The Persona Protocol - By Andy McDermott Page 0,92
memories . . .’
Albion appeared unsure. ‘Be careful, Bianca. I wasn’t kidding when I told you that Adam wanted to have his memory wiped. Getting them back might not be the best thing for him.’
‘But he lost all his memories,’ she countered. ‘That can’t possibly be what he thought he was signing up for. He doesn’t even remember his parents, for God’s sake. Was erasing everything a deliberate part of the process?’
‘I don’t know. I devised the drug, but I wasn’t involved with the actual procedure.’
‘Who was? Oh, let me guess,’ she said, before he could answer. ‘Kiddrick.’
‘Afraid so.’
She huffed. ‘That man is an absolute arse.’
Albion laughed. ‘Oh, you noticed?’ He became more serious. ‘That said, he might be an arse’ – he rolled his tongue around the British pronunciation – ‘but he’s not stupid. And he has connections. And he’s petty and vindictive. So, again, be careful.’
‘I’ll watch out for him. Anyway, I have to get over to STS.’
‘So where do we stand?’ Albion asked. ‘Are we still okay?’
‘We’re still okay,’ she replied.
Bianca was expecting a joke, but instead he said, ‘I’m glad. Thank you.’
She gave him a smile. ‘See you soon.’
From the frosty reception she received in the Bullpen, the staff of the Persona Project had obviously received the email Tony had mentioned the previous night, and figured out that she was part of the reason for it. ‘So,’ said Kyle loudly as she walked past his workstation, ‘anyone want to go bowling tonight? Oh, wait, we can’t. That’d breach protocol.’
Tony looked up from a discussion with Levon. ‘All right, knock it off. Bianca, hi. Glad you’re here.’
‘Hi. Where’s Adam?’
‘In the Cube.’
She started for the door, but Tony called her back. ‘Martin needs to see you.’
‘Right now?’
‘Yes.’
‘Let me see if I can guess why,’ she said with a sigh as she reversed course.
Morgan was in his office – along with Kiddrick, who had positioned himself next to his desk like some sort of twitchy henchman. ‘Good morning, Dr Childs,’ said Morgan. ‘Please, take a seat.’
She did so. Kiddrick remained standing. ‘You’re not going to sit down?’ she asked him. ‘Run out of Preparation H?’
The scientist bridled, but Morgan pre-emptively raised a hand to silence him. ‘Dr Childs, that’s enough. Now, we need to discuss last night’s . . . incident.’
‘You mean when two goons aggressively interrupted a perfectly innocent conversation?’
‘That’s hardly what happened,’ Kiddrick sniffed.
‘Oh, were you there? Funny, I didn’t see you.’ She turned back to Morgan. ‘Look, what happened was—’
‘Adam already gave me his account,’ he interrupted. ‘And Spence and Fallon gave theirs. I think the best way to deal with this is to say that both sides overreacted and escalated the situation unnecessarily, but since nobody was hurt beyond the odd bruise, the matter is now considered closed.’
She was taken aback, not expecting it to be concluded so quickly. ‘Okay . . .’
‘That’s far from the end of it, though,’ said Kiddrick, glaring down at her. ‘We’re going to—’
‘Dr Kiddrick,’ Morgan interrupted. Kiddrick reluctantly fell silent. ‘However, as a result of this incident, all members of the Persona Project have been given a reminder to adhere to the USIC black agency rules and regulations on social interactions, to the letter. Normally, this is an area where I personally would allow some leeway in the interests of team morale, but a directive has been issued by the Director of National Intelligence, and it will be followed. By all team members. Do I make myself clear?’
‘Perfectly,’ she said, not hiding her disapproval.
‘Since you didn’t go through the standard STS orientation and training, you’ve been sent a copy of the relevant regulations. I’d recommend that you read them. To avoid any future problems.’
‘I see. Is that all?’
Kiddrick was unable to stay quiet any longer. ‘No, it’s not all,’ he said, stepping forward. ‘As of now, you are not to talk to or communicate with Adam except for strictly work-related reasons.’ His head jerked forward with each emphasis, reminding her of a strutting chicken.
‘Well, excuse me,’ Bianca shot back, ‘but I think that Adam’s mental well-being is work-related.’
‘That’s not your concern!’
‘It should be everyone’s concern! Without Adam, you don’t even have a project.’
The tendons on Kiddrick’s scrawny neck stood out as his anger rose. ‘You’re only here to work out drug doses for the PERSONA subjects. That’s all! Adam’s well-being is my responsibility, not yours. If he has any problems, I can handle them.’