The Fair & Foul (Project Gene Assist Book 1)

by Potts, Allie

Juliane nodded. “One hour.”

  As if by magic, the office doors opened. Either Damien had a secret call button or his assistant had been listening to the entire conversation. Juliane's stomach tightened. Perhaps she had, as Alan suggested, made a tactical mistake by being rude to her.

  “Until then.”

  Twenty One

  As the elevator doors opened, Alan took a sharp left, directing her to a coffee shop located just outside the lobby. Gesturing for Juliane to take a seat, he ordered for the both of them, not bothering to ask how she liked hers. As the steaming mug was thrust under her face, Juliane thought of Chad. The swirling dark liquid smelled and looked perfect. Juliane tipped the cup back in ready anticipation of the first sip. As she did so, it occurred to her that Damien's offer meant it was unlikely she would have to suffer Chad's coffee-turned-sludge ever again. She sputtered, setting the cup down on a table. Wow, that's bitter, she thought. They must have over-roasted the beans.

  Alan settled into chair covered in plush purple fabric in prime view of other shop patrons. As he drank his own mug, he looked very much like a medieval lord surveying his court. He doesn't have a care in the world, Juliane thought. And why should he? Everything always works out for him. Her eyes tightened, and she turned away.

  She tried to imagine what life would be like, being equally respected and appreciated through Damien’s firm. She realized then that her subconscious had already decided to take him up on his offer.

  Lost her in thoughts, she was startled when Alan placed his hand on her shoulder, a finger coming into contact with her skin along her neckline. “Are you ready to meet the others?”

  As she stood, the anxiety and remorse of the last hours was replaced with a feeling of confidence and calm. Starting over. She had a lifetime's experience starting over. She would not be weak. She would not be pitied. She had a sudden vision of herself as a newly-crowned queen being escorted to the balcony to greet her subjects for the first time. “Lead the way.”

  Alan must have sensed some of her state of mind, because he bowed slightly at her words.

  When they arrived on the designated floor, she followed Alan into a large conference room shaped like a piece of honeycomb. He hadn’t needed to stop for any directions, so he must have attended a few meetings in the room. She wondered how long Alan had been working for both sides.

  Ten members of the board were in the room already, seated at a large U-shaped mahogany table. Juliane didn't look at any of them. Her gaze was instead caught by the room's interior. The walls were decorated with large canvases of paint splatter. At first glance, each piece looked as if the artist had thrown colors against the surface at random. She was startled then to realize that if you scanned your eyes over all the pieces together, the chaos they individually represented was transformed into a beautiful landscape. It was breathtaking work.

  “Your timing is excellent." Damien's voice brought her attention back to the table and the meeting in progress. "Everyone, we have a special guest visiting us today." He nodded to an empty seat. "But perhaps you would prefer to make your own introduction?"

  "I'm Juliane Faris. My experience to date has been in augmented reality and bioprocessing, and I look forward to joining the team."

  Damien grinned. "Short and to the point. Maybe you will rub off on some of the rest of us." He directed a glance at Alan. "Well, then I would like to introduce you to Camille Nadal, who has thus far lead all our efforts within the general health and wellness space as well as applications that touch on behavioral science. There are so many advances being made in biotechnology. I expect she is eager to get some of that work off her plate.

  “Next to her is Eithan Yuan, our resident expert on genetics and gene therapy. Lillian O’Rail heads up finance. Rhett Mossel leads our political advocacy. Alan, of course, helps us with market intelligence, research, and the occasional talent acquisition.” Damien smiled at his own joke. Each team member had inclined their head as they were introduced.

  The door to the office opened again, and the woman from Damien’s front office entered, carrying a stack of papers, which she distributed. “Ah, yes, this is Sarah, my assistant, whom you've already met. Don’t let her friendly manner fool you. In addition to keeping me on schedule, she handles most of the day-to-day management of the support staff. I hear she can be quite the taskmaster.”

  Sarah’s lips turned up as if she was well used to her boss’ accolades, but the smile never reached her eyes. Juliane suspected Sarah was the type who could hold a grudge. When all the papers had been distributed, Sarah took a seat to his right at the base of the U.

  “Finally, last but not least is one of our newest team members, only joining us a couple of months ago. I will admit that I was overjoyed when he reached out to us, as he is quite the steal. Heading our legal department is Durham Ladensham.”

  He turned in his chair. While there was a shine in his eyes, there was no warmth radiating from him in response to Damien’s words. Juliane was startled to realize there was no sign of recognition at all. How was that even possible? Did Louis really ask Durham to entertain so many women that we all blended together?

  Perhaps she should feel grateful for Durham's lack of recognition rather than irritated. The entire idea of hiding behind an avatar rested on not being recognized in the flesh today. But how could Durham not recognize her?

  But what if he did? What if some memory triggered and he let something slip? He had the power to ruin everything before she had a chance to begin. Juliane fought the sweat from showing on her face. She forced her hands to unclench. She had already announced she was joining the team. Was there time to go back and change her mind? She felt the same paralysis of indecision that she imagined Chad suffered from.

