Synthesis: Book One Read online

  Chapter 5

  Kelley felt more and more surprised as they finished dinner. Instead of quaint, jungle terrain, San Jose seemed to have a nice metropolitan vibe that catered to a unique and colorful nightlife. After having an early dinner in a restaurant around the corner from the hotel, she and Evan headed to a children's museum. The large building had classic, Spanish architecture, but was painted a bright primary yellow.

  “What are we doing here?” Kelley asked.

  “I wanted to show you some of my work.” he said, as they stepped out of his car and made their way to the entry.

  Evan's wardrobe fit perfectly with the other professionals of the city. He was wearing a salmon colored polo shirt and khaki pants. His shoes were a bit out of place, as he was wearing top of the line hiking boots. It seemed a weird choice for walking around a paved city, but he wouldn't be the first researcher she had worked with that had a hard time dressing himself.

  Right as they stepped into the bright building, a girl about ten years of age came charging toward Evan with a big, bright smile. She slammed into him with so much force that Evan nearly fell over. He bent down and scooped up the girl in his arm while she peppered him with kisses. His big smile was infectious, as he looked over the girl's head to give an apologetic look to Kelley.

  “Evi!” The girl shouted to him at the top of her lungs. Right as Evan was setting her down, a woman of about forty years of age came walking up quickly. She gave a warm smile to Evan and hugged him sincerely while the little girl had clamped onto his leg like a koala bear.

  “Evan! What brings you to the museum so late? We're just about to close.” She said, as she brushed a tendril of long black hair form her face.

  Evan looked down and mussed up the little girl's hair, as she looked up at Kelley with a friendly smile. “I wanted my friend to meet little Olivia.”

  He looked down and addressed her directly. He spoke to her in the most fluent Spanish that Kelley had ever heard someone speak. He finished by leaning in and whispering something confidential in her ear while Olivia smiled and nodded her head in approval. She stood from her position on his leg and pulled back her dark hair from her right ear. Evan gestured for Kelley to lean in close as he pointed gently.

  “You see this little patch of skin here? This is all that was left of her ear when Olivia was attacked by a dog last year.” Evan said, as he looked over and smiled at her mother. The woman was welling with tears, as Evan continued his story.

  “I was able to grow another one from scratch in about one month. I used some of her cord blood, which her mother had banked when Olivia was born. The lab then used a process I had developed, along with some new gene sequencing regimens. We grew the new ear, and a local cosmetic surgeon was able to attach it with no problems. There was no risk of rejection, as this was her own tissue, just optimized by the lab. We were even able to finish before school was back in session, so nobody was the wiser to her plight. Olivia likes her new ear, doesn't she?” He finished, as he spun her around and tickled her mercilessly.

  As Olivia giggled helplessly, her mother introduced herself. “Hi, I'm Rose Davilia, it's nice to meet you.” She held out her hand, and she and Kelley shook as they both watched Evan's interaction with her daughter.

  “Wow, he's really good with kids.” Kelley observed. Seeing him playing so openly with Olivia was even more heartwarming, given that he was also her savior in such a big way.

  “Yes, he's always in here with the other kids. I think that he secretly likes coming in to play in the exhibits also.” Rose said, as she gestured behind her at the museum's interior. “I had just taken a position on the board here when Olivia was attacked by that dog. I was so frantic and out of ideas, when Evan approached me in the hospital with the experimental program he was working in. He is truly our knight in shining armor. I don't know how Olivia would have gotten along had it not been for him.” She said, as she dashed at another tear. Instead of the introverted, stuffy intellectuals she was used to working with, he was rugged and confident. Everything about him made her want him. It had been so long since she had been with a real man. Charlie was hardly on the map, as he was just a researcher who landed a government paper pusher job. Caleb was going to be real in one month, and that realization was just now hitting her, as Evan and her began making their goodbyes to Olivia and Rose.

  Out in his car, the warm night air came in through the open sunroof. Evan ran his hand through his hair nonchalantly, and he caught Kelley staring at him.

  “What is it?” He asked, as he looked down at his shirt self-consciously.

