The Athena Effect (28 page)

“You didn’t tell me what my parents did,” she pointed out.

He ignored her, going on to explain the many exciting advances in brain research, describing how large portions of the brain that were under-utilized.

“I realized that if I could open up previously dormant areas of the brain to higher functionality there would be virtually no limit on human intelligence. I alone discovered how to increase the brain’s connectivity– to increase neurogenesis– to actually spur the growth of new synapses!”

He leaned forward in his chair, “Imagine a mind that learns faster, is more creative… a mind capable of storing and recalling virtually unlimited amounts of information.”

She just stared at him.

“I began by looking at various psychotropic drugs like LSD. They can induce a temporary synesthesia… I found a way to increase these neural pathways.”

She leaned forward, “So you gave them drugs?”

“Not just any drugs,” he said pompously. “My proprietary creation. The Athena Compound.”

He explained how years of trial and error had led to him synthesize a drug that enhanced brain function. He claimed that it increased the intelligence of animals from lab rats to chimps, and was considered so promising that he was provided with an entire wing of the science building in which to conduct human trials.

“I named it Athena,” he said proudly, “After the goddess of wisdom.”

“What did it do to them?” she asked, thinking that there was nothing wise about the man who sat before her.

He shifted in his chair, and she could see him grow uncomfortable, “At first it worked brilliantly. It made them all more intelligent… better. They scored higher on recall, cognition. We were just beginning to see some signs of induced synesthesia when the side effects started to appear.”

“Side effects?”

He sighed with disappointment, remembering, “At first it was only headaches, but after a few weeks they started to experience increasing anxiety. It gradually turned into full blown panic attacks, escalating into extreme paranoid delusions… After the suicides I did my best to tweak the formula and recruit new subjects, but the university was concerned about lawsuits–”

Caledonia gasped, “You mean, you just kept going? After people died?”

He looked at her like she was hopelessly naive, “If I quit, their sacrifices would be for nothing.” He was indignant, and his color turned an ugly shade of yellow green, “Those short sighted fools at the university cut off my funding just when I was on the verge of a breakthrough! They forced my resignation, and locked me out of my own laboratory!”

“You chose my parents because they had no family… didn’t you?”

He seemed surprised, “Why, Yes. Yes I did. It was the best way to avoid any possible legal complications. The students that agreed to participate had their debt forgiven and were provided free tuition and housing for graduate school… But I believe that most subjects participated out of sheer intellectual curiosity.”

“Subjects,” she repeated, taking note of the clinical, detached way she spoke about them. It was a far cry from the way he’d gushed about his “family” in the newspaper article she’d read. “You knew it was dangerous and you still gave it to them.”

He took a deep breath, and she could see how intensely bitter he was. “Despite being cut off from my lab and my funding, I kept in contact with the survivors, continuing my observations. When the twins were born I monitored them… Right away I knew the female was special.”

“The female?” Caledonia echoed his choice of words, appalled at his detached tone.

“Layla,” he pointed out, unaware of her rising horror. “Her heterochromia, the way she could alter her mother’s mood– even as a toddler I knew she was possessed of a remarkable gift! The three of you were conceived while your mothers were taking the Athena compound, and your unique talents are a mutation brought on by it!”

“A mutation?” Caledonia asked.

“Of the X chromosome… A rare gift created by my Athena compound. A gift bestowed on you and Layla alone.”

“How did you end up raising the twins?” she asked, remembering the tragic story of their parent’s deaths.

“Their mother made me their guardian shortly before she took her own life.” He smiled triumphantly, “Just as your aunt has given you to me.”

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she shrank back in her chair, “I don’t belong to you. I won’t stay here. Let me go now and you can forget that I even exist.”

He shook his head with false sympathy, “I could never forget about you– You’re part of my research whether you like it or not. I’m getting older, and I’m running out of time. I need to study you now… To understand precisely how my Athena compound has altered your DNA.”

“I’m not one of your subjects.”

“You have no choice in the matter. You must understand, I’ve devoted my entire life to this research… If I could only go back in time, I’d give the Athena compound exclusively to pregnant women and devote years of study to second generation subjects.”

Caledonia was horrified, “You’d give it to pregnant women… at the cost of their sanity? No one would agree to that! The university was right to stop your research!”

He leaned forward, “I fund myself now… And no one can stop me! The Athena project
will
succeed! I will be remembered for improving all of mankind. You…” He pointed a bony finger at her, “should consider the greater good!”

She could see his fervor, and feel his burning desire for vindication. Like an obsessive captain Ahab, he was driven, unable to admit defeat, and pushing forward against all codes of ethics and human decency.
 

“You’re insane,” she said quietly.

Again, he chose to ignore her, lamenting, “It’s a shame that I didn’t discover your existence earlier. There’s a certain amount of brain… plasticity… that is lost with age. If
only
I had raised you as my own. With both of your parent’s exposure your gift must be strong indeed. I look forward to learning exactly what you’re capable of.”

He smiled to himself at the prospect, and Caledonia shuddered. She remembered how afraid her parents were of him, and silently thanked them for hiding her away as long as they did. The magnitude of their sacrifice was just beginning to dawn upon her.

“David and Jenny must have developed a method to cope with the hallucinations.” He shook his head in admiration, “They really were the cleverest of subjects… Did they have some kind of system? How did they manage it?”

“Love,” she said quietly, remembering their tenderness with each other, “It’s called love.”

He cocked an eyebrow, “Whatever it was, it’s fascinating to know that they were able to survive as long as they did.” He spoke to himself like he forgot she was in the room, “Perhaps I should start pairing up test subjects from now on.”

