name Clifton pulsed in white lett

econds

wiped

al glasses and the murmur of polite laughter were audible. "I'm at the Gala, Emelie. You know t

tiv

dry laugh. It sounded

ce was raspy, stripped raw by the screaming. "A market

noise seemed to fade, as if Clifton had

ot tonight. I saw the text a

d breathing

rp intake of breat

illed with blood. I had to force the attending to treat a Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage because the

. "I didn't know it was that ba

ie said. "The show i

, liste

hung

lap and leaned her head back ag

e rain outside her father's funeral, holding an umbrella over her. He had

d that

of beeping monitors and

looked exhausted, but there was a new expression on his

steroids worked. The bleeding has st

he felt she'd been holdin

catch on the vasculitis. That was... intuitive. Very few a

ng up and brushing the dust off her

er's small hand, wrapped in tape and tubes. She didn't sleep. She j

finally claimed her. Her he

ht was streaming t

d was

r chair clattering

t night-hurried in. "Mrs. Wi

" Emelie demanded, pan

," the nurse said, checking her chart. "He had her mo

lood drain from her face. "Witho

id apologetically. "The legal team faxed it over. It grants him primary decision-mak

iv

hospital after he'd been out partying with his mistress. And

the morning sun. The storm had passed,

world

dn't have her car keys;

e, the silence was deafening. It

st the master bedroom, and i

cked t

of designer gowns she barely wore. She pulled up a

ath was

code: 1-9-8-5. Her

utdated, a brick of a machine, but it was a custom

t ottoman and opened it. S

or an Apple icon. It booted into a b

C SCAN R

her thumb on

NTED. WELC

folding simulations running via a remote link to a supercomputer cluster, and a sec

sat at the top,

r. Luca

303 - Phase

click

os

eceptors perfectly. We are ready for Phase 2. But we need you. The board is a

s, she had been Emelie Wilder, the trophy wife. The

she was Dr. Garvi

gan to

I will upload the modified protocol tonight.

hit

ront door slamming dow

if

e safe, and replaced the floorboard. She stood up, str

r and walked into the bedro

unbuttoned, his eyes bloodshot. He smel

hand through his hair. "I went to

a hairbrush. She began to brush her ta

she said. Her voice was

he press... I couldn't risk them getting photos of her in

e," Emel

into his pocket and pulled out a black

t on the va

oys, clothes. Get yourself som

he card. It glinte

ayoff for his absence.

and offered him a perfect, porcelain smile.

He had expected tears. This robotic complian

"I have a family dinner tonight. Mother

melie said. "I

at her as if trying to solve a puzzle,

er turned on, Emel

and swept the black card into it,

er phone and di

taring at her own reflec

"Emelie, are you sure? The Wilder legal tea

her voice hard as diamond. "And I