The Fair & Foul (Project Gene Assist Book 1) (16 page)

When her eyes fluttered open again, her head was wedged in between the pillows of her bed. The warm pale light on the wall suggested early morning.
How did I get here?
she wondered. Chad. Chad must have moved her after her collapse in the office. But how would he have gotten into her apartment? He must have rooted around in her purse to find the key. She wouldn't have thought he would possess the nerve. She risked a glance down and was relieved to see she was still in the same attire that she had worn before. It was stiff and wrinkled, but otherwise all there. Juliane's lips inched upward a fraction. At least there had been some limits to Chad’s caregiving.

Juliane pinged Louis's location with her next breath. Her fists tightened on their own accord as she realized that not only was he in transit, he was moving in an easterly direction.
Finally.
He had to be coming this way. He must have heard about her collapse and dropped everything for her. Once he got here, she would explain everything. They would debug the private link issue, and everything would be just as it should be. Juliane closed her eyes, displacing the threatening tears.

Juliane's lips settled back into a fine line. Now she just had to summon the energy to get herself out of bed. It felt like trying to open her car door in the dead of winter. She filled her lungs in anticipation of the effort and nearly gagged.
Is that smell coming from me?
Juliane rubbed her fingers over her temples. Her skin felt cool to the touch, more like it belonged to a porcelain doll than a person.

She pulled herself upright only by a supreme act of will. Stumbling, Juliane made her way to the shower. As the water began to flow, she could feel the impact of each droplet on her body like hail stones. Juliane began to worry that she might shatter under the assault.

Emerging from the shower, she did not recognize the face in the mirror. Her normally alabaster skin was tarnished by dark lines, giving her skin the appearance of veined marble. Her dark hair, still wet, clung to her neck and shoulders. The dryer, a dead weight in her hand. Chad was right. She had been working herself too hard. She would go into the office, finalize the remaining tasks, and then insist on some time off.

She went through the rest of her morning ritual on autopilot. Every step she took was a small victory. Each time she felt like giving up, Juliane reminded herself that everything would be better soon. Ever since Vegas, Juliane had splurged on her clothing, making sure everything was tailored.
Dress for the job you want
, she told herself as she paid for the extra service. Fine suits became her armor, but she noticed that her clothing no longer fit her to perfection.
When did that happen?
Juliane realized she couldn’t recall the last real meal she had enjoyed.

As she put on her shoes, the entry door opened. Juliane immediately stopped struggling to line up her foot with an errant shoe. Pulling on its pair had taken several minutes. "Louis," she whispered. She lost her grip on the shoe.

As it clattered on the floor, Juliane's vision once again blurred. A shadow came toward her. She felt a hand on her arm, pulling her upward. Juliane realized she must have fallen along with the footwear. The figure's face came into focus. She had expected to see Louis's wickedly sexy smile. Instead, she was greeted by Chad's look of concern. There was something else though about his expression. Something she couldn't quite place. It was the same look that had met her at the door of each foster family.
Pity.
She recoiled from the sight.

“What are you doing here, Chad?” she asked, fighting back the tears threatening to consume her. No one pitied her now. She had come too far. Chad must have forgotten who was in charge. She would have to be careful not to show any more weakness in front of him.

“Oh, thank goodness you're moving around! I worried that it might be time to call the emergency room!”

“It was just a migraine, nothing to get that worked up about. Definitely not worth going to the hospital over. I am grateful that you got me back home. It was much nicer to be able to wake up after a day like that in my own bed.”

“Umm . . . it’s been more than a day.”

“What? Two?” Juliane sniffed.

“Err . . . more like a week.”

“A week. How could it possibly have been a week?” she demanded.

Chad frowned. “You don't remember." Never letting go of her arm, Chad walked her to a chair. Even after she was seated, he did not completely release his grip as if he was afraid she might fall again.

Juliane pushed him off, straightening her back. "Remember what?" she asked.

