by Patra, CS
“And he’s back to normal,” Doug chuckled. “Anyway, let’s try to focus on why we’re here. Our friends at the Bradley Institute don’t seem to be causing a scene.”
“I doubt they would. There are too many people here,” Pam pointed out. “We need to get into the meeting room if we want to see anything.”
“I might have a way to do that,” Ash murmured. “I’m just waiting on the right moment.”
Ren came over with some appetizers for them. “Who feels like having chicken satay?”
“Chicken satay? What happened to the scallops?” Misty asked.
“They decided to eighty-six of those in the main hall and go for something simpler. Thank God. However, I will say that the people in the conference are going to have seared diver scallops. There aren’t too many orders for those so we’ll live.” He held out his tray for them. “Would you care for a little taste?”
“I’ll pass.” Nikhil held up his hand. “Besides, I’m way more interested in what the conference is going to be about. I took a quick look inside the room but I didn’t see anything fishy. It’s just all fancy and decorated. I would have taken a closer look but someone was coming in at that moment.”
“Getting in with no one watching us is going to be the hard part,” Crystal said. “Every time I look at that doorway, someone is standing by it.”
Jackie looked over where the conference room was. The door was slightly ajar, which meant that anyone could get in. Anyone could see what was behind that room. She was feeling a little daring at that point and excused herself. “I’m going to go look for some information in that room.”
“Do you think you’ll find any?” Pam asked.
“God, I hope so. I don’t know if we can get into the conference itself but maybe I can find some clues. I can figure out what they’re talking about then.” She grabbed her bag and walked over there. “I’ll be right back.”
There was no one near those doors so she gently pushed them open and stepped inside. The room was very nicely decorated with different centerpieces. The colors were blue and yellow for this conference. She looked down at one of the books that was on a table and saw that it was the menu. For this, people could choose their appetizers, main course, and dessert. She began to feel pity for Ren and his coworkers. There was a choice of seared diver scallops, lobster spaghetti, and sliders for appetizers. The main course was a choice of eggplant parmesan, rack of lamb, and braised beef. The dessert was a choice of German chocolate or carrot cake. None of it sounded like fusion to her. She wondered why they picked The Golden Arrow to cater this event.
“Well, I know what they’re going to eat,” she murmured, walking around the tables. She hoped to see a program or something else that could give her an idea. Unfortunately, all she saw were more menus. She decided the next best place to look was at the podium.
Just as she walked up to it, she heard her name. “Jackie?”
Nearly jumping out of her skin, she turned around to find Ash standing in the doorway. “Oh God, Ash, don’t scare me like that! I thought you were Project 99 or something!”
“Sorry.” He went up to her. “I was coming in here to tell you that I might have a better idea. Did you find anything yet?”
“I wish. All I found were the menus. That will not help us in the long run.” She opened up the binder than was on the podium and saw the bullet points of topics to talk on. “Oh, here we go! I found what I really wanted!”
“What are they going to talk about?”
“Let’s see. There’s an introduction during dinner plus a lot of guest speakers including Dr. Kweller and Dr. Chang. They’re going to talk about the past, the future, and everything that has happened so far. They’re also talking about great discoveries in science. Basically, it sounds like a typical meeting with scientists. I don’t see anything too weird here.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think they would lay out anything important here. What’s going to be important is what they tell people. That’s where my plan is going to come in.”
Before Jackie could get a chance to ask him what he was planning, the doors opened from behind them. She pushed him behind the blue curtains. “Someone’s coming! Hide!”
They got behind the curtains just as people began to come in. Jackie could hear someone talking as they walked in. “As you can see, this is the room that we have set up for tonight. There is an open bar in the corner. We’ve agreed to close the bar at 9 PM as you requested. Coffee, tea, and water is all available for free. If anyone wants anything else, we do have vending machines down the corridor. The projector is in the back if you need to use and we’ve already pulled down the screen for you.”
“Excellent,” Jackie recognized the voice of Dr. Kweller. “You’ve done extremely well in setting up the conference. So far, the food is excellent too. I can’t wait to see what they do for dinner.”
“I’ll leave you alone for a few minutes to check out the room and see if it’s to your liking. If there’s anything you need to change, let me know. I will be at the front desk.”
“Yes, thank you.” A woman replied. After a few minutes, they heard some footsteps and someone closing the door behind them. “Well, now we have some privacy.”
“I do think that they did set everything up nicely,” Dr. Kweller said. “I’m just more concerned some of our guests. It seems a few them weren’t exactly invited.”
“It’s all right. I know they got in because of connections.” The woman said. “In fact, I was hoping they would use their connections. I know they are curious and I don’t blame them. I’m just surprised it took so long for some of them to find out.”
“I’m curious as to why none of them have asked their families about this. Are they afraid of the truth, Dr. Chang?”
“They could be. If I had grown up in a loving family, I would be afraid to confront my parents about it too.” Dr. Chang replied. Jackie realized that this must be the Rosemarie Chang that Crystal and Ren had dealt with earlier. Judging from her voice, she sounded incredibly cold. “Let them hang around here. Let them try to find their answers. I doubt they’ll get anything that they’re going to need.”
