Page 66 of Perfection

York gave Cal an uneasy glance. “Why don’t you get the team and have them begin testing. The plant layout is on the H-pad I gave you.”

Cal nodded and headed back the way they had come to call the team in.

York returned his attention to the worker. “Does your son own any Global Dolls?”

The man blinked. “Of course. I recently gave him a Scientist Global Doll for his second birthday. I wanted to inspire him to grow up to be more than a manager like his dad, you know?”

York recorded notes. “There aren’t many symptoms—fever and difficulty with spiritual unity. Have you noticed any unusual behavior in your son?”

The man shook his head. “No. Nothing.”

“Where did you get the doll? From a store?”

“No. As employees, we’re allowed to purchase them directly from the plant.”

York nodded. He’d just found a lead that could narrow down their investigation. He looked around. The factory operated a clean facility. He scribbled notes as he waited for the team to go over and collect samples from every surface and doll.

His comm chimed. He glanced at the screen. Vi. He accepted the call. “Our sight tests positive,” she said. “Eighty percent of the dolls showed signs of the virus on them.”

Looked like they just got their point of entry. Now they needed a complete report from the factory for the full picture.

* * *

Amanda pruned several spent buds from the rose bush and then cut a handful of blooms to put in a vase in Vi’s memory. Vi had liked her roses. Amanda couldn’t believe York’s partner was gone.

The waning day glowed brightly with the late-afternoon sun dipping behind the house as she moved from the garden to the patio. She brushed tendrils of hair off her brow as she made her way to the table and chairs, and plopped into one. She arranged the flowers and sat back. With a sigh, she took a long drink from the glass of strawberry lemonade she’d prepared earlier.

Her gaze fixed on a bare spot at the end of the garden. There was room for another plant. Perhaps she should buy a yellow rose bush in memory of Vi and plant it there.

If she’d only visited her longer the other day. It didn’t seem possible. What was this world coming to? With GEI kids dying and Vi— She shivered.

Deep in thought, she jumped as the computer system announced a guest at the front door. Feeling tired and discouraged, she made her way to the entry and swung open the door. There stood her niece with her little daughter, Fiona, draped in her arms.

Amanda scrunched her brow, not overly concerned. “Stacey, I didn’t expect to see you today.”

Stacey shook her head. “I know. But Fiona isn’t well. She began holding her head and crying. Then I touched her skin, and she’s so hot. I’m worried. I’ve been following the news and the reports about some kind of illness with those GEI children, and now this…”

Amanda touched the child’s brow. Indeed, she was burning up. A fever, she recalled the term used many years ago.

“You don’t think she could have the same thing as the WHO regional director’s daughter, do you?” Stacey asked.

“I doubt it. That little girl was two; Fiona is four, and a Coder. And our communities are so different. I don’t see how it would be possible.”

The child let out a long, low moan. Stacey’s eyes bored into Amanda’s, pleading. “You have connections through York, Amanda. The news reports say he’s leading the B-Gastion investigation. Please, what would it hurt to take Fiona to see that genetic specialist he’s working with?”

“I… I don’t think they’ll help,” she said, disheartened, but even as she tasted the acidic words, she wiped her hands. “Shit, and York thought I was defiant earlier…”

“So you’ll do it?”

Amanda nodded. “Of course.”

“You always are the brave one.”

“Brave or stupid. Sometimes it’s hard to tell.” She touched her niece’s shoulder. “Here, let me take her. We’ll figure out what’s happening.”

A tear slid down Stacey’s cheek.

“If she’s ill, they’ll have medicine,” Amanda said, both disgusted with Seville scientists and hopeful for the help they could provide.