. "Why risk a hospital siege?"
Patterson laughed. A harsh, broken sound.
"Because there are people in this world who will pay anything—do anything—for the promise of eternal life."
He closed the case carefully.
"Billionaires dying of cancer. Dictators facing old age. World leaders who've tasted power and can't let it go."
His voice dropped lower.
"They get old. They get sick. They realize their time is running out. And suddenly, all that wealth? All that power? It means nothing."
He looked at me.
"They hear whispers. Rumors about Cosmos-1. About a serum that can grant immortality. And they don't care if it's real. Don't care if it's dangerous. They just want a chance. Any chance."
"Someone hired those men," I said. "Someone desperate. Someone dying."
"Almost certainly." Patterson sighed. "Some powerful person who's facing their mortality. And they don't care how many innocent people die as long as they get what they want."
I felt something tighten in my chest.
He was right.
In the face of death, everything becomes meaningless.
All the accomplishments. All the success. All the power.
None of it matters when you're staring into the void.