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"Sobitterly, brutally hopeful He grabbed for Anna’s hand again As before, she neither helped him nor resisted She just lay there, motionless At soinal position, and noas staring at the ceiling again
She had responded to so a step toward her, and asked, "Anna? Can you hear me?"
"My auditory systems are functional," said Anna Her voice was toneless, completely devoid of passion She couldn’t have sounded less like Tansy if she’d been trying
The drums pounded even louder in h the lab to the cell where Dr Banks was being held, rip the door off its hinges, and strangle the life from his body How dare he do this? How dare he touch my family, my sister, with his filthy tools and his filthier motives? There was no reason I could see for him to have experi around free and unclaimed--no reason except for simple cruelty I wanted to hurt hi else in my life Had Sherman appeared before e for joining his tapeworht well have taken him up on it After all, what had the human race ever done for us?
I sed spit and bile and forced my own voice to remain steady as I asked, "Anna, do you knoho Tansy is? Do you remember Tansy?"
"I do not re her black eyes on iven a e to deliver to you, should you ever say that naaze flicked to her Still calm, she replied, "The subject you call ‘Tansy’ is still alive If you want her to be returned to you, you will have to free my father"
I may have spoken too soon about the revolutionary nature of my work While I have been able to successfully induce a joining between the SymboGen implant and its chosen human host, I have not been able to fully stabilize the results The chi that is, unquestionably, a iven to surprising rages when not kept in a continually sedated state I have been using a combination of transdermal scopolamine and diazepa these drugs will retain their efficacy, or if indeed they are still working fully as intended: she has proven surprisingly cunning, and capable of longer-ter her development
It is clear that the only means by which ill be able to stabilize the experiment will be to visit the source I have a plan that will either seehero or cast forever from the scientific community forwhich it is to be
–FROM THE NOTES OF DR STEVEN BANKS, SYMBOGEN, NOVEMBER 2027
Our sources in the private sector infor They have thus far declined to share that research, and it is my informed opinion that no such entlemen, and the wolves are most assuredly at the door
Madame President, I appreciate your inquiry as to the condition of hter, Joyce Unfortunately, she has not recovered from her coma, and while the SymboGen implant has been entirely cleansed froetative state We have kept her on life support thus far, in part because we are hoping for adeterioration of the medical and social structure of the country, we cannot afford to cut off any possible source of blood, tissue, and organs that have been confir out for us here We will continue to do e can, but without a er we can last
–MESSAGE FROM COLONEL ALFRED MITCHELL, USAMRIID, TRANSMITTED TO THE WHITE HOUSE ON NOVEMBER 14, 2027
Chapter 14
NOVEMBER 2027
Dr Banks was sitting on the narrow cot provided for his use when the four of us approached his cell He s first to Dr Cale, and then, hungrily, to Adam and myself He skipped over Nathan entirely, as if he was incidental to this little reunion In a horrible way, I suppose he was Nathan was Dr Cale’s only hu to offer Dr Banks that he couldn’t get back at his own lab
"Hello, Surrey," he said, offering Dr Cale his patented paternal s that he smiled at all the women he wanted to exploit like that Soot here I ad this palatial When I heard you’d hed It was so ridiculous, so ludicrous… so you You never could resist the absurd I think that’sabout you Even in the face of total disaster, you’ll keep ona fool of yourself"
"How did you knoere here, Steven?" Dr Cale didn’t bother to correct him about her name She just folded her hands in her lap and looked at hi where Fishy and Fang were, and whether they were preparing an unarden "My people are decrypting the data on your hard drive right now Don’t bother lying to "