Known Afterlife (The Provider Trilogy: Volume I)

by Trey Copeland

  *****

  "Vital signs are perfect," Tallison reported. "The rest of the body checks out perfect. Muscle mass is up 23%; bone density, a up 17%; all biological systems displaying continual improvement in both functionality and performance. Brain activity is normal, at least for him. I see the anomaly you were talking about but not sure what to make of it. Regardless, I don't see how it will impact the procedure."

  Physically, he is twenty years younger and most likely the most superior human specimen in history, Jennifer observed with a certain pride. She quickly tampered the rise of her self-esteem, reminded that Muzar’s anatomical improvements, no matter how wonderful, were but a secondary byproduct of the project. Completion the primary objective had yet occurred.

  "Excellent," Jennifer replied as she closed out the images projected from her visor resting on the table. "As always, your thorough attention to detail has proved vital in double checking my work."

  "Well I'm glad you feel that way because most of the time I feel pretty useless."

  "I don't blame you for feeling that way and believe me, there are plenty of days I wish I could have you do more," she said genuinely, patting the young scientist on the arm.

  "Don't get me wrong, this has been a dream position. The knowledge both you and Mr. Alterian have entrusted with me over the past six years has been overwhelming. I have learned things that....well...I am still processing."

  "Trust me, your day of being able to piece it all together is fast approaching. And when that time comes, your days of idleness will feel like a distant dream," she informed her trusted assistant with a broad smile. And I will truly be glad to unload every bit of it.

  "Well I am ready and able," she said enthusiastically.

  Jennifer uncrossed her legs and stood up. Tallison matched the movement and turned to face her superior. Jennifer could not help but notice the way Tallison had been looking at her since she arrived, making her conscious of her altered appearance. Gone were the functional body suit, bland lab coat and comfortable running shoes her assistant was used to seeing her in everyday. In their place, she wore a tailored lab coat—typically reserved for rare public appearances—over a stylish white blouse, a pencil skirt stopping just above the knee and chunky heals. In addition, she had styled her short hair into a chichi wave, and touched up her eyes and lips with a little make-up.

  The slight dilation in Tallison's pupils and the out of character shy demeanor in her assistant amused Jennifer and was an unexpected but welcome ego boost. She had been vicariously living, socially at least, through her understudy who was only a few years younger. From their frequent conversations, she had developed a healthy envy of Tallison's life as a single women living in a town populated with world’s top talented professionals and scientist.

  Jennifer wanted to believe, if given the same opportunity, she would have sampled the same diverse pool of possible companions with the same reckless abandon as had Tallison over the years. But, alas, her true feelings would surface, reminding her why she made the choices that she did.

  Sensing Jennifer's detection of her inability to hide her thoughts, Tallison spoke frankly. "You look beautiful."

  "Thank you Tallison," she said, graceful in her acceptance of the compliment. "You don't think it’s too much?" she inquired, welcoming the other women's opinion.

  "No, not at all. It is all very professional. It's just that I haven't seen you..."

  "Much outside this lab," she said, finishing her sentence.

  "Exactly. I can say one thing for certain, if you should ever decide to 'get out there', the rest of us will be reduced to your seconds."

  Jennifer blushed at the compliment, surprised by the vulnerability it exposed. "Your flattery is too kind but I will take it all the same." Both shared a laugh that settled into a comfortable silence for several seconds before Jennifer looked her friend in the eye and rubbed her arm affectionately. "Thank you Tallison. For everything."

  "It has been my pleasure."

  "Alright," Jennifer said, reaching for her link visor and tucking it into the top of her hair. "We are done here for now. Update Stalling, Antone and Janison on our latest analysis and inform them to meet me in the mainframe."

  "Understood. Good luck," Tallison said, giving Jennifer's arm an affectionate rub of her own.

  Jennifer used the five minute walk down the server farm's main passage to cool her recently stirred libido. The cool temperatures of the subterranean chamber helped but she remained flushed and out of sorts by the time she reached the entrance to the mainframe. Intellectually, she acknowledged the feelings she had for a man she barely knew to be both adolescent and irrational.

  No one knows how he will have changed upon his return but it does not take a romance novelist to predict the last thing on his mind will be asking me out for a drink. Still, she would not deny the fact that the only reason she chose to change her appearance today was in the hopes that somehow her long in the making crush on Muzar Tarcones would materialize into something tangible and reciprocated.

  Dark tinted, glass paneled double doors parted at her approach and she entered the small annex room. Still distracted by the emotions swirling in her heart, she absently stared at the wall before her as the doors sealed behind and the hiss of invisible gas pumped from the ceiling vents to sterilize the chamber. A minute later, a green light appeared above, and the wall slid open to provide entrance into the mainframe.

  Lighting from the floor panels activated as she stepped into the circular room. The black, biometric walls sparkled with life as their gel-filled centers transmitted the trillions of data packets per second between the servers outside and the three supercomputers centered in the room. The cylindrical, eight-foot tall computer towers formed a ten square yard triangle of space in the middle of the floor.

  Jennifer placed her link visor back on, promptly walked over to a spot in-between the southern two towers, interfaced with the virtual control panel, entered the encryption code and then proceeded to punch in a sequence of procedures.

  Once done, she took a deep breath and stepped back. Seconds later the floor space centered between the computer towers became transparent, revealing a storage chamber within. The rectangular chamber slowly rose to knee level before coming to a halt.

  Every day for the past decade, Jennifer had remotely observed the contents of the chamber. Now, having entered the hermetically sealed mainframe for the first time in ten years, seeing things in person generated a response she could not have anticipated and, as if her recent emotional state were trying to warn her, it was an experience she was ill prepared to process.