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“That son of a bitch,” Chris growls “I’ll kill hi histo black about that?”

Lynne tilts her head, considering “Thereyou could use in the old files we kept from the project They’re all locked away in Adaes a look with ht We do need to break into Aether Corporation”

Lynne glances back and forth between us, her brow furrowed “Break in?”

“Hold up,” Chris says “If Future-Adaet it himself?”

“Adam isn’t allowed in his lab any at all”

“How could he not be allowed in his own lab?” I ask

“Adam’s on…well, they call it a ‘personal leave’ but he’s actually been suspended The board of directors are calling hienicote” At our blank expressions, she continues “Genicote, the cure for cancer? Ada and distribution and factories that could make it in bulk He came to me for help, and I convinced Aether to start a pharmaceutical division for him withwith Aether, but I thought if I helped him, I could protect him from them And for many years I did”

“What do you mean, protect him?” Trent asks

“There’s a…problem with the cure When used by people with cancer, it’s aWith just a few treatments they’re completely cured for life But if used by someone who doesn’t have cancer, it causes massive mutations that quickly result in death”

Adaet rid of this problem?”

“No You said it wasn’t possible, due to the way the cure works to htly controlled tohands That’s one reason it took so long for genicote to be approved and distributed—the risks were too high” She stares out theat the crashing waves, lost in the enicote remained under wraps, and for years it worked Until Aether had a few rough years and got greedy They wanted to sell the drug to the military to use as a weapon Adam wouldn’t back down, and he’s too well respected and influential for the the world he’s a oes public hat they’re doing”

“He did seem a bit mad,” Zoe says “No offense, Adam”

“Yeah” Trent nods “They say there’s a fine line between ain, standing right here”

“I can assure you, Adam is perfectly sane,” Lynne says “But unfortunately he can’t get into his lab anymore, and neither can I They de statisticians” Hersour “I used to oversee soe projects in the world that saved millions of lives, and noith a bunch of ers on the coffee table “But if you and Adaet into the lab?”

“I don’t know Without the code for the keypad, there’s no way in”

“Keypad?” I repeat Me rush back to me “The heavy door we passed down the hall from Future-Adam’s office—was that his lab?”

“Yes, that’s the one”

“Adam wanted us to see that door,” I say as all the dominoes fall in ave us the device to disable the ca we’d need to break into the place”