“You might as well go ahead and give us separate rooms because that’s not gonna happen,” Erik assured them.
Haden looked at Alison and smiled. “Are you sure it hasn’t already?”
I suddenly felt light-headed and sat down. “I don’t feel so good. I need to go back to the room.”
“Oh, she’s white as a ghost,” Alison remarked.
Haden motioned to one of the lab workers on the side of the room. “Ridley, could you come check on Samantha for me? Hurry, please.”
A young man walked over with a wandlike device in his hand. I had seen a similar device at the lab in Minnesota. He waved it over me.
“Everything seems okay,” Ridley said.
“I’m fine. I’m just tired. Do you think we could take the rest of the day off?”
Alison got up. “We’ll postpone our activities for today and resume tomorrow.”
She walked us back to our room, then left. I collapsed on the bed. Erik sat next to me, not saying anything. After a few minutes, he leaned down and put his arm around me.
I immediately pushed him away. “Get off me!”
He sat up. “What did I do? Why are you screaming at me?”
“Didn’t you hear any of that? Weren’t you listening? This is what they want! Us! Together! This fancy room, the fireplace, the clothes, the lingerie. It’s all part of their sick plan!”
“Why are you getting mad at me? I didn’t do this!”
“Because you’re acting like we’re still—like we were before. And we’re not!”
“So you hate me now, or what?”
“No, I don’t hate you.” I sat up to look at him. “I don’t know how I feel about you anymore. Obviously everything I thought I felt wasn’t real. It was all engineered.”
“Really, Sam? You think that’s all we have here? Fake feelings for each other?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Real nice answer there, Sam. So now you don’t even like me? You don’t care at all about me? Is that it?”
I didn’t answer. I was too confused. Rejecting Erik meant I was rejecting GlobalLife’s master plan for me. And I had to do that. I couldn’t let them continue to engineer my whole life, especially who I was attracted to or who I had children with.
Erik went across the room and sat on the chair. He started mind-talking. “You’re just letting them win, Sam. They want to drive us apart. They don’t want us building an alliance. Like they said, they don’t care if we like each other. They just need us to have sex. And I’m sure they have ways to force us into doing that. They’ll send our hormone levels through the roof. Or drug us so we don’t even know what we’re doing. But if you let them break apart our friendship—or whatever type of relationship we have—then we’ll never escape. It’s exactly what they want!”
I wasn’t ready to talk to him. I needed time to think it over. Maybe Erik was right. Maybe they were trying to break us apart. Maybe they suspected we were up to something. Alison and Haden had said that talking telepathically made Erik’s and my attraction to each other stronger. But they knew I didn’t want that. They knew I had a boyfriend. I kept insisting that Erik was only a friend. So why would they tell us that? Probably to get us to stop mind-talking. They didn’t want us saying things they couldn’t hear.
So was any of what they told us true? Did the attraction software really exist? Were we really engineered to be together? Or was their whole speech some type of mind game meant to manipulate us into doing what they wanted us to do?
Erik wouldn’t talk to me for the rest of the afternoon. I stayed in bed, pretending to sleep. I felt horrible for yelling at him. None of this was his fault. And I hated pushing him away. I needed him. We needed each other. Or, as he said, we’d never get out of there.
Dinner arrived as usual and Erik went over to the table to eat. I got up and joined him. “Hey, I’m sorry about how I acted earlier. And I’m sorry for what I said to you.”
“It’s okay. I understand,” he said coldly. “I’ll keep my distance from now on. I’ll sleep on the floor tonight. On the opposite side of the room.”
“You don’t have to do that, Erik. Like you said, we’re not animals. We can control ourselves no matter what they did.”
“No. I thought about what you said and maybe you were right. Maybe we just need to stay away from each other.”
“Erik, I was just upset earlier. I didn’t mean to yell at you like that.”
“Well, you meant the other stuff.”
“What other stuff?”
Erik went into mind-talk mode. “Like the fact that nothing you ever felt for me was real. You just bought into that whole GlobalLife crap without even giving it a thought. It’s like you were relieved that you didn’t really have feelings for me.”
“That’s not true.” I paused, considering how much to tell him. “Okay, maybe a part of me was relieved. But that’s only because I’ve felt so guilty since meeting you. I’ve been trying to understand why I have these feelings for you when I already have a great boyfriend. I mean, Colin is back in my life now and since being here with you, I’ve been acting like he doesn’t even exist. So yeah, it’s nice to be able to explain that.”
“And what if they lied? What if we really weren’t engineered like that? How would you explain your feelings then?”
“I don’t know. Before we found this out, I tried not to think about it. And obviously, if Colin wasn’t in the picture, things would have gone further last Saturday night.”
“Well, according to Alison and Haden, things did go further.”
“Let’s not talk about that, Erik. It’s bad enough I don’t remember, but then to think they were watching it all. I can’t even think about it.”
“They probably just said that to see our reaction. I’m sure we didn’t do anything. I would’ve known.”
