Chapter 56 - Worth the Secret?

September 6th, 2017

8.33 am, Area 51, Nevada

"Luna, perform a full diagnostics scan on my biological constitution." Dr. Anna B. Worth says.

The well lit spacious rectangular bedroom is scarce with furniture, save for a messy bed behind Anna. Large strips of daylight lamps line the windowless grey walls. Being underground 24/7 is no excuse to not have vitamin D. There are three closed doors spread between 3 walls.

"What are you looking for, Anna?" The voice of Luna echoes throughout the room.

"I cannot say." Anna says, "I just feel… strange. And I slept for far too long."

Anna converses with Luna. Luna is currently residing inside of Anna's full body bedroom mirror, which dances with flashing lights whenever Luna speaks. On the mirror's display is a brown-eyed dark-haired voluptuous hourglass figure, a 5'5 beauty of flawless ebony skin. She's wearing a grey baggy tank top and a pair of black tiny yoga shorts.

"8 hours is the recommended dosage of sleep for humans." The voice of Luna says after a moment with the mirror displaying charts and numbers, "Your vitals are all normal."

"Expand diagnosis to Cosmic Materia." Anna says, as she flicks away her short black hair.

For a 40-year-old, Anna is in great shape. Yet she loathes her own beauty. It reminds her of her constant state of fragility. Most painful of all, it is a permanent reminder of her long held guilt.

"Scans report a deviation of 0.01% in uptick activity from yesterday's scan." Luna responds.

"Within the set limits." Anna says, reading the figures on the glass, "But, safety is relative."

"I will keep an eye on the Cosmic Materia activity levels for the rest of the day." Luna says.

"It's that time again." Anna says, "Deactivate my MSG."

"Are you ready?" Luna asks.

"As always." Anna says, as she steps back and positions herself by her messy big bed.

"Deactivating Materia Skin Graft." Luna says.

Suddenly in a spasm, Anna collapses backward onto the bed. Her previously flawless dark skin is now riddled with lightning arcs as if she had been struck by lightning but Anna has no such memories. It is a sign of a mysterious illness that has hunted her all her life, gradually deteriorating her motor skills until she was paralyzed from the neck down. This was her curse.

"Reactivate it." Anna struggles to say.

"Bringing Materia Skin Graft back online." Luna says.

A glowing teardrop-shaped spot on Anna's left palm comes alive and the lightning scars fade into flawless skin. She squeezes her hands and kicks her legs while still laying on the bed.

'This is what hope gives me, foolishness.' Anna thinks to herself with a pathetic grin on her face.

Why does she perform this test every morning? Maybe as a hopeful exercise or just a reminder of her fragility. Her mortality. Her drive for still fighting this painful chronic condition.

"Thank you, Luna." Anna says, as she watches the teardrop fade away, "I had a strange dream."

"What abouts?" Luna asks.

"The details are… foggy." Anna says with a pondering look, "I was in a storm... perhaps?"

"Hmm…" is all Luna can say.

"What was I doing before I fell asleep?" Anna asks.

"You, yet again, circumvented my no-work-on-the-bed rule by dictating a summation note on Cosmic Energy Spectrum theory to me." Luna replies with perceptible sass.

"Whoops!" Anna says as she gets up from bed, turning to the door on her left, "Well, work time."

"Not before showering." Luna says, "You stink."

"But." Dr Worth begins to protest as she slips on her flip flops.

"I sense a big change coming today." Luna says, "And it will require you to look decent."

"How can Artificial Intelligence have gut feelings?" Anna asks, clearly poking fun at Luna.

"I am a Seni! I possess the sum knowledge of human history-" Luna begins to say.

"Which you still won't let me access." Anna interjects, "Some ancient being you are."

"You know why." Luna says, "Now, less arguing, more getting clean."

"Fine, fine." Anna says, turning to her right, "Just questioning how worthy of a secret you are."

"The time of secrets is coming to a close." Luna says, "Patience."

"Yeah, yeah." Anna says as she walks, "More mysterious gibberish."

In seconds, Anna arrives at the door. She pushes it open, the lights come on revealing a bathroom complete with a toilet, a bathtub, a towel rack with 3 towels, a mirror and sink. Anna walks to the bathtub, turning on the tap. She leaves the water running as she walks back to the bathroom sink. She picks up her toothbrush, applies toothpaste on it and brushes her teeth.

After spitting that out, Anna grabs the mouthwash and gargles briefly then spits it out. She runs the sink tap, washing away everything down the drain. Now, she takes off then throws her clothes into the nearby laundry basket. She steps into the bathtub, closes the curtain, and switches to the showerhead. Her thoughts wander as the water cleanses her face.

9.33 am.

