Donald was once again forced to reveal a scandal he had been trying to hide. He had found the footage he was searching for, and was staring intently at the screen.

“A new paranormal incident — watch closely,” he said.

The recording began with the appearance of a researcher, clearly Chinese from his narrow eyes. Like his colleagues, he was heading toward the dining container for breakfast — but suddenly, he changed direction and started running the opposite way. Within seconds, he leapt over the first trench, then the second, scaled a wall, slipped through the wire fencing, and hurled himself to the other side.

He now looked less like a scientist and more like a competitive track athlete. He sprinted forward, mounted a snowmobile, and sped away from the container facility. By the time the guards reached their own vehicles, the Chinese researcher had already disappeared into the distance — the footage made that clear.

The video ended there. Donald continued the story:

“My men saw the rest through binoculars,” he said.

“The Chinese traitor reached the Antarctic shoreline, and in that cold, he entered the water without hesitation. After swimming a short distance, he clung to a piece of drifting ice. A submarine surfaced, pulled him aboard, and vanished from sight.”

“And during all of this, what were you doing?” Teresa said. “Shall I start listing your negligence? Instead of focusing on your actual work, you and your unit played spy games — and because of your childish espionage, some egg-like specimen ended up unleashing a coronavirus on the world.”

Professor Richard raised his hand, signaling her to calm down, then asked:

“First of all, weren’t the fences electrified? Isn’t this control room monitored 24/7? And aren’t these researchers supposed to be ordinary scientists? Look at him — the man moves with the agility of a professional athlete.”

Donald was dependent on them. Without their help, there was no way out — the blame would land squarely on him. So instead of responding harshly, he acted like a leader focused on solving a crisis.

“We began investigating whether what happened was negligence, or if we had traitors among us.”

Teresa thought, Look at this hypocrisy — while the Chinese man served them, he wasn’t a traitor, but the moment he escapes, suddenly he becomes one. She kept silent, listening.

“At first, like you, I thought there couldn’t possibly be this many coincidences — it had to be a planned escape. We investigated. The electric current to the fence had been cut. Why? We discovered that despite the lack of a major storm, a gust of wind had ripped a plank from the veranda and hurled it into the fence. The impact damaged the system and cut the power. The Chinese researcher vaulted over the fence ten seconds after the collision. There was no way he could have anticipated that — he couldn’t have seen it happen.”

“Fine,” Teresa said, “but what about the team monitoring the cameras 24/7? How did they fail to notice him escaping in time?”

“We investigated that, too,” Donald replied.

“Normally, three people monitor the cameras. One had left the room to bring breakfast, the second had sudden diarrhea and ran to the restroom, and the third spilled hot coffee on himself at the exact moment the man began to escape. While dealing with the burn and pouring water on himself, he missed the footage — for one minute.”

“By my count,” Teresa said, “six separate, unrelated mishaps occurred. All of them conveniently created an opportunity for the Chinese guy to escape — and it’s as if he knew all of it was happening.”

Donald shrugged.

“But they’re all telling the truth. We even took a lab sample to verify the diarrhea case — the stool test showed a high concentration of rotavirus.”

“So we’re supposed to believe that, in order for the coronavirus to leave this facility and spread across the world, the wind, hot water, a piece of wood, electricity, a hunger-inducing hormone, and rotavirus all formed an alliance? Congratulations — not even those who claim the universe began by random chance ever came up with something this absurd.”

“All right, then — how do you explain it?” Donald asked.

“It’s obvious — these people are working for China,” Teresa replied.

She knew how unreasonable it sounded. Three guards might have hidden themselves, or been bribed by Chinese officials, yes — but wind, electricity, and a man with a massive belly suddenly moving like an elite athlete? That could not be explained.

Professor Richard interjected:

“Do you know what this reminds me of? The Final Destination films. In them, people who were supposed to die in an accident somehow survive — but later, each dies in a bizarre, unpredictable way. One is killed by loose elevator cables, another by an electrical short, another by a loose screw, another by faulty brakes.

“In our case, no one’s dead — for now. But I see another frightening similarity. First Kathy, losing her mind like a deranged robot. Now this Chinese researcher. From the footage, this doesn’t look like negligence — nor treason.”

