The Gate

“Is that all of us?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“So, shall we start this meeting?”

“Absolutely. Mr. Lopfield, please have the privilege of introducing everyone.”

“Privilege gladly taken. My name is Martin Lopfield, forensic scientist for the London Police Department. Here with me is prime minister Blake -”

“Yes.”

“- Doctor W.P Howard, who specializes in genealogy -”

“Aye.”

“-Logan Cane, lawyer and chemist-”

“Quite the duality of careers.”, a quick remark made by Blake himself.

“The chemistry is more or less a simple hobby of mine, but thank you regardless.”

“-and that seems to be everyone, am I correct?”

“Very much so, Mr. Lopfield. Now, let us begin with these pressing matters. ”

A slight chill went through the room, as the hum of a vent could be heard. The room was dimmed to the point of only necessary light – Logan Cane was found in the corner, tapping at his pocket-watch. Blake continued with his briefing:

“As we all know, early this morning the city of London was fully evacuated, finishing procedures that began even earlier the day before. You men have been gathered here today to discuss the facts of this dreadful event. Please keep in mind, for the safety of all the United Kingdom, what is said here must remain here. No further fear should be sent amongst the peoples of this country and of the world, am I indeed correct?”

A slight scuffle went through the room, though nothing too great. 'Hasn't the unknown caused them enough fear?' they all thought, yet refused to mention.

“Let me bring it back to Lopfield, for a more detailed look at the events that transpired these few weeks. Mr. Lopfield?”

He stood up as called, barely a tremor in his boots. They all knew that inside he was as nervous at the rest of them, however.

“The first eyewitness report happened around Manchester, 8:43 PM. A farmer was out, finishing up some work with his crops, when he heard a slight growl from a nearby tree. He described this growl as being 'partially human, perhaps a lighter pitch, but definite traces of some other animal call such as a dog bark.' This man made his say towards the tree where there he found...”

“Three sheep carcasses, correct?”

“Yes. Three sheep carcasses, all from his inventory. He described himself as a 'not so superstitious man', so he threw it off as a wolf and went back inside to get a shovel to bury the dead.”

“And you're sure this was the first sighting?”

“Quite possibly, because of the second report nearby the farm happening only a few minutes later, at around 8:57. A couple was driving down a dirt path a little south of the farm where the first sighting took place, where they heard a growl 'very similar' to the one the farmer heard in the first sighting, comparing by description. The girl noted it, however the man continued driving until...”

“The first true sighting.” Howard interjected.

“Yes. Described as a lumpy, large creature – much too great for a dog. A caucasian white, slight pink around the features of the body. All fours, and large teeth. This was the only description the man and woman combined were able to give, for which they blamed on the speed of the creature.”

“But can we be sure that this was connected to the first sighting?” Howard continued.

Mr. Cane continued to tap his stopwatch rhythmically. “The proof may not be there, but it can be greatly assumed that these two sightings had everything to do with eachother.”

Howard stopped and retreated back into his own notes, while Lopfield continued:

“The third sighting was the first inside the city limits of London. The exact location was Th Merriwether Building, home to many small businesses in the south district. An anonymous eyewitness who stayed late reported seeing something move across the hall. At first, deciding it was “just the insomnia” as the report said, the eyewitness had a prevailing feeling that she was not the only one in the room. In order to either confirm or deny her theory, she went into the hallway where she... came across it.”

“And?”

“Remarkable similarities in description to that of the second sighting. According to her however, the creature ran off before she could accurately assess her situation.”

“And that was the last sighting, was it not?”

“Yes, it was.”

It was at this point in which W.P. Howard stood up from his seat. He was a short fellow, much shorter than anyone else there, but he made sure his presence was known. Mr. Cane continued fiddling with his stopwatch. Howard commenced talking:

“I think this is the point my field may have some help.”

Blake leaned back in his seat, much more eased. “Is it true?” Howard smiled.