  “Nothing, it's just so refreshing to see somebody use their talents and intelligence to do something good for a change.” Kelley said earnestly. She was truly taken aback by his ability to be smart, funny and confident all at the same time.

  “When my father found out I wanted to go into genetics, he was a little disappointed. He was a surgeon, and he was hoping that I would follow in his footsteps. When I showed him that I could really help people from this line of study, he told me that he was very proud of me. He also made me promise to do just that when I started working in the field.” Evan paused his story, as he let some jaywalkers get across the street. “Naturally, I take the chance to do just that whenever I can.”

  “So, is he proud of you now?” Kelley asked.

  Evan smiled and said, “Yes. Yes he is.”

  They turned off the main street, and onto a side road that wound up a hill. The true, jungle-like nature of San Jose began to reveal itself, as they moved farther up the mountain, and above the bustling metropolis below.

  “We're going to see the Genetitech facility. It's better to do it at night, since you won't have to introduce yourself to every tech and passerby that you see. This way, I can better explain some of the stuff Caleb is doing.” He said.

  Kelley had almost forgotten about Caleb! She had his texting unit in her handbag, but she left it at the hotel so she could focus on Evan and his tour of the facilities. Being well aware of the fact that she only had tonight to talk with him, she was still incensed by Evan. She made a mental note to ask Caleb as much as possible when she got back to her room.

  After twenty minutes of crawling up the winding jungle road, they came to a guard shack with a uniformed man standing out front. As Evan slowed, the man recognized him and gave a polite wave. Once inside the security gate, the road changed from rutted gravel to gleaming cement. The cement driveway continued up another quarter mile, until they came to a sprawling gray structure that was situated on a clearing cut into the mountain. The air temp must have changed with the altitude, because the night air had cooled to the point of being almost brisk.

  Evan pulled into a parking spot with his name on it and killed the engine. He swung himself out of the SUV and hurried over to open Kelley's door. So chivalrous...

  “Are you too cold? I forgot to mention that it gets kind of chilly up here in the evening.” he said, as he helped her out of her seat.

  Kelley had crossed her arms over her chest to keep from flashing her high beams at him, but she smiled and said, “No, I'm fine. It's actually refreshing.”

  Evan lead the way, while she followed behind. She still struggled to keep up with his long legs, as he made his way to the front desk. Kelley couldn't help but stare at his nice, tight butt while the walked. He really did take good care of himself! She felt even guiltier about not going to the gym more. If this guy can regrow ears and make time to volunteer with kids, and keep up his great build, then she had absolutely no excuses.

  As he slid his security card through the slot, he turned to her and said, “I need to talk with security really quick. Can you wait out here?”

  “Um, sure. Is everything alright?” She replied.

  Evan waved his hand dismissively and said, “Oh yes, but I need to make sure that the night time security guys know who you are.” He jogged inside quickly and began speaking with the two uniformed men. She watched him make hand gest
ures and laugh as he talked. The large, tinted glass windows in the building gave it a sort of sinister look. She was trying to think of the Bond movie she had most recently seen that had a similar evil lair, when he came bounding back out.

  “Is everything alright?” She asked brightly.

  Again, Evan took the time to gaze up and down her body one more time. She didn't really mind the attention, but she wanted to keep things as professional as possible. It sounded like this company wanted to hire her on for, at least, the time being. She didn't need to ruin that with another dip in the career dating pool.

  “Yep. We're good to go. The guys like to have new folks vetted before they enter. Genetitech policy and all...” he said, as he ushered her through the large, plate glass door. Kelley instinctively put out her hand to hold open the door. As she did so, she brushed Evan's toned chest as he made his way in behind her. While she walked in front of him, she hoped and prayed that the security guards couldn't see how red her cheeks were!

  The two armed men seemed to be locals. They straightened their uniforms and both gave her a polite nod and a smile as she and Evan passed the front desk. The high tech feel of the building was muted by all of the windows looking out into the jungle. She looked at the thick foliage that was almost invisible in the waning light of dusk. Evan sidled in front of her to lead the way again, and he broke into a short tour guide shtick.

