5. An Unexpected Conversion

"How much longer is this gonna take?" He groaned, leaning back in the chair to stretch his back.

Daniel looked at him with sleepy eyes and took another sip of his coffee. "I can't feel my legs anymore," he said, ignoring the question.

Daniel's mobile phone rang for what felt like the one hundredth time in the last twenty-four hours.

"It's her again. Do they all think I can't handle this on my own?" He accepted the call, and slouched back to the main office to talk.

It had been sixty-four hours since Alice had entered the Tube. When the conversion went over twenty-four hours, Daniel was surprised, but Bruno was already expecting it. The next day, he was convinced she was going to be an alpha. He was already dreading all the quarrels they were going to get themselves into, their stubbornness amplified by the change.

When forty-eight hours had passed, both he and Daniel were extremely surprised. They were exhausted, each only having taken small naps during the night, and both jumped when the console gave a few dings and showed something on a screen that surprised Daniel.

"Deeper alterations on the brain," he had said, sounding dumbfounded. "It's requesting for absolute stillness while the process is ongoing. No moving the machine, no interruption of the process, no vibrations near the machine… Geez, this list is huge."

"Has this happened before?" Bruno asked, worried. Lisbon was an earthquake city. How were they going to keep the machine still if the ground began shaking?

"There is a warning when an alpha transformation starts, but not as strict." Daniel looked at Bruno, the same concern showing in his eyes. "It's the first time I'm seeing this."

When they reached the fifty-two-hour mark, the phone calls started.

The first ones were for Daniel. Other doctors, asking if the timing of the transformation was correct. If he had done something to cause the extended time. If he could share the patient's medical file (they got a hard no on that one), and most of all, if they could confirm the gender of the patient. Was she really female?

The Tube was updating information to Alice's medical file while it processed her transformation, but apparently it was also uploading information to a private medical network, something Daniel conveniently forgot to warn Bruno about.

Bruno knew that beta doctors weren't one-hundred-percent obedient to alphas, but he thought it was only when it came to saving people's lives, not for keeping secret doctor networks under wraps.

Then he started getting phone calls too. Phone calls from other alphas, asking for more information about Alice. Not about the unusually long conversion happening in his territory, but about Alice.

How the fuck did they know her name?

Daniel had been particularly taken aback by those calls. He swore the network was secure, that only generic information was uploaded to keep the patients' privacy—certainly not names and phone numbers. It was important for doctors to help each other, he tried to reason, to help increase successful transitions.

Bruno demanded the machine be put offline, to stop sharing information with others. Daniel winced at his alpha command and apologized. It was impossible without turning the whole machine off, and that would hurt Alice.

Another call came, this time asking for photos of her. An alpha with a nasal voice gave Bruno a clear command to send both photos and information about Alice. A command to him, from another alpha! That was when Bruno realized he had been extremely naive. He had expected everyone to follow the rules. He had expected privacy and security from the system that had been put in place. He told the guy to fuck off, and turned off his phone after that.

Then, when the conversion hit the fifty-seven-hour mark, the phone calls died down.

They were both just as surprised at that as they were when the calls started in the first place, considering the number had been increasing by the hour, sometimes the same callers trying over and over. Then Daniel got a phone call from another doctor, someone called Sarah Hall calling from the United States, but she said she had important information to share and requested to be put on speakerphone so Bruno could listen as well.

"I understand that she is now on the fifty-seven-hour mark?" An elegant voice rose from the phone.

"Yes," Daniel replied. "Still no signs of wrapping up."

"I see. The longest omega conversion thus far has taken sixty-four hours, so we could either be a couple of hours away from completion, or setting a new record." The woman's voice was friendly but professional.

"Sixty-four hours?" Daniel was stunned at that revelation. "Why isn't this information on the network? How can doctors be prepared for this if we are kept in the dark?",

"I understand your concern," Sarah said kindly, "but this is for the omegas' protection. As you probably noticed, there is too much information available about them already. Too many alphas who are aware of the dynamic's particulars."

"And what are those particulars?" Bruno asked.

"Omegas are…" The woman took a deep breath, as if unsure how to answer that question. "Unique? I'm not quite sure how to describe them. They have a great sense of empathy, an unusual instinct about other people. The omega I helped convert can easily tell if someone is lying to her," Sarah kept her tone light, even laughing a bit when mentioning her omega.

"Alice already has a lot of empathy," Bruno replied. "I don't see how she can get even more empathetic."

The woman laughed. "You'll see. You can also expect people's reactions to her to change."

"Change how?" Both men asked.

"Omegas usually bring out the best in people. The empathy they feel spreads around them, and has a soothing effect. Both betas and unchanged humans feel very comfortable in their presence."

"And alphas?" he asked, dreading the reply.

The woman paused for a few seconds before responding. "Alphas tend to be very sexually attracted to them—"

"Excuse me?" Bruno interrupted her.

"Well, so do betas," she continued, ignoring him. "But alphas are more aggressive about it. There is still much to learn about this, and we have little information so far. But you will be invited to a more secure network of information, Dr. Infante, exclusive for the omegas' doctors."

As if on cue, Daniel's laptop lit up with a private-message warning. Daniel appeared as if he didn't know if he should be happy or angry.