Teresa spoke before he could soften his conclusion:

“I’ll say what you can’t, because you’re a scientist. Something supernatural is happening. And at the same time, there is a medical dimension to what we’re living through.”

“I don’t want to repeat the possibilities we mentioned earlier,” the professor said, raising his hands as if surrendering. “But we’re in a dead end — again and again, that’s where every line of reasoning leads.”

“After what we saw with Mark, my mind keeps circling back to hormonal dysfunction,” he continued. “Perhaps at certain moments, under the influence of adrenaline or other hormones regulating the body’s rhythm, a person might lose consciousness and enter some hyperactive state. But I know that doesn’t explain the chain of events involving multiple individuals, all aligning to help the Chinese researcher escape.”

With a faint smile, the professor said:

“Forget hormones. They stayed behind with Mark.”

Then he turned to Donald and said:

“So what happened afterwards? Didn’t our satellites or naval fleets pursue him?”

Donald, wearing the innocence of a scolded child, replied,
“As soon as we saw the Chinese researcher board the submarine, we notified the navy.”

“But the absurdities didn’t end there,” he continued. “The mighty U.S. Navy lost the submarine. According to radar data, there were no submarines or ships within a hundred miles of Antarctica.”

Donald knew exactly what Teresa was about to say, so he spoke first:

“China — or any other country — does not have technology capable of evading our radar. Military officials emphasized this particularly.”

“So we ended up looking like liars too,” Teresa chuckled.

“There was another anomaly — in the sky,” said the self-styled statesman who believed he was the state.

“Despite clear weather, satellite imagery couldn’t be obtained — because there was a concentrated cluster of clouds and fog directly over our location.”

“Are we in some new zone with anomalous magnetism — like the Bermuda Triangle or Alaska Triangle?” Teresa asked. Her tone made it impossible to tell whether she was being serious or sarcastic. Even she — branded by the media as a metaphysics expert — was losing patience with the mounting unknowns.

“I’m not saying the submarine disappeared,” Donald replied. “I’m saying it slipped between our ships and escaped radar detection.”

“At the very least, you could have warned the Chinese authorities,” Teresa snapped. “Told them there’s an unknown outbreak here — that multiple known and unknown viral strains are emerging simultaneously — and insisted the escaped man be quarantined.

“And don’t you dare tell me that, for the sake of national honor, you said nothing.”

“Of course we couldn’t tell them anything. The Chinese believe this facility is just a basic Antarctic glaciology research station. How could I explain all this? Anyway, official reports claimed no submarine was present at that time — obviously a lie.”

Teresa, determined to press harder, clapped her hands mockingly and said:

“Well done. The deep states  joined hands and unleashed corona upon the world. Have you realized that because of your little nationalism and espionage game, millions of people are suffocating and dying?”

It fell to the professor once again to calm Teresa. He raised his hand, signaling her to slow down.

“The coronavirus outbreak spread first to the submarine, then to the Chinese navy, and finally to the cities. The first person claimed to have caught it was an agent of the Chinese secret service. And what we later learned from our operative embedded in the Chinese navy astonished me once again.”

Teresa and the professor stared at Donald as if to say, After everything we’ve heard, what could possibly astonish you now?

“Our agent reported that China actually had no knowledge of the escaped man — nor of this facility. They were simply performing their routine monthly patrol in the ocean. They believed they were near the South African coast — but suddenly found themselves in Antarctic waters.

They raised the periscope, and to their shock, saw a Chinese man on the surface. Looking closer, they recognized him as a famous scientist from China. They immediately brought him aboard. All of this is written in the report submitted to China’s president.”

Donald lifted his head and saw Teresa doing something she often did — fiddling with her teeth.

“What is wrong with you? I’m telling you all of this, and you’re just… doing that? Can you please be serious?”

Trying not to look like she was hiding something, Teresa adopted her usual defense mechanism — she laughed.

“Of course the superpowers reached an agreement to keep the incident out of the media. They couldn’t admit that the pandemic spread because of their petty rivalry. You played your little game, wrecked everything, and now you want us to clean it up,” she said.

But in her mind, the words were far harsher: You fucked up, destroyed everything, and now you’re asking us to fix it.

