The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)

Chapter Fifteen-Between A Rock And A Hard Place

 *2,5k word chapter*

LUC

"I'M SURE YOU ARE AWARE of your sister's outstanding skills with technology," Caldwell began sedately, lounging in her seat.

I nodded, ready to drink up any detail that was about to surface. Whether it was the truth or not remained to be debunked. 

Lauren had shown interest in computers or anything related early on, and she had been strongly encouraged by Micheal to continue down that path. He wanted to invest in potential gifted workers for Freecore Tech, and the executives all agreed to have her as some type of intern since the age of fourteen.

It wasn't as rigorous or formal as the real sense of the term. Every few weekends, Raymond, who was now almost a board member after so many years in the business, would drive her to Columbus. He'd started out like Lauren as an 'intern' and had even introduced her to that world. The both of them clocked in and spent two consecutive days there, essentially groomed for future expectations as an official part of the company. 

During the summer, that time expanded, and in between, they'd make progress from home. I had always been used to seeing them get ready in the morning to ride to the city. Sometimes, I tagged along to meet up with distant family. Micheal tried to enroll me too, seeing that I wasn't too shabby myself, but I didn't want to. The idea of sitting in front of a monitor and coding for hours didn't enchant me.

My sister was amazing at it, quickly learning concepts and methods outside of school studies. Not a single board member hadn't been impressed at her evolution. At first, she couldn't measure up to a professional programmer. But around sixteen, she started surpassing Raymond when he'd been at that age and even started comparing to trained software engineers.  

The van wheeled in circles around town, passing by empty neighbourhoods. Currently, people were off to work or to school. Speaking of school, I'd felt my cellphone vibrating agog in my pocket, but I couldn't check what the commotion was all about. I was kind of busy. 

Caldwell crossed her ankles in the wide space, the heels of her boots digging into the plush carpet.

"In fact, your sister has been a great help to us in solidifying our infrastructure and security system. She—"

"No, wait," I cut in, my mind reeling in disbelief. "She's not fucking working for you scumbags."

The woman's cheeks deepened a shade or two as a flare of dislike gleamed in her eyes. For once, she did not look amused by whatever spilled out of my mouth. I was tempted to lay it on thicker, to test her patience, but decided not to push my luck.

"Yes, she is," Caldwell reiterated, her voice sounding strained. "Believe it or not, it is the truth. She is exceptionally talented at what she does, going as far as reinventing the practice if you give her a superior training with people of her caliber."

No, I couldn't believe it. Lauren would never accept to help NIO no matter the conditions. It was straight up impossible. "She'd never do shit for you. There's no way."

"I could spend hours trying to convince you otherwise, but I guess it's pointless. I'm telling you, this is what happened. Your sister has had an important role in shaping some of our latest technology. She has volunteered almost two years ago to work for us, Lucas. If we are tyrants, do you think she would consider it—reach out to us to offer her services?"

I stopped breathing and reared back on the bench. A sharp stab in my chest caused my thoughts to slow down, and I tried to imagine how something so inconceivable could ever happen. I shook my head, horrified. This was a blatant lie and the people in the van took me for a fool.