Read Reset: A Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Fantasy (Contaminant Series Book 1) for Free Online

her left hand a brief rub with the alcohol swab and with the finger stick, she stuck herself.  Blood balled up just outside the puncture site and immediately swelled.  Acting quickly, Jenna put one drop on two of the slides and put several drops in the collection vial by squeezing her finger over the hole.  With that, she put the cotton swab against her finger and applied pressure.  The bleeding stopped in no time.
    From here, Jenna gave her hands a good wash once more, dried them, and slipped them into latex gloves.  She returned to her work station where she gently placed an empty slide on top of a slide with blood on it and slid it into place.  With the glass stuck together she taped it shut and put it under a microscope.  Jenna worked to focus the lens and then grabbed her voice recorder,
    “Experiment 1:  Since I can only answer one question, we’ll start with, ‘How does this technology interact with human blood?’  I have taken a sample of my blood and placed it on 2 slides.  One slide is to be the control for this experiment and therefore, untampered with.  The other slide will be introduced to a plant serum taken from a contaminated plant.”
    With that, Jenna put her mask on and removed a vial of plant serum from the refrigerator.  With the eye dropper, she withdrew not even a fourth of the eye dropper’s total capacity.  While still holding the dropper, she closed the lid on the vial and placed it back inside the refrigerator.
    Returning to the second slide, Jenna added a drop of serum to the slide and let the eyedropper fall into the hazardous waste bucket.  She, then, quickly proceeded to add the second slide to the first and apply two tiny strips of tape.  She slid the slide under the second microscope and adjusted the vision so that she could see.
    The serum was only partially mixed in with the blood.  Jenna focused on one cell that she could see really well.  Even though the digital microscopes allowed the activity to be recorded, Jenna also preferred to have the first look.  She looked back at the computer to make sure that the image displayed.
    Under the microscope, the mechanisms were branching out from the serum and into the blood.  Jenna narrated with her recorder,
    “The serum has been added and after an initial period of three to four seconds, the mechanisms are drawn to Type T - white blood cells.  It appears to operate similarly to HIV, tricking the T-cell into allowing entry.  The mechanism appears to carry a bit of code already that it matches to the host DNA, allowing the mechanism to reprogram the T-cell.  The cells in observation are lying dormant and it remains to be seen what the T-cells have been reprogramed to produce.
    “This mechanism has the potential to destroy the human race.  And it’s lying in wait, in our food, our dirt, and our fresh water supply.  And… it’s mostly likely found a human host, if not several.”
    With that, Jenna slumped at the desk.  She rubbed her neck. Food supply was a solution that they were getting a handle on, but the aftereffects of this thing had yet to be seen, and no one even knew about it.
    Jenna documented her experiment by hand, occasionally getting overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the situation until a loud pounding at the lab door gave her a start.  Through the window, she could see Anna, who had arrived sooner than expected.  Anna didn’t wait for the door to open.  She entered the lab and put on her personal protective gear.  Jenna went back over the experiment and filled Anna in on the data.
     

Chapter Six
    Michael and Peter were sitting across from one another at a table on the ground level library, when Anna returned with Jenna in tow.
    Anna gave a loose introduction, “Jenna, Michael” She was waved her hands willy-nilly, “Michael, Jenna”
    Jenna and Michael      shook hands and made brief eye contact.
    Anna hopped up on the table, clearly invading Peter’s space, but he only looked up at