43.

Paris, France

The line is busy. Alexandre hangs up. He is in his office. The sofa where Jay slept is still unfolded. With a serious expression, he turns his attention back to his computer screen, where an article from a British news portal is displayed. He reads it for the third time.

"Explosion in London,

An early morning detonation in the north of Notting Hill shook the neighborhood around Portobello Road. Two houses were destroyed, and numerous material damages were triggered by the blast. The casualties include one injured pedestrian on their way to work, and tragically, one fatality, Douglas Smith, one of the devastated buildings' owner. His body was unearthed from the rubble by firefighters.

Authorities have dismissed the theory of an attack. A gas leak is believed to be the cause of this tragedy."

Alexandre knows "Douglas Smith" to be the civilian alias used by the Doctor. No doubt Phoenix had detected Jay and his friend's trail and had proceeded to eliminate them.

When he received the call from the police midmorning to inform him of his associate's death, Alexandre initially found it hard to accept. Just the day before, he was trying to dissuade Jeremy from executing his plan. He should have been firmer, not let him leave the apartment, refused to organize his visit to La Défense. If his boss and friend is gone, it's partly his fault. He can't help but feel guilty. And with the Doctor's death, he has doubly failed in his duties.

Alexandre has always been a conscientious, upright, and moral citizen, but at this moment, what he wants more than anything is Phoenix's death. Not for a second does he consider he himself could be in danger. He pushes the idea aside, gathers his thoughts. As a businessman accustomed to making difficult decisions and undergoing stressful negotiations, he chooses his path. When he discovered the Doctor had also been eliminated, he tried to contact Major Kinkaid, unsuccessfully until now.

Again, he picks up his handset and dials the number Jeremy provided him. This time, it rings, then a second time.

"Kinkaid!" a gruff voice answers.

Alexandre composes himself, compartmentalizes his sorrow and grief. He begins in a businessman's tone. "Alexandre Kelber speaking. You know who I am, I assume?"

"Jeremy Baltac's associate?"

"Exactly. We have things to discuss."

The major hesitates for a moment to express his condolences. He's not sure if his interlocutor is aware of the latest events.

"Mr. Kinkaid?" Alexandre asks in the face of the prolonged silence.

"Mr. Kelber, have you had any news of your associate?"

"He's the one who wanted me to contact you in case something happened."

"Ah... I understand... I'm sincerely sorry for..."

"Sir! It seems to me we have more urgent things to do than to recite customary platitudes. Jeremy couldn't finalize his plan to find this so-called Phoenix, but I might have information that could help you."

"Not over the phone, Mr. Kelber. Are you at home?"

"Yes."

"I'm on my way..."

The call cuts off. So, Kinkaid is in France, thinks Alexandre. He doesn't dwell on this thought for long, as a quarter of an hour later, his intercom rings.

Major Kinkaid appears exactly as Jeremy described him, even down to his expensive fashion choices.

"Mr. Kelber," Kinkaid begins. "I don't know the extent of the details your associate provided you with, but we came back to France to contact him. He had requested my help to facilitate certain transactions; I wanted to convince him to work more closely with us. Unfortunately, we arrived too late."

"He told me everything," asserts Kelber. "Including that he had already shared his theories about Phoenix's technology with you, and how he planned to use it."

"Those are no longer just theories. Our analysis confirmed that the compound stolen in New York could indeed allow nanites to cross the gastric barrier and enter the bloodstream quickly. This supports the evolution of the nanobots transmission's mode. And the few nanites we were able to study revealed two basic functions: clustering in a specific area of the cortex and inducing localized electric current."

"What about widespread distribution?"

Kinkaid sighs.

"Our only lead being the Vergèze site, we collected a few bottles from brands produced there, some tested positive for nanobots."

"Not all?"

"Truthfully, it's quite difficult to know which batches have been contaminated, and in-store stocks may vary, some probably selling older lots. It's enough to fear the worst, however. Especially if other facilities have been compromised as well."

"So Jeremy was right..."

"Undoubtedly. We were also able to reconstruct an interesting transaction concerning his Spanish counterpart. It seems he had opposed an advertising contract linked to the launch of his latest game. But after his death, the signed document arrived with the contested clause duly approved..."

"What kind of clause?"

"The promotional introduction of a new energy drink. Free samples are offered in all major video game store chains."

"Undoubtedly another vector for distributing the nanites."

"Which confirms Phoenix's large-scale plan."

"You've taken steps to prevent the spread of these goods, I hope?" asks Alexandre.

The major pauses before replying.

"It's not that simple, Mr. Kelber. Involving health services takes time. For the samples, we were able to block their export before they reached the stores, luckily they were all manufactured in one place. As for the bottled products in Vergèze... We don't also want to cause general panic. And many of these goods have already been sold. Only suspected stocks still in warehouses were seized, for the rest, it's too late..."

"The public should be warned."

"And tell them what? Not to drink mineral water? To stop using their mobile phones? In which countries? Until when? We have no precise idea about Phoenix's range of action. And it's likely he has compromised several other food production sites anyway..."

The two men fall silent for a moment before Alexandre speaks again.

"Are you going to pay the ransom?" he asks with a hint of skepticism.

"We still haven't received an official demand. But when we do, I don't think we'll have much of a choice... In the meantime, we're trying to move forward on all possible leads in the hope of locating Phoenix and being able to stop him beforehand. Speaking of which ... you mentioned having information?"

Alexandre hesitates to discuss the Doctor despite his disappearance. But he must accept that protecting the hacker's existence is now pointless.

"Jeremy wasn't working alone," he starts.

Kinkaid immediately understands.

"The Doctor?"

Alexandre doesn't reply but instead invites the major to follow him to his office. He pulls the screen towards Kinkaid, where the English article is still displayed, and simply points: "You should investigate this so-called gas leak."

Kinkaid skims the text and has no difficulty in grasping what he means.

He turns to Alexandre.

"Thank you, Mr. Kelber, every detail is important, maybe we can find Phoenix in time. I'll call my contacts at Scotland Yard right away."