The Fair & Foul (Project Gene Assist Book 1) (12 page)

“That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think, Alan?” chuckled Juliane.

“I've always felt that life is so much richer with a little showmanship,” responded Alan with a laugh as he leaned in, ready to pierce Louis's skin with the needle. “Now count back from sixty. This may pinch a little.”

Alan was much more subdued when it was her turn, more professional and less like Dr. Frankenstein. She watched the needle enter her arm and felt the liquid push against her veins. It created a sensation that somehow was both ice and burn. Then it was gone. She rubbed her arms where Betty had overly tightened the straps. As her blood began circulating freely again, the momentary discomfort was replaced by a feeling Juliane couldn’t quite describe.

“It will be easier on you if you don’t resist,” Alan whispered in her ear as he began packing up their supplies.

“What do you mean?” she asked. She felt her pulse began to race. Suddenly she felt lightheaded.

“Your immune system is naturally going to attempt to repel the synthetic virus I used to deliver the software to your DNA. Over the next few hours, you will feel feverish and may experience some other unpleasantness. There is a lot to still be studied on the impact of a person’s will on their physical well-being. You need to will your body into accepting the spread of the virus.”

“And what if I can’t?”

Alan's words began to sound muffled to her ears as if the air around them had transformed into sludge. “Then your body will consume itself, trying to halt the inevitable. Only death can stop the spread of the virus in your system now.”

Juliane blinked. “You should have mentioned that upstairs!”
What have I let him do?
"You said you have had successful trials already!"

“And I have."

"How did the animals survive then?"

"I'm surprised you ask, Juliane. Animals trust their instincts so much better than we do. They don't have to be told how to adapt and survive. They just do."

"You said this was safe," she shouted.

"So there are still a few bugs in the process to work out.” Alan shrugged. “Would it make you feel better if I told you I injected myself yesterday?”

She felt her forehead glisten from beads of sweat as she thought about his question. Alan had definitely given her ample experience to hone her willpower, and certainly, he was a genius. If he could make it, so could she. “You did this to yourself?" Her mouth felt like a desert.

Alan grinned. "Don't worry, you'll feel like a brand-new person before you know it."

Juliane glanced around. Louis was slumped over in a chair, a sheen of moisture covering his face. “You told him too, didn’t you?” she demanded. Not waiting for an answer, she attempted to race over to his side, only to be stricken with such intense vertigo that she dropped to the floor.

Alan sounded far away. “Betty, we are going to need some cots in here. I believe Dr. Faris has her assistant on speed dial. Would you mind giving him a call?” The lab alternated between arctic freeze and volcanic heat. Juliane couldn’t have given Louis any further assistance if she tried. An image of Louis crumpled in his chair swirled around her vision. Juliane took a deep calming breath, closed her eyes, and willed herself to remain alive.

Juliane woke with no concept of how much time might have passed since she collapsed on the cold laboratory floor. At some point, she had been moved to one of the temporary cots that were hidden away in various nooks and crannies throughout the building. It was common for staffers to conduct tests and experiments over several days, and the ACI had decided that it was cheaper to purchase the beds than take on the liability of researchers driving home with only a couple hours of sleep.

Betty sat near the head of the second cot, dabbing the occupant's forehead with a moist cloth. She must have pulled together a full tray of the happy homemakers’ basic flu remedies. Juliane could smell the chicken soup from where she lay. Her stomach turned in protest as she struggled to pull herself up right.

“What happened? How long was I out?”

Betty wrinkled her brow in thought. “I guess it has been close to eight hours. Quite impressive really. I looked over Alan’s notes after you all started to collapse. According to his observations, the transition in animals tended to take much longer.”

"How long was Alan's transition?"

"About thirty minutes less than yours." Alan’s muffled voice came from the direction of the cot.

"But I thought you injected yourself yesterday. Why would it only affect you now?" Juliane asked as she scanned the room. There were no other cots in the room.

