when they answered, it was clear they hadn’t even thought of that. Nick swallowed twice before answering.
“It’s about…well, five hundred dollars a day.” He held up his hands. “But hear us out—”
“Five…hundred?” He did some quick math in his head, then pulled a calculator out of his desk drawer to check the numbers. He couldn’t possibly have been right, could he?
But he had been. This machine would give Justin three more years to recover.
The two young men looked at him like they were afraid they’d blown it, but all he could do was smile.
“Tell me more,” he said quietly.
“I don’t want to promise anything,” Nick said quietly.
Jacob looked angry. “My grandmother might have lived if she’d had something like this,” he told his friend. He looked at Tad. “A doctor named DuBois conducted research several years ago about a device that would basically do the same thing ours does. He hadn’t built one—he was trying to find out if it would be a good idea. His research showed it would but it was blocked.”
“Blocked how?”
“Healthcare lobbyists.” Jacob’s hands clenched. “Sir, this research is solid. It could help people. But healthcare companies don’t want people to get better. That’s not how they get paid. They blocked DuBois’s research and we need someone to help get ours through.”
Tad hardly heard him. Three years. More than enough time. Justin would surely have woken up and they’d still have money for his physical therapy.
“Sir, I don’t want to raise your hopes,” Jacob said again. He shook his head at Nick. “You said you wanted straight talk, didn’t you? It is experimental. No one’s done this with a game before. That’s what we would do. We’d give him a game that’s like real life. For you or me, it would be like dreaming or using a VR set. We don’t know what it would do to someone in a coma. If he dies in the game…we don’t know how his brain would interpret that.”
Tad, for whom the word “game” conjured mental images of Candy Land, realized they probably meant something like Justin had played. Call of Warfare. World of Legends. One of those.
“I have to talk to my wife about this,” he said.
“Of course,” Nick said.
“Sir,” Jacob began, “if you’re worried about the device—”
“Your friend’s right, Mr. Zachary.” He smiled. “I do like straight talk. You’re not lying to me, and I like that. Let me talk to my wife and I’ll get back to you. Does my aide have your information?”
“Yes.” Jacob nodded. He and Nick exchanged a look, completely transparent in its hope.
“Good.” He stood. “I’ll be in touch. Yes, Annie, what is it?”
His aide had come around the door and she gave him a cautious smile. “A Mr. Metcalfe is here to see you,” she said.
Tad had a vivid memory of himself saying, “Do stop by.” He had thought it was a rote pleasantry when he said it but apparently, Metcalfe had taken him at his word. He sighed.
“Send him in, Annie. Gentlemen, I’ll talk to you later.”
Chapter Six
Amber hunched over the compartment of the pod and tried to think of something other than the swirl of negative thoughts in her head. She didn’t take any particular joy in being a pessimist. She’d much rather be an optimist, and if the whole world were like her lab, she would be one.
The whole world wasn’t like her lab, though. Unfortunately, it wasn’t even close. Instead of carefully-drawn schematics, there was absolute chaos. Instead of careful trial and error, in which every problem you encountered was simply your fault—and thus fixable—the world was full of situations that were not only chaotic but sometimes tailored toward failure.
She stole a glance at the corner of the room, where Dr. DuBois was sitting—or lying, in actual fact. Apparently, he had decided to take a nap.
He didn’t look at all like she’d pictured him, which threw her off. She’d expected someone short and businesslike, either with his head entirely in the clouds like Nick or bleakly depressed in the wake of his defeat at the hands of lobbyists. Instead, he didn’t seem to have any particular thoughts on whether the pod would work or not. He’d asked to see the game, played it for a couple of hours, and disappeared around the time Nick and Jacob left to see the senator.
When he’d returned, there had been popcorn in his beard and now, he was asleep on the couch.
And he still hadn’t given any feedback on the pods.