The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2)

by Karpinske, Stephanie

  The man looked at me to say something but I remained silent.

  Erik wrapped his hand around mine. “She’s a little nervous.”

  “There’s no need to be,” Siefert said. “These are very simple tests. In fact, today we’re mostly just talking. Gathering information from you both.”

  “Are you strapping us down with those clamps?” I asked him.

  “No. Of course not. Why would you think that?”

  I wouldn’t answer, so Erik did. “She had a bad experience, you know, before.”

  “I see. Yes, you mean in the Minnesota lab. Well, we do things differently here. So there’s no need to be worried. Shall we go?”

  Siefert led us to the back of the building, then down a hall to one of the labs. The room wasn’t at all like the white, prisonlike bunker I was held in at the GlobalLife facility in Minnesota. It wasn’t like the stark, cold labs you see in movies either. Instead, it was homelike with dark brown wood cabinets, granite countertops, and a seating area off to one side with a bright orange sofa and brown leather chairs. The lighting was warm and soft, not the harsh fluorescents typically used in labs. There were no steel carts with scary equipment and no hospital beds with metal clamps.

  Seeing the place made me relax enough that I could finally release the firm grip I had on Erik’s hand. “You okay?” he thought to me.

  “So far,” I thought back.

  “This is Alison Kiewitz and this is Haden Gates,” Siefert said as two people approached us. “They’ll be working with you today. I have a meeting now but I’ll be by later to see how things are going.”

  Alison was an attractive woman in her thirties with short, black hair and glasses. Haden was an average-size guy with brown, wavy hair. He was probably in his early forties, but the blue bowtie he was wearing made him seem older. Neither one of them appeared to be as frightening as the scientists in the Minnesota lab, but I knew looks could be deceiving.

  Alison and Haden introduced themselves, then invited us to sit down on the orange sofa. As we walked over there, we passed several lab workers seated in high stools along one side of the wall. Some of them were looking at screens that were built into the granite countertops; others were working with 3-D models that hung as digital images in the air in front of them.

  Erik and I sat next to each other. Alison and Haden took the chairs across from us. Alison started. “Well, today we’ll give you a download of what we’ve learned so far. Then we’ll go through a series of questions to see how your abilities are developing.”

  “Before we get started, can I get you anything?” Haden asked. “We have coffee, soda, water.”

  I shook my head.

  “No, thanks,” Erik said. “We just had breakfast.”

  Sitting there, I got a chill and shivered.

  “Are you cold, Samantha?” Alison tapped the table in front of us. The top suddenly collapsed inward and out popped what looked like a fire pit with fake coals and an orange glow. The surrounding area instantly became warm.

  “It’s new from the GlobalLife Home Technologies Division,” Haden explained. “Pretty nice, right?”

  I didn’t answer. I wasn’t impressed with anything GlobalLife created. I hated them too much.

  “So you mentioned that you were gonna tell us what you’ve learned,” Erik said. “What do mean by that?”

  “Oh, I meant that we’ll go over our observations,” Alison clarified. “Things we’ve noticed since you arrived.”

  “Can we start with that?” I tried to sound positive, as if it was a good thing they were observing us, even though I couldn’t stand the idea of it. The building may have been nicer than the one in Minnesota, but they were still treating us like lab rats.

  “Sure.” Alison looked over at Haden for his agreement. He nodded for her to continue. “Well, first I’ll say that you both performed very well on the coursework we put you through last week. It was a lot to learn in a short amount of time and you did you an excellent job. So we’re happy to see that.”

  “And you really impressed Mr. Owens,” Haden added. “As you probably already know, Preston Owens is very important to this project and always has been. He’s very difficult to impress. And he can be a bit intimidating so it’s remarkable how poised you remained at the interview and how well you were able to answer his questions.”

  “We’ve also noticed how well you two communicate with your minds,” Alison said.

  I started to panic. What did she mean? Were they able to hear Erik and me talking through our thoughts? If so, had they heard us talking about stealing the genes?!

  Erik was thinking the same thing. “So you’re able to see us communicating?”

  “Well, we can’t exactly see it in terms of understanding what you’re saying. It’s not like thought bubbles in a cartoon,” Haden explained. “But what we can do is measure the electric current, or energy, going between you. You see, brain waves are really just electrical impulses. So when you use your brain, there’s energy being given off. That’s true for everyone. But with your enhanced genes, you two are able to capture those waves of energy and interpret them. Does that make sense?”

  “I think so, but could you explain it a little more?” Erik asked, hoping to get more information from him.

  “Think of it like this,” Alison chimed in. “Sam has a thought in her mind that creates all these electrical sparks, which then creates energy that’s released into the atmosphere. Normally, the brain wave energy just hangs out there in the air and nothing happens. But you’re able to identify that energy and interpret it in your own mind. And it’s not just words you’re interpreting but also the feelings that go with them.”

  Haden pointed to something on his belt. “This device I’m wearing, that all of us are wearing, disrupts that energy as soon as it leaves our minds. So the brain wave is essentially too scrambled for you to interpret, like a radio station that won’t come in.”

