Page 124 of CHOICE Lover
“How did he do that?” the attendant asks.
“A scrambler app. I assume those men don’t work here.”
She shakes her head.
“Send me that video. Quickly.” His brisk tone makes her jump.
Thankfully, she doesn’t argue. On the screen, a series of commands play out. When the file is packaged, he holds out his device to make the connection. A second later, his phone pings.
She frowns. “Wait, isn’t scrambling a surveillance stream illegal?”
His eyes narrow as he stares at her. “Obviously. Now lead me to that exit.”
“Shouldn’t we call the authorities?”
“You cannot call the authorities.” Those men must have come for Electra knowing she’s a reincarnate. He’s sure of it. They know she’s connected to him and must have been tracking them—those men in the hallway after the IdenTECH meeting. He had a clear image of one of them. Could he get the footage from that day, too? There isn’t time. Electra could be halfway across MSP by now.
He’s ready to grab the woman’s arm and force her down the hallway. Damn the consequences. She steps out of reach, eyeing his hand. “Fine.” Then they’re marching down the dark hallway.
He thinks the command: Time Check. 16:42 sounds in his ear. Electra said she needed ten minutes in the locker room. At twelve minutes, he went to check on her.
Panic seizes his chest. That means at ten minutes he heard her cry out for him. He didn’t imagine it. Zorg, if he’d been paying closer attention, could he have stopped them from taking her?
They push through the emergency exit that leads to a service corridor.
The woman lingers behind as he bursts out into the hallway. “I should get back to my station.”
He turns, towering over her. Hoping he exudes enough authority that the woman doesn’t balk, he says, “Tell no one of this.”
Her eyes widen, and her knuckles turn white as she grips the door handle. “I won’t. I swear.”
The door clicks behind her. He doesn’t glance back as he races down the hall in search of Electra.
A fruitless hour of searching goes by, then another. Who does one report a missing person to—who isn’t supposed to exist? Inspector Wanda will only lock Electra up in one of NHOS’s holding cells, and he can’t let that happen. He needs to get away from his crowded tower so he can think.
The thirty-minute ride to the CHOICElover headquarters drags on like a never-ending nightmare. Electra’s beautiful face smiling up at him as their bodies’ equilibrium returned to baseline plays in a loop in his mind.She didn’t say she loves you, but she didn’t leave you either. He has to cling to that and do whatever it takes to get her back. She matters. The world needs her. He needs her. He’s in too deep to lose her. Now she’s in trouble, and she needs him.
His device pings as he steps into the elevator. Could it be the woman from the simulation chamber sending him something she found? He opens the message: It’s an image of a woman bound and gagged, huddled in the corner of a sterile white room. He would know the shape of her from even the briefest glimpses. It’s Electra. His stomach clenches violently.
He zooms in. Dried tears make vertical tracks down her freckled cheeks, and her dark eyes flash as she stares at the camera. If she’s afraid, she has it well masked with anger.
There’s a metal cabinet almost off camera. He zooms in. On top of it sits a BioLume Gene Scanner. They’re analyzing her DNA? That fits with the stolen organic materials and his hypothesis that someone is trying to bring more reincarnates back. The shiny metal door reflects something orange opposite her. The jumpsuits the men were wearing from the other day?
He rushes to his office, debating between responding and waiting for their demands. Because that’s clearly what this is—some plot to extort him using Electra. Her gene scan is probably a bonus. He sends the image to his system and runs it through an enhancer program. He zooms in on the reflection expecting to see fabric, but—it’s hair. It’s a man with dark skin and curly orange hair.
Lextr?
But why would Lextr take Electra? He’s had access to her DNA this whole time. The pieces of the story he concocted move around in his mind. He thought for certain that whoever took Electra is also behind the robbery. Does that mean Lextr is behind the robbery, too? He was the first to speak to the authorities that day. To cover something up?
But that doesn’t make sense. Unless he was lying about what had been in those silver cases. Res6 shakes his head. Electra was his first and only successful experiment, a fact reinforced with each subsequent Jerme failure. Unless Lextr’s been sabotaging them to shield himself from suspicion. Was she a fluke, or is his own employee—the man he trusted for over fifty years—the one behind the reincarnates? But their DNA is all from GROW’s stores. He confirmed that. For Lextr to be involved, he’d have to be working with someone employed by GROW then. But why, when he had access to all the same materials?Maybe this GROW person knew the key factor they were missing, and again, Electra was a fluke. He isn’t getting anywhere.
“Fuck!” He buries his head in his hands. The longer he takes to figure this out, the longer Electra is at risk. He needs help.
He slams his fist on the table. “Zorg-fucking-damnit!” How has he landed himself in this situation? He can’t think of a single person to call besides the inspector—which is a terrible idea because she’ll just take Electra to Camp Reincarnate. But even if he called Wanda, what do they have to go on? An image and a reasonable guess that the man in the cabinet’s reflection is his former employee.
Plus, he’ll have to admit Electra’s nature and why she exists. Maybe Wanda wouldn’t take her in light of all his help. Is he willing to find out? No, too risky. He could call Tommy, but the man’s particular moral compass means he’ll encourage Res6 to contact the authorities.
Sable’s dark eyes and full, smirking lips appear in his mind. James said Sable is his friend. He picks up his device, staring at it for a moment. Can he count on her?
