Chapter 776

"Biological cradle?"

Stephanie stared at Evenson, clearly unfamiliar with the term.

The truth was, Evenson had only been familiar with it for a short while himself.

Some time ago, Moira had suggested bringing one of her former classmates into the company. Dr. Helen Hailun was a Korean scientist and, according to Moira, one of the world’s leading biologists. Her academic achievements—and, Moira had added with complete seriousness, her looks—were easily a match for her own.

Evenson and the Eredar Twins, always eager to recruit talented people, had immediately agreed.

Moira personally traveled to Korea and spent considerable effort persuading Helen, combining emotional appeals with practical incentives. Helen herself had no objections to joining the company.

The Korean government, however, had other ideas.

That problem lasted until an extraordinarily convenient coincidence occurred.

The U.S. Vice President—the same man who had once worked with Killian before Ross finally convinced him to back away from the edge—happened to encounter the Korean ambassador in an elevator.

Their conversation naturally drifted toward the matter of Dr. Helen Hailun.

The Vice President expressed his deep dissatisfaction with Korea’s restrictions on its scientists.

Naturally, he emphasized several times that this dissatisfaction represented only his personal opinion and absolutely did not reflect the official position of the United States government.

He then casually mentioned that he was considering proposing to Congress that the United States reconsider the cost of maintaining American military protection in Korea.

Again, he emphasized that this had absolutely nothing to do with Korea refusing to release a particular scientist.

The economic situation at home was simply difficult.

The United States could no longer afford such expenses.

Korea had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Really.

The message was remarkably clear.

Korea eventually decided that perhaps Dr. Helen Hailun’s future was best served by allowing her to work in America after all.

To avoid any unfortunate political controversy, the Korean government even provided an elaborate explanation.

Apparently, Dr. Hailun was technically an American. Her ancestors had supposedly been among the Koreans who had established settlements in the Americas centuries ago before eventually returning to Korea. Her departure for the United States was therefore not emigration at all.

It was simply a long-overdue return to her ancestral homeland.

Everyone was very satisfied with this explanation.

Most importantly, nobody had threatened anybody.

Helen Hailun joined the company, signed what amounted to a lifetime contract, and soon delivered exactly what Evenson and the Eredar Twins had hoped for.

The Biological Cradle.

"The Biological Cradle is an extremely promising technology," Evenson explained. "Its potential and value are enormous. Calling it a technology of the future wouldn’t be an exaggeration."

That wasn’t salesmanship.

Moira’s Tyrants and raptors had benefited enormously from the technology. The Biological Cradle was fundamental to the biological engineering that made creatures like them possible.

"What exactly can it do?" Stephanie asked urgently.

Her entire future now depended on the answer.

"The primary function of the Biological Cradle is biological tissue regeneration."

Evenson spoke calmly.

"It can repair damaged biological tissue down to the molecular level, restoring it as close to the original state as possible."

Stephanie’s eyes widened.

"That’s—"

She almost laughed from relief.

"If it can regenerate biological tissue, then it can repair me."

"Exactly."

Evenson nodded.

"I knew you’d choose this one."

Then his expression changed slightly.

"Unfortunately, there is still a problem."

Stephanie’s heart sank.

"What problem?"

Could this be one of those situations where the technology really did belong to the future, and the company hadn’t actually finished developing it yet?

"The Biological Cradle can perfectly regenerate damaged tissue. Organs, muscles, skin—all of them can be repaired."

Evenson paused.

"But the spine is different. It contains an extremely complicated network of nerves. Repairing it completely..."

He deliberately let the sentence trail off.

Stephanie’s expression immediately dimmed.

"So... it can’t?"

"It can."

Evenson shook his head.

"There is just one additional requirement. Repairing your spine will require a very special material."

Stephanie immediately relaxed.

"A material?"

If that was all, then there was no problem.

If the material existed on the moon, her father could probably arrange an expedition to retrieve it.

"It’s extremely rare," Evenson said, "but the company has some in storage."

Stephanie let out a quiet breath.

"Then what’s the problem?"

"There are some side effects."

"Side effects?"

Stephanie almost smiled.

What medicine in the world didn’t have side effects? The more powerful the treatment, the greater the risks. Compared with being permanently paralyzed, a few side effects were hardly worth mentioning.

Evenson continued.

"The material is a newly synthesized compound developed by our company. Its primary purpose is as a biological substrate for human augmentation."

He finally revealed the important part.

"The side effect of using it in your body is... strength."

Stephanie blinked.

"You’ll acquire a unique ability. Essentially, you’ll become something similar to an Inhuman."

Silence.

Evenson’s expression remained perfectly calm.

"In other words, this treatment involves biological augmentation."

