Chapter 15: Biometrics
Timeline: 13:30, day of the device test
Location: Agonwood Onsite Medical Facility, GIG/Apex R&D Campus
Waking up felt like fighting my way out from under a weighted blanket.
I blinked, forcing the room to stop tilting. The ceiling above me featured white acoustic tiles rather than my familiar popcorn stucco. A hand held mine, the wrist adorned with a very expensive watch and an IV was pumping vitamins and saline into my arm.
"Easy," a voice murmured.
Alex sat in a chair next to the bed. He looked impeccable as always, though he had loosened his tie. He watched me with a focus that made me feel incredibly self-conscious about whatever drool situation might be happening on my pillow.
"Alex?" I rasped. My throat felt like sandpaper.
"Water," another voice commanded.
Dave appeared on the other side of the bed. He wore scrubs and looked bored while tapping a tablet. He handed me a paper cup.
"You've been out for an hour," Dave said. "Neurogenic shock mixed with garden-variety exhaustion. Your body simply decided it was time for a mandatory reboot."
I drank the water. It helped.
"The device?" I asked, handing the cup back.
"Intact," Alex said, squeezing my hand. "Marcus caught the battery pack before it hit the ground. The sensor array is fine."
"And the data?"
"Safe," Alex assured me. "However, we need to discuss your sleep schedule rather than the data."
"I'm fine," I lied, trying to sit up.
Alex kept his hand on mine, effectively anchoring me to the mattress.
"Lonna," he said, his voice dropping to that serious, intimate register he used when he taught me to solder. "You collapsed in the street. You are far from fine. I am keeping you in this room until Dave says you won't faceplant in the hallway."
I looked at him. He abandoned the CEO persona, revealing only a man who had been scared.
A wave of emotion hit me and I leaned back to keep tears from rolling down my face. "I'm so sorry I worried everyone," I whispered. "I'll stay."
Alex relaxed visibly, the tension leaving his shoulders. "Good."
The door to the room clicked open. Marcus walked in. He looked like he'd run a marathon. His t-shirt was sweat-stained, and he carried a frantic energy that only dissipated when he saw my open eyes.
"Hey," he said softly.
"Hey," I replied.
He walked to the foot of the bed, gripping the rail tightly.
"Nephy is fine," Marcus said immediately. "I went to Unit 3. I filled her food bowl, changed her water, and turned on the heated blanket you like. She's currently attacking a crinkle ball."
I let out a long breath. "Thank you, Marc."
"I figured you'd be worrying," he said, finally letting go of the rail. He looked at Alex. "Status?"
"Stubborn," Alex said. "And staying put."
Marcus nodded, then looked at the door. His expression hardened.
"Where is he?" I asked, realizing the room felt emptier than it should.
"Julian?" Alex said, his tone cooling. "He's in the hallway. Dave banned him from the room."
"He was… agitating the environment," Dave said diplomatically, tapping on his tablet. "He wanted to debrief you immediately."
"I told him it could wait," Marcus said, his voice hard. "I told him if he came in here before you were awake, I'd throw him through the drywall."
I giggled softly. It hurt my chest, but it felt good. "I'd pay to see that. But… don't be too hard on him. He wasn't wrong: I'm responsible for my own health."
"Don't worry about it. Rest," Alex said, smoothing the blanket over my legs. "We'll be right here."
I closed my eyes, feeling safe surrounded by money, muscle, and medicine. Sleep refused to take me completely. I drifted in that grey space between waking and dreaming. After a while, the door opened and closed quietly. Footsteps moved away from the bed.
"I'm going to get coffee," Marcus's voice whispered. "You want anything, Alex?"
"I'm good. Stay close."
The door opened again, followed by the muffled sounds of the hallway.
"...status?" Julian's voice. Sharp. Impatient.
I strained to hear, keeping my breathing even.
"She's awake," Marcus's voice replied, low and dangerous. "She's lucid. And you're staying out here."
"I need to show her the graph," Julian argued. "She needs to see it. It proves everything."
"It proves we almost killed her," Marcus snapped. "Back off, Vane. You got your data. Let her breathe."
"You saw it, Marcus," Julian said, his voice dropping, intense and obsessed. "The reading. We found a signature. If we can repeat it…"
Silence stretched in the hallway.
"We mapped it," Julian whispered. "For the first time, we actually saw the edges of the leak. It has a specific frequency. A distinct energy bleed."
"I don't care if it's a gold mine," Marcus growled. "She is a person, not a component in your machine. Right now, she's my person. If you push her again before she's ready, I won't just block the entry."
"You're thinking with your heart, Marcus. It's a liability."
"Yeah? At least I have one," Marcus snapped back. "You promised me before I agreed to even introduce you. And now, your ambition put her in a hospital bed." Then Marcus added, "And she was actually defending you."
