"Good morning, Ms. Wheeler."
Blinking sleepily, she wondered why her transcribe sounded different. Then Carolyn Wheeler's eyes opened wide when she saw Morgan Yu's face. The other woman had shed her corporate uniform during the night and wore only a light undershirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. And though a quick glance towards the terminal showed Morgan had been on the terminal already, at the moment she sat cross-legged on the base of the bed, watching Carolyn.
Watching her sleep? The original Morgan Yu would never be that creepy. But then, this Morgan Yu was actually a Typhon.
"Right. Free lesson in passing as human, shall I?"
"Please."
"Don't watch women while they sleep. It's icky."
Morgan blinked. "Icky?"
"It's...you know. Predatory."
"Interesting choice of word." The Typhon's head tilted and she shifted forward in the bed slightly. Which uncomfortably reminded Carolyn of how long it'd been since she'd had another woman in her bed with her.
"Is it?"
"You're not my prey, Ms. Wheeler. Quite the opposite."
Carolyn sat up in bed, unconsciously cradling the sheets around her chest, acutely aware she wore only a pair of panties and an undershirt of her own. As a Public Relations expert, she had ample experience as well as training in reading people. Despite Morgan's inhuman nature, the Typhon had come to emulate people so well that she was largely readable too.
Except right now. That look on her face was hard to gauge.
"And what is the opposite of prey to you, Morgan?"
The Typhon smiled and looked genuinely pleased. "I like it when you call me Morgan."
"And I like it when you answer my questions."
"That's reasonable. You're…" Morgan paused, looking as if she were fishing for the right word. "You're someone to protect. I suppose I'm a product of my experiences, Ms. Wheeler. For me, that means saving people from monsters."
Lovely. It was anyone's bet what would happen when this Morgan invariably encountered one of those humans that might as well be monsters themselves. Not that it was terribly likely here. After all, INL had been a preeminent site for nuclear research before becoming a corporate subsidiary. Now, it handled a variety of TranStar research. The kind of people who worked here were among the more mentally stable people available for hire.
"If you're not using the loo, I believe I'll shower."
With a nod, Morgan rolled off the bed and took her habitual place in front of the terminal. Bemused, Carolyn checked her transcribe as she walked into the bathroom. She felt the corners of her mouth drop as none of her emails to Alex Yu showed a response.
Was he in on this after all? Or had his sister screened them out somehow? What was really going on here?
A brisk shower did much to revive Carolyn, who'd after all had a very eventful twenty-four hours. Freshly scrubbed and made up, she came out with her long blonde hair wrapped up in a towel. Morgan hadn't appreciably moved so Carolyn finished dressing in relative privacy, reviewed the faux rationale her Typhon friend had made up for her and booked several appointments for site tours.
"Make sure at least one of those is for the Biotechnology Center."
"Beg pardon?" Carolyn looked up from her transcribe and frowned at the back of Morgan's head. "Are you in my transcribe?"
"I've been in your email," the Typhon corrected. "I had to leave my transcribe behind. Too easily traced. Check yours, I've just sent you a list of personnel attached to the Contraband Detection Test Bed facilities. We'll want a tour of the Active Interrogation Research and Test Facilities and, while we're there, a look at the Biotechnology Center. That's where I believe Dr. Yu is."
There seemed little point to investigating how the Typhon knew that. Instead, Carolyn placed a hand on one hip and said "And what do we do once we get there?"
"You get me near enough, I slip away and investigate her. If she can be reasoned with, I make contact with or without you and get you back to your life as soon as I can."
"And if she's not reasonable?"
"If I don't think she can be reasoned with, I find you and we leave this place for TranStar corporate headquarters where Alex went. I may not know what kind of a woman she is but I know what kind of a man my brother is. He'll listen to us."
"Ever think we should have started with him?"
"Possibly." Morgan looked thoughtful as she turned away from the terminal and fixed her gaze on Carolyn. "But he isn't the source of this trouble. Dr. Yu is. Let's at least try the source first before we appeal for help."
With a long suffering sigh, Carolyn crossed he arms across her chest and then nodded. She extended a palm and a moment later a Neuromod rested in it. Tucking the Typhon away, Carolyn Wheeler finished up booking appointments and went to work for the day.
