She turned to Adam, and said, “You stop this this instant, Adam Stephen. This instant. Let Cindy tell her story without you adding in your irrelevant two cents.”
“I just asked …”
“No, you didn’t. You commented in the form of a question. You’ve had your say, we know how you feel so now get … fucking … over it. Edward’s the boss, so stop pretending like you don’t already know that.”
“Just confirming my …”
“Confirming? Confirming my ass. You were expressing your annoyance - yet again. We’re tired of it, so unless you have a question about what cool shit Rod and Cindy have accomplished, just do us all a favor and sit there and shut up. Otherwise you’re being exceptionally rude. Listen to them for fuck’s sake. They’ve done something amazing and you’re cryin’ like a little baby girl. It’s rude and disrespectful. To the two people on earth who really love you and are patient enough to play your silly fucking games. They don’t need this BS.”
“Sorry.” Adam said, chastened by Misti’s diatribe. He might consider arguing with his wife but, since she was bang-on correct, what would be the point?
Rod said, “Can I …?”
“No,” said Misti, “Cindy has the floor. You can speak up when it’s your turn. Cindy, go.”
“Tyrant,” muttered Adam, quietly.
“Geez, I didn’t do anything,” protested Rod.
Cindy smiled, pretended to be mildly sympathetic to the boys, then continued.
“So, when the testing was complete here in Barrows Bay, we were pretty happy with the results. The robot goop infiltrated all three target homes, power sources and computers. Then each was able to recombine and transmit the data, encrypted, to Cindy’s laptop at home. We also got Dr. Weston’s online calendar and schedule of appointments and a photo album Dr. Demming keeps on her private laptop. Ooh la la, by the way. That woman is very flexible for her age. I may have mentioned that to Edward; she and Dr. Kensington just broke up. Not public yet. Just don’t tell Mom.”
Rod spoke up. “In each case the robot slime was able to adapt to its coloring and surroundings, completely camouflage itself and avoid visual detection. Looks like paint. Pops said he found his but only because he was looking and was using a 10x.”
“So, which is it family? Robot slime or robot goop?”
“Slime,” said Rod.
“Goop,” said Cindy.
“Adam?”
“Pass.”
“Baby!”
“Bully.”
“Am not, am not,” said Misti, now taunting her hubby’s petulance. “But my vote and, sorry sister, is for ‘slime’. Reminds me of cartoon shows growing up. Plus, Ghostbusters. OK with you, big boy?” Misti was speaking to Adam.
“Whatever,” was all they could get out of him.
“God, he like just changed into a thirteen-year-old girl, right before our very eyes. Amazing.” Misti laughed at her own joke and said, “Guess I’m going lesbo tonight!”
Misti looked at Adam and getting no other response, decided to ignore her moody man and instead asked Cindy to go on. Adam was thoroughly interested and was totally attentive; his attention span for insults and ridicule was quite short and it rarely meant anything negative to him. His ego was outsized and bullet proof. Trying to make fun of Adam, the adult Adam, just wasn’t family fun anymore.
Cindy said, “So we, and by ‘we’ I mean everyone intimately involved in the development process, except you Adam, decided it was now ready for real world application. Edward decided it was time to have a crack at the BioGen facility in Princeton, New Jersey, home of Paulo Fortizi. Your ‘Sal’ from Tucson. We decided on a delivery system to launch the components close, then let them do their thing.”
“What was that?” Adam asked.
“We put the materials and components inside a plastic ball, about the size of a golf ball, and launched them at night onto the roof, at entrances and near windows. The balls are designed to break apart on contact, and dissolve. Each ball held an electrical charge, which when activated, would power the robotics for about four hours.”
“Efficient. Memcomputing technology?”
“Exactly.”
“Simple commands, basic framework software and not much functionality.”
“How long did it take to connect to fixed power source?”
“Took minutes. We anticipated days. Not sure if that was good design or dumb luck.”
“How fast?”
“Just over a foot every six minutes, on battery. Slightly faster than our trials.” Cindy continued, “But fixed source power made them more like flowing water, driven by gravity. Which it wasn’t of course. But those little buggers could move, I’ll say that.”
“Tracking?”
“Wireless. Relayed from object to object. Inside to out. Defeated the air gap systems, no problem.”
“Data transfer rate?”
“Slower than we had hoped but we started after dark and we had some systems drained dry by morning. A lot of data, too I must remind you.”
“And you got?”
“Everything. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. Cleaned them out over a period of days.”
“Residual access?”
“Yes, indeed. Permanently embedded into their servers and computers, until they power down the entire electrical grid inside. Then, useless pixie dust.”
“Telephones?”
“Yep. Fixed line, cell and computer. Home and business. These robots can scale down and split into parts. Mom modeled it after a virus. If it has power, you can’t get rid of this shit. We got their emails too.
“Damn!” Adam said. “You guys did good.”
“Thanks Bro.” Rod said, looking pleased.
“You guys realize how massive an illegal invasion of privacy this was, right? Guilty of felonies, all of you.” Adam said.
“We do,” said Misti.