"Because it was her work that gave us the target," Julian countered. "We know what we're looking for now. She'd want to be there to refine the sensor to track it. It's what she joined us for. To prove it exists."
"Tomorrow," Marcus said firmly. "She refines it tomorrow. Today, she sleeps."
There was a pause. Then, the sound of footsteps walking away—sharp, confident clicks on the tile floor.
I let out a slow breath in the quiet room.
A signature.
My physicist brain woke up before my body did.
We had flooded the area with high-entropy noise. The anomaly had reacted. No. It interacted with it, creating a unique feedback loop.
That meant the "leak" Alex was trying to detect wasn't invisible anymore. It had a shape. It had a mathematical fingerprint.
Julian was right. We had a target. And now we could hunt it.
I heard Alex get up and speak with Dave and Marcus. He asked Dave something about helping me sleep. Marcus agreed. He knew me better than anyone. And he knew my head would spiral toward the next problem to solve.
"We know you're awake, Lon," Marcus said, accusingly.
"Busted." I answered quietly.
"We want to give you something to help you get good, uninterrupted sleep. You still have about halfway to go on the vitamin and saline drips," Marcus informed me. "Would you let Dave give you something to help you sleep for me?"
"Marc, I'd rather…"
"Lon. Please. You have to rest your brain, too."
"Okay. On one condition."
"Anything."
"Promise me you'll sneak back in here and take care of any kind of drooling situation."
Marcus chuckled. "Promise."
—————————————————————————
Location: Unit 3, Staff Rowhouses, GIG/Apex R&D Campus
Whatever it was that Dave injected into my IV, worked quickly. One moment, Marcus was covering me with a blanket and the next, I was laying on my side and Nephy was curled asleep on my arm. My eyes didn't want to open, but I was pretty sure I wasn't in the clinic anymore.
I heard a door open and close. Nephy stirred and then purred before settling back down. Then I felt the bed wiggle and depress followed by an arm wrapping around my waist.
I could hear a long inhale and exhale, followed by a soft, "Sorry. I thought you'd be awake by now, and I could impress you with my culinary skills again. Or at least, apologize with them."
Julian.
"You know, when I asked if you wanted me to break you, this isn't really what I had in mind." Julian gave a soft, throaty chuckle. "Oh, and when you thought I was going to kiss you, the look of disappointment on your face…"
"Then you got so focused on solving the device, I don't think you would have known if I was there or not. And then you were so cranky in the morning. Cranky and feisty. I just wanted to push you a little more."
"Have you figured out what I want from you, yet, Lonna? What I've been waiting for?" He pulled me flush against him and whispered, "Should I show you?"
I knew it. Stupid biometrics. He knew I was awake the whole time.
"Go home, Julian."
He pulled on my shoulder so I'd be on my back. He was on his side, propping his head up with his hand. With his free hand, he stroked my cheek with his thumb. Then his lips brushed against mine before he pulled me into a deep kiss. It felt like everything inside of me melted.
When he stopped, he got up and walked toward the door. At the threshold of my bedroom, he looked down at his watch and said, "Elevated temperature. Elevated heart rate. Your biometrics say that you rather enjoyed yourself."
I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.
"Get! Out!"
After the pillow landed on the floor, he popped his head inside of the threshold again and said, "I'm glad you're back to your old self. And…"
I had my second pillow ready.
"… I left some food for you in your kitchen."
———————————————————————————-
Timeline: 09:00, 1 Day Since the Last Test
Location: The Barn, GIG/Apex R&D Campus, Agonwood
I walked into The Barn feeling dangerously rested.
Twelve hours of drug-induced sleep, followed by a breakfast that Marcus had practically force-fed me, had rebooted my system. My brain felt sharp. The fog of exhaustion was gone.
Unfortunately, the memory of the previous night was crystal clear.
That kiss. The way I melted. The fact that I let him get under my skin again.
I paused at the heavy sliding doors, taking a deep breath.
Professional, I told myself. He's just a variable. Treat him like data.
I pushed the door open, and the activity inside stopped instantly.
Marcus was at the fabrication bench, polishing the casing of the device. He looked up, scanning me for signs of fatigue. Dave was at his monitors, slurping a smoothie. Alex was on a call in the corner, but he gave me a warm nod.
And Julian…
Julian was standing at the main whiteboard, a marker in his hand. He turned slowly. He looked impeccable, energized, and entirely too pleased with himself.
"Dr. Patricks," Julian said, his voice smooth. "Good to see you back."
"I've asked you not to call me that," I said, keeping my tone neutral. I walked to my workstation, refusing to make eye contact. "What did I miss?"