“Shortly after the city was evacuated, the QNT were released into the city under your orders-”

“It is true.”

“- And one of these groups managed to find our curious beast.”

“They found them?” Lopfield asked in a seemingly inquisitive state of mind.

“They found one, but yes in a way they did. The creature fortunately easily fell victim to the sleep needle and we were able to put it under cyro-sleep and analyze it. The final report was very remarkable -- it appears the creature was under a different blood group then one that has ever been categorized before. It has many similarities to the O- group-” At this point he took a quick break in speech to organize his notes, “- Yes, very much so. Rh antigen absent, A and B antibodies in the plasma. However, unlike O-, the A antigen seems active, as well as a different antigen which I have never seen categorized in any books before. Our team is still working on categorizing it.”

“What about the genes? You did do a genetic test?”

“Of course! The genetic test came out to be... normal, for this type of body. But clearly mutated , as the code seemed as if to have been matched by a previously foreign element.”

Logan Cane stopped fiddling with his watch to look back up at Dr.Howard. “And you have not found another one of them, am I correct?”

“Yes, you are.”

Cane took this moment to lean in, now clearly intrigued by the conversation. “ I believe this is where I can come in good use.”

Blake nodded. “If you believe so.”

Cane nodded. “Well my fellows, I am afraid to inform you that this plague has not gone without casualties. 3 men have been found dead with severe physical trauma, similar to the sightings that were reported.”

“How unfortunate, it seems they come with limited lifespans.”

“That is true. After extensive investigation of these deceased's homes, it does appear that they all have something in common after all.”

“And that is?”

“Neptocilin. Not on any medical chart, registered names, anywhere. The only place we could find it was one – the deep web, under a “.onion” domain. The website has now been taken down by authorities, but the analysis of the website shows that it offered a “stunning psychedelic experience that no other drug could truly capture”. The website seemed to have been running from a remote server outside of Sevastopol.”

“Ukraine? Do you believe they're... in on this?” Lopfield moved about in his seat.

“Due to our recent tensions with the Soviet Conglomerate, we believe foul play cannot be ruled out, however is highly unlikely.”

Blake shifted himself in his seat as well, yet provided confident words. “I doubt they would, they know how much trouble it would get them into.”

At this dismissal, the atmosphere of the room eased, which allowed Cane to continue.

“We got a few samples of the Neptocilin showed some interesting things. Its contents contain two very poisonous elements – arsenic and mercury. While these two together make an extremely lethal shot, there was a strange mixture inside of it was well that seemed to calm these two elements.”

“Strange? Do you mean as in 'foreign'”?

“No, not exactly. Strange as in no test has really been done with it before. It's never been seen by any scientist in England, nor any scientist we've outsourced it to.”

“So, what does that lead to?”

“We're not sure, but now's the time for hoping that nothing more of the substance is still on the streets.”

At this point in the conference the entire room was held in strict tension. Finally, Blake gave a drawn-out, stressed sigh and commissioned a dismissal.

“Well, I thank all of you for helping us and the entire city of London. You are dismissed.”

Quickly and quietly, all members of the board left their seats, grabbed there notes, and exited the room. Blake grabbed hold of his freshly brewed coffee – whilst the heat still emanating from it onto his face, he checked the desk to find one of the geneticist's notes laying down on the table. He swiped it up and took a quick look, but was instantly shocked.

In a cold sweat, holding it for what seemed a long moment, he dropped it down on the table and slowly made his way out of the conference room, shutting both doors behind him.

The note was of such context that it was likely Howard purposely left it out. It was a simple but penetrating note, coming from the research labs in York –

Dear Dr. Howard,

After extensive testing, we have dreadfully found that the contaminant inside the tissue of the subjects have the ability to leave a gas with the same potent mixture we found in the Neptocilin. Though we are not yet sure, it is highly probable that this likely means the virus is contagious.

Sincerely,

Dr. Orwell Walworth, York Research Facilities

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