AN: Here we are, another chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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"I don't understand why Regional has to be pulled into this," Alice said. She flipped through the folder in front of her and closed it again. It hadn't changed since the last time she'd flipped through it. The orders were all there and they were still written in the language that she couldn't help but feel was used simply to obscure things.
"Regional is a leading research hospital," Samirah said. "Everything there is state of the art."
"And?" Alice asked. "If these are just simple genetic tests then we're equipped to handle them."
"Al..." Samirah said. It was more of a plea than just a simple statement of Alice's name. Alice heard everything behind it. She heard everything that Samirah wasn't putting into words. Please, Alice—don't ask questions. Please don't rock the boat. Please don't make any of this more difficult than it simply has to be.
Alice looked at Milton who was sitting, one leg crossed over the other which was bouncing nervously, next to Samirah. He brought her with him every time they had meetings like this so that Samirah could simply step in and handle things. Milton was excellent with the science side of everything, but if he had things his way, he'd never actually interact with anyone who worked under him.
"Why, Milton?" Alice asked. "Why does Regional have to be involved?"
"They're processing the information," Milton said. "Regional is a state of the art research facility. The greatest minds in medicine are working there."
"I know," Alice said. "I used to work there, remember? Before I signed on to this project? Before you asked me if I'd be interested in running this goat and pony show? But that was the deal. We ran things for Wave Thirty Three out of the community. Out of Woodbury. Why is Regional suddenly pissing in my back yard?"
Samirah sighed. Alice was almost relieved to hear the sound. It was usually a sign that the woman was giving up the put-on act that was sometimes required for her job. The meeting was a closed and private meeting. They weren't being observed. They weren't being recorded. There was no need for any kind of show. Whatever was said across the small table would stay between the three of them unless they chose to share it with someone else.
"Regional is a government run hospital," Samirah said. "Government run and—government funded."
"Find me one thing that isn't these days," Alice responded.
"The government wants the tests to be processed through Regional to make sure that the data is the most accurate data that can be collected," Samirah said. "They want to make sure that the results are the..."
"They want to make sure I don't tamper with the results," Alice finished quickly for the woman. Samirah's expression told her that she was correct. Alice sat back in her chair. "Am I under some kind of investigation, Sam?"
"Nothing like that," Samirah assured her.
"Then there's some kind of suspicion that I'm tampering with the project?" Alice asked.
"Nothing like that, either," Samirah said.
"Then why the fuck don't they trust me to handle the tests?" Alice asked.
"Someone suggested that—all data should be screened. And the best way to screen the data is to—well—it's to have an unbiased eye examine it. No one at Regional is connected to the project. They don't have anything to gain or lose by the success or failure of Wave Thirty Three," Samirah said.
Alice swallowed back her frustration.
"And what the hell do I have to gain or lose?" Alice asked. "If it tanks, I'm out of a job. That's it. It's not like I couldn't walk away from this job tonight and have another job by morning. I could work at Regional again in a heartbeat. In fact? They're holding my position just in case I want it back."
"Someone suggested that—we might be too close to the project," Samirah said. "It was suggested that you—and I—and a few others might be too close to it. Opinions we've expressed in the past regarding the Wilds are..."
"Coming back to bite us in the ass?" Alice asked.
Samirah laughed to herself. It wasn't a sincere laugh. She was as deep in this as Alice was. She didn't want to see Wave Thirty Three fail either. Alice figured, personally, that it was because Samirah had a heart and a little bit of morality left—but that was just her personal take on why it would be that anyone might not support the mass execution of Wilds-formerly-known-as-people.
"Something like that, Alice," Samirah said.
"Who?" Alice asked.
Samirah shook her head.
"It doesn't matter," Samirah said.
"It matters to me," Alice said. "I want to know who the hell it is."
"Don't cause a scene," Samirah suggested.
Alice looked at Milton. Despite the fact he was having a difficult time swallowing—something that would normally make Alice suspect he was guilty—Alice just couldn't believe that Milton Mamet would be behind any of this. The project was his personal baby. It was, arguably, more important to him than it was to anyone. If he succeeded in proving Kreegan's theories wrong, Milton would secure a place for himself in every history book ever printed.
"Milton?" Alice asked.
"For the results of the project to be taken seriously, they need to be evaluated by a number of trusted individuals," Milton said. "Allowing Regional to assess the tests would prove that we have nothing to hide. We're not tampering with, as you say, or altering the results in any way. All results will be complete and accurate. It provides an insurance policy, if you will, against any accusations that may be launched against Wave Thirty Three and anyone involved in the research."
Alice nodded her head and dampened her chapped lips with her tongue.
"And who suggested that we weren't providing accurate data in the first place?" Alice asked, holding Milton's eyes for just a moment before he looked away from her and shook his head.
"No such accusation has been made," Milton said. "Not—not in so many words."
"It was simply suggested that it could happen," Samirah said. "Therefore the government decided it would be best if all tests beyond the regular medical examinations were passed through Regional."
Alice sucked in a breath and held it against her growing annoyance.
"Jesus! I'm not going to go after her with a chainsaw! I just want to fucking hear you say who it was that made that accusation! I want to hear you say who it was!" Alice said.
She saw both Samirah and Milton jump and she immediately checked herself. She crossed her arms across her chest and sat back in her chair, trying to let them know that she could and would remain calm.
"You can't say anything, Alice," Samirah said. "You can't do anything. It wasn't an accusation and it's not being treated as such. But doing anything?"
"Pinky promise and scouts' honor," Alice said. "It was Hurricane Maggie?"
