With My Soul

by Jade Powers

  The guard had opened his coke and was guzzling it when the water dropped. Gail picked it up. She handed him the bottle and said, “Oh, crap, I just remembered something. Hold on for a sec.”

  Gail ducked out into the hallway. She had mapped the hall in her mind while they walked earlier. The elevator was too far and had the added problem of a forced wait. The staircase was kitty-corner from the vending machines and an easy run, but she would have to be brisk. She only hoped the guard wasn’t too tired to pay close attention.

  In five long strides, Gail had whisked through the door and into the stairwell. He would expect her to go down, so she ran up the stairs as fast as she could, pushing through the door and into the hall. Holding the door, she carefully stopped it from swinging all the way shut. It hovered just on the little latch.

  Gail thought to take the elevator. This floor was empty, mostly offices that were designed for out-patient and morning visits. The lighting wasn’t as bright, but she could see her way. Gail hit the button to the elevator, then second guessed herself. The elevator was a trap, but she had already gone up the stairs.

  Gail felt completely stuck. The first elevator opened. She hit the button to the parking garage, but let it ride empty down to the parking garage. The elevator went down without her. Gail hustled back to the stairwell. Pushing the door open, she listened. From what she could tell, the guard had never started chasing after her. Maybe he’d gone back to Tully.

  Moving down the stairs, Gail worried that she was making a big mistake. Surely they were going to come out and grab her at any second. She passed the door where she’d escaped with a feeling of deep foreboding. Nothing happened.

  As she moved down each flight of stairs, the sense that she was missing something huge weighed on her. She pushed open the parking garage door expecting to find Jana. Tully was waiting for her instead.

  “You people are more trouble than you’re worth,” Tully said. At least it came out sounding more like a complaint than an angry attack.

  The sound of a helicopter landing on the roof overshadowed everything else for a moment. Gail thought it was one of the life flight helicopters, but it was Kendall. She edged sideways, away from the stairs and toward the car. She said, “I really didn’t ask for this. You are doing human experiments on my sister. So, yeah, I’m doing everything I can to get her out.”

  Tully raised his eyebrows. “That little girl is your sister?”

  “Yeah. She was blind from birth and Mom heard about this great new program. The only thing is that now that she’s signed up, we don’t seem to have the option to stop the experiments,” Gail rubbed her arms. Miami was typically warm, but it was night and a cool breeze had blown into the parking garage.

  Tully stepped sideways. It looked like he was mirroring Gail’s actions but by doing so, she had the advantage. He said, “You need to make it look good. Push me back. I’ll fall on my ass. Go as fast as you can. Is your sister already out?”

  “You’re helping me?” Gail couldn’t believe what was happening.

  “Look, I was hired to keep patients safe. That’s my job description. As far as I knew, the tests have all been voluntary. When you and that fellow showed up here, we thought you were trying to infiltrate the new technology. That was the other reason I was hired.”

  Tully took a step toward Gail. A quick glance to the corner of the parking garage told Gail why. There were cameras everywhere. Tully added, “Whenever Jana didn’t want to do a test, I let her escape. I don’t like the feeling of someone trapped. It doesn’t happen often. Something sets her off when they’re doing the manual dexterity tests.”

  Gail wasn’t sure how much to tell this guy. Hell, she didn’t even know if he was making up the whole thing to relax her before the big grab. That’s what she did to the other guy. She opted for the truth, because if Gail didn’t help Jana tonight, Tully might be an ally on the inside. Gail said, “When she called she said she didn’t want to be a robot. Bryce said that in some of the other tech companies, they were working on technology that was implanted into people and allowed another person to manipulate their movement. For example, if I raise my arm, the person I’m manipulating is forced to raise their arm. It’s a freakishly scary D.O.D. experiment. I hate to think of the long game. Maybe they’ll grab the homeless or prisoners or mental patients and force them into dangerous situations.”

