Chapter Text
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Colonel Grives stared at the file in front of him. He knew that even considering this made him a monster, but so was ignoring it. He missed the days of having a simple enemy to deal with- non of this bio weapon, destroy or save all humanity nonsense. He sighed and turned to the excited doctor on the other side of his desk. "What's the compatibility for him?"
The scientist, Dr. Kroning, fidgeted in place nervously. "68%, give or take a point one." The Colonel nodded. Anything above 12% was rare. Something in the upper sixties... He could see the reason the doctor was excited.
"That's not all." Kroning tugged at a wisp of blond hair above his temple. "His wife also works for us, as a vet in the animal testing facilities."
Grives raised an eyebrow. "Not exactly unusual, is it?" Kroning shook his head. With AdGen being the massive corporation they were, it was more uncommon to find an employee with no relatives or family in a different division.
"No, except she was found to be 47% compatible."
Now that was unusual. "What are the odds." Grives quietly murmured to himself. Apparently not quietly enough.
"Beyond astronomical, sir." Kroning answered. "And yet, that's only the second most interesting part." Grives kept a neutral expression. Anything that made the AdGen geeks excited was to be treated as a potential danger.
He motioned the doctor to continue. "Apparently, the wife" he shuffled his papers to find her documents. "Camilla, is pregnant. She underwent standard tests for the child through our clinics- standard employee benefits." The doctor swallowed, and Grives knew he wasn't going to like this. "The child is 100% compatible."
"Absolutely not." Grieves responded immediately.
"Sir-" The doctor tried to object, but the Colonel interrupted. "No! We are not subjecting a goddamn newborn to the fucking Mercer Virus." He couldn't believe he actually needed to explain this. "This goes against every single regulation, not to mention common decency!" He glared at the terrified doctor. "Not to mention the fact that it's tantamount to at least three war crimes. What are we, Blackwatch??" He spat out, and the doctor winced.
"I understand how you feel, sir. But" The doctor added, actively avoiding the Colonel's glare. "This girl is perfect for Panacea. Literally, perfect. It's like she was made for this." He paused to let his words sink in. Panacea. The Cure All. No more illness, potentially ever, for anyone. Did that justify ruining a child's life? The risk of another outbreak? How many children could that save? How many could it kill? Who was he to decide such a thing?
After a few minutes, Kroning piped up again. "Sir, I know it isn't ideal" Grieves' stare snapped back to him. "T-to say the least, b-but we could compensate her and..." The words seemed to die down on his lips. If looks could kill, what would be left of the doctor wouldn't be recognised as a corpse. He raised his hands in a placating motion. "I-I mean, we d-do have im-immense funding. She'd be p-perfectly provided for..."
Grieves mulled it over. It was true, the funding for Panacea was damn near limitless, and it's not like giving good conditions to the Source Of All Cures would be hard to justify..."I can't believe I'm actually considering this..." He said to himself.
He took a deep breath, and asked. "How many months?"
Kroning checked his file.
" Two months, sir." That gave them about seven months until birth. He started drafting an order, while talking to Kroning. "They will have a home, good salaries, best education possible for the kid, best available treatments" He looked at him. "They will be treated as nothing short of royalty outside the experiments, understood?" The doctor nodded. The colonel got a dangerous glint in his eye. "I find out about a single unnecessary cruelty, and heads will roll." He caught the doctor's eye. "That wasn't a metaphor."
If he was going to ruin this kid's life, he'd do his goddamn best to ensure she could at least be properly cared for.
***
/AdGen internal memo/
Due to the recent and unfortunate passing of Colonel Grives, command of Warden operations will be passed down to Lieutenant Colonel Adam Wittebane. Additionally, we would like to congratulate Dr. Gabriel Kroning on his promotion to Head researcher.
AdGen administration.