Page 143 of CHOICE Lover
“I thought we were friends,”Sable says, frowning.
Wanda taps her stylus on the table impatiently. “I’m not authorized to share other classified information about an ongoing case with you or any other MSP citizens. I feel like this should be obvious.”
“Then what are we here for?” Res6 asks, ready to cut to the chase. More like ready to get back to his unit, which means back to Electra.
“Two reasons. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a match from the hair Electra collected, but we were able to trace two of the DNA samples from under her fingernails. One is the tech at ManuMATE, who we already identified—getting concrete evidence was a huge boon. The other is a sanitary waste technician whose digital traces come up all over BLACKOUT, which led us to an illegal fighting ring. Not Off-the-Books. One called Lights Out, which appears to be a far more exclusive and discreet venue.”
“I thought you didn’t care about those,” Sable says.
“I didn’t until I discovered they were keeping a pen of reincarnates to use as fighters. We raided their facility and recovered seven people, plus more evidence. We also arrested the sanitary waste technician who was on guard duty, evidently just a thug for hire. We moved because we thought we’d found the nest, but we discovered nothing concrete that could lead us back to the ManuMATE employee who wasn’t there during the raid. It’s possible Lights Out was just buying reincarnates for their clients’ entertainment. I fear this is bigger than I originally thought. If they are connected to the fighting ring, they’ll know we’re investigating them, so they’ll be more careful covering their tracks.”
“I see,” Sable says. “So far, we have at least one low-level ManuMATE employee, the woman with the yellow hair who took samples from Electra, and one known criminal you’ve arrested that may only be a lackey. And what about Lextr?”
“We’re still working to get a message to him. No luck yet. We don’t want to compromise his safety,” Wanda says.
“Where do we fit into this?” Res6 asks impatiently.
Wanda sighs. “My team is suspending GROW’s license and shutting them down effectively at midnight tonight until they can show that they can operate without creating any more reincarnates. After discovering more reincarnates, the higher-ups decided it’s time to put a stop to this.”
“Wow. It sounds likeour evidencehas been really effective foryour team’sinvestigation. Do you need our help again?” Sable’s smile is smug.
Wanda ignores her. “The GROW suspension will give you the perfect excuse to apply at ManuMATE. I need someone on the inside who has a justifiable reason to be there, who can spy on the technician for me.”
“Sounds fun. I assume I’ll be compensated?” Sable plants her elbows on the table, steepling her fingers. She peers over them, her dark eyes gleaming with intrigue. Something about it reminds him of the female antihero in the last book he read.
“Yes,” Wanda agrees. “I’ll have my team lead set you up in our system.”
“And me?” Res6 asks, hoping it has to do with him and not CHOICElover. Even if he’s come to terms with the possibility of something happening to his company, he has thousands of employees to consider.
“We may require the technology in your lab to determine what we’re dealing with. Also, we’re doing our best to keep this quiet. The nineteen reincarnates in total who we’ve identified are being housed in a tower in E Quadrant. A few from the fighting pits were in bad shape, so we’re running health checks, and providing acclimation training and psychological care. There was one man, however, who we’re having a difficult time with.”
Res6 and Sable slowly turn, glancing through the glass wall behind them to the man Wanda brought with her. He’s slumped in a chair in the hallway with his head buried in his hands.
“His name is Alex Torres. In addition to his forced involvement in the fighting ring, he’s battling an illness our medical team lacks the expertise to deal with. We could place him in one of MSP’s care facilities, but we’re concerned that the public may discover the breadth of our reincarnate problem before we have a better handle on it.”
“So you want us to take care of him?” Res6 leans back in his chair, imagining what Electra would do. “I can give Sable full access to our corrections department. Depending on what he’s suffering from, I’m sure we can get him taken care of in a matter of hours. Then you can return him to E Quadrant so he can join the acclimation program with the other reincarnates.”
Wanda rubs her temples. “That’s the problem. He’s refusing treatment. He claims he has something called brain cancer, which I tend to believe since he’s already had two seizures since he’s been in our custody.”
Sable’s brow wrinkles. “Why doesn’t he want to be healed?”
“He claims he’s tried everything and there’s no hope.” Wanda makes air quotes around the wordsno hope.
“Did you inform him that disease has been effectively eradicated in our time?" Res6 asks.
Wanda shakes her head. “We did. He won’t listen. I thought since you two had experience with people from his time—he died in 2039—perhaps I could entrust him into your care? My team would be grateful.”
Res6 glances at Sable, whose returning stare is pleading. For what, he isn’t certain. “I’ll gladly commit my resources if it will help. I’d offer to have him come stay with us, but Electra just rearranged the furniture.” He turns to Sable. “You have an extraroom, right?”
“No,” Sable blurts out, bolting up. “Absolutely not. I do not want my free reincarnate with purchase. I will gladly heal him if someone else can convince him to let me, but that is my limit.” Sable waves a hand in the general direction ofoutside the conference room. “Don’t you have a spare office he can live in?”
Wanda’s eyes track the pacing physician. “Please, just consider it.”
“Not doing it.” Every few steps, Sable steals a glance through the glass at Alex, who is now intently tracking her movements. “I’ve seen the danger of interacting with the reincarnates—you end up with lovesickness, which I’ve determined has no cure.” She points an accusatory finger at him. “Look at what happened to him. Taking one home is the first step.”
Res6 chuckles. “Surely you have more control over your emotions than that? Unless you think you’re vulnerable to love . . .” He knows he’s goading her, but there is a certain entertainment value to watching her squirm. He can only imagine how fun it would be to watch her fall head over heels for a man from the past.
Sable freezes, crossing her arms. Then she plops back into her seat, scowling. “I’m not remotely vulnerable.”