Her eyes flew open, and she looked at her teacup in horror.

He laughed, “Not you, silly! The latest manifestation of the Athena compound is currently being administered to primates under highly controlled conditions in my private laboratory. Once I perfect the formula I’ll show everyone how wrong they were!” He leaned forward, “I’m on the verge of a real breakthrough!”

“That’s what you said eighteen years ago.”

He flashed a tight smile, “Dinner will be served in exactly two hours. The twins can tell you all about our house rules. I’m sure you’ll be very happy here.”

“You can’t keep me here,” she said.

He nodded towards Max, “Take her to her room.”

She stood, and with a final look at Professor Reed she walked out, pausing to listen when he called after her.

“Oh and, Caledonia… Your attire today is entirely unacceptable. Now that you’re living with us, you’ll be expected to take care with your appearance. If you refuse to change into some proper clothes for dinner, I’m afraid I’ll have to send Max in to dress you.”

She turned back to see that he meant what he said. Max was smirking at her, and she wondered if he was the one who’d put her into the nightgown. Her stomach twisted as she was escorted back down the hallway to her opulent little prison cell.

Max pushed her back into the room more roughly than necessary.

“Be ready for dinner at eight,” he said, slamming the door.

~

Chapter Twenty One – DEFIANCE

~

By the time eight o’clock drew near Caledonia had gone through a rainbow of emotions, switching from dark blue despair to red hot anger. Cold white fear changed to stubborn green defiance and back again; she finally understood exactly what her parents had been so terrified of.

Professor Reed was a true sociopath. Judging by the lengths he went to capture and hold her, she got the distinct impression that even after she turned eighteen she would not be free to go. She was only certain of one thing; she would get out of here one way or the other.

She looked into the wardrobe in her room, digging through dozens of outfits that were very much like the ones that she’d seen the red haired girl wearing in her aunt’s kitchen. She sorted through a variety of cashmere cardigans, lace trimmed blouses and long, full skirts. She bit her lip with determination, pulling out a red sweater and skirt set, but finally deciding on a pale blue one, slipping it on just as the door to her gilded cage swung open.

This time, Max and his silent co-hort led her to a pair of double doors that opened onto a statue-lined foyer. She looked inside, surprised to be walking into a luxurious apartment. A panoramic view of a waterfront with city lights beyond it was visible through a broad expanse of windows on the farthest wall. Judging by the height, they looked to be on the third or fourth floor. Caledonia scanned the horizon, desperately searching for a landmark by which she could get her bearings.

“Where are we?” she asked.

A sharp jerk on her arm directed her to the right, through an archway where they entered into an elaborate dining room. Three heads snapped to attention.

“Welcome home,” Professor Reed said, standing up. The twins rose from their seats at the table with matching false smiles. An eerie nervous energy hung in the air, a sour smelling cloud of yellow curiosity ringed with cold blue and acid green.

The professor gestured to a chair, and Max steered her over to it, “Sit.”

She settled down with a defiant air, taking note of the anxious twins. She was surprised to see that the girl’s curiosity was tempered by a healthy dose of fear.

“Wait in the parlor,” Reed told Max, settling into his chair and gesturing for the twins to do the same. Caledonia looked all around the opulent room, her eyes zooming in on the knives lying on the table. She looked up to see three pairs of eyes watching her. The boy’s mouth was hanging open.

The professor cleared his throat, “Layla, Michael, Why don’t you tell Caledonia all about our routine, and the privileges she can earn with good behavior.”

They started talking, taking turns telling her about how much they liked their tutors, describing field trips they took to various museums and the zoo. She looked back and forth between their eyes while they spoke, noticing how Layla kept trying to send her a mesmerizing blast of soft lavender. She batted the color away easily, sending her back a sharp rebuke of orange annoyance.

Caledonia scowled at her, “Stop it. I know what you did to my aunt.” She turned to look at the old man with contempt, “And
you
paid off her boyfriend.”

Professor Reed seemed surprised, “You should be thanking me for removing you from that poor excuse for a home. You’ll find the education I provide to be superior to anything you could have gotten in that dreadful enviornment… Now just
listen
to Layla and Michael.”

The twins continued their sales pitch, and Professor Reed watched with a clinical, detached air, obviously expecting the girl to succeed in pacifying Caledonia. The two teens took turns speaking, and Layla grew alarmed as her redoubled efforts were easily rebuffed. Her glances toward the professor became increasingly anxious, and Caledonia realized that the fear she’d sensed was because of him; she was afraid of displeasing him.

Layla finally complained, “It won’t work. She knows how to block.”

“Fascinating,” noted the professor, ringing a bell. “Do you like vichyssoise?” he asked Caledonia.

A small nervous woman wearing a black dress with a white apron appeared, bearing a tureen of soup. She carefully set it down on the elaborately carved sideboard, ladling out four bowls meticulously. Caledonia tried to catch her eye, but she would not look up, and her serious face betrayed none of the anxiety she felt. She served each one of them, her attention completely focused on the task at hand.

“That will be all,” Reed said, dismissing her.

The professor pantomimed opening his napkin and placing it in his lap, nodding at Caledonia to follow suit, “Judging by the tattooed hooligans that Max found you keeping company with, I didn’t fetch you a moment too soon. You’ll soon come to see that I did you an enormous favor by removing you from that crowd.”

“You mean kidnapping me?”

“Now dear, I’d hardly call it kidnapping. I’m your legal guardian.”

Michael jumped in, “You’ll like it here… If we follow the rules we get to do whatever we want.”