The Cure, стр. 32
‘So melodramatic,’ said the Professor.
‘Mr Brittle had been in the prison four years and yet we had never crossed paths. He kept to himself, nonetheless it was clear he did not belong among us. The worst criminals the world had to offer lived here, but he was not one of them. However, when we needed him there he was. He taught us to grow crops where no crops could grow. He helped us find animals we could breed for farming. We have twelve pigs I think, no fourteen, goats, two cows and countless chickens now, but we started with nothing. Look at these men out here working together. Believe it or not some are guards who chose to stay rather than face the atrocities which awaited them outside. The bars are still here to keep people out, but unlike our President we did not forget the people outside our gates. The Death Squads you mentioned are my men taking food into the city and feeding those who cannot feed themselves. We have to keep them out so we can grow big enough to extend beyond the walls, which we will,’ he looked to the Professor who nodded approval back.
‘Nobody dies here. Nobody steals. We work together for the greater good. We work to do the very thing your father plans to take away from us, and that is to give the people a choice,’ said the Professor.
‘You did all this?’ Tallulah said.
‘No, we did all this. Every man within these prison walls is free to walk out whenever they want but they choose to stay, to live, and to help others live.’
‘It may not be the luxury you have become accustomed to, but to us, this is paradise,’ said Mendez.
‘Actually, where we have been living is more like a prison than here,’ said Logan.
The Professor led them back into the prison and into the kitchens where the smell of freshly cooked bread filled the air. More men scurrying around carrying pots, testing food and stirring steaming hot vessels of food. Logan and Tallulah had never seen anything like it.
‘Apologies if my men give you any strange looks, but most haven’t seen a woman in many years. Especially one so beautiful Princess. You are completely safe of course but forgive their stares,’ said Mendez apologetically.
‘Professor, you said you were put here for something you didn’t do. Why?’ said Tallulah, choosing to ignore Mendez’ comment.
The two men looked at each other ‘You don’t know?’ said Mendez.
‘No, why would we?’ said Logan.
‘Well, for one you are The President’s son, but she is Wanikiy’s daughter,’ said the Professor.
‘What does that mean?’ said Tallulah.
‘Your father didn’t tell you what caused The Cure?’ he said.
‘Something caused The Cure?’ said Logan.
‘Good Lord yes son, it wasn’t divine intervention, it was me,’ said Professor Brittle.
Logan and Tallulah couldn’t believe what they were hearing and were speechless. This revelation was too much on top of everything they had heard, and Logan couldn’t find the words to reply.
‘You? You caused this?’ said Tallulah.
‘This?’ said the Professor waving his hands in the air as Tallulah had. ‘This being the end of the world, famine, death of humanity, the apocalypse? No. If I had then ending up in here would have been the least I deserved. No. Your father and I only created The Cure. We are not responsible for the repercussions.
‘My father? He has never mentioned anything about this. The Cure, we thought, was something else, not man made,’ said Tallulah.
‘Yes, like the rest of the world, but I had thought that those privy to what the left hand of the President knows would know too. Maybe even that secret was too barbaric to share, like poisoning half the country, I guess.’
‘Goldsmith?’ said Logan.
‘Yes, he was behind everything from the start. The government knew the scientists of the world were on the verge of discovery. Cures to Cancer, AIDS, Heart Disease, you name it, they were close. Some had already been discovered but were awaiting approval for testing on live subjects. The five largest Pharmaceutical companies knew it too and they knew that they would lose billions once the cures were made available to the masses. They couldn’t pay off everyone, so they made a deal with the US Government to find a cure that was capable of curing and stopping anyone from ever getting ill in the future. It wasn’t about saving lives, it was always about making money. Goldsmith instigated everything and his first move was bringing your father and I to find the magic cure.’
‘But my father was trying to help people. He loved my mother and would do anything to stop people going through what we as a family had gone through. It was never about the money for him, it was about the guilt that he couldn’t save her,’ said Tallulah.
‘As was I my dear Tallulah, but we were oblivious to Goldsmith’s end game. Logan, your father was still Senator at the time, but his predecessor gave us carte blanche of everything at the Government’s disposal. We had access to Area 51 and substances which we had no idea what they were or what they were capable of, but we used them anyway in our campaign for a cure. We thought we were saving mankind and that just drove us to take bigger chances and more risk.’
‘But you did it. You found a cure to cure all illness. What went wrong?’ said Logan.