The drug he gave me yesterday, the one that made me pass out the first time and messed with my eyes this time?” She remembered that the cameras didn’t pick up sound, but they did record video, so she took a few bites of her breakfast. “It makes it so I can read minds, for a while, at least some surface thoughts. It doesn’t seem to be all of them. I haven’t really had a chance to study it, so I don’t know, but what I do know is that I heard Josh yesterday saying he wanted to make sure there was an accident with the cure so that they couldn’t release it for at least another few weeks. I know he’s frustrated at how slow testing has been.”
“He hasn’t made any secret of that.” Heidi bit her lip. Trying to watch her, Jemma missed her bowl, and she looked away so she could get another spoonful. “Could you read everyone in the room?”
“Yes and no. I don’t know how to control it or if I can. All I got from you was that you were frustrated at your job, basically.”
“That’s true enough. So you need to get downstairs and release the cure, and you need to do it today.”
“Right. I think even with my eyesight, I can get around all right down there. It’s not that complicated a layout, a lot smaller than up here, and I picked up a lot from Josh, from the people who work down there.” She frowned, trying to pull up a mental map, and she felt drawn repeatedly to an image of one of the rooms, the second on the right. “I think I know which room I need. What I don’t know is how to make the cure work. Josh was so focused on it not working that I didn’t get that.”
“That, I know a little more about. I just can’t tell you how I know, so don’t ask.” She waited for Jemma to nod before she continued. “The Event was basically done with the flip of a switch, which is why it affected everybody at the same time. Before that, though, it took months for the nanocreatures to infect everybody. They stayed pretty much asleep, though, not really doing what they’d been designed to do until they were activated.”
Jemma fought a shudder. She’d read the term before in the documentation, of course, but Heidi’s description made them sound a lot more like bugs.
Heidi watched Jemma take a bite of her food. “The cure, though I thought it was still hypothetical, should work as a cross between ant killer and an airborne plague. The nanocreatures will be attracted to it, actively drawing it in, so it will spread very, very quickly, across barriers that should be impassable, and it will multiply as it goes. They were designed to replicate any cure they were fed, so a vial given to just one person will be enough. On top of that, if they stuck to their plan, it’ll act almost like an inoculation, training our own cells to attack the nanocreatures, at least for a time. The cure won’t be instant like the Event was, but it’ll be as close as they could get it.”
“So I just need to get the right one and give it to myself?”
“That’s about it. It isn’t even an injection. Have you ever used an allergy or sinus spray, the ones that go in your nose?”
Jemma shook her head. “No, but I know what they look like, the basics of how they work.”
“There should be a few of those around. They’ll have a place to load the vial. Only fits one way.”
“Got it. You said you can’t go down there. Any chance you know the schedule?”
“No, but personnel have to scan in and out. I’ll be able to make sure it’s clear before you go down.”
“No problem, then.”
Jemma took another bite of her food, then looked up at Heidi, who was shaking her head, a smile on her face. “Have you always been this much of a badass?”
***
They waited until a few minutes after Jemma had eaten her breakfast, when it would make sense for Heidi to escort her to the restroom or along the walk she’d mentioned. It took just minutes to reach the doorway to the downstairs level, seconds for Heidi to verify it was
“He hasn’t made any secret of that.” Heidi bit her lip. Trying to watch her, Jemma missed her bowl, and she looked away so she could get another spoonful. “Could you read everyone in the room?”
“Yes and no. I don’t know how to control it or if I can. All I got from you was that you were frustrated at your job, basically.”
“That’s true enough. So you need to get downstairs and release the cure, and you need to do it today.”
“Right. I think even with my eyesight, I can get around all right down there. It’s not that complicated a layout, a lot smaller than up here, and I picked up a lot from Josh, from the people who work down there.” She frowned, trying to pull up a mental map, and she felt drawn repeatedly to an image of one of the rooms, the second on the right. “I think I know which room I need. What I don’t know is how to make the cure work. Josh was so focused on it not working that I didn’t get that.”
“That, I know a little more about. I just can’t tell you how I know, so don’t ask.” She waited for Jemma to nod before she continued. “The Event was basically done with the flip of a switch, which is why it affected everybody at the same time. Before that, though, it took months for the nanocreatures to infect everybody. They stayed pretty much asleep, though, not really doing what they’d been designed to do until they were activated.”
Jemma fought a shudder. She’d read the term before in the documentation, of course, but Heidi’s description made them sound a lot more like bugs.
Heidi watched Jemma take a bite of her food. “The cure, though I thought it was still hypothetical, should work as a cross between ant killer and an airborne plague. The nanocreatures will be attracted to it, actively drawing it in, so it will spread very, very quickly, across barriers that should be impassable, and it will multiply as it goes. They were designed to replicate any cure they were fed, so a vial given to just one person will be enough. On top of that, if they stuck to their plan, it’ll act almost like an inoculation, training our own cells to attack the nanocreatures, at least for a time. The cure won’t be instant like the Event was, but it’ll be as close as they could get it.”
“So I just need to get the right one and give it to myself?”
“That’s about it. It isn’t even an injection. Have you ever used an allergy or sinus spray, the ones that go in your nose?”
Jemma shook her head. “No, but I know what they look like, the basics of how they work.”
“There should be a few of those around. They’ll have a place to load the vial. Only fits one way.”
“Got it. You said you can’t go down there. Any chance you know the schedule?”
“No, but personnel have to scan in and out. I’ll be able to make sure it’s clear before you go down.”
“No problem, then.”
Jemma took another bite of her food, then looked up at Heidi, who was shaking her head, a smile on her face. “Have you always been this much of a badass?”
***
They waited until a few minutes after Jemma had eaten her breakfast, when it would make sense for Heidi to escort her to the restroom or along the walk she’d mentioned. It took just minutes to reach the doorway to the downstairs level, seconds for Heidi to verify it was
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