“You’re right. I don’t. I’m sorry. I just hate the way he treats you. You deserve better, Sebastian. You know that, right?”
For a moment, Seb’s blue eyes turned glassy, and I realized that no, he didn’t know that. Luke had broken something inside him, and I didn’t know how to fix it.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t want to talk about this with you. We need to discuss how we’re going to handle this meeting.”
I nodded, settling down into the uncomfortable boxy couch that sat facing his desk.
“Tell me.”
“We’re meeting with Doctor Caspian Grey. Double PhD, heads up DARPA. He’s interested in the work you’re doing on memory manipulation, but Dear Old Dad has already sold him the rights to use the extraction technology on a trial basis as well.”
I frowned, my gut churning with anxiety.
“What the fuck does the army want with memory extraction technology?” I asked, though my mind was already racing with the possibilities.
“You’re a smart guy, Jay. Use your imagination,” he snapped.
I leveled him with an unimpressed look, and he softened.
“Sorry… I just… It’s been a stressful few days.”
“I know. I’m sorry I left you to deal with it alone.”
He gave me a look that told me he appreciated my apology and nodded before continuing.
“They want to use extraction to remove trauma from soldiers suffering from PTSD so they can resume duty quicker.”
I frowned. That was… an unethical use of our tech. We didn’t know yet how the mind would react long-term to the removal of traumatic memories. To remove trauma from someone’s mind only tore-traumatize them again after extraction was… the stuff nightmares were made of.
“That’s… We can’t let them do that. There’s not enough research to suggest?—”
Seb held up a hand.
“I fuckingknow.If that’s not bad enough, they want to use the manipulator too…” He winced. “Luke wouldn’t tell me what they planned to use it for, but I dug up some redacted preliminary contracts he had drawn up for this meeting, and it’s fucked up, Jay. They want to test it to see if they can change the way people’s minds think about whoever the government deems to be an enemy. The possibilities are endless. They could make soldiers literally see people as monsters and send them into civilian territory, so they don’t think twice about shooting to kill. They could manipulate known facts in their minds to brainwash them into serving without question. It’s basically fucking mind control, Jay. And Luke is… he’s just…sellingit to them.”
My entire body had gone ice cold. Fury and terror were ripping through me at what Sebastian was telling me.
“What the fuck are we going to do?” I asked, doing everything I could to keep my voice even and calm.
“There’s nothing we can do about the extractor. He already sold it to them, but the manipulator isn’t complete yet. You need to stall development until we can figure out something long-term,” Sebastian said, meeting my gaze.
I nodded. “I can do that.”
He nodded, his throat rolling.
“Jay… this was… This was supposed to be my legacy. This company was supposed to be mine when he retires… I can’t… I can’t be a part of something this fucked up.”
Again, he looked like he might literally start to cry. I got up from the couch and went to him, draping my arm across his shoulders and knocking my head gently against his.
“I know. We won’t let him ruin it. We’ve both put too much into this place to let him do this. We’ll figure it out. Together.”
Seb turned wide, blue eyes on me, and for a moment, reminded me so much of my Milo that my heart broke.
“Promise?” he whispered.
“I promise,” I murmured back, knowing I would do whatever I could to keep that promise.
NOVA play: Concrete Jungle by Bad Omens