"We have the device cooled and calibrated," Marcus said, bringing the unit over. It looked sleek now, the raw aluminum polished to a matte finish. "I added a manual kill-switch on the external housing, wired directly to the battery. If it loops again, you just thumb the latch and the power cuts physically."
"Thanks, Marc," I said, picking it up. "You even balanced it?"
Marcus smiled at me and nodded. "It's not very useful if you can't hold it." He took the device back to his work area and continued making small adjustments.
Julian, meanwhile, had left the whiteboard and moved to his workstation not far from mine. I could see Marcus hesitate, but then settle back into his work.
"Anyway, we were just reviewing the data from yesterday's failure," Julian said like he wanted attention. "Specifically, I was sharing the correlation between the energy spike and the biological response."
He tapped his screen and a graph appeared on the monitors. It showed the massive energy feedback loop from the device—the jagged, chaotic lines spiking upward.
"Notice the amplitude," Julian said, stepping closer to me. "The system was overloaded. It couldn't handle the input intensity."
He clicked a button. A second graph overlaid the first. This one was red.
"And this," Julian said, his eyes locking onto mine, "is the bio-feed from the operator during the event."
The red line mirrored the green one. A massive spike.
"Elevated heart rate," Julian narrated, his voice dropping an octave. "Rapid breathing. A flush of adrenaline. The subject was… overwhelmed."
I felt the heat rising in my cheeks.
And… he's not talking about the test anymore.
"It's a standard stress response," I said, keeping my voice steady. "The device was exploding in my hand."
"You're right," Julian said. "But then I found when I reviewed the logs from last night, a nearly identical spike in your biometrics at approximately 21:00 hours."
Julian continued. "The data suggests that when the subject is pushed… when the input becomes chaotic… the system doesn't reject it. It synchronizes."
He leaned in, just enough so only I could hear the whisper.
"You like the chaos, Lonna. You just don't want to admit it."
"I noticed that you were looking at the biometric readout from your watch? It shows more than just your own?"
Julian nodded, warily. "It can display multiple input sources once I've decided what I want to monitor."
"Do you mind if I show it to Dave?" I said quietly.
He unbuckled the watch strap and showed the watch display to me. "See? That one is mine. And this one is yours."
I nodded. I smiled. I grabbed the watch and threw it across the room, hoping it would smash into a thousand pieces.
The room went quiet. Marcus looked up from his polishing cloth, his eyes narrowing. Alex paused his phone call. Julian smirked. Dave… was still working on his smoothie.
"Lonna?" Alex asked, concern furrowing his brow.
Marcus stood up, looking ready to intervene.
"It's fine, Marc," I said, not looking away from Julian.
"I just need to clarify a variable with Mr. Vane. And Julian… would you come with me for a moment?"
"Of course," Julian said, grinning.
We walked to the small side-door. Once outside, I walked even further away from the entrance to avoid any pricing eyes or ears.
"What do you think you are doing?" I hissed.
"I'm observing," Julian countered with a smile.
I stopped and faced him. "I'm not your test subject," I said, poking him in the chest. "Stop broadcasting…. No, stop monitoring my biometrics. And stop gloating about breaking into my bedroom."
"I didn't break in," Julian corrected. "I used my master key. And I left you dinner. Most people would say thank you."
"Most people don't kiss their employees while they're drugged on sedatives!"
"You weren't sedated when you kissed back," Julian said softly.
He edged towards me, his playfulness vanishing. As I stepped back to create more space between us, he turned the tables instantly.
"You were awake, Lonna. You were lucid. And for ten seconds, you weren't a scientist, or a skeptic, or a scared little girl from West Virginia. You were just… wanting."
He reached out, his hand hovering near my face. "That's the Lonna I need. The one who stops overthinking and just grabs the problem."
I slapped his hand away.
"This isn't a game, Julian," I said, my voice shaking. "You treat everything like a puzzle you can solve by pushing buttons. I am not your toy."
"I would argue that you are," Julian said with a completely serious face. "Mine to push. Mine to mold. Mine to finesse into someone who realizes her own potential. Her own worth." He cautiously brought his hand back toward my face, easing his thumb to caress my cheek. "Lonna, is it so hard to admit that you enjoyed it? That you were even hoping for more?"
"That's not the point, and you know it. This is my work…"
"Our work. We're all invested," Julian corrected.
"Even you know that's not what I mean. This is a workplace," I protested.
"And you have my attention. Isn't that what you wanted?" He exhaled sharply. "I keep giving you chances to walk away. But here you are even now, wanting more."
"I don't," I said softly. "I just…"
"Submit."
His command dug at me. "Are you serious, right now?"
"Very."
I scoffed. "What are you even saying?"