It was almost relaxing to be doing her job again. Even if she'd come here under false pretenses, Carolyn found the project synopsis for each effort at INL intriguing. The Explosive Detection Test Bed, for example, had repurposed it's explosive detection systems away from ordinary bombs. Instead, they'd come up with hand-held sensory units that could detect cystoids, whether in a nest or on their own. How many lives could have been saved had that technology existed even a year ago? But it'd passed go-live production launch and every remaining enclave of humanity was scheduled to have at least one by the end of the year.
Even more promising was the work being done in the Biotechnology Center. Researchers there worked in partnership with other dedicated facilities to put together a pathogen that could hurt the Typhon without harming humans. The Center was in the process of inventing both a delivery and a detection system. Given the worldwide nature of the Typhon invasion, only mass dispersal had any hope of providing a meaningful chance to overwhelm the enemy before they could adapt. Monitoring the spread of that contagion was critical to understanding which population centers could be vulnerable, and which might need reintroduction of the pathogen.
The research was certainly convenient, since she needed to wind up there anyway.
Carolyn Wheeler set upon her mission as if it were just an ordinary day at TranStar. Breakfast in the cafeteria, followed by a brief, charming conversation with the serving staff. They were in good spirits, given the circumstances of the world. Which suggested this facility was reasonably well run and it's staff not engaged in the kind of morally dubious work that, say, Talos 1 had.
She pondered that as she paired up with Luis Martinez to receive an escort over to the Critical Infrastructure Test Range Complex. The car ride out to the Explosive Detection Test Bed facility was a good half an hour and it gave her time to reflect on her own moral complicity. After all, she'd been well aware of what TranStar had done to produce Neuromods. Had known exactly how the raw exotic material had been...well, Psychotropics would call it 'manufactured' but she knew a euphemism when she met one. At Dr. Yu's request, she'd come up with a variety of potential press briefing as well as communication contingency protocols based on various scenarios in which the truth reached Earth.
By contrast, the scientists here were genuinely trying to save the human race. Carolyn didn't want to die and reaching the real Morgan's Yu was probably essential to her continued survival. But it was hard to see herself on the side of angels when her hands were red with more complicit blood than any of the Security Guards who might get in her way here.
In her pocket, the weight of the Neuromod was another reminder. Morgan Yu might have started all of this but the Typhon Morgan was probably more 'them' than 'us'. And Carolyn intended to smuggle the creature into a secured facility in the hopes of finding out the truth. An action that could very easily cause a lot more death.
The sane thing to do was to turn herself in. A brave woman would do that. So Carolyn could only sigh and browse her transcribe reading lists on the ride over, well aware she wouldn't. Sue was dead but the rest of Carolyn's family still lived for the most part. She had to survive to see them. No matter what it took.
"Quite the place," Carolyn observed as the car at last turned off the service road and sped towards a complex of buildings.
"Yes, we do a lot of testing out here. I'm not privy to the details, of course," Luis said with a smile.
"That's the Explosive Detection Test Bed facility then? Ahead?"
"That it is."
Carolyn squinted. "It's a lot more modern than I expected. And more, er, fragile?"
The facility coordinator chuckled as they pulled into the parking lot outside a three story expansive office building. Glass panels substituted for walls, giving a certain brilliance to the long angular planes of the building. Not at all what one would expect for a facility that dealt with explosives.
"The labs inside are well secured, Ms. Wheeler. And remember, they don't blow things up on purpose here. Most of the original research was aimed towards finding ways to detect bombs before they exploded, after all."
"Right."
Security was exactly as irritating as Carolyn expected. Thankfully, she'd had the foresight to secure 'her Neuromod' inside that sealed container. Though it raised eyebrows on the TranStar Security Guards outside the building entrance, it didn't set off their Eradicator Autoturrets nor their psychoscopes.
Luis took her into a rather tastefully appointed lobby replete with large red-dyed leather covered chairs everywhere. Various paintings and works of art provided ample reminder that the Yu Family and TranStar never skimped on opulence when they had the chance. Reception didn't look like the busiest place but it was well staffed with two admins who inspected her credentials, confirmed her appointments and finally admitted her to the interior.
It was an uneventful visit.
Carolyn filled the morning with meeting various departments heads and getting brief tours of their respective lab areas as well as project details she'd already read about now. The Directors she met were personable, pleasant and clearly had better things to do. So did she, and having to engage in the fiction of a PR review protocol was tedious to the extreme.
At last she met up with Luis Martinez in the lobby right around the lunch hour and managed to get a ride to the Biotechnology Research Facility before having a spot of food to tide her over. The Facility itself had no windows whatsoever and was made of impassively concrete with all entrances environmentally sealed and controlled. Security was even tighter getting in. But they blessfully had a cafeteria and she was only too pleased to have a nice salad while Luis picked up a sandwich and soup. They had a pleasant chat about nothing consequential before he moved on to do whatever it was that he did when he didn't have visitors like herself.
