The place at which they arrived with their new driver, Tom – a young man who had picked them up not too far away from the cottage – looked like a regular bakery. There were some patrons37 inside, enjoying freshly baked pastries and hot beverages. Lizzy tried to remember what day it was and why there were so many people out of office so shamelessly38 enjoying this nice weather and this cozy place. She could not. It did not really matter, but it smelled amazing. Any day you are alive is a good day, she thought.
They approached the counter. Tom ordered three espressos to go, without asking Lizzy and Marco whether they wanted anything. Then he showed them to the table in the corner, next to a female customer who was reading a book. They sat down and waited for the order without exchanging so much as a few phrases. Tom had been taciturn39 all the way to the bakery and did not seem like he was going to turn into a chatterbox40 any time soon. So, Lizzy and Marco were just sitting and waiting for whatever was going to happen.
“Tom,” the barista announced from behind the counter. “Your order’s ready.”
Tom stood up, took the order, and proceeded to the exit, without returning to the table and taking the coffee with him. Lizzy and Marco watched him with surprise. When they were about to stand up and follow him, a lady who was sitting at the table next to them turned and smiled.
“Hi Lizzy, Marco,” she said. “It’s good to finally meet you. I’m Irene.”
Irene was a white lady, about the same age as Yana. She had an intelligent face and looked like a university professor in her brown horn-rimmed glasses, and a beige jacket over a white blouse. She was the second leader of the Committee.
“Tom is leaving and I’m afraid you’ll have to spend a bit of time with me now,” Irene said. “Would you actually like something to drink?”
They went back to the counter. Lizzy ordered a macchiato and a scone, which she had been craving for some time. Marco got himself a cup of tea and a chocolate croissant, which for some unfathomable41 reason he had never had.
“How on earth 42have you never tried one?” Lizzy couldn’t give it a rest43 on the way back to the table.
“I don’t know,” Marco said, sitting down. “Let’s see if I was really missing anything.”
Irene was patiently waiting for them to enjoy their beverages and food with a smile on her face. Marco realized that he had missed a lot and announced that he was going to have a chocolate croissant every day for the rest of his life. Both ladies applauded his decision.
“Well, let’s talk shop44,” Irene said when the beverages and food were finished. “We’ll have to take a few samples of your blood and do a few tests. There’s this new technology that we’re still working on, but getting closer each day, which will allow us to eradicate any threat that viruses from the Two Moons may pose45.”
“The Two Moons?” Lizzy asked.
“Well, it’s actually called Terra, but we call it the Two Moons among ourselves,” Irene said.
Marco smiled.
“Have you been there?” Lizzy asked.
“A few times.”
“How do you explain the very existence of it?”
“Without getting too deep into the inflationary multiverse theories and trying to explain unresolvable metaphysical issues, I can only shrug and say there it is, and I have no clue why it’s there. Your father spent quite a bit of time researching the phenomenon. I believe he shared some of it with you. I can tell you one thing though. I don’t have a copy there.” She ended with a smile.
“You’re unique then,” Marco smiled.
“I suppose I am, but we aren’t going to talk about my uniqueness today. You, Lizzy, have Ro subtype, which means that you most likely have black African or black Caribbean ethnic background, but that alone does not make your blood unique. What makes your blood incredibly special is not its ability to treat some blood-related disorders, which your rare type is known for, but its ability to disintegrate46 viruses. It’s something that we still don’t know much about, but we are working extremely hard to understand it. We believe it’s some sort of a mutation and we’re planning to make it work for our cause.”
“So, I’m a mutant,” Lizzy said and looked at Marco. “How does it feel to live with one?”
“I’m a copy and you’re a mutant. Birds of a feather flock together47, right?” he said with a smile.
“Different types of birds, but yeah, we are flocking together, aren’t we?” Lizzy covered Marco’s hand with hers.
