As Alex entered the administrative wing of the facility, he began to think about what he was doing and what it was all about. Before he could dwell too much on it, he reached the door to Richard’s office, which swung open as he was about to grasp the door handle.
“Ah, Alex,” Richard called out from the window overlooking the facility, not bothering to turn as Alex entered, “come in, come in.” Richard gestured vaguely with his hand indicating that Alex should come over, “I’m just checking up on how things are running. I take it the latest assignment was a success?”
“Uh, yes sir, we captured three teenage girls. They had been rafting down the river, which made it fairly easy to apprehend them.” Alex stopped before he’d passed the front of the desk, and took up a stance of relaxed readiness. He continued, “Tracker One and Three are taking them below for tests.”
Richard nodded, not bothering to turn around he mentioned casually, “Am I to understand that there was a problem between you and Mr. Carlton?”
Alex’s eyes grew wide in astonishment, how could he possibly know about that, he wondered.
As if hearing his thoughts, Richard continued, “Yes, I thought so. Mr. Carlton can be so quick to react to inconsequential things. I hope he didn’t leave a mark?”
Reaching up to touch his jaw, Alex responded, “Uh, no . . . no sir, a bruise maybe.”
“I’ll speak to Mr. Carlton about it. He really shouldn’t lose his temper like that. It isn’t professional. In the meantime, why don’t you go ahead, clean up, get something to eat and get some rest.”
“Yes sir,” Alex turned to leave the office.
“Oh, and Alex,” at the sound of his name, he turned back around to Richard, “as always, remember that this must not be discussed with anyone outside this facility, understood?”
“Yes sir, understood sir.”
“Dismissed.”
Alex exited the office, closing the door behind him and started towards the hallway when something that was in the back of his mind suddenly dawned on him . . . “How the hell did he know?” He whispered softly to himself. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he glanced back at the door to Richard’s office. Neither he nor John had their communications gear turned on during that altercation. Fear trickled through his body as he began to wonder how Richard had found out about it. He began to walk down the hallway, suddenly looking at every corner for possible cameras. As he punched the button for the elevator, other nagging thoughts began to surface that he’d buried over the last few months.
Alex hadn’t found out what had happened to those three intruders that he’d subdued a few months back, although he thought he’d heard one of the technicians mention something about a catastrophic failure with one of the tests. He hadn’t heard much, but he could have sworn that he’d heard something mentioned about an irreversible shrink. At the time, he hadn’t been paying much attention, so he didn’t really think about it. And what about the other individuals that he’d captured for testing? Richard had never mentioned anything about them, and only John and Tracker One had access to the lower level where they took the subjects.
The elevator door opened and he stepped inside and punched the residency level. Leaning against the back wall, little details began to form in his head, “Dear God,” he muttered to no one in particular, “what if . . .” He stopped himself, suddenly looking around, wondering if the elevator was being monitored. What if there’s something more to what they’re doing than what they’ve told me, he thought to himself.
Knowing that what he was about to do would get him in a lot of trouble, he hit the “cancel” button and pushed the button for the computer level instead. As the doors opened, he looked around carefully, trying to see if there was anyone around. He and the others had returned to the facility late in the afternoon, so it made sense that most of the computer technicians had already left the facility for the day. After assuring himself that no one was around, he stole his way to one of the open cubicles on the far side of the room and engaged the computer. Before the computer could request a password, Alex hit a couple of keys in a special manner that he’d been taught for hacking purposes. The computer’s startup sequence stopped, and after a moment, he was into the system, outside of the normal monitored levels.
Looking up from the computer, Alex double-checked to see that no one was around. If anyone was going to catch him in the act, there was nothing he could do now. Determined to discover answers to the nagging questions that had plagued him for the past few months, Alex began to enter in a series of queries about the facility and its operations. At first, he pulled up the usual nonsense about how the corporation was dedicated to improving scientific knowledge in the areas of biology. However, after a few more determined key strokes, he found himself in a security level that he’d never seen before. At the top of the screen, a bright, neon blue bar flashed with the title: Classified Material – Human Reduction Program – Top Secret – Level V Security Clearance Only.
This was it, the information he’d been looking for! Luckily, when they’d taught him about hacking computer systems, they hadn’t counted on him being well-versed at computer hacking before they’d even hired him, so he had a few tricks that not even they knew about. After bypassing the security clearances, he scrolled down the screen until he found a file entitled, “Project X”. Curious as to what “Project X” could be, he opened the file and began reading. Within a matter of moments, his eyes grew wide and he whispered, “Oh my god, what have I gotten mixed up in?”