“You do what?” asked Adam.
“I do too. I understand that this activity was illegal. We all do. So, do Mom, Pops and Edward.”
“That’s not what he means, sis,” said Cindy, knowing Adam and his very predictable lexicon.
“No, it’s not,” said Adam. “We can discuss this later.”
“We can discuss now, if you want,” said Misti, defiant and expecting another dust up. “I’m not ashamed to discuss any of this in front of Rod and Cindy. Tell us what’s on your mind. We’re all curious.”
Adam didn’t say a word; neither was he visibly upset. He didn’t raise his voice nor show any trace of anger. He looked quite normal. He was not.
“We’ll discuss this at home later. This is not an appropriate time nor does any of it concern Rod and Cindy. It concerns you and me and your drip, drip, drip of information about important matters of some concern to me when it suits you. And Dad. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear the rest of the story, then we can go home and discuss the pros and cons of you hiding shit from me.”
Misti didn’t have experience with that tone and the tsunami of shit that could be unleashed later.
‘The boy fights back’ was the thought that came immediately to her mind. This will be interesting. Might have inadvertently found our first ‘boundary’.
“Delighted to,” was all Misti said in response.
Adam spoke, “So we went through all of this bother to steal some shit from BioGen? Was it worth it?”
“The correct answer,” Rod said, “is both ‘yes’, and ‘we don’t know yet’.”
“Not following.”
“We got a lot of stuff from these downloads. We found encrypted data, language and contents unknown. We’ll dissolve the encryption pretty quick, at least we think we will. Maybe not though.”
“How?” asked Adam. “Don’t go through Langley or Ft. Meade. Too nosey and someone is always watching. Us, that is.”
“How then?” asked Cindy. “That’s who we go to for that kind of help.”
�
�I’ll do it.”, answered Adam. “Send it on to me. Might take some extra time but this is a safer plan.”
“Safer than what?” asked Rod.
“Safer than watching the people I love most serving time at a Super Max. We either all go together or not at all.”
Misti smiled and gave Adam a big hug, but Adam continued, dead serious. “What else?”
“Lots of English language stuff, like raw data, reports, analysis and a project files. We’re going to know very soon what they were working on there.”
“And?”
“And status reports and research projects taken up at all their labs in the US and worldwide. We got everything they were working on, so now it’s only a matter of time until we see what they are really up to.”
“That’s it?”
“For now.”
***
The walk home was slower than usual, and Misti waited for Adam to say what was on his mind. It didn’t take long.
“I’m not mad at you, you know.”
“You’re not? I think you are and don’t want to admit it. It’s your passive/aggressive side.”
“No, this time you’re wrong. I am not mad, but I am sadly and deeply disappointed in you. Very sad and disappointed.”
Misti wasn’t expecting this reaction and was unprepared for any discussion begun in such a way. Misti could deal with male anger but male sadness? Not so much. She never thought about that, not with Adam anyway.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to …”
“Yes, you did. And I’m OK with that too. I understand what you’re doing, and I’m glad you’re doing it. Someone has to.”
“Someone has to do what?”
“Be honest with me. To the point of rudeness. Even hostility. Everybody else just dances around it, let’s me go and can’t be bothered to push back. Except you. And I’m OK with that. You’re my wife and the only one I can totally trust. I know you don’t do it for sport or out of a mean spirit.”
“I’m sorry …”
“No, it’s OK. No need for apologies.”
“Then what? I don’t understand.”
“It’s just that you promised to share everything with me. No secrets between us. No more secrets. You promised; now I know you lied.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“Don’t parse words with me Misti. I’m not one of your old boyfriends. I’m your husband and I know when you’re trying to get out of the corner you painted yourself in. I may be sad, but you are still the only thing that matters to me. It hurts when you aren’t being honest.”
“I don’t do it because I want to. Sometimes I just have to, that’s all. I don’t always know what I can say and what I can’t.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t ever ‘have to’; that’s total BS. Breaking the law like that is serious. I have a right to know that, even if I’ve been a total ass about the rest of it. This isn’t just what you are doing for Edward; this was something that could affect our life together. We could have talked about it, even if it is your decision to make. You should’ve told me.”
“You don’t understand. It’s complicated.”
“I do understand, and it is far, far from complicated. It’s simple. You keep the secrets that Dad tells you, including a few he tells you to keep from me. I think you tell me everything, or most everything, except when Dad tells you to lie or withhold. To me. Close?”
“Very close.”
“Then it’s very simple. Either keep his secrets or tell me the truth. You can’t be married to me and do both.”
“That’s not fair. You’re putting me in the middle of something you want nothing to do with. And then saying I need to share. You should make up your mind what you want. Then let me know.”
“I suppose I should. But on the things, we both know matter, you can keep your word to him or keep your word to me. I don’t know any other way to say it. Tell me when you decide.”
“You still love me?” Misti asked quietly. Even though Adam wasn’t mad at her, she still thought he was being unfair. But he had a point. Some items are too important not to discuss with your spouse.