This was what he had been planning from the beginning.

Not because he had some bizarre fascination with modifying human bodies.

Because he wanted control.

The official purpose of the Umbrella-Hydra partnership was to modify Hydra operatives into enhanced soldiers for Gideon Malick, supposedly preparing them for the eventual expedition to another world in search of the Hive.

The real purpose was considerably less charitable.

Evenson was stealing Hydra’s people.

He intended to use them as expendable soldiers when the time came to assault the Fel Rift.

So far, that secret was secure.

But secrets had a habit of escaping.

Stephanie had been watching everything closely. She wasn’t stupid. Sooner or later, she might notice something that didn’t add up.

If that happened, Umbrella’s relationship with Gideon Malick—and potentially Hydra as a whole—would collapse.

Evenson wasn’t afraid of that confrontation.

But why fight a powerful organization to the death when he could avoid it?

More importantly, if there was an opportunity to bring part of Hydra under his control, why wouldn’t he take it?

Malick himself was another matter.

The old fox hadn’t survived this long by being foolish.

The last time Evenson had managed to gain such a large advantage over him, it had been because Malick hadn’t understood Evenson’s methods and, more importantly, because Evenson had possessed something Malick desperately wanted.

That weakness wouldn’t last forever.

Completely controlling Malick was unrealistic.

Stephanie, however, was different.

After several encounters, Evenson had formed a fairly clear impression of her.

She was ambitious. She had vision. She was intelligent.

But compared with her father, she was still inexperienced.

And that made her much easier to influence.

Stephanie was also Malick’s undisputed successor.

Control her, and Evenson would effectively have his hands around a significant part of Hydra’s future.

And considering how much Malick doted on his only daughter, controlling Stephanie meant gaining a very useful leash on the old fox himself.

The most important part of Evenson’s plan was the augmentation.

Give Stephanie extraordinary power.

Evenson understood better than most how addictive power could be.

Once someone experienced abilities beyond those of ordinary humans, returning to an ordinary life became almost impossible.

The more ambitious the person, the stronger that temptation became.

Eventually, Stephanie would understand exactly who had given her that power.

And she would know exactly who she needed to approach if she wanted more.

There was, however, one problem.

How was Evenson supposed to convince Stephanie to let him modify her?

For some reason, the wealthier and more powerful a person became, the more suspicious they seemed to be of biological augmentation.

Even when the technology had been proven safe and reliable, they hesitated.

Promise them immortality and they’d still refuse until they were practically on their deathbeds.

Evenson had spent considerable time thinking about this.

His conclusion was simple.

Poor people needed mutations.

Rich people preferred technology.

The problem was that he couldn’t simply force Stephanie onto an operating table and modify her against her will.

Even if she later became addicted to her new abilities, she would remember being forced into the procedure.

That resentment would undermine everything he was trying to accomplish.

So Evenson had decided on another approach.

He would make Stephanie ask him.

That was why he had orchestrated her kidnapping.

That was why Boris had been allowed to injure her.

And that was why Boris was now dead.

It hadn’t been Evenson’s fault.

The attacker had been one of Hydra’s own people.

The perpetrator was dead.

His soul had already been collected and safely tucked away in Evenson’s metaphorical luxury package.

There were no witnesses left to contradict the story.

Which meant Stephanie had only two choices.

Spend the rest of her life paralyzed...

Or ask Evenson to modify her.

And, as expected, she barely needed time to make her decision.

"That’s fine."

Stephanie’s voice was weak, but firm.

"As long as you can guarantee that my body will recover, I don’t care what else is involved."

"Good."

Evenson nodded.

The knot in his chest finally loosened.

"I’ll arrange everything. Once the Biological Cradle is ready, the actual procedure should take about an hour. After that, you’ll be restored."

He stood.

"Wait."

Stephanie stopped him.

Evenson froze.

For one horrible second, he wondered whether she’d changed her mind.

Instead, Stephanie slowly lifted her head as far as the metal frame holding it would allow and looked toward his legs.

"There is one thing..."

"Yes?"

"How much is this going to cost?"

Evenson stared at her.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Right.

The technology was cutting-edge.

The material was extremely rare.

And this certainly wasn’t covered by any ordinary health insurance.

Stephanie had said she’d pay any price to be cured, but there was a difference between saying that and waking up afterward completely bankrupt.

She had to know what she was getting herself into.

Evenson blinked.

He hadn’t actually considered the price.

Why shouldn’t he charge her?

"Ah..."

He hesitated.

"Let’s worry about that after we get you healed."

He had nearly named a price on the spot.

Fortunately, he’d learned from experience.

Better to discuss it with the Eredar Twins first.

Then they could decide exactly how much Stephanie’s miraculous recovery was worth.