The professor intervened:

“It’s hard not to agree with Teresa. The pandemic is spreading everywhere. The official death toll has reached one million. Most believe the real number could be in the millions — even billions. And those are just the numbers released by official institutions. Consider the deaths in rural areas that never make it into the records. Consider the ruthless politicians trying to portray their health systems as successful so they can attract wealthy patients from abroad. If we take all that into account, the real number is far higher.”

“I can’t understand health officials and politicians who look straight into the cameras — into the eyes of millions — and lie after so much suffering,” Teresa said. “By minimizing the threat in their cities, they encourage people to neglect basic precautions — hand hygiene, avoiding crowded places. They’re essentially telling the public to be ostriches: shove your heads into the sand, and somehow the predator — the virus — won’t see you.”

“The struggle of a COVID patient to breathe is a torment,” she continued. “And the psychological collapse — the anxiety, the fear of the future — is another catastrophe. Even if humanity somehow gets through this outbreak physically, we’ll face an epidemic of mental illness afterwards — and overcoming that will demand even greater effort.”

She didn’t stop there.

“Some of you justify killing civilians and children for ideological convenience. Some cheer for bombings with hollow patriotism. Some commit mass slaughter of animals for more sports cars and villas. Others celebrate festivals for months while people a few hundred kilometers away are dying.

The destructive spirit is everywhere. Different names, different beliefs — but the same soul. Different bodies, same pathology. Because of people like you, the world is becoming uninhabitable.”

Donald shot her a look that said I care very little about your moral lecture, then said:

“By blaming people like me, you’re doing what everyone does — passing the ball to someone else. When the pipelines from Middle Eastern oil and gas flowed into our country, bringing prosperity to our citizens, no one complained. Now that things have turned sour, suddenly I’m the villain? Society thrives, I thrive — or at least I get close enough.”

He chuckled, almost proudly.

“There are churches, synagogues, mosques everywhere. Let them pray. On TV, I see people begging their gods to end the pandemic, but obviously nothing changes. So let’s stop looking for a scapegoat. Everyone is complicit. ‘The system is rotten — what can I do?’ Besides, if I don’t do these things, someone else will — without hesitation.”

Teresa recalled a warning from divine scripture:
Among you should be those who urge good and forbid evil. If they are silenced, their warnings ignored, then even sincere repentance will not be accepted. A society will prepare its own destruction — through quakes, floods, plagues, cancers, madness. And when disaster strikes, people will pray — but their prayers will not be answered.

“You’re not entirely wrong,” she said. “But none of that gives you the license to be irresponsible before God or society. You must do what you can.”

“Everyone in society is selfish. I don’t owe them anything. I can’t remember the last time I listened to a religious leader. I don’t even know if God exists,” Donald said, standing up — slipping back into his old posture.

“Teresa, I’m warning you for the last time. Just do your job. Deep states, saboteurs, politicians — none of that matters. Tell me what is happening in this cursed place, and how we’re going to fix it.”

The professor interjected, “This is relevant, so I’m asking — we haven’t received any outside news in days. Has a vaccine been found?”

“No. I haven’t heard of any.”

“They need to hurry. Even if a vaccine were discovered today, animal trials, clinical trials, volunteer testing, and evaluation of side effects would take at least two years.”

“I don’t even want to say this, but I can’t help it — in recent years, what has ever been done the way it should be? Why would a vaccine now be produced according to previous standards?”

At that moment, the door opened. A man stepped in and called for his superior. The professor and Teresa sensed that something important had happened, but they assumed it wasn’t related to their discussion — nor an emergency — because in an emergency an alarm would sound, and the man would enter in a panic.

With all the extra precautions, a scientist escaping quarantine was nearly impossible.

Donald walked in. His face did not bear fear — but bewilderment. The blood had drained from his cheeks, and Teresa instantly recognized the look: he was stepping into yet another dead-end labyrinth.

“Well,” Donald said, “here’s another strange event for you.”

“A few minutes ago, there was an earthquake in Mexico — right where we discovered those drawings on the eggs. The cave has practically sunk into the ground. The drawings on the wall are completely gone.

So if someone claims we fabricated the story and came to Antarctica chasing nonsense, we no longer have proof.”

