An Intangible Pattern

Who are you really, Noah?

Not for the first time, Alex considered how grateful she was for the support at the sanitorium. Norma and the other counselors gently drew her out of isolation with kindness and patience. She took some time off work so she could process what happened to her. This involved spending lots of time outdoors, walking through the gently rolling hills around the sanitorium or gardening in the communal greenhouses. It felt good to do something physical and she found it easier to fall asleep at night.
At first she felt exposed interacting with the other residents and worried she would break down in front of them. But they didn't pressure her at all and little kindnesses such as offers of sweets, easy conversations or wordless connection relieved her of her fears. Many opened up about their own experiences and somehow it wasn't as painful to talk about it with other survivors. She felt they understood what she said… and what she did not.
Alex was given an antidepressant to help with her anxiety. She was warned it would make her worse the first few weeks, but being surrounded by people who could keep her grounded when she felt overwhelmed made it easier to deal with.
A few days after her conversation with the counselor, she sat at her work desk with her laptop open. Feeling a headache creeping up on her, she rubbed her temples and looked away from the photographs of Cat and Arthur on their honeymoon. Though she disliked the thought of keeping secrets from them, the look of happiness on their faces as they posed together on a beautiful beach cemented in her mind that she had made the right call.
She rummaged around in a drawer for a painkiller and was grateful to see there was one left.
As she pulled the waste paper basket out from under the desk to dispose of the empty packet, she caught sight of Noah's business card on top of the scraps of receipts. Her hand shook as she tentatively picked it out of the trash as though handling something poisonous.
Who are you really Noah Courentin?
She felt as though she was doing something wrong as she opened a private browser and typed in his name.
As a list of search results came up, her eyes snapped to a recent headshot. He was dressed in a dark gray suit and his hair was pulled off his attractive face. He looked very neat and his expression appeared composed and serious. Her stomach flipped as the involuntary image of his eyes heavy with desire, his hair cascading around his face and the sound of his breath, gasping through softly parted lips flashed in her mind's eye.
She tightened her jaw and tried to ignore the hated intrusion of arousal. Scrolling down she saw several scientific papers, either written or co-written by him on the subject of human pheromones, genetics, biochemistry, psychology, evolutionary behavior and even neuroscience.
He was mentioned on C&S pharmaceuticals website as a leading researcher for several of their suppressants. 
Scrolling further back she found some news articles from eight years ago:

YOUNG HEIR TO C&S PHARMACEUTICALS WINS PRESTIGIOUS MEDICAL AWARD.

BOY GENIUS DISCOVERS LINK BETWEEN PHEROMONES AND SENSE OF SMELL.

WHAT AN ALPHAS NOSE KNOWS! THE YOUNG SCIENTISTS WORKING ON A SUPPRESSANT FOR ALPHAS.

She clicked on the first one:

The heir to C&S Pharmaceuticals, Noah Courentin (14) , has been awarded the prestigious award for medical science and the $50000 prize for characterizing the olfactory receptors responsible for receiving the omega pheromone. He is currently working on a drug that will allow an Alpha to prevent the rut response when encountering an omega in heat. If successful, the drug is expected to be highly lucrative as every year millions of alphas suffer the embarrassment of going into rut unexpectedly.
Noah has been hailed as a boy genius, however remains modest as he says, "I don't think I'm smarter than anyone else my age. It was just important to me so I kept working."
Noah is home schooled and actively engages in research at C&S pharmaceuticals. With such a promising start, we can expect to watch this rising star's career with interest.

