Chrysalis

24

In an office, set along the wall of BioCertain’s segmented section, the telephone rang. The young woman at the desk paused at her keyboard and glanced toward it. During her time at Chrysalis, phone communication had grown rarer and rarer — especially once the Omega devices became mandatory accessories. Soon, no doubt, the phone would go the way of 8-track tapes, Vanilla Ice, and the dinosaur.

She cleared her throat, picked up the receiver. “Wing Kaupei.”

“Wing?”

Recognizing the voice, she suppressed a frown, then glanced up. The wall of her office that faced the cube farm was part glass, but it was soundproofed — and anyway, her door was closed.

“What?” she said.

“This is your friend in Proprietary Fulfillment—”

“I know who it is.”

The man on the far end picked up on the disapproval in her voice. “Look, I’m on a secure line. We made sure—”

“Even if that’s true, we have procedures for this kind of thing. Now: What’s so urgent?”

“What do you think? I’ve just learned that B—”

“No initials!” she said sharply. “You know better than that.”

“This is urgent. I just found out five minutes ago. Is he really—”

“Yes,” she interrupted again. “He is.”

“But that was never part of the plan. It’s rash. It’s unnecessary. And when I agreed to come on board, I made it clear: no deviations.”

“This isn’t a deviation. It’s a reaction to recent events. And if our mutual acquaintance thinks it’s important, then we shouldn’t disagree.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m starting to think it’s himself he feels is important. I’m part of all this just as much as he is. Just because my assignment’s complete is no reason to go behind my back, because I’ve only got six months until—”

“All right!” she said. “Message received. I’ll contact him when I can. Meanwhile, stay under the radar. And no more unauthorized contacts.”

She hung up even as she heard the chirp of his voice in the earpiece.

For a moment, the young woman sat motionless at her desk, stroking the small mole beneath her chin as she did habitually when troubled. Then, making a decision, she reached for the phone again.

This might be the first time, she thought as she dialed, the phone would be used not just once in a single day — but twice.