“But if you’re cutting back on fossil fuel emissions, doesn’t that mean eventually you won’t need to be recycling the energy because it’ll be escaping the way it’s supposed to?”
My pulse is racing. Not in fear or annoyance like it has so many times since I met Jasper. More like excitement. I never get to have these conversations with people outside work. Never mind that we’re in the lab. He’s a henchman, but a pretty smart one. The concept turns me on more than it has any right to. I love a good argument with a well-matched opponent, but I love an intelligent conversation even more.
“Even if we stopped burning fossil fuels right now, it will take centuries for temperatures to go back to where they should be. It’s only by collecting some of the excess heat that’s already out there that we stop the temperature rises and changing weather patterns. So the system is sustainable and helps us stabilize and back us down faster from the tipping point than we would otherwise.”
“You sound really proud of it,” he says, and there I go, looking at my shoes again.
“It’s going to be amazing,” I say. It has to be. When my mother died, I swore I was done with superheroes. The last two years, I’ve given everything to the Ziro Machine. I was never going to save the world like my mother. This is the best way I know how.
The elevator slows and the doors slide open. We stand for a second, neither one of us moving. Finally, Jasper says, “I don’t know where we’re going, remember?”
His voice is soft and gently teasing, and he’s standing so close to me his breath puffs over my neck, making the hairs at my nape stand on end. I flush. Right. Time to find a solution to this. The ice caps are melting, and so am I, apparently. The sooner we get out of this loop, the better.
“Let’s go see Ezekiel.”
CHAPTER 7
Ezekiel’s office is just past mine, and as we go by the door to my office, a voice calls out.
“Morgan?”
Jasper and I both stop short as a head pops into the hallway.
“Clarissa?” I say.
Shit. In other versions of this day, I’d have called her to talk about the presentation. I assumed she left the office when I did, but has she been working late this whole time? It’s a good thing she doesn’t remember, because that is seriously unfair.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
Yeah, how to explain that.
“We’re looking for Ezekiel. The data breach,” I say. “I was worried.”
“Who’s this?” she points at Jasper, though the quirk of her lips says she knows exactly who he is and is readingwaytoo much into the fact he’s here with me.
Right. “This is... this is Jasper. You know. My date. The one you set me up with.”
“You’re Jasper?” She screeches like an excited macaw and rushes forward to hug him. Despite her wide array of animal noises, in my mind, Clarissa really does look most like a bird.Her dark hair curls in tight coils that always tend to stick out at odd angles, no matter how hard she tries to style it. And today’s choice of a fluffy lavender sweater gives the impression of a tropical bird drying out after a rainstorm.
As she coos and squeezes Jasper tight, he gives me a surprised glance over her shoulder, but all I can do is shrug. She says, “It’s so great to meet you. Alyssa’s told me so much about you.”
“Yeah, likewise.” His gaze turns pleading. No doubt silently asking me not to start going on about his career path. I roll my eyes. No way am I bringing that up here. What if we actually succeed in escaping the time loop this time? The rest of my workdays would be filled with “Hey, Morgan! Remember that time you dated a criminal?” No thank you. Let them all believe he’s still a med student with a heart of gold.
Clarissa—oblivious to all this—claps her hands excitedly. She squeals with the delight of a chimpanzee being handed a perfect banana, then collects herself as she puts a hand over her mouth. But it’s impossible to ignore the sheer joy in her eyes, even though Jasper looks startled by her primate impression.
She says, “And the date must be going well if Morgan’s bringing you to the lab. Getting him to go at all was like pulling teeth.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” I say.
She nudges Jasper like two friends sharing an inside joke. “Morgan doesn’t love anything as much as he loves his work.”
Jesus, Clarissa, don’t sugarcoat it. Not that I’m trying to make a good first impression on Jasper or anything. Hell, apparently, I’ve made sixty-three terrible first impressions. My chance was over before I even realized I had it. It sucks too. I was actually a little excited to meet him. Before I knew about the henching thing, anyway. But with the Ziro Machine launch coming up, it felt like I was coming to the end ofsomething. And maybe that meant it was time to start something—maybe with someone—new too. Clarissa makes it sound like I’m an antisocial hermit, though. She could be a much better wingwoman and talk me up a bit.
“We’re on our way to see Ezekiel,” I say, taking Jasper’s hand. I ignore the warm press of it against my palm and the calm feeling that washes over me at the contact. I’m expediting an awkward situation. Nothing more than that.
But Clarissa still doesn’t take the hint. She coos and gives him a knowing look. “On your way to meet Dad already?”
Before Jasper can answer I say, “The data breach.”
