It was exciting, and, if Aiden was being honest, a little intimidating to finally gain entry into one of the mysterious rooms.He’d assumed they would walk around the entire basement and end up back at the intake desk before he was actually allowed to touch anything.
Inside, white light beamed from overhead even brighter than the scorching light of the hallway.Aiden’s eyes watered, and he squinted, barely getting a peek at Tavi’spink-tippedbob before it disappeared around the corner.Aiden rubbed his eyes and rushed to keep up with her.
“Cold Storage is through that Violet Shield barrier,” Tavi said as, with a sweeping gesture, she motioned across the bright room to thefloor-to-ceiling pane of violet.“Although you’ll never have to mess with anything in there.Humans arenotallowed past the barrier.Well, notlivingones anyway.”She let out a tinkling chuckle.“Now, we can start in here with the cadaver examiner bots, or go over to the lab and begin with sample testing and storage.Either way, we’llbeginbegin with containment protocols.”Her fingers flicked across her holopad like the legs of a bug.“We have to cover all of it, so it’s really up to you, which is something you won’t hear me say very often.”
Aiden’s eyes finally adjusted, and his hand fell by his side.The hairs on the back of his neck rose as he fought to keep his gaze from locking onto the Cold Storage shield and the rows of death beyond.
“They’re clear.”He relinquished control, tossing his attention to the room past the violet wall.“All of it is clear.You can see...everything.”
Tavi’s thin shoulders hiked.“They’re just bodies.”
Aiden’s heart knocked against his ribs.“They’re people.”
She snorted.“Theywere.”
He didn’t know what to say to that.In a way, she wasright.
“Look, Aiden, you seem like a...”She paused, scrunching her face in that disapproving way of hers.“Guy—I don’t know.My point is that we have amazing protocols down here.Part of the reason that Cold Storage is filled with clear cases is so that we can more easily monitor the bodies, and we aren’t only relying on bots to relay all of the necessary information.Cerberus pretty much liquified people, and with clear cases that’s super easy to spot.”She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her fingers against her thin lips.“Not that it would actually get that far.I mean, the bots take samples, spray down the bodies and the cases and the walls and the floors, plus the Violet Shield andthe—”
Aiden shook his head.“I don’t need an explanation.”Tavi opened her mouth to object, and Aiden added, “At least, not yet.I just—” His shoes were the same sharp white as the floor and the ceiling and the walls and the lights.“I need a minute.”
Tavi balled her hands into fists.Her scrubs hung loose on her petite frame.If he’d looked like he was wearing his little brother’s uniform earlier, she looked like she was wearing her mother’s.“Another break?Yeah, sure, fine, whatever.”Exasperated, she threw her hands into the air.“Take another one.Take all of the breaks you want.I’m not the one who has to pass the Level One Orientation Test next week.You are.”Scrunch.“And don’t get all queasy and barf on my floor.”
Aiden wasn’t in danger of throwing up.He wasn’t in danger at all.With everything the Key had done to keep Westfall safe, any danger he could end up in he’d have to search out himself.
His stomach hollowed as he sped toward the door that would free him into the hall and lead him back to the expansive intake room.He couldn’t help but take another look back at the storage boxes and the pairs of feet pressed against the end of the clear rectangle.All different sizes.All different colors.All waiting for dissection.All waiting toburn.
“And we’ll meet back in the lab.”Tavi’s voice was tinny as his heartbeat slammed against his eardrums.“You’resonot ready for cadavers.”
XII
Elodie winced against the harsh white light that flooded the elevator as it yawned open and revealed her first glimpse of the MediCenter’s eerily quiet basement.Trepidation quaked within her limbs as she shuffled down the brightly illuminated hallway, following the path Holly had highlighted.
Vi had almost gotten Elodie in trouble.Possibly horrible,life-endingtrouble.Maybe that’s why the Key Corp had disposed of so many works of fiction, directing current authors to write tales that actually mattered and inspired today’s citizens, instead of books that planted false and dangerous ideas within their readers.And the corporation was right to do so.Elodie hadn’t even finished Vi’s series of books, and she had already come entirely too close to making a choice she would regret.The rules were there for a reason.
The rules are there for a reason.
The blinking light on Elodie’s vidlink ate up more of the highlighted path as she turned down another barren,light-soakedhallway.
But Violet Royale hadn’t given her the idea to put her life in danger.Elodie was quite capable of coming up with her own original thoughts and making her own decisions.What had reading about Vi made Elodie do, anyway?Nothing!It had simply given her a little more...confidence?No, confidence wasn’t exactly the right word.Death by Violethad given her—
Elodie jerked to a stop as a set of white shoes turned the corner and almost smacked into her own.Her gaze traveled up, up, up to mossy green eyes and a curly black mohawk.
“You should watch where you’re going.”The guy grunted and unzipped the top half of his orange suit, tying the arms around the waist of his fitted blue scrub top.“You could’ve run right into me.”
“Sorry.I was thinking about—” She bit back the words before she accidentally spilled her darkest secret.“Stuff.Thinking about stuff and not paying attention.”
“You don’t need to apologize.I’m the one who was just an ass.I wasn’t paying attention either.”He rubbed his hand across his dark brow.“Got a lot of stuff to think abouttoo.”
Elodie brushed a damp curl from her shoulder as the familiar scent of earth and pine swirled around her.“Well, have a good one.”She double checked her map, and, with a quick and awkward wave, resumed her trek to themedi-pumpstation.
“You didn’t happen to run into a door this morning, didyou?”
Elodie stiffened as his words pricked her back.She knew she’d recognized his voice and that evergreen scent.Unfortunately, she couldn’t run away this time.There was nothing in this hallway except for the doors he’d just emerged from, and she didn’t want to go anywhere near roomforty-fourand its biohazard symbol.Especially if it spit out frazzled employeeshalf-dressedin biohazardgear.
She turned slowly, hoping that in the time it took her to face him, she would somehow disappear into the bright lights of the hallway.“It wasn’t my finest moment.”
His grin lit his entire face.“But it was pretty funny.”
