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Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. He thought it would steady his nerves but alas it was no use. He had hoped by the time he got here that he would be prepared for it all. What had the man, Rowen, called it? Some clinical trial or whatnot. Now, as he walked behind the ginger haired man, Alexander couldn't help but feel uneasy. He eyed the back of Rowen's head, contemplating how to ask about the whole thing. Sure, they had told him the basics. These people were developing some sort of drug to cure covid and they needed his help. In return, his father would be pardoned and allowed to come back home.

Despite this information, he was still clueless as to what his role would be. How was he supposed to help them? Deciding that he would get no answers through his assumptions, he finally spoke up.

"So... what exactly am I to do here, Mr. Rudolph?" he asked. "You said you needed my help? How do I help?"

Rowen never turned around to face him as he answered.

"I'll let the real brains behind this whole thing explain that to you, kid." Rowen replied. "As you might have guessed, I'm just the ground man. I'm simply following orders like any other soldier here. But the gist of it is as I told you. You're here to help with the clinical trials."

"Okay." Alex simply said, although deep down he felt like the man could give him the answers he wanted. "Lead the way then."

After what seemed like forever walking along the hallway of the large castle, they came to the basement which Alex assumed was were all the science people were hanging out. It was not the regular creepy basement that one would expect. Okay, maybe the volt type steel doors with retina scans and thumb print locks were a little too much but, then again, these people were dealing with some important work that they felt needed protecting. Still, Alex could not help but be a little uneasy.

What sort of clinical trials needed that much security?

His line of thought was interrupted when the large door suddenly swinged open to reveal an auburn haired man in a lab coat who bore a strong resemblance to Rowen.

"Rowen, took you long enough to get here." the man said as he broke into a grin.

"Try going halfway around the globe then you will understand the delay." Rowen said. Unlike the man in front of him, he wore no smile. His face only showed his annoyance. "Anyways, Dan, this is Alexander Maxwell. Alex, this is Doctor Daniel Rudolph, the Head of R & D for the World Health Organization. He's the one in charge of this whole project."

"Rudolph? You're family?" Alex asked as he looked from one to the other, finally understanding the resemblance.

"Unfortunately he's my brother." Doctor Daniel said with a roll of his eyes.

"Emphasis on the unfortunately." Rowen added. "Anyhow, I'll be leaving you in Doctor Daniel's capable hands. If you need me, Dan, you know know where to find me."

With that, he turned and left before either of them could utter a word. Once he was gone, Doctor Daniel Rudolph turned his full attention to the young man in front of him.

"Alex, may I call you Alex?" he began with a hearty smile.

"Sure." Was all Alex said.

"Right, Alex, thank you for coming here. I know it's a lot to ask but we really appreciate you doing this." Daniel went on.

Alex simply gave a nod as the doctor went on.

"Please, follow me. I'll take you through the whole project." Daniel said as he turned to usher in the young dark haired man into what had been converted into his clinical laboratory.

There was a group of about a dozen scientists all scurrying around, either looking over tests tubes or setting up structures for their trials whilst a very few walked around carrying clipboards and inspecting every bit of the place.

"As my brother has already pointed out, we're the Research and Development Team for the World Health Organization. In other words, we're the guys in charge of facing any and every pandemic head on and developing the necessary treatments for them. Which also means we, being me in this case, are always in the line of fire if those treatments fail or if we can't develop them."

"Sounds like you have your work cut out for you." Alex commented as he marveled at all that was going on around him.

He had noted that the walls of the whole lab had been prepared for biohazard proofing. That could only mean that these people would be handling some kind of infectious disease. He suddenly had an idea what his role was in this whole place.

"Huh, you have no idea. Anyhow, now you have an idea whose been on the chopping board since 2019 when shit hit the fan in Wuhan." Daniel went on. "I've never felt so much pressure at work but man I gotta hand it to this damn virus it was quite a drag. Lucky for everyone I'm good at cracking these things. Took a couple of years and some failed attempts at vaccines from my colleagues who just couldn't hold their horses and went on to embarrass themselves but I'd like to think I finally did it. Found a cure."

"A cure? For COVID-19?" Alex asked in disbelief as he looked up at the man walking besides him.

"Yes, Alex. I have. If it succeeds the world can go back to normal, economies will hopefully recover from the blow dealt to them by the pandemic." Daniel continued enthusiastically. "I'm telling you, kid, I have high hopes for this project."

"So that's why I'm here? So you can test if your cure works?" Alex asked, finally putting two and two together.

"I know it's a lot to ask..." Doctor Daniel began but Alex interrupted him.

"It's okay. I already agreed to it." he said. "Besides, this isn't a free service right? You guys will pardon my dad?"

He had a closed eye smile as he said this and this only made the Doctor's guilt weigh him down even more but he quickly swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and forced himself to return the smile.

"That's right." He said as he motioned for one of his assistants.

"So when do we start?" Alex enquired, trying to show a bit of enthusiasm.

"We'll start right away, Alex. I'd like you to meet Misty Jones, my Assistant. She'll be observing your progress and checking to make sure your vitals are good throughout the duration of the program." Daniel said as he motioned to the woman who now stood before them.

She was a petite bronze skinned woman with chestnut brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She had on a big smile as she looked at Alex.

"Hey, you must be Alex." she said. "I'm Misty. I can't wait for us to get acquainted."

"Pleasure to meet you, Misty." Alex replied, her warmth taking away some of his unease.

"Misty, why don't you get Alex comfortable here. Maybe show him around a little so he can familiarize himself with the base. Then get him prepped up so we can jump right into it." Doctor Daniel told his assistant.

"Sure thing, Doc." she replied before she turned to Alex. "Come on, I'm sure you're dying to explore this humongous castle."

"Actually I'm dying for a sandwich. I haven't had a bite to eat since I left home." Alex said with a nervous laugh.

"WHAT? That's horrifying! Come on, the cafeteria doesn't exactly make the best of meals but it's edible." Misty exclaimed as she began to drag him away.

As they left, they bumped into Rowen who had returned with some news for Doctor Daniel.

"Madam Giovanni has arrived, so has the team she's assigning you." he informed his brother.

"Oh for Christ's sake. Couldn't that woman give me the benefit of a doubt. She's literally assigning prefects to my project." Doctor Daniel breathed out in annoyance.

"Don't worry, we can handle them." Rowen assured him.

"Are you sure? Rowen, about the kid..." Doctor Daniel began but Rowen stopped him.

"No one needs to know anything. Just make sure he doesn't say anything to the wrong people." Rowen said with a serious expression. "And if this works out you'll fix it. You'll give him what he wants."

"And if it doesn't work out?" Daniel asked with a worried expression.

"It will, stop doubting yourself, little brother." Rowen said. "You may be many things, Dan, but a failure's not one of them."

"I hope you're right." Doctor Daniel said before he turned to go meet Natalia Giovanni.