Thankfully, Morgan didn't need to eat.
Carolyn's one o'clock appointment began the real work of this visit. Meeting another Director to get an overview of their pathogen vector research was interesting enough but it was a bit more effort to keep a bland expression when she knew Dr. Yu was close. On her way to her two o'clock, Carolyn unsealed the Neuromod casing and looked for a good spot to drop the Typhon off.
With any luck, Morgan would come find her before she left and tell her it was all over.
"Ms. Wheeler?"
No such luck. Carolyn didn't stiffen but instead opted to show a pleasantly surprised expression when she turned to face Dr. Yu herself. At least part of the surprise was real. After all, she genuinely hadn't expected to run into TranStar's CEO out in a hallway. Not did Carolyn expect the other woman to be wearing a TranStar Uniform Suit. But then, a full environmental suit made sense in a building that specialized in contagions.
"Dr. Yu," Carolyn said before stepping forward to shake the hand of her boss's boss. "It's been years. How are you?"
"Delighted. To see you, of course!" The CEO's grin seemed earnest, infectious and Carolyn found it easy to smile back. "Not many of us Talos 1 survivors left. You're over in Yakima, aren't you? What brings you out here?"
"Oh, the usual. Annual review of select projects, with a view on a communication strategy. It's easier to handle Congress when you know what they might find out, after all. Though INL looks like a tight ship. I didn't realize you had offices here."
"Offices, no," Dr. Yu replied, shaking her head. "A lab, yes."
"You're still conducting original research?" Carolyn's eyebrows shot straight up. "I don't suppose it's something within my purview, is it?"
"Why not come see for yourself?"
That was not at all what Carolyn expected. Showing interest in something another person kept discreet was a surefire way to end a conversation early. Instead, Dr. Yu had just invited her in.
To what end, though? And what did the CEO know? How much had she really seen of what took place in TranStar's Yakima Facility? Not a great deal as of yesterday but then this Morgan had another day's worth of time to investigate with, just as they had. Typhon Morgan had hacked her way out of one base and into another. Was there any reason to believe the original wasn't at least equally resourceful?
But then, there wasn't a polite way to excuse herself. Not that wouldn't draw suspicion. Beyond being a scientist, Morgan Yu was the well-trained, experienced corporate officer and daughter of a powerful family dynasty. The CEO of TranStar was perceptive enough to see through even Carolyn's well-practiced evasions and disengagement techniques.
So far, pretending that nothing too significant had happened yesterday had worked for Carolyn. It was still the best card in her deck. Besides, this could provide a way to, innocently, find out more about what all of that was really about.
"I'll cancel my two o'clock then, shall I?" she offered.
"You should. This should make your entire trip worthwhile."
With those inspiring yet cryptic words, Dr. Yu beckoned Carolyn down a hallway and towards a security door. The weight of the Neuromod lay like a cross against her side, impossible to ignore, full of significance and possibly not worth the belief she might invest in it. At least she still had her Typhon ally. Assuming the Typhon was an ally.
The security door admitted them once Dr. Yu scanned her access card. A stairway descended to ground level, and then below ground level. Stark metal bracing and panels were well lit by ample lighting panels. The descent was reminiscent of some of Talos 1's cramped corridors. Carolyn found her palms were moist, so she wiped them on her pants and focused on controlling her anxiety.
Another security door barred entry. Carolyn was a touch surprised that neither door had Security Guards or at least Eradicator Autoturrets. But then, INL was an isolated complex so perhaps she'd seen no need? How times had changed...
With a wave of her access card, Morgan again beckoned Carolyn onwards. So onwards she went.
Into a massive chamber. The walls were filled with computer displays, with banks of dedicated consoles and control panels strategically placed throughout. A series of work benches were set up to span a dozen tables of surface area, and those surfaces were filled with machine parts, electronics and God knows what. A fully functional Material Recycler stood against the back wall while a Fabricator stood front and center amidst the workbenches.
"Some things never change, I see." Carolyn made herself chuckle. "I don't imagine you're still testing Neuromods at this point."
"Not enough volunteers left to do that," the CEO said in a casual tone as she strode through the series of work benches to reach a central computer terminal.
