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Adrian nodded.
It did need a name.
“Call it the A-Virus.”
Like the t-Virus and the G-Virus, it was a gene-altering virus.
Since it was designed to attack the virus behind AIDS, the initial made the name obvious enough.
Based on Adrian’s estimate, the A-Virus did not have to be limited to HIV forever.
If they later cultivated A-Virus strains that devoured other viruses, they could subdivide them then.
The researchers did not understand why he chose that name, but no one questioned it.
Compared with the name, they cared far more about the virus itself.
After leaving the lab, Adrian did not return to the office building.
Instead, he headed toward the undeveloped eastern grounds of the pharmaceutical plant.
Umbrella owned roughly one thousand acres of land, but less than half of it was actually in use.
The eastern side faced the sea and was unsuitable for drug production, so it had never been developed.
Almost no one went there.
After thinking it through, he had decided to place the entrance to the underground base from the starter draw in that area.
The base entrance took the form of a sleek, high-tech villa.
A full-length mirror in the dressing room opened into the underground access route.
From there, an electric tram could reach the main facility three hundred meters below ground in three minutes.
The Hive was enormous.
Ten million square meters.
One main building and eight auxiliary buildings.
Its internal facilities were complete: five thousand luxury apartments, more than a hundred laboratories with different functions, a power station, an arms factory, training grounds, cafeterias, warehouses, and more.
Most important of all was the artificial intelligence that obeyed only him: the Red Queen.
In this era, the Red Queen’s existence would give him an enormous advantage.
Soon, he reached the chosen site.
He had to admit, the sea view here was excellent.
Placing the villa entrance in this location would not arouse suspicion.
“System, here.”
Light flashed in front of him, and a luxury villa with a perfect view appeared on the hillside.
Even in the suburbs, the villa alone would probably be worth three or four hundred million.
After a quick inspection, he reached the dressing room.
Facial recognition.
Fingerprint scan.
Iris scan.
Passcode.
After all four locks cleared, the full-length mirror opened silently.
He passed through a dimly glowing tunnel and boarded the tram.
Three minutes later, an enormous underground city appeared before him.
Magnificent.
That was his first impression.
It was far grander than he had imagined.
The entire base felt like science fiction made real.
Soon, he met the little girl in the red dress: the Red Queen.
With her assistance, Adrian began shaping his long-term plan.
Ten days later.
Inside the laboratory.
Adrian, Dr.
Hart, and the other researchers were all there.
Every eye was fixed on the enormous screen in front of them.
The microscopic field was displayed clearly on it.
Within that field were the A-Virus, viruses of all shapes and sizes, and of course the main target: HIV.
Simple tests had been run, and the results had not disappointed him.
Once this experiment ended, they would move to live trials.
Dr.
Hart and the other researchers stood beside him with clenched fists, staring nervously at the screen.
All their work over the past several days had been for this moment.
They looked almost like parents waiting for a child to be born.
Tension, excitement, worry, and anticipation pressed through the room.
The A-Virus drifted through the microscopic field.
Then HIV appeared in front of it.
The A-Virus seemed to come alive.
Its huge body gradually wrapped around the HIV particle.
Slowly, little by little, the HIV particle vanished from the screen.
“It worked.”
At last, every visible HIV particle under the microscope disappeared.
The room exploded with excitement.
“We did it!”
“Finally. All that work paid off.”
“Mr. Cross is incredible. He solved one of the hardest diseases to treat before anyone even knew what he was doing.”
“Who do you think Mr. Cross is? I told you he would lead us out of this crisis.”
Seeing it with their own eyes, the researchers could no longer contain themselves.
The exhaustion of the past days vanished in an instant.
Every one of them looked wired with adrenaline.
At this stage, they knew HIV/AIDS had essentially been conquered.
Once the concept of using one virus to fight another spread, it would shock the entire biological sciences community.
It would become a milestone in the history of bioscience.
It would open a new chapter in humanity’s understanding of biology.
The names Adrian Cross and Umbrella would spread across the world.
Dr.
Hart stared hard at the giant screen.
After a lifetime spent studying biological viruses, he understood exactly what this meant.
He had personally witnessed a historic breakthrough.
The weight of it left him deeply shaken.
Barring surprises, Adrian Cross would be a leading candidate for the next Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Adrian’s expression barely changed.
“Prepare for live trials.”
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