The man was looking over the converter before him. He was a middle aged man, his brown hair already turning grey. His nametag read 'Doctor Evelyn Gray'. Next to him stood a woman, not that much younger than he was. They were both staring with awe at the machine before them. The converter whirred once more and a panel opened up. Inside was a small vial of yellow liquid.
"D-Did it work, love?" The burnette woman asked.
"Only one way to find out." Gray mumbled. He picked up the vial and walked to the other end of the room. The two were in a large workshop, the area holding the conversion generator only taking up a small area. Gray approached a truck parked inside. After making sure the truck was completely empty, Gray opened the fuel tank. He poured the liquid in, no more than a cup. He got inside the truck and picked up the keys. "Wish me luck, Martha." He called out. Martha grinned wildly and gave him a thumbs up.
"You're a genius, Evelyn. You got this." She replied. Gray smiled in return and put the keys in. With a small gulp, he turned them. The engine roared to life, brimming with power. Grinning, Gray tapped the accelerator. The truck shot forward about ten feet, summoning a scream from Martha. The truck was close to hitting her. After the initial panic, Martha began to laugh. "It works! It works! It fucking works!" She yelled. Gray began laughing too.
"The Biofuel works!"
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Martha and Gray were standing next to one another in the employee lounge. Dozens of engineers, biologists, and businessmen surrounded them. Each had a glass of champagne in hand.
"When is the public announcement?" One of the businessmen asked.
"Tomorrow, we've kept this secret long enough." Gray answered. "The public deserves to know."
"How did you even manage this?" One of the engineers asked.
"My converter-" Gray began. Martha playfully elbowed his stomach. "Our converter," Gray quickly corrected, earning a laugh from the audience. "The converter takes biological material and breaks it down into it's purest form. Energy. This energy is then taken and applied pressure to, creating the Biofuel." Gray explained.
"What kind of biological materials can be used?" One of the biologists asked. This time, Martha was ready to answer.
"Any. Whether it's living, dead or animal, plant. If it is or was alive, it will work." She explained.
"I think that's enough questions." Gray said, he raised his glass. "To the future!"
"To the future!"
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Most of the guests have left, leaving Gray, Martha, and a few stragglers alone.
"You did it." Martha simply said, tears in her eyes. Gray smiled.
"We did, honey. We changed the world, not just me." He said. A suited man approached the two.
"Doctor Gray?" He said. Gray turned to him.
"A question?" He asked. The man looked around, not liking the other people in the room.
"Yes, but not for public ears." He said. Gray nodded.
"Let's go up to my office." He turned to Martha. "I'll see you at home."
"Don't be late." She said, still smiling. She leaned in for a quick kiss. After she had left the two men began walking to the upstairs office.
"Do I get a name or do I call you 'Suit'?" Gray asked. The man smirked.
"Funny. My name is Alexander Lee and I represent the Human Preservation Institute. The HPI want to make you an offer." Alexander said.
"Preservation? What, you think the world's gonna end soon?" Gray asked. He reached onto his desk and opened up a bag of nuts. He threw a peanut into the air.
"Simply put, yes." Alexander said. Gray nearly choked on the peanut.
"Believe what you want but I don't think humanity's going to up and disappear. Even so, I don't think Biofuel is going to help." Gray said.
"Biofuel would help immensely when it's time to rebuild." Alexander removed his glasses, revealing his green eyes. "HPI can promise you and your wife room in our shielded bunker." Gray's eyes widened.
"Bunker? What the Hell do you think is going to happen?" He asked. Alexander sighed.
"That question is far above my pay grade. I doubted it myself until I saw how much money is being put into this by the entire damn world! Every first and second world country has put billions of dollars into this Institute!" He said. Gray looked at him.
"I don't believe you. The whole goddamn world can't keep a secret like that." Gray turned and left. Alexander sat in the office alone. He calmly brought his phone out and made a call.
"Bring up the van."
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Gray stood in the bathroom, staring at his own reflection.
"The government keeps lots of secrets, why would this one be any different? Because telling the planet the human race is doomed would cause more chaos than anything else. Alex couldn't have been telling the truth. He's just some businessman trying buy the Biofuel cheap." Gray turned on the faucet and splashed water into his own face. The sound of glass shattering broke Gray's concentration. "The Hell?" He ran out of the bathroom and looked towards the origin. A moving van had backed up into the window, it's back open. Several men were loading his research into it. They hadn't noticed Gray yet.
"Where's Mister Lee?" One of them asked.
"He's getting that generator thing from the next room." Another asked. Gray turned to the room containing the generator. Gray snuck to the door and walked in. Alexander stood above on a balcony, holding the generator.
"Hey!" Gray yelled. "Put that down, you thieving bastard!" Alexander looked down and smirked.
"I have four muscle bound bodyguards in the next room and you're screaming?" He asked. Gray bolt locked the door.
"Yes, yes I did." Gray ran up the stairs leading to the balcony. Alexander grimaced.
"Your damning us. Our whole goddamn race. I will not let one man doom billions!" Alexander ran towards Gray and punched him in the gut. Gray doubled over in pain. Alexander kicked Gray onto the ground.
"You're a madman." Gray groaned. Alexander picked Gray off the ground, holding him by the collar.
"If saving lives is mad, I don't want to be sane." He threw Gray towards the window. Time seemed to slow down for Gray as the glass shattered. Time went even slower as Gray could see the smirk on Alexander's face. One last thought overtook Gray before the darkness came.
I'm sorry Martha.