The Samantha Project (38 page)

I wondered if Brittany would be the way she was if she had grown up in my house instead of hers. Would she still be the head cheerleader that bullies the other kids? Would she care less about how she looked and more about how she acted? I wasn’t sure. But looking at her, I knew that she was my sister. I didn’t need a DNA test to prove it.
 

At that moment, I decided that even if she continued to criticize my clothes or the way I wore my hair, I wasn’t going to be her enemy anymore. We had to stick together. And I had to protect her. It’s what Mom and Dad would have wanted.

The door to Jack’s lab squeaked opened, waking Brittany. “What time is it? And why did I sleep in this chair? My neck is killing me.”

Jack came over and turned on a light. “You girls should get up. It’s 8 o’clock and we have a lot to get done. I’ve decided that we’re going to leave on Sunday morning. That only gives us two more days to pack and prepare.”

“Why Sunday?” I asked.

“I heard on the radio that there’s a missing person alert out for Brittany. Her mom didn’t buy the runaway story. She’s worried. She called the police and filed a report yesterday.”

“She did?” Brittany seemed surprised that her mother even noticed she was gone.

“Sounds like they’ve talked to all your friends, Brittany, and since nobody has seen you, they’ve widened the search to the surrounding towns.”

“Maybe we should leave now then,” I said, feeling anxious.

“No. We would risk running into them. We need to wait. I know these cops, Sam. They’ll look for a day or two and then they’ll figure that she wanted to go. It’s not that uncommon for a girl Brittany’s age to leave town.”

“But my mom is worried? Is that what the news said?” Brittany was still not believing that her mother was capable of caring about her whereabouts.

“Yes, very worried. We can send her a message later, Brittany. Let her know you’re okay,” Jack reassured her. “Now why don’t you clean up. Sam can show you the new clothes.”

“Yeah, I think it’s time to change into something else, Brittany,” I said, picking out a t-shirt and some jeans. “They may not be your style but at least they’re clean.”

Brittany took the clothes and went to the bathroom to shower. Jack came into the living room and set his laptop on the table. “While she’s in there, I need to talk to you and Erik. I have more information on that timer. Can you go get him?”
 

“Me? Oh, I don’t think I should.” The idea of going to Erik’s bedroom upstairs didn’t seem appropriate. He’d be in bed, in his pajamas. What if he didn’t wear much to bed? What if he didn’t wear anything?

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked impatiently. “Go get him. Hurry up.” Jack was working on his laptop, completely clueless about the situation.

“Um, okay.” I went upstairs to Erik’s room and knocked on the door. No answer. “Hey, Erik. Your dad wants to talk to us. Are you up? Erik?”

I opened the door to find Erik still sleeping. He had kicked the sheet off, leaving just him. Just as I thought. Shirtless and boxers. Practically naked. Looking perfect, as usual. What was Jack thinking? Sending me into his son’s room when he’s half naked! It was hard enough trying to resist Erik. I certainly didn’t need this image in my head.

The floorboards squeaked under my feet as I tried to sneak away. “Sam?” Erik was waking up. I was mortified.

“Hi, Erik. Your dad sent me up here.” I continued to face the door so I couldn’t see him. “He wanted you to get up. He has something to tell us. Or show us. Well, I’ll see you downstairs.”
 

“No, wait. And why are you looking at the door?” I could tell from his tone that he knew exactly why.

“I was thinking that—that you might want to get dressed,” I said, not moving.

“I’m not naked here, Sam. Come back and talk to me.”

I slowly turned around to find him still shirtless, but he’d pulled the sheet up enough to cover his boxers. He looked like one of those male models. His hair wasn’t even messed up, even after sleeping on it. How can a person look that good right out of bed? I thought.
 

“We can talk later,” I said, sounding anxious. “I should be going.”
 

“So how did it go last night? Is she still here?” Erik asked, completely ignoring my attempt to get away.

My eyes were fixated on his perfectly chiseled chest. “Who?” I glanced away, hoping he hadn’t caught me staring.
 

“Brittany. You know, your sister?” He laughed. He had indeed caught me.

