Madeline continued, “So once the superstructure was stabilized, the cells seem to have worked pretty much as advertized. I don’t know if they are self-replicating yet, well, I know there are more in their blood than I put there, but they haven’t become infectious yet. The two control subjects are unaffected by the antigen so far.”

“So?” asked Ayala.

“So … we’re moving forward well?” said Madeline, confused.

“So … let’s get to the next phase.” Ayala looked at her, waiting, but Madeline did not see where she was going. “Madeline, umm, what do you think we should do with this?”

“We should see if it communicates to the other monkeys then we should infect some unfortunate guinea pig, probably you or I, and see what happens.”

“Madeline, my dear, once we get this out into the population, there is only so much we can do to speed up its spread. No matter how far and wide I travel, there are only so many people I can infect, and only so much affect that will have on our timeline. But every week we wait to start the process is a week added to the end date, plain and simple. And in those final weeks that could translate to billions of people.”

Ayala stared at the younger woman. Madeline knew what Ayala was suggesting, and she understood the logic, but her scientific training was making her balk at what seemed like a simple decision to Ayala.

“Madeline, give me the drug,” Ayala said, already starting to look around the room.

“No, wait, it is only just starting to spread in the monkeys, this thing may still kill them all. We need to see if it is safe, you can’t risk it, not yet!” Madeline pleaded but the other lady ignored her, looking round the room and spotting the two large stainless steel refrigerators in the corner.

Madeline followed her over to them, trying to talk to Ayala as she pulled open the first refrigerator’s door. It contained blood samples so Ayala closed it and opened the second. It was lined with vials filled with clear liquid, and several large bags marked as plasma were hanging on a rack at the bottom.

Ayala turned to Madeline, “Which is it, Madeline? Which one is the agent you gave to the monkeys?”

Madeline stared at the woman, defiant, and in response Ayala’s face transformed, setting into a resolve that, over the years, had been many a person’s last sight before they felt the full force of Ayala’s lethal training. For a moment Madeline was taken aback, then her instinctive fear turned to offense at the thought that her friend might actually hurt her. Ayala saw her young friend’s shock, and she softened.