Eric stepped up to place his order at the cafe. He'd thought it so strange, this method of communicating via flavored cream cheeses, but the it had helped that he'd drilled the messages into his head so intensely. Plain or dill meant nothing to report. Garlic or sun-dried tomato meant he had something to talk about. Mango jabenero lime meant things were about to go fucking sideways. Eric seriously hoped that never happened, because whoever had invented that monstrosity deserved to be mashed into a tub full of it. Eric gagged just thinking about the combo.

He ordered his simple garlic cream cheese everything bagel and a cup of the house coffee, taking his time doctoring it up just right with milk and sugar. The point was to make this look routine. As if he were enjoying his Saturday morning. Coffee prepared, he took a seat at one of the cafe's outside tables and began eating his bagel, trying not to look around for his contact. He pulled  out his phone and began browsing the news.

Oh, fuck, that needs to get plopped earlier.

Eric needed to see his omega again. He needed something to call him other than his omega. He wanted to know his name, and he wanted to get him the fuck out of that place. [Maybe put something here about talking to the WF contact?] He hadn't tossed the papers he'd printed off when he'd first discovered the shifter markers in the DNA. They remained tucked in his desk. He pulled them out and tapped his fingers on them, thinking. Maybe now was the right time. 

Before he could overthink it, he grabbed the papers and locked his computer screen. He needed to see his omega, and Dr. J was the only path he knew. He pushed away his worries about what the man would do with the information. Alpha Williams had said it wouldn't be easy. That he was going to make hard choices. This wasn't an easy choice, but it almost felt like the only one. He knocked lightly on Dr. J's office. It looked like he'd just arrived as he was shrugging his outer coat off. 

"Is it too early?" Eric asked.

"No, no." Dr. J waved him in. "It's never too early for you, Dr. V. Come in. How is your work going?"

"I think I've found something." It was difficult for Eric to muster up the excitement he'd had when he'd first discovered the markers. He'd almost been able to forget why he was here before... but after seeing how callously his fellow scientists handled his omega, how dismissively Dr. J talked about the shifters they had kidnapped and locked up, as if they were lab rats... that had wiped all of his excitement away. Instead of explaining, Eric handed over the quick data he'd pulled together before. He could have run a new report, but it would have said the same thing, just with more examples backing it.

"Is this..." Dr. J looked up, an excited gleam in his eyes. "Is this what I think it is?"

"I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for before. After... the incident, and after you told me what Gecko is really doing, that was the last piece of the puzzle. I think this is the key to unlocking the sh--creature's genetic structure." It was terrifying how easily the lies fell from his mouth.

Dr. J dropped the papers on his desk and reached over to shake Eric's hand vigorously. "Well done, Dr. V! Brilliant. I knew we were making the right choice when we hired you. I know this is a bit early, but, well... I think you and I share a vision."

Eric felt he was the last possible person in the world who could share Dr. J's vision, but he nodded vigorously in agreement. "Please, go on."

"How do you feel about splicing human DNA?" Dr. V waited for his response eagerly.

Eric's stomach flipflopped. "That's..."

"Ambitious? Yes, yes. Absolutely. Daring? That too. But think of it, Dr. V! If we could learn how to turn this ability on or off..." He rain his hands absently through his hair, looking more like a mad scientist than ever. "Just think of the possibilities!"

"It's humanity's next step, isn't it?" Eric said, forcing his tone to be light.

Dr. J snapped his fingers and pointed at Eric, stepping up to him with a wild look in his eyes. "That's it exactly. If we can learn how to turn this gene off in these creatures... surely it would be but a small step to turn it on in others? The problem, these days, it there are so many rules, Dr. V. Rules are the antithesis of science! It should be science that makes the rules, not man! But here, we have the perfect test subjects. They're not human... they're not animals... There are no rules defining them."

Eric wanted to throw up all over Dr. J's perfectly ordered desk.

"Would it be too much of an imposition to ask to review the subjects' files? If, perhaps, I could connect each sample with each test subject, I may be able to pinpoint or verify other markers that might be tied into the... animal gene, markers that may not be prevalent in every subject.

"That's smart thinking, boy! Not afraid to get your hands dirty? That's what real science is about. It isn't about grants and academic political bullshit. It's about crossing lines and pursuing the data!"

Eric looked down to hide his disgust, and softened his voice to try to emulate humility. "Might it even be possible for me to study the subjects directly?"

Dr. J stepped close and grasped one shoulder firmly while pulling my chin up to look him in the eyes. "Never be ashamed of your desire for knowledge, V."

His words made sense to me, but the voice that uttered them was nearly manic. I nodded my head instead of trusting my voice. 

"And of course." He released me and turned away, stepping behind his desk. "Just let me know which subjects you are interested, and when you'd like to see them. You will copy me on any reports, yes?"

"Of course," I echoed, recognizing a dismissal when I saw it.

"Keep up the good work," he called after me.

That had worked better than I had thought it would. Now if I could just set up the opportunity to interact with my omega again without raising suspicions...