Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Chapter 1184: Then we won't be saying goodbye, yet.

At this point, I'm not even sure if that freezer contained doses for a handful of people each or as a collective, but yeah, it could also be for safekeeping in case something goes wrong on their end. And since they won't be able to collect data on me—because I'm sure as hell wouldn't use it—I have the freezer that I wanted plus government secrets only a few people know about.

But Admiral Burke then answered my question:

"To satisfy your curiosity, we have advanced or combined those amino acid strings—and a few others—that could slightly increase one's lifespan—"

"Holdup, Mr. Snake Oil Salesman, seriously?"

Admiral Burke was starting to get more and more irritated at me, "Why don't you let me finish listing everything and you save the reaction for later?"

'I guess he's pretty chill before if he gets irritated this way…'

I scratched my head as I apologized, "I'm sorry."

"Haaa… Again, aside from the increased longevity of at least two-to-three years, we have something for more severe cases of chronic pain, anti-aging—before you ask, it's different from adding lifespan because this is more external, improving one's skin, hair, and nails—"

"Like the collagen peptide?"

"It IS the collagen peptide but twice as effective."

"You should be on that as well—"

"CAN YOU JUST LET ME FUCKING FINISH?!"

"Do you have something for mood swings as well— Wait, that's just weed and we do have them in storage—"

"PFFT— Goddamit! You got me there, you ass… Anyway, we have something for cognitive problems like dizziness, brain fog, and the like—Also, we have something that increases digestion and absorption of food nutrients as well as something that could inherently increase muscle building and reduce weight by burning fat." Discover hidden content at mvl

"Isn't that what PEDs already are?"

"Somewhat but the side effects are much more manageable and it stays on your system for longer with lesser doses. A bottle of that could last you a year if properly stored…"

"Is that all?"

Dr. Stevens answered, "We have the base peptides on the lower shelf as well, but you'd be able to find them in hospitals if they aren't looted completely. The ones on the top shelf are more specialized to us and are more experimental in nature but since you said you won't be using it yourself, we should ask you to have them stored in a place for safekeeping…"

'As I thought…'

"Why don't you just store them here? It'd be safer if your folks—"

Admiral Burke shook his head, "That wouldn't be possible. I did tell you, everyone here will do everything to serve their country and it involved injecting themselves with anything to have the advantage. This is not the only freezer we have on hand, mind you.

And to be completely honest, I'm slightly relieved that I'll be able to entrust this to you but I wouldn't put it against you if you yourself use it or have it taken by someone else you deem who needed it."

"That's…"

"Some of them aren't even that bad, to say the least, since most of them are already medicine that circulated the pharmaceutical companies and was already approved by the FDA, but yeah, we just gave it a little oomph and that's all there is to it."

"I dunno, even the collagen peptide that's twice effective still scares me."

"How?"

"What if someone gets too young and they don't look legal anymore— OW! JEN—"

"THAT'S WHERE YOUR MIND WENT?! SERIOUSLY?!"

I nodded unapologetically, "Yep."

"YOU— KUK— DAMMIT! KAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Obviously enough, I was one to cope by throwing curveballs at the most important moments, but let's just say this was just a lot of information to take in and I needed a little break. However, some of the "Peptides" they were peddling did entice me more compared to the increased bone density and recovery that would be helpful in a fight and what goes on afterward.

And it was the increased lifespan.

So I had to ask:

"The lifespan thingy… How can you be sure that it increased—"

Dr. O'Hara, the other doctor who was keeping quiet the whole time finally spoke, "We tested it on rats first and it actually doubled their lifespan. They usually live for 2-4 years but we have eight among the fifty rats we used them on live twice their age.

It's a far cry from doubling a human's age because we only managed to succeed in ramping it up by a couple of years or so but that's the going rate as of now."

"Can it work on other animals?"

"What do you mean?"

"My dog, Zeus, for example."

She was definitely taken aback, "Umm— That's… We're talking about millions of research here and you're using it on your dog?"

"Why not? A Florida man kidnapped a scientist for almost the same reason."

She let out a faint smile, "Fair."

"Then again, I wouldn't want to live an extra two to three years if I'm gonna be a decrepit fuck annoying my caretakers. I'd rather have the option to die if I start to make others' lives miserable because of me."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Admiral Burke was taken aback, "That took a turn… You're young, your views might change but aside from entrusting you safekeeping of this freezer you so love and its contents, if you or anyone ever got to use them, please… please do provide us their bloodwork each week and we'll have a look at them every time we or any other of my personnel gets back."

"Or I could include it in my reports."

"That works as well but yeah, I really thought your reaction from this would be different but let me just say that I still respect your choice. Take good care of my daughter, alright?"

I nodded, "Of course, she'll be living with us—"

"WHAT?!"

"Does she have other friends here?"

"N-No…"

"There you go, then—"

Admiral Burke cut me off as he turned to Jennifer, "How about you? Have you made your decision yet? The Colonel said you're free to do as you wish though I might say I'm more inclined to have you lead the 5-man group I'm assigning to protect my daughter to free up more space from this kid's~ whatever is it he's doing."

Jennifer answered with a solemn expression, "I do thank you for the opportunity and I'm fine with doing anything as long as it's within this country, close to my father, *points at me* my lil bro, and my partner—including Ella, of course, but hearing his side regarding these drugs, I'd be happy to relinquish that opportunity to someone else.

It's also thanks for letting Rachel stay here though she'd be thoroughly disappointed without her F18f…"

I nudged her from the side, "I'll hook her up, we'll talk to Jessica. It's not F18s but they have something she could fly whenever…"

Jennifer chuckled, "Thank you…"

Admiral Burke cleared his throat, "Very well, you two are free to go and do whatever you wish while Bartow and I will have more discussion with our doctors. Thanks for your time."

"And the freezer?"

He chuckled, "We'll keep it hooked up in here with tight security—even though it has several hours of battery life—and we'll give you its complete manual a little bit later. Send us off tomorrow, yeah?"

"Of course."

"Then we won't be saying goodbye yet. See you later, kid."