We finished dinner and went to bed early. I insisted Erik sleep in the bed despite his protests. The room was more frigid than normal. Another way to get us together, I thought. Make us huddle up for warmth.
In the middle of the night, Erik woke me up. “Sam, I can’t sleep.”
“Because of me? You can’t move, right?” I was curled up next to him trying to keep warm. “I’ll just go to the other side of the bed.”
He kept hold of me before I could move away. “No. You’re fine. I just can’t stop thinking about what they said.”
“What about it?”
He switched to mind-talk. “I don’t think it’s possible to engineer a person’s feelings like that. I don’t think it would work.”
“Some of it had to be true. How else would you explain our instant attraction to each other?”
“Yeah, so maybe the software in us can recognize that we have enhanced genes, but how much more could it really do? It can’t think for us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about when Colin came back. It was like you two were never apart. You didn’t tell him to get lost, then come running back to me. You were able to overcome whatever they put in us and make a decision for yourself.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“So why are we just accepting that some software program has so much control? We still have brains. And free will.”
“What are you trying to say, Erik?”
“I’m saying that our genes and the software are just a small part of us. They don’t have to dictate who we are. We can still think for ourselves. We can make decisions. We can change outcomes. We can’t forget that, Sam. We can’t get so hung up on the idea that we can only act the way we’re programmed to act. Or engineered to feel.”
“But sometimes I feel like the genes and the software really are controlling me. Like they’ve controlled me my entire life.”
“Because you’re letting yourself believe that. Or you want to believe it so you don’t have to face the truth about how you feel, or why you made a certain decision. But if you think that way, you’ll never overcome the outcome they’ve picked fo
r you. They’ll always control you.”
“Wow. You’ve really given this some thought, Erik.”
“Yeah, because what they said today—and how they said it—it just really pissed me off. They act like they control everything about us. Like we’ll never have choices. But they’re wrong! I was thinking about this whole attraction thing, and you know what? I would have been attracted to you even without their stupid software. I like you, Sam. You’re different than other girls, and not just in a genetic way. I have fun with you. I can talk to you about stuff. And none of that has to do with physical attraction.”
“But if it weren’t for the software drawing us together, I don’t think we’d be as close as we are now. I wouldn’t have been so open with you. And I wouldn’t have let things get as far as they have. It’s just not me.”
“I’m not saying that the software doesn’t work. It’s affecting me now and I’m doing all I can to control myself.” He kissed me.
“Hey! Don’t start!” I kidded.
“I’m just saying that we need to think for ourselves. Take control of our actions. And however they try to brainwash us, we need to ignore it and not let them get to us.”
It was a good reminder and I needed to hear it. I kept telling myself that I couldn’t change what GlobalLife had done to me. But of course I could, at least somewhat.
“We need to work harder to get out of here, Sam. No more nights off. We have to spend every free minute planning our escape.”
“And figuring out how to open the globe,” I added.
“Speaking of that, I’m done working on the cipher. I couldn’t sleep so I worked on it and finished it like an hour ago. I know the password now.”
“Erik, that’s great!”
“It’s just one piece, Sam. We still need to get that word or phrase figured out. And we have to learn how to copy brain waves.”
“I was thinking about that earlier. I think we were focusing on the wrong thing before. As we heard today, brain waves are just energy waves released into the air. We need to focus on the energy waves that are released when the phrase is said or thought rather than the words themselves. I’m too tired to try it now but we’ll do it tomorrow.”
The next day, we went to the lab again and asked tons of questions about how brain waves worked. Alison wasn’t there but Haden was, and he answered everything we asked, not suspicious at all. We even got him to describe in detail how Erik and I were able to take the brain wave energy from the air and use our minds to interpret it. Haden’s explanation was exactly what we needed for our practice session later that night.
“So remember what he said about paying attention to the frequency,” I said.
“Yeah, I got it Sam. Just go.”
I said a phrase out loud and Erik tried focusing on the brain waves being released. Then I said several more, first saying them out loud, then thinking them in my head.
“I can’t get any of those to work, Sam,” Erik thought to me after an hour of trying.
“All right, I’ll try.”
Erik and I pretended to read while he made occasional statements about something in his book. Then I would repeat those statements in my head. It was a difficult process. First, I had to learn to tell the difference between energy from a brain wave and the other energy in the room. And once I found it, I had to focus on the various nuances of Erik’s brain waves as he said each word. Then I had to try to re-create those same energy waves in my own head. It was much harder than just letting my brain listen to his thoughts.
After a few hours of trying, Erik said it still sounded like me talking in his head. “It’s really late and we’ve been doing this for hours. Let’s just try later. Give your mind a break.”
“Just a few more times. Come on, Erik.”
He said another phrase. I decided to try focusing on Erik as well as the energy coming from his thoughts, remembering what Alison had said regarding the waltz. If I focused on Erik, I might be able to harness the energy in his mind to help me replicate his brain waves.
I thought Erik’s phrase back to him. He gave me a strange look. “Hey, it sounded like you except for the last few words.”
