**
Even as her indignant rage was building, the doctor was very good at explaining the terms in Ted’s file. She praised him for catching on quickly, despite the lack of the necessary scientific background and Hugo blushed. Perhaps she was just a good teacher.
“I know this says the project was shut down, but Mr. Gideon is continuing the experiment.”
Hugo frowned, “Can you prove it?”
“Some of the final notes on the project suggest a method of delivery that’s different from the earlier tests on Ted. The earlier doses of the Substance required a metal agent to be absorbed in the blood stream. They had intended to try more um…how should I put this…thematically feasible reagents? Like gasoline for fire.”
“…oh.”
“And you said yourself, the only people who knew about the experiments were the original nine. So it has to be one of them, or someone who works for them. And the head of research is on vacation still, so it can’t be Dr. Arliss.”
“And Mr. Hansen wouldn’t, not after…”
“Not after what?”
Hugo rolled his cup of coffee between his palms, staring at the lid carefully. He’d already told her about Ted. Maybe she could help him make sense of the other experiments. Maybe she could use what she found out to help Ted, or fend off any more attempts to use the Substance on others. She was a doctor she could...what if he got her in trouble? What if she got hurt? But she’d already figured out something was wrong, she’d just needed the proof to back it up. She had immediately suspected Mr. Gideon, despite his charm. She’d thought of the listening devices, which had never occurred to him. He needed her help. “There were four others. Some of them are dead.”
She issued a small gasp, her pale hand coming up to her mouth, her eyes a little wide. “How?”
“Car crash, one was shot and Haley…she could control ice. She…lost control and they…they had to…before she froze everything, they…” Hugo let go of his cup, his hands were shaking. He stared at the table. “They killed her.”
“What?!”
“They had to. She was going to kill them all. She didn’t mean to, but she-”
“No! There must have been another way! They killed her to hide what they had done. They could have helped her. With this file, I may be able to undo what they’ve done to Ted. They shouldn’t have even been performing these tests! They murdered her, Hugo.”
His eyes widened. He couldn’t breathe anymore, it was impossible. Air just kept leaving his lungs in short gasps. There it was. There could have been another way; the doctor would have found another way. He was just a murderer. His eyes stung and their surroundings were getting very blurry. Droplets of water landed on his hands. “I-I have to go.” He rushed out of the building, nearly catching someone with the door in his haste. And then he ran.
Eventually he couldn’t breathe or see and so he pulled himself into an alley, away from the people who were pretending to not pay attention to him. His legs were weak and his breathing hitched. He had to cover his mouth to dampen the sound. He cried until he was empty.
In a fog he walked the remaining few blocks to his apartment and clumsily let himself in. He crawled onto the bed and curled into a little ball, pulling the blankets over his head. He sank into the blackness of a dreamless sleep.
The Sound of Wind Page 31