aggressive."
"It seems to me you people didn’t test this virus of yours before you starting screwing around with people's genetic codes," Marcus grunted.
"Look, this meeting isn’t about passing the blame. It’s about devising a solution" Genaro stuttered.
"No, he's right." Robbins cut in. "Seems to me like you and your people made a mess and now expect someone else to come in and clean it up."
Genaro took a deep breath and had a sip of water. Marcus noticed his hands were shaking as he screwed the cap on the bottle. "Look," he said, taking a deep breath. "I’m fully aware of my role in this. And not making excuses, I was also following orders. True, I was caught up in the possibilities and the excitement of the work we were doing, but please try and see it from my point of view We were breaking new ground. Pioneering new technologies. If anything, I’m guilty of losing focus. Did we speed through human trials? Yes, we did. Should we have devoted more time and money to thorough testing of the virus? Again, yes. In our defence, we were under pressure to deliver a product from the very highest rungs of the government ladder. Whoever is responsible, passing the blame won’t help us to deal with this situation."
"And what exactly is the situation?" Marcus asked. "Can you tell us what we're dealing with here?"
"Well, you are looking at a force of nature, unlike anything we have ever had to deal with before. They are regular men, so can hide in plain sight. Upon close inspection, yellow pigmentation can be seen under the top layer of the epidermis of the arms and neck as a result of the genetic modification, however, this would only be visible up close. These men were chosen for their intelligence primarily, which will have been boosted a hundred fold by the bonding of the virus. They don’t age, nor do they need to sleep. They are impervious to cold and pain and rarely need to eat. They also have an incredible ability to self-heal from almost any injury within a matter of hours. Sometimes minutes. They are essentially better versions of us with none of our weaknesses."
"We already know all that. The important question is, can they be killed?" Robbins asked.
"Oh, they are still human. The problem is the regenerative powers which make death by common methods so difficult. The only sure way is to destroy the brain. The other problem, which follows on from Commander Robbins's situation in Florida, is that the Apex team members had started to show increased levels of aggression, with the slightest incident sparking them to react with violence. We have received a growing number of reports of these ‘Ragers’ acting in groups and attacking civilians. Pack hunting, if you will. Some groups are stealing large quantities of cash and supplies. We suspect they are planning something, some kind or retaliatory event, although why we don’t know."
"Could I ask you a question?" Marcus asked.
"Go ahead."
"All judgement and blame aside, how much do you actually know about this virus? What I mean is could whatever is happening, the pack behaviour, the group aggressions, be at all linked to the virus itself?"
"Possibly. In fact, it's likely." Genaro said, folding his hands in front of him.
"But you don’t know?"
"No. The real expert on this is Richard Draven. He has studied the monkeys themselves for years, certainly far longer than we had the time to. If anyone can help us to understand them and their behaviours, it's him.”
"Okay," Marcus said, finally seeing where he could help and take a little control. "Leave that to us. We'll find him and have him brought in to see if he can help. Do we have any intel at all on where these Apex teams could be hiding out?"
"No. I'm afraid to say we don’t know anything at all."
"We need to get teams on the ground. We need to look at anywhere large enough and secluded enough where groups of these soldiers might hide out. Josh, can your people cover the homeland locations? I assume we
"It seems to me you people didn’t test this virus of yours before you starting screwing around with people's genetic codes," Marcus grunted.
"Look, this meeting isn’t about passing the blame. It’s about devising a solution" Genaro stuttered.
"No, he's right." Robbins cut in. "Seems to me like you and your people made a mess and now expect someone else to come in and clean it up."
Genaro took a deep breath and had a sip of water. Marcus noticed his hands were shaking as he screwed the cap on the bottle. "Look," he said, taking a deep breath. "I’m fully aware of my role in this. And not making excuses, I was also following orders. True, I was caught up in the possibilities and the excitement of the work we were doing, but please try and see it from my point of view We were breaking new ground. Pioneering new technologies. If anything, I’m guilty of losing focus. Did we speed through human trials? Yes, we did. Should we have devoted more time and money to thorough testing of the virus? Again, yes. In our defence, we were under pressure to deliver a product from the very highest rungs of the government ladder. Whoever is responsible, passing the blame won’t help us to deal with this situation."
"And what exactly is the situation?" Marcus asked. "Can you tell us what we're dealing with here?"
"Well, you are looking at a force of nature, unlike anything we have ever had to deal with before. They are regular men, so can hide in plain sight. Upon close inspection, yellow pigmentation can be seen under the top layer of the epidermis of the arms and neck as a result of the genetic modification, however, this would only be visible up close. These men were chosen for their intelligence primarily, which will have been boosted a hundred fold by the bonding of the virus. They don’t age, nor do they need to sleep. They are impervious to cold and pain and rarely need to eat. They also have an incredible ability to self-heal from almost any injury within a matter of hours. Sometimes minutes. They are essentially better versions of us with none of our weaknesses."
"We already know all that. The important question is, can they be killed?" Robbins asked.
"Oh, they are still human. The problem is the regenerative powers which make death by common methods so difficult. The only sure way is to destroy the brain. The other problem, which follows on from Commander Robbins's situation in Florida, is that the Apex team members had started to show increased levels of aggression, with the slightest incident sparking them to react with violence. We have received a growing number of reports of these ‘Ragers’ acting in groups and attacking civilians. Pack hunting, if you will. Some groups are stealing large quantities of cash and supplies. We suspect they are planning something, some kind or retaliatory event, although why we don’t know."
"Could I ask you a question?" Marcus asked.
"Go ahead."
"All judgement and blame aside, how much do you actually know about this virus? What I mean is could whatever is happening, the pack behaviour, the group aggressions, be at all linked to the virus itself?"
"Possibly. In fact, it's likely." Genaro said, folding his hands in front of him.
"But you don’t know?"
"No. The real expert on this is Richard Draven. He has studied the monkeys themselves for years, certainly far longer than we had the time to. If anyone can help us to understand them and their behaviours, it's him.”
"Okay," Marcus said, finally seeing where he could help and take a little control. "Leave that to us. We'll find him and have him brought in to see if he can help. Do we have any intel at all on where these Apex teams could be hiding out?"
"No. I'm afraid to say we don’t know anything at all."
"We need to get teams on the ground. We need to look at anywhere large enough and secluded enough where groups of these soldiers might hide out. Josh, can your people cover the homeland locations? I assume we
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