Irene looked at her watch. “I’m afraid we should be going now. My associates are waiting for us. They are ready to start.”
***
Tom – who was waiting for them in the car – took them all to another location that was conveniently hidden in the forest on the outskirts of the city. It took them an hour to get there during which Irene was chatting with Lizzy and Marco about everything but the purpose of their trip.
“We’re here,” Irene said when their car stopped in front of huge green gates.
“These gates are big enough for Jurassic Park,” Lizzy said.
“The person who used to own the place was, shall we say48, a bit concerned with his security. He gave this place to us, and it’s been our research center for some time now.”
When the gates slowly opened, Tom drove inside, nodding to two guards in civilian clothes who nodded back. Lizzy noticed that the guards were armed with automatic rifles.
The inside looked more like a recreational49 space with a country house – which it probably was – with three smaller buildings. The main building, which appeared to be a big hunting lodge50, could have been designed for a royal family and its entourage. The first floor was built with big soft beige stones and the second floor sported51 large brown pine logs. The attic was under a steep tiled roof with a big, red-bricked chimney52 that suggested a fireplace. The three other buildings, perhaps guest houses and space for staff were designed to complement the main building. The whole ensemble provided a sense of comfort and a feeling of rustic nobility 53with its earthy tones. The area was covered with evenly trimmed grass and stone trails that connected each building on the premises. There were no people outside, except for the guards at the gate.
Tom pulled over in front of the main entrance of the house and helped Irene get out of the car. Not that she needed any assistance, it was more of a gesture of respect.
“It’s spacious,” Marco said when he got out of the car, right after Lizzy.
“We’re happy with it,” Irene said, and showed them into the house.
As they were getting closer to the house, the massive wooden entrance door opened and a spectacled man in his forties with a beard and in a white doctor’s coat came out to greet them.
“This is Albert,” Irene said. “He’ll be working with you today, Lizzy.”
“Hi Lizzy and Marco,” Albert said. “It’s great to finally meet you both. Please, come in.”
The entrance hall was what one would expect from a hunting lodge – the walls covered with antlers54 and a few paintings of hunting dogs. The comparison ended as soon as they proceeded to the former55 living room, which was turned into a laboratory with various equipment that neither Lizzy nor Marco knew the purpose of. There were two female scientists who were busy looking into microscopes and computer screens and barely56 noticed the visitors.
“This is our team and the place of business, so to speak57,” Albert said. “I’m afraid I’ll have to steal Lizzy from you, Marco, for the rest of the day.”
“There’s a nice room upstairs where you’ll be quite comfortable,” Irene told Marco.
“Yes, there are books, a computer, snacks and a fridge with beverages,” Albert added enthusiastically.
Lizzy looked at Marco who didn’t look like he liked the idea of being away from her. “I’ll be fine. Go get some rest.” Then she looked at Albert. “I’ll be allowed bathroom breaks, won’t I?”
“Oh, sure. Of course. There’ll be lunch and dinner.”
“You see?” Lizzy took Marco’s hand. “I’ll see you later.”
***
Lizzy came to see Marco twice during the day. They had a quick lunch from plastic containers that Albert brought. It was simple – turkey sandwiches with some salad – but delicious. After five hours, which Marco spent watching two old movies (Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Godfather, Part 1) and browsing through some old magazines, they had another plastic container meal. Chicken pasta and cheesecake. Not Michelin quality, but passable58. Lizzy did not have enough information to tell Marco what exactly she was doing downstairs, or, rather, what they were doing to her. She told him that she felt like a frog in a biology classroom. She hoped that they were not going to dissect at the end of the class. Both of them were equally shocked to find out the similarities between the movies in their worlds. They spent the minutes they had together comparing Indiana Jones with Tom Lesseck, the adventurous geologist, and Michael Corleone with Paco De Niro, the cold-blooded mafia boss (the fictional characters from the other world, which Marco was a big fan of). Lizzy promised to watch the movies Marco grew up with the next time they went to the Two Moons.
