“Is she hallucinating?” I whispered.
“No,” he answered gravely. “She’s trapped in a memory.”
I reached for her hand, but Titus stopped me. “Don’t startle her,” he warned quietly.
“He did. I understand everything,” she said calmly, staring at the ceiling. There was a long pause and then she asked, “And then I’ll be as fast as a vampire?”
She stared above her like someone was there, looking down on her. Like they were all she could see.
“Will it hurt?” she asked. Waiting a beat, she added, “I want the upgrade.”
“What is this?” I whispered to Titus.
He shook his head. “She’s remembering the upgrade for speed, but that doesn’t make any sense. We were sedated before Kael’s team retrieved us, but.... she’s talking to him.”
Eve continued speaking, but I missed what she’d said. Then she started screaming, her back arching off the mattress.
“What’s happening to her?” I shouted, lunging to help. Titus pushed me away from her, keeping his palm extended and placing himself between me and her.
Eve calmed down. She shook her head back and forth, whimpering for the unseen person to stop. Titus cursed again. “If you wake her up now, it might disorient her. Just let it play out.” He pursed his lips together. “She’ll be fine. She’s the strongest of all of us. She’s already survived this, and now I know she’s survived a hell of a lot more than anyone realized.”
Eve
I lay on my back on the shabby, plastic mattress of a hospital bed, wearing a worn, paper-thin gown with blue pinstripes running from neck to knee. A sheet and two thin, white blankets cover me from the waist down. The door slides open. Kael walks in.
From behind his thick frames, his eyes rake down the screen of a tablet a nurse hands him. He scrolls, pushing his finger up the flat, glowing screen a few times. “Did Maru explain the procedure, and do you understand the risks? I informed him yesterday about both so he could prepare you.”
“He did. I understand everything.” My voice is calmer than my racing mind. Maru said Kael wanted to upgrade a portion of my DNA to make my reflexes rival those of a vampire. I’m not sure how it’s even possible. The vamps on the broadcasts are there one minute and gone the next, but if I can improve even a little, it will give me more of an advantage. I’m fast for a female my age, but to have vampire-like speed? That could mean the difference between life and death. Escape and capture.
The room is as empty and sterile as Kael’s surgical jacket. The lingering latex scent of a fresh coat of paint permeates the small space.
“Victor prefers to call what I’m about to do ‘upgrading,’ while in actuality, I’m editing your DNA. I’m changing the very nucleotides that make you uniquely you. I will replace several sequences that should increase your speed and reflexivity.”
“And then I’ll be as fast as a vampire?”
“Coupled with your suit’s acceleratory properties, yes. This edit should make your reflexes sharper and your motion faster than the human eye can track.”
“Will it hurt?”
Kael places the tablet on the rickety night stand. “Of course it will. You can’t expect to alter the very fiber of your being without pain or the potential for side effects. However,” he says, cutting me off before I can ask him exactly how painful this procedure will be, “it’s necessary. If you want to be promoted to one of the top three Assets, you need to be able to compete. Titus and Abram are the strongest and fastest in the group, and Neveah is right behind them. The problem with Neveah is that her DNA wouldn’t accept this particular edit. This is your chance to rise above her and take your position as a top Asset. This isn’t the only edit you’ll need, either. Decide right now whether this is what you want. Once we alter you, there’s no going back. We can’t and won’t waste further time or resources on you if you don’t want to proceed, but it’s your decision, Eve.”
I mull it over. I’ve already decided to get the upgrade, which is why I don’t understand why my gut is telling me to throw the blankets off and make a run for it. It’s just nerves, I decide in the end. “I want the upgrade.”
The tension in his shoulders spills away. “Please roll onto your stomach. Then, I’ll use an antiseptic to cleanse and disinfect the skin.”
“Okay.”
Kael turns to the nurse and asks her to leave the room.
“But, sir, I insist on witnessing the procedure,” she presses, her cool gray eyes meeting mine for a moment.
Kael, ignoring her protests, tugs on a pair of latex gloves and positions a small table capped with a metal tool tray at my bedside. He rolls a small swivel stool over and sits down, leveling the woman with a dispassionate glare. “I will note this insubordination in your personnel file if you do not leave my presence at once.” His voice is low, deceptively polite and matter-of-fact; however, his words promise that he’ll do more than just note her objection. She’ll be permanently dismissed if she doesn’t leave. A shiver of dread crawls up my spine.
The woman wrings her hands. She doesn’t want to go, but knows she can’t stay. I give her a confident smile. “It’s okay.” My false bravado persuades her to ignore her gut feeling.
She walks to the door, waits for it to part, and steps out of the room. Kael and I watch it slide closed behind her.
Kael turns his attention to the small metal tray on the table beside him. Plucking a glass syringe from it, he flicks it with his finger and depresses the plunger. The needle sprays a small stream of the clear liquid, filling the barrel. “You’ll receive a series of three injections. Each will be more painful than the one before it, but it’s nothing a top Asset can’t handle.” He tests the other two syringes, placing them back on the tray in proper order.
“Okay.” I take a deep breath and lay my head back down on the scratchy paper pillowcase, folding my hands underneath my cheek.
“The injections have to be made directly into the spinal column,” he adds.
The muscles in my back involuntarily stiffen as he unties my gown and rubs a thick square swab soaked with cold liquid over my skin. “This is an antiseptic to prevent infection.”
I nod, trying to mentally prepare myself for the impending pain he warned me about.
“Injection number one,” he reports mechanically, before settling a gloved hand on my back. “You need to keep perfectly still. You wouldn’t want the needle to injure your spinal cord.”
“Can’t you numb the area?” I say before he inserts the narrow spike into my skin. I hold my breath, pressing my eyes tightly closed. It hurts, but I’ve felt worse pain, I tell myself. It’s over in a few seconds. Five, to be exact. My heart pounds and I struggle to take deep breaths, trying to calm myself before the next needle.
“There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he pronounces calmly.
“Why can’t you use a local anesthetic?”
He huffs a laugh. “Victor insists that his Assets be strong. What better way to test their strength – mentally and physically – than to see how they react to these procedures?”