The Dead Room Trilogy

by Stephanie Erickson

  Hope was waiting for him in the lab when he walked in. She’d already cleaned up the cot and returned it to the storage closet, but she didn’t comment. Ashby thought he should thank her, but he decided against drawing attention to the fact that he’d attempted to sleep with his chimps last night.

  “Good morning,” she said pleasantly as he walked in.

  He nodded at her, and she handed him a steaming cup of coffee. “Thank you,” he breathed as the aroma alone gave him a jolt of energy.

  “Hope? Do you know anyone who can hack into a locked file?” He didn’t make eye contact with her when he asked the question, instead keeping his gaze fixed on his cup of coffee as he sipped.

  “Why?” she asked, surprising him. She never questioned him, but his behavior yesterday and this morning must have made her uneasy.

  “I need some information. But I can’t get to it.” He didn’t elaborate. Unlike Mendi, he didn’t like to lie. He stuck his hand in his pocket, feeling the flash drive.

  She shifted her weight. When her eyes went to his hand in his pocket, he removed it hastily. Just as she opened her mouth to answer, Mendi came through the door.

  “Ben, please,” he said, before Ashby could even turn around to see who’d come in.

  “Get out,” Ashby said, his voice so cold and low that Hope instinctually backed away from the two men.

  “Don’t be like that,” Mendi pleaded. “You don’t understand. We never meant to hurt you.”

  Ashby whipped around. “Oh really? What exactly did you mean to do?”

  Mendi didn’t have an answer.

  “If you’re going to do something, Mendi, at least have the decency to do it on purpose,” Ashby said, disgust dripping from his words.

  At that, Ashby stormed past his former friend and out of his own lab.

  He had no idea where he was going. But when he’d asked Mendi to leave and he didn’t, he felt like he had no other options or be trapped there with his betrayer. He walked to his car, toying with the stick in his pocket. He didn’t have his laptop with him; it was back in his lab. But maybe he could head over to the computer lab, and then find someone who would help him. Maybe, just maybe…

  Changing course from the parking garage back to the lab, he picked up his pace, hope giving him the drive to push forward. Mendi would never think to look in the computer lab for him. He’d be free to work on his own.

  Work. He really should be working on his own stuff. He’d had a major breakthrough yesterday. He should be focused on that. But the image of Mendi and Judy kept him focused somewhere else.

  The lab was quiet when he went in. Nearly every station was occupied. Being a science and technology college, he wasn’t too surprised. The lab itself was impressive. The latest computers lined every wall, and they were replaced every two years, to make sure they could handle the programs and assignments the students were given. They would be well equipped to enter the ever-changing high-tech workforce, that was for sure.

  He stopped at the desk where a young girl with earbuds was sitting staring at her own computer screen.

  Ashby cleared his throat as he leaned on the desk, but she didn’t notice him. “Excuse me,” he prodded quietly, not wanting to disturb anyone.

  She looked over at him and smiled, removing one of her buds. “Sorry, didn’t notice you there. People are usually pretty independent here. How can I help you?”

  “I’m a scientist here on campus, and I managed to get myself locked out of some of my files. Do you think anyone here could help me? They’re paramount to my research. If I can’t get into them, my whole program is toast.”

  She immediately looked sympathetic and pointed to the far wall. “There, with his back to us and the bright red headphones on. He’ll get you in lickety split.”

  Genuine gratitude caused some of the tension he was carrying to melt away. “Thank you.”

  She smiled softly back at him. “Of course. Good luck!”

  He nodded and walked toward the student with red headphones.

  Not wanting to startle the boy, he cleared his throat, but that wasn’t working. He glanced back at the girl, and she smiled at him, gesturing for Ashby to just tap him on the shoulder. Ashby looked horrified. She shook her head and walked over, closing the distance between them with a short jog.

  “Hey, Brent,” she said as she grabbed his shoulder. So much for a gentle tap.

