Memorize (Book One)

Debriefing

"Now let's move on to the very troublesome stuff," said Epos, calmly shuffling through his notes. He paused and looked down ominously at the assembly.

They were all seated at a semi-oval extended table, in the clear, brightly lit Debriefing Space, a large room faintly humming with the sounds of self-computing programs and equipped with display walls. There were no windows, just a large sliding door bearing the intertwined G and C of GloCo's logo in its center. The ten people listening to Epos were used to this kind of meeting, a necessary regular requirement in the life of a member of the High Intelligence Bureau. They all wore the navy blue attire reserved to the highest officials.

"I demand a careful re-examination of the case of Jay Fleogan, ref. 2387659H," continued Epos.

"The second-born who was retrieved a month and a half ago?" asked Arende Might, staring at the image and characteristics of Jay now revolving for all above the center of the worktop.

"That's it. It's a delicate issue. We all talked about his situation before his retrieval by GloCo Regulators. Starling Kite was of great assistance and he did a good job in the beginning, but his help was far from being satisfactory. Mr Fleogan had to be re-conditioned. As you all know, this process is long and difficult. It requires an exceptional treatment, and the subject is bound to be unstable afterwards."

"We all know about the difficulties and side effects of re-conditioning, Epos. Why do you demand a re-examination ? As far as I know, Starling hasn't reported anything special since the second-born was re-conditioned ?" said Arende, knitting his large eyebrows and narrowing his clear blue eyes. He was an intimidating man, high in stature, and gifted with straightforward manners and a potent voice.

"Well, of course no, he hasn't. But we all know Starling's way of handling delicate procedures," retorted Epos, who always seemed to imply more than what he said.

"What do you mean ?" asked Alinda Melville, a shy-looking woman in her thirties, with a long brown ponytail and inquisitive little eyes.

"Well, Starling is efficient, but he cares very little about reports and regulations," replied Epos with a dismissive wave of the hand.

"Never broke a rule, though. If he didn't report anything special, then there's no need to suspect anything ?" said Arende.

"I beg to differ, Arende," answered Epos in a quiet, firm tone, "I have checked Fleogan's bio reports, they speak better than all of Starling's accounts. There's some pretty high activity that hasn't been reported by your colleague."

Jay's chemical and biological data were now spreading on the walls in large letters, numbers and translucent, multi-colored graphs. The members of the bureau started shuffling through 3D files and examining them scrupulously.

"That's right, the vitals are extremely erratic, and there's a particularly frightening amount of C9H13NO3, but I see that Jay Fleogan has been involved in intense practical training. Most of the peaks match a pretty amazing workout...or a Dream Pod session," observed Alinda in a soft appreciative voice.

"Isn't that precisely suspicious ?" chanted Epos in a slow-tempoed voice. "We all know that the best cover for a somewhat suspicious bio record is physical activity. I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that some of the most significant epinephrine peaks match strangely similar and simultaneous peaks in Starling Kite's vitals."

While speaking, Epos slid his index finger on the table, and parallel vitals were shown accordingly, indicating outstanding swimming and running practices, together with feverish Dream Pod sessions. A long silence ensued.

"What are you inferring ?" finally asked a red-haired man at the far end of the table.

"Simply that something wrong is going on !" said Epos, hardly suppressing a dark smile on his thin, well-defined lips. The head of the High Intelligence Bureau slowly passed his hand in his tightly-cropped blond hair. He paused again, clearly appreciating the little effect he had created. Obviously, nobody had expected this development. Epos had always disliked Starling's carelessness, his way of handling things with arrogance and carelessness. This time, it would be hard for him to bail out.