Chapter 55: The price of Survival

Felix didn’t realize how tightly he’d been holding his breath until the plane wheels slammed against the runway.

The impact jolted through his spine, sharp and grounding...It was too real. He was alive and he had made it out.

For a moment, he stayed seated even as other passengers began to rise, pulling bags from overhead compartments, stretching like nothing in the world had shifted. Like the air itself wasn’t quietly turning against humanity.

Felix leaned back, closing his eyes, he inhaled slowly...then exhaled slowly again and again.

Five days ago, he had been under constant surveillance, trapped in a facility where even breathing felt monitored. Now, the air tasted different, not safer but just more... free.

That would have to be enough.

When he finally stood and stepped off the plane, his shoes touched foreign ground with a strange weight to them. Each step felt deliberate, like the world was waiting to see what he would do next.

He walked past crowds, past noise, past movement.

Then he stopped, "Time to make a call," he muttered.

He pulled out his phone, hesitated for half a second, then dialed.

The line rang once, then twice.

Then on the other side, "Felix?"

Felix exhaled, something in his chest loosening.

"Abel," he said. "I’m back."

Silence. Then a sharp inhale was heard on the other end.

"Where are you?"

"Airport. Just landed." Felix replied.

"I’m sending a car." Abel said.

"No," Felix replied immediately. "Too visible. I’ll come to you."

A pause came

"...You sound different," Abel said.

Felix let out a dry laugh, "You would too."

—

The Forelight Corporation’s headquarters didn’t look like the kind of place that could change the fate of humanity.

It was sleek. Glass and steel and quiet ambition but Felix knew better.

By the time he stepped into Abel’s office, the man was already waiting.

Abel hadn’t changed much. Still sharp-eyed, still composed and still the kind of person who looked like he had already calculated five outcomes ahead of whatever conversation you were about to have.

But there was tension there now. It was subtle and yet controlled.

"You look like hell," Abel said. Felix smirked faintly. "You should see the other guys."

Abel rose his hand and gestured his hand, "C’mon man dap me up."

Felix smiled, he and Abel shook hands.

Felix dropped into the chair across from Abel’s desk and leaned forward, "We don’t have time," he said. "So I’m just going to say it."

Abel leaned back, watching him carefully, "Go on."

Felix’s eyes darkened slightly, "The Cain Foundation found something," he said. "Something that changes everything."

Abel didn’t interrupt..didnt even blink.

Felix continued.

"The Mark 8 they found that I was working on is an infection...it isn’t random. It’s not just a virus. It’s... selective and adaptive."

"Adaptive how?" Abel asked.

Felix hesitated. Choosing his words carefully.

"It doesn’t just infect," he said. "It transforms. Rewrites. It’s like.... it’s trying to... evolve humanity but it’s doing it violently. Unpredictably."

Abel’s fingers tapped once against the desk, "That doesn’t explain the urgency in your voice."

Felix leaned closer, "It doesn’t affect animals....."

Silence. Abel stared at him, "...What?"

"It doesn’t affect animals," Felix repeated. "We ran tests on multiple different species. Different environments. Exposure levels that would have infected a human instantly."

"And?" Abel asked

"Nothing," Felix said. "No infection, no mutation, not a single reaction."

Abel frowned, "That doesn’t make sense."

"Exactly."

Felix sat back, running a hand through his hair.

"It’s not just that animals are immune," he said quietly. "It’s like the virus doesn’t even recognize them as viable hosts."

Abel’s expression sharpened, "...So it’s targeting humans specifically."

"Yes." Felix assured.

"Why?" Abel asked.

Felix let out a hollow laugh, "If I knew that, I wouldn’t be here asking for help."

A heavy silence settled between them.

Then Abel spoke again, "Alright," he said. "Let’s assume you’re right. Let’s assume this thing is designed to somehow target humans exclusively."

He leaned forward now, "What does that have to do with ’the end of the human race’?"

Felix met his gaze, "Because if it keeps spreading," he said, "there won’t be a baseline humanity left to save."

Abel didn’t respond immediately.

Felix could see the calculations happening behind his eyes.

"You’re saying extinction."

"I’m saying transformation," Felix corrected. "And we don’t get a say in what we become."

