New Breed

Lab 23

Amelia arrived in St. Agatha with time to spare. It’s buildings and roads matched the other districts of the 3rd ring. Her heels clicked as she marched past the chalkboard menus and awnings of the delis and bakeries.

She wondered to herself of the many small restaurants that made up this district. Quick, healthy meals were within reach at any time of the day. With two BioPet labs and the giant nursing school there were many citizens that needed a quick bite to eat.

It was easy for a human to get distracted by the smell of fresh bread. But Amelia was not affected. This would be another moment of sadness, but she had lost her emotions as well.

Amelia had Stacey send an email to the labs in every ring. It told them to contact her directly with any deaths in any of the labs. She told them that this was a personal and business matter that needed to be handled by the main branch of the company.

Without hesitation, the emails poured in. There was a death from almost every lab within the last two years. All of these deaths were ruled New Breed attacks or as accidents. Some of these were easy to see as accidents. Others were suspicious.

Amelia’s plan was to visit every lab with a death in the past month. It was time for the main branch to officially document the deaths. Most of the deaths were lab workers or other definitive of Research and Development. As head of Research and Development, Amelia saw a responsibility in documenting the deaths.

Just hours ago, Stacey forwarded an email to Amelia. It gave details of a death just two days prior at Lab 21. The email was not sent from a company email, but someone’s personal email. Amelia could trace it back, but that was not important right now.

Whoever sent Amelia the email was nervous about the rest of the company seeing its contents. They did not agree with the official police ruling that was filed for the accident. Amelia decided that she would look into it herself. She was being to suspect the police of improper investigating.

“Hello, Ms. Curta.” There was a thin, elderly man at the office door. “I am Dr. Belleview. I am in charge of Lab 21.” He made his way to the armchair located behind the desk. “You are here about Issac Berthal’s death?”

Amelia stepped lightly to the guest chair. “I am. Did my secretary call ahead?”

“She did. Lovely girl.” He nodded his decrepit head; with the little hair he had left bouncing atop his liver spots. “Though she seemed a little nervous.”

Amelia brought one of the high booted legs onto the other knee. “Not nervous, she likes to speak quickly. Stacey is quite the busy bee.”

“I should think so. She is the assistant to Head of Research and Development.” His voice cracked and he turned his face. Dr. Belleview coughed into a white handkerchief. “My apologizes, young lady. I am not as young as I used to be.”

She turned the corners of her mouth upward. “No problem. Can we get to the heart of my visit?” Amelia leaned forward. “I’m sorry, but I don't have much time to spend at Lab 21.”

“Yes. You have to visit Lab 23 as well?” He stood and led the way to the door.

Amelia followed his shoes to Lab 21, which was located in the center of the building. She sent a text through her screen to Stacey during the short walk. “Justin Turkin? That was the death from Lab 23?” She allowed Dr. Belleview to hold the door for her.

“From what I’ve heard,” the doctor coughed. “He died at Lab 23. An accident in the lab resulted in his death. They had to empty the lab for the rest of the day.”

Amelia nodded. “I’ll get to Lab 23. Can you tell me about Issac?”

“I don’t think it was a New Breed attack.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I received an email from Lab 01. It was signed Head of Research and Development. After I got the other email from you, I could see the difference in the signature.”

The Type 7 version of Amelia stopped moving. She had heard of mysterious inner company emails. But this was the first time that she was told that it had foraged her signature. “There was an email from me?”

“It said that the police had looked into the deaths. It said there was nothing to worry about. I found it strange, but I passed it along to my employees.” His eyes glued to her face. “Where we hacked?”

Her eyes flickered to him. “It seems like it. Strange that these hackers are messing around with real homicide investigations.” She turned to the joint station. The clawed leg bent and unbent on the pedestal.

“I hope that they are caught. This is already a terrible mess and such terrible occurrences.” He shook his head. “So many deaths in such a little amount of time. How can I help?”

“Answer my questions and keep me informed.” Amelia strolled through the lab with her smart phone in hand. “What station did Issac work on?”

“Artificial Synapses.” The doctor motioned to the small station in the back. “One of the best.”

She wrote a note on her cellphone. “Did he have an special projects?”

“No, Ma’am.” Doctor Belleview sighed. “He stuck to the instructed orders like the rest of the crew.”

“What college did he attend?”

Dr. Belleview shrugged. “School of technology in St. Isidore. That is most of the BioPet Industry employees come from.”

“Not all.” Amelia slid her phone into her pocket. “Can you forward his file to my email?”

“I’ll send all information to your email.” He locked eyes with Amelia. “All information I have.”

Amelia shook his hand. “Thank you, Dr. Belleview. I may return for a visit.” She turned to walk away, but stopped after one step. “When I figure out what is happening, I will tell you.” She spoke over her shoulder.

“I’m Amelia Curta, Head of Research and Development.” She showed her ID to the receptionist. “I heard that you have had a death at this lab. I have personally driven here to do the incident report and collect any data that Lab 23 has on the matter.” This speech was becoming second nature.

The receptionist squinted at the identification. “Dr. Albert is out today. He’ll be back tomorrow.” Her voice was without emotion.

“Jazmine Merthack.” Amelia read the plaque. “Can I talk to anyone at this location about the death of Justin Turkin?”

Jazmine stared at Amelia, one side of her mouth curled up. “I cannot allow you to speak with anyone without consent from Dr. Albert.” She continued to sneer.

