Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Do you want to see it?

At lunch, Perry ducked into the toilet cubicle.His pants were down to his ankles, and his 49ers jersey was piled haphazardly on the floor.He had a red rash the size of a No. 2 pencil eraser on his left arm, left thigh, and right calf.There were three other places where it was terribly itchy, and he could feel his fingers on his right collarbone, the spine below his shoulder blade, and a few rashes on his right buttocks.There was another piece he tried not to think about—on his left testicle. The rash comes and goes, sometimes as soothing as low-pitched music, and at other times as unnerving as loud noises.Must have been bitten by a spider, he guessed.It could also be a centipede, he heard that being bitten by a centipede would be extremely painful.But what puzzled him was how he could sleep so soundly when he was bitten.Whatever bit it, it must have been while he was sleeping.Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why when he was about to go to work, there was no sign at all—the venom had already invaded his body, but it took a process for his body to react.

The rash is itchy and annoying to touch.But these are not serious after all, just being bitten by a few small bugs.He just had to refrain from grabbing them, and sooner or later they would all be gone.The problem was that he couldn't ignore the rashes, whether they were scabs, pimples, blisters, or something else, and the bad habit of scratching only made it worse.He had to focus and, as his high school football coach used to say, "play through the wounds." Perry stood up, pulled up his pants, and put on his coat.He took a deep breath and tried to stay awake.It was a battle of wills, Perry thought, a battle of self-control, to put it bluntly.You have to hold on.

He walked out of the bathroom, returned to his desk, and continued working. Murray Longworth went over the list of people who joined Project Tangram again. The list was short, but all of them were absolutely loyal to the American government.Although the possibility of accomplishing this task is almost zero, he still puts his heart and soul into it and is full of enthusiasm.Anyone can lose patriotism and devotion in this country, but not Murray Longworth.He was ordered by the President to find out the crux of the situation before the whole nightmare situation got out of control.That's what Murray is aiming for.In fact, the president's reputation, the president's past, the president's terrible agenda don't matter, what matters is that he is the president, and this position is the eternal symbol of the American spirit.

The president asked Murray to find out who was responsible for turning ordinary Americans into murderous lunatics.So far, there have been five cases.This plague may plunge the entire country into unprecedented pain and panic, but he has very few clues.At present, he just kept this secret firmly - there are more than 100 people under his command who can be dispatched directly by him, but less than 10 people have heard of this matter.Not even members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff know the secret. The last time Margaret Montoya called the CIA, the call went to Murray.Of course Margaret didn't call very often.She works at the CDC and suspects that she happened to come across a terrorist's bioweapon.Her qualifications and the urgency of the matter were convincing enough that the call was cascaded up to Murray.

Margaret made the call without the CDC's normal channels because she said she was afraid of leaks, and if the secrets were leaked too soon, it would be impossible to do a good job of researching this weapon.Of course Murray knows this is only part of the reason - Margaret wants to take full charge of the case and track down this terrible "killer".If she chooses the normal channel, I am afraid that this case will not be her turn, and she will not get the praise she deserves, and can only end up in obscurity. He had received her, and had only to look at her papers to convince him that she was telling the truth.Inside the file are photos of Charlotte Wilson and Gary Ryland.A new threat looms.

It's a good thing she's a nobody.She is not a world authority on certain diseases, or a Nobel Prize winner, or a celebrity.She's just a competent epidemiologist at the CDC in Cincinnati.She doesn't even have the qualifications to join the CDC main center in Atlanta.This gave Murray free rein to spend her time, recruiting her because few people would pay attention to her whereabouts. He had sent someone to look up information on the Triangle, or any case that might have been raised.Brian Tanalev was then hunted down, who had contacted Toledo's WNWO television station on Nov. 7, claiming a "triangular conspiracy." The WNWO TV record described Tanalev as "paranoid" and "vexatious".

Two days later, neighbors found the bodies of him and his family at Thanalev's home.Thanalev's body was reported to be in a high state of decomposition.Tanalev's wife and two daughters were dead, their bodies not highly decomposed.Forensic autopsies revealed their deaths were horrific - they were each stabbed at least 20 times with scissors.Afterwards, WNWO TV reported Mr Thanalife's phone call and his news about the "Triangle Conspiracy". The CIA intervened to investigate and found that Tanalev had no criminal record, nor did he and his family have any history of mental illness.The CIA wanted to find out if there was another reason for the family's deaths two days after the man claimed the "Triangle Conspiracy."Their investigation was fruitless, however, and the case was dismissed as an inexplicable psychotic episode and closed.The case was not mentioned again until Murray began to investigate information about the "triangle".

In Murray's hands, there were three cases in which normal people became crazy and paranoid psychopaths out of thin air.Information about the strange triangular-shaped growths can be found directly in each case, and traces of these growths can also be found in the highly decomposed corpses.Nothing like this has ever happened before, and Murray now has a taste of the power of biological and chemical weapons.It can seriously paralyze the entire United States - they must be stopped as soon as possible. He went to see the CIA director, and then had an emergency meeting with the president.Not with the president's advisers, not with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but with the president himself, face-to-face.The director of the CIA was also in attendance.He also took Montoya with him.

She gave a wonderful report, very convincing.It was the pictures that really caught the president's attention: the blue, triangular growth on Gary Ryland's body, the growth on Charlotte Wilson's decomposing body, the mottled, abscessed sores of Brian Tanaraif. Horrible green fuzzy skeletons. The President has entrusted him with full authority over the matter and will give him any assistance needed.In Washington, this trust has lasted for decades and has become a tacit understanding passed down between successive presidents.If you want to do something, but it's probably not very honorable -- or not very legal -- give Murray Longworth a call.

Murray now has the power to call anyone in and out.But he doesn't want a big team, at least not yet.He has to keep a low profile and keep things under control.Once the news leaks out, the panic caused will be unimaginable.Entire countries are at risk of shutting down, people will hide at home for fear of infection, and those who leave will overwhelm the hospital, seeing the doctor for various reasons, whether it is a diaper rash or a flea bite A few mouthfuls.Murray certainly understands that the news will be leaked sooner or later, but he must do his best to collect enough information before the secret is leaked. Once leaked, the situation will become quite complicated.

There have been five cases so far -- two more since that confidential meeting.Judy Washington, 62, was identified a day later than Gary Ryland, but she apparently contracted the infection earlier.Du and his partner found her crocked bones in the grass outside the seniors' apartment where she and Ryland both lived.Her infection seemed out of control, and she had to let it run wild.And now comes the big problem of Martin Brubeck.Five cases occurred in just 16 days, and he knew there were many more that the CIA hadn't found.He suspects things will only get worse. He had sacrificed so much—friends, family, personal life—to his career that he had climbed to his current position at the CIA.And now he realized why he sacrificed it all.Whatever he has done, any work he has devoted himself to, just like the old avalanche that he has personally experienced on Baffin Island in northeastern Canada, it is destined that he should sit in the right seat at the right time so that he can Do something that really matters.This is the path God chose for him, because nothing happens by mere coincidence. But this time, it has nothing to do with his career.For the first time in his life, he didn't care if anyone knew about his involvement, didn't care if he got credit, all he really cared about was how to stop this plague. This is his mission.