  Tully stood like a mountain, his feet just so wide apart, his hands curling into fists and then uncurling. He said, “You’re resourceful. Find a way to get away from me. Get your sister and get the hell out of here. There are willing people here. I’ve watched dozens of these tests. You better hurry. That was Kendall’s helicopter and he will lock this place down. Do it.”

  It was a matter of trust. Gail needed to know what happened to Jana. Her sister had taken the elevator down and should be waiting...but she wasn’t here. It was the biggest risk Gail had ever taken. She said, “Jana came down on the elevator in front of me. Did you see her?”

  “I took the elevator. There was no one here.” Tully said.

  “Thank you.” Gail pushed him with all her strength. He made it look like he was off-kilter when he fell. Gail bolted, dodging past the car she and Bryce drove in. She couldn’t take the time to unlock the door, not with Jana still on the loose. She yelled with her shrillest sister voice, “Jana! Where are you?”

  Gail ran right out of the parking garage. She heard Tully behind her. Gail had to get out of sight, even from a guy who seemed like maybe he wasn’t so bad. People often went against their own morals in the face of bureaucracy. Maybe Tully was different.

  It was hard living in a world where everyone did a small piece of evil. She could forgive Tully for being on the wrong side. Human experimentation broke laws, morals, and ethics, and yet Gail struggled more against the establishment driven to hide such actions.

  Tully was still behind her. Gail turned into the hospital, pushing open the doors to the Emergency room. She turned down the hall. All she had to do was run to the end and pop back out in the parking garage. From there, she was going to unlock the car. She would start the engine and wait. If any of the security detail arrived, she’d gun it out of there. Her only hope then would be to call the police and file a complaint against the hospital. From everything Bryce had said about Kendall’s power, such an avenue wouldn’t go well, but at least it would make them think twice about hurting her little sister.

  The plan mostly worked. Gail’s fingers were twitching when she unlocked the door and she almost dropped her keys. When she opened the door and slid inside, Bryce groaned from the back seat.

  Chapter 16

  JANA THOUGHT SHE WAS free when Stan left the parking garage. She hid in the corner and watched the elevator, waiting and waiting for Gail. Her sister was taking a long time.

  While she watched, a strange thing happened to Jana. A cascade of colors blocked her vision, replacing the reality of the cars with a fuzzy and confusing rainbow, like snow on the television, although Jana had never seen such a thing to compare. Jana felt her leg step forward. It was completely involuntary. She tried to stop herself, but she couldn’t. One step. Two steps. Three.

  Jana’s heart beat faster. She couldn’t see where she was going. She lifted her arms up and tried to feel for something solid, tried to make her feet step backwards, but that’s not what happened. Bit by bit, Jana walked to the elevator. Not of her own volition, but it happened, nonetheless. The elevator was called down to the parking garage and when the doors opened, Jana was forced to step inside.

  The blindness before was different from this. Jana was seeing, but not anything real, like watching a painting with all of the colors swirling in and out. It was confusing and made her feel sick and scared.

  When the elevator lurched, Jana tried to sit down, but she couldn’t. Her legs didn’t belong to her anymore. Jana hadn’t hit the buttons, but the vibrations told her that she was in motion.

  When the door opened, Jana could sense someone st
anding at the elevator. She heard the sound of a thunk along the edge of the door. Although she still couldn’t see, Jana recognized the smell of the cologne the doctor wore.

  “Doctor Stan.” She didn’t like Stan, but she didn’t hate him either. To Jana, he was a doctor...and she was broken, so he might be able to help. Jana said, “My eyes only see colors. I don’t see people anymore.”

  “I can see why you’d come to find me. We’ll figure this out,” Stan led Jana into the testing room.

  Jana stumbled on a slight lift in the tile but didn’t fall. She had followed Stan’s footsteps with her hands in the air, feeling her way. She said, “I can’t stay. I’m going home tonight. I need you to fix me fast.”

  “Of course. It won’t take long at all.” He lifted Jana onto a chair. Usually one of the guards carried Jana if she needed it. Doctor Stan didn’t seem to like her too well. He kept his distance. Not tonight.