Carolyn cringed at the bluntness in the other woman's tone. Then she understood it. "There's always civilian population, I suppose," she said to the other woman's back as she followed her.
Pausing before a comfortable swivel chair, Morgan turned and flashed her a brief grin. "Yes, you were always the pragmatic one, weren't you."
"I'm not Annalise Gallegos if that's what you mean."
"No, you're not." Morgan Yu gave her an unreadable expression. It suggested assessment. It also suggested TranStar's CEO had already made up her mind. In Carolyn's experience, people who hesitated to finish a thought did so for dramatic reasons. Virtually never did someone choose a course of action only to actually change their mind at the last second.
"Let's have it, Dr. Yu," Carolyn said, by way of encouragement.
"Straight up it is." Morgan dropped heavily into her chair and spun in it once, until the revolution took her back around to face the PR Director again. "I've been building something unique. It's a device that analyzes genetic changes in Typhon organisms. With their remarkably adaptive cell structure, it took decades of research to even discern where their neurons were, the physiology of how they think. I now have a way to scan for a baseline and then track changes at the cellular level when their environment is altered."
"Altered how?"
"Altered by the introduction of human genetic material, for starters. The baseline Typhon Mimic has a particular cell structure but elements of its host material remain. When Mimics use people to divide, they retain trace elements of human DNA. Part of my research is aimed at understanding what difference that makes in terms of genetic expression as well as cognition."
"I...see.". Carolyn didn't, though. Not really. So she asked what project managers usually asked. "What's the deliverable? How does that help TranStar?"
"It also allows me to explain real-time changes imposed by the pathogens being developed here in the Biotechnology Research labs. Would it surprise you to know the Typhon are remarkably resistant to contagions of any kind? But then, they're highly evolved to survive. For a given definition of survival, anyway."
"A given definition?"
Morgan smiled. There was something chilling about the expression. Carolyn didn't like where this was going.
"They're not properly sentient, you know. It's remarkable that a creature that feeds on consciousness doesn't have much of one themselves. At least, not on their own. How familiar are you with Coral?"
So this is where the Typhon Morgan had learned to leap around, from subject to subject, ducking questions by asking her own. "Are you suggesting that's how they think?"
"Essentially, yes. Each Typhon is something like a hand, an arm, a muscle that receives its instructions. When there isn't Coral yet, they follow preprogrammed instructions to replicate until their ecology supports Coral, at which point they create a Weaver and it begins to spin out the nervous system that lets them think, communicate, plan. Which is why I'm developing this pathogen. I'll forward you my notes. In the meantime, Ms. Wheeler, would you mind answering a question or two of mine?"
"Naturally." Carolyn bent her head to examine one of the myriad screens surrounding Dr. Yu's workstation. It bought her time to gather her thoughts.
"What did my brother want with you today?"
"You're above these games."
Carolyn hadn't realized her Morgan had changed shape until she heard the new voice, icy, irritated, completely confident. It took no effort to pretend to be shocked, because the Typhon revealing herself had been the last thing the PR Director had expected. Unfortunately, she seemed to be the only one surprised.
Morgan still working her corporate uniform, which oddly made her look more professional than Dr. Yu's TranStar Uniform designed for deep-space and hostile environments. The two Morgan Yus' otherwise looked identical. Both had the same hair, similar expressions, similar posture and neither seemed particularly aware of her now.
"So, Alex succeeded," Dr. Yu said, the dry observation rather obvious after all.
"I told him Project Cobalt had promise, didn't I?" Morgan answered back.
"That wasn't you, though."
"Neither was it you."
There was an implicit double meaning in those last two sentences. And the growing hostility between both women suddenly sent chills down Carolyn's spine as a horrifying, horrifying possibility asserted itself.
She took a step back, buying herself space from what seemed to be an inevitable confrontation. Reaching behind herself, her fingers settled on what felt like a pipe. Something long, metallic, sturdy and better than nothing at protecting herself.
"What is her plan?" Morgan asked.
"You don't know?" Dr. Yu actually looked for faintly surprised, then amused. "Of course. You don't have any non-declarative memories, do you. Just drift."
"I'm something more than drift. Maybe the Morgan that could have been. Should have been."
"Moralizing is something our brother does. Not us."
The seeming confirmation of Carolyn's worst fear was followed up by the CEO gesturing once, swiftly, a fierce upward slash of wrist and knife-edged hand. Inexplicable force slammed into Carolyn. The world swept into song, heard dimly through clouded ears.
When she brought up the pipe, Carolyn knew what her orders were.