Alex gazed at the photograph of the award ceremony. At 14, Noah was tall but slight and his hair was a shorter frame to his face. He was awkwardly shaking hands with a older woman and looked uncomfortable.
She snorted and clicked through the other articles but they mostly said the same thing with varying degrees of sensationalism.
She looked for a social media account but this turned up nothing. She recalled her sister's remark: Noah… keeps to himself.
So you're a shy monster Noah Courentin?
She checked for video media and there was a relatively recent interview.
She hesitated before she clicked on it and took a deep breath.
It appeared to be a podcast in which he sat stiffly across the table from a glamorous woman.
"Welcome to the everyday science show where we discuss the science of everyday life. I'm your host, Laura Hawkins, and today we are joined by the wonderful Dr Noah Courentin who, on today's show, will unravel the mysteries of love."
Noah's face flickered with annoyance but then he laughed and said "Thankyou for having me, but I think you have the wrong man. I'm not an expert in love but I can certainly say something about the biological dynamics of attraction."
"Are they different?"
"I would say so."
"So… Dr Courentin, you started your research very young I believe, and you are now the world's leading expert on alpha and omega pheromones. What inspired you to take an interest in this at such a young age? Or have you always just been a genius?"
"I don't think I have ever felt that I was a genius. The truth is, I discovered I was an alpha at a young age and even then it seemed unfair to me that omegas bore the burden of responsibility. At the time there were no treatments for Alphas to control their own reactions and I was in the lucky position to have access to my grandfather's pharmaceutical labs."
"And you experimented on yourself didn't you?"
Noah chuckled, "Yes, I believe it isn't unusual for teenagers to experiment with drugs, though I can say my experience was far from pleasant."
"Weren't you afraid of the risks?"
"Yes, but no one else was tackling the issue and it seemed a fair trade to improve the lives of many others."
"And you discovered that the arousal response is very much tied to our sense of smell?"
"Yes, one of the most commonly reported occurrences during a rut is it is always preceded by a sweet smell. We were able to confirm this by having an alpha wear a respirator in the presence of an omega in heat and this effectively blocked the response, but obviously it's not very discreet. Thankfully, the omega pheromone structure was well characterized so it was a case of finding the corresponding receptor proteins. Then we could look at ways to disrupt the interaction."
"Some people would say you are interfering with the natural order of things. Do you feel like you are playing god?"
"That is what medicine is for. Medicine is, by its nature, a disruption of the natural order of things to alleviate suffering. If someone suffers from diabetes, the natural order of things is that they would become sick and die. Lab produced insulin is not natural, it's a human genome introduced to microorganisms so they can manufacture human insulin. I don't know about playing god, but the result is millions of people are able to live full lives. I think it's the same with alpha suppressants, if we can control our own impulses, then the majority of omegas can live without fear."
"Hmm, so could you bottle the omega pheromone and sell it as an aphrodisiac?"
She clearly wasn't listening to what he said.
"It would only work on alphas. Betas have lost the ability to detect omega pheromones. And trust me, if you were a beta looking to attract an alpha, you would find it's a case of be careful what you wish for."
"Really? I've heard that sex between omegas and alphas can be very steamy, sounds fun!"
Noah's expression grew dark.
"I'm afraid the reality can be somewhat different from how it is portrayed in the media. Sex between an alpha and omega is pleasurable,  but it's really down to the hormones released in the act. Massive amounts of things like oxytocin, dopamine and endorphins are dumped into the bloodstream and the effect is very much like a drug. This can leave people very vulnerable to abusive partners. In fact during a pair bonding, the act of biting a partner's neck stimulates an overproduction of oxytocin. The closest parallel I can describe to a beta, is that it's similar to the experience of a mother bonding to her child after it's born. Once that bond is made it's impossible to break."
"But surely that kind of physical reaction can only strengthen a relationship?"
"Really?" He said sadly. "Do you really want to rape the person you are supposed love. Do you really want to begin a relationship with the degradation and humiliation of a stranger and then ask them to stay with you? Do you know that intimate partner violence is 24% more prevalent in alpha/omega relationships than it is in beta relationships?"
The host seemed taken aback and remained quiet for a moment.
"So surely there is an evolutionary advantage to all this?" She asked to change the subject.
