Page 5 of Hollow State

Giving her nothing could have allowed the drug to continue damaging her.

He’d chosen the safest dose he could justify and spent the next several days waiting for Brea’s organs to show him whether he’d made the right decision.

He had.

More than that, the readings showed no indication that TITAN, or whatever version Emma had developed, had caused any significant damage at all.

“You're studying that screen over there like the words might all of a sudden change and tell a different story,” Brea said.

“He double-checks everything." Wynn moved to the laptop and tapped the keyboard. "He's worse about that than I am about keeping this place organized."

“I wouldn't go that far.” Darwin pushed his glasses up his nose and went back to the screen. "I'm not the one who needs all the labels facing exactly the same direction."

"Now you're exaggerating." Wynn shouldered in next to him. "We might want to move this along. Quinn’s probably putting a hole in the floor with his pacing, and Scout won't be able to keep him out there much longer."

"Why don't we bring Quinn in now? Unless there’s a reason you don't want him to hear any of this," Darwin said.

"No. I'm fine with that." Brea nodded.

"What about Scout?" Wynn crossed to the door and put her hand on the handle.

"She's welcome, too," Brea said.

Wynn pulled open the door.

Quinn stood directly outside in the center of the corridor with his hands on his hips. “Well? How is she? Anything wrong? Did you see any problems? Anything we should be worried about?”

Scout pushed from the far wall, rested her hand on Quinn's shoulder, and guided him into the exam room. "Give them a chance to talk."

“I'd be the same way if this were my brother.” Darwin shifted the screen.

"You have a brother?" Scout asked. "I didn't know that."

Darwin took off his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt. Talking about his parents or brother wasn't something he did often. Especially in the bunker. Everyone had to give up something to be down here. Lives. Freedom. Friends. Careers. He wasn't unique. He hadn’t been estranged from his family before he'd become a wanted man. He’d spoken to them somewhat regularly, if Christmas and birthdays could be considered regularly.

His ex-wife, Sarah, had always complained that his work came before everything else. And she hadn’t been wrong. His family had always seemed to understand, but it put a strain on their relationships. "My brother, Newton⁠—"

"Your brother's name is Newton?" Quinn asked with a lowered chin and crooked smile.

"My parents were a little obsessed with science, so yeah," Darwin said. "Anyway, he's two years younger. Married, two kids, lives in Edmonton. I haven’t talked about him or my folks much since I can't contact them, and honestly, all I want is to protect them."

"Trust me, I can understand that," Quinn said. “So, tell me exactly how my sister is.”

Darwin turned the monitor so everyone could see. “As you can see by the graphs, there are changes from the baseline Emma recorded when Brea first entered her program." He pulled the tray with the keyboard closer and made a split screen. "This compares everything we measured from when Brea was at what we believe was the highest dose to right now.”

"What does all that mean?" Brea took her brother's hand and leaned forward.

“The compound did improve certain aspects of your physical performance,” Darwin said.

“It's not what it was meant for, but it can be a side effect. When someone is injured and we don't have the tools in the field, Darwin's creation is supposed to help the patient by increasing and maintaining these levels so the combat medic can get the soldier back to base to better treat the injury," Wynn said.

"However, when giving it to a healthy person, it attacks the cellular structure and organs much like an autoimmune disease would, but much faster." Darwin glanced between the screen and Brea.

"But the drug's gone, right?" Quinn asked.

“I believe so," Darwin said. "Drugs affect everyone differently, and oftentimes, especially with compounds like this one, there are anomalies.”

“My sister's always been unique." Quinn leaned against the exam table.