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A twinge of pain formed between my eyes. Its echo pulsed through my temples. “A woman hit me with a door. It’s nothing.”
Except it wasn’t nothing. The woman had disrupted my routine and left me rattled. As a result, my concentration throughout the morning had been suboptimal. My research required better.
The tension in Pamela’s expression eased, though the stiffness in her posture remained. She always looked like that. “I hope you’ve spoken to legal. Filed a report.”
“It’s nothing,” I repeated, with a bite of sharp finality.
She waited a moment but pressed no further. “As to why I’m here, my preliminary research is complete, and the results are not ideal. Biotabloom Dynamics is excited about the algae you’re creating. But they’re likely to have concerns.”
“Calling the complex microorganism I’m engineering an ‘algae’ is a gross oversimplification.”
The look she gave me made it clear my point was detracting from the one she was attempting to make.
I readjusted my narrative. “Potential hesitation on Biotabloom Dynamics’s part is why I hired you. Determine any potential issues before they arise and remedy them.”
“One major issue is readily apparent.” She turned her iPad screen so I could see. “It’s you.”
She flipped through article after article. Every headline was a variation of the same—I was an unfeeling recluse, a robot or alien failing at my attempts to pass as human.
“The work we’re doing here at Terraroot Labs is revolutionary,” I said. “The last eukaryotic organism we engineered reduced the waste volume stored outside of Epiphany by eighteen-point-seven percent.” I could do better. I was working on a more efficient model.
“No one is questioning that, but it’ll take more than good products to make certain this merger happens. Being proactive is our best option.”
“Then do more. Make the company more human—whatever that means. There are other humans in the building to focus your efforts on besides me.”
“You areTerraroot Labs. You need to convince the world you’re not a robot. That you care.”
Her words were a dagger stabbed and twisted into the gut. I cared more than I could succinctly express. It was my mission to clear the excess waste not only in our city, but to reach a larger swath of the country. Doing so meant everything to me.
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. “How do you expect me to do that?”
“Our meeting is set for February fourteenth. Before then, it’s going to take a lot of work. But you need to be open to it.”
“I already work late into the night, often six or seven days a week.”
“That’s part of the problem. You’re hiding in your lab too much. You need to work on yourself. On appearances.”
I wasn’t hiding. I was working.
It was my policy to always cover every angle.Iwas the angle I had missed.
A palpable sense of foreboding hung in the air as I waited for what Pamela would say next.
“Paparazzi could capture pictures of you out on a date,” she suggested.
Invisible weight pressed down on my chest. “I don’t have time to date.”
“The relationship only has to appear real. Actors and musicians stage connections all the time for publicity. It’s common practice. Consider it a business meeting, and therefore a critical function of your job.”
Her suggestion felt like a targeted and personal assault, plucked straight out of my nightmares. A crowd of photographers flashing lights in my face as I feigned a romantic connection with a complete stranger—I couldn’t do it.
Pamela sucked in a sharp breath. “Think about it.”
Until a resolution was reached, I doubted I’d be able to think about anything else.
FOUR
LAYANA