“Oh, yeah, she’s here. She’s taking a shower downstairs. Which is where we should be. Downstairs! Not the shower! Together! Never mind!” I could feel my face turning beet red. Erik was trying hard not to laugh. “I’ll just let you get dressed.” I turned and headed for the door.

“Okay, I’ll be right down,” he said. “Hey, what was it my dad wanted to talk about?”

“He has something to tell us about—” I turned back to find Erik out of bed, standing there smiling, covered only in boxers, his arms crossed over his shirtless chest. He tricked me! He knew I would turn back around. He was getting way too much pleasure from my embarrassment.
 

I looked up at the ceiling. “I’ll see you downstairs, Erik.” I turned and left before he could try anything else.
 

I raced back down the stairs and ran right into Jack. “Whoa, what’s the rush? I almost dropped the laptop.”

“Oh, are we talking upstairs now?”

“I thought we should give Brittany some privacy. Let’s sit at the kitchen table. Did you get Erik up?”

The image of half-naked Erik instantly filled my head. “Yes, he’ll be here soon.”

“Good. I’ve spent most of the night studying that genetic marker I told you about. Oh, there you are Erik. Sit down.”

Erik appeared fully dressed, wearing jeans and a light blue t-shirt that brought out the blue in his eyes. He smiled at me as he walked in. I could tell he was still amused by his little trick and how it had affected me.

I tried not to look at him, instead focusing on Jack. “Did you find out if it really has some type of built-in timer?”

“Yes. It’s definitely a timer. I looked closer at the software and it seems to be running some type of cycle. Only the cycle on Erik’s was shorter, like it was almost complete.”

“What does that mean?” Erik asked. “Do you know what happens when it completes the cycle?”

Jack looked worried. “It seems to tell your cells to go into some type of overdrive state. I need to do some research.” He turned to me. “Like Dave, I know all about genetics and computer programming. Those are my speciality areas. But I don’t know as much about physiology and biochemistry. At least not at the level I need for this.”

“I do. I know about both of those. I kind of like reading science books in my spare time,” I said, realizing after I said it how nerdy that made me sound. “If you show me what you found, maybe I can help.”

Jack showed me the biochemical reaction that would occur once the timer ran out. I knew instantly that it wasn’t good. “Are you sure that’s what will happen, Jack? Could you have maybe misread what the software was saying?”

“Of course not,” Jack answered. “I know programming like the back of my hand.”
 

“He could take apart and rebuild a program right here, right now, Sam. He’s genius at that stuff,” Erik added.

“Okay, then we have a real problem,” I admitted, suddenly feeling sick. “Because the biochemical pathway you showed me? I’m pretty sure it would lead to massive cardiac arrest. As in, there’s no time to save the person. It would be instant.”

Jack and Erik didn’t believe me. “No, that’s not right,” Jack said. “You two were designed to never get sick. Erik hasn’t even had a cold. He’s certainly not going to have a heart attack. Neither of you will.”

I said nothing, trying to wrap my mind around the concept. “Let me see it again.” I pulled the laptop over and reviewed the pathway again. “I’m telling you, Jack. If this actually happened to someone, they would be dead. Almost instantly.”

Jack still wasn’t believing a word of it. “Give me some time to look it up. I have medical books downstairs. No offense, Sam, but you’re not exactly a doctor.”
 

“What if she’s right?” Erik asked. “Does that mean we both—die? That doesn’t make sense. I thought GlobalLife wanted us to be their prisoners. To study us for life.”

“That was the plan, yes. So I must have misread the program. Let me go back and redo some things and check my medical books.” Jack took the laptop and raced downstairs. I could hear Brittany watching some reality show on TV, completely unaware of the drama that was unfolding above her.

“I’m worried, Erik. This isn’t good.”
 

Erik scooted his chair near mine and put his arm around me. “My dad will figure it out. He hasn’t slept much the past few days. He’s probably just tired. Give him time to look at the software again.”

“Yeah, but like you said, he knows software code better than most anyone on the planet. I’m sure he didn’t screw anything up. Now I’m really worried.”

Erik pulled me closer and kissed my forehead, just as Colin used to do when I was upset. “No worrying at the kitchen table,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. “It’s a house rule.”

