‘I’m sure they have considered it. But fortunately — for me, at least — it wouldn’t be practical. We have a policy that a persona can only be imprinted on him once.’
‘Why?’
‘We found out the hard way that it causes… complications. So we don’t do it any more.’
‘What kind of complications?’
‘Severe headaches, confusion — and worse. When you only have one active agent, it’s not worth the risk of compromising his readiness.’
‘Are there plans to recruit more?’
‘People haven’t been lining up to volunteer.’ He adopted a gung-ho voice. ‘“Gee, I sure do want to undergo experimental brain surgery so I can think like a terrorist!” I’m not sure how it would be worded on the recruitment posters.’
‘So why did Adam volunteer?’
‘I have no idea.’
She was surprised. ‘Really?’
‘I know that he did volunteer, but he came to us — well, was presented to us, more accurately — from outside, about ten months ago. Harper had something to do with it. I think Adam used to be with SOCOM — Special Operations Command. Special Forces, in other words.’
‘You think? You don’t know?’
He shifted in the bed, his discomfort more mental than physical. ‘Adam is rather the elephant in the room at the Persona Project. There’s an unofficial policy of, shall we say, limited fraternisation. The team members are discouraged from getting too close to him on a personal level.’
Bianca made a face. ‘How does anyone have the right to decide who gets to be his friend?’
‘It’s a US government black project. Rights don’t enter into things. They can order you to wear different-coloured underwear depending on the day of the week, if they choose.’
‘You’ve worked with him pretty closely, though. You must be able to tell me something more about him. And by something, I mean anything. Seriously! The man is a literal walking enigma.’
‘Yes, I know. But there’s nothing more I can tell you.’
‘Because you don’t know, or you’re not allowed to?’
A wry smile. ‘Perceptive as ever. Let’s just say I have to wear a particular colour of metaphorical underwear on that subject.’
‘Orders from on high, eh? From Morgan?’ Albion’s eyes briefly flicked upwards. ‘Higher? Harper?’
‘No comment.’ His smile widened. ‘But knowing you as well as I do, that won’t stop you from trying to find out for yourself, will it?’
‘Am I that transparent?’
‘Positively see-through. But then, you are British — very pale-skinned from never getting any sun.’
She laughed. ‘Well, I doubt I’ll be in the States long enough to bring out my bikini, so I won’t be getting a tan. But…’ She became more serious. ‘I don’t want to find out more about Adam just to spite The Man. There’s something… well, wrong. Not with him, but about him, if that makes any sense. Nobody’s that unreadable — nobody who’s still able to function, anyway. But Adam’s so blank I’d consider it a form of catatonic stupor if it wasn’t for the rather obvious fact that he’s fully active and lucid.’
Albion’s demeanour suggested that he knew considerably more about the subject, but was not going to share it with her. ‘And you think you can help him?’
‘If I can.’
‘You haven’t changed much since you were my student,’ he said. ‘Too tenacious for your own good.’
‘You can’t achieve anything if you don’t stick at it.’
‘Just make sure you don’t get completely stuck. Anyway!’ He changed position again. ‘Time to polish up another of your student skills, and do some acting. I still need you to help keep my job!’
After another couple of hours at the hospital, Bianca returned to STS, driving the Ford Fusion that had been provided for her. The sedan was larger than her own car, and driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road in Washington’s traffic did not make the trip a comfortable experience. But the satnav, once she puzzled it out, at least meant that she didn’t get lost.
Tony was waiting for her in the fifth-floor lobby. ‘Hi there.’
‘Hi,’ she replied. ‘You look like you were expecting me.’
‘I had the security system beep me when you used your ID to get into the elevator.’ She had been issued with the card shortly before leaving the previous evening. ‘Thought I’d welcome you, it being your first proper day on the job.’
‘I can’t exactly say I’m thrilled to be here,’ she said, before softening a little. ‘Nothing personal.’
‘No offence taken. How’s the car?’
‘It’s nice. A bit too big with just me in it, though. Feels like I’m wasting petrol. Or gas, I suppose I should say.’
‘STS is picking up the tab, so don’t worry about it. And the hotel?’
‘It’s fine. It’s… a hotel.’ She shrugged.
‘We’ll set you up with an apartment soon. You don’t want to be living out of a suitcase the whole time you’re here.’
‘However long that is.’
‘So how is Roger, since that depends on him?’
‘Well, he’s started making divorce plans, so that’s hopefully a sign of improvement.’
Tony laughed. ‘Sounds like he’s getting back to his old self.’ They walked down a hallway.
‘How long have you known him?’ she asked.
‘More than two years. Since I came on to the Persona Project.’
‘Two years? I thought Adam only joined ten months ago.’
‘There was a lot of work needed to set things up. Let’s face it, what we do here sounds like science fiction — it’s complicated. And sometimes things didn’t go as planned.’
‘But everything’s working fine now?’
‘Yeah. Well, until Roger got shot.’ They reached a set of security doors. Tony was about to use his card to open them, before smiling. ‘After you.’
Bianca put her own card in the slot, getting a green light. ‘That’s a relief. I’d hate to get a red light when I was running for the loo.’
They went through. ‘You’ve got access to pretty much the whole floor,’ he said. ‘Everywhere except data storage and the weapons and equipment room.’
‘What, you’ve got your own Q Branch full of guns and spy gadgets?’
‘So we can mobilise quickly if we need to. It’s easier to have most everything we might need on site, rather than rounding it up from a dozen different places.’
‘What about the rest of the building? You said yesterday that STS has everything above the company downstairs. Is Persona only on this floor?’
‘Yeah. The floor below us is STS bureaucracy; it handles paperwork for operations here and at other STS facilities. The floor above’s like this one, with another Bullpen — projects can be assigned there if need be. There’s nothing active upstairs at the moment, though. Or if there is,’ he added drily, ‘it’s so secret nobody’s told me about it. Then there’s a machine floor above that with air-con, water tanks, that sort of thing. The building’s actually designed to be self-sufficient, by the way — if there’s a biological or chemical attack, it can be sealed up with its own air and water supplies for a few days. There are generators down in the basement.’
‘I hope I don’t get a demonstration of that while I’m here!’
‘Me too. But it’s best to be prepared.’ They arrived at the Bullpen’s entrance. Tony used his card to enter.
As on the previous day, there was little going on. Bianca recognised some of the people she had been introduced to — Holly Jo, Levon, Kyle — at their workstations. ‘Hey, brah,’ said Kyle, swivelling to face them as they approached. ‘Dr Childs.’
‘Hi, Kyle,’ Tony replied. He looked round. ‘Where’s Adam?’