Componsation

Professor José frowned as he looked over the data on Alexandre's laptop. "Well, don't leave me in the dark. What exactly am I looking at?"

Alexandre gave him a bitter smile. "Don't play coy. Everyone on this list took part in the Genesis Project. Funny enough, your name's one of them. Care to explain?"

Professor José growled back, "You son of a...!" Then he caught himself and said more calmly, "Trying to blackmail me is one thing, but stirring up shit about the Genesis Project is playing with fire!"

Alexandre got up and poured them both more whiskey. He sat back down, handed over the second glass, and took a sip, staring the doctor in the eye. Then he said, "I'm not a cheater who injected himself with a black market version of the S.G.C. shot. My body was already modified before I showed up because I was a guinea pig for the Genesis Project. That's why I'm gathering information about the project!"

The doctor stared Alexandre in the eye, seeming skeptical. Silently, Alexandre rolled up one shirtsleeve. He removed a bandage which he'd previously worn to hide the red numbers and letters tattooed onto his arm: 1Z2011B+.

José froze as he saw the code, then looked away, staring off into the distance. His voice was less harsh when he spoke again. "Ha. I understand why you don't feel any pity for me, then. Does it make you feel any better to know that I'm sorry for you? I doubt it. It was very unfair what happened to those two thousand children. But understand one thing: We all believed the end of humanity was approaching."

The doctor looked back into Alexandre's eyes, his expression full of determination. "I've thought back on it many times. The sacrifice of two thousand children saved millions of lives. It was justified, plain and simple."

Alexandre's expression didn't change. He asked, "What was your involvement in all this?"

Professor José burst out laughing, "Come on, do the math! I'm still a pretty young guy, and back then I was barely in my thirties. Just a young doctor working on blood tests, like many others! I had nothing to do with who made the decisions, nor was I part of the experiments themselves!"

Alexandre frowned. "What do you mean?"

The professor replied, "Listen. The Genesis Project was an international effort between over ten thousand researchers and doctors. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that it was the focus of the entire medical world!"

Alexandre said, "So you deny any knowledge of experiments on human guinea pigs?"

"Yes!" José snapped. "At the time, like many biology researchers, I was offered the chance to work on this priority research project in exchange for protection for myself and my family. But people like me didn't know what was really going on. They simply sent my laboratory blood samples, then I analyzed them, wrote reports according to what was asked of me, and then sent the data back. Even though I firmly believe the project was justified now, it's also true that, at the time, I had about as little to do with the work as the manufacturers who sold us medical supplies."