“I’ll call later.” Amelia twirled. “Hope none dies in the meantime.” She marched out the glass double doors.

“Welcome to Lab 15.” A blonde woman stood at a tall, clear desk. “How can I direct you?”

Amelia swept her hair behind her ear. “Can you tell me who is in charge of this location?”

“Dr. Lithan.” The woman gave a warm smile. “Should I schedule a meeting? He can see you at 2 this afternoon.” She moved her hands across the glass desktop with the built-in keyboard.”

Amelia leaned to view the desktop. “Nothing earlier?”

“I’m sorry, it’s a busy day for him.” She smiled. “Can I get your name?”

Amelia shrugged. It was easier scheduling to talk to the head of Lab 15, than it was talking to Lab 23. “Amelia Curta. Head of Research and Development for Lab 01.”

The receptionist stopped typing. “I didn’t realize this was such an important meeting. I’m sorry I can’t move it up.”

“It’s fine.” Amelia picked up a magazine from the counter. “I can wait the hour.”

A short man with thick, dark hair appeared before Amelia. “I’m sorry for your wait, Ma’am. I’m Dr. Lithan, can I guide you to my office?”

Amelia followed Dr. Lithan up the glass staircase. “If we can, I would like to skip the little chitchat in your office and visit the lab.”

“Of course,” the doctor jumped. He motioned to the end of the hall. “It’s just right there. Ms. Curta.” He fell in line with Amelia. “I know there have been a lot of strange deaths lately. If I can help in any way.”

Amelia heaved her shoulders. “Tell me about the woman’s death from last week.”

“Her name was Sarah Bathery. She was a bright, young girl.” Dr. Lithan kept his eyes to the floor. “Sarah did every assignment she was given in no time and without complaint. She was finishing college. I think she was planning on becoming a doctor for one of the labs.”

Amelia examined every station as she walked past. Some stations, she would hold out a hand and check the machinery. “Did she have any pet projects? Perhaps she was doing something off the record?”

“She was trying something new.” Dr. Lithan spun suddenly.

Amelia was called to the small Center in St. Anthony an hour prior. She walked the streets before her meeting. Some of these streets were where the victims had walked before their deaths.

“Ms. Curta.” The receptionist typed at her computer without raising her eyes. “Dr. Albert can see you now.”

Amelia faked a smile. “Thank you, Jazmine. Glad it only took two deaths before you could see the benefit of someone looking into this matter.”

All of the deaths on file were ruled New Breed attacks or accidents. Despite the odd occurrence of New Breed attacks so far into the city. It appeared to be the default ruling the police made on the cases.

“So, Mia Summers worked here?” Amelia accepted the file from the aging man.

“Yes. She worked in the lab.”

Amelia glanced over the papers. “Her death was ruled a New Breed attack? It just happened.”

“I received an email from the main branch. It said that it was taken care of.”

She bit her lip in feint anxiousness. “The main office doesn't know about the death yet. I am here to investigate for the main part of the company.” Amelia squared her shoulders. “Any emails from the main branch cannot be trusted. We have been hacked.”

“Hacked?” He answered the ringing phone. “No. I’m in a meeting. Okay. I’ll try to be quick.” Dr. Albert put the phone back on the desktop and turned to Amelia. “The police are here to take a closer look at the deaths.”

Amelia lowered her chin. “I told you, we have been hacked. There was no time for the police to finish their investigation. None of these deaths have an official ruling. At least none that have been told to the board.”

“The board is involved?”

“Of course the board is involved. There have been multiple deaths in the past month.” Amelia walked to the office door. She opened it a crack. “The Labs in the outer rings can be claimed as New Breed attacks. But these inner ring deaths, we don’t think they are accidents.”

She thought over the words she had spoken. The company didn’t look into any of these deaths. They believed what the police said. But nobody spoke directly to the police. It was like they wanted to accept these suspicious emails as facts with nothing concrete to support them. Was the board aware of this? They didn't send anyone to look at the deaths. Amelia chose to do this.

Amelia opened the door with more strength than she meant to use. There was a shadow cast over her. The detectives were standing in the hall just inches away.

“Ms. Curta.”

“Detective Howels.” She leaned past the bulky detective to peek at the smaller one. “Detective Sparrow. Hello.”

Sparrow scrunched up his face. “What are you doing here?”

“Investigating.” Amelia allowed Dr. Albert to step past her. “Would you care to show us the lab, now?” She motioned to the doctor.

Dr. Albert jumped. “Of course. Follow me detectives and Ms. Curta.” He looked over his shoulder as he walked. “Are you detectives from this district? You’re not the same ones that visited prior.”

“We’re the elite team.” Howels wore a stoic face.

Sometimes Amelia wondered which one was the robot, she or Howels. “The center and inner rings are investigating these matters closer. Lab 01 is working in cooperation with the District 13 police.”

“We’re working together?” Howels lifted an eyebrow. “May I look at your notes after the lab walk through?”

Amelia processed the information. The company looked shady, but nothing concrete to blame on the board. Howels should be satisfied with the hack theory.

She gave a stiff nod. “I have other emails and information from some other labs.” Amelia glanced at Sparrow. “I can forward them to you.”

“Sure.” Sparrow replied with a smile. He stepped through the door Howels was holding open.

Amelia took half a step and gripped the closing door. “Really?” She lowered the corner of her eyebrows to Howels.

“Nothing wrong with your arms.” Howels measured her. “Open your own doors.” He turned his broad back to her. “Doctor, I have a few questions.”