November 15th, 2025

The corridor was silent, there were armed guards standing along the wall, one every few feet. They made him a little nervous, even though they were there to protect him. He wasn't a prisoner, he was there willingly, but he still couldn't help the anxious feeling that always seemed to come over him in front of authority figures. It was a habit, even if he had never actually done anything wrong.

He was brought into an interrogation room. It was actually a repurposed janitor closet, but it was big enough for a table and four chairs, that was all they needed. He took a seat in one of the chairs, the two detectives took a seat across from him. For a few moments, they just stared at each other.

"Well?" the woman prompted him.

She was attractive, that was the first thing he'd noticed about her. Another habit. Her hair was neat, straightened, and somehow surviving the humidity. Her brown eyes were boring into his, even though she wasn't angry, she still had a stern stare. As for her male companion? He was attractive too. Blonde, tall, blue eyes. He could've been a model before this, Julian could see him posing on covers of romance novels about cowboys and CIA agents holding babies and making ovaries explode, or whatever. 

What the fuck am I thinking about?

Julian snapped out of the momentary trance and cleared his throat. "Well," he repeated, "I thought I could help."

The woman sighed softly, leaning forward and resting her hands on the table. "They said you had information, what kind of information?"

Julian shifted uncomfortably in his seat, wondering if maybe he'd made a mistake in speaking up. "I... Okay, so I heard about patient zero. I was there, actually, and I think I know what might've happened." Faces flashed in his mind. Terrified and blood, sometimes smiling, sometimes screaming. Dead faces, glazed eyes, milky white. It had only been four months? It felt like years, he felt like every time he looked in the mirror he saw his dad now. Stress. That was putting it mildly.

"Kid, come on," blondie finally spoke up. "You're not in trouble. We're just trying to fix everything. We're not going to tell your friends, we're not going to tell anyone."

"My friends know," Julian said, his mind drifting away from the faces again. It was an absent-minded comment, it didn't actually matter. His friends were the reason he was here anyway. "I was there," Julian repeated, "for patient zero, I mean. Like I was right fucking there."

"Like... You knew patient zero?"

"Yeah, we went to school together."

"Okay, so tell us everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes, everything," the woman replied, starting to look a little more annoyed.

He could tell them everything. He wasn't sure how much of it was relevant, but he wanted to do his part in all of this. From the moment it started, he'd wanted nothing more than for it to end. He would spill his whole damn life story if that was what they wanted.

⊷ ☣⊶

Outside of the building, a group of four stood, waiting. Inez had wanted to go in with him, she didn't think he should be alone. She'd become protective of him in the last four months. He was the youngest of the group, just a kid, still in college. Well, he was in college. She was a cashier. Ben was a teacher. Quinlan was a cop. Dorian? Dorian was the only one who hadn't changed. He was made for this world. He was in his element. The rest of them were still trying to adapt.

They didn't let her go in with him, they said it had to be "confidential" as if she didn't already know everything about the kid. She was surprised when Julian volunteered, she'd even protested. It had nothing to do with him, but he seemed to be racked with guilt and Ben had told him it would help to tell them what he knew, as if it would absolve him.

As for Inez, she thought it would be best for them to leave this place. There was something about it that she didn't trust and the way that Dorian seemed to constantly shift from foot to foot told her that he felt the same way. His expression was neutral for the most part, jovial only when he spoke to their inner group, but with people he'd formally regarded as comrades he became a totally different person. She couldn't tell which was the real him, it was starting to make her uneasy, another reason she wanted to leave this place, she wanted to imagine that jovial, teasing Dorian was the real one. Not this... Automaton that took his place when his superiors were around.

She'd asked him already if he would leave with them and he'd nodded his head, giving her a grin. "Of course," he'd told her, "I hate these people." She was inclined to believe him, even if the exchange was followed by him standing at attention when an older man came to collect them.

Now they were standing there, their group was incomplete and Julian was all alone in what had once been an elementary school. Ben looked thoughtful, as if he was recalling the days when he walked halls like the ones inside the building, had any of it mattered? Where were those kids now? Inez didn't really want to think about that question too long, the only thing that came to mind was that there weren't many children running around lately. If she thought about that too long, she'd start to remember things that she didn't want to remember.

"What do you think is taking so long?" Dorian asked out loud, looking a bit anxious.

"They just went in," Quinlan replied, sighing. He sat down on the curb, resting his elbows on his knees. "We just have to wait."

"I hate waiting," Inez muttered.

"We know," Ben finally spoke up. He hadn't said much the whole morning, he seemed absent-minded and even a bit sad.

It was to be expected, considering what Julian had told them. Ben had known patient zero too, perhaps better than anyone else. Or, at least, that's what he'd always thought, but the whole situation was proof that he'd been wrong. He felt just as guilty as Julian, he kept repeating things in his mind, wishing he'd seen signs or paid more attention. They all knew that these thoughts were useless now, it didn't matter anymore. What had happened was over with, they could only move forward now.

⊷ ☣⊶

Back inside the building, Julian had requested a glass of water. If he was going to tell the story, he was going to tell it properly. It was a long story, so he was going to need some water and, in truth, he was nervous enough that it was making his throat feel dry.

"Are you ready now?" the woman prompted. She had finally introduced herself, Lucy Moore. Once an agent with the CIA, now? Well, her occupation had yet to be determined.

Blondie had been introduced as Jackson Parker and Julian had thought it was very fitting. He could see girls writing his name in their notebooks, crushing on him, daydreaming about his pretty, blue eyes.

Focus.

He almost wanted to whine at himself. It's hard. "All right, so it all started with Alex-"

"Who is Alex?" Moore asked.

Julian sighed a bit and leaned back. Who was Alex? He never thought that question would carry so much weight. He used to be able to answer it so easily, whenever he mentioned Alex by name and the question was inevitably asked. "My best friend," Julian said finally. That was partially a lie, but the agents didn't need to hear about the two college students who briefly explored their sexuality together; that was a tale as old as time. The truth was that Alex had been his best friend, it didn't matter what he did or what he'd done.

"We met in high school," Julian explained. "He was always the kind of kid that fit in with everyone. No one ever bothered him because he had enough people who had his back." Julian smiled a bit, thinking of his old friend. "He was a smart guy, but he didn't like school, typical slacker, right? He liked weed a lot, mushrooms too."

The agents perked up a bit at the last part. The former college student knew exactly why, but he didn't launch into that right away.

"At some point, he got the brilliant idea to start mixing in things with said mushrooms," he continued. More perking. Julian put his hands up as if to calm them down, to tell them it wasn't exactly what they thought it was. "He didn't start this," he clarified, "but whatever he did, it... Well, it definitely didn't help. That's why I wanted to tell you guys about this because I think whatever he was doing- that maybe he... Maybe it could help."

"How do you know he didn't start this?" Moore asked him. 

Julian didn't want to tell her that part. "I just... Do, okay?" he said. 

"Then what makes you think this will help?"

"Patient zero, pay attention, okay?"