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“They died with a frozen smile and a burn on the brain.”
Reeanna’s brows drew together. “What do you mean, a burn?”
Where the hell was her backup? How much longer could she stall? “You didn’t know about that? Your little experiment has a slight defect, Reeanna. It burns a hole in the frontal lobe, leaves what we could call a shadow. Or a fingerprint. Your fingerprint.”
“That’s nothing.” But she worried her lip as she considered it. “The intensity of the subliminal could cause that, I suppose. It has to get in, firmly, to bypass the instinctive resistance, the knee-jerk survival instinct. We’ll have to work on that, see what can be adjusted.” Annoyance shadowed her eyes. “William will have to do better. I don’t like flaws.”
“Your experiment’s full of them. You have to control William to continue. How many times have you used the system on him, Reeanna? Would continued use expand that burn? I wonder what kind of damage it could cause.”
“It can be fixed.” She tapped the fingers of her free hand on her thigh, distracted. “He’ll fix it. I’ll do a new scan on him, study the flaw—if he has one. Repair it.”
“Oh, he’ll have one.” Eve stepped closer, judging the distance, the risk. “They all had one. And if you can’t repair William’s, you’ll probably have to terminate him. You couldn’t risk that flaw becoming larger, causing uncontrolled behavior. Could you?”
“No. No. I’ll look into this immediately. Tonight.”
“It may already be too late.”
Reeanna’s eyes snapped back. “Adjustments can be made. Will be made. I haven’t come this far, accomplished this much, to accept any sort of failure.”
“And yet to succeed fully, you’ll have to control me, and I won’t make it easy.”
“I already have your brain pattern,” Reeanna reminded her. “I’ve already implemented your program. It’s going to be very easy.”
“I’ll surprise you,” Eve promised. “And Roarke. You can’t manufacture without him, and he’ll find out. Do you expect to control him as well?”
“That will be a particular pleasure. I did have to adjust the time schedule. I’d hoped to enjoy him first. A little trip, you might say, down memory lane. Roarke’s so creative in bed. We haven’t taken time to compare those notes, but I’m sure you’ll agree.”
It put Eve’s teeth on edge, but she spoke coolly. “Using your toy for sexual gratification, Dr. Ott? How unscientific.”
“And what fun. I’m not the master William is, but I do enjoy a good, creative game.”
“And that’s how you met all your victims.”
“So far. Through the loops and the underground. Games can be relaxing and entertaining. And both William and I agreed that processing input from players would help us develop more creative options for the new VR.” She fluffed at her hair. “Not that anyone had in mind what I was creating.”
Her gaze shifted to the monitor, frowned over the data being transmitted from Roarke’s office. He was processing the VR specs now, she noted. “But you’ve already got Roarke digging. Not just on young Drew, but on the unit itself. I wasn’t happy about that, but there are always ways around inconveniences.” Her smile tilted up at the corners. “Roarke isn’t as necessary as you believe. Who do you suppose will own all of this if something happened to him?”
She laughed again, pure delight, as Eve stared blankly.
“Why, you will, darling. It will all be yours, in your control, and therefore mine. Don’t worry, I won’t let you stay a widow long. We’ll find someone for you. I’ll choose him personally.”
Terror froze her blood, iced her muscles, closed frigidly around her heart. “You made a unit for him.”
/> “Just completed this afternoon. I wonder if he’s tested it yet? Roarke is so efficient, and so personally interested in all of his holdings.”
She shot a stream at Eve’s feet, anticipating her. “Don’t. I’ll just stun you, and this will take longer.”
“I’ll kill you with my own hands.” Eve forced air in and out of her lungs, ordered herself to think. “I swear it.”
In his office, Roarke frowned over the data he’d converted. Missing something, he thought. What am I missing?
He rubbed the strain out of his eyes, sat back. He needed a break, he decided. Clear the mind, rest the eyes. Picking up the VR unit on his desk, he turned it over in his hands.
“You won’t chance it. If you do, and I stun you, you’ll never get to him in time. There’s always the hope you can stop it, save him.” Her smile spread again, derisively. “You see, I understand you, Eve, perfectly.”
“Do you?” Eve asked, and instead of lunging forward, leaped back. “Lights out,” she shouted, snatching for her weapon as the room pitched into darkness. She felt the slight sting as Reeanna’s aim wavered, skimmed her shoulder.
Then she was down, blocked by the desk, and gritting her teeth against the pain. She’d rolled fast, but not well, and had come down hard on her bad knee.