"When I brought you back here, you were awake, but in a daze. The following morning you drank some water when I came by to check on you but demanded I leave you alone. We were beginning to worry you might not be willing to come back. Nadia wanted to call the doctors right away, but I . . ." Chad trailed off.

"You what?"

"I couldn’t help worrying what could happen when they started treating you without knowing what effect that procedure might have done to your systems. I didn't want to be the reason if you got worse.”

Chad's face was flushed brilliant red. Juliane took a deep breath as if the added weight in her lungs would somehow help anchor her back into the land of the living. “Well, I feel fine now." Juliane responded as if the words being spoken out loud would make them true. "At least you were able to get through to Louis. How about the project? Was Betty able to help Alan finish up the requisition process?”

“Oh yes, I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t know what he did or said, but everything we asked for was in the lab the next day. The final assembly should be taking place today. If you think you are up for it, we could go together for the trial.” Chad glanced down at his phone. “But we all understand if you would prefer to stay away one more day.”

“Nonsense. I told you I am fine. There is no reason I would miss this.” Juliane waved Chad toward the door, determined to rise and make her way on her own.

Arriving at the lab, Chad hovered behind as if she might break into a thousand pieces at any given moment. True to his report, when she opened the lab door, she was met by a large metallic device. It was a near replica of the simulated one she had created in the virtual world, only missing a side panel. Betty and Alan were crouched over a corner desk examining the remaining electrical components and wire harnesses like puzzle pieces.

"Branching out to new fields of study, are we?"

Although Alan did not glance up as Juliane and Chad entered, Juliane watched as he slowly returned the component he had been holding back to the table. Juliane had been building circuits almost as long as she had been programming, but Alan had never quite mastered the skill. There was a certain amount of artistry involved by tapping into an innate skill that just couldn't be taught. It was a talent Alan lacked, and they both knew it. Juliane knew it had to gall him that there was something he wasn't the best at.

Betty, on the other hand, immediately jumped up and ran over to them. She reached out to touch Juliane as if she needed reassurance that the real Juliane was in front of her and not just a virtual simulation.

“Thank goodness! We were streaming soldering for dummies, but I think even the dummies have more experience with electronics than I do. I am so relieved you're back on your feet. I am so, so sorry that I wasn’t there for you. Why didn’t you tell anyone you were feeling ill?”

“You and Alan seemed to have other things on your mind. Besides it was only a little headache, nothing at all to concern yourself about.”

“A little headache doesn’t keep you from our work for over a week,” Alan spoke up. “I’m glad you're feeling well and rested now, but you could not have picked a worse time to have a breakdown.”

“I’ll try to make sure to schedule the next one at a more convenient time.”

“See that you do.”

Juliane scanned the work bench and the supplies strewn about it. Silver blobs shown in between twisted wires and broken chips. Her nostrils detected the smell of metal and burnt fabric. "Your iron is too hot and the sponge is too dry, but you haven't done too much damage yet. Chad? Can you please bring me my tools? I should be able to get us back on track in no time."

Juliane soon lost herself in the work at hand. Juliane was aware that Betty was speaking, but her voice was like white noise. It wasn't until a distracted Alan suffered a burn from an ill-placed soldering iron that she returned to the present. Alan glared at Betty as he moved to take over the mechanical portion of the assembly. Juliane realized that hours had slipped by, but unlike before, she wasn't troubled by their unnoted passage. She almost felt alive again.

Finally, the last bolt was tightened. The device was just as Juliane had designed it in the simulation, a series of interlocking tubes surrounding a grouping of transformers and power generators.

“Well, I guess that’s everything,” stated Chad. “Who gets the honors of flipping the switch?”

“Should the rest of us go behind a screen or something?” Betty asked, eyeballing the device. Juliane took a deep breath, calming her racing heart. She told herself she had no doubt about the device's performance. They had logged hundreds of hours in the simulation environment for just this moment. Did Betty think that time spent had been merely for fun?