"I believe so. Or at least it was useful at one point. The olfactory nerves communicate with the limbic system of the brain, this is one of the oldest, most primitive parts of the brain and it's where you will find other structures related to arousal and aggression. There are marked differences in the development of these structures when you compare scans of omega and alpha brains to Beta's. The leading theory is that in the early stages of human development, finding a mate could be difficult. An Alpha's senses are famously more acute than normal, so once an alpha finds a fertile partner, it makes sense to bond together to raise and protect their children. An Alpha's physique is also very powerful and this reflects the nature of the environment it developed in. Humans would form small family units against very challenging conditions, so they needed to be tough. It was a dynamic born of survival more than anything else."
"So you think Betas came later?"
"Yes, as humans grew more numerous, the ones who could cooperate and form small villages outperformed those who were primed for competition and sole survival. Though alphas are stronger and more adept at surviving in hostile conditions, betas would work together and more brains meant more innovation. They were able to adapt their environment to compensate for their vulnerabilities. It also meant that it was easier to find a mate, sometimes several mates, so the need to track pheromones or bond to a single partner became obsolete and was gradually lost. Alphas by contrast are extremely territorial and largely monogamous, so betas were able to multiply more rapidly. That's why alpha and omega traits are so rare."
"So are you saying betas are actually better than alphas?"
He sighed and said, "I'm not saying anyone is better than anyone else. A common misconception that has plagued my field of study since it's inception is that there is some goal that evolution works towards. Nature doesn't strive towards perfection, it only produces adequate solutions to a set of environmental rules. One solution may be better in one situation and then a complete failure in another, so you have to evolve to meet the challenges of the new system or die. Too many people have misunderstood this and some of the worst atrocities in human history can be boiled down to people finding new justifications for their arrogance."
"You say that, but most of the highest positions in society have been, and still are, occupied by alphas?"
"Yes, because we're intimidating. Our natural inclination to dominate means that we gravitate toward positions of power, but actually our contributions to society are limited. If you look through history's greatest innovators or philosophers, very few of them were alphas. True, you could argue it's a numbers game, but while great empires are often accredited to one leader or another, it is unlikely that person lifted a single stone. We underestimate the importance of the collective in such endeavors. A leader  without his people is no one, but often the people who really built the world lie in unmarked graves."
"Interesting. So what is your stance on the phenomena of the fated pair?" She asked, obviously sensing that they were getting off track from the original topic.
"Our research does show there are instances where a pair are particularly genetically suited, to such an extent that hormone suppressants can be overridden. The mechanism for this is still unclear."
"And what makes a pair genetically compatible?"
"They have very few genetic similarities. Quite often you find that there are phenotypes that are detrimental in one partner and absent or functional in the other. It's almost as though we can sense when a partner will be able to produce offspring who do not inherit our flaws. We suspect that it developed as a mechanism to prevent incest and it's still effective in the majority of humans regardless of gender. It's a useful advantage, as alphas and omegas rarely suffer from hereditary disease despite the comparatively small pool of mates. As for fate, our research shows that you can have more than one "fated partner" it's just very difficult to find them. In the majority of cases, most fated pairs are from completely different nationalities, which makes sense."
"Wow! Kinda sucks the fun out of it?"  the presenter pouted.
"It's a hazard of science I'm afraid," he said with a wry smile. "Once you understand how the magic works you can only ever see the trick."
"Fascinating, certainly a lot of myth busting today! Well that's about all we have time for today, but I have one last question for you Dr Courentin. What do you think love is?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. Should I let you know if I ever find an answer?" he replied with amusement.
The presenter laughed. "Perhaps not! Thankyou for joining us today."
"My pleasure."
"And now a few words from our sponsors then we'll be right back with the question, what can dogs teach us about teamwork?"

Alex stopped the video and sat back with a thoughtful expression. She clicked on a link to one of the papers titled, "Characterisation of the Protein Structures of Pheromone Receptors in Alpha Olfactory Cells," and began to read.