The ABO Serum

(Part 4) The Betas Went Home

"Oh fuck!" Dr. Martin and Carey came to the same horrifying realization at the same time. Something about the way Richard told Brad he'd passed on his condition through sex made their thoughts click together and reach the same conclusion.

Two text messages buzzed through to Daryl's phone at the same moment.

From Carey: You sent the betas home!

From Dr. Martin: if it's sexually transmitted and the betas are carriers...

He didn't need to type more. That meant it was already out in the community. There may be others like Richard cowered in their beds because they weren't getting the follow up treatments. They could ask the betas about their partners, but they'd need help following up with people who were not GenLife employees and obligated to comply with company demands by their employment contracts. Seventy percent of their workforce had been out in the town for the last week. They had spouses, lovers, affairs, drunken one night stands with people they didn't remember...who knew how much sex two hundred plus people could have in seven days? It was time to involve law enforcement for public safety reasons.

Carey kept watch on the new couple while Daryl started aggressively following up on their concerns. There could be unconscious victims of the transition, like Brad, out in their homes with no one looking for them.

Brad was not as affectionate with his omega as Carey expected. He conceded in everything as the billionaire's secretary, but he seemed emotionally aloof. It was a strange dynamic since the omega was clearly head over heels for his alpha. Whatever was fated about mates, it didn't wipe out all the history or external pressures in a relationship. It wasn't a big magical eraser that cleared away any undesirable things that might befall a couple.

Worried about trouble in the offing for the other new couple too, Carey paid a visit to his office in the coffee shop. Ryan was back at work and Dr. Martin made trips downstairs at regular intervals to refuel and resettle himself. Carey timed his trip down between the doctor's visits so he could chat privately with his subordinate. He made a pretext of looking over the ordering log, then worked around to the real question. "Do you think what you and Dr. Martin have will stand up to adversity?" He asked.

Ryan thought for a moment before answering. "We're both strongly motivated by our biology to protect our relationship, and he's not a bad guy. The more time I spend with him the more I see his cute sides. The more I see his cute sides the less I think of the girls I used to date. Besides, we've been through some adversity already and I think it just motivates us to cling tighter to each other."

"I suppose that true," Carey mused. "His betrayal was hard on Daryl. It must have been even more so to you."

"What?" Ryan asked, confused.

"Wait. You don't know?" Carey turned bright red with embarrassment.

"What?" Ryan demanded in a way that seemed to hold sway over Carey as an omega. He felt the words like they were forcing an answer. This was new.

It spilled out of Carey in a rush, "That he's the one who released the serum and exposed everyone. At first, he was just after Daryl and spiked a bottle of wine, but when Daryl drank it with me, he got desperate and exposed everyone. We haven't done anything because we need his expertise to deal with the fallout, and the records have been altered, but if the government gets involved and looks too close, they might figure it out too."

He wished he could hold his tongue, but he was not able to stop it even a little. He wished he could predict Ryan's reaction, but he didn't expect the stoic silence. He wished he could read Ryan's mind...because the alpha kept his face still and said nothing except, "I see." And, "we're done here, right?" Then, he left the small office and went back to work as if nothing happened. Carey made a cup of coffee for Daryl and carried it up to him. He didn't want to be around the next time Dr. Martin came to check in.

Through the first week, the betas all came and went as usual for work, plus they came in for follow up treatments. A new team now focused on bringing them all in for interviews and education about the dangers of transmitting their condition through sex. Another team collaborated with the local police to follow up on any identified partners. Not wanting to panic the town and risk people leaving in a hurry who might need to stay for treatment, they agreed to work discretely, for now. The CDC had to be notified and were sending a team to observe and help where they could. Their choice of middle America to minimize the news fallout from any problems that might occur seemed to be working so far. Only rumors drifted around at this point.

Mitch wasn't a douchebag by nature, he was just insecure. He had a doctorate in microbiology, but he'd got it with a high C average. He liked men, so the work he was doing with GenLife was important to him on a personal level. But after his exposure to the serum and discovering he only transitioned into a beta, something snapped. He wasn't going to be a virile alpha or a fertile omega. He was just average again. A fucking male beta with a probably useless womb developing to make him even less of a man.

Work kept him busy during the days, and longer hours on those days during the crisis, but he didn't go home to sleep at night. He wasn't much older than most of the college students, so he prowled the campus looking for parties and fucking drunk frat boys in his off time. He'd wake up in a stranger's bed, shower and go back to work every morning. He was going to exercise his virility to its fullest with young hot partners until the world crumbled around him, as it surely would when news of the GenLife fuckup got out.

His checkup went fine. The ultrasound showed early development of a womb, but it wasn't diminishing his male virility yet. The data on human betas so far looked balanced. They did change more than the rats. They grew whatever reproductive organs they'd not been born with, but no one knew how functional they would become. Their original equipment wasn't diminished, yet. Every sentence was followed by that word, "yet." It infuriated Mitch. The checkup came at the end of his shift and he was already thinking about taking out his anger on a sweet young ass when the tech stopped him for one last question.

"Have you engaged in any sexual activity since you were exposed, and can you provide the names of your partners?"

"Wait, why? The names? Is this...?" Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Mitch panicked.

"Yeah, bad news. It's sexually transmitted so we really need to follow up with any partners you've had. I know it sucks, but they could be in real trouble if they don't get the follow up."

"Yeah....uh...the thing is..."