“You’re going home.”
“What?”
“You’ve served your purpose, and it’s time to go.”
“Did I do something wrong? Were the results not good?”
“To the contrary. The results have exceeded our best hopes. You played your part well, and now it is time to exit the stage.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
“You don’t want to leave Eris.”
“Or Vienna. On the other hand, I could do without you.”
She nodded. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t mean that. Bad joke. Truth is, you’ve been a bright spot in this ordeal. The one person who seems…human.”
She nodded again, but still seemed sad.
“What is it?”
She pulled her hand away and looked at me. Firm. Cold. “When you leave here, you can never see her again.”
“The hell I can’t. I can do whatever I want, at least when she leaves. I did go back and read the entire contract. Carefully. There is no restriction on that issue.”
She leaned forward. “No legal restriction.”
“What does that mean?”
She answered by picking up half of her sandwich and taking a bite. She chewed with care. I waited, not taking my eyes off her.
Finally, she swallowed and put the sandwich down. “Pate, I care about you. That is why I will say something that I should not. You do not know what the results of this project portend because they haven’t told you. It will change the world if it goes their way. What they are doing is so important to them that they will do almost anything to keep it to themselves. And there are others who want it so bad that they would do even worse.”
I felt a cold hard lump in my throat. “What are you saying?”
“Take your money, get on that plane tomorrow, and—”
“Tomorrow?!”
“—take your money, get on that plane tomorrow, and go far away. Not anywhere you have ever been before. Become a recluse. Never think of the Project again.”
I sat, shaking in anger. “No way. I wanted this money for a reason. I’m going to start the company I wanted to start—but with my money this time. Do it the right way. They aren’t going to tell me what I can do for the rest of my life!”
“They are not telling you that. I am telling you that. For your own good.”
“This is not right. It’s not fair.”
She laughed without mirth. “For such an intelligent man, where did you get the idea that fairness is readily available in the world?”
“Because we strive for it, as humans.”
“No, we don’t. We strive for control of our lives and the world around us.”
I stared at her. “I thought I’d become a pessimist. And I thought you were the one who believes there is something more than just the scientifically verifiable?”
“I do believe that.” She stacked her dishes on her tray. “But I don’t have control over much. And neither do you.” She stood and picked up her tray. “Rolf will take you to the airport tomorrow morning. Be ready at 7:30.”
“Can I say goodbye to her?”
“No.”
I stood up. “No?!”
She sighed again and sat her tray down, leaning on the table with both arms. “I tried, Pate. I tried. I have gone to bat too many times. They were adamant. It was unconditionally ‘no.’”
“They can’t stop me from coming back to Vienna if I want to.”
“You’re going to make me say it?” She straightened up. “If you come back to this city, and try to see her, you will find yourself deported and your passport revoked. Or you might end up in jail.”
“For what?!”
“For anything they can make up!” She lowered her voice and looked around the empty cafeteria. “They have money, power, and connections. It may not be ‘fair,’ Pate, but that’s what will happen. Grow up and face reality!”
She left without another word, leaving her tray behind.
π
New York, New York. So nice they named it twice.
I didn’t need to work. I didn’t need to do anything, except eat and sleep, and I didn’t much feel like doing either of those.
A large sum of money had been deposited into twenty different bank accounts, set up for me by the Project. Most were regular checking accounts, some were high interest-bearing with restrictions, one was a money market, one a CD, and another a retirement account. That had all been worked out ahead of time as part of the contract.
I’d had plans, ideas, schemes. I’d worked on a lot of it during my hours in the library in Vienna.
None of it held any interest for me.
I ignored the Director’s advice to go far to somewhere I had never been. Instead, I had checked into a residence suite at the Langham on Fifth Avenue, because I could. I ordered room service twice a day; left the TV on continuously without watching it, and stared out at the city skyline and the Empire State building.
I knew that I could not go on like this forever. I’d have to pick myself up and move on. Do something. But for now, I was going to wait until I felt like it.
I could afford to wallow in misery, and that’s what I was going to do.
Mortals As They Walk is a riveting sci-fi thriller that delves into the ethical quagmire of genetic engineering.
Pate Williamson, a once-promising tech innovator now living on the streets, is recruited for a secretive project promising riches—but at a cost. Eris, a woman grappling with the loss of her family and child, joins the same experiment, seeking answers to her past. Meanwhile, Salim, a teenager raised in a carefully curated lie, discovers his true identity as a product of this very project, making him a target in a dangerous game.
Spanning from 2006 to 2038, their stories intertwine across continents, from the cobblestone streets of Heidelberg, Germany to the windswept cliffs of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. As they uncover a conspiracy involving nanobiots, in vitro modifications, and corporate greed, they’re hunted by black market forces desperate to exploit their unique DNA. With the fate of humanity’s future in their hands, Pate, Eris, and Salim must decide whether to end the experiment that created them or risk its misuse.
Blending high-stakes suspense with profound ethical questions, McDowell crafts a narrative that echoes Gattaca and The Island. This thought-provoking tale explores free will, identity, and the cost of perfection in a world where science can rewrite destiny.
Available from select retailers in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.
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