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the
M.I.D. that had hosted the panel discussion.
    “Yes,”
she murmured, trying to remember.
    “You signed up
as a potential consultant for our project.”
    In a flash, Chal
recalled the discussion panel and the blue-eyed man who was sitting
opposite her. The last time she had seen him, he had worn that same
dark suit.
    The panel discussion
had been forward-thinking, an intriguing project. Modules that
doctors could use to help the mentally disabled increase their rate
of learning, a focus on autistic patients. When the project
developers approached her at the end, she felt honored to sign up as
a possible consultant.
    In the months to
come, she had filled out a series of surveys by email. Some of the
surveys were simple experimental design questions, but many of them
concerned hypothetical scenarios that were...strange, to say the
least. End-of-the-world scenarios, wartime ethical concerns, nothing
that related to the mentally disabled. There was a quiz that had
asked about her different emotional responses to a number of living
and non-living things: Venus flytraps and automated vacuum cleaners.
It was ridiculous.
    “It’s
how the government works,” one colleague had said when she had
raised concerns. “Start with one project, end up with something
completely different. And useless.”
    “You work for
a state university,” she reminded the colleague. He just
shrugged.
    “It’s a
joke,” he had told her. “Those kinds of projects are
nonsense, they never go anywhere.”
    Except now the man
with the blue eyes was sitting across from her, telling her that it
wasn’t a joke.
    “I’m
sure this comes as somewhat of a surprise,” Lieutenant Johnner
said.
    “Surprise? Surprise? ” Chal hissed the words, her fear turning into
anger. “What right do you have – ”
    “You signed up
as a consultant,” Lieutenant Johnner said. “And we need
your help.”
    “Now wait,”
Chal said. “You can’t just take me, KIDNAP me and take me
away– ”
    “Your presence
is required by military law under the project protocol I’m
currently following. We have been ordered to use force if necessary
to bring you to Phoenix.” He had the decency to look ashamed
when he talked about the use of force.
    “Project?”
Chal racked her brain, trying to remember what exactly the project
had entailed. Something special about biological substrates, using
both neuronal implants and a digital neuronal core to guide
development. A hint of curiosity clawed its way into her thoughts.
Implant development was an essential part of the growing field of
digital intelligence, and she had never been able to crack it. She
shook her head, as much toward herself as toward Johnner.
    “The project
you agreed to help with,” Lieutenant Johnner nodded. “You’ll
be the first to know the results of the trials we’re now
conducting. You will be the one guiding the trials.”
    He no longer seemed
abashed at having abducted her, thrown her into a van, and driven her
God knows where. Phoenix, if she could believe him. Despite the
circumstances, she felt drawn into the mystery. What strides had they
made in the field? What trials were they running?
    She shook her head,
trying to restore reality. “I–I can’t do it,”
she stammered. “I have a lecture in New York tomorrow evening–”
    “That lecture
has been cancelled, as have all of your engagements for the next two
weeks.”
    She gaped at him.
“What? Cancelled ? You can’t just DO that–”
    “I’m
afraid we can,” he said. “I’m not authorized to
explain to you the details until we reach Phoenix.”
    “I signed on
as a volunteer,” she protested.
    “You signed,”
he said. His voice was flatly insistent.
    “And if I
refuse?” She crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat.
    He coughed lightly,
embarrassed, and she noticed for the first time the streaks of white
hair at his temples. “If you refuse, I’m ordered to
escort you to Phoenix under