Unleashed Read Free Page B

her.”

5: Collection
    I stare in wonderment at the date scrawled on the image that fills Raze’s Slate:
    October 6, 1609.
    â€œ1609?” I say in disbelief. I knew it was only a matter of time before she slipped up and made her whereabouts known but I never expected her to appear in the seventeenth century. “Why would she transesse to 1609?”
    â€œWe don’t know,” Raze replies with a sigh that tells me it’s a question he’s asked himself more than once. “Apparently she thought it would be a safe place to hide. No satellites, no cams, no technology. But her face appeared on this witchcraft-trial pamphlet that our historians found in the archives earlier today.”
    They’d been searching for months. Dr. Alixter hired a team of over twenty researchers whose sole job is to scour every news article, every historical tomb, every Web site for the past five centuries looking for someone who resembles her or an account that describes her unique abilities. And their efforts have finally paid off.
    â€œWhat is witchcraft?” The two words make sense separately, but when I search my brain for a joint definition, I come up empty.
    â€œI’ll have Sevan give you an upload on the subject,” Raze offers. “But essentially, the townspeople of London think she’s evil because of what she can do. According to the records we found, her unique abilities surfaced and the people of seventeenth-century London—who have virtually no knowledge of advanced genetics—didn’t take it lightly. She was put on trial for her life.”
    My stomach turns. “Did they convict her?”
    Director Raze fidgets uncomfortably. “Yes. They burned her at the stake the very next day.”
    I launch to my feet, pounding a fist on the table. “We can’t let that happen. Dr. Alixter wouldn’t want it. She’s too valuable to the Diotech agenda. We must rescue her so that she can be fixed. So that her defect can be repaired. I will go now. I will change the course of these events and bring her back before they have a chance to burn her.”
    â€œNow, now,” Raze cautions me. “We must act wisely and prudently. Impulsive decisions such as that will only lead to more trouble. You are thinking like a child, not a soldier.”
    I ease back into my seat, feeling foolish for my rashness.
    â€œWe have developed a strategy that we feel best serves the company,” he assures me. “You will leave tonight.”
    I start to stand again, but one look from Raze and I lower back down.
    â€œYou are not going to save her.”
    I blink, certain I’ve misunderstood him, even though my hearing is twenty times better than any human being’s.
    â€œWhat?” I ask. “Surely, you should consult with Dr. Alixter before deciding that—”
    â€œDr. Alixter and I have spoken. We are in agreement.”
    â€œYou are going to let her burn?”
    It doesn’t make any sense. I have the same animosity for the girl and her betrayal as Dr. Alixter does, but letting her die seems excessive. And a waste of Diotech resources.
    â€œI didn’t say that,” Director Raze counters.
    â€œYou said I’m not going to save her,” I argue. I know I should back down. I’m speaking out of turn and challenging my superior, but I can’t help it. His actions seem ludicrous to me.
    â€œYou aren’t going to save her … yet .”
    When I tilt my head in confusion, Raze removes a small box from his pocket and slides it across the table toward me. He gives me a permissive nod and I flip open the lid. Inside is a pair of Diotech-issued nanoscanners and a small cube drive. I study them curiously.
    I first learned about nanoscanners from Sevan, the head Memory Coder on the compound. They’re used to scan the cerebral cortex and transmit the memories that are stored there. They’re constructed using a thin,