“You mean do I like breathing the air, seeing the sun rise every day and feeling every molecule of life in my body thirsting for you? The heart wants what the heart wants. So yeah, I still love you. A little deception among spouses won’t change that. I get that this is not easy, and therefore we need to talk. So, we can be clear on the boundaries. But there will always be doubt and sadness if you don’t change your ways. Besides, I know how to keep your dark secrets.”
“What makes you think you know any?” Misti was confident that this was just Adam male bluster.
“You’d be surprised what I know. People, men mostly, always underestimate me. I have such an advantage until they finally realize I’m about to terminate their existence. Women too, but not in the same way. It’s shocking how dense I can be but how intuitive, in fact, I am. I’m surprised you never noticed.”
“Blah blah blah. You know nothing my friend, nothing at all. Give me one big secret you know, or think you know. Just one.”
“Just one? I can do that.”
“OK,” Misti said smugly, deeply confidant in her ability to disguise herself to the world, including Adam.
“When did you stop sleeping with my brother’s wife?”
Chapter 8
If one could well and truly depict the quintessential face of total and absolute surprise, capture that image and use it as a visual portrayal of the word expressed, then that event had just taken place.
It took but an instant for Misti to recover her composure. When she did, she asked, simply, “Who else knows?”
“Besides me, just whoever else you and Cindy have entrusted with that secret. So far as I know, there are only three people with knowledge of the … what shall we call them, events? But don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”
“Then why … why did you say anything at all?” Misti’s mind was racing, coldly calculating her response to an answer she hadn’t expected, just as she had been taught by Edward.
“Because you asked, sweetie. You asked.” Adam was calm and cool, his response not meant in any way to upset his wife.
“How long have you known?”
“Doesn’t matter. Nor how I found out nor why I found out nor any of the other questions buzzing around in that beautiful brain of yours. I know. And that’s all you need to know.”
Misti was frozen. She was trying to quickly recalculate the meaning of this revelation she had always committed to Cindy never to reveal. Ten billion calculations a second weren’t going to solve this one; she was speechless and searching her husband’s eyes for answers. She saw none.
“Now what?” she stammered.
“Now what, what?” was Adam’s response. “There is no ‘now what’? It was something that happened in the past, long before us. And that’s all there is to it. Truthfully Misti, it does not concern me. In either of the two commonly accepted meanings of the word. That’s between you and Cindy. Not me. And I don’t care. Old data.”
“And Rod? Don’t you owe him some sort of brotherly explanation of some kind? You aren’t going to tell him, are you?”
“Don’t be absurd. I love my brother and my ‘sis’. I realize I am a thoughtless, dense guy who cares little about other people, their lives and what their challenges in life may be. But I’m not mean spirited; I’m just indifferent. The ‘others’ simply don’t matter enough to me to even grant them a millisecond’s worth of my time. But when it comes to you and the rest of my family, it’s an entirely different story.
“Maybe I can never truly understand or care about someone else’s pain, but I can understand Rod’s pain, or Cindy’s or yours. I get pain, I really do. Whatever I owe Rod as his brother, I know I owe him nothing in this situation. I must protect him, and Cindy, and the girls from anything that could ever destroy their happiness. And I will. So, this i
s like a secret kept in the strongest vault God allows. It never comes out, it never sees the light of day and will never ever again breathe life.”
“And you and me?”
“There were others before you. There were others before me. Ancient and irrelevant history. I have never asked who and I never will. That’s your history, which you will share with me if you need or want to. And I will do the same.”
“Any similar bombshells?” Misti relaxed, just a bit. She was struggling with her reaction which was far from mortification but rather closer to immense relief. She had instantly delved into ‘buying time to think’ mode. Edward’s ‘emergency control measures’ had been drilled into her psyche as a child; protect your secrets at all costs, explain away any indiscretions or lapses as childish pranks and silliness; deny it ever happened when questioned.
“Like this? No. But just so you can get mentally comfortable with my knowledge of your secret, I’ll share this little tidbit. I once killed a man. A not very nice man. But I decided to experiment and prolong the process of his death. So, I kept him alive through various means, long enough to inflict immense waves of pain over his entire miserable being. Until he begged me to let him die. I refused. He suffered greatly at my hands, immeasurably before I ended his life’s journey. But I still remember those four days and that episode in my life. As clearly as if it had just happened yesterday. I took pleasure then and I could rerun it again right here and now, just by sitting down and closing my eyes.
“You are the only one who I have ever shared that with, so yes I have my own demons and peculiar secrets. That shouldn’t be a surprise.”
Misti stood considering her husband, failing to completely comprehend him. Failing to grasp the full meaning and consequence of his complex psyche but understanding him on some level that was incapable of description, measurement or even insight.
Misti sighed in relief to herself but it was much more than that. She was struck by wave after wave of deep and penetrating calm, as if new knowledge had suddenly been revealed. Knowledge that she had been unaware could even exist. Knowledge that granted special permission to finally accept that she could finally just be who she really was. What little remained of the residual fear that her monster within would one day repel Adam and destroy them was finally lifted. It had dissipated in her final acceptance of the meaning of the love Adam felt for her.
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