“That’s a weird house rule.”
 

“It’s not really a house rule. I just made it up. But it sounds like a good rule, especially now, so I’m making it one.”

I continued to worry, wishing Jack would hurry up.
 

“So where did you learn so much about biochemistry?” Erik asked, moving back across the table to face me. “Did you have it in school?”

“I took AP biochem but I also learned a lot from my mom. She was a biochemistry professor. I find biochem interesting. The way that so much goes on in the body at the molecular level. Complex reactions occurring right now, in every cell of the body, and we don’t even pay attention. It’s fascinating.”

Erik smiled flirtatiously. “You know, all that science talk is kinda sexy. You should do it more often.”

I could feel myself blushing. “Well, I’ve never heard that line used before.”

He smiled. “Hey, I’m just trying to get your mind off this timer thing.” He grabbed my hand, sensing that I was getting more worried the longer we waited.
 

We waited an hour, not saying much. Finally, Jack walked slowly up the stairs and plopped a giant medical book on the table. He sighed and took a seat next to us. “She’s right. I didn’t want to believe it. Still don’t. But it’s right there in black and white. Just like Sam said. Instant cardiac arrest.”

Erik and I sat silently, absorbing each word. None of them made sense. Why would GlobalLife do this? Why would they build this into our DNA?

After a few minutes, Erik asked the question that I couldn’t bring myself to ask. “So if this is all linked to some timer, what does that mean? How much time before this happens?”

Jack kept his head down to hide his emotions. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “From what the program tells me, Sam has about two years.”

“And me?” Erik asked. His dad said nothing. “Dad? How long for me?”

Jack looked up at Erik. “Less than a year, Erik. A little less than a year.”

Nobody knew what to say next. Erik and I had been given a death sentence. An expiration date built into our bodies by GlobalLife. And Erik would be the first to go.
 

“It doesn’t make sense,” Erik said. “Why would they spend all that money? Go to all that trouble to make us? Kill anyone who got in their way? All that and then just get rid of us?”

“I don’t think GlobalLife wants to get rid of you, Erik. Or you, Sam.” Jack looked up at us. “I think they want you alive, but only on their terms.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“If you ever got away, it would be a major loss for them, right? They would lose valuable technology. And they couldn’t risk someone taking that technology. So if you escaped and they couldn’t find you, you would need to be, well, terminated. This thing—this timer—is basically a termination code. A kill code really. It ensures that if they can’t have you, nobody will.”

“How can they think that way? We’re people, not machines that can just be turned off.” I got up from my chair. I wanted to do something, to go after them, anything.
 

“Remember, you are both considered company assets. They don’t think of you as people. They think of you as technology. And they won’t let their technology get into the hands of others. They’ve worked too long on this and spent too much money.”

“So go in and change the code.” Erik was talking fast, desperate to find a solution. “You rewrite code all the time, Dad. Just go in and rewrite it. Disable the thing. Stop the timer.”

“I wish I could, son,” Jack said. “But it’s hardwired into your DNA. I can’t do it.”

“But there’s gotta be a way to stop it. If GlobalLife got us back, they would turn it off, right? Once they had us, they would want us alive.”

“Yes. There has to be some way to disable it,” Jack said. “But GlobalLife may have built it so that only they can turn it off. That way, if you ever found out about this timer, you would be forced to return to them.”

“I am not going back there, Jack,” I said. “I’d rather die.”
 

“Of course you’re not going back there. You either, Erik.” Jack got up from the table. “There’s got to be a way around this. I’ll find it. I have to. I’m going to work on it some more. Erik, keep packing boxes. We’re still going to have to leave here on Sunday or we could all end up dead.”

Jack was frantic but trying not to show it. He raced downstairs and slammed the lab door behind him. Erik and I remained in the kitchen, stunned at what we had learned.

“I still don’t understand it. Why are these timers both set to go off when we turn 20? Why would they wait?” Erik looked puzzled.

I hadn’t thought about it, but he was right. According to Jack’s calculations, the timer ended its cycle when we turned 20 years old.

“And why would my timer even be on?” Erik asked. “GlobalLife thinks I’m dead.”