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“Because you need resources: training, equipment, weapons, accommodations.”
“No, I meanwhy?”
“We need to turn the tide against the Mah.”
“The last time I checked, we weren’t at war with anyone.” So far, Grey Dekker had kept his men in check.
“How long do you think that will last? Days, weeks, months? A couple of years?”
Forever if they played their cards right. “There’s no way to know.”
“That’s why we’re better off prepared.”
“And this method of preparation?”
His eyes gleamed. “The VrK.”
“I don’t follow.”
“I’ve been working on a defense strategy with a few individuals. We decided we could fight fire with fire and use the VrK to make curs. With enough of them, it won’t matter how many men Grey Dekker has at his disposal.”
Laura curled the corner of her mouth. “You do realize a cure isn’t a dog you can train. It does what a Mah commands because theywillit.”
“Which is why we developed implants to trigger the parts of the brain responsible for voluntary movements. Compliance is rewarded with pleasure by stimulating the nucleus accumbens. Any resistance is corrected with signals to the pain matrix. After a successful mission, we praise them with massive dopamine infusions. Makes them as docile as puppies.”
Is. After. Makes.The words of experience, not a possibility.
“I thought this was a proposal.”
Max shrugged. “A proposal doesn’t do well unless you have the proof to sell it.”
“And your buyers will be the US government?”
“Not just the US government. Every government. Every religious foundation. Every multibillion-dollar company. They’ll scrap their rocket programs, their self-driving cars, to invest in their future.”
“You mean protection.”
“And other more gratifying ventures.” Max flipped down his visor and slid aside the cover over the mirror.
“Such as?”
“How long do Varu live? Hundreds of years? Thousands?” He smoothed a finger at the corner of his right eye, then again, where faint lines marked the corners of his mouth.
“I don’t think anyone knows. Even them.”
“They don’t get sick, they heal, they don’t age.” His reflection watched her.
“They age.”
“Until they have their wolves. Then it’s slow enough they’re dead before they grow more than a few gray hairs. Even the ones without wolves don’t age if they stay with their pack.” He shut the visor. “Do you ever wonder why that is?”
“Not really.”
“How old are you, Laura?”
“What does that have to do with the conversation?”
He laughed a little. “It’s just a question.”