Juliane spotted Alan as he took a step forward placing him in between Betty and the device. Betty appeared to relax as if his presence was all the reassurance she needed. Betty might interpret the gesture as heroic, but Juliane wasn't convinced his motivation was as selfless as it seemed.
I miss a few days and Alan immediately thinks he has been in charge this whole time
, she thought.

Juliane realized that she was frowning and forced her features back into a neutral expression. If Alan and Betty were in a relationship, it meant she was well and truly outnumbered. Chad would shy away at the first sign of tension. Of course, if Louis were here, there would be no question as to who should take the honors.

Thinking of Louis again, Juliane's eyebrows knit in confusion. Where was he anyway? When she had last tracked him, his trajectory had suggested that he would be in the general area by now. Juliane tried to get another reading on his location and was shocked to discover that she could no longer locate him at all. It was as if he were no longer on the grid. Her pulse quickened. Had something awful happened to him in transit? His jet was safer than most, but accidents still happened.

Lost in her own concern, she did not protest as Chad led her back into an observation room along with Betty. Alan moved to the center of the room, the twinkle in his eyes blurred by the oversized safety goggles he wore. He paced around the perimeter of the device as if this last inspection might find some undetected design defect. Juliane snorted at Alan’s attempt at showmanship. Out of the corner of her vision, Betty’s chest swelled with pride.
No doubt about it, they are definitely in a relationship.
It was everything she could do not to roll her eyes.

“I feel as if I should have prepared some formal statement,” said Alan, “as this moment will go down in the history books for sure.”

“What? You didn't prepare for this moment? Here I was hoping to be inspired.” Juliane might have spoken with more venom a year ago, but she had to admit that Alan’s childlike glee was infectious. It couldn’t cut through all of the fog from the loss of the link, but it softened the fog's effect.

“I am sure that Juliane and Chad will agree to sign off on whatever speech you want to claim you made in the final report,” said Betty. “The suspense is killing me! Say the magic word or something, and turn it on.”

Alan laughed. “What a marvelous suggestion! Chad, make sure you are recording this. Three . . . two . . . one . . . Abracadabra!”

The device lit up as it came online indicating that all systems were functioning normally. Even in the other room, Juliane thought she felt the barest tingle on her skin. A layer of water materialized on the lab floor, just as it had in her simulation.

Chad took a step back. “We’ve done it,” Chad whispered before correcting himself. “You’ve done it . . .”

“Glad to know you never doubted us, Chad.” Alan’s voice vibrated as if his teeth were chattering. Juliane broke her gaze away from the growing puddle to really look at him. Alan saw the light of the sun about as often as she did, but could he be paler than he was just moments ago?

“No arguing with me this time, Juliane. It’s time to celebrate!” Betty ran over to the small cooler in the back of the lab and pulled out a bottle of champagne. When Juliane looked back at Alan, whatever she thought she had seen in his expression was gone; if anything, Alan’s cheeks now looked flushed as he swung Betty up into an embrace with uncharacteristic abandon.

“You did consider the increase on my insurance premiums, and made sure to install appropriate drainage in this room before this little experiment, correct?” a voice she hadn’t heard in weeks spoke up from the lab doorway.

The bottle crashed to the ground, sending fizzing spray across the room. The sound barely registered in Juliane's ears. She spun toward the doorway, not bothering to watch for broken glass on the ground as she leapt toward Louis. Only then did she notice that there was something off about his expression. Juliane realized then what was missing was his characteristic smile. Without it, he looked older, less forgiving. She pulled up short.

He hadn’t made any move toward her. His posture was formal, matching the tailored suit he wore. Juliane detected a figure in the shadows behind him. Louis turned, and the smile she missed bloomed once again on his face, only this time it wasn’t directed at her.

“I received a call that the project was nearing finalization and thought it was time to schedule an impromptu inspection. Had I realized that you were already preparing for the trial, I wouldn’t have dawdled at the airport.” His voice was pure business, only softening with a hint of mirth when he mentioned being delayed at the airport.