  “Hey, Celeste. What’s up?”

  “This scientist here needs your help. He works for the university. Got himself locked out of some of his stuff. Just needs you to work your magic so he can get back in.”

  Brent turned to Ashby and gave him a once-over. “How do I know you didn’t take this from someone and are trying to steal their work? I don’t know about you scientists, but it happens in this department all the time.”

  Ashby eyed the boy carefully, not wanting to give himself away. “You don’t, I suppose.” He shrugged, allowing the boy to draw his own conclusions.

  “Well, I always like a little mystery, with a side for some potential trouble.”

  Ashby hoped his relief didn’t show on his face as he passed over the stick without a word. He took it without ceremony, putting it into his machine.

  Immediately, he found the locked file and started working on it. “Huh. What do you have in here? There are so many layers of protection,” he said, his fingers madly typing away and getting answered with red warning screens.

  “It’s some of my research. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, my program would be toast. We’re on the verge of a breakthrough,” Ashby said, looking over at Celeste and feigning enthusiasm.

  “That’s wonderful. What department are you in?”

  “Engineering. But I’m working on a cure for cancer, among other things.”

  “Wow. I didn’t know they were doing that here,” she said, genuinely impressed. “Brent, can you imagine? If he does it, you’ll have helped him!”

  Brent chuckled. “Give me a shout out, will ya, when you’re famous?”

  Ashby nodded nervously. “Will do.”

  Celeste seemed to sense his nerves and patted him on the shoulder, making him jump. But she didn’t judge him. “It’ll be okay. Brent here is the best on campus.”

  He smiled at the girl. She had no idea.

  Brent leaned forward. “Dude. This is so weird. Did you have someone set this up for you? I’ve never seen something so sophisticated to protect a bunch of research.”

  Ashby just shrugged, not sure of the answer.

  “It’s beautiful really. I hate to hack through it.”

  “But you can?” Ashby asked, beginning to lean forward, anxious to see what was beyond the screen.

  “I can. But it’s going to take more time than I thought. Can I hold onto this for a while and get back to you with it in a day or two?” Brent asked.

  Here, Ashby froze. What if he gave the stick back to Mendi? What if Mendi found out? Every second the information was out of his hand was a risk. But, without Brent, he had no chance at getting to it at all. Clearly, he’d never be able to crack Mendi’s code on his own.

  “It’s okay, dude. Your information is safe with me. I promise I won’t copy it or sell it to another professor here on campus.” He was smiling when he said it, as if he was joking, but Ashby frowned at him.

  Brent cleared his throat. “Okay, not funny. Look…” He took out a small card and scribbled down his information. “This is my cell number. I answer it at all times, except when I’m in class, of course.” He laughed nervously, as if caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Anyway, if you’re worried, call me any time. Call me right now if you want to make sure I put down the right number.”

  Ashby looked at the paper. “I believe you. You chose to trust me, so I trust you. But know this, my whole career will be over if that falls into the wrong hands.”

  “Yeah, I gathered that by the encryptions on here,” Brent said, looking back at the screen.

  “Just
let me know when you get something.” Ashby reached into his inside coat pocket and pulled out a card. “My lab is #103. Just drop it by when you’re done. I’m there all the time. Literally.”

  Brent nodded, and Ashby extended his hand to the boy. He wondered if he ever was so dewy eyed. “I owe you one, Brent.”

  Brent laughed. “Maybe you can talk to my professor, get me an A in the next science lab. I’m not so good at those.”

  Now, it was Ashby’s turn to chuckle. How his priorities had shifted since his college days. “Let me know who the fellow is, and I’ll see what I can do.”

  Brent beamed, seemingly more grateful than Ashby was.

  “All right, Mr. Ashby. I’ll be in touch,” he said.

  Ashby nodded. “I’m anxiously awaiting your call.”

  With that, Ashby tried to get back to his life, leaving his future in the hands of a young college student.

