“Unfortunately, no. You no longer have the authority tofireme, Mr. Reynolds. I outrank you. Now come, we don’t want to keep Dr. Grey waiting.”
The burning feeling in my chest iced over as I blinked through the all-consuming anger to take in my surroundings.
My anger quickly morphed into cold, sharp fear as I realized who was waiting for us in The Cave.
“Hello, Mr. Reynolds. So glad you could join us.”
Dr. Grey’s cool voice echoed off the dark concrete walls. He was standing next to the testing chair, flanked by two armed men in full SWAT gear.
They were holding automatic weapons, and the top halves of their faces were covered in tactical goggles, hiding their eyes from me.
“What thefuckis going on here?” I growled, recoiling away from the armed men.
Melanie moved to stand next to Dr. Grey, crossing her arms over her stomach and shooting me that cocky little smirk again.
“You think you’re so much smarter than everyone else.” She laughed, shaking her head in amusement. “Did you even read my resume?” she asked.
I didn’t respond. I just glared at her, my mind whirling a mile a minute.
I needed to get out of here.
I needed to get back to Milo and somehow get him off campus.
However, the second I tried to back away, both of the armed men immediately pointed their guns at me, and I froze.
“If youhad,” Melanie continued, smiling at me as if I weren’t currently being held at gunpoint, “you would have known that I majored in Software Engineering with a double minor in AI and ML systems. Which might have made you a little more wary about leaving your phone lying around. Remember that one time youdeignedto allow me to work on the manipulator with you?”
Icy terror shot through me at the idea of this fuckingpsychogoing through my phone.
“What did youdo?” I rasped, feeling like I was going into shock.
My fingers were freezing cold, and my tongue felt swollen in my mouth.
With two automatic weapons pointed directly at me, the Director for DARPA, and apparently the most evil fucking entry-level psycho on the planet, all watching me, panic like I hadn’t felt since the day I’d learned my father was killed welled through me.
“I hacked NOVA, of course. She was really the only thing standing in Luke’s way after all.” Melanie examined her perfect nails, looking so smug that I wanted to put her fucking face through the wall.
“With NOVA out of the way, Neurovance’s new and improved AI can take over operations, courtesy of yours truly… When I pitched TECHA to Luke, he was very…generous,with my reward.” Her eyes glittered as she glanced up at me, cocking her head to the side in amusement.
“Like I said… there’s always more than one way to skin a cat.”
“I don’t… what the fuck do youwant?”
“From you? Nothing.” Melanie shrugged. “We don’t need you to get the manipulator up and running. Not when we have Milo… though Luke has made it clear that you’re to be punished for your…treasonousbehavior. “
Dr. Grey chuckled, shaking his head.
“Mr. Stevens has always had a taste for the dramatics, I’ll give him that,” he muttered, picking up a large syringe from the surgical table next to the testing chair. “Enough chit chat, Mr. Reynolds, if you could please have a seat so we can begin? Once Sebastian’s mind has been manipulated, you are to be our next test subject. We’re expecting everyone shortly.”
“Wait…what?”I shook my head, stumbling back toward the elevator, only to freeze again as the armed men cocked their guns.
“Enough questions, I am running out of patience. You can either get in the chair willingly, or I can have my men put you in it. You decide.”
“This is… this is fuckinginsane!This isn’t ethical!” I shouted. Every inch of my body was humming with panic. I knew if I got in that chair, it would be over. There was no telling what sort of sick shit they would do to me if I complied.
But… it was either that, or get fucking shot.
If I got shot, I couldn’t save Milo…