Perks of being the boss is walking into the office whenever you want, especially if you leave whenever you want, just as irregularly as Dr. Anna B. Worth does on a regular basis. Her main office space is a large well-lit lab with all white floors and walls. Many men and women in lab coats and military uniforms are buzzing about, surrounded by many marvels of science and technology. One would hardly believe this was all happening many floors below ground.

"Dr. Worth." A middle-aged white man in a white lab coat says. He welcomes Dr. Worth by offering a cup of black coffee in one hand and some kind of a red rubber strip in his other hand.

"Jamie." Dr. Worth asks, as she takes the coffee, "Why is General Matthews inside my office?"

"I'm not sure, Dr. Worth." Jamie, a head taller than Dr. Worth says, "But he looked in a rush."

"What's the point of having you here if you aren't going to stand up to him?" Dr. Worth says. She's wearing a long dark blue lab coat over the rest of her dark attire, including a baggy turtleneck, pants, nurse flats, and the thick rim glasses she wears even with her perfect vision.

"I'm replaceable, you are not." Jamie says with a shrug, "And for your coffee, of course."

"Stating the obvious." Dr. Worth says, placing her right wrist in front of Jamie who places the red rubber strip on her right wrist. The strip coils into a band which vibrates then becomes green.

"You will stand up to General Matthew for me, won't you Oya?" Dr. Worth asks.

"Sorry doc, beyond my set parameters." The bracelet says in a female voice as it flashes blue.

"Useless." Dr. Worth says as she walks away, holding her coffee, "I will just do it myself."

The many military uniforms wandering about could only mean one thing. Major General Wade M. Matthews of the US Army, the current military head of this facility, was paying yet another surprise and unappreciated visit. Dr. Worth makes her way through the bustling lab floor, up a set of glass doors to find a pair of soldiers standing guard over her open office door. She walks past them, into her glass office to find the back of a 5'10 white man with grey hair in a proud dark US Army General Officer Service Uniform with two white stars on each of his shoulders.

"You are late." General Matthews says, turning to face Dr. Worth with his chest full of medals.

"You did not have an appointment, General Matthews." Dr. Worth says, unfazed by the peacocking from a man over 15 years her senior and a head length taller than her.

"We are at war!" General Matthews says whilst maintaining his broad intimidating stance.

Dr. Worth's office is a crystalline edifice with glass panels for walls and a door. The room has a timeless pale white light that pours in from everywhere, illuminating the central work desk that is both chaotic yet seemingly organized, a black executive seat, a side desk with strange devices, and two full wall-high bookshelves facing each other to the left and right of the central desk.

"Read a history book, America is practically always at war." Dr. Worth says as she walks to the central desk, "8 years of working with you, I still do not appreciate your random visits, Wade."

"That's General Matthews to you. And this time, it is urgent." General Matthews says, "America has just been attacked and we must strike back."

"You must pardon me." Dr. Worth says as she sits down, "I am still having my morning coffee."

"I came to inspect your weapons development profile." General Matthews says, "I wish to present the Commander-in-Chief with options and you are behind schedule."

"No, I am right on time." Dr. Worth says as she sips her coffee before placing it down.

"Look here, little missy." General Matthews says, pointing his right index finger at Dr. Worth, "You've been given a blank cheque by the American government to do whatever science gizmo you want to do. In return, you're to build us weapons and I'm here to make sure that you do."

"That's Doctor Worth to you." Dr. Worth says nonchalantly, "Actually, you are here for general convenience. I have already given the American government beyond state of the art stealth technology and a quantum supercomputer. You use such 'gizmos' for national missile defense."

"You-" General Matthews begins to say.

"Doctor, there's an incoming call from the CIA Director." The voice of Oya booms everywhere.

"Thank you, Oya. Put him through in a minute." Dr. Worth says while still looking dead at General Matthews, "If you will excuse me, General."

"This conversation is not over." General Matthews says as he turns around to leave.

"I will still be here after you leave." Dr. Worth says, "Do schedule an appointment next time."

"Oya, activate Privacy mode." Dr. Worth says after General Matthews leaves.

The glass office door slides shut and all the glass panels around the room darken.

"Director Jones, what is it this time? Do you want more toys to break?" Dr. Worth asks.

"That was only one helicopter 6 years ago." The voice of Director Nick Jones says, echoing around the room, "Nevermind. I want to schedule a secure video meeting with you in two hours."

"Actually, I am busy today." Dr. Worth says, sipping her coffee with an unamused face.

"Well, it's on orders directly from the President herself." Director Jones says.

"The President?" Dr. Worth asks, "Does it have anything to do with the attack?"

"You'll find out more during the call." Director Jones says, "Trust me, it'll be worth it."

"Alright." Dr. Worth says, "11.30 am, my time."

"Excellent!" Director Jones says, "I will call you then. Director Jones out."

The call ends. Dr. Worth sits, silently drinking her coffee in deep thought.

"Is this the big change Luna mentioned?" Dr. Worth says as she gulps down her coffee at last.