It's Not Easy Making Money in the Apocalypse

"There is a terminal on your right?" Cecelia declared with a barely veiled impatience.

"Ah, sorry…" I reached over and plugged the adapter into a nearby terminal placed on the workstation just under the window.

Entry 9/14/1993

"Shhh!" I hissed, looking up at the people on the other side of the glass as soon as the log started playing.

"Idiot! Do you think they'd build secret observation posts in every classroom, but not make them soundproof?" Cecelia chastised.

I blushed, realizing that she was probably right. I hadn't been thinking about it. Since I had heard them, I had assumed that they could hear me. Yet, that didn't appear to be the case. They hadn't reacted at all to us.

Letting out a soft sigh, I nodded. "Continue."

There was a click as the audio continued to play.

Child G1 Original IQ: 77 Updated IQ: 89

Child G2 Original IQ: 65 Updated IQ: 72

Child G3 Original IQ: 66 Updated IQ: 70

Child G4 Original IQ: 88 Updated IQ: 90…

"Skip." I cut Cecelia's tape off.

"What, you said you were interested in this stuff?" Cecelia declared, but her voice sounded slightly mocking like she had done it on purpose.

"Why is everything recorded with audio rather than text?" I asked instead, trying to change the subject.

"Data size." Cecelia had an immediate answer. "Text files are too easy to decode and sneak out. By keeping all their data on voice, it's more difficult for it to be leaked."

"Hmm…"

"This is interesting though?"

"What?"

"The data… it seems like the new formula worked even better than the old formula. Each class had a mixture of kids from each group to counter for biases due to better teachers or class makeup."

"Perhaps we'll luck out and find an even better formula."

"Let's check some of the other terminals. I want to compile the data."

"Now, who has become interested," I asked.

"Don't compare me to you. I'm pursuing this from an…an… academic standard! I'm not just listening in for some interesting gossip!"

"Mmhmm…" I responded, but it wasn't too much of a bother so I went to the next classroom and downloaded that data as well.

Every classroom was denoted by a letter, and then there were anywhere from ten to twenty students who were each given a letter. The classrooms were hard to see without any light on, but they appeared to be derelict, trashed rooms. They looked like they had received a lot of damage even before the fall.

Countless graffiti littered the walls with obscene pictures and phrases. Some of them were even written on the glass I could look through. There were also signs of wonton destruction. Hastily patched holes in the wall and damaged windows that were cheaply repaired. No one would have made these repairs after the apocalypse, so it must have been the students doing this.

"Wait until they leave the room. It's easier to kill them if we catch them by surprise."

I froze when I heard those words. I thought I had been seen, but then I realized there were people on the other side of the mirror. I had to press my face against the glass to get a clear view, and as soon as I saw them, I leaped back. They were short creatures with pointy ears and disfigured faces. Their noses were short with large nostrils and their mouth was covered in wrinkles. They looked like bats had been merged with humans, although they lacked wings. The room had a throne made up out of broken desks, and then a long line of kneeling creatures.

"Those are grunts?"

"Curious," Cecelia responded.

"What is?" I asked.

"Grunts are not very intelligent. They wouldn't discuss strategy. They're more like humanoid neerrats. Their advantage is numbers, but there aren't very many here."

"Intelligence… is it possible that they got into the allteligence supply?"

"I think it's safe to assume they did," Cecelia responded. "Let's get going."

I nodded and continued. After plugging Cecelia into a few more computers, it only took a minute or two before she did what she needed to do.

"That's enough." Cecelia declared.

"What did you find?" I asked.

"I don't believe we should use the other recipe," Cecelia responded after a bit of silence.

"Care to elaborate?"

"I don't know…" She sounded a bit uncertain. "The third group was seemingly pulled. They have the initial IQ test and then the second test, but when it reaches the third, there is no information. The other two groups have a third."

"Maybe that's when the apocalypse started and they never put in that information."

If each one of them was a quarterly test, then the first would be at the beginning of the year, the 2nd would be at the end of the 1st quarter in November, and the third would be sometime in January of the following year. At that point, the world shutdown would have started due to the virus outbreak.

