Guillermo Callif. Her family had made enough noise in every place Guillermo had ever visited to drill the name into an impressionable mind. Then recently, the patient had suffered a psychotic break and started fabricating stories like the one she'd just heard. He'd probably told dozens of people dozens of different stories. Ana boiled inside at having been such a simp in holding out hope for such an obvious fabrication. She had been up for nearly twenty-four hours now and the frustration overtook her mounting exhaustion, snapping a few neural connections that would have been better left in place. She seethed as her hovercar descended into the parking structure adjacent to Agency headquarters.
–
The doors to the Valkyrie Project headquarters blew open on a backdraft of rage. Ana was the fire that stormed through them. Her hair billowed out in her wake as though blown by the blast of her anger—though it was probably just a gust from the force with which she had opened the doors.
It didn't matter that Aerin hadn't sent her out to chase a wild goose on purpose. He'd thought he had a legitimate lead. But a few of her logical faculties were overridden by her mounting sleep debt, and right now, she needed to let him know he'd screwed up. She stayed in the Valkyrie Project to chase leads, but the deep water she had waded into led by Jasper Jonze had left her with nothing but a swim back to shore and away from the island inhabited by a lunatic.
As Ana pushed through the large glass doors of Aerin's office, she could already see him cowering. A constant jumble of nerves and intelligence, overthinking and overanalyzing everything every step of the way. And as he stammered through the three syllables of "Hey, Ana ," her resolve was obliterated like a target dummy in the face of an MP-11. How could she be angry with him for bringing her a lead? She was here to chase leads. When it came to her brother, she would chase any lead she could find. She had to be willing to deal with lunacy much greater than even her own if she truly wanted to find Memo.
Aerin's hand was shaking. It was obvious because he was holding a vial of the black liquid that they'd brought back just a day earlier. Ana softened her posture, but he still withdrew a step, bumping a table littered with technical equipment behind him. The vial dropped from his hand, falling to the floor.
Ana lunged for it, but his retreat had taken it out of her reach, and it crashed on the dark cement, spilling the mysterious liquid at Aerin's feet.
"Oh shit," Ana said.
"Oh shit," Aerin said.
He spun with a previously absent nimbleness, around the table that had goaded him into the accident.
The lock on the door slammed home behind her. The sound made Ana spin to look. Then the vents overhead closed down.
"I'm sorry," Aerin said. Ana turned back to face him.
"It's okay," Ana said, holding her hand out. "I mean, that stuff isn't gaseous or anything, right?"
"Well, I haven't really done that sort of testing on it yet."
Klaxons crashed around them. Aerin covered his ears, but Ana was more composed. Her training allowed her to remain stoic despite the blaring alarms. Aerin considerably less so.
Ana turned, grabbed the handle affixed to the transparent panel of the door, and pulled. She figured it wouldn't do much good and unfortunately she was right.
Aerin was spouting mild-mannered curses like he'd suddenly acquired a very juvenile case of Tourette's. She turned back to him.
"Don't worry. We'll be out of here in a sec. It's not like they're going to fry the room with us inside."
"I know," he said. "But that was the only sample. No offense, but you guys didn't bring back a lot to work with. And now we'll have to go through the Ionizer."
Ana should have taken offense, but now that her incoherent rage had dissipated, all she managed was a shrug. Besides, she didn't really mind the Ionizer; it made her scalp tingle pleasantly like someone was moving their hands just at
–
The doors to the Valkyrie Project headquarters blew open on a backdraft of rage. Ana was the fire that stormed through them. Her hair billowed out in her wake as though blown by the blast of her anger—though it was probably just a gust from the force with which she had opened the doors.
It didn't matter that Aerin hadn't sent her out to chase a wild goose on purpose. He'd thought he had a legitimate lead. But a few of her logical faculties were overridden by her mounting sleep debt, and right now, she needed to let him know he'd screwed up. She stayed in the Valkyrie Project to chase leads, but the deep water she had waded into led by Jasper Jonze had left her with nothing but a swim back to shore and away from the island inhabited by a lunatic.
As Ana pushed through the large glass doors of Aerin's office, she could already see him cowering. A constant jumble of nerves and intelligence, overthinking and overanalyzing everything every step of the way. And as he stammered through the three syllables of "Hey, Ana ," her resolve was obliterated like a target dummy in the face of an MP-11. How could she be angry with him for bringing her a lead? She was here to chase leads. When it came to her brother, she would chase any lead she could find. She had to be willing to deal with lunacy much greater than even her own if she truly wanted to find Memo.
Aerin's hand was shaking. It was obvious because he was holding a vial of the black liquid that they'd brought back just a day earlier. Ana softened her posture, but he still withdrew a step, bumping a table littered with technical equipment behind him. The vial dropped from his hand, falling to the floor.
Ana lunged for it, but his retreat had taken it out of her reach, and it crashed on the dark cement, spilling the mysterious liquid at Aerin's feet.
"Oh shit," Ana said.
"Oh shit," Aerin said.
He spun with a previously absent nimbleness, around the table that had goaded him into the accident.
The lock on the door slammed home behind her. The sound made Ana spin to look. Then the vents overhead closed down.
"I'm sorry," Aerin said. Ana turned back to face him.
"It's okay," Ana said, holding her hand out. "I mean, that stuff isn't gaseous or anything, right?"
"Well, I haven't really done that sort of testing on it yet."
Klaxons crashed around them. Aerin covered his ears, but Ana was more composed. Her training allowed her to remain stoic despite the blaring alarms. Aerin considerably less so.
Ana turned, grabbed the handle affixed to the transparent panel of the door, and pulled. She figured it wouldn't do much good and unfortunately she was right.
Aerin was spouting mild-mannered curses like he'd suddenly acquired a very juvenile case of Tourette's. She turned back to him.
"Don't worry. We'll be out of here in a sec. It's not like they're going to fry the room with us inside."
"I know," he said. "But that was the only sample. No offense, but you guys didn't bring back a lot to work with. And now we'll have to go through the Ionizer."
Ana should have taken offense, but now that her incoherent rage had dissipated, all she managed was a shrug. Besides, she didn't really mind the Ionizer; it made her scalp tingle pleasantly like someone was moving their hands just at
Similar Books
