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All CDC properties start at Level 1, including the bathroo or equipment is needed to enter one Level 1 biohazard facilities ith agents that don’t harm healthy adult hus that can harm healthy adult humans, and will usually have some precautions in place to deal with contamination It’s only once you hit Level 3 that you start needingopen, I could hear the faint hiss of air being drawn into the hall, caught by the negative pressure filters Airborne dangers could get in, but they would never n Dr Shaw cleared her throat "Gentleuard actually ju to do your jobs, but I assure you, no aet us to uarda hand and tapping the skin behind his ear "I’ll be right back with you"

"Subdermal communications iet her hands on one of those With the way I went through the ear cuffs I used to contactsubdere of my left ear, where ht about it since waking up, and now that I remembered it, I felt naked without it So It was one more piece of evidence that I was still me, even if I was someone else at the sa sorry for the Georgia Masons who had been cloned, studied, and killed before me How ht they were? Howwhether they’d get the chance to be properly clothed ever again?

I hoped none of them If they hadn’t been able to escape--and clearly, they hadn’t, because I wouldn’t have been here if they had--then there was no reason they should ever have needed to feel like this

The guard finished his muffled conversation hoever was on the other side of his connection and turned to face Dr Shaw, tapping the skin behind his ear one ize for any delays we have caused you," he said, stiffening to raht attention "My superior informs me that you have security of your own beyond this point, and that our services will not be required"

"Thank you for confir that," said Dr Shaith a sentlein"

"Of course" The older guard stayed where he was The younger stepped out of Dr Shaay as she advanced toward the door Hethat could have been "Ma’am," or could have been a short prayer of thanks I didn’t hear it clearly, and I didn’t care We were getting away frouards That hat really e, Dr Shaw, and finally, me The door slid shut behind us as soon as my heel cleared the doorway Dr Shaw reached out and pulled the piece of paper off the botto it into the pocket of her lab coat

"Never underesti al attention "Level 3 labs are noat an Indian take-out Yet soh to strike fear into the hearts ofLevel 4 biosafety lab in this brave neorld we’ve created"

"Words have power," I said

"True" She shook her head "Well This way, please" She began to walk briskly down the hall, heels cracking hard against the tile

Kathleen and George exchanged a look "Excuse me, Doctor?" called Kathleen

"Yes? What is it?"

"Do you want us to come with you, or do you want us to initiate cleanup procedures in lab bay two? You’re going to need it later tonight"

Dr Shaw paused, head tilted at as clearly a contele, even when viewed from behind Finally, she nodded "Yes; that sounds like the correct course of action Georgia, coet started" She started walking again, not looking back I hurried after her

We passed through three more doors, each of which Dr Shaw opened with a swipe of her key card The second door also required a fingerprint check; the third was equipped with a retinal scanner This was starting to look less like a Level 3 biosafety facility, and more like some sort of maximum security prison for the infected The distant, steady hiss of the negative pressure filters justdistinctly uneasy by the time we reached the fourth door This one was flanked by blood test units that looked disare back in the house in Berkeley "You’ll need to provide a sample for analysis," said Dr Shaw "It’s just a technicality, at this point in the facility, but it came with the security syste several other functions"

"What functions?" I asked,unit on the left

"All will be ht-hand testing unit, cleared her throat, and said, "Identification, Danika Michelle Kimberley, authorization beta alpha zeta nine four nine two three Designation, investigative physician Affiliation, Epideence Service" Her accent was suddenly British, softer than Mahir’s, with a rolling edge that I’d heard only froers who lived and broadcast near the Welsh border