"I didn't say that I injected myself yesterday."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I asked if you would feel better if I said that, and you did. You see? I told you that you had nothing to worry about.” Alan’s voice sounded weaker than it had this morning. He might have known what to expect, but the process had taken some toll on him as well.

Louis was nowhere to be seen. She scolded herself. She would not panic. If something had gone wrong, then Betty and Alan wouldn't be acting so nonchalant. Would they? “Where is Louis?”

Betty said, “Oh, Mr. Evan’s people called probably an hour after you fell. They didn't seem at all surprised to find him out cold, but were fairly annoyed that he wasn't where he said he would be.”

“Has anyone checked? Did he make it through the transition?”

Betty shrugged. “I wouldn't worry too much. If he suffered any worse than you did, I am sure we would have heard about it by now. He may not have even woken up yet.” She turned toward Alan. "At least you'd better hope he's okay. I'd really prefer to have not killed the big boss on my first assignment."

Juliane fumbled around until she located her phone and dialed Louis. The call went straight to voicemail. The panic took on the flavor of disappointment. Louis’s impromptu appearance in her office this morning had allowed her to hope they might be able to spend a little more time with each other. As memorable as his last visits had been, they were exceedingly brief. She pushed the feelings deep down.
Provided we survive this, we’ll soon have all the time in the world together.
“All right, Alan, now what?”

“Animals operating on raw instinct really are beautifully simple. All I had to do to prime the system was hack into their biologic network, but I believe the process for humans will be a bit more complicated. We build up so many walls, you see. You'll have to figure out a way to open the data exchange yourself.”

“And how, pray tell, do you suggest I do that?”

“You just have to focus your intent; the neurons should do the rest. It should be similar to how you control that emulator system you were so proudly showing off at the conference.”

“Except my emulator doesn't have the risk of knocking you out cold. You should have warned us about the side effects. Do I need to prepare for any other unpleasant surprises?”

“Oh no, the only surprises from here should be pleasant, quite pleasant. It’s a brave new world, Jules.”

Juliane attempted to clear her mind, ignoring Alan’s use of the nickname for the time being. Nothing.

“Any other brilliant suggestions?”

“All my suggestions are brilliant. Try relaxing. Think of something pleasant.”

Juliane smiled as she thought of how the sunlight played upon Louis’s face in the early morning, making him appear more youthful than his business dealings let on.

“Something a little less personal perhaps. Maybe a flower blooming, the warm glow of a fireplace.”

Juliane raised an eyebrow. She was really going to need to double her effort to school her features. Alan noticed too much. She visualized a stream.

“Now stop. Visualize making a connection.”

Juliane’s mind went blank. It was as if a dam burst behind her eyes as the stream became torrents of data rushing through her mind. She had access to the full breadth of the Internet. She had always lived for the pursuit of knowledge, and now it surrounded her. She pictured herself dipping an arm into the raging current of bits. The ones and zeros pulsed against her senses. She dipped deeper, wondering just how far she could reach.

Then, she was flying through the air. She could see a forest of trees beneath her and rooftops in the distance. The setting sun behind her created a blurred shadow on the ground below. She could just make out the shape of animal remains beneath her just as her body began a rapid descent back downward. When she landed, she could not tell what the animal used to be, as it had already begun to be picked over.

Another wave of nausea took over and broke her focus. She shook her head and was back in the lab atop the cot.

“What was that?” she exclaimed.

“What was what?”

“I started accessing data, but then I was flying. And not just accessing satellite feeds. I mean, truly flying. Then I saw some road kill and I was back here.”

“A few days ago, some of my early test subjects, a few rats and birds, went missing. It occasionally happens. Animal rights activists." Alan sighed. "They never worry about what they might be unleashing on the public with these 'liberations.' But until now, I haven’t been overly concerned. The virus isn't transmittable after all. It wasn't worth reporting." Alan's eyes shone. "You must have been able to access one of the subject’s vision as if they were just another node on the network. Did it act as if it was aware of your presence?”