At about 10 p.m., Lizzy came up and woke up Marco who apparently found Sleepless in Seatle too relaxing. Tom was waiting for them downstairs. Lizzy was tired and took a nap all the way back to their cottage, resting her head on Marco’s shoulder. Marco barely moved, watching the stars through the car window. When they got home, she was still asleep, Marco took her gently in his hands to the bedroom and covered her with a blanket. When Marco returned to the car to get their coats, Tom told him that he would pick them up at 8 a.m. tomorrow and left. Marco went back to the bedroom, lay down next to Lizzy and watched her peacefully sleeping with a smile on his face before falling asleep as well.
***
The next day went pretty much the same way. Tests for Lizzy and cultural catching-up59 for Marco (The Shawshank Redemption, Misery, Good Will Hunting, and Pulp Fiction). When it was time to stop for the day60, Albert showed Lizzy the prototype of the device that his team had been working on before they met her.
“It looks like a glove that you would use for a workout at the gym,” she said, looking at it.
“That’s the idea!” Albert was obviously happy to hear it. “We don’t want people to think that they are looking at a weapon.”
“Is that what it is? A weapon?”
“Of sorts. It’ll be using your blood to destroy the virus.”
“How will it work? I’ll just wear it and what will happen next?”
“The idea is for you to use it without spilling your blood literally, but sending impulses that destroy the virus – even through glass. Provided61 that it’s not bulletproofed, of course. We still need to work on that.”
“I don’t think I understand that.”
“It sounds a bit science fiction, I know.”
“A bit?”
“You’re right,” Albert laughed. “It sounds a lot like science fictions, but we believe that we’ve found a way to use your blood’s unique qualities and transform them into … sort of, waves that could penetrate62 the virus coat, or membrane, split it apart, and eventually destroy its molecular compounds. The glove generates the wave and sends it, together with your blood, to do its job.”
“So, hypothetically speaking, someone will have a vial with my blood connected to this glove and … just go around and touch people or things with viruses. Is that how it’s going to work?”
“I wish it was that easy. As things stand now63, I’m afraid it only works if you wear it. It must be connected to you.”
“Like Ironman’s reactor,” Lizzy said, still looking at the glove. “The proof that Tony Stark has a heart64.”
Albert’s face lit up.
“It’s more like a repulsar, you know, those little reactors on the palms of Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit, but you get the gist65,” he said with a smile.
“So, this is Mark One66, Tony’s first suit from Iron Man One, we’re working on, right?” Lizzy asked.
“Well technically, this particular prototype is Marco Two, if we use that logic. It ‘flies’ well, but it needs a pilot to navigate it.”
“That would be me.”
“Correct.”
“Ok, so, when are we going to take this baby for a spin67?”
“We’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Big day, huh?” Lizzy said and gave the glove back to Albert. “Should I eat something special or starve myself before the test?”
“Have your regular breakfast. We need to attune68 the glove to all possible situations.”
On the way back home, Lizzy suggested Marco watch all Ironman movies. It was Man of Steel in his world and the name of the superhero was Tim Scott. He was a member of the “Punishers’ Club.”
***
When Lizzy and Marco were getting out of the car the next morning, Irene came out of the center with Yana following her.
“Good morning,” Yana said, smiling. “Good to see you two in flesh69.”
“Hey, Yana,” Marco said. “Good to see you too.”
“I believe you’ve been briefed about today’s test,” Irene said, looking at Lizzy.
“Should I change my name to Tonya70?” she asked, changing Tony Stark’s name to Tonya.
No one got the joke. Either Lizzy wasn’t nerdy71 enough to pull it off 72or it was the wrong crowd. She decided it was both.
“No need for any name changing,” Yana said, seemingly puzzled. “We’ll just see if Albert’s idea actually works.”
“I hope it does,” Irene said. “Shall we?”