Chapter 104: Engineered Virus?

"Shit, both our choppers are down, that’s our exit," Ryan commented and then realized something. Their concern is not that serious, their boss could literally summon helicopters from the system. But not everyone knows that.

"That’s your way out? How are you going to get out of the city now?" Seo-yeon asked with a concerned tone.

"Calm down," Adrian said in an even voice. "There’s no need to panic. We can still get out but not with those monsters roaming around. How long until that thing burrows again?"

Adrian asked, eyes already shifting back toward the window.

Seo-yeon didn’t answer right away.

She was listening.

Not just with her ears.

Her whole posture changed slightly, like she was trying to feel it through the building.

"It doesn’t stay up long," she said after a second. "When it surfaces like that, it doesn’t linger. It strikes, then it goes back under."

Ryan frowned.

"How long?" he pressed.

"Minutes," she said. "Sometimes less."

Adrian nodded once.

Then he tapped his earpiece.

"Sentinel Eye, confirm current status on the anomaly."

A brief crackle.

"Cold Reach One, Sentinel Eye," the AWACS replied. "Anomaly has re-submerged. We are tracking strong subterranean thermal movement approximately three hundred meters east of your position. Depth fluctuating between ten to thirty meters below surface."

Ryan glanced at Adrian.

"That’s close."

"It’s still hunting," Adrian said.

"Affirmative," Sentinel Eye added. "Movement is not linear. It is circling within the area."

Seo-yeon’s expression tightened slightly.

"I see, then we are going to wait out. There’s no need to worry, the zombies outside are eliminated except for the lower floors, but I don’t think they can get here that easily. Now we need to discuss something."

"Discuss?"

"Yes, what do you know about this virus?" Adrian went to the point.

"The virus...look I didn’t even have the chance to study it. I was here in my house when that the outbreak started. Yes there were preliminary investigations via online meetings but that’s just us scratching the surface. We don’t have an idea on what this virus is and where it originated. Much more abroad. I heard that it didn’t only happen in Korea, it happened globally at the same time."

Hearing that, Adrian glanced at Ryan. They went all the way to Korea only to be told that she doesn’t know about the virus. Well, that’s going to be difficult, but they still needed her for her expertise.

"I have observed that too, the zombies appear simultaneously across major cities, and there was even a variant that is stronger and more lethal than the zombies. Is that how viruses behave? I believe when something, an epidemic occured, it’ll be in one place right?"

"In nature, yes," she said. "Most outbreaks start localized. One source. One cluster. Then it spreads outward depending on transmission rate, population density, and mobility."

Ryan crossed his arms slightly.

"So this isn’t normal," he said.

"No," she replied.

She stepped a little closer, her tone steady, controlled.

"But that doesn’t mean everything about it is impossible," she continued. "Viruses can behave in ways that aren’t immediately obvious. For example, asymptomatic carriers."

Adrian listened.

"Explain," he said.

Seo-yeon nodded once.

"An asymptomatic carrier is someone infected but not showing symptoms," she said. "They can move freely, travel, interact with others, and spread the virus without detection. By the time symptoms appear, the spread has already gone beyond containment."

Ryan frowned.

"So you’re saying this could’ve already been everywhere before it even showed?"

"Yes," she said. "If the incubation period is long enough. Days. Weeks. Even longer depending on how the pathogen is structured."

Adrian considered that.

"That explains spread," he said. "Not simultaneous outbreak."

Seo-yeon nodded.

"Correct," she said. "Even with asymptomatic transmission, you would still see staggered emergence. Different cities, different timelines. Not... this."

She paused briefly.

Choosing her words carefully.

"What you’re describing," she continued, "simultaneous activation across multiple major population centers... that requires synchronization."

Ryan’s expression hardened slightly.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning the virus didn’t just spread," she said. "It was already there. Everywhere."

Silence settled for a moment.

Adrian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Dormant?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "Dormant or inactive until triggered. Something activates it all at once. Environmental factor, signal, internal biological threshold... I don’t know yet."

Ryan let out a quiet breath.

"That’s not something you just find in nature," he said.

Seo-yeon shook her head.

"No," she replied.

Then she looked directly at Adrian.

"Viruses evolve," she said. "They adapt. But they don’t coordinate like that on a global scale without a mechanism. And that kind of mechanism..."

She paused.

"...is usually designed."

"You’re saying this could be engineered," he said.

Seo-yeon didn’t immediately confirm.

But she didn’t deny it either.

"I’m saying," she replied carefully, "that its behavior doesn’t align with natural epidemiology."

Ryan exhaled slowly.

"Someone made this," he said.

"Or modified something that already existed," she added. "Either way, the pattern is too controlled. Too precise."

Adrian looked at the floor for a brief second.

Then back at her.

"And the variants?" he asked. "Stronger ones. Faster."

Seo-yeon nodded slightly.

"That part is more consistent," she said. "Mutation under pressure. Selective advantage. Some hosts develop different expressions of the infection depending on physiology, environment, or viral load."

Ryan tilted his head slightly.

"So those things we fought before... the hunters..."

"Hunters...I may not have seen that but they could be a result of accelerated mutation," she said. "Or something pre-coded into the virus itself. Like branches of behavior."

"Branches?" Adrian asked.

"Yes," she said. "Different expressions depending on conditions. Almost like... roles."

That didn’t sit well.

Ryan shook his head slightly.

"That doesn’t sound like a virus anymore," he said.

Seo-yeon met his gaze.

"It still is," she said. "Just not one we understand yet."

"Then what equipment or anything do you need to have in order to study this virus?" Adrian asked.

Then she spoke.

"If we’re going to study this properly," she said, "I need a controlled environment. Not just a clean room. I need containment."

Ryan frowned slightly.

"Like a lab?" he asked.

"Not just any lab," she replied. "At minimum, a Biosafety Level 3 setup. Ideally Level 4."

Adrian listened.

"Define that," he said.

She nodded once.

"Negative pressure rooms. Sealed ventilation. Independent air filtration. Full protective gear—positive pressure suits if possible," she explained. "We’re dealing with something we don’t understand. Exposure without control means infection."

Ryan let out a quiet breath.

"Anything else?"

"Yes," she said. "I need samples. Fresh ones."

That got their attention.

"From infected hosts," she continued. "Blood, tissue, fluid—anything viable. Dead samples degrade too fast. I need active material to observe behavior."

Adrian’s expression didn’t change.

"We can get that," he said.

She nodded.

"Then equipment," she added. "Microscopes, sequencing tools if possible, even basic PCR machines. If this thing is engineered, it will leave a signature. Something in its structure will tell us how it was made."

"Okay, we’ll get that soon for now, let’s talk about different matters."