She sat next to him as he flipped to the first book in the New Testament and began scouring the pages until he found the 22nd chapter. She didn't miss the slight fingershake as he located the 14th verse.
"Matthew 22:14," he read aloud, "For many are...
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No one was in the break room, but it didn't matter anyway. Tasha scrolled through the useless information on the laptop, not finding anything. This was pointless. She'd never know the truth unless she got it directly from the boss. Speaking of which, where had he gone off to anyway?
She pulled up the finder window and tried 'Augmentation' but of course, nothing came up. Nothing for 'Trials' either–why would it be that easy? She pulled up the simulations and studied the numbers without hope. She'd never been a fan of simulations or emulators. It was just a bunch of guesses and more than likely they were way off. It was more of a disadvantage that was setting them up for failure. Real people were unpredictable, technology was unpredictable, and when you mashed the two together? There was just nothing useful about it.
The door swung open. A man with curly blond hair and blue eyes stepped in, his lips pressed in a hard line. Geoff was...well...different. Handsome, yes, but wild, just like his eyes. Today he wore a well-tailored blue suit over a neon shirt that was partially unbuttoned. She raised her brows when she noticed the matching bright orange flip-flops.
"You seem chipper," she dead-panned, not bothering to close her laptop.
He mumbled to himself as he opened and slammed cabinets and drawers, eventually finding a little ray of sunshine in the form of off-brand soda. He dropped down heavily in the chair across from her and began to drink loudly.
"Been-a day," he answered and then went back to drinking.
He was a few years older than her, and possibly the worst Captain choice the COA could have made. Geoff, Bisa, and Lain had all been brought in only a month or so ago to run through the simulations. Just like Algernon, they'd each been given the position of Captain, which put them in charge of running their own set of simulations on six different "subjects" to prepare for the upcoming Trial. It was Tasha's job to combine and analyze everyone's data. None of the numbers were even close to being the same. Geoff's were particularly high despite how unhinged he seemed. Even so, Tasha didn't fully trust him. Not because he talked to himself–which he did often–but because of what he was saying when talking to himself. It was like he had other people in his head. She suppressed a shiver.
"What's got you all...hot and bothered?" She asked.
Geoff laughed bitterly and put his can down. "Me? Bothered? Never. I'm great. I'm always great, Natasha. How are you?"
"I'm great. I'm always great."
He snorted. "Right."
"Why the mood?"
"You're Algernon's personal pet project, correct?" He asked, running his finger around the lip of the can.
"Understudy," Tasha shot back.
"Right, right," he nodded his head. "And what, besides checking up on me, did he put you up to?"
"He didn't ask me to check up on you–"
"Oh save it, it won't do you any good. I don't trust him."
And he doesn't trust you either.
Tasha didn't see any way to ask him subtly. She shut the laptop and looked him right in his wild eyes. "Do you know when we'll be switching to a real Trial instead of all the simulation testing?"
Geoff regarded her cooly for a moment and then smiled, amused. "Dear, sweet, young Natasha. If you, his very pet, have no idea when the next phase begins, why would I?"
He had a point, but something in her gut still didn't feel right. Geoff finished off his drink and smashed the can into his head before tossing it into the trashcan–missing. He stood and brushed his fingers against her chin. "I wouldn't ask too many questions around here, despite the nepotism," he warned.
And then he left.
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