"It's possible." She answered but sounded unconvinced. "Let's continue."

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I nodded and left what appeared to be the headquarters of the grunts. They were still discussing the humans. They seemed to be aware of where they all were, and they also seemed to be aware the ones outside were just a diversion. They had sent some out to trick the group outside, but the rest were waiting for Riker to make his move to ambush him.

Part of me wanted to warn him, but the other part of me thought that this might be for the best. If they were all wiped out, it'd mean I wouldn't have to make up some story about how we got separated. I also could keep all of the profits for myself. When it came to the allteligence, that might matter.

I started skipping the observation posts and continued down the hallway until I reached a locked door at the end. I used my Perco to unlock it and then entered what appeared to be a private office. There was a terminal here still getting power, so I sat down and plugged it in. This time, once I broke through, I could see a couple of options.

"Release Toxins?"

"The kill option. It'll wipe out everyone in the school." Cecelia confirmed. "It won't work."

"Ah, I suppose it has been decades. The toxin has probably lost its efficacy." I recall that something similar had been done in the hospital's underground laboratory.

"No, it's because it was already released. January 27th, 1994."

"That…" I shook my head. "This is Darin's lab, right? Can you play his message?"

Entry 12/14/1993

The preliminary results are in, and it looks to be that the serum I produced is effective, perhaps more effective than I originally predicted. The controls are acting as expected. Group 1 has a placebo. Group 2 took the original drug. Group 3 is on my improved formula which decreases violence. The placebo group, group 1 is still acting like Neanderthals they emulate. As for those who took alltelligence, their intelligence has increased while they maintain the aggression they originally possessed.

The experimental group has grown much smarter than we originally predicted. Something about my formula's calming nature has also caused their IQ to increase more rapidly. Not only do they no longer participate in fights, but they excel in all the work we give them. This is all within acceptable parameters. However, it wasn't until I looked at all three groups together that I started to notice something odd.

I would have expected the docile group three to fall in status. Intelligent and nonaggressive, they would be targeted by the first and second groups. I had expected them to be bullied. We even wrote protocols to deal with the bullies in the event their aggressiveness interferes with data collection. Yet, this isn't what has been happening. Although the control groups remain aggressive, they do not express that aggression toward the experimental group.

It seems like group 2 treats group 3 reverentially. They keep their distance and always treat them with respect. Group 1, the idiots, don't seem to know how to do that. So, when Group 1 attempted to harass Group 3, Group 2 descended on these problem children ruthlessly. At first, I thought that group 2, was smart enough to understand compassion, despite their violent tendencies, but in other scenarios, they don't hesitate to torture administrators or injure innocent animals.

After careful prodding, we've discovered that group 2 doesn't act out of some learned benevolence. They're afraid. They fear group 3. They fear setting them off so much, that they even keep group 1 in line. The teachers and administrators have all voiced positive referrals toward group 3. Compared to the abuse the other groups deliver, they're a blessing. Only one teacher wrote in her report something that caught my eye. She said that there was something wrong with them, that they came off as unnerving.

Either way, the next shipment of alltelligence has been produced. I'm not allowed to make it here. It's a heavily controlled substance. Many desire its miraculous properties. It tempts them, like Adam and Eve toward the apple of knowledge. That's why I keep the Allco-approved stuff in my office. I will bring it down and personally administer it. As for our product, the lab personnel who produce it don't know that it is alltelligence. They simply know it as an experimental drug. People are less excited to inject themselves with an experimental drug, so I don't need to protect it as much. The lab will send that box directly to the nurse's office.

Doctor Darin

When the recording ended, I looked up from the monitor. "He stores it in his office, he said."

"I wasn't able to find the original recipe for alltelligence, but I did find his experimental recipe. It might be possible to extrapolate how he changed it." Cerisa declared. "Ah, and this door must be his safe."

As soon as she spoke, there was a click. I stood up and turned around to see a bookshelf swinging open. Behind the bookshelf was a lit storage room. That storage room was lined to the brim with boxes containing alltelligence.

"I don't think I need the recipe anymore." I declared as I looked over hundreds of alltelligence serums.