"One thing we have noticed quite clearly," Sarah continued, "is that those who are in the omegas' social circles, like friends and family, tend to feel extremely protective and possessive of them."

"Tell me more about the alphas. Why is it that I had so many calls about Alice?" Bruno asked, still shaken by the attempted commands from the other alphas to get more info on his wife.

"As I said, alphas have a strong reaction to omegas. Those who have been around an omega before may be determined to get one of their own. You will receive a phone call with more information soon, so I suggest you turn your phone back on."

That wasn't an answer at all, he fumed.

"How many others are there?" Daniel asked while checking his laptop. "How many other omegas?"

"Alice would be the fifth omega so far."

"Fifth in Portugal?" Bruno asked.

"Fifth in Europe?" Daniel asked at the same time.

The phone was silent for a moment.

"Fifth in the world, gentlemen."

Bruno's heart skipped a beat. Both men went silent at that revelation.

"I see that now you understand the importance of this conversion. I will stay in contact until it's completed, and talk to you privately, Dr. Infante."

She disconnected the call without a goodbye. Probably because she continued to call Daniel every hour after that.

Bruno turned his mobile phone back on, and found that all calls and messages had been deleted. Shit! He wanted to track some of them, and find out who the alphas were who had been trying to give him orders.

He was still cursing at his phone when he received a call from an unknown number. He took the call in the main office to avoid disturbing Daniel.

"If you ask for photos of my wife, I swear to God that I will find you and rip your eyes out!"

No one replied for at least two seconds.

"I see you had the pleasure of talking with the other alphas interested in your wife," a rough male voice finally replied with a laugh. He was speaking English, but he had a heavy accent that Bruno couldn't place.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

"My name is Matts Hansen. I am currently the lead in charge of all the omegas' security. I believe Dr. Sarah Hall mentioned I would be calling you, Bruno. May I call you Bruno? This will be much easier if we skip the formalities. Less head-butting, so to speak." The man sounded very friendly, but Bruno recognized an alpha's voice, a stronger alpha than him. If the doctor hadn't given him a warning, he would have ended the call right there.

"Sure…" he replied slowly. He would go down the rabbit hole and see where it would lead.

"Good." Matts's friendly voice changed to a down-to-business tone. "First thing I would like to do is to remove all photos of your wife from all social media, and from all devices that may be connected online, along with personal info and medical records. If you give me your permission, I will take care of that right away."

Bruno was taken aback. He could do that? "Sure." he replied uncertainly.

"Good! Second, I would like for you to get your wife's mobile phone and destroy its SIM card. If her number is leaked online, the SIM card can be used to track her."

"What? She… she hasn't even left the Tube yet. How could they—"

"I understand your concern, but she is the fifth omega to be discovered. Some alphas have had four omegas' worth of stalking practice already."

"Stalking? Shit!"

Bruno slumped into a chair and rubbed his face with his free hand. He thought he had been so careful with his manipulation of the list. He thought he had been so smart outmaneuvering one guy. He was not prepared for this.

"Don't worry, it gets worse," Matts joked. "You will have to move to a new house as soon as possible. Somewhere secure, where you can control who comes and goes."

"Do you think I have spare houses lying around I can easily switch to?"

Matts laughed as if he had made a joke.

"If you'd like, I can find a suitable place and reserve it for you. You don't have to worry about payment. Everything will be arranged."

"So, you have spare houses lying around?"

Matts laughed again, as if they were two friends bantering. "I'm going to send you a list of instructions that should be followed, for her safety. There are instructions for her family and friends also."

"Is she in the witness protection program now? Are we to change our identities and hide in the countryside?"

The man laughed again, and Bruno heard him inhale on a cigarette. "Quite the contrary. You are going to receive a promotion, and with it, the power needed to protect your wife."

Bruno froze at that. He couldn't go much higher now. He had already replaced part of the government, along with four other alphas.

"What do you mean, a promotion?"

He felt the smugness on the other side of the line, a strong satisfaction from the alpha in surprising Bruno.

"You'll get more information about that soon enough."

There was a pause while Bruno processed what the man said.

"If you are feeling uncomfortable with any of this, or if you don't want the responsibility of protecting your omega, arrangements can be made to relieve you of her."

"Fuck you!"

"That's what I like to hear. I knew we would understand each other."

"Any more instructions from your side, or can I return to my wife?" He put an emphasis on wife. She was not his omega; she was her own person.

"Don't forget about her SIM card. I will take care of everything else from here. Best of luck with the conversion, Bruno."

"Thank you, Matts. Not sure if I can say it's been a pleasure to meet you."

The man laughed again. "I'm sure you'll be thanking me soon enough." And he hung up.

That had been hours ago, and Alice was still in the damn machine.

"Sarah just wanted to congratulate me on breaking the conversion-time record." Daniel entered the room and sat down heavily in his chair, looking annoyed. "As if watching over someone else's conversion is a great achievement."

Bruno put a hand on his friend's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "You're doing your best to make sure this goes well. That is a great achievement to me."

Daniel smiled at him, and went back to watching over Alice's vitals.

"I didn't expect this circus, you know?" Bruno said, defeated.

Daniel turned to him with curiosity.

"I knew she was special, but isn't that what every man thinks of the woman he loves?"

"It is," Daniel told him gently. "But not every man is right."