“What if they do find something? They could expose us.”
“We’ll be ready if they try that. Remember, they don’t know everything yet. Some of them are very young to understand. It won’t be very hard to take them out.”
Ash looked over at Jackie. He could tell that she was starting to get scared about this. They could hear Kweller and Chang walking around the room. They hadn’t come close to the podium though so this was good. The further they stayed from this area, the better.
“I worry they might find out about how fusion goes wrong,” Kweller said. “What if they try to fuse? What if they accidentally end up fusing? We might have to kill them.”
“That’s a sacrifice that we’ll have to make. First, however, we need to find the chimera. I have a good feeling that they don’t know who that is. They probably haven’t even started looking for them yet.”
“That’s good. As long as they don’t find them, we should be able to go through with our plans easily. We don’t want them to keep us from making great discoveries in science.” There was a little pause. “Anyway, I think we should go back. Our guests are waiting for us.”
Jackie waited until she was sure that Chang and Kweller were gone from the room. Then she turned to Ash. “I think the coast is clear. We need to get into this room during the meeting. Maybe they might reveal who this chimera is. Why would we want to know about them to begin with?”
“It’s possible that this chimera knows more about our creation than we do,” Ash said, looking up at the ceiling. “You’re right. We need a way to get into this room, but I doubt they will let us walk in and sit down. You heard them. We are some of the uninvited guests.”
“So how do we listen in without them knowing about us?”
“Relax. I’ve got my own little spies to help me out with that.”
�
�I don’t follow.”
“It’s a little invention I’ve been working over the past few days,” he explained. “I know we’re not going to be able to break into the Bradley Institute all the time. We need to spy on them from a distance.”
“So you’ve got a plan?”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I’m glad I brought some of them with me. I had a feeling they would come in handy,” he explained. “I clipped them onto my belt, which made them easy to carry in.”
“That’s great. Now show me what you’re talking about!”
“You’re quite pushy.” He took one of them off his belt and held it up. It looked like a tiny metal box with legs. “I call it a spy-der.”
“Clever.” She rolled her eyes. “For someone with a high IQ, I expected you to be more creative.”
“Forgive me. I’m not that great at naming things. Anyway, they are small enough to hide in any corner.” He fiddled around with it and threw it up in the air. It stuck up on the ceiling and he smiled. “Now we’ll be able to see what they’re doing. Let’s go.”
As they were leaving, a huge crowd was coming toward them. Most of them didn’t even seem to notice the two of them trying to get out.
“Uh-oh.” Jackie looked around the room and saw far too many familiar faces. She knew they were all a part of the Bradley Institute. If they were caught, who knew what would happen to them? “What are we going to do?”
Ash turned to her and spoke in fluent Spanish. “Do you speak Spanish?”
She nodded and replied back in Spanish. “Yes. Why?”
“Talk to me in Spanish. That way we can talk about them and they probably won’t be able to figure it out.”
“Okay. Do you think they’re going to reveal anything important?”
“I want them to, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept things under wraps. Fortunately, we can spy on them. We just have to be very careful.” He looked around the room and saw the others. He nodded in that direction. “Over there! Let’s go!”
“I’m a little worried. There are a lot of people. What if they recognize us? Will they do anything?”
“Not in public. They may be scum, but they aren’t going to ruin themselves in front of people. We just have to get away from them before they make their move.”
Once they had moved out of the crowd, they joined the others. Crystal held up her glass to greet them. “You were gone long enough.”
“Sorry. I was trying to find something,” Jackie said. “Our friends are about to start their little meeting. Guess who’s here?”
“Everyone we hate?” Ren asked, handing them some more appetizers. “Main courses are going to start soon. You know, I don’t get this menu. I work in a fusion restaurant yet nothing they want is a fusion!”
“They are weird,” Misty agreed. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m tired. I’m glad this thing is going to end at ten. I wish I could help you all out with sneaking around, but I’m stuck trying to make salads and shit.”
“I pity you. Well, we didn’t hear a whole ton, but they did mention a chimera. I have no doubt that has something to do with us,” Ash said, looking around for Carolina. She wasn’t with them. “Where did my girlfriend go?”
“I think she went looking for you,” Doug said. “I had no idea what to tell her. I just suggested that she pick out something to eat.”
“It’s not like we have much choice there either,” Ren muttered. “Did these people even bother to see what kind of restaurant we were?”
Jackie was about to answer him, but her mind went back to the crowd that was forming outside the meeting room. There were so many doctors and distinguished people headed in there. She couldn’t hear what everyone was saying but she could catch bits and pieces. It wasn’t anything interesting. She heard sentences like “Millie, how are you? I haven’t seen in you a while!” and “Oh, there you are! We’re sitting at the same table!” None of it was suspicious.
“What did you see?” Ash asked her, switching over to Spanish.
“Nothing. I thought I might hear something, but they’re just introducing themselves. It’s hard to believe that any of these people could be evil.”
