“These are my test results as provided by ChronoSynthetics the day after our arrival from the mission. And these,” he said, projecting another image, “are Avondale’s, the primary case study.”
Kalli looked at the differences while depressing hopelessness engulfed her. She would never experience being loved like Olivia did. She would never know that kind of devotion.
“As you can see,” Dariux went on, driving the nails on the coffin of her dreams. “The results of the brain scan are abysmally different. However, these are not my actual results.”
Wait, what?
“I was able to obtain my results before anyone tampered with them,” Dariux continued.
He projected another image onto the holograph.
“These are my real results. And as you all will notice, the brain scan shows remarkable similarities to that of the nineteenth century and twenty-first century individuals we studied.”
He looked straight at her, capturing her gaze with his own. “In other words. I fell in love.”
CHAPTER 42
The room went silentat his declaration. Everyone was confused. As if he had spoken a foreign language they had not yet mastered. He could tell he had shocked them all, and they needed a few seconds to regroup. Then everyone started speaking at once.
The voice of the president rang above the din. “Silence! This is a matter that needs to be discussed further. Mr. Kincaid, care to elaborate?”
“There’s not much more to say, my lord. The results speak for themselves. Before the mission, my brain scans showed no sign of the emotion that’s interpreted as love. Now, it shows clear evidence of it.”
“And who are you in love with?”
He paused, observing Kalli. She had gone unnaturally still. High color tinged her cheeks, but other than that, there was no reaction from her. It unnerved him. What was she thinking? More importantly, what was she feeling?
“Mr. Kincaid, must I repeat the question?”
“That is none of your business,” he answered the president, without taking his eyes off Kalli. “But I will answer, not for you, but for the benefit of the woman I love. She is sitting right here in this room. It is my colleague, Kalli Brooks.”
Another gasp shook the room, but she made no sound. She wouldn’t meet his eyes.
He couldn’t tell what she thought of his declaration. Her face had become a blank mask, impossible to read. It unsettled him. Kalli was often infuriating and incomprehensible, but she had never been difficult to read. She wore her emotions on her face. She spoke to him with her eyes.
And yet now, when it mattered the most, her eyes had gone silent. It appeared as if a light inside her had dimmed. He couldn’t stand it. Ending his presentation, he went back to sit beside her. He wouldn’t give these fools any more information if the only person who needed to hear it did not feel comfortable receiving it.