That landed hard. Abel stood, pacing once across the room, "Alright," he said. "So what’s your solution?"

Felix didn’t answer right away because saying it out loud made it real...made it insane but he said it anyway.

"We stop being human."

Abel froze and turned slowly, "I’m going to need you to explain that before I decide whether to throw you out of my office."

Felix let out a tired breath, "The virus doesn’t affect animals," he said again. "Which means whatever mechanism it uses to infect... it’s tied to something uniquely human, our biology, our genetic structure."

Abel crossed his arms, "You’re suggesting what? That we rewrite human DNA?"

Felix nodded once, "Yes."

"That’s not just difficult," Abel said flatly. "That’s impossible."

Felix’s lips twitched, "Yeah," he said. "We all know."

Silence then..."But what if it isn’t?" Felix added quietly.

Abel’s eyes narrowed.

Felix leaned forward again, intensity returning.

"Gene therapy," he said. "Not full transformation, not immediately but gradual adaptation. Introducing traits and sequences. Elements that shift our biological profile just enough that the virus no longer recognizes us as human hosts."

Abel stared at him, "You’re talking about turning people into... hybrids."

"I’m talking about survival." Felix corrected.

"That’s not survival," Abel snapped. "That’s abandoning what we are."

Felix didn’t flinch, "And what we are is dying," he said.

That shut him up only for a moments notice, Abel exhaled slowly, rubbing his temples.

"This is theoretical at best Felix," he said. "And catastrophic at worst....Even if it were possible man, the side effects alone...we don’t know what could happen too, it’s too..."

"I know," Felix cut in. "I know." His voice dropped, "But what other choice or alternative do we have?"

Abel didn’t answer because there wasn’t one.

Felix continued, quieter now, "I saw what happens to people," he said. "I saw them change, break. Turn into something they don’t understand and the worst part?"

He looked up, "They don’t get a choice."

The room felt colder, "So we give them one," Felix said.

Abel studied him for a long time, "Do you really believe this could work."

Felix hesitated then, "I believe it’s the only thing that might."

"You know something man I lost the only friend I made that side...his name was Ashell, I could not save him.

I ended up making a few connections there...people who helped me escape..we where all supposed to escape but they were dragged back one of them got taken early on and if they are still alive I want a chance to save them to repay them for giving me freedom at the price of theirs.."

Silence stretched after Felix was done talking.

Then Abel moved back to his desk and sat down, "If we were to even consider this," he said slowly, "we’d need data. A lot of extensive data. Cross-species genomic mapping. Viral interaction models and controlled trials."

Felix nodded, "I can help with that."

"And we’d need a facility," Abel continued. "It needs to be isolated, secure and most importantly off the grid we don’t want to catch the governments eye...We need somewhere we can work without interference."

Felix’s jaw tightened slightly, "Yeah," he said. "About that."

Abel raised an eyebrow.

Felix leaned back, "I can’t stay in one place for too long," he said. "The Cain Foundation... they’re not just going to let this go."

"You think they’ll come after you?" Abel asked.

"I know they will since i already know too much I’m sure they just won’t let this go by unchecked."

Abel considered that and nodded once, "Then we move fast."

Felix let out a quiet breath. Relief, maybe or just momentum, "But I need something from you," Felix added.

Abel gestured, "Name it, im all ears."

Felix’s expression hardened, "I need somewhere I can do this," he said. "Not just research, not just theory."

He leaned forward, "I need a place where we can actually make it real."

Abel didn’t respond immediately because he understood exactly what that meant.

Not just experiments, not just data but people. Risk and irreversible decisions.

Finally, "I’ll find it," Abel said.

Felix nodded, "That’s all I needed to hear."

They sat in silence for a moment. The weight of what they had just agreed to settling in.

Then Abel spoke again, "You realize," he said, "if this works... humanity won’t be human anymore."

Felix stood. Already turning toward the door, "Yeah," he said.

His voice was steady, "But at least it’ll still exist."

He paused at the doorway just for a second.

Then added, "We can argue about identity later." And with that, he walked out.

Leaving Abel alone with the future of the human race sitting quietly on his desk like a problem that refused to be solved.

Outside, the world moved on.