“I believe it. I learned a long time ago that outer appearances can be deceiving. All of them had a hand in this. They are hiding secrets from the world.”
“Hey, you guys want to clue us in on this?” Pam asked. “We don’t speak Spanish here. What are you looking at?”
“The crowd. I see so many faces and I can’t help but wonder who is really responsible. There is someone in that group that knows of our creation. Maybe that person helped put us together,” Jackie said. “They’re probably still alive and we need to find them. They may have the answers we’re looking for.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Crystal asked, finding a place to sit down. “Let’s listen in. Maybe our answers lie in this place.”
“God, I hope so,” Jackie murmured. She began to dread what was going to happen in that meeting. Things seemed quiet now but she didn’t trust anything anymore.
“I really do.”
Chapter 6 – Nikhil
It was a slow night but the action was about to start. By now, everyone was already seated and talking between themselves. Nikhil kept looking at the video and wanting to catch someone doing something different. He knew how parties like this went down. He had been to plenty of Indian wedding receptions and other affairs like this. People would gather at their tables, eat a ton of food, and talk over each other. There would be some music playing in the background, some people would dance, and then everyone would go home. He expected the same thing to happen here. There was even a dance floor that had been opened up.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Doug asked. “Wouldn’t you like to do a test run first?”
“I’ve already tried them out. I snuck one of them into my parents’ bedroom. That’s when I decided to stop doing test runs,” Ash said.
“I was so scared they were going to find out about us,” Jackie was telling the others as they gathered outside of the room. “I kept praying that they didn’t look under the curtain. Still, I do think they are aware that we’re onto them. We have to be very careful around them. I don’t want them to hurt us or our loved ones.”
“Oh, believe me. I know they can hurt our loved ones,” Pam said. “I’m just curious about what this chimera is. Where are we going to find one?”
“Here’s the thing. We don’t need just any chimera,” Nikhil explained. “We need the one who created us. A chimera is basically an organism that was made out of different zygotes. So a human chimera is someone that could have male and female genes in them. They could have two different blood types or they can male and female organs in them. Anything like that is possible. In humans, a chimera is usually someone who ends up absorbing their twin while in utero. That’s how they end up having male and female DNA.”
“That would probably explain how all of us were created then,” Doug murmured. “If you have one person with male and female genes, then that’s all you’d really need.”
“Did they reveal who the chimera could be?” Crystal asked.
“No. They just said there was one,” Ash said. “I have no idea if this person would be here or not.”
“Do you think that the Bradley Institute might have a list on who could be possible chimeras?” Misty asked. “I know I’m asking a lot. We’d have to break into that place again and look through everything. However, unless they give us a name, we’re never going to know who we got these genes from.”
“I’ve been thinking about that myself,” Nikhil said. “I doubt they have a whole group of chimeras that they extract from. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just one person who’s made all of us.” He turned over to Ash who was watching the conference. “Have they said anything interesting yet?”
“No, they’re just eating right now. I don’t really recognize anyone in this room.�
� He held up the tiny monitor to show them. “Granted, my spy-der is watching this from a distance so I can’t get a good look at anyone.”
“We know for a fact that Kweller and Chang are both here,” Jackie said. “I have no doubt in my mind that they are planning some speeches. I’m just wondering what they’re going to talk about.”
Ash kept watching, but had to stop as soon as Carolina came over to them. “Ash! Where have you been all night? I lost you in the crowd!”
“Oh, Carolina! I’m so sorry!” Ash handed the monitor over to Nikhil and whispered. “Guard that with your life.”
Nikhil nodded as Ash went over to his girlfriend and brought her to the group. “Hey, Carolina. How are you enjoying everything so far?”
“The food is great, but it’s starting to get a little boring now,” Carolina admitted. “I was wondering if you wanted to leave and get some ice cream or something. You guys can come too if you want.” She nodded to the rest of the group. “I can tell you’re not enjoying this.”
“Caro...” Ash began, knowing that he couldn’t leave without his invention. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Go ahead,” Doug suggested. “I am also feeling very restless over here. I’d like to come along with you.”
“Me too,” Pam decided. “I have to give my ex a call to make sure that the kids are all right.”
Ash realized that he was fighting a losing battle. A part of him also wanted to leave, but he didn’t want to go without getting something out of that conference. “All right, we can go out for a little bit. I don’t think that’s going to hurt anyone.”
“Yay!” Carolina exclaimed, giving him a squeeze. “You and I haven’t spent much time together. I have to leave tomorrow and I want to enjoy every second with you.”
“I know. Now get your coat and I’ll meet you outside.”
Once she was gone, he sighed. “I’m sorry, guys. I don’t know how I can keep spying on them.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got this,” Nikhil said. “Why don’t the rest of you go out? I’ll stay here and keep my eye on this group. I promised I would guard your invention with my life. I’ll just tell your girlfriend that I don’t eat dairy and I’ll hang back here. She hasn’t seen me eat or drink anything yet. I think I can get away with it.”
