Chapter 29 #2
He slips his hands into his pockets so he won’t reach for her.
Since he left and didn’t come back from the office, he isn’t sure if his touch is welcome, and she hasn’t made the first move.
“When I first started CHOICElover, I spent weeks sleeping in my office so I could monitor experiments. I was thinking about how energizing it is to do that again.”
She grins. “So you’re enjoying your work?”
“Yeah. It makes me think when this experiment is finally finished, I might see if there is another project I can take on.” His mind trails back to how he got caught up in his work while Jerme was alive and how it led him to miss the signs of his brother’s mental state.
“Well, not something so all-consuming as what I’m working on now.
” He reaches out and brushes a lock of hair off her temple, thinking himself rather brave to make the first move.
She leans into his touch. “I miss you.” Her eyes widen, like the words accidentally slipped out. “I mean—”
He takes that as an invitation to kiss her. She sighs against his mouth as their tongues brush, her fingers gripping his shirt.
The elevator doors open, and he reluctantly pulls away. “I miss you too.”
She glances back, waving over her shoulder as she makes her way to his private SAT garage. Alone.
Days pass. He uses the time between his scheduled observations to work out in the on-site fitness facility, check in with staff he doesn’t speak with on a regular basis, and catch up on his reading. His no-longer-secret romance novels stir his need to get back to Electra to a near boiling point.
He closes a particularly riveting chapter as Jerme’s alarm chimes in his mind.
Time for the next observation. Based on the progression against the GROW reincarnate data, things are looking good.
One more day, then this will be the closest since the first one that had a spike-wave that wiped out any potential memory.
The closer he gets, the more he wonders what he’ll say to Jerme when he wakes.
It almost feels foolhardy considering how many failures he’s had, but he can’t help thinking about it.
Will Jerme be angry? Upset and regretful?
He hates that he’ll be waking up in a laboratory, but it’s inevitable.
Then he’ll get him home and confess everything to Electra, who will take one look at Jerme and melt.
At least that’s what he’s hoping. Even if they’re both irate with him, they can’t stay that way forever.
December 20, 2390.
He scans his palm on the reader outside the door to his private lab and slips inside.
The specimen looks more and more like his brother with every hour.
The green light from the big BioLume gives his brother’s face an eerily otherworldly glow.
He takes a snapshot of the data, sending it to the Spot-Gene Mini screen on the counter.
Every time he reviews the data, a knot of dread forms in his stomach.
He quickly scans the screen, running a comparison up to the failure point of each prior experiment.
A marker catches his eye. His heart rate doubles.
That’s the same NAM marker Electra had. The CAS456 protein is doing its job, bonding the spliced RNA to Jerme’s active DNA.
His sweaty palms slip on the sleek metal counter.
It’s working. It’s fucking working.
He can hardly believe it as his gaze darts between the screen and his brother. Excitement shoots through him like a lightning bolt, making every cell of his body feel alive. He needs to tell someone. But who?
His first instinct is to call Electra and tell her she’s going to get to meet Jerme after all.
His brother. After ninety-eight years, he’s going to get to talk to him again.
He reaches up, wiping moisture off his cheeks.
Good Zorg, he’s crying like a child. He didn’t realize how wide the hole in his chest was, but now that he’s poised to get Jerme back, it gapes, making him aware of the full breadth of the chasm. Soon it will be filled.
But he can’t tell Electra. The only person he has right now is Lextr. He grabs a towel and dries his face, giving his cheeks a slap for good measure.
It takes him ten minutes to find the man when he spots his orange hair in the back of a rarely used lab. He must have commandeered it to get privacy for his project. “Lextr,” he calls, walking into the room.
Abruptly, the diagrams and datasets that were up on the screen disappear, and Lextr jumps up. “Hello sir. I expected you to be working on your trial.” His stare flashes to a cart in the corner containing six silver cases.
“I was, but I had something I wanted you to look at to confirm what I think I’m seeing.” He gestures toward the cart. “What are you working on?”
Lextr shifts, clearly uncomfortable under his scrutiny. “Just a new prototype I wanted to propose.”
