As Gyou made his way deeper into the disused and mostly abandoned laboratory, he removed the disk from his pocket. Doctors Halverson and Sanderson were both standing by the processing-tank that held Murakami’s son in his stasis sleep, and Gyou wondered for a moment just why they were together in this place. The two scientists noticed him then and both nodded respectfully.

"Commander Gyou," Dr. Sanderson turned to him. "Ed says that you’re the one who designed this young man’s Zoalord body. I don’t want to sound presumptuous, Commander, but would you like me to take a look at what you’ve done? Just to see if there are any improvements that could be made?"

Gyou narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking over what the man had said. Apparently he was very intimidating when he was in this pose, judging by the way that Dr. Sanderson held up his hands. And also by the next words out of the man’s mouth.

"I didn’t mean anything by that, Commander," Dr. Sanderson said, sounding more than a little frantic. "I was only saying that since you had never designed a Zoalord before, you might need…"

Gyou glared at the man as he trailed off. While it was a fact that he had never before done any work of this kind, it was also very aggravating to be questioned this way by one of his own underlings. Dr. Halverson at least seemed to have the sense not to say anything, and Gyou was pleased to note that he at least had some discretion.

"Doctor," Gyou said, turning to face Dr. Halverson and dismissing Sanderson from his thoughts. "Do you have anything to add to this conversation?"

"No, sir," Dr. Halverson shook his head with finality.

Gyou nodded, again feeling satisfied that Dr. Halverson at least knew his place. Handing the disk to Dr. Halverson wordlessly, Gyou turned and left.

Once he was gone, Sanderson slowly let out the breath he’d been holding.

"You really shouldn’t have said that to him, Simon," Halverson said to his fellow processing technician. "You know how touchy he can get about things like that."

"I know, I’m sorry. I forgot," Sanderson said, still looking at the spot where Commander Gyou had been standing. "I just hope that he won’t hold it against me for that long."

"Well, you and I both know how the Commander can be about these kinds of things," Halverson said, as he inserted the disk into the computer terminal. "Still, if you want to assist me, I’d be happy to have the help."

"Thank you. I’d be happy to assist you," Sanderson said as he stepped over to the console.

With the two of them standing side-by-side at the console it was a bit more crowded than Halverson would have preferred, but it was really the only way that they were both going to be able to see just what was on the disk that Commander Gyou had presented to them. The genetic code for the child’s Zoalord body showed up on the small screen of the console and both scientists began looking it over. It turned out to be a very well thought out design, especially for someone who had admitted that he had never designed a Zoalord before.

To someone who had worked on the Proto-Zoalord project in Arizona, this particular design would seem very familiar indeed. But then, neither of them had been with that particular subset of Chronos’ scientific division. Aside from that, most of the scientists who had worked with Prof. Yamamura on that particular project had been executed for collaborating with a traitor. Those few that had survived were cut off from their supply of antidote.

They had then been interrogated by some of Dr. Balkus’ own loyal staff. Drs. Halverson, Sanderson and Henderson had all heard vague stories about the ‘Arizona Incident’, as it had been called. But really nothing beyond rumors and hearsay had reached them, and none of the scientists had been at all interested in learning the true story. They were processing technicians, not investigators, and things like attempted insurrections and sabotage really weren’t within their purview.

The development of this child’s Zoalord body, however, was certainly something that both of them could take an interest in. There were some very minor flaws in the DNA, not all that important but Halverson dealt with them anyway, more out of a liking for perfection than any real sense of urgency. Sanderson checked over the work of his fellow processing technician without having to be told. Thoroughness and efficiency being the mark of such men, after all.

Once they were done with that job, Sanderson stepped away from the console at a look from Halverson. Designing the retro-virus was work best done by one person. Halverson’s hands practically flew over the console, his typing speed developed over long years of the same. Sanderson watched appreciatively, since he had never really managed to develop the kind of speed that he had seen Halverson demonstrate on a fairly regular basis.

As Halverson completed the work on the Zoalord retro-virus and started feeding it into the processing-tank, he considered what he was feeling about this particular project. It wasn’t really anything at this point, but there was still the sense that he should be feeling at least something. Remorse at least, if not outright guilt. But he felt nothing, and still Halverson felt that he should be feeling… well, anything really.

But he knew the stories; stories of what happened to the people who had let their conscience get in the way of their work. People who had stupidly tried to betray Chronos for some so-called higher cause. The things that had happened to those people didn’t really bear thinking about. At least Halverson could take some comfort in the fact that he wasn’t one of those stupidly idealistic types; the ones that never lasted long in the outside world.

To say nothing of their survival rate inside Chronos itself. Looking back at the boy in the processing-tank, Halverson made up his mind not to entertain any more of those pointless thoughts. If he felt nothing about what he was doing, then he simply felt nothing. Ethics be damned. Halverson had seen too much, and knew the dangers too well, to let himself be drawn into a debate about the morality of genetic engineering. Even if it was just with himself.

Now that the retro-virus had had a chance to fully mix with the processing fluid, Dr. Halverson settled back to watch the changes. These would of course be more dramatic than those that the boy had gone through when Halverson had merely aged his body.