  “Genetitech is a Fortune one hundred company, with facilities all over the USA and the world. This particular one used to be a slash and burn orange grove. The company had made and effort to buy out these damaging farms and convert the land back to its native jungle. This place in particular is actually built into the mountainside to minimize its impact on the surrounding ecosystem.” He said, as he stopped to swipe his access card at another door.

  “I was actually recruited by Genetitech right out of school. I was finishing my doctorate in genetics when their head of HR came into my dorm and let me basically write my own salary. After agreeing to pay all of my student loans, and relocate me to South America, I signed on the dotted line and never looked back.” He said proudly.

  Kelley moped over the fact that she would be paying off her student loans until she was forty three. “Wow, you must really have the skills then.” She admired enviously.

  Evan lead her into a long, white hallway that was lit with rows of recessed LED lights. The contrasting brightness of the hallway was almost enough to make her eyes water, as they continued on to his lab. He led her through one last security door and said, “I just got lucky. My Doctoral thesis was on augmented stem cell protocols, and it just happened to be the hot button topic at the time. They hired me on to help them lead their regenerative medicine division. This entailed a lot of housekeeping. During my first month, I ended up firing ten high level research scientists and scrapping about one hundred million dollars’ worth of outdated equipment and supplies. After that, I was able to rebuild the program to better serve my needs.” He finished, as they stepped into his lab. The door had a polished white placard with his name engraved on it.

  Kelley swiveled her head around, as the lights quietly blinked on. There were racks of test tubes, and various computer displays. Everything was in its own special place. She recognized a few of the machines and instruments, but a lot of it was going right over her head. Over in the corner, she saw something that made her heart leap out of her chest.

  “Oh my god!” She said, as she clasped her hand to her mouth. She scurried over to the large, looming monolith of electronic wonder. She saw Evan chuckling mildly as he followed behind.

  “Do you know what this is?!” She asked him, as he took a position behind her.

  “I would hope so. I was the one who requested it.” He said offhandedly.

  “This is a Cray XC30! Do you know what you can do with these things? Scratch that. Do you know how much these things cost?” How did you get one all to yourself?” She asked.

  “I needed it for my work. Gene sequencing is very processor intensive. I needed something that could crunch all of the numbers. I put in a buy request, and the truck was dropping it off the next month.” He said.

  Kelley could tell that he was smugly happy about her falling over herself like a star-crazed teen, but she didn't care. She was hoping that Caleb knew what he was doing. That much computing power in untrained hands could do some real damage. There was a news story about a group of hackers that had managed to crack the code on one and use it for figuring out bank codes. They made off with over a billion dollars before they were stopped.

  “I sure hope he knows what he’s doing.” She mumbled out loud.

  Evan touched her shoulder again and directed her attention to a large set of flat monitors built into the wall. “Here, let me show you what he has planned.”

  As the screens blinked on, she was treated to a complex, 3D animated display. It was not unlike the stuff she did back when she worked in video games. This was very well rendered though. She was wondering who did all the animation work, when Evan spoke up.

  “This is a little info graphic that Caleb worked out to show me his process. Kelley, this is why you are here right now. Caleb has created a means of directing cell and nervous tissue growth by using radio waves.” He said, as he motioned over to a cylindrical tank with translucent tubing winding around it. There were, what looked like, TV antennas. The ones that you would see on top of old houses before satellite and cable TV.

  “We had these antennas built to his specs. Apparently, he has worked out the use of some kind of radio signal that uses a new part of the RF spectrum. Kelley, he's literally rewriting other areas of science while he does this! It's truly amazing.” Evan calmed his enthusiasm and continued his explanation.

  “So, the way that it will work; he's going to use the Cray supercomputer to create some kind of broad radio frequency. This will transmit the data that will be needed to 'build' him. In the clear tank, there will be a recirculating mixture of nutrients, electrolytes and cells. This will be combined with a steady electrical current. All of this, according to Caleb, will allow him to grow to maturity in one month. I'm still not sure how some aspects of this will work, but he has assured me that it will go off without a hitch.”

  “Wow,” Was all she could manage to say. The quiet moment was interrupted by a buzzing alarm coming from the back of the lab.

  “Ah crap.” Evan said mildly. “It's the old server rack. I still have to get somebody from engineering to look at it. It keeps going through temperature spikes.”

