“It is theft. It compromises every ethical bit of research I’ve ever done.”
I drop my chin, embarrassed and properly chastised. “I’m sorry, Dr. Patel. I won’t say another word about it. You’re free and clear, ethically and morally. You’ll only see the drive if something were to happen to me. I’ll make sure of that.”
“What do you mean… ‘if something were to happen to you’?”
“Academia has its problems. The ivory tower metaphor isn’t unearned,” I start.
He clears his throat.
“But the corporate world has two challenges, one from within and one from without. Shareholders want money. They demand profitability. Sometimes that revenue isn’t ethical. And the public,when they discover that, find a way to blame employees for decisions made by leadership to line those pockets.”
“Child, what have you gotten yourself into?”
“I’m in the same position as you, Dr. Patel. Only without tenure. But with a flash drive that shows how your wife’s body—how my brother’s body and so many other people we know—could have, with genetic modification, experienced relief. That could be pharmaceutical intervention, which is what I’m sure Platt BioPharma wants, or it could be a cure. I don’t see why my research and yours can’t dovetail. Platt gets to make meds until you find the cure. They’ll be on to something new by then anyway.”
“You’re speaking of corporate espionage.”
The laugh that bursts from me might seem rude, but he knows me too well. “By me? That’s hysterical. I’m twenty-eight, with more book smarts than street smarts, at my first real-world job. I’m not cut out to be a spy. I’m just a sister on a mission.”
“Give me some time please, Dr. Anderson. I need to noodle on this, as the kids would say. I think you have put us both in a terrible position. But some of your hypotheses hold merit. I will reach back out.” He pauses. “On another note, how are you liking Denver?”
“I could deal with more humidity, but the views are fantastic.”
“And you’re well?”
I look at my big toe that’s black and blue and the fine wound along the nail that lets me know I shouldn’t have worn those shoes today. “I am.” The silent walls from my neighbor screams at me, before I finish, “The move was a good one for me.”
Liam
I can’t say I’m not intrigued. Lorien Anderson, the clumsy, bookish beauty is a thief.
And a schemer.
I don’t need that trouble living right next door. I’ve spent years, not exactly off the grid, but off social media, off tech algorithms, on the perimeter looking in. No one can see what’s around them when they’re inside the experiment. But outside the fishbowl, it’s easy to see how people have programmed their lives.
Instant gratification.
Perceived belonging.
Appearances.
Vanilla cake in a vanilla world where a set of sprinkles makes one “unique.” How can people stand it?
Not my problem, but the idea that so few see it makes me feel like I’m shouting into a vacuum. Then again, there are only a handful of people I truly care about. My life with them is real. I’m their brother or brother-in-law. I’m a son and an uncle.
The rest of the world could fall off a cliff, and I wouldn’t bat an eye. That’s a bad reference.
The rest of the world could burn, and I wouldn’t be phased. There, that’s better.
Lorien said something that caught my attention.I’m just a sister on a mission. Like calls to like or some such bullshit, because I get that. Now I need to know what that mission is and which sibling set her on this path.
I don’t like eyes on me. I don’t want problems finding their way to my street or my doorstep, but I can’t help but respect someone who would break the mold for family.
I set some crawlers in the program I work with to search more on her and her family. Some would call it invasive, and maybe it is. But the people I love—my family—will find my protection at all costs. Destroying the trust of one cute girl at the expense of shielding my family from her trouble is justifiable.
While I’m at it, I start a list. I need to dig into that ex of hers. The fact that I know of him is only because his kind of trouble came too close to my family.
I also want to research her chain of command at Platt BioPharma.