  Back in his own lab, Hope kept her distance from him, caring for the remaining chimps, and keeping up with documenting their condition. That was fine with Ashby. He wanted space anyway. He needed time to think about everything. About Judy and Mendi, about what Mendi could be hiding behind all those passwords and protections, and about where his own research was going.

  Unfortunately for Ashby, it was two days before he heard from Brent. Two more days of sleeping in the lab. Two days without speaking to Judy or Mendi. He’d had dinner with Ashley and told her what was going on, or at least, part of it. Ashley didn’t ask too many questions. She said she’d be thinking of him, and just wanted them both to be happy. Despite that, it made for a long two days.

  Ashby was sitting at his computer, checking his email for any word on another potential patient for his robots, now that he knew they would work, when Brent came bursting into his lab.

  “Mr. Ashby. I did it! I finally got through everything. It’s just documents and pdfs on here, right? Maybe a few Excel spreadsheets?”

  “Yes. That sounds about right,” Ashby said, hoping he sounded believable.

  Brent held out the stick. Ashby snatched it from him as if he was drowning, and it was his only lifeline.

  “Thank you,” he said, turning the stick over in his hands, inspecting it, as if he expected it to reveal its secrets to him right then and there.

  “So, Professor Juno. That’s the one I need you to put in a good word for me, if you can.”

  “What?” Ashby asked, drawing a complete blank.

  Brent’s face fell. “You said you’d talk to my science teacher, put in a good word for me, as a sort of thank you?” He’d gotten quiet, as if he felt stupid.

  “Oh, of course.” Ashby clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You’re a true lifesaver. Speaking to Professor…”

  “Juno,” Brent filled in.

  “Professor Juno is the least I can do. I will do it right now, before I get caught up in going through these files, okay?”

  Brent’s eyes lit up once again. “Thank you, sir.”

  “Oh no, thank you.” They shook hands, and Brent practically skipped out of Ashby’s lab.

  Ashby made good on his promise. He looked up Juno in the campus email, sending him a glowing recommendation of the boy, and asking him to go easy on him during the lab. Of course, he wasn’t sure what good it would do. Some professors were possessive of their students, and didn’t like others sniffing around, but he promised he’d try, and so he did.

  Once that slight delay was over, he could move forward with a relatively clear conscience. He looked at the stick and thought about Mendi—about what he was doing at that moment. They’d never gone so long without speaking to each other. He’d lost his wife and his best friend, all in one swoop. And not to some tragedy, but to their selfishness. Ashby frowned and held the stick tightly in his fist, as if he might crush Mendi through it, like it was some kind of voodoo doll.

  Hope came up behind him then. “What’s that?” she asked.

  “Just some files I need to review.”

  “Oh. Do you want me to take a look at them for you?”

  “No. Thank you. I need something to keep my mind occupied while I wait for another group for us.” He hesitated. “Listen, when the next one comes along, would you like to accompany me to the procedure?”

  “Dr. Mendi always goes with you. He’s more qualified anyway.”

  “Maybe. But Dr. Mendi and I have had a fatal difference of opinions. I will no longer be seeking his counsel. Since you’re here to learn, I thought you might want to come.”

  “Oh. Well, I mean. Absolutely. It would be an honor,” she sputtered.

  “Great. Hopefully, we’ll get a good group of candidates soon.”

  “Hopefully.” She lingered for a moment, as if unsure what to do.

  “That’s all for now, Hope,” Ashby said, wanting her to leave so he could dig into Mendi’s secret.

  “Oh. Of course.” Her face was already turning red as she turned and went back to caring for the chimps.

  Ashby held his breath as he opened the folder. Brent was right. It was just spreadsheets, documents, and pdf flies. It didn’t seem like there could be much of anything in there that would be incriminating, but what did Ashby know?

  He sorted the files by date, and then opened the oldest one first. It was a few weeks old.