“I’m sure you tried to hide the cave so no one would ever learn of its existence. Don’t worry — God handled it for you. You should be grateful,” Teresa said, with biting irony. Then, to avoid attracting too much hostility, she added casually:

“Where exactly was the earthquake? I’m asking because only you know where the cave is. Is it on or near a fault line that could cause such a quake?”

Donald paused, looked up the fault-line map of Mexico on his phone, and replied:

“You’re right — it’s not on a fault line. And the survival of the surrounding historical ruins suggests there hasn’t been a major earthquake in that region for centuries.”

Teresa realized that the things she had just been thinking of—forces allied against them—now included the very ground itself, riddled with fault lines, and she thought:

“We’ve dealt with strange incidents before, but there was always a single abnormal factor — something we could frame within science. Electromagnetic waves affecting neural motor control, a biological disease, or a new discovery within DNA — the extraordinary used to be contained within one domain. But now, every element of nature seems coordinated, moving against us with purpose. Who — or what — are we fighting against? Even in the stories of annihilated civilizations, the supernatural manifested through a single element: earth, or wind, or water.”

Teresa murmured to herself:

“Who are we fighting? The only force I’ve ever known capable of commanding nature as a whole is God.”

The professor saw her lips move, but couldn’t hear the words. The elderly woman lifted her head and spoke, her voice carrying defeat:

“I’m out. Can’t you see? Whatever is opposing us has power over everything. You may judge me, but I will not fight against God — I will not enter a war whose outcome is already written.”

As Donald left to gather his team, the professor remained silent for a while. Then he said:

“I’m not a religious man. But I’ve always understood God as a compassionate creator — not one who delights in causing suffering. Religious leaders say that disasters on earth are part of human testing, or consequences of selfish, destructive choices humanity makes.”

Teresa nodded, agreeing with him so far.

“And those same leaders insist no one has the right to play judge and executioner on God’s behalf. But they also teach — through the examples of prophets — that societies must uphold systems of justice, punishing crimes like murder, theft, and corruption to preserve peace.”

He paused, then added:

“What we are trying to do is prevent a plague that is poisoning life itself — we’re attempting to embody the divine command: ‘Be compassionate to one another.’

In that case, we are walking the right path, according to what we know. To define our efforts as a war against God — wouldn’t that be a profound mistake?”

Teresa froze. Words deserted her.

Who was the believer here — the professor, or her?

In that moment, she remembered a truth: faith is not owned by the religious, nor monopolized by those who claim to speak for God. If God wished, He could make an atheist fight on behalf of truth, just as in ancient times warriors who did not believe in prophets fought alongside them, defending what was right.

Now, in a different age, it was scientists — some agnostic, some unbelieving — who spoke of nature not as random chaos, but as evidence of intentional design.

She whispered only one sentence in reply:

“Yes. You’re right. I was mistaken.”

At that moment, a commotion in the corridor pulled their attention away. When Teresa opened the door, she saw several men running through the hallway toward the exit. She and the professor followed them outside, where Donald and the others were watching a snowmobile speed away.

Teresa noticed that Donald couldn’t start the snowmobile beneath him — nor could any of the others. A sharp smell of fuel reached her nose. They crouched to look beneath the machines and saw gasoline dripping from punctured tanks. Multiple vehicles had been sabotaged.

Before anyone asked, Donald explained:

“We were in a meeting when I heard over the radio that Gary burst into my office, broke the lock on the cabinet, and stole the SD card. He fled at the same moment we ran out. He must’ve planned this — punctured the tanks beforehand.”

He exhaled a plume of vapor into the freezing air.

“But our patrolman spotted him. He should have caught him. We’re waiting for word.”

Moments later, a snowmobile approached. The rider climbed off, shaking his head.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

“He drove straight into the sea — right into it — and vanished beneath the ice. He’s either frozen to death or drowned. There’s no other possibility.”

“What was on the SD card?” Teresa asked, staring at Donald. “And don’t say ‘nothing.’ If it were worthless, he wouldn’t have risked his life.”

“The photographs of the cave drawings,” Donald replied.

“So, after the cave collapsed, now the images are gone too.”

“Which means,” Teresa said with a bitter smile, “there’s nothing left to hide. We can all relax.”

But a voice in her mind whispered:

Don’t forget the second giant egg.
The curse hasn’t ended yet.
Just wait — the real finale hasn’t begun.