Samirah nodded her head.
"It doesn't change anything about the project moving forward," Samirah said. "It just means a slight delay in getting results back."
"A fucking week or more of asking these people to sweat it out," Alice said. "That's what it means. Regional is too busy for their own good and they're always backed up and delayed. If everything goes according to plan, I'm taking care of a horde of expectant mothers who are already nervous and on high alert. Now I've got to ask them to submit to invasive exams and sit on their damn hands waiting for results for—I don't even know how long it could take to get something back."
"Just encourage the mothers to remain calm," Samirah said. "Let them know that the hospital is slow at returning test results. Hearing nothing doesn't mean anything."
"I can tell them that," Alice said. "But these are people who are traumatized and terrified. I feel like I'm putting them at risk. I'm putting the babies at risk. If I ask them to sit on that kind of anxiety? Especially with the damn questionnaires of horror that they're being subjected to in the psychological screenings."
"We're confident you can handle it," Samirah said. She laughed nervously to herself again. "And it doesn't matter anyway, Al. This is out of our hands. It's out of Milton's hands. It's coming from all the way at the top. The Governor wants these checks and balances in place in the project."
"Fuck," Alice muttered. She opened the folder again and read through the first page. It was the first page of a three page document that introduced her to the tests that she'd be running and the way that those tests would be handled. Beyond that, there was more detailed information about how she should administer the tests and how the results should be read. "It should be elective," Alice said, closing the folder. "It should be up to each mother whether or not she wants to subject herself and her unborn child to the test."
"It's absolutely not elective," Samirah said, shaking her head. "Every pregnancy."
"What about the risk?" Alice asked. "There's risk involved in this kind of procedure. Miscarriage. How do I tell these mothers that they have to submit to this test when it carries a risk that most of them aren't going to be happy to hear about?"
"Downplay the risk," Samirah said. "It's a miniscule risk at any rate. The chances of miscarriage are low."
"But they're there," Alice said. Alice looked at Milton. "Is this what you want? You want to—you want to risk losing the pregnancies? For these test results? You want to risk Andrea losing your child—delaying the entire fucking project for these test results?"
"The tests are mandated by the government," Milton said. "They're required for moving forward with the project. If any such difficulties should arise, we'll simply begin again."
Alice laughed to herself.
"Begin again. Because we're working with test subjects—not human beings with feelings and emotions," Alice said. "We're working with animals, right? They won't know that they're sad over their losses. They'll all just submit again. Get pregnant again and again. Try again. Keep trying. Never knowing if history will just keep repeating itself."
"Alice..." Samirah said. She shook her head at Alice when Alice looked at her. "None of us like it. I don't like it. Milton doesn't like it. But in order to move forward with the project? We've got to follow the rules. You know that as well as I do. The Governor passed down the information on the tests and he wants the results as we're moving forward. If we comply and run the tests, we run a minimal risk of losing some of the pregnancies. If we don't? We lose the whole project. Wave Thirty Three gets shut down if we don't follow the rules. It's not a risk we want to take, but it's a risk we have to take."
"The needs of the many," Alice said. Samirah nodded her head. Alice glanced at Milton. He was clearly dealing with an abnormally large amount of anxiety at the moment.
Wave Thirty Three was his baby. And, whether or not he'd ever voice it in front of anyone, he also had a personal tie to the project that went beyond the scientific one. Andrea was carrying his actual biological baby. He could pretend that he was capable of ignoring that, but Alice knew that he wasn't.
The tests were government mandated genetic tests.
If they didn't do them, the project failed without a fighting chance.
Alice nodded her head.
"All pregnancies?" She asked.
Samirah nodded her head.
"What about my high risk pregnancies?" Alice asked. "We've got the twins. These kinds of test can be a little trickier with twins."
"You're a great surgeon," Samirah said. "An excellent doctor. You got your position at Regional for having the steadiest hands in current medicine." Samirah laughed to herself. "It certainly wasn't for having the coolest head," she added. "If anyone can perform the tests with the least amount of risk to the developing fetus? It's you, Alice, and I know that you know that."
"Everyone," Alice said.
"Everyone," Samirah echoed.
Alice sighed.
"Fine," she said. "I'll do my best. I'll stress to my mothers the importance that they remain calm. I'll stress that the risk is a two percent risk and it's reduced if they stay calm and work with me. I'll—watch them. Stress some relaxation and aftercare. Tell them that Regional is slow and they just—have to be patient."
"It's all you can do," Samirah said.
"And when I get the results?" Alice asked.
"You'll report them to the mothers," Samirah said. "One copy goes straight to you, one to Milton, one to me, and one to the doctor that reads the results for the Governor. He's coming from Regional. He's not involved in the project at all. He's just there to be entirely unbiased."
"Is he unbiased?" Alice asked. "Has anyone screened him about his beliefs when it comes to the Wilds?"
Samirah nodded her head.
"I don't know him," Samirah said. "At least not personally. But I know that he doesn't believe in the idea of being fundamentally wild. The four copies of the results, though, mean that nobody can change anything. There's a lot of checks and balances there."
"If the tests come back negative?" Alice asked.
"If the tests come back negative and the pregnancies continue to thrive, then it's just business as usual," Samirah said. "Nothing changes from our original plan. It's all the same as it was before this information came down the line."
Alice nodded.
"And if they come back positive?" She asked. She swallowed, her stomach tightening and twisting itself into a knot. She didn't have to hear Samirah's words. She didn't have to try to interpret Milton's nervous glance in her direction. She understood, immediately, that negative results were something they didn't even want to consider.