  The thought of Chad snapped her out of her internal wimbling. She didn’t have to live like he did, day in and day out, unable to do anything without someone stronger providing instructions. She would never be that way. A future within the ACI might be denied her, but she was far from powerless. She focused her thoughts, accessing the data sphere and her own simulation software. Several scenarios played out in her mind’s eye at a fraction of a second.

  There was nothing he could do now that she wasn't prepared for. Decision made, she stepped toward the empty chair as Alan took a seat near Sarah with a cocky and amused expression on his face. Shoulders straight, Juliane looked Durham squarely in the eye. She was Juliane Faris, and this time, he would remember her, but for the reasons she wanted. She would make sure they all did.

  Twenty Two

  Less than five years had passed since that first day in the conference room, but already her contributions since joining Damien's group could be seen attached to the ears and around the necks of individuals in every major city and many small towns as well. It was a slim device made to look like jewelry but also encapsulated nano-processors and sensor packets in various form factors. Louis and the ACI might have the headset market locked, but overall, she thought her solution was far more elegant.

  True to his word, Juliane had been free to launch a company around her technology provided she occasionally reported into the main office. The ear clip her company produced sent a signal into the brain, allowing a wearer to interface with the virtual world simply by closing their eyes and opening their mind. It wasn't as fast or powerful as genetic imprinting offered exclusively through the ACI but had significantly less risk and was far more affordable. The pendant version was an entry-level model for those even less risk-averse. Framed images of models wearing her products as they walked down the runway hung along one of her office walls.

  Even though Betty still worked for the ACI, and certainly didn't need the access point, she had worn one of Juliane's earliest product releases at her wedding to Alan. The device caught the light at just the right moment in one of the photographer's shots and the product had gone viral. Early product reviews and press releases covered the other wall. Her company's more recent news was muc
h less frame worthy.

  "There was another suicide reported last night." Juliane glanced up from her desk as her assistant, Stuart, added another stack of documentation to the top of the increasingly unstable pile.

  "You are positive it was a suicide?"

  Juliane sighed. It was the fourth reported death at her manufacturing partner's plant. Her only chance to get her product into the hands of enough of the population to revolutionize society was through a low-cost production facility. That meant long hours in locations not known for high wages. There was always a risk that the demands might eventually take their toll on individual technicians employed at these sites. Eyes wide open to the risks, she had toured numerous locations all boasting programs for their workers designed to maintain, if not increase, worker morale, and she had ultimately selected what she believed, at the time, was a quality partner.

  "An investigation is underway, but it appears that way."

  “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about a murderer being on the loose.” Juliane knew as soon as the words were out of her mouth that she was being insensitive, but another investigation would only further delay their next launch. First, all work would stop while the root cause was investigated. The worker's friends and family would be interviewed. New processes, procedures, and safety nets would be installed. All things that she should be happy about, but each of those things took time to implement, and it cost money she might have spent elsewhere.

  An alert scrolled by her vision. A research center in Southern California speculated that there could be a link to cancer from overuse of her ear clips. She ran a quick cross reference. The center's close proximity to Elena's hometown should have thrown the validity of the research into question, but the media always seemed to latch on to potential issues with her products, or her partners, with far more glee than they did with Louis’s . . . especially after the ACI announced that it had found a way to embed nano-generators into roadways, building materials, and even some fabrics. Suddenly, everything was self-powered. Energy was cheap. All you had to do was pay a royalty to the ACI, and the world was grateful for the privilege.

  If they only knew what technology the ACI held back.

  Juliane grimaced. People in developing nations were still dying of dehydration and illnesses spread through contaminated water. The ACI could have been giving them instant clean water if only they hadn't shelved the matter generator project after the accident. It was all Elena's fault. If that wasn't irresponsible enough, tens of thousands of people were put out of work as power plants were taken offline, replaced by the ACI's nanos. Did anyone care? No. Everyone loved the ACI, especially Louis, and why? Because their little electronic toys were powered indefinitely just by standing near the street.

  Meanwhile, she and her company were at risk of being made to look like a monster. Juliane crumpled a piece of paper that she hadn't even realized she had picked up from the stack on her desk.

  “I’ll arrange a conference call with the production facility manager,” her assistant said, already backing out of Juliane’s office.

  “And go ahead and start working up the press release. We may need to get out ahead of this one.”

  Juliane had ensured that all of her production heads were equipped with functioning ear clips or pendants as part of their manufacturing agreement, so at least she wasn’t going to have to squeeze in an international flight. They all wore them constantly per their agreement, which came in handy for meetings like the one she needed now.

  Juliane closed her eyes and sent a meeting command. You really could not get a sense that people understood the gravity of the situation on a conference call, but thanks to her virtual world, she could make sure those that worked for her did. All she had to do was create the correct motivation.

  Twenty Three

  Nets, he said. Juliane's lips curled in displeasure. Nets. Nets would only prevent tragic landings. They did nothing to address why a person would jump from the facility in the first place. The conversation with her initial contact had been a waste of her time. As she listened as the man detailed the list of fees and upgrades the facility would need, she wished she had the luxury of shifting the entire production line, but that wasn't an option. At least not now.

