128 (Operation Armageddon: Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Signal | Part 1

He gently took the paper from Megan's open hand. There was some blood smeared on it—presumably from Megan's gunshot wound. However, the text was still readable through the blood.

"Project Salvation?" Matthew questioned as he read the title of the document, which was printed at the top.

"Read it for yourself," Megan said as she glanced at the paper, rereading it.

Matthew glanced at the bottom of the page first. Listed in the project details were a primary distributor, primary organiser, primary sponsor and primary supplier. And it reminded him of a similar document about the Lazarus initiative.

"The primary distributor is Palmer's company, while the primary sponsor and organiser is Yael. I think that's quite obvious, don't you think?" Matthew commented.

Megan nodded, pouting her lips. "Well, yes. But look at the primary supplier."

Matthew took a close glance at the supplier's name. In fact, they just seemed to be initials. It was almost as if the person or corporation didn't want their identity to be made known. It was strange that Yael didn't disclose the name, but it seemed unimportant then. "T.S.P.," Matthew read the initials out loud. "Looks like we'll have to find out who that is next time."

"And, look at the information regarding subjects infected by the BMEV-2 virus," Megan redirected his attention.

He then flipped the pages before finding the details on the creatures. Everything about it was documented—its nature, strengths, behaviour, anatomy and other things. But what drew Matthew towards the most was the section on its weaknesses.

"It says that its major weakness is... high sound frequency?" Matthew questioned as he read through the passage again.

"Anything above 6kHz damages their ears, and anything above 8kHz can essentially kill them," Megan summarised the information such that Matthew need not read the whole page. They had barely any time to waste. The chairwoman would wake up anytime soon.

"Wait a minute," Matthew stopped her. "There's a radio antenna at the top of this tower, right? Maybe it can transmit a signal throughout the city and beyond, if possible," he suggested, which sounded like a great idea.

"We could try that," Megan agreed. "We just need to find the transmission controls room or something."

"Let me take a look at one more thing," Matthew said, stopping Megan from making a move for then. He flipped back a little more and found details on the rationale of the project. And it all made sense after reading them. "AES-128 is used as a... bioweapon. That means Yael supplied Palmer with this substance, knowing he would want to test it with as many people as possible since he was desperate to save his diseased wife. They used Palmer as an easy way to spread the virus. And their ultimate goal after causing an outbreak is to supply a vaccine and cure after giving the outbreak time to develop, in which the government would pay them a hefty sum of money as they would be the only ones to even have a vaccine or cure," he said, which finally allowed both of them to understand what was really happening and everyone's motives had become clear.

"Well, let's get started now," Megan said, marking the beginning of their final task.

Matthew nodded before scurrying towards the unconscious chairwoman, who was lying on the floor. He then dragged her by the shoulders as he moved towards the elevator lobby. Megan followed him, assuming that they were heading to the roof.

"Hopefully, all goes well," she said as she moved with Matthew to the elevator lobby, helping a little with pulling the chairwoman up.

The chairwoman was slightly heavy, which was a little strange. However, Matthew found out what was causing the extra weight when he lifted her blouse a little and found a bulletproof tactical vest inside. He then covered the vest back with the blouse, which was useless, seeing how she was knocked out.