Chapter 26
We arrived at the meeting spot for orientation.
It was in the center of the Nexus Campus next to a massive contemporary art piece that doubled as a fountain.
I stared up at it, amazed by the moving chrome sculpture depicting the human brain.
Water flowed over the smooth, fleshy ripples as the brain morphed and rearranged before us like a Rubik’s Cube, showing how all the different pieces of the human psyche could be rearranged and moulded to fit a new purpose.
“Cool, huh?” my smoking hot travel companion asked, his lip quirking at my obvious awe of the kinetic art piece.
“Uhm. Yeah. So cool,” I agreed, and he smiled.
More people had begun to gather at the meeting point, and my impromptu guide checked his watch as the crowd grew.
“Alright, let’s get started,” he said, and to my astonishment, he moved to the front of the crowd and grinned at us.
“Hey, everyone. Welcome to orientation. My name is Jay Reynolds, and I head up the Memory Therapy Research Department. If you could all check in to the event on your Nexus app so I can make sure we have everyone, we’ll get going in a few minutes.”
My mouth dropped, and Jay met my gaze, giving me a playful wink.
Oh my freaking god.
Jay Reynolds, as in the acting CMTRO for Neurovance.
He was renowned for his work on memory technology, but also shrouded in mystery, as were most C-level Neurovance employees.
The website didn’t host anyone’s photos.
It was very clean and impersonal. This was done for the staff’s safety.
There was quite a bit of social discourse on whether or not memory extraction was ethical, and there had been a few instances where employees of Neurovance had been targeted by activist groups.
To learn that Jay Reynolds was not only the man leading orientation, but had just seen me eat absolute shit, was making me want to freaking die.
It was the equivalent of your favorite rock star seeing you live out your most embarrassing moment.
My face was so hot that I thought it was going to melt off.
Jay, however, was completely oblivious to my internal struggle as the small group of new Neurovance employees rushed to check in on their phones.
He was staring at his own phone, nodding as all the notifications came in, and once we were all done, he beamed at us.
How was he so young?
He must have learned how to code in the damn womb. He couldn’t be a day over thirty-one, and he was heading up the most innovative department in the world’s leading biotech company.
Insane!
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I almost didn’t notice he was already leading the group toward one of the sleek, silver towers on the west side of campus.
I rushed to catch up and tripped over my own shoelace.
I went down again.
“Eeep!” I cried as I fell, knocking unceremoniously into a pretty girl with dark hair and cat-eye glasses.
“Ew! Watch where you’re going, you fucking clutz!” she hissed at me, wrinkling her nose in distaste as she did her best to avoid getting taken down with me.
The familiar snickers and whispers that had haunted me my entire life started up, and I crushed my eyes shut in humiliation, wishing I could melt into the ground.
Maybe I should just quit now.
Why was I like this?
Forcing myself to push past my crippling social anxiety, I rolled onto all fours and scrambled to tie up my shoelace.
I blinked, however, when I realized someone was already kneeling before me, expertly taking my laces in his fingers and tying them into a quick, efficient bow.
That woody scent enveloped my nose, and I almost groaned out loud when I realized the fingers painted with chipped black polish belonged to Jay sex-god Reynolds.
I looked up to find him frowning at me, and he held out his hand, offering to help me up.
I was shaking so much I was worried I wouldn’t be able to stand, so this time, I accepted his help. His warm hand enveloped mine, and goosebumps sheeted up my arm at his touch. My anxiety was through the roof, and the laughter from the crowd was making me feel so perceived.
“You okay, Milo?” he asked softly, and I nodded, staring resolutely at the ground.
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he replied, turning angry brown eyes on the girl who was now complaining loudly that I’d made her spill her coffee.
“Everyone, listen up!” he snapped. “I’ll let this slide once since it’s your first day and we haven’t gone over the four pillars of expected behavior from Neurovance employees.
“For those of you who haven’t yet studied your handbook, the first pillar is ‘to be kind.’ You will be living together on this campus and working closely with one another on a day-to-day basis. We strictly enforce a zero-tolerance policy for bullying.”
My face heated further as the quiet laughter abruptly stopped.
“You, what’s your name?” Jay snarled at the girl who’d called me a klutz. She narrowed her eyes at him and tossed her long black hair over her shoulder.
“Melanie. Melanie Larson.”
“Well, Ms. Larson, if you would like to continue working for Neurovance, you will apologize to Milo.”
Her mouth gaped open.
“You can’t be serious! He ran into me!”
“He tripped, and instead of helping him up, you ridiculed him.”
“Please…stop…” I whispered, tugging gently on Jay’s rumpled suit jacket, praying to god he would let it go so we could move on and I could disappear into the background. “It’s fine.”
Jay glared at me, and I shrank deeper into myself.
“It is not fine,” he growled, turning those angry copper eyes back on Melanie. “Apologize. Now. Or you’re done here.”
She rolled her eyes, giving me a look that would strip paint off a wall.
God. I’d been here for five seconds and had already made an enemy.
“Sorry, Milo,” she sneered, and I winced.
“It’s fine. Sorry I made you spill your coffee.”
Jay was glaring at Melanie, and everyone else was now awkwardly staring at their phones. Jay looked like he was going to say something to Melanie about her tone, but I tugged on his sleeve again.
He glanced down at me, and I let him see how much this entire altercation was killing me.
“Please… can we just… forget it?” I whispered, and his expression softened slightly as he realized just how awkward I was feeling.
“Alright. But I want you up at the front with me,” he said sternly, and I shivered.
“Okay,” I mumbled, shuffling after him, hoping that his invitation to keep me at the front with him wasn’t going to make the target on my back even bigger than it already was.
“Now that that’s out of the way, our first stop is Practical Memory Therapy, where you will all be given a demonstration of how the technology works. Please try to keep up. This campus can be a bit confusing at first, and I don’t want to lose any of you.”
Jay called back to the gaggle of new employees as he led us deeper into the Nexus. We passed a large, sleek sign that said ‘Welcome to NeuroWell,’ and I craned my neck to take in the shining skyscraper-like structure before me.
“Mr. Reynolds! Is it true that we’ll get a free treatment?” one of the other orientees asked eagerly.
Jay smiled back at him and nodded.
“Yes, I’ll be selecting a few volunteers to help demonstrate the procedure. It’s important that our MTRs are familiar with how extraction works before they can begin research.”
A series of excited gasps and exclamations erupted around us, and Jay grinned at the group.
“Start thinking about what memory you would like to have erased. We’re on a tight schedule, and if I choose you and you’re not prepared, I will need to select someone who’s ready.”
As we entered the building, Jay smiled down at me.
“Any idea what memory you might want to have extracted, Milo?” he asked, and I gaped at him. After all the trouble I caused, I hadn’t assumed I would be chosen for something as important as a demonstration.
“Uhm…”
“Better think of one quickly, we’re almost there.” He winked at me, and my cheeks flushed again.
Despite having hundreds of embarrassing memories I would love to have extracted, it wasn’t hard for me to choose which memory I wanted to erase, so I nodded at him as he led us through a large set of white double doors and into a lab.