The Eden Experiment

Ch. 6.5...

A quiet, rhythmic tapping fragmented the silence as Bader drummed his pen against his desk in rumination. He continued his repetitive activity, his eyes burning into the doorway across the room as he waited for the handles to click. A few more moments of waiting and the sound of footsteps approached the office. The shadow of a figure standing outside crept their way under the doors, pausing just before turning the handle to enter. The footsteps continued as the figure stepped inside, the light from the hallway briefly pooling against their pressed black suit before disappearing behind the closing doors. He was a younger man, almost thirty, with a handsome jaw and wavy black hair that was combed back in a manner only someone with money would pull off. He strode inside with an air of cockiness in his gait, and his half-lidded, electric blue eyes punched through the shadows like a cat caught in headlights.

 Bader's pen continued to rap against the desk, like the ticking of a clock, until the stranger stopped in front of his desk. A few seconds of silence followed.

"Well?" the stranger questioned. Their smooth voice drifted through the still air.

Bader turned the pen between his fingers, and grasped it in his palm. "Something's come up."

"Oh?" the man reacted, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of Bader's desk, "You're not letting me go already, are you?" He chuckled as he crossed one leg over the other, lounging back in his seat.

"Not yet," Bader grumbled, returning to his repetitive behavior, clicking the pen over and over. "I've received word from someone that an incident occurred at facility four."

"Mm..." the stranger muttered, rolling his shoulder. "I'm aware."

"Last night, a security breach cost us over half a million in damages. Including the loss of over a third of the subjects held inside. One of which I think you know very well," Bader tapped away at the monitor at his desk, and a hologram appeared in the center of the room. Aami's mugshot materialized within the hologram, with long, matted hair, black eye, and a furious expression on her face. The stranger turned over his shoulder to glance at the image. He scowled at the sight.

"I'm assuming you want her taken care of then?" He remarked.

"No," Bader corrected. "At least not in the usual manner."

The stranger turned back towards his superior, his face wrinkled with displeasure. "Which means?"

Bader's brow twitched at the huffy response but kept his composure with a deep inhale. "The Absterian girl harbors abilities unlike anything I've seen before," He clenched the fingers of his augmented hand and relaxed them. "I want that kind of power. I need to study it, control it... Harness it."

"Ohh, okay..." The stranger nodded and forced an uncomfortable smile. "That doesn't answer my question but go on."

"She's violent, arrogant, and irrational," Bader continued as he began to pace. "She's the perfect candidate for Eden's success. Those traits... We can use those. It's just a matter of getting her to cooperate with us."

"I'm not following."

"I want her back," Bader growled. "I want her alive."

"Ahh, okay, cool, I see where you're coming from now." The man nodded again with more understanding. "What does that have to do with me?"

"I want you to take this as an assignment."

"Mm," The man's eyes narrowed as he shook his head. "Mm-mh. No, sorry, can't do that."

Bader scowled. "And why not?"

"I'm flattered that you asked. Really, I am. It's just that I'm more of a..." The man waved his hand as he attempted to conjure up the right wording, "Conventional guy."

"Meaning?"

"You know. You show me a guy, I kill the guy, you pay me, I use the money to pay off my mortgage, the cycle repeats, I don't lose my head, everybody's happy. Bada bing."

"That girl is an active danger to the company and to the project. You're the only person with the skill set necessary to coerce her into returning safely and intact."

"'Coerce'..." The man scoffed. "I don't play fetch."

Bader wrinkled his nose, and he paused his pacing to loom over his visitor, whose posture stiffened as Bader towered over him. "I don't think you're understanding the stakes at play here." He said, low and gravelly.

The stranger leaned away. "I'm... Not sure I do."

"That girl is with McCullough now. Fugitives," Bader elaborated. "McCullough knows about us, about our most intimate operations, and that girl... She's experienced the very heart of them. They're whistleblowers waiting to happen. It's only a matter of time before they uncover who we are and what we're doing. The public isn't ready for us yet."

"You're worried about backlash?"

"I'm worried that all of my hard work will go to waste," Bader straightened upright as he stepped back behind his desk. "The public are timid and leery. I don't trust them. One wrong slip of the tongue and all of this will disappear." He emphasized his thought with his arms outstretched, gesturing to his surrounding entirety. "My grandfather built this company from the dirt with his own two hands, and my father after him shaped it, molded it into what it would be today."

The stranger hid a sigh and crossed his arms as he anticipated a long-winded monologue. 

Bader continued, seemingly unaware of the gesture. "But my father was a coward. A practical man. A provider of business and nothing else. He was unimaginative, immovable. He had no idea the power and influence he held in the palms of his hands, like that of God Himself. But I do. I am taking advantage of what's been given to me, and unlike him, I have made it my sole purpose to dedicate everything I have into making this project work. The betterment of humanity-"

The stranger rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright," he pressed, not wanting the tirade to get out of hand. "I get it. I get the backstory, I get the whole 'shtick'. I just want to know the who, the what, the when, and all the other little operational details of this assignment so I can go home."

"Your impatience leaves much to be desired," Bader responded, returning to reality. "I don't think you're taking me seriously."

The man leaned forward on his knees. "You trust me, don't you?"

"No."

"...M'kay. Well, let's just pretend that you do, for the sake of bargaining," The man pointed both index fingers up at the ceiling to emphasize his haggle. "I do this job the way you want, exactly, and you pay me... Double your standard."

"Deal."

The man's eyebrows raised. "Really?" He didn't expect such a quick agreement from someone so stubborn.

"You successfully bring both the Absterian girl and McCullough back to headquarters and I will pay you triple. If, and only if they are both alive."

A dazzling white grin stretched across the stranger's face as he rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Ho-hoh, I can smell the upholstery of that new pinstriped private jet now!" He reached across the desk to shake the hand of his employer. "You've got yourself a deal old man."