“Let’s try it again, Erik.”
He said another phrase and I thought it back to him.
He looked excited. “Three words this time, Sam! I got three words!”
We tried again and again until I could mimic up to six words all in a row. I needed more practice, but at least we knew it could be done.
On Wednesday, we headed back to the lab. They took several vials of blood and ran the scanning wand over us. Then they did hearing and vision tests. After lunch, they strapped some helmet device to our heads and made us look at different images.
They let us leave the lab early that afternoon. Haden took us back to our room. “I need to talk to you both.” He sat down, so Erik and I did as well. “Ever since we told you about your engineered attraction to each other, we’ve noticed that you haven’t been as, um, affectionate toward each other.”
Erik and I remained quiet.
“We can’t have that,” Haden said, in an almost threatening tone. “You need to resume that behavior or we’ll need to take more drastic measures. And we really don’t want to have to intervene like that.”
“What behaviors exactly?” I asked.
“You know what I mean, Samantha. You know where babies come from.”
“What’s the rush?” Erik asked.
“We’re on a schedule. And we don’t know how these genes will affect a pregnancy. Could make it shorter, longer—we just don’t know.”
Hearing the words “baby” and “pregnancy” and having them relate to me was making me feel light-headed again.
Haden punched Erik’s shoulder. “Come on, Erik. Be a man. Just get the job done.” He turned to me. “And Sam, look at this handsome young man. You don’t even need the software to be attracted to him, right? Well, I’ll let you two get down to business.”
“Tonight?” I asked. “We have to do this tonight?”
“You don’t have to,” he said, getting up to leave. “But if you wait much longer, we’ll take measures into our own hands. So it’s up to you.”
He left. Erik and I looked at each other. “Well, I wasn’t expecting him to say that,” I said.
“Me, either. Guess they’ve really been watching us.”
Erik switched to mind-talking. “So what are we gonna do?”
“We’re not doing it, Erik, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Well, I don’t exactly like the idea of them ‘intervening,’ whatever that means.”
“Maybe we could pretend. Put on a show for the cameras.”
“I think they’ll know, Sam.”
“It’s worth a try.” I got up and took a book from the shelf, then sat down pretending to read.
“And if they find out we faked it, then what happens? I guarantee it won’t be good.” Erik grabbed a book as well.
“So you’ve just decided we’re doing this?”
“Maybe just once, to get them off our backs.”
“They won’t accept us doing it just one time, Erik. And what if I really get pregnant? No way. Forget it.”
“You won’t get pregnant the first time. That never happens.”
“Are you kidding? It happens all the time! I can’t talk about this right now.”
“Okay, but like he said, we can’t put it off much longer, Sam.”
“Then we need to get out of here before it comes to that.”
Erik sighed. “Yeah, but we haven’t spent any time figuring out how to do that! All you want to do is focus on getting that globe open!”
“Because we need those base codes! Owens said he’d get us out of here. So let him worry about the escape.”
“And what if he doesn’t? What if he can’t? Then it’s up to us to find a way out.”
“Okay, but let’s talk about that later. We need to practice the brain wave thing again. Say a p
hrase.”
Since I was having better luck mimicking brain waves, I kept working on it rather than have Erik try. I focused on his mind again, along with the energy coming from it, as I had the night before.
After several hours of practice I heard Erik shouting in my head. “Sam! You got it! Just now. Every word. It sounded like me talking in my own head!”
I wanted to hug him, but I didn’t since it would look odd with us not talking aloud. “We’re getting closer, Erik! We might actually get the genes!”
“We still have a ways to go, but yeah, this is a huge step.”
“I’m exhausted, Erik. I’m going to bed.”
By morning, I felt a rush of optimism. By learning to mimic brain waves, I’d accomplished what I thought was impossible. And that gave me hope.
At 9, there was a knock on the door. It was time to leave for the lab. But instead of a lab attendant coming to pick us up, Allie’s mom walked in.
“Mrs. Taylor,” I said. “You’re taking us to the lab today?”
“No, no. I’m just here to give you some news.” She seemed way too happy and way too excited.
“What news?” Erik asked in a suspicious tone.
“Well, we got your lab work back from yesterday. It showed that Samantha is pregnant! You two are going to be parents! Congratulations!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Lab Visitor
I thought I was having some awful nightmare. But then Erik grabbed my arm in case I passed out, and I knew it was real.
“Is this a joke?” I asked. “Because it’s not funny.”
“Of course it’s not a joke. I wouldn’t joke about a thing like that. You’re going to be a mother, Samantha. And Erik, you’re going to be a father. Isn’t this marvelous?” She gave us a loose hug, then stood back again.
Mrs. Taylor was loving this far too much. She knew this was the last thing I wanted to hear, and knowing that, she insisted she be the one to tell me. And I hated her for it.
“So what do you think, Samantha?”
“This isn’t possible. How could this happen?”
“You do know how babies are made,” she said in a condescending tone.
“Of course I do.”
The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) Page 27