Chapter 22:

On his drive home, Will slipped an earbud in and tapped it to activate the link to Sil and Artie.

“Hello Will, It seems you had a productive day.”

“Keeping tabs on me, Artie? Why, that is downright shocking.”

“Sarcasm detected, and ignored. Since you’re choosing to reach out before arriving home, I assume you have something to share?”

Will had started with sarcasm, it was just a habit, but he decided to get to the point.

“Yeah, I was able to get registration out of the way. After leaving Cierra’s compound I decided to do a quick look around at Reno branch HQ.”

Will proceeded to give a rundown of what he had seen at the branch. He then detailed his actions following Frankston, the garage and lab behind his house. He tried to be as specific as he could in describing the things that made up the man's mad scientist lab.

Will just didn’t know enough to be sure of the meaning behind what he had seen. He was, however, fairly confident that at least one of his esteemed employers was more aware of the current science around genetic engineering. Even if it might be from the stone age by their own perspectives.

Sil was the first to respond after Will had finished his report.

“Will, thank you for pursuing this issue. I realize you found some things of true significance, but I would request you make another trip to their main base soon. I believe it would be very much of benefit to have a more thorough examination of that location. The outbuilding on that property likely holds significance as well.”

“Yeah, I was already planning on it. What do you guys make of the miniature lab I described?”

Artie chose to respond to Will's question.

“You are correct about the general nature of what you saw there. It is clear he is experimenting with genetic modification. Unfortunately, without knowing what genes he is attempting to modify, I cannot begin to guess what he is attempting to achieve. Potential possibilities are just too numerous.

Given the nature of Activated abilities, it does seem likely it has something to do with them. Unfortunately, that does not truly narrow down what he may have in mind. The list of possibilities is enormous, and we do not know enough about the man to predict what he may be considering.

Additionally, modern human science has an extremely limited understanding of genetics. So even if his personal knowledge of the subject is years ahead of the rest of humanity, it is extremely difficult to say what he might be able to accomplish.”

“Yeah, I thought that might be the case. What worries me is what might happen when he decides to begin practical experiments, if he hasn’t already. The only blood I saw was what was on him, but that was more than enough to worry me.

Hey, Did you guys pick up on the interference you were worried about while I was out at Frankston’s place or branch HQ?”

“No, the interference has not registered on my sensors today. Given previous readings, however, it does appear the source of it is somewhere around Frankston’s property. I would say it is entirely likely to be related to the electronic contraption you saw in the lab area.”

“Okay, so I’d say my next step is to get a better look around HQ. I’ll also want to see if I can get a look inside their outbuilding.

Beyond that, I'll need to make sure I'm around whenever those signal issues pop up on your radar again. I get the feeling that whatever is going on up there, it's happening during those same periods of time.

Hey, think you can outfit me with some toys to help with the sneaking around and such? It became obvious pretty quickly that I am spectacularly unprepared for what that involved.”

“Of course. I considered this previously, and designed a device that will allow you to bypass locks of all kinds. Additionally, we have a drone design that will be excellent for forensic examination of a location. That drone will have the added benefit of allowing us direct observation of whatever you find.”

Sil then added a thought of his own.

“It’s excellent that you have learned to suppress your energy signature, and your technique for giving yourself low light vision is a good thing. Clearly, your training with Cierra has been beneficial. Do you believe it would be a good idea for us to bring her into our small circle?”

Will was pleasantly surprised by the question, and answered with ease.

“Oh yeah. I mean, obviously I’m all kinds of biased, but she is definitely someone we should bring up to speed. I don’t think we’re likely to find someone here who is more competent. Plus, her knowledge and experience from living here her entire life could be invaluable.”

“Agreed. Arrange for a good time to do her introduction. We should do it at your training location in the desert.”

“Yessir! You’re the boss!”

Sil would have rolled his eyes, but, well, that required having eyes.

Will chuckled.

“Okay, Artie, question, is there a consistent time of day you’re picking up interference at Frankston’s place?”

“Only that it’s always between the hours of eleven pm and four am.”

“Right, well, let me know when you pick it up next. If possible, we need to get eyes up there while it's active, like I said. We need to figure out exactly what he’s doing to cause it.

I'm pretty sure that is going to be the only way to see what exactly his experiments involve. Do we have to worry about him altering his nanites, somehow, and making himself insanely strong?”

“That is extremely unlikely. A large enough shift in his genetics is more likely to shut down his active abilities permanently.

It is a safety feature built into the nanites, as it is nearly impossible to predict what effect a runaway mutation might have on his body. Adding the effects of aetheric energy to a reaction like that could have a similar effect to throwing alcohol on a fire.

Additionally, the nanites rely on the DNA of their host to guide their functions to a large degree. Because of this, rapid mutations in a host's genetic code can cause the nanites to no longer recognize their host, and therefore self-destruct.

We have previously discussed what happens to a host who's nanites destroy themselves. It would certainly not be a pleasant end for the man."

“Okay, and with that horror story to contemplate, I’m going to get home and get some rest. Thanks for that.

Anyway, I’ll come back up to snoop around HQ tonight, if that’s enough time for you to have those toys put together.”

“They will easily be ready in time.”

“Great. Talk to you guys soon.”