It had been some time since the four of them worked together.
Previously, they worked in pairs during missions that weren't that dangerous.
Yet, this time, there was no way the other three would allow Tristan to act alone.
As Chanaeans, they couldn't stand aside and watch when someone was trying to bully them.
“Yes. Count me in, too!” Charles declared and got to his feet.
“Okay. I'll go make the arrangements right now.” As there were four of them, he decided to use his private plane. All he had to do was set the flight time.
“Mr. Tristan, we know how urgent this is. Don't worry. We are in this together, so things will turn out fine.” No matter how strong their enemy was, they weren't afraid at all.
“Mm.” Tristan nodded.
The four of them were close friends.
Even though they had grown up together, they each had their own principles. No one in Jipsdale dared to go against them, but they still remained true to their original goals.
Meanwhile, Sophie and Arius failed yet again. The disappointment caused Arius to sink onto the couch.
This was by far the most difficult problem he had ever encountered. They had spent a lot of time trying to solve it but to no avail.
“What do we do?” he asked Sophie.
Sophie took a deep breath.
Indeed, this was the most arduous problem she had ever encountered.
She had never felt this dejected.
“Many people are getting infected, and they have turned into mutants. If nothing is done to stop this, Chanaea will descend into chaos soon!” Sophie knew this was an emergency, but the both of them couldn't handle the problem alone.
“Are we giving up?” Arius asked weakly. He had a splitting headache as he hadn't gotten any rest for a long time.
Sophie told him, “You should get some rest. Perhaps you can figure something out after taking a nap.” He might go crazy if he keeps pushing himself.
“I'm fine. You should go rest,” Arius responded. It wasn't time for him to rest now. “Sophie, I'm serious. I'll be here, so you can take a nap and take over my position later.”
It wasn't right for them to keep exerting themselves, so he suggested that they take turns resting.
“Okay. I'll go sleep for one hour and come back later to switch out with you,” Sophie replied. She was having a hard time trying to stay awake.
It had been some time since the four of them worked together.
This was way more exhausting than being involved in a fight.
The more she used her brain, the more her head ached.
After Sophie left, Arius continued analyzing the virus. No matter what, he had to figure something out.
Sophie found a ward and plonked herself down on the couch to sleep.
She soon fell into a deep sleep. One hour later, she woke up and went to Arius.
To her surprise, Arius had collapsed.
Judging from his condition, he had contracted the virus.
“Arius, how are you feeling?” Sophie demanded, her voice overwhelmed with emotion. If even Arius has contracted the virus, will there be a way to cure it?
Hearing Sophie's voice, Arius regained consciousness temporarily.
“Sophie, stay away from me. I think I've contracted the virus, so don't touch me,” he said weakly.
“I'll ask someone to bring you to a ward!” Sophie took his phone and made the call.
Arius was soon brought to a ward. The doctors at Central Hospital were at a loss for what to do when they saw Arius falling ill.
“Ms. Tanner, now that Professor Gullifer has contracted the virus, I'm afraid our hands are tied.” One doctor broke the silence.
Arius was their core member, so they didn't know what to do now that he had fallen sick.
“What does that mean? Are you going to give up and allow the virus to spread all over Chanaea and affect our genes?” Sophie demanded. It didn't concern only them, for Chanaea's future was also at stake.
The doctor who spoke earlier didn't know what to reply.
“But we did everything we could. There is nothing we can do now!” They hoped to find a cure as soon as possible, too. After all, they had to spend time with the patients and lived in fear every day.
Back when Arius was with them, they weren't this scared.
Arius was pretty capable, after all.
Now, the doctors and nurses were filled with dread.
Arius regained consciousness briefly to hear the doctors' words. “Everyone, listen to Sophie. I believe she can do this,” he ordered.
“Professor Gullifer, she's just a freshman. How could you ask us to listen to her? Can she do it?” one of them questioned.
“We have our own families. We—”
“Shut up!” Sophie barked. She couldn't take it anymore. Are they saying they can back down as they have families? “You can leave now if you want,” she announced.
The doctors promptly fell silent, not daring to continue speaking.
Of course they wanted to leave, but the hospital was heavily guarded by soldiers. There was no way they could leave.
“Ms. Tanner, I shall listen to your orders! Let me be your assistant,” a female doctor offered.
After saying that, she cast the rest a scornful look.
How could they back down at this moment? Ugh, I despise such people.
“Sure!” Sophie nodded and left with the female doctor. At the lab, Sophie started another round of research with the doctor's help. The latter was capable enough to complete every task that Sophie assigned her.
Sophie was using the microscope while the female doctor prepared the tools she needed. They were engrossed with their work.
“I've extracted it!” Sophie's voice was cold as usual, but there was a hint of excitement in it.
A sigh of relief escaped the doctor's lips when she heard Sophie's words. Extracting the causative agent would be helpful for them to research the virus.
The doctor took a towel to wipe off the sweat on Sophie's forehead gently.
“What is your name?” Sophie was finally in the mood to ask her name.
“My name is Georgina Bates.” Georgina relaxed and introduced herself.
I admire Sophie. She's just a freshman but knows a lot. I might be a postgraduate student, but I can't even complete this experiment. Yet, look how easily Sophie did it.
“Ms. Tanner, you're really good at this. Have you researched similar viruses previously?” Georgina asked curiously.
Sophie shook her head. “No. I'm just applying what I learned earlier.”
If Arius had been there, she could have just helped him. Now that he was sick, she had to do everything herself.
Georgina froze in shock. Why is there such a big difference between us? I cannot even understand these books, but Sophie merely applied what she learned and managed to extract the causative agent!
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Changing Only For Her novel (Sophie and Tristan)