25 - Shep
“ S he’s acting weird,” Collin says.
And I can’t say I disagree. Olive is acting weird. It was all fine at first, but then we started getting strange activity in her brain. Since I was on the receiving end of this tech last weekend, I didn’t realize that they were looking at my brain in real time. It’s like reading her mind almost. Once you know what to look for. And the technician points everything out as it’s happening, so we do know what to look for.
“Yes,” Penny says. She’s been mostly quiet throughout the test, letting the tech take over. But now she turns to Collin. “Let’s talk outside. Continue the test,” she tells the tech. “Make sure to record everything. We’ll be right back.”
The tech nods and Penny motions to the door. To my surprise, Collin taps my arm. “Come on. Whatever she’s gonna say, you should hear it too.”
We leave and walk down the hallway a bit to a small lounge nook tucked away in a corner. Penny turns to us with a serious face. But to my surprise, her gaze is directed at me, not Collin. “How much do you know about Project Mastermind?”
I make a little shrug with my shoulders. “I’ve heard of it. But mostly in a conspiracy theory kind of way. Why?” I ask the question, but obviously whatever is happening with Olive has to do with this project.
“What the hell is Project Mastermind?” Collin asks.
Penny directs her attention to Collin now. “It’s an old project. Something left over from the Cold War. Mind control.”
Collin scoffs. “Like… Mk ultra, or something?”
“No. Not like that at all. It’s cutting-edge science, not psychedelics and conditioning.”
“What kind of science?” I ask.
“Quantum neurodynamics.”
“Quantum?” Collin raises an eyebrow. “I thought that was all theory?”
I’m kinda surprised that he’s got any opinion at all about quantum physics, but don’t say anything. Penny must be surprised as well because she raises both eyebrows at him. “You’ve studied quantum physics, have you?”
“No,” Collin says. “But I was part of some very high-level meetings that last year we were operatives. There were plenty of boring discussions about this shit. So I’ve heard of it. And with all those boring conversations came a lot of high-level doubt as well.”
“I’m not surprised about the doubt. All of the really groundbreaking discoveries are kept at the highest levels of classification.”
“What’s this got to do with Olive?” I ask.
Penny turns to me, offering a small smile. “Yes. Let’s cut to the chase. I’m not a neuroscientist or a physicist, but I’ve been in many a high-level meeting myself.” Her gaze wanders to Collin for the last part. “CORE has made significant discoveries and we know for sure that they’ve been experimenting on humans for nearly a century. Project Mastermind is exactly what it sounds like—mind control. But not just implanting pre-programmed actions and things of that nature, but actual puppeteering using certain frequency waves aimed at the brain. Extremely Low Frequencies, or ELF waves, are particularly effective for this.”
Collin asks his next question. “So what are you saying? That Olive is one of these experiments?”
“That’s my suspicion,” Penny says. “Of course, I can’t confirm it. I’d need at least a week to find an expert who owes me the right kind of favor to get a professional opinion on her scan. But I’ve seen these scans before and hers, to me, looks textbook. She’s been manipulated. Extensively.”
Collin shoots me a side-eye because this is the very thing I told him yesterday morning. But his next question is directed to Penny. “So what do we do about it? I mean, how do we undo it, or whatever?”
“I have no idea, Collin. But it would probably be in everyone’s best interest if I called in a favor with a discreet institution where she can be detained until we get this professional opinion.”
“You mean, lock her up?” I ask.
Penny nods. “That’s precisely what I’m saying. She’s dangerous, Collin. I understand that she’s your sister, but she’s very dangerous. No one, as far as I am aware, has ever evaluated one of these operatives.”
“So you want to study her?” Collin asks.
“I don’t want to study her,” Penny says, a little defensively. “I’m certainly not qualified to do that.”
“No,” I say. “You’re not. But you work on favors, don’t you? So if you bring in an actual operative for this ‘professional’ to evaluate, he, or she, will get answers no one else can provide.”
“And that person would be in debt to me,” Penny replies, not even a tiny bit embarrassed that I called her out. “Yes. I trade favors like this with some of the world’s most important people. That way,” she looks at Collin, “when you call me up asking about a state-of-the-art lie detector test, I can set one up. And when you discover that your baby sister has been inducted as a participant in Project Mastermind, I can get her the help she needs.” She shrugs with her hands. “I am a broker. You know this, Collin. But I am discreet as well. No one will ever know about this outside the people who were here tonight unless you choose to tell them. We trust each other. That’s why you call me.”
Collin turns and starts pacing, thinking it over. After a few seconds of this, he stops and faces us again. “I’ve got a little… prison set up on the compound. It’s a project we added after all that shit went down last summer. It’s secure. I can keep her there. Can this person you’re thinking of examine her at my compound?”
“It’s not ideal,” Penny says, “and I wouldn’t recommend it. You didn’t mention why you wanted to scan Olive when we talked earlier. Surely, it’s not a lie detector test. Of course, that’s none of my business. My only point is that you suspected something and this test is your confirmation. I would not waste this chance to get the upper hand.”
“What about me?” I ask. “What about the anomaly in my brain? It is… connected?”
Penny sighs. “I don’t have the slightest idea, Shep. But I will say this, what we discovered in your brain is nothing like what we discovered in Olive’s.”
“So…” Collin says. “He’s not compromised?”
Penny shrugs her shoulders. “I wouldn’t know, Collin.”
He shoots me a look and I already know what it means before he says anything. “We can’t risk it, Shep. I’m sorry.”
“What does that mean?” I ask. “You can’t just kick me out. I have a contract. What about the honeypot in the woods?”
“What honeypot?” Penny asks.
“Some bar,” Collin says. “It’s a CORE operation, Shep says. That’s where he ran into Olive.”
Penny doesn’t say anything, just stares off into the distance like she’s putting puzzle pieces together in her mind. Whatever conclusions she comes to, she doesn’t share them with us. Instead, she says, “Well, my job here is done and any further discussion about what comes next is none of my business. The memory on the machines will all be erased, but I’ll have all the records compiled and sent to you by courier as soon as I can.”
Collin offers her his hand. “Thanks, Penny. I owe you.”
She gives him a knowing smile that says, Of course you do .
It’s a quiet ride back to the hospital where the helicopter is waiting for us, then a noisy, but even quieter ride back to the compound. Collin spends most of his time texting on his phone, Olive sleeps, or pretends to sleep, but I just lean my head against the window, staring at the world down below.
This is how I know what’s coming even before we land.
Because as the helicopter descends, I spy Amon and a bunch of guys waiting for us. Which would be unusual in and of itself, but they are wearing body armor and holding rifles at high ready.
“Sorry,” Collins says into the headsets we’re all wearing. “But Amon took a team to that bar you described and there was nobody there.”
“What?”
“You heard me. There was no one there. There was nothing there, Shep. It was a couple of ruined buildings and an old abandoned mine. No bar, no rooms, no band, no nothing. And before you try and tell me that they packed up and left, there was no chance of that. None at all. Because it looks exactly like what it is. Something forgotten.”