  Kelley followed him back to the row of machines and slid out the keyboard that controlled the system. She typed in a default password and got into administrator mode. While she typed away, Evan whistled quietly in approval.

  “I have these same servers at my lab. They have a glitch in the firmware that makes them heat up too quick on start up. You have to tweak the code a little to make them behave.” She explained, as she hit “enter” and the alarm went off.

  “Impressive, very impressive.” He said, as he slid the keyboard tray back in. Kelley tried to shimmy around him in the crowded area, but she ended up rubbing against his crotch instead. She could feel the zipper of his pants catch on the front of her dress, as she held her hand out to stop him.

  “Wait! I think we're stuck together.” She said. They both looked down to see the snarl they had caused.

  “So we are.” He observed with a smile. “The question is; how do we free ourselves?”

  Kelley tried her best to grab at the material of her dress while not touching him. The snag that had hung them both up was visible, and she set to work on untangling it while he stared on in amusement.

  “You think this is funny, don't you?” She asked in offense.

  “A little, I have to admit. Do you need any help?” He asked politely.

  “No, I've..., almost..., there! I got it!” She said triumphantly, as she freed herself and stepped away. She straightened her dress while Evan checked his fly. />
  “Oh don't worry! I didn't unzip you or anything!” She joked.

  “It's too bad. That was the most action I've had in a long time.” Evan said. He immediately looked up and said, “Oh my God! I'm so sorry! That was way out of line.” His reddening cheeks were a welcome sign of vulnerability, as Kelley shrugged playfully.

  “No problem! I'm sure that you'll hear lots of stupid things come out of my mouth in the coming weeks.” She offered.

  “Come, we should get out of here before the custodians make their rounds.” He said. He offered his hand to her to help steer her around the crowded back part of his lab. She smiled and took it. His warm, strong fingers encircled hers as they made their way back to his desk. With an embarrassed shrug, he let go of her hand and grabbed his keys and security card from their spot on his keyboard.

  Kelley could still feel his firm, secure grasp on the skin of her hand as she watched him stuff the keys in his pocket. Without thinking, she took advantage of his stooped posture to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. Her heart was racing, and she knew this was one of those times when her body, and heart, were calling all the shots.

  Evan tensed slightly, and turned to wrap his toned arms around her. She gasped against his lips as he squeezed her tightly, and melted back into his embrace while he angled his head slightly to touch his tongue to hers. The various noises in the lab seemed to fade away while they kissed passionately in the brightly lit room. Kelley could almost feel her heartbeat in her lips, it was thrumming so hard.

  Her hand came up to rest on Evan's hip. He parried this by bringing his leg up against her side, pinning her against the cold desk. She felt like a cold camper in a sleeping bag that was slowly warming her body. Evan's full lips displayed yet another area he was an expert in, while he kissed her as she had never been kissed before.

  Kelley felt a sudden pang of guilt and began to push him away. With her hands on his muscled chest she pushed halfheartedly, but his insistent ways were rather hard to deny.

  “We need to stop. I have a rule about workplace dating.” She managed to say against his parted lips, as he continued his sensual assault on her.

  “Yeah, I have one of those rules too.” He replied in a distracted whisper. “Funny how it's never done me any good-”

  The opening door broke their concentration. Like two Sunday school kids caught kissing behind the church, they broke their hold on one another and pretended to be studying the monitor at Evan's desk. They both peeked over to see the night custodian wheeling a large cart full of cleaning supplies into the room. Evan gave a friendly smile to the older man and said something in Spanish. The man smiled and responded while Kelley tried to straighten her clothes again.

  “What did you say to him?” Kelley whispered. She watched as the man began to gather up the wastebaskets and shake out clean plastic liners for them.

  Evan leaned in to speak in her ear. His breath on her neck was making her lose focus again. “I told him I was making out with a hot nerd chick. He responded by giving me a thumbs up!”

  Kelley slapped his arm playfully. “Oh, very funny!”

  He held his upper arm in mock agony where she hit him. “Ow! Come on, we should get you back to your hotel so you can rest up. The heads of Genetitech will all be here tomorrow to see the big sendoff that Caleb has planned.”