Free Disclosure by Thais Lopes

1. Camila
    “ Did you
see the news?” Luiz asked, from the
kitchen’s door.
    With a resigned sound, I raised my hand,
asking him to wait while I finished eating my cheese bread.
Obviously agitated, he took a mug from the cabinet and headed for
the coffee pot.
    “ Don’t even
think about it!” I almost screamed, with my mouth still full. “No
coffee for you! Once was enough!”
    “ Hey, I
deserve it today! It’s going to be a long day.”
    “ No way! I’ve
seen what happens when you drink anything with caffeine.” I finished eating in a hurry, knowing there was
only one way to make him forget the coffee. “What was that about
the news?”
    He immediately put the empty mug on the
table, getting a chair. His eyes were shining, and I knew for sure
he was going start talking science. Probably another crazy
idea.
    “ I told you
about the living tissue samples that were being studied, remember?
The ones that had been frozen for ages?” He waited until I nodded,
smiling. “There are news about those studies. Unbelievable
news!”
    I
froze. That wasn’t what I expected. One
quick glance around was all I needed to make sure that Felipe was
listening. My other roommate had stopped just before the door, and
was completely still. Our eyes met, and he nodded lightly, a
worried expression on his face, before turning and going back to
his bedroom. I took a deep breath before facing Luiz, who had a
large smile on his face.
    “What did they discover?” I asked, praying to
all the powers that it wasn’t what we feared.
    “ There is an
anomaly on the DNA that would give a regeneration capacity to the
body that, until now, wasn’t even imagined.” He didn’t even try to
hide his excitement about it.
    With effort,
I forced myself to appear curious. What I really wanted to do was
run to my parent’s home and wait for my next orders. We weren’t ready for that… Not now. It was hard
to stay in the character I had created years ago, but somehow I
managed. “Right… And what does that mean?”
    He sighed.
“Imagine you cut yourself, and in seconds it’s healed. Now, imagine
the same thing working not only on your skin, but on your whole
body. It’s the greatest discovery of the century!”
    Yes, it was.
But he had no idea of what was really going on. I could hear the
faint noise that was Felipe typing on his computer, and the fact
that he hadn’t come back to the kitchen was the only confirmation I
needed. If they had found out about the regeneration capacity, it
wouldn’t be long before they figured out the rest.
    “Yes, it seems to be.” I answered, going back
to my breakfast and pretending I had no idea of what he was talking
about.
    Luiz made an
irritated sound before getting up. “I really don’t know why I still
try to talk about this stuff with you or with Felipe. You have no
idea at all.”
    “ You’re
talking to two math students, Luiz.” I
laughed.
    Shaking his
head, he left the kitchen, and few minutes later I heard when he
closed the apartment’s door. He was probably going back to college,
where he would be able to discuss the news with his classmates. My
smile disappeared, and I let my worry be visible. Leaving my coffee
mug, I went to Felipe’s room.
    “ So?” I
asked.
    He didn’t
even take his eyes from the screen, his shoulder length blond hair
hiding part of his face. But I could see the worry lines that
marked his expression. Not a good sign.
    “ Exactly what
Luiz said. They didn’t release anything besides the regeneration
capacity.”
    “Yet.” I added.
    “Yet.”
    With sharp
movements, he closed the browser ’s window
before turning off the computer. Sighing, Felipe faced me. There
was no need to say anything, we both knew what was at
stake.
    “ I’ll give
you a ride to the road.” I said, before going back to my
bedroom.
    I dressed for
work in a hurry. The beginning of a headache seemed to tell me it
would be a long day, but there was nothing I could do. I needed to
hold