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Eric led her to another set of double frosted-glass doors. “These are our offices. Mine. Scott’s. Yours.” He pointed to the box by the door with another keypad. “This is the latest biometrics technology.”
“I’m
not familiar with that.”
“Think of a fingerprint. No two are alike, but it’s not that difficult to fake fingerprints if you know what you’re doing. Like fingertips, our eyes are unique, too, and in particular the iris. This scans your eye and runs an algorithm that analyzes features in the colored tissue surrounding your pupil. It compares rings, furrows, and filaments. All you have to do is look into the device here.” He pointed to an eyepiece on the box. “This model has a cool feature in that it runs several scans in a microsecond with a variety of illuminations to prevent a false positive.”
“You love this stuff, don’t you?” She could hear the excitement in his voice.
“Yes. I’m a geek.”
A very sexy geek who looks more cowboy in his Stetson and boots than a billionaire technocrat.
“This same model is used at the Pentagon.” He leaned down, moving his eye within a few inches of the eyepiece.
“Welcome, Eric. Please enter your numeric code on the keypad now.”
“Same one as the elevator?” she asked.
He nodded and typed in the number.
“September 28, 2001. What’s the significance?”
The doors opened silently on their own.
She thought that was very cool, very sci-fi.
“It’s the day my parents died in the plane crash. Come on in.”
Shocked at his sudden openness to her, Megan felt her pulse race as they walked in. The doors closed behind them. She heard the hidden locking mechanism activate.
“Let’s get a picture of your eye so that you can open the doors on your own. This is the most secure space in the building. The walls and doors are made from the best bullet-resistant material on the market.”
“What market? Not Walmart or Target.”
“No. But it is the best.”
She looked around the room, which was a blend of the brothers’ opposing tastes. Two desks sat opposite each other. “That’s yours.” She pointed to the glass and chrome desk and futuristic chair.
“It is.”
She turned to look at the other. That desk was dark mahogany with a tufted black leather chair. Very traditional. Very Scott.
“Follow me,” Eric ordered, in a tone she was coming to crave.
“Yes, Sir.” She followed him to his desk. Five monitors. “Can I call the International Space Station from here?”
“Why?” He sat in his chair and typed something onto his keyboard. It wasn’t actually a keyboard, but an image of a keyboard reflected on his mirrored desktop. “Is there an astronaut I should be worried about?”
She laughed and he smiled.
“Time to turn your eye into a key, little one.” He placed a metal box similar to the one outside and also with an eyepiece on his desk. “All you have to do is place your eye about an inch from here.” He tapped the end of the eyepiece. “I’ll snap some pictures and we’re done.”
Old memories about her mother resurfaced, making her hesitate. “If I’m not with you or Scott, couldn’t Erica let me in?”
He shook his head. “Only three people have access to this space—me, Scott, and Gretchen. You will make the fourth person.”
“Gretchen?”
