Reist sat down at the table, wincing as she inspected her shoulder. Lehmann joined her, bringing the jar containing Fischer’s growth with him, followed by Meyer.

Sauer walked around the patient’s bed, feeling an overwhelming sense of curiosity. Blood was dripping from Fischer’s wound, the sheets under him now a crimson red. He bent over to look inside Fischer’s arm.

Removing the growth had left a small hole in Fischer’s skin, a few millimeters deep. Just inside the wound was a clump of beans, blood oozing between them like the thin layer of white liquid between the Crimson Beans Sauer had fought in Dijon.

And they were moving.

Wriggling, slowly, steadily. Enough that he could see Fischer’s skin moving slightly, the beans pushing out from the inside. The movement of Fischer’s skin was almost imperceptible, but it was moving nonetheless.

“Let us get the facts straight, before we begin making assumptions,” Lehmann said from the table. Sauer was pulled from his trance, joining the other researchers at the table.

“What’s there to get straight?” Schubert asked. “There are beans inside of people, it’s as simple as that. That growth must be a symptom, and anyone with one needs to be quarantined in case the beans can spread somehow.”

“Before we get too deep into this discussion, is it safe to leave Fischer like that?” Reist asked.

“I think, it is,” Meyer said. “We should not, patch up his arm, before we get a better look, at the beans therein.”

“But what if the beans make him attack us or something?” Schubert asked. “They’re strong enough to reanimate corpses, after all.”

“We could, easily apprehend Fischer,” Meyer said. “Even if we, are unable, the guards outside, would kill him, and the Beans, inside of him, before he could leave, the facility.”

“Does anyone know what Fischer’s group was experimenting on, exactly?” Sauer asked. “I would assume that the beans were able to get inside of him during one of his experiments. Perhaps we are all in the early stages of this Bean infection ourselves.”

“We’ve been experimenting with exposing our beans to different environments, to see how they react,” Fischer’s gruff aide said. “Stuff like extended heat and cold exposure, seeing if they can survive underwater, stuff like that.”

“I thought Meyer’s group was researching that,” Reist said. “That’s what the reports say, anyways.”

“No, we were conducting, a surgical analysis, of the beans,” Meyer replied. “What experiments, were your group conducting?”

“We are experimenting with common chemicals,” Sauer replied. “Items easily accessible by our forces on the western front. We have made progress with vinegar and white wine.”

Lehmann’s eyes narrowed. “Vinegar and white wine? Why have we not heard about these results in your reports?”

Sauer replied, “We reported it the day we discovered it, last Saturday, as well as in our progress report on Wednesday. No one in my group is as experienced in alchemy as Fischer, so our progress has been slow, but I have been diligently compiling and reporting our results.”

“I have, read your reports, as well, Sauer,” Meyer said. “You did not, mention anything, related to vinegar, or white wine.”

“I assure you that I did,” Sauer replied. “After our miscommunication while discovering the Beans’ weaknesses, I knew that it would be important to report everything we discovered, so as to not cause any more unnecessary sample losses.”

Schubert laughed. “So none of us have any idea what the others are doing?”

“This isn’t a joke, Leon,” Reist said. “The Beans are going to be active any day now, and—”

“Calm down, Adaline! I’m just pointing out the facts. The miscommunication isn’t our fault, is it? I trust Thomas, and he said he put everything in his report. And I trust that Lehmann and Meyer can read, so then who does that leave us with? The person that distributes our reports!”

“Now, everyone, we should all just, calm down,” Meyer said.

“Yes,” Lehmann agreed. “Perhaps Captain Bösch, or whoever has been managing our research, has been interfering with our reports. That is a cause for concern, but there are currently more pressing matters we must deal with.” He looked at Fischer, still unconscious, blood drying on his arm.

“Lehmann is right,” Sauer said. “Fischer’s… condition should be our first priority. We should assume that anyone with a bean growth is a host to Bean infection, and should be quarantined accordingly.”

“Does anyone, here, have any, growths? Or know of anyone, that has a growth?” Meyer asked.

No one replied.

“That is good,” Lehmann said. “Hopefully Fischer was the only person infected. Now, we need to determine how the Beans are able to infect their hosts. Fischer was dealing with environmental factors, perhaps that may lead us to a clue.”

“Nope, it won’t,” Fischer’s gruff aide said. “We still have all ten of our original samples. Two of ‘em are dead, but still safely secured and accounted for. However he got sick, it has nothing to do with our experiments.”

“Are all of our samples accounted for?” Sauer asked. “Of our original forty beans?”

Everyone confirmed that their samples were secured. Meyer said, “We even kept, the sample, I accidentally stepped on. Crushed to paste, but still safe.”

Lehman rubbed his eyes. “So none of our samples are responsible… That presents an even greater question then, does it not? If he was not infected from our research, then he had to have gotten sick from some other source. How was he infected, and is it possible that others may currently be infected?”

