The disadvantage of having removed the internal surveillance was that he had no idea what was going on in that lab. The advantage was that neither did his brothers, and given that the human enhancement research was his most closely guarded secret, the trade-off was worth it.
Kolhood was already circling.
The confrontation over the harbor killings was just the beginning. If his brothers learned that Losham was developing a formula to enhance humans, the fallout would be catastrophic. The Brotherhood's entire identity was built on immortal supremacy. The idea that humans could be elevated to match them would be seen as heresy, not innovation.
The cameras had to stay off. Whatever Dave and the scientists were discussing in that lab, Losham would have to find out the old-fashioned way.
He summoned Dave.
Number One arrived alone, which was itself noteworthy. Dave typically moved as a unit. Sending a single body was either a gesture of casualness or a calculated signal that this was an informal meeting.
Losham suspected it was calculated.
Everything about Dave was calculated.
"Please, take a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair opposite his desk.
Number One did as he was instructed, his expression impassive as always, almost statue-like, or rather robotic.
"I have been reviewing the external surveillance footage," Losham said. He saw no reason for beating around the bush. Dave was his subordinate. Not the other way around.
"We are aware," Number One said.
"You visited the laboratory two nights ago and went for a walk with the younger scientist."
"Yes, we did."
Losham waited for an explanation.
None came.
Number One sat with his hands resting on his knees, his expression as blank as an unpainted wall.
"Tell me about your developing relationship with the scientist," Losham said.
Number One's head tilted a fraction. "What specifically would you like to know?"
"I would like to know why you are spending time with Dimitri outside the context of your medical treatment. The injections require fifteen minutes. You are staying for an hour, and you are going on walks with your care provider."
"One walk."
Another silence. Losham was beginning to understand that Dave's silences were a strategy in themselves, forcing him to fill the gap and reveal more of his thinking. It was a technique Losham recognized because he used it himself, but Dave could have just thralled the information out of him. He didn't need to employ such tricks.
"I just wish to understand the relationship," he said. "I find it odd."
"We are looking after our interests." Number One looked him straight in the eyes. "The scientists are crucial to our survival. Without the enhancement drugs, our merged consciousness destabilizes. Without Dimitri and Petrov, there is no one on this island capable of producing those drugs. Our existence depends on their continued work and their continued willingness to perform it."
"Their willingness is not optional. They work because they have been told to work."
"That is a limited understanding of human motivation." Number One's expression didn't change, but there was something in the cadence of his words that suggested he was choosing them with care. "Dimitri and Petrov work because they have no choice. But the quality of their work, the creativity, the problem-solving, the insights that turn adequate research into exceptional results, those things cannot be forced or compelled. Those come frominvestment. From engagement. From caring about what they are doing and who they are doing it for."
Losham leaned back in his chair. "Go on."
"We treat them with respect. We talk with them. We try to be friendly. Not because we have a hidden agenda, but because we came to understand a fundamental truth about human nature. People will do far more for those they care about than for those they fear."
The words impacted him more than he'd expected.
He turned them over in his mind, examining them for deception, for the subtle misdirection that a being of Dave's intelligence was capable of. But the statement was not deceptive. It was factual, and Losham was old enough and experienced enough to accept it as such.