He sighed. "Is it so hard to understand? If you wanted something 'normal,' you'd be out here with Marcus, not alone with me."
I pushed him away with both hands. "You're ridiculous. I'm out here alone with you to keep from embarrassing you while I tell you to stop screwing around with me at work."
"Got it. You only want me to screw around with you when you're not at work," Julian said in a tone that was less mocking and more in disbelief.
"Don't screw with me, at all!" It came out louder than I intended.
"Okay," Julian said, stepping back. "Shall we go back inside, now?"
"That's… it?"
Julian chuckled. "Well, now you're just sending mixed signals."
"It's not funny," I said, unintentionally pouting.
Julian looked me straight in the eyes with all sincerity. "This is why I said you should figure out who you are, first." Then he pulled me into a hug that felt surprisingly comforting, and I could feel the vibration of his voice through his chest. "I can't give you normal," Julian said. "But… you'd never be bored."
With that, he held me out at arms length, patted my head and started back to the door of The Barn. "Let me know when you figure it out."
When he stepped inside, Marcus came out. "Alex thought we should take a break while he and Dave had some calls to make," Marcus announced.
When the door closed behind Julian, Marcus said, "Let's go for a walk, Lon"
We took a walk up the service road and meandered through the campus.
"I'm sorry for bringing you out here," Marcus said, guilt behind his words. "I thought you'd see how brilliant you were and how clueless your advisors were." Marcus shoved his hands into his pockets. "But none of this is going how I imagined it."
"How did you imagine it?"
"Don't laugh, but I thought you'd get the proof you needed and shoved in their faces. Then you'd come back and we'd be here with Dan and Ellie like it used to be with all of us in one place."
"Why would I laugh? That sounds nice, Marc. It sounds very 'you'," I said as we walked along. "They should be out here in about a month, right?"
"Yeah," he confirmed.
Some more time passed before he spoke again, which came out as a mumbled, "This would be easier if I could just build it."
"Like a treadmill? I like the fresh-ish air."
"No, you dork," Marcus said with a chuckle that eased the tension. "I don't mean the walk. I mean why I want to ask. What I want to say."
"Just say it. We've been friends for a long time, haven't we?"
Marcus nodded and then stopped in his tracks. "Did you… sleep with Julian?"
"No." I replied without even a beat.
Marcus exhaled with relief and we started walking again. "I know it's not my business, but things have been so weird between you. And you know I care about you. I mean, I thought if I would have to worry about anyone, it would be some one-sided crush on Alex." Marcus was just rambling on about everything he'd been thinking and not saying. "And I respect Julian. I can't think of anyone I'd rather work with. The projects we've done out here, I'd never thought I could be a part of teams like them. But to me, he's a brilliant—and somewhat eccentric—mentor. He is where I hope to be someday in my career."
He paused to take a breath
"You're a pretty smart and capable guy yourself, Marc."
Marcus grinned. "That much, I know."
"But…"
"I can see he treats you differently. He treats me like a colleague. Someone he respects and listens to. Someone who calls him on his shit when he goes too far. Which is quite often, surprising no one."
I giggled. "It's a job you've always done well. I mean, you even stared at me until I ate breakfast this morning. I'm half-expecting you to hold Nephy hostage until I prove I've eaten dinner."
"That's actually not a bad idea…"
"Hey!"
Marcus held his hands up in surrender. "Just something to consider if you pass out again."
I puffed out my cheeks. "I didn't plan to pass out to begin with."
He pushed my cheeks back in with his index fingers and we both laughed.
"Ack. Don't distract me or I'll never get everything out," Marcus said, still chuckling.
"Sorry. Sorry. Continue."
"I just… I was saying that I like working with Julian. And he usually listens to me as a voice of reason," Marcus explained.
I nodded.
"But not with you," Marcus declared. "He doesn't have filters or breaks or even a sense of awareness most of the time."
"I think that will improve," I assured him.
"Because you had a chat?"
"Marc, I don't want your dynamic with Julian to change. He will be able to take your career to incredible places. I know it. I can handle him being a jerk, and I think we've come to an understanding. You'll see." I bumped into him playfully. "There's nothing to worry about."
"You know I'll be watching to see if that is actually true," Marcus warned.
"Of course," I affirmed. "Now… what did you mean you thought I'd have a one-sided crush on Alex?"
"What's the confusion? Even I think I have a crush on him," Marcus teased.
I gasped. "Is this the part in the anime where you confess to the popular guy behind the gym?"
"That's it. You, me, Nephy. I'm going to ask for the weekend off so we can binge the winter and spring releases."
"I could get into that."
Marcus nodded. "But first, I'll be holding Nephy hostage until I know you didn't skip dinner."
"Mean, Marc. Just mean."