  Signing off, Juliane decided she needed to discuss strategy with Damien. Surely some of his connections had found reliable manufacturing partners who could provide volume manufacturing at a reasonable cost without devaluing human life.

  Deep in thought, she didn’t immediately react when her office door burst open to a very pale Betty. Upon first glance, the years had not been kind. Betty’s eyes were sunken and her skin shone with a waxy hue. Juliane couldn’t quite remember the last time she had seen the woman in the flesh. She had always looked the same as she had the day they first met whenever they corresponded in the virtual world.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in. Your assistant wasn’t at his desk.”

  “Yes, we have a situation that I need to attend to.”

  “Oh.” Betty froze, glancing furtively at the door. “Am I keeping you from something?”

  “Well, I might not be able to give you a whole lot of time, but I can spare a few minutes. Unfortunately, we have gained some experience dealing with these sorts of things.”

  Papers positioned next to the chameleon paperweight on Juliane’s desk fluttered from the breeze caused by Betty’s sigh of relief. Juliane caught sight of the lizard’s grin and scowled. It was designed for one job. One.

  “I really appreciate it.” Betty’s voice was hardly more than a whisper. “I hate to bother you at the office. I know how busy you always are.”

  Juliane nodded in acknowledgment as she attempted to gather up a few of the files she would need for the next hours’ worth of meetings.

  “Betty, you know I would love to be able to spend more time after hours with you, but you should know from your own experience how demanding these schedules can be, especially over the last few years.”

  “I’m not judging you. That’s not why I am here.”

  “Well then, don’t apologize. What can I do for you?” Until the factory was held accountable, each minute wasted was putting more lives at risk.

  Betty moved like a cuckoo bird, only one that had lost its voice. “I don’t know where to start.”

  “Well, trying usually goes a long way.” Juliane had meant the comment as a joke, but her present mood made the words sound terser than she intended. She looked away, only to have her gaze catch on the framed image of the Bullmastiffs hung on her office wall. There was no time to consult with Damien. She knew what she had to do to get through to these people.

  When she had entered the room, Betty’s face had been somewhat yellowed; the subsequent blush made her resemble rotting fruit. “You’re right, but of course you are always right, aren’t you?” Betty chuckled at her own joke, but the laughter was forced. “It’s Stevie.”

  “Your son? He’s what, two now?”

  “Four, actually.”

  “Really, has it been so long?”

  “I’ve learned that he’s been seeing things.”

  “It’s perfectly normal for a boy his age to have an overactive imagination.”

  “I wouldn’t be worried if it was an imaginary friend. What he is seeing is much worse.”

  “Could he have stumbled across some of your and Alan’s work? Images of the human body dissected can be quite traumatic to a young boy.”

  “We aren’t working together anymore . . .” Betty’s voice trailed off. Juliane had to strain her ears to make out Betty’s last word.

  “Oh?” Juliane didn’t really expect a response but took Betty’s silence as confirmation. “That’s a shame. You both seemed to be quite the team.”

  Juliane mentally checked her internal clock. Stuart likely had notified the majority of the remaining production heads by now. If she could wrap this up in the next couple of minutes, she might still have
time to pour a cup of coffee before beginning the interrogation. "As nice as it is to see you, I'm really the last person you should be coming to with family problems. Perhaps you might want to talk to someone like a—”

  Betty interrupted, “I don’t know how much more time he has!”

  Juliane returned her full attention to the woman in her office, taking in the dark circles under her eyes. With a thought, she sent a message to her assistant informing him that she would be delayed for a few more minutes but to start arranging the next call.

  “What do you mean? What's going on?”

  “It began several months ago. Stevie started telling us fantastic stories about places we’d never been to and about awful people we’ve never met. At first, we thought what you did, he had just started to create imaginary friends.”

  Juliane nodded in encouragement.

  “But then he described seeing some place that sounded like a torture chamber with people being transformed into monsters. Alan and I had a huge fight about it. I accused him of allowing Stevie to watch inappropriate movies. Then it got worse. Stevie would suddenly start screaming for no determinable reason, only to go catatonic immediately afterward. I tried everything to snap him out of it, but nothing worked. He just wasn’t there. The episodes started getting more frequent, and he would be gone longer and longer. I had to stop working. One of us had to be home with him at all times. Now I'm afraid to even sleep, terrified that one of these days he won’t wake up at all.”

  Tears flowed freely down Betty’s cheeks as Juliane took a nervous step before freezing in place. Juliane was completely out of her element and at a loss as to what might be expected from her after such a revelation.

  “Where is he now?”

  “There's a children’s clinic here. He is there for observation, but no one seems to know anything.”

  Juliane crossed the remaining distance until she was at Betty’s side, placing an awkward hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Well, I am sure that they will be able to figure out what is the issue. You look exhausted. Did you come here to ask to take a nap on my couch while you wait for the results?”