  “So I still don’t get how you’ve been seeing us communicate,” I said.

  “This building is constantly detecting energy fields.” Alison went up to the monitor on the wall behind her. “For instance, if you look at our fitness center, here,” she tapped in the air and a map of the building appeared with a large red spot in one area, “you can see all the energy being given off.” She tapped on the screen again. “Here’s the conference room next door, which is currently empty. It’s blue, indicating a low energy spot.”

  Alison came back and sat down. “The detection system has shown a lot of energy coming off you two, especially when you’re in your room. Obviously it shows the normal energy given off by your body. But we see big spikes when you two are talking telepathically, which you seem to do quite often.”

  “But we can’t hear what you’re saying,” Haden explained. “Keep in mind that even if we didn’t have this technology, we’d still know you were talking telepathically. I mean, why wouldn’t you? If I had that power, I would use it.”

  “What was interesting to watch this past week was how the telepathy affects you both,” Alison said.

  Erik and I looked at each other, unsure what she meant.

  “Think about learning that waltz, Erik. You’d never done anything like that before, correct?”

  Erik nodded.

  “Then how you were you able to perform it so well at the gala? To lead Samantha across the dance floor like that?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Practice?”

  “A few hours of practice wasn’t enough to be that good. What we found is that when you really focused on Samantha, connecting with her mind, your brain learned that dance significantly faster. The energy coming from you during those lessons and again at the gala was incredible. It’s as if your brain was on overdrive, firing at a rapid pace to learn this new skill. And it’s all because you connected with Sam, harnessing the energy from her brain.”

  “Just imagine if we could all do this someday,” Haden said. “And don’t just think about the energy be
ing given off. Think about what’s in that energy. Think about the knowledge in those brain waves. Imagine if we could all share in that knowledge. Some people are better at math. Some people are better at science. Some people are geniuses, like Einstein. Now think if we could combine all those brain waves, pooling them together so we all had access to them. It would be like having one superpowerful brain rather than a single, inferior brain.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a good thing,” I muttered. “I’d rather have my own brain.”

  Erik gave me a look. “Just go along with it, Sam. Say it’s a good idea. We have to gain their trust.”

  “But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have access to some extra brainpower now and then,” I added, smiling.

  “Oh. See that?” Alison picked up the digital tablet on the table next to her. “I just got a jump on the monitor here that shows you two were talking with your minds.”

  “So it does that every time?” I asked as she showed us the spike on the screen.

  “No. It’s only because you’re sitting right next to one of our portable energy field devices. Normally, like in your room, we only notice it when you’re having a conversation between your minds. A single sentence or two doesn’t usually create much of a response.”

  “Speaking of our room, why don’t Erik and I have separate beds to sleep in? I mean, if you’re keeping us in the same room, couldn’t we at least have two beds? And maybe some more clothes to sleep in?”

  Erik’s thoughts filled my head. “What are you doing? Why are you asking them this? Who cares about the bed and the clothes?”

  I didn’t answer him. He knew why I was asking. He knew that I was trying to resist him, and sleeping next to him was making that very difficult.

  Alison and Haden seemed confused. “Why would you want separate beds?” Haden asked.

  “Well, obviously, it’s kind of awkward to be in the same bed as Erik.” They stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language. “Don’t you agree? I mean, Alison, would you wanna sleep in the same bed as Haden?”

  She laughed. “Well, of course not. I’m married for one. And we’re coworkers.”

  “Yeah. And Erik and I are just friends. So it’s weird.”

  Alison looked at Haden, then back at Erik and me. “Um, you two are much more than friends. You were designed to be.”

  “ … designed to be …” The words sat in my head, but I couldn’t make sense of them.

  “What did you just say?” Erik asked.

  “She said that you were designed to be more than just friends,” Haden replied, in a matter-of-fact way. “Didn’t anyone tell you that?”

  “Uhh, no.” Even when Haden repeated the words, I couldn’t wrap my mind around what he was saying.

  “Well, you must have figured it out on your own,” Alison said. “I mean, come on. You have this insane chemistry going on between you. Did you think that was just natural?”

  Erik and I froze. Neither one of us answered.

  “Really? You really didn’t know?” Alison was finally noticing our shock. “Well, I guess I should tell you then. You two were designed to be attracted to each other. And I mean really attracted to each other. Not just a ‘oh, he’s cute, I should go meet him’ kind of way. I mean more like ‘I can’t keep my hands off this person’ type of attraction.”

  “How can you force a person to feel attracted to someone?” I asked.

  “There are several ways. For you two, the attraction is due to the software we put in your cells. Basically the software tells your brain to identity those people who have the enhanced genes. Once you find those people, the attraction begins instantly,” Alison explained. “It’s simply a tool for genetic preservation. Think about it. You wouldn’t want people with enhanced genes getting together with people without those genes, right? It would water down the superior gene pool that we’ve been working so hard to create.”

