Chapter Two: The American
"Are you Treholt?" The American mangled the name, but he made up for it with a handsome smile and a quickly extended hand. Finn took the hand cautiously, as he eyed the cut of the man's suit. It was expensive, there was little doubt of that, but the wide lapels and heavy shoulders looked more European than anything from across the Atlantic. However, if the American's attire seemed continental, his accent more than made up for it. He spoke with a deep gasoline twang that reeked of the rustic south. When Finn nodded a speechless affirmative, the American put his impressive voice to use once again. "Great to meet you Mr Treholt. The name's Ross. Aaron Ross."
"Good morning Mr. Ross." Treholt managed eventually, stunned by the sudden appearance of the well-dressed foreigner. The man seemed inscrutable, as Treholt attempted to discern some sliver of meaning behind his charcoal eyes. "Take a seat."
Ross looked up at the darkened lecture hall, a smirk playing across his lips. Still, he remained motionless, instead choosing to stare up knowingly at the space for a few seconds longer.
"So what can I be doing for you?"
"Straight down to business then Mr Treholt? Well, I'm sure you're a busy man."
"I am."
"I won't waste much of your time then. To put it as plainly as I can, I represent an international bio-engineering firm, International Genetic Technologies Incorporated, and we wish to make you aware of an opening for a position at one of our research facilities."
"International Genetic Technologies?"
"The InGen Corporation, if you will. You may have heard of us."
"I have. Several of my colleagues sit on your advisory board."
"Well, we recruit the best."
"Indeed."
"Would you like to hear the nature of the opening?"
"No." Finn paused, and looked up at the American. Upon seeing the man's aghast face, he hastened to add "Thank you."
"No?"
"I'm not interested. Thank you for the opportunity, I hope you have luck finding someone to fill the opening."
"You're not interested? Come on, you haven't even heard what I had to say."
"I don't need to."
"Just hear me out."
"I have a lot to do Mr Ross. Please see yourself out."
"I assure Mr Treholt, if it's a matter of money, we won't be outbid. Name your price."
"It's not a matter of money."
"Mr Treholt, I'm not going to take no for an answer."
"Why not? There are plenty of kids twice as qualified as me who'd jump for an opportunity like this. Let me put you in touch with-"
"We want you."
"Why?! I'm a teacher."
"Our lead bio-engineer asked for you by name."
"Who is your lead bio-engineer?"
"Yuko Hoelscher. I believe you know her."
The silence that followed was confirmation enough, as Treholt let the name sink in. He chose his next words very carefully.
"Miss Hoelscher asked for me?"
"Yes. By name. It's Finn Treholt or nobody, she said."
"What-" Treholt paused, to take a deep breath. It seemed impossible to him, how suddenly things had changed. Eventually, to the amusement of Ross, he continued. "What exactly is the nature of the position?"
"I'm glad you asked. You'll be working with Miss Hoelscher as Second Geneticist."
"Second Geneticist for what?"
"I'm no expert Mr Treholt, you must understand. So everything I tell you will be from a layman's perspective."
"I understand that."
"From what I can understand, Mr Hoelscher is working on patching, so to speak, partially sequenced genomes."
"I see."
"Look, tell you what. You need some time to think about this, I get that. So I'll give you the number you can contact Miss Hoelscher at. She'll answer any questions you have." Ross revealed a black business card with a magician's flourish, and flicked it to Treholt. On one side, a silver embossed phone number was proceeded by an international calling code Treholt didn't recognize; +996. He flipped it over, to find nothing but the silver and blue logo of International Genetic Technologies Incorporated, or as the logo read, InGen.
