Chapter 15 #2
Alex went through the motions of packing up her things.
She was in a predicament, and it was getting worse.
She was at least glad she was the one who got to speak to Kat.
That way, she could brush off grabbing the super suit code as part of this request. She just hoped Kat didn’t do too much digging.
Otherwise, this whole plan would unravel.
? ? ?
Victor kept his composure as he walked down the hallways of the Sims Center.
Douglas Sims had not been warned that he would be visiting.
This was the first time he had come to the facility since he had dropped off Nathan.
He had been busy, but with the recent events, he needed to see his prodigal student.
He needed to know where Nathan’s suit was.
If Nathan had loaned it to someone, it would explain the recent attacks.
The first attack was done at the Conglomerate X-suit factory in Cleveland, which had been decommissioned after their supply chain for the polymer shielding had come to a halt.
For the foreseeable future, no more suits would be constructed, which made finding Nathan’s suit even more important.
During the attack, two X-suits and a large supply of spare suit components were destroyed along with the entire building.
It was a devastating loss and most likely marked the end of the project.
It was unfortunate, but the Conglomerate should have enough suits for their end goal.
The second strike was at a warehouse in Northern California early this morning. Two more soldiers had been lost. He assumed this was a coordinated attack because of the timing and location.
So, who was behind this? Gray Tower? Victor hadn’t heard any news. Another player? It was possible. The Conglomerate had enemies, so it wouldn’t be surprising. Victor just needed to make sure Nathan wasn’t helping these bastards.
“Sir!” a man called from behind him.
Victor didn’t slow as he headed to the secure rooms. He knew it was Sims, but he was annoyed.
Sims wasn’t giving the Conglomerate updates on the two projects observed in the facility.
If this continued, Victor would have to pull both and discipline Sims appropriately.
The Conglomerate did not tolerate fuckups.
“Wait! Victor!” Sims continued, but Victor was already in the room for Project Gaslight.
“How are the subjects?” Victor growled without glancing at Sims.
“I didn’t realize you were visiting today. I would have made sure you had a proper welcome.”
“There’s a reason I have access to this building, and that’s so you don’t try and bullshit me.”
“You know I wouldn’t—”
Victor held up his hand.
“Stop. Tell me how the subjects are. Without the bullshit.”
“Uh, of course,” Sims said. “Two subjects are still on track. Two subjects are behind. Three are resisting and fighting. One has gone into a vegetative state and has not responded in the last seven days. One is in a complete coma. Two have died since my last report.”
Victor growled. Sims’ last report was almost three weeks ago. They only had nine living subjects left in the study out of twenty. Not good. They couldn’t find more easily now that Gray Tower was onto the Conglomerate’s grab for people.
“You didn’t find it pertinent to tell me about the two deaths?”
“All I was told was to report it in a timely fashion and appropriately dispose of the bodies.”
“Three weeks isn’t timely.”
“We’ve had…a lot going on. I have a business to run.”
“And we’re paying you handsomely for this,” Victor countered. “Get your shit together, or I’ll find someone else.”
“Y—yes, of course,” Sims sputtered.
The guy was cagey, and Victor wanted to know why. But first, he needed to finish his stop with the Project Gaslight subjects.
Taking out his keycard, he swiped the lock, and the door opened to reveal a large, darkened room with multiple beds along each wall.
There were fewer bodies in the beds than when the project had begun, but the ones that were left were restrained to them and had VR goggles strapped over their eyes.
Nutrient IVs were attached, and so were the drug pumps.
Each subject had a waste disposal system attached, which made care easier.
Subjects were periodically moved, cleaned, and tested to see if the programming was working, but they spent most of their time immobilized.
“Who are the two in the coma?” Victor asked.
Sims pointed to two subjects on the far side of the room.
“We’re still doing the programming, just in case they can sense it and wake up.”
“Take them off it and treat their medical needs,” Victor snapped. “If they wake up, you can proceed.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What about the two who are responding?”
“They have been doing the best on the mescaline/ketamine mix. We add small amounts of sodium thiopental, but we don’t want them to be too sleepy during treatment. Long-term memory appears to be completely gone, but we won’t know until we test them.”
“Pull them,” Victor ordered. “We need results. There was only one successful subject with this project, and the Conglomerate will not discuss their data.”
Sims scratched his head.
“Well, it’s difficult to replicate results without the original subject.”
“The Conglomerate won’t budge.”
“Okay.” Sims shook his head. “Is there anything else?”
“I want to see Nathan.” Sims’ expression went blank. He stood there, stiff and unmoving. Victor frowned. “What’s the problem? He’s a few doors down from here. He and I have…unfinished business.”
“That, uh, won’t be possible,” Sims finally said.
“Why not?” Victor asked, his anger rising.
“He, uh…died.”
Fury burned through Victor. Nathan was dead? If this were true, Victor wouldn’t be able to interrogate him. The suit’s location would remain a mystery unless the Conglomerate caught the perpetrators.
Unacceptable.
More anger came after Victor realized he should have been notified of Nathan’s death.
The Conglomerate had specifically been testing different drug cocktails on him because of his high drug tolerance, and unlike other users they’d pull off the streets, the Conglomerate had a detailed medical history of Nathan.
It was the perfect setup. Plus, Victor had his revenge on his former protégé: torture and agony until his body finally gave out.
It looked like that finally happened. He thought Nathan would have held out longer.
The kid was resilient. Victor was disappointed.
“I wanted to be informed about anything involving Nathan Slade immediately,” Victor growled.
“It was recent,” Sims said quickly. “We just finished processing the body and are writing the report now.”
“So the body is…”
“Cremated like the rest of the veterans we acquire.”
Victor scowled. He couldn’t even see the body.
“I want that report in my hands today, including the last dosage he was injected with before he died. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Victor left the room without another word.
He didn’t have time for Sims’ incompetence.
Victor had been vocal about not using the man from the start, but he had been voted down by his superiors.
Sims had the facility and the available supply of subjects, which made him ideal on paper.
That had not been the case. Once Victor reported this gaffe, Sims might find himself relieved of duty.
But right now, he had to deal with this rogue threat, and he had no idea where to go from here.