Page 114 of Lovely Darkness

And if he can do it, I can too.

And if we can do it together, and get the procedure for how to give her the do-over she most certainly deserves from Carter, now that right there is what I call a cure.

We are gonna be mushing dogs in the fucking Arctic come November.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN - MERC

The day begins with an awkward breakfast and I think everyone feels it, not just Sasha and me. To us, these people are strangers. We’ve been off living our quiet normal lives, far away from the Company, for almost a decade now. The rest of them—they live it every day.

We don’t belong here. That’s what I keep thinking as we eat and listen to the scattered conversation.

But Doc and Sabella arrive home about ten minutes in, so I excuse myself to go greet him. Sasha follows.

Cerene is already out there, asking if they need help. Sabella is holding a black leather case and Doc is clutching a small mason jar of thick, blue liquid when we meet them halfway between the truck and the house.

Doc nods his head towards the breezeway. “Let’s go this way.”

Sasha and I follow him as Sabella and Cerene chat quietly behind us.

“What is the blue stuff, again?” Sasha asks.

“Lectra.”

“What is it?”

“It’s…” I bob my head a little. Because Lectra is kinda hard to describe. “A drug, I guess. A psychedelic.”

Sasha laughs. “How in the world will that be helpful?”

“Well, when you combine it with the right sound frequencies, it… pulls the mind apart.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It separates memories. And this is what we’re looking for here. Donovan and Carter have two separate sets of memories. So we’ll know who we’re talking to, for sure. They won’t be able to mingle.”

“What does the sound generator do?”

I smile at her. “You’re full of questions this morning, aren’t you?”

She smiles back at me. And it’s bright. Maybe too bright. “I’m just curious. I’ve never heard of this sound thing.”

“Well, there are nine frequencies you can use to mess with consciousness.”

“Hold on. Sound?”

“Yeah. Sound is…” I shake my head. “The next superweapon. I’m sure it’s already in use, but the human range of hearing is limited. If they were using certain frequencies, we wouldn’t even know.”

“Who is this… they? Company people?”

“Maybe. But I generally referring to any one of the hundreds of corrupt governments currently in power.”

“OK.” We’ve reached Donovan’s room, but Doc and the nurses are busy going over vital signs or whatever, so Sasha asks another question. “Do these frequencies have a name? And how do they work?”

“You’re very curious this morning.”

“No.” Sasha laughs. “I’m just…”

“Curious.”