“Hey… Not to point fingers or anything, but what if Thomas and Adaline got infected in Dijon?” Schubert asked. “They were in close quarters with the Beans for multiple hours, they could’ve been infected then.”

Sauer began to reply, then stopped himself. Schubert was right; they could have been infected while they were in Dijon. Both Sauer and Reist had come within centimeters of the Beans, easily enough for a disease to be transmitted to them. But they would have known if they were sick by now, surely? Three months would be a long time to have beans wriggling under their skin and not notice.

“Thomas and I aren’t infected,” Reist said. “If we were infected, we would’ve gotten growths in the days following our escape from Dijon.”

“Not necessarily,” Sauer said. “We may not have symptoms but still be able to infect others, or it is taking longer to become active in us than Fischer.”

“Even if that’s true, we met Fischer in person for the first time three weeks ago. If we’re infected and transmitted it to him, then it would take three weeks for symptoms to show up. Even if we got our growths later than that, we would know by now.”

“That’s true…” Schubert said, smiling. “Or maybe your two hid your growths!”

“Why would we—” Reist began.

“Do not throw around baseless accusations so lightly,” Lehmann said. “Sauer’s assistant… Ms. Adaline makes a good point. If we assume that Sauer and Ms. Adaline spread the infection to Fischer, then it would take at least three weeks before the growth appeared. It is true that we do not know the exact length that it would take before a growth appeared, but it is a good enough estimate to eliminate suspicion of Sauer and Ms. Adaline, as well as any other survivors of the November Bean attacks, as they would have presented symptoms months ago. Therefore, neither Sauer nor Ms. Adaline spread the infection to Fischer, meaning that he must have been infected some other way. That brings us back to our original question: How was Fischer infected, and is it possible that others may currently be infected and not know it?”

Before anyone could respond, the door to the Bean Research Facility opened. “I came as quickly as I could,” Captain Bösch said, the guards closing the door behind him. He looked at Fischer, passed out on the patient’s bed, covered in blood. “God damn it… Is he dead?”

“No, merely, unconscious,” Meyer replied.

“Thank God,” Bösch said, walking to the table. “So?”

“The situation does not look hopeful,” Lehmann said. “The growth on Fischer’s arm is most certainly a bean, but… there are also more beans inside of his arm, underneath the growth.”

“We may, be able to, surgically, remove them,” Meyer added.

“We would have to examine him farther…” Sauer said. “But I think surgical removal of the beans may cause substantial harm to Fischer. We still do not know if the beans are restricted to his arm, either… They may have already spread far enough that surgery would be impossible.”

Bösch sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Are there any possible treatments? Some way to kill the beans with minimal harm to the patient?”

“We could look into cold or heat therapy,” Reist suggested. “Getting the beans hot or cold enough to harm them may hurt the patient, however. We would need to review Fischer’s research, but a sustained increase in body temperature may work… like a sauna or intense exercise.”

“We have not discussed treatments, yet, captain,” Lehmann said. “We were discussing how he got infected in the first place when you entered.”

“And? Have you determined that yet?” Bösch asked.

“No,” Lehmann replied. “All of our bean samples are accounted for, so it is unlikely that Fischer got infected from them. We discussed Sauer and Ms. Adaline becoming infected during the November Bean attacks and spreading it to Fischer, but determined that was improbable as well.”

Bösch’s eyes were wide. He began to twirl the end of his mustache with his finger. “Are you telling me… that there may be a source of Bean infection within the city that we don’t know about?”

“It does seem that way,” Lehmann replied.

Bösch sighed again, turning his back to the researchers and hanging his head. After a moment, he said, “Is there any way to tell if someone is infected?”

Sauer replied, “A small growth that looks similar to a Crimson Bean was on Fischer’s left arm, where he is bleeding from; we cut it out. Perhaps it is possible to be infected by the Ashen and Verdant Beans. No one else in this room has a Bean growth on them, either.”

Bösch turned, looking between Sauer and Reist. His face was panicked. “You’re sure no one else here is infected?”

“Positive,” Reist replied.

Bösch bit his lip, then turned to leave, saying, “Your first priority is to find out how to heal the infected. If they can not be healed… we need a way to safely… dispose of them. Your second priority is finding out how to prevent someone from being infected. I’ll make sure that everyone knows what to look out for, and how to safely treat their infected, so there isn’t an outbreak of Beans that we can’t control. This is the last thing we need. Another God damned problem we don’t know the answer to yet.” Bösch looked over his shoulder before exiting the room. “And I know I don’t tell you this enough, but thank you for your service. Your work has not gone unnoticed. I expect a report as soon as possible; I want everyone to know about this and how to deal with it before it spreads beyond our control.” With that, Captain Bösch left the Bean laboratory.