Deidre smiled. “Well, it sure did. And I have to say, you’re sick and twisted, doctor, but I like it.”
The doctor smiled again. “Well, I don’t know about sick and twisted. I’m just very passionate about my work. But all that aside, I can safely say that we took you to the moment of death, so we hope that you found the experience to be to your satisfaction.”
“Absolutely,” Deidre said. “I have just one more question. Why did I relive it? Why did I end up back in the car?”
“Because you failed to die during the original experience. You never experienced your moment of death, and by failing to do so, you and your five constituents might have red-flagged the funding, and the board would’ve turned us down.”
“Are you saying the program has a glitch?”
“No, not at all. I wouldn’t call it a failure or even a glitch in the program. You’re just very strong-willed, and one of the few who could beat the program. With all simulations, video games, computerized tests, there will always be at least one person capable of beating the system. Mastering it. In this case, you were that person. You should have never made it as far as you did, and since I didn’t have the experience set to allow death from a fall, I had to reset the program when you happened to take a plunge. However, that option will be added for the next user.”
Deidre swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She was becoming just the slightest bit impatient. “That still doesn’t answer my question, doctor. I’ll need a straight answer if you want the funding. Why did I jump back in the car? Should I have any concern that your program might not yet be safe for human use?”
“Miss Hill, the program is one hundred percent safe, I can assure you. As far as ending up back at the beginning of the program, that was my decision. Since you made it to the end and never experienced the moment of death, I had to intervene and reset the program. I also reconfigured certain parameters that allowed you to be killed immediately. It was the only way I could have you undergo the full experience.”
“Interesting,” Deidre said. “That settles my concerns. I am well pleased with the program, and I can see my board of directors voting in favor of your research following my report. But first, I’ll have to speak with my team. I want to know how their individual experiences went.”
“I’m assuming we’ve met with your personal approval.”
Deidre smiled and nodded. “Yes. You most certainly have. That was the most amazing trip I’ve ever had in my life. Doctor, this will be the new big thing. The new drug.”
She turned to walk toward the door. “I’m heading to my room to call the board and let them know that my team have all finished the test. I’ll discuss funding as soon as I return to New York.”
The doctor smiled.
“One more thing,” she said, turning back from the door. “The agreement was that six from our company would test the program. Why wasn’t Cassandra Lewis there?”
“She had a slight reaction to the anesthesia,” the doctor replied. “It was totally unrelated to the program. We had to pull her out, but since we had a momentary record of her consciousness, she showed up in the vehicle the second time around.”
“But she’s okay?”
“Absolutely. She’s fine. We remedied the reaction and explained to her what happened.”
“That’s all I needed to hear,” Deidre said. “Now if you two will excuse me, I’ll head to my room to call the board to make my initial report. But I think I’ll take a detour so that I don’t have to walk by that hearth in the lobby.”
Deidre, the doctor, and the nurse all laughed at her joke, then Deidre left the room.
“Doctor,” the nurse said, “do you think not putting her in as deep a sleep state as the rest of her team affected her moment of death outcome?”
“Possibly, but I had to, because I had to test my theory on light induction. Though she doesn’t need to know that. We need this funding, so we’ll work out the kinks later.”
“What about the test subject Cassandra Lewis. She almost died. If Miss Hill finds out, we’ll lose their backing.”
“How would she possibly find out?” the doctor asked, a bit of annoyance in his voice. The nurse took the hint and changed the subject.
“I wanted to say that I thought you took quite a risk incorporating the seven deaths.”
The doctor leaned in close to her. “I never programmed the experience to bring up bad blood. I don’t know how that got into the program. I would never do something to jeopardize our funding or let it slip we had anything to do with those deaths. Something else is at work here, and I mean to find out. We’ve improved the system following the glitches we experienced in the previous Atherton Flight test. But something is still amiss. It will be corrected before it goes public. That’ll be all for now, nurse. You should go clean up.”
The doctor smiled at the woman to reassure her that all would be fine. She smiled back, seeming relieved. As she left the room, the doctor leaned against one of the beds. He knew he was playing with fire, but he also knew what kind of money was at stake. He might get burned, but the potential upside was worth the risk.
The six people sat in a conference room at a large log table, meeting for the first time since their moment of death experience. Staring through the glass window as the group talked among themselves, Deidre peered at the stone hearth and shivered, even though it was blazing. She quickly looked away and switched to business mode.
“Settle down everyone, it’s time to get down to business. I expect full reports from the five of you on your experience so the board can compare them and see how accurate the program has been for all of us. With the exception of you, Cassandra. I’m happy you’re fine, by the way.”
“I apologize,” Cassandra said. “I wish I could have been there with you.”
“No. No you don’t,” Artie said, chuckling.
Brian, Cassandra, Eddie, and Becky laughed.
Deidre cleared her throat, and everyone settled down. “I’ve made the call to the board to start the proceedings. I was blown away by the experience. I’ve still got chills just being here.”
The other five agreed as they shared stories about their nightmare. Deidre focused on the money her company would make from the doctor’s brilliance. As the others raved about their own encounters with “death,” Deidre gazed out the window and blinked. She could have sworn she saw a small shadow, roughly the size of a child, pass by out of the corner of her eye.
Long, Cold Winter Page 7