  It was from a big pharmaceutical company called Dermott. They were huge, and they made all kinds of drugs under different names and labels. Most people didn’t know just how much they owned, but they basically ran the country. Driving up the price of drugs notoriously, they controlled the market without most of the modern world knowing. Forcing their products on providers and insurers alike, they dominated the industry in an unprecedented way.

  Seeing the name on that first file caught Ashby off guard, and he looked over his shoulder.

  It looked like a copy of an email, saved to a word file.

  Dr. Mendi,

  You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. I’m a physician at, well, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is my mother. She’s suffering, and I believe you can help her. If you’re willing to take some risks, my family is willing to make it worth your while. I know you can save her. I’m attaching her records, as well as our proposal.

  All I ask is that you take the time to consider it.

  Thank you.

  Josh Dermott, MD

  “What the hell…” Dermott was the name of the miracle Alzheimer’s patient. The first non-cancer treatment he’d done with his DNA editing. And Mendi had been so eager to move forward with it, despite his normally cautious way.

  Ashby dug deeper, opening the files. The first few were just her medical records, charts, history, and things like that. The last one was a PDF file. The proposal.

  It looked like a contract, between the Dermott family and Mendi. A contract to at least try to save their mother, and, in return, they would fully fund any and all research outside of cancer for his miracle cure.

  There was even a nondisclosure clause. If he told anyone where the money came from for his research, their agreement was done. Apparently, the family had a large non-profit organization set up, and they gave all funds to him through them. The whole thing was completely unethical, as well as against university policy. Ashby hesitated. That was a grey area, wasn’t it? Non-profits were okay to take money from, but the way they’d done it, directly helping the owners of the non-profit with his research, it was shady at best. He was willing to bet the dean wouldn’t like it one bit.

  Ashby sat back in his chair. Had he discovered this before he’d discovered Judy and Mendi, he wouldn’t have thought twice about it. So his friend had bent the rules to save a life. So what? And the cascading effects would be tremendous. He’d save hundreds, if not thousands, with the data he collected with their money. And according to the family, it was “a small price to pay.”

  But now…Ashby had enough to potentially doom Mendi. If Ashby told the university, at a minimum, Mendi would get canned. Although they wouldn’t want to lo
se the prestige of being the university where cancer was cured, the president didn’t abide rule breaking at all. He was notorious for letting staff members go at the slightest infraction. Plus, Ashby was close to a cure himself. So the university wouldn’t lose that element of exclusivity.

  At most, the family would pull their funding, and he would be done. Without a place to work, or funding behind him, his miracle cure would be over. At least until someone else picked him up. But that would hopefully give Ashby the time he needed to get to the finish line first.

  He ejected the flash drive and held it between his two first fingers, staring at it, wondering exactly what to do with it. Was it right for Mendi to get as far as he had? He’d cheated. He’d taken a buy-out from the worst possible entity he could’ve chosen. Didn’t he deserve to be humiliated?

  Then Ashby thought about how he felt, standing in front of the two people he loved best in the world, aside from Ashley, both of them scrambling to get their clothes on, both of them probably laughing at him after he stormed out. The image hardened his resolve as he clasped a fist around the stick.

  “It ends now,” Ashby said as he stood, and then went to the dean.

  8

  September 2024

  Ashby was left disappointed. The university saw the potential in Mendi’s work. Or maybe it was the potential for financial gain. Ashby wasn’t sure. But they ended up slapping Mendi on the wrist, giving him a leave of absence. Even Dermott hadn’t done anything to reprimand him, looping the university into their nondisclosure, and compensating them further for it.

  Ashby had fallen short. Again. And it had cost him. Mendi hadn’t spoken to him since the meeting with the dean.

  But what had he lost really? Something he never had. He didn’t want to talk to the man anyway. He’d simply given him an eye for an eye. And yet, Mendi still came out on top.

  In the weeks that followed the incident, he struggled to focus.