  STAN COULDN’T BELIEVE his luck in getting Jana to return using the implants. Not that Jana was his first testing of the mind control devices. Some of the tests had been text-book. The research director wouldn’t let Stan put Jana under general anesthetic more than the one time. After correcting her vision, Stan had a limited window to set up the rest. He already had three patients with arm implants. For Jana , Stan chose the legs. It turned out to be a great decision.

  Over the phone Kendall told Stan to wait with Jana until he could come down. The Vice President of SpaceTech wanted to see how his research dollars were spent. What better way than a preview of one of the patients currently under the influence of the mind control technology. Jana wouldn’t be Stan’s first choice. He regretted his initial phone call to Kendall, even though the man was a control freak and would have dismissed Stan on the spot for holding back something important.

  When Kendall pushed open the door to Stan’s office, Stan felt a few things simultaneously. Relief, for one. He could finally show off the strides he had made in the use of certain chemical compounds used to stimulate the nerves attached to the implants. Anger, for two. Kendall just waltzed into his office without knocking, without so much as a by-your-leave. Exhaustion, for three. Stan was an hour past his normal clock out time.

  Stan buried his anger, stifled his exhaustion, and waved Kendall inside. His subject was currently sitting in a chair swinging her legs with a stuffed monkey in her hands. Stan said, “Jana, someone special has come to consult on the case. This is Doctor Monroe.”

  Jana lifted her head toward Stan but didn’t say anything or look in the new doctor’s direction.

  “I thought the implants gave her sight?” Kendall sniffed in that snippy way some people have. After lying to Jana, Stan couldn’t very well continue this conversation. As cunning as Kendall could be, sometimes he lacked sense.

  Stan typed a quick sentence into the computer screen and turned it to face Kendall. He said, “Jana wanted to walk outside the hospital today, and we didn’t have time to recalibrate the signal. We have yet to discuss the importance of staying in her room during lights out especially while we’re connecting the computers. In the meantime, I have a few hours work ahead of me to correct this issue.”

  Most of what Stan said to Kendall while Jana overheard was incorrect. Her sight had nothing to do with connecting computers or recalibrating signals.

  In Notepad Stan had typed, Took control of Jana when she tried to escape through the parking garage. I modified the screen-saver code to create a temporary failure of the sight devices due to defiant behavior.

  Kendall read the note and smirked. He clapped Stan on the shoulder, “You are a genius. If anyone can fix this little girl, you can. I would like to see a bit how this stuff works. Jana?”

  Jana turned her head to Kendall. She didn’t speak, but her file mentioned shyness toward strangers. Jana said, “Hmmm?”

  “I’d like to have you stand for a moment. Stan needs to try out the code we’ve been talking about.” Even at four in the morning, Kendall wore an Armani suit and silk tie. He didn’t slouch in his chair, but sat ramrod straight, watching Stan with that ever-critical eye.

  “How long will it take to fix me?” Jana pushed up from her seat. Of all the children he’d observed in his practice, Jana was the most well-behaved, excepting the four nights when she ran away, two of which she had managed to place outside calls.

  Stan stifled a yawn and said, “It will go faster if you do as asked.”

  That did the trick. Jana jumped up.

  “This may feel uncomfortable. I need to get the signal back.” Stan found it easy to lie. The gear he needed was already on his legs. They were still in the early stages of mind control tech. Usually Stan asked one of his nurses to be the controller. He had let them all go home early today, as soon as he knew there was a breach.

  Stan took a high step forward. Jana’s movement mirrored his. As Stan turned, Jana turned, sometimes her upper body twisting strangely until she righted herself. Jana clearly didn’t like what was happening. Her lower lip quivered and her eyes filled with tears.

  Another reason not to work with kids.

  Adults knew their rights. For that reason eighty percent of the subjects in the study were children. Not completely legal or above board, but respectable enough to hide the questionable surgeries and human experimentation behind legitimate success rates and long conversations with parents about their child’s night terrors. The hope they gave parents made hiding the darker aspects easy.

