Dr. Evans looked at Calista with concern. The girl he had watched grow up now carried far too much on her shoulders.
Seeing Calista as she was now, who would still remember that she had once been a little girl who cried even when getting an IV?
Calista brushed her fingers over the scar in the palm of her left hand, feeling the vigorous energy inside her body.
Evolution? Mutation?
She raised her head, her gaze calm again. "I understand, Doctor. For now, prioritize using the equipment and data we already have to deepen the research as much as possible. As for samples and France… we'll find a way later."
She did not make any unrealistic promises, but the firmness in her voice eased Dr. Jenner's mind a little.
Calista walked to the workbench, her gaze sweeping over the labeled test tubes and petri dishes on the nearby table, each filled with liquids of different colors. "By the way, there's one more reason I came today."
She paused, her gray-blue eyes fixed on Dr. Jenner. "Rickson must have mentioned it to you. During this trip, we encountered a massive walker horde. Also, my blood really does have an unusual attraction to walkers."
Dr. Jenner asked, "What do you mean?"
"The walkers seemed drawn by something irresistible. They ignored people who were right in front of them and rushed like mad toward where my blood had dripped."
Calista recalled the scene from back then. After the mutated walkers were drawn away by her blood, the team had finally been able to catch their breath.
"That wasn't an ordinary reaction to the smell of blood, Doctor. It was more like… an instinct they couldn't resist."
She leaned forward slightly, bracing both hands on the edge of the workbench, her gaze sharp. "I need you to test, as soon as possible, the effective attraction range my blood has on walkers. Different doses, different environments, and how the effects vary. I need precise data."
Dr. Jenner froze and instinctively objected. "That's too dangerous. If the walkers get out of control…"
"Danger is always there!" Calista cut him off. "But danger can also be used. Didn't you hear me? We ran into a massive horde this time. This data could be extremely useful.
Think about it. If we can use my blood sample to create a highly concentrated, safe walker lure, then when we need to draw away a horde or guide them toward a specific target, it would be an incredibly powerful tool."
The idea was too bold, even carrying a hint of cold madness, and for a moment, Dr. Jenner was speechless.
He looked at the woman in front of him. On that young, beautiful face, there was no innocence or fear that belonged to a girl, only a nearly ruthless rationality.
Calista was not asking for his opinion. She was giving an order.
"I… I'll need time, and I'll need more 'materials,'" Dr. Jenner finally said with difficulty. He knew he could not refuse.
Whether because of his obsession with research, or because of the reality of survival.
"Then go to Rickson or Leah. We confirmed this matter this morning. The base will continue supporting your experiments." Calista straightened. "Raise its priority to high."
"All… all right." Dr. Jenner took a deep breath, trying to keep up with her train of thought. "I'll design the experimental plan as soon as possible."
"Also," Calista continued, naturally rolling up the sleeve of her left arm and revealing a fair but firm forearm, "during this mission, I felt a very clear improvement in my physical reactions and combat instincts. Speed, strength, even danger perception, all exceeded my usual level. It was as if Wildfire had been activated even more in that moment."
She held her arm out to Dr. Jenner. "Draw a fresh tube of blood, Doctor. Compare it with the previous samples and see whether there have been any new changes in my blood composition."
Dr. Jenner said nothing. He silently turned to get a disposable blood collection needle and vacuum tube.
His movements were practiced and quick. The needle pierced her skin, and dark red blood soon filled the tube.
Once the blood draw was finished, Calista pressed a cotton swab against the puncture site, but her gaze remained fixed on Dr. Jenner's face.
She was silent for a few seconds before asking in a voice slightly lower than before, "Doctor, you've been studying my blood all this time. Based on your current analysis, this Wildfire…
Where will it ultimately take me? Can the immune flare-ups and occasional fevers I used to have be cured? And…"
Calista paused, then asked the question buried deepest in her heart, the one even she did not want to touch too often. "In the end… will I mutate into those things outside? Become some kind of… mutated walker?"
Dr. Jenner froze with the still-warm tube of blood in his hand.
He looked at Calista and caught the faintest trace of tension on her usually calm face.
No matter how calm and rational she was, she was still human. Fear was instinctive when facing unknown changes inside one's own body.
Dr. Jenner carefully placed the blood tube into a portable cooler, then turned to face Calista.
He did not answer immediately. Instead, he chose his words carefully.
"Calista," Dr. Jenner said, his voice precise, with a barely detectable trace of sympathy, "Wildfire is an extremely complex genetic engineering product unlike anything I've ever seen.
It has rewritten, or rather enhanced, some of your basic physiological functions. The improvement in combat instinct you mentioned is very likely one outward expression of that enhancement.
As for the fevers and occasional immune system overload, I believe that is your body attempting to adapt to and balance this imposed power. A kind of… rejection reaction, except the target is the altered part of yourself."
He walked over to a whiteboard covered with complex formulas and molecular structure diagrams, then pointed at several blurred markings. "As for whether you will mutate.
Based on all my current analysis, although your cellular activity is abnormal, it still retains the basic characteristics and stability of human cells.
This is fundamentally different from the irreversible cellular necrosis and central nervous system paralysis caused by the Wildfire virus. Wildfire is more like a double-edged sword. While granting you advantages, it is also testing the limits of what your body can endure."
Dr. Jenner turned back and looked into Calista's eyes, speaking honestly. "I can't give you a hundred percent guarantee. Science can't do that.
But I can tell you that, based on the current data, the possibility of you directly mutating into a walker is extremely low. The greater risk is whether Wildfire's side effects will accumulate, or… trigger some other mutation we currently cannot predict."
"Solving the fever and immune overload problem is one of my current research priorities." Dr. Jenner looked at the newly acquired instruments from Sentinel Station with relief. "Fortunately, most of the equipment we need is here now. I'll get you results as soon as possible."