Page 44 of The Sterling Acquisition
A few minutes later, Duckie handed him a data drive containing a fraction of the Project Tether research—enough to prove the technology existed, not enough to reveal the full scope of Morrison’s operation.
“That’s all I can safely provide without raising suspicions,” Duckie said. “The rest is locked behind biometric security I can’t bypass yet.”
Dante pocketed the drive, already planning his next moves. The intelligence was valuable but incomplete. Before he could risk a full extraction of both Orion and the research, he needed more information.
And he needed to make sure Orion understood what was coming for him.
Back in his apartment, Dante connected the data drive and began reviewing what Duckie had been able to provide. The files were limited but damning—enough technical specifications to understand how Project Tether worked, enough protocol information to know what they planned to do to Orion.
But not enough to know when.
Dante composed a brief report for Amalie, uploading the basic Project Tether specifications along with his assessment that this represented a significant breach of corporate ethics standards. Gensyn would want to know that SVI was developing forced bonding technology, regardless of how the current situation resolved.
But as he wrote the clinical assessment, he found himself omitting certain details—specifically, Orion’s name and his growing interest inextracting Orion from the situation. Standard procedure would be to report all aspects of the operation, including all information regarding potential asset acquisition. His decision to withhold information was itself a breach of protocol, a small but significant crack in his many years of perfect compliance.
The real question was what to do about Orion.
The smart play was to complete his original mission—steal the full research when he had better access, extract what intelligence he could, and return to Gensyn with valuable corporate secrets. Clean, professional, by the book.
The problem was that “by the book” meant leaving Orion to Morrison’s experiment.
Dante stared at Orion’s photograph in the subject file, remembering the fury on his face, the magnificent way he fought even when his body was working against him. The thought of that brilliant, defiant mind being chemically altered into grateful compliance made the room feel too small.
Even more disturbing was the realization that Gensyn might not view Project Tether as a travesty to be prevented, but as technology to be acquired. They might see Orion not as someone to be saved, but as a valuable test subject already undergoing a procedure they would want to replicate. The distinction between Gensyn’s methods and SVI’s suddenly seemed much less clear than it had a week ago.
He had to find a way to communicate the threat without compromising his cover, and to assess whether Orion would trust him enough to cooperate with an escape plan.
Because saving someone who didn’t want to be saved was a very different operation from extracting a willing asset.
Chapter fourteen
Necessary Revelations
Dante
Dantewasreviewingvaccineproduction reports when Leo’s message came through on the encrypted device:
Leo James
Need consultation ASAP. Stable for two days but showing renewed agitation this morning. Your expertise is required.
The timing was almost perfect. The vaccine scaling protocols Dante provided were running smoothly enough that SVI barely needed his input anymore—they’d only call when they hit roadblocks or were ready for the next phase of their exchange. Which meant he had the afternoon free to dealwith more pressing matters.
Like the data drive burning a hole in his jacket pocket and the impossible conversation he needed to have with Orion.
Twenty minutes later, he was standing in Leo’s apartment doorway, noting the stress lines that returned to the man’s face overnight. The standard-issue SVI housing unit felt even more oppressive today—the industrial beige walls closing in, the recycled air carrying traces of Leo’s anxiety.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” Leo said, ushering him inside with nervous energy. “He was so manageable the last couple of days—helped with dishes, watched a movie, even turned down an advance gently instead of trying to claw my eyes out. I thought we made a breakthrough.”
“And this morning?”
“Back to refusing eye contact, one-word answers, that general hostility that makes me feel like I’m walking on broken glass.” Leo gestured helplessly toward the locked door. “Whatever progress we made seems to have evaporated.”
Dante nodded thoughtfully, though he suspected Orion’s renewed agitation had more to do with impending heat cycles than psychological regression. “These kinds of setbacks are normal during behavioral modification. The mind doesn’t give up established patterns easily.”
“Is there anything you can do? Another session like the ones that have been working?”
“Certainly. Though I’ll need the same conditions for an emergency session—some of the psychological mapping techniques I use are unfortunately classified under Gensyn’s proprietary methods.”