“Oh,” Res6 says, immediately feeling ridiculous for his suspicion. There’s no way Lextr had anything to do with the robbery. He didn’t even blink when Inspector Wanda asked him to work with her team, which they’ve been doing for almost two months. “Show me, then we can go look at my side project.”
“I, uhh . . .” Lextr hesitates. “I’d prefer to wait until I have a better sample.”
Res6’s eyes narrow and he crosses his arms. Maybe he was letting him off the hook too soon. “Are you taking those somewhere?”
“I figured since you were working on your experiments at your unit, you wouldn’t have a problem with me doing the same.” He steps back from his chair, rolling it under the desk, all while failing to make eye contact.
“Show me the files you just had open,” Res6 demands.
“Sir, there’s no reason for that. I’m not ready,” his lead scientist practically whines.
“You’re acting very suspicious. Show me or I’ll command them open.”
Reluctantly, Lextr thinks the command to open the files.
With a quick scan, Res6 determines that he’s been lied to. “What the fuck, Lextr?” He uses the override feature he has with all their systems, opening the last ten files accessed and requesting an action history report.
The screen displays a list of manupartners along with 3D models of each one.
All six figures, both male and female, are tall and heavily muscled.
His mind immediately goes to the illegal fighting ring and the scientist Sable, who Viper told him about.
Could the same thing be going on right under his nose?
“Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is. ”
“It’s only a side gig, I swear. I rent them out for a few hours at a time. Mostly for events.”
Res6 shakes his head, running his hand over his face.
“You’re in pay bracket A, Lextr. If you needed more money, you should have come to me.
There is a GROW physician doing something similarly illegal, and I plan to use that information to get them shut down.
” He grips the back of the chair as the betrayal of Lextr’s actions floods the space between them.
“If anyone found out that you’re practically doing the same thing, they could shut us down. They could take everything I’ve built.”
A reddish undertone blooms beneath Lextr’s warm brown skin. “I don’t see why you’re so intent on undermining GROW. Competition is healthy.”
“They’re creating reincarnates, which is undermining our entire industry!
I’m surprised you aren’t more concerned, considering you directly know NHOS’s stance on them.
” His blood heats. It’s more than making him look like a hypocrite and undermining his chance to shut down GROW.
How dare Lextr steal from him? He wasn’t there in the beginning, when Res6 lived in a cramped lab for weeks at a time building a global company from nothing, from the branding to the science.
CHOICElover is everything to him. That’s why this theft feels like a betrayal.
“Those weren’t your specimens to use as you wish, Lextr. ”
A crazed, indignant look passes across Lextr’s features. “My little side project is hardly as bad as what you’re doing. You’re practically in love with one of those illegal reincarnates you’re allegedly against.”
Res6 jolts back. In love with her? He’s not—could he be?
Lextr sneers as if he knows he hit his mark.
“That’s right. Do you actually look at your publicity shots?
Zorg, it’s written all over your face. Your normally impassive expression is now ridiculously lovesick—don’t you think people have noticed?
The staff think you’re head over heels for your latest prototype.
And don’t think there aren’t whispers. I’ve heard more than one staff member ask if she’s a reincarnate. ”
He looks away as his number two chastises him. How long have they worked together now? Fifty years? More? They were never close like he was with Jerme, but he thought he could trust the man. He almost hates to ask . . . “You assured them she’s not a reincarnate?”
“Of course. Unlike you, I’m being careful with my side project,” Lextr bites back.
Red flashes fill his vision. “A side project you have no right to be undertaking.”
Lextr’s eyes flare. “At least I’m not trying to bring back my dead brother!”
The air leaves Res6’s lungs. Recovering quickly, he determines that the specifics of his questionable choices aren’t directly relevant to the conversation.
“What you’re doing is no better than theft, not to mention an egregious violation of our licensing agreement from the Consumer Rights Protection Agency.
” Lextr makes to open his mouth, but Res6 continues, sharply.
“This is my company. If I want to have an illegal side project, that is my prerogative. I clearly should never have involved you. Still, if I want to do something stupid jeopardizing CHOICElover, it is my company to ruin. Not yours!”
Lip curling, Lextr snarls, “You’re the worst kind of hypocrite.”