  Jana whined, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

  Stan raised his eyebrows at Kendall who did a circle motion with his hand to indicate that Stan should keep going.

  “We’ve almost got it. Hang in there.”

  Stan jumped. It was cruel, but he wanted to show off a little for Kendall. Clearly the Vice President of SpaceTech was enjoying this little demonstration. Truth be told, Stan was surprised at how sadistic Kendall turned out to be. He knew Kendall was the money man, but this was the first time there was any indication that he enjoyed hurting others.

  Jana jumped with him, landing badly, but her hands were out, so she caught herself on the wall. That was all Jana. Stan regretted not having arm control, but at the rate things were going, she wouldn’t be a candidate for future testing anyway. Stan gave her mother a week before she’d come back to the hospital and insist she take her daughter home, surgery or not. Stan would comply.

  They would leave the implants inside Jana. The research scientists called the patients sent home with live mind-control tech Sleepers. They could be activated later based on whatever implantation they received.

  Stan lifted his left and right legs in a quick march. He high-stepped around the room, showing off how well his movements controlled Jana. Stan was getting tired, but Kendall’s broad smile egged Stan on.

  Kendall held up a hand and said, “Let’s move this to the suite upstairs. And keep your men in line. I don’t want to be interrupted.”

  Stan called off the security team. He’d seen Bryce crawl into the back of a car on the parking garage videos, and he wasn’t too worried about the college girl. He didn’t remove the leg controllers. Not yet. It was interesting to study how an adult man’s legs controlled a child’s. From what he could see, the implants worked off a ratio, so Jana was not taking unusually large steps because the controller was six feet tall.

  Stan left his computer open. The software operated in a wireless capacity, and he certainly wasn’t going to put the program on a dozen computers on an unsecure network. He locked the door to his office, a special lock that only Stan had the key for.

  As he marched Jana forward, ignoring her noises of frustration, Stan caught a glimpse of glee in Kendall’s eye. For a moment he felt a chill run down his back. Kendall was a true sadist, and this poor little girl was theirs for the rest of the night. Even Stan could feel pity for her.

  BRYCE RUBBED HIS EYES and sat up, trying to tell Gail what had happened. His brain was so fuzzy, his words came out slurred. He mumbled, “Injected.�
�

  “Are you able to move? Jana came down ahead of me, but she’s gone now. We need to find her.”

  Words. Gail was using words. And they meant something...if Bryce could just reason it out. His tongue was coated, and his mouth tasted bad. Bryce squinted and leaned his head back on the seat, staring at the ceiling of the car. “What?”

  Even saying that much took effort. Bryce felt the strong need to sleep off whatever was coursing through his system. Gail leaned over from the driver’s seat and tapped his knee, “Bryce? Earth to Bryce?”

  He took a deep breath. It felt like he’d gone a year without oxygen. Blinking, he said, “Where am I?”

  “You’re at the research hospital. Do you remember?”

  Bryce frowned and shook his head slowly from side to side. He said, “Stan has a gun under his lab coat.”

  Gail said, “That’s useful information. Bryce, Jana never came down. Can you help me look? Are you able?”

  Bryce couldn’t focus on what Gail was saying. Because of Bryce’s dizziness, she moved from one side of his eyesight to the other, shifting back and forth, back and forth across his vision like a radar blip. If Bryce had been able to think at all, he would have known that it wasn’t really Gail that was moving, but his perception of her.

  Bryce had never been so badly hung over. He was going to stop drinking. Someone must have slipped something into his drink. He couldn’t even remember this party. His head hurt. Why was Gail still talking to him? She seemed intent on something. Bryce knew he should remember. He knew it was important. It was just impossible to focus.

  Ow.

  Ow.

  Gail kept waking him up. Right now she was tapping his knee. He growled, “I don’t want to go anywhere. Can we go home now?”