Future Threat

8

Even though I recognize him, it’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that Vincent Sharp is standing here in front of us. The guy is a freaking billionaire, like Forbes richest-people-in-the-world kind of billionaire, on the same level as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. Plus, he’s a genius, one of those guys who dropped out of college to start up a tech company that later became an international powerhouse. I read an article earlier this year about how he spent his fiftieth birthday on his own private island.

Why would he want to meet with us? Even when we spoke to some of the Aether higher-ups about what had happened with Lynne, we never heard anything from him. This must be something serious if the CEO has gotten involved. They’re probably worried about a lawsuit.

He shakes our hands, one by one, with a big smile. It’s not predatory but charming, friendly, like we’re all equals. “You already know Dr. Kapur, of course. And I believe you met Dr. Campbell? Excellent.” He answers his own question. Probably used to people agreeing with him all the time.

He leans back against the table, clasping his hands in front of him, disarmingly casual in his pose. “First, I want to thank you all for your help a few months ago, and I’d like to apologize again for the tragic incident with Lynne Marshall.”

Tragic incident, my ass. I’m ready to be done with this crap and get to the point already. “Why are we here?”

His gaze lands on me. It’s not hostile, but reminds me of when Adam focuses on me, with intelligent eyes that seem to see everything, like they’re taking notes and calculating what I’ll do next. But Adam’s gaze doesn’t creep me out.

“Direct,” Vincent says. “Exactly what I expected from you, Elena.” I must look surprised, because he chuckles. “I’ve studied all of your files closely. We may never have met before, but I know all of you very well.”

He makes it sound like this should be comforting, but instead it makes me even more freaked out. I hate that he knows so much about me, probably more than I can ever guess at. They had a file on us before they recruited us for Project Chronos, and they’ve been watching us since it ended. I wonder how much they saw and heard over the last six months. Adam always insisted they wouldn’t keep tabs on us, but Chris and I suspected otherwise. Now Vincent’s basically admitted he’s been spying on us.

“Where’s Dr. Walters?” Adam asks. Dr. Walters was the one scientist on the other project who seemed halfway decent, and it’s troubling that he isn’t here.

There’s a brief pause. Dr. Campbell and Dr. Kapur exchange a glance while Vincent says, “He no longer works for Aether Corporation. Dr. Campbell has taken over his position.” There’s a brief awkward pause, but then Vincent smiles again and says, “Dr. Kapur, can you take it from here?”

Dr. Kapur gives a sharp nod and turns to the three of us. “In the months since you returned from the future, we’ve learned there might be some unexpected side effects that we couldn’t have predicted.”

“What do you mean?” Adam asks.

“Side effects other than future shock?” I ask. We have to keep up the illusion that we all had future shock, after all. Even though I have a feeling they know we lied about that.

“We theorize that beyond the normal effects of future shock you experienced, you may also experience some…additional symptoms,” Dr. Kapur says.

“s**t, do not tell me this,” Chris says, crossing his massive arms. “I cannot handle this right now.”

“What kind of symptoms?” I manage to get out. My throat feels so tight that every word has to be dragged out of me.

“Nausea. Anxiety. Hearing or vision loss.” Dr. Kapur’s face is impassive as he speaks, but my gut clenches. I’ve had some of those. Not the vision or hearing loss, but the other symptoms for sure. “It’s probably nothing to worry about, but to be safe, we’d like to run some quick tests on you. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours.”

“Tests?” Adam asks.

“Nothing too invasive. A few blood tests and X-rays. We’ll get them done fast and have your results by tomorrow.”

Behind him, Dr. Campbell’s face scrunches up. She looks like she wants to say something but is biting her tongue. They must be holding something back, something she wants to tell us but isn’t allowed to. I meet her eyes and she looks away, her brows pinched together, her lips tight. This worries me more than anything the others are saying.

Are nausea and anxiety symptoms of a much more serious problem? Will the hearing and vision loss come next? And have Adam and Chris been experiencing these all along too?

Everything about this feels wrong, but I’m not sure why or how. I’m not thrilled at the idea of more tests, especially when they’ll tell us so little. And I don’t trust a damn thing anyone at this corporation says. For good reason.

But what other choice do we have? Walk away and possibly suffer some terrible fate? Live the rest of our lives waiting for more impending problems to surface? No, better to go through with this and find out what they know—and how to protect ourselves from it.

“Let’s get it over with,” Chris says, echoing my thoughts.

We’re led to the third floor and separated into different exam rooms to wait for a nurse to start the blood tests. I sit on the edge of the crinkling paper-covered bed and study the room, but there’s not much to see. White walls. A tray with vials and other equipment on the counter. A sink and a poster reminding employees to wash their hands. Frigid air blasts down on my bare arms from an overhead vent, and I rub them while I wait.

A few minutes later, Dr. Kapur enters the room and shuts the door behind him. It’s the second time I’ve been alone in an exam room with him, and I’m just as creeped out now as I was the first time. I keep telling myself it’ll be fine, but I can’t shake the feeling that this is all wrong, that I need to do something—but what?

He examines something on a clipboard, then flips to the next page. He hasn’t said a word to me, like I’m not even there. Then he utters a quiet “Hmm.”