Project HALO

Chapter 15

Two paths cross in front of me: Either I tell Regina the truth about the key or I lie about everything.

She seems to believe I escaped on my own by threatening Dr. Pratt, so for his sake I can't say he helped me. Telling her about the flash drive could free me from all of this, but that's the irrational part of my brain talking. The one that wants an easy way out, but there's no way I can trust Regina. Besides, I made a deal with the doctor. No matter how alike Regina thinks me and my father are, I'm nothing like him. Nothing. I keep my word. But we do have one thing in common: lying with so much conviction the devil would be jealous.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." I narrow my stare in fake contemplation, but maintain eye contact. "He didn't give me anything."

Regina might think she's intimidating, and I'll admit I was scared at first, but I've dealt with far worse people and I've always gotten away. I'd hate to ruin the statistics.

"I don't remember everything," I twist my mouth in thought. "He tried to knock the gun out of my hand, though... Maybe that's what you saw?"

Regina folds her arms over her chest. "The footage might have been dark and pixelated, but it was clear he handed you a small object. We know Malcolm helped you escape, so you don't have to pretend like he didn't."

"What?" My forehead tightens, her revelation catching me off-guard. "Then why did you let him live?"

Regina scoffs. "I'm not a monster, Charles. Malcolm has been working for me for over five years. Everyone is allowed to make mistakes, even my best bioengineers. I am certain he will realize his missteps when he recovers."

I run my hands through my hair, trying to make sense of this. There are so many things I don't understand. Pratt didn't give me enough information to keep up with Regina. Everything I think I know keeps being twisted.

"Why would he turn on you if he worked on the project?"

"Because he realized it went in the wrong direction," Mikey mumbles, but Regina raises her voice over his.

"We don't know. We think he wanted the biochips for himself, possibly to sell the patent on the black market, but it's difficult to say. All we know is that he deleted every trace of the project from our databases. Without the files we cannot produce new biochips and without Oracle we cannot access any existing chips." She clenches her jaw.

Mikey's attempt at an explanation for Dr. Pratt's motivation seems more believable than Regina's, but I don't know the doctor. It's hard to believe he did this for selfish reasons, though. If he only did this for money, I don't think he'd bother to help me or risk his life for it. He would've acted like any normal human being and ran away instead.

"What is Oracle?" I ask. I think I heard the doctors mention something similar when they put the chip in me.

"Oracle is the only program that can access the biochips. Without it, we will be unable to collect and save data, thus rendering the biochips useless."

"Then how did you find Charlie? Without the program you can't use the GPS, right?" Mikey looks skeptical. He presses his mouth into a grim line and raises his eyebrows. "And what kind of data is meant to be downloaded from the biochips?"

"Think of the biochip as an internal smartwatch," Regina says, "but in addition to monitoring your heartbeat, how many steps you take, your sleep cycle, and so on, it can access your brain and analyze its chemical balance to help combat mental illnesses. Eventually, it will also be able to read and edit your DNA-sequence. This means it can detect possible diseases and prevent them. A whole new world opened up to us with the creation of the biochips. We realized that technology will save us."

Another genuine smile appears on her face. "I hope you understand that I want to help people, not control them or follow their every step. This is the Digital Age, and we are here to help evolution take its next step. Humanity will be enhanced and suffering decreased."

"Helping evolution's progress defeats the purpose," Mikey says. I think he rolls his eyes, but I can't imagine him being that rude to a stranger, no matter how twisted she is.

"We are the evolution and we should have a right to say where it goes from here," Regina retorts.

I'm unsure of what to believe. The biochips sound too good to be true, which means they probably are. If they only contain the good and positive stuff Regina is talking about, Dr. Pratt wouldn't have risked his life to stop her. Regina is leaving something out, I'm sure of it.

"Technology will direct evolution in ways no one thought possible, and the NIC and Norway will be at the forefront of it," Regina says and straightens her posture. "But we need the files and Oracle to get to that point, so you need to tell me where the flash drive is."

"I told you I don't know." I fold my arms across my chest. "My memory is a bit foggy after all the drugs you put me on."

"Nice try," she says. "I will give you one last chance to tell me where it is, and I hope for your sake that you take it. If not, your life will be a difficult one from this point onward." A flash runs across her face, hardening her expression into something venomous.

For a nanosecond I'm tempted again.

Tempted to give into her threats, to give her the key, to tell her every detail Pratt told me, to remove this pressing weight from my shoulders, but even I know better. After everything Regina has told us, there is no way I could support the NIC. I don't think I could live with myself knowing that this is going on behind the curtains, behind people's backs, knowing I once had a chance to stop it and I didn't take it... I can't do that. I have to try. That's the least I can do. That's what my mother would have done. She always did what was right, no matter how hard it was.

Regina's threat doesn't scare me. She has already made my life more difficult. I can handle whatever else she throws at me.

"I don't know what to tell you." I shrug and put on my best face of confusion, "I don't know where it is."

She doesn't look convinced.

"I really don't!" I add in the most distressed tone I can conjure.

"Even if he did, he wouldn't give it to you," Mikey mutters.

Regina blinks at us and presses her lips together in a tight line. I look at Mikey under lowered eyebrows as she starts typing onto her computer. Mikey's expression is neutral, but his hands shake.

"Then you leave me no choice." Regina leans back into her chair. "I was hoping we could avoid this, but it seems to be the only thing that will make you realize the severity of the situation."

My palms feel moist against the armrests. With a dry mouth I ask, "What method?"

"The original plan was to do this at a later time, and only if people prove to be resistant to the biochips, but we might as well release it sooner." She smiles.

"Release what?"

I shudder as cold realization creeps through me.

"The virus," she answers as if it's the most normal thing in the world.