It took approximately two minutes.
The man's breathing became increasingly labored. His chest rose and fell in shallow, desperate movements. His eyes went wide with panic as whatever was happening in his body became absolutely undeniable.
Then the panic faded.
Then consciousness faded.
Then his breathing stopped.
The monitors flatlined in sequence. Heart rate: 0. Respiratory rate: 0. The man who'd been injected with a weaponized virus only 30 hours earlier was now simply a body.
"Excellent," Elizabeth said, reviewing the data that had been collected during the process. "Clean termination. Vital signs decline was steady and predictable. We have comprehensive data through the point of organ failure."
She turned to Dimitri.
"Observations, Dr. Volkov?"
Dimitri had been watching the entire process. Had seen the fear in the man's eyes. Had heard the plea for mercy that went unanswered.
And he'd maintained his expression of clinical interest.