“I can’t be sure, but I don’t believe so.”

“Do you think you can access mine?”

Juliane opened herself once again to the data stream. She focused her intent upon Alan, but all she could see was him staring back at her. She shook her head.

“Excellent. I visualized putting up a firewall. It must have been successful. Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.”

Juliane focused her intent on locating Louis. She shifted through the data stream until she found the location of his jet’s departure log. Betty was correct. Louis’s people must have been in a panic to reach him. It was a wonder he had taken the time to visit her at all. His jet took off immediately following his transportation from the campus to the airport. She was able to access some security camera footage which showed him being wheeled to the craft, but nothing that would indicate that he was in serious condition. While the log had given her the basic time of departure, it had not provided any further information such as where he was going or what time he might arrive at his destination. It was as if there was no formal flight plan filed.
How was he able to get away with that?
she wondered. She was unable to access any of his physical senses. She couldn’t be sure if that was due to distance, his lack of consciousness, or his natural self-preservation instinct. Juliane decided she would try again once she knew for sure that he was safe and well.

She returned her attention to Alan as he attempted to pull himself off the cot using an eager Betty for support. It occurred to Juliane that Alan might be similarly testing his ability. Alan had too much control of her life as it was; allowing him in her head would be disastrous. She visualized slamming a wall down within her mind. The data stream raged against her interference. She felt her eyes well up as its pressure surged against her insides. She changed the mental image, softening the wall, allowing the current to flow but only as directed. The pressure eased, and she could once again see clearly. She hoped it was enough. Alan did nothing to indicate he noticed her effort.

“Betty, would you mind running down the hall and fetching us a little more coffee? I don’t think we will be sleeping again for a long while.” Betty frowned and looked as if she would like to refuse. Juliane hadn't seen Betty leave Alan's side since she woke; however, Alan's gaze hadn't left Juliane since the firewall test. He finally turned toward Betty when she did not immediately jump at his command. Juliane could not see what look must have passed between them, but it was enough to cause Betty to purse her lips and exit without protest.

Alan came over to Juliane’s side, each step surer than the last. He began to speak, but Juliane couldn’t understand the words. A thought struck her, and she cocked her head, listening to the frequency of the sounds passing his lips. Her mind began to match the sounds to a database of language, and within a moment, she could understand Alan as if the language he was speaking was her mother tongue.

“I assume that you’ve just discovered that there is no such thing as a dead language anymore.”

“Possibly, but the database is only as good as the information within it. What we are saying is only based on a speculation as to what Sanskrit might sound like. If that database was lost, then it truly would be lost again.”

“Always the pessimist, aren’t you? There would be nothing to prevent us from replacing it with whatever we wanted. Who would know but us?”

Juliane rolled her eyes at Alan’s rationale. “Have you always been this willing to rewrite history?”

Alan smiled in response, as if he was a three-year-old who knew he had been up to no good and was determined to try getting out of the situation by being as cute as possible. Juliane chose not to point out that it was the exact expression that Louis so frequently used.

Betty returned to the lab with mugs of steaming coffee and Chad in tow. Chad rushed to Juliane’s side. “Are you okay? I am sorry I wasn’t here sooner, but Nadia and I were taking a little day trip. I don’t think Nadia’s going to forgive me for a while, but I made us turn around and come back as soon as I got Betty’s call.”

“Nadia will forgive you. In fact, I suspect she might just respect you more for putting your foot down.” Juliane also realized that if Chad was just arriving, it meant that Betty had been forced to care for both her and Alan all by herself. Juliane wasn’t sure how the woman had been able to move them both to the cots. She must be quite a bit stronger than she appeared.

Betty handed her one of the cups, and Juliane sighed in contentment as the warm liquid settled in her belly. At least there was someone else on the team who appreciated the importance of a good cup of coffee. “It would seem that I need to thank you, Betty. I had no idea that the process would have that side effect. I'm sure Alan and I can come up with a more gentle method in the future.”