ZERO (Complete)

Chapter Thirty-Five

It was late and everyone was unwinding for the night. While it wasn't unusual for Cassie to bring strange men over to the apartment, it was a different scenario altogether. Not only did Dane and Train save her life, she knew about their mission and wanted to support them any way she could.

"Stay here, let me talk to her," Cassie said as her roommate walked in the door.

Dane and Train sat on the large sofa in the living room while Cassie went to the foyer to talk to her roommate. They heard the faint murmurs of a muted conversation, but wasn't exactly sure what was being said. Moments later, Cassie and her roommate entered the living room. Her roommate had just finished a twelve-hour shift and was likely looking to come home and unwind. Nevertheless, she was all smiles as she greeted her new house guests.

Dane and Train both stood up and bowed to her — the customary greeting of the time.

"I hope we're not intruding too much," Train said, slouching over, trying not to look as big and intimidating.

"I understand you need a place to crash for a few days and that's totally fine with me."

"Thank you so much," Train said. "You'll hardly even notice we're here."

"Help yourselves to anything you need. I'm going to jump in the shower and then I'll come hang out for a bit."

Cassie's roommate gave a parting smile before heading into her room.

"She seems nice," Dane said.

"Yeah, she's great," Cassie replied.

Cassie went into another room and Dane took out his phone to message Mr. Camo, updating him and the others on their progress. Meanwhile, Train was watching Dane go through his phone.

"Dane, what did I tell you?"

"What?"

"Lock your phone. There's sensitive information on that thing."

"Come on, man, you know I don't believe in passwords. Besides, I'm speaking in code. Nobody knows what this gibberish means."

"You of all people should believe in passwords. And I'm sure it wouldn't take a genius to figure out what you're talking about, or who you're talking to."

"Whatever, I have nothing to hide."

"That's not true, you have plenty to hide. It's also a matter of privacy. Surely there are things you don't want people to know about you."

"Nah, I'm an open book. Besides, if someone wanted to access my information, there are a million ways to get it. A simple password isn't going to stop someone who's really motivated and clever."

"But it would impede them."

"You talk too much."

"I talk too much?" Train laughed. "Man, you're funny. You should be a comedian."

While Cassie was playing host to her two new friends, her roommate eventually returned from her shower to join the conversation.

"How was work?" Dane asked. "Anything interesting or exciting happen today?"

"Actually, yeah. We had this one guy come into emerg, complaining about something being wrong with him. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was fatigued and his muscles were cramping up. He could barely open his hands. We told him to take a seat while we tended to higher priority patients.

"Over the course of the next hour, his condition kept getting worse. We eventually admitted him and ran some A.I. diagnostic tests on him. It turns out he has this rare genetic disorder known as Gitleman Syndrome, which causes his kidneys to filter out potassium, magnesium, and calcium ions, which of course the body needs to function. This type of condition usually shows up in adolescence, but this was his first time experiencing these symptoms.

"Wow, that's crazy," Cassie said. "I hope he's okay."

"He'll be fine, we put him on a potassium IV drip and prescribed him some potassium, magnesium, and calcium supplements."

"I'm sorry, maybe I'm missing something," Dane said. "What's interesting or exciting about a man having a kidney disorder?"

"Not only is Gitleman extremely rare, what makes this case weird is that in order for someone to have it, both parents must be carriers of the gene. But in this case, both his biological parents don't have the gene."

"Perhaps it skips a generation. Maybe the man's grandparents had it," Dane suggested.

"No, I looked it up, that's not the case with Gitleman."

"Then his parents are not his biological parents," Dane countered with the next obvious explanation.

"But they are... I mean, according to the reports on file."

"Then the file has been forged."

"Why would they be forged?" Cassie asked.

"Who knows? It would explain why he has a genetic condition that's not found in his genetic lineage. When the war was going on, it was a bit like the dark ages. Records were not well maintained."

"Or he was genetically modified," Train suggested.

"Nobody would modify themselves to have a kidney disorder," Cassie said.

"Perhaps it was an unintended side-effect from some other mod," Train said.

"If you ask me," Dane said, "I'm still going with the theory that his records were forged. Suppose that's true, the next question to ask is — why would someone want to forge their records?"