  Haden stepped in. “For now, you two are the only ones with these enhanced genes. So your attraction to each other is off the charts. If you were in a room full of people with these enhanced genes, that attraction would be tamped down a little. But still, you would be much more attracted to the people with enhanced genes than you would be to regular people with regular genes.”

  “That’s not true. I’m attracted to regular people. I have a boyfriend.” I instantly regretted saying it. Even though Colin was safe, I knew that I should never mention him. I didn’t want them even thinking about him or where he might be.

  Haden didn’t seem to notice or care. “You were attracted to your boyfriend because Erik wasn’t there. You didn’t even know Erik existed. But I’m guessing that once you finally met Erik, it was hard to keep your mind on that boyfriend of yours.”

  He was right. It was a constant struggle to keep Colin front and center in my mind when Erik was around. Now I knew why. It finally made sense.

  “But before you arrived here,” Alison said, “when you temporarily lost your abilities, your attraction to Erik probably wasn’t as strong. In fact, you were probably feeling close to your boyfriend again, right?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “That’s because the software was disabled. When we went in and restored your abilities last week, we fixed the software, too. Updated it to the latest version. And look what happened after that? You two couldn’t keep your hands off each other. Your attraction to each other was probably even stronger than before you arrived here.”

  I didn’t try to deny it because what she had described was true. Which meant that the attraction Erik and I shared for each other was simply a product of some computer software. It was all engineered in a lab.

  I glanced over at Erik, who was still too stunned to speak.

  “So you’ve engineered us to what? Fall in love?” I asked, trying not to let my growing hatred for GlobalLife show.

  “Well, love is tricky,” Haden said. “It’s hard to engineer. There are so many factors to consider with the whole love emotion. But physical, or sexual, attraction? That’s much easier. It’s basically a mix of hormones, visual appearance, fantasies, things like that.”

  Alison explained. “You don’t have to be in love with someone to be attracted to them. And there are many ways to build attraction. We can do things like alter hormone levels or define what characteristics you find attractive in the opposite sex.”

  “How would you do that? I understand the hormone levels being changed, but the other part?”

  “The characteristics? We’d just rework the software. At this point, all we’ve had to do to make you and Erik attracted to each other is to let the software identify your unique base codes. Again, it works because you two are the only people who have these enhanced genes. But in the future, when there are more people like you, we hope to engineer attraction based on more specific characteristics. We haven’t defined those yet.”

  “Well, your technology doesn’t work because I’m not attracted to Erik that way,” I lied.

  Alison smiled. “There’s no need to pretend, Samantha. We’ve seen it for ourselves.”

  I remembered the cameras in our room and felt my face blushing.

  “Didn’t you feel yourself drawn to Erik the instant you met?” Alison asked. “Maybe even before you met? You might have even had a premonition or dream about him before you knew he existed.”

  It was all true. But I didn’t answer, not wanting to prove their point.

  “And Erik,” Haden said, “didn’t you want to … you know … the second you met this girl?”

  Erik didn’t respond, so Alison continued. “What’s interesting is that we’ve noticed your attraction to each other gets stronger the more your minds connect. So the more you talk telepathically, the more attracted you become to each other. And that waltz you did? Well, you two were so connected on that night that you basically couldn’t help what happened later.”

  What happened later? I thought. What exactly did she see? I still didn’t even know what happened that night.

 
Haden turned to Alison. “But they do seem connected on a more personal level as well, don’t you think? They seem to have more than just this physical attraction.”

  “Yes, you’re right. I noted that earlier.” She jotted something down in her digital notepad. “That’s actually a good thing. I mean, if you’re engineered to be that physically attracted to someone, it’d be nice if you also liked them as a person.” She laughed, but I didn’t see the humor in it.

  Erik finally spoke. “Alison, you mentioned that Sam and I were made to have a physical attraction to each other. And that you don’t care if we actually like, or love, each other. If you want us to be a couple, why wouldn’t you at least try to engineer that as well?”

  Haden answered. “As I said earlier, making someone love someone else is very difficult. We haven’t yet figured out how to do that. But for the purposes of this project, love doesn’t matter. Sex does. And physical attraction drives that.”

  Erik moved to the edge of his seat. “Wait a minute. So was that your goal? You engineered us to have sex with each other?”

  “Well, of course,” Alison replied. “Are you still not getting it? We need you two to mate.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  News

  “Could you say that once more?” Erik looked even more shocked than before.

  “We need you two to mate.” Haden repeated it as if it were no big deal. “We need you two to have a baby. We need to see what happens when two people with these enhanced genes procreate. And we’re hoping we can use the new genes to—”

  “What? No!” I jumped up from the sofa. “You can’t make us have a baby. I won’t do it.” I yanked Erik up from his seat. “WE won’t do it.”

  “She’s right. Forget it. We’re not doing that. You may have made us attracted to each other, but we’re not animals. We don’t mate when put in confinement. We can control ourselves.”

  “So that’s why we’re in that room together? Because you want us to have sex?” I wanted to scream at them, but I knew it would interfere with our goal of getting information.