As Stein listened to Birkin's explanation he finished his examination of the creature's head then straightened up and wiped the fluid from his hands onto his labcoat before he pushed his glasses up with one finger. He took the cigarette from between his lips and blew a cloud of smoke.

"I'm thinking about creating a new body out of dead parts," he said thoughtfully. "A present for an enemy whose body I destroyed. It could save a little girl's life." He glanced sidelong at Birkin with a smirk. "Medusa is possessing a little girl's body, since I sliced her body in half. I might be able to tempt her into an adult body if it were comfortable and pretty enough. But right now the zombies I can create still look cold and corpselike."

He shrugged. "Right now I'm just open to anything that might help. Besides, I'm curious about the virus in general." He cocked his head. "Why start a pandemic?"