2

January 12, 2026
7:45 a.m.
Boston, MA

Alison approached the reception desk calmly, stifling the urge to run across the room. “Alison Emery for Preston Jorgensen,” she said shortly.

The young secretary smiled brightly. “Do you have an appointment?”

“No, I don’t, but this is urgent. I need to talk to him as soon as possible.”

“Hmm, let’s see.” The girl bit her tongue and clacked away at her keyboard. “I’m sorry, it looks like his schedule is jam-packed today. You can try back tomorrow?”

Alison exhaled sharply. “No, no, I need to see him now!”

She caught herself, realizing that the other people in the waiting area were staring at her. “I’m sorry.” She took a breath. “He has no availability at all? I’m sure if you talked to him he would be able to accommodate me.”

“Sure, I can try! If you just take a seat over there, I’ll let you know when I reach him. There’s coffee in the break room if you’d like some!”

Alison smiled curtly. “Thank you.”

As she brushed the snow off her coat and hung it up on the rack, she considered running past reception and storming right into his office. Ultimately, she decided that that might not be the best course of action. Instead, she plopped down on an angular yellow couch near the door and waited, her right leg bouncing up and down like a piston. The clock on the wall spun away seconds and then minutes, each tick bringing her closer to the edge. As her patience wore thin, she stood up and headed for the break room. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sucked it down, trying to focus on the heat of the liquid in her throat. It tasted surprisingly good, but she could hardly savor the flavor. She threw away the cup and made her way back to the reception area.

“Anything?”

The receptionist tilted her head. “Sorry, I haven’t been able to get a hold of him. I’ll definitely let you know when I do!”

Alison pursed her lips. She knew it was not this young woman’s fault, but her agitation had no other outlet. “Can you try a little harder please? This is kind of an emergency. I need to talk to him.”

For the first time, the secretary’s face reflected an emotion other than sprightly exuberance. “I’m really sorry, Dr. Emery. There’s not much I can do. I have to wait until he’s out of this meeting. He really hates being interrupted.”

Alison exhaled, exasperated. “Just let me know.”

She dragged her feet back to the yellow couch and sat down again. Several minutes passed as she ran her fingers through her hair and ground her teeth. After what felt like hours, she heard faint voices coming from Jorgensen’s office. She stood up, preparing to make her move as the frosted glass door swung open. Several men spilled out, smiling and laughing heartily. She was ready.

With nervous fervor, she raced up to him, his pristine navy suit glistening under the office lights. “Dr. Jorgensen. I need to talk to you, as soon as possible.”

“Dr. Emery. Of course!” He looked down at the young secretary. “Jess, why didn’t you tell me Dr. Emery was out here waiting for me?”

“I... you didn’t...” Jess faltered.

Jorgensen shook his head and smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”

He waved to the men leaving his office. “Thank you for your time, gentlemen. And Bickerson, you better work on your short game before the next time I see you!” He laughed, that gregarious empty laugh, and turned to Alison as Bickerson and the others departed. “What can I do for you, Dr. Emery?”

Alison looked around at the other people in the waiting room. “Can we talk in your office?”

“Of course,” he smiled, gesturing for her to enter. She walked through the doorway and he followed her, shutting the door softly behind him.

They sat across from each other, Jorgensen backed by floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the harbor. Even with her urgent agenda, she found herself distracted by the view. Choppy grey waves slapped together, tiny mountains rising and falling against the snowy silver sky. The water’s oscillation was hypnotic, calming. She was glad to be safe and warm indoors, away from the cold inclement chaos of nature. Her own reflection floated above the sea, cloudy and distorted like a faded photograph. Lost in thought, she had almost forgotten the circumstances of her visit when Jorgensen spoke and broke her trance.

“How are you, Alison? You look like you haven’t slept. Can I get you anything?”

“Oh, I’m fine, thank you.” She tried to smile as cordially as she could. “I really appreciate you squeezing me into your schedule. I’m sure you’re quite busy.”

He batted his hand dismissively. “You know I can always make time for you! It’s no problem.” He shuffled a few papers around on his desk. “Nothing but a few regulatory meetings for the big launch tomorrow.” His smile widened, his eyes gleaming. “I can hardly believe it... Light Trip will finally be available to the public.”

Alison shifted uncomfortably. “That’s what you’re calling it?”

Jorgensen raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You hadn’t heard the name? You’re farther out of the loop than I realized. Yes, that’s what we settled on. Light Trip. Some folks in marketing came up with it. Catchy, right?”

“Yes, it is.” She forced a smile, her closed lips covering grit teeth. “That’s actually what I wanted to discuss with you.”

Saying nothing, he signaled for her to continue. She took a breath and loosened her shoulders, bracing for the difficult conversation ahead. “I think there’s something wrong with the process.”

He laughed, a hearty, knowing laugh. “I can assure you, Alison, there is nothing wrong with the process. We have tested it thoroughly, more than you could even imagine.”

His response was what she had expected, but it still sent a flutter of fear through her chest. She quickly regrouped and continued. “Hear me out.”

Digging into her purse, she produced the visualization disk and placed it on top of the papers adorning Jorgensen’s desk. “Look.”

Particles floated up from the disk, forming the familiar rodential shape. The yellow net in the animal’s head shone through its red shell.

“This is our test subject before transfer, in five dimensions,” Alison said, her voice shaking. She reached down and pressed a button, causing the mouse to crumble. Within a second it had reassembled, this time without the yellow spot. “And this is our test subject after transfer.”

Jorgensen studied the fabricated animal. Alison felt a burst of hope as she watched him, thinking for a second that he might actually listen to her. “See? Something is missing.”

His eyes narrowed. “Who else has seen this?”

“Just Sam and Dr. Silberman.” Alison hesitated. “Sam agrees with me, but of course William thinks it’s nothing.”

Jorgensen leaned back in his chair, frowning, his hand hovering near his mouth. She struggled to maintain her composure as she waited for a response. “So?!”

His frown twisted into a hollow simper. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” he said with robotic geniality. “I’ll have my people look into it immediately following the release tomorrow.”

Alison shook her head in disbelief, pushing her chair back and standing upright. “No! This is too important. You need to cancel the release, or at least postpone it. Don’t you want to hear about what we discovered?”

He maintained his static, lifeless smile. “Unfortunately, it’s too late to postpone the release at this time. You can tell the research team all about your discovery sometime next week. As you can imagine, they’re all quite busy at the moment.”

Alison shivered, clenching nearly every muscle in her body. “I don’t think you’re grasping what I’m telling you. The process... it’s very possible that it... that it... kills people.”

Jorgensen shook his head. “Don’t be silly, Dr. Emery. Dozens of people have entered and exited without a scratch. Each one of them has a complete medical workup. The process is flawless.”

She rolled her eyes. “I just showed you that the process is not flawless! Don’t you care about your own customers? About yourself?”

“There is nothing I care about more! Our customers, I mean. Of course. Their safety is our highest priority.”

“And what about you? I heard you on TV, talking about the thrilling transfer experience. Do the implications of your own experience mean nothing to you?”

He glanced down at the floor for a split-second before stretching the grin even wider across his face. “Yes, they do. And I told you, my people will look into it soon.”

She squinted at him, quietly fuming, mind racing. “You haven’t gone through, have you?”

“Of course I have. How could you expect me to produce these incredible vessels without traveling through them myself?”

She was not convinced. Her pent up fear and rage exploded in a tirade of raw emotion. “You knew about this all along. Somehow, you knew. You knew there was something wrong, and you just didn’t care. How could you be so callous? Thousands of people will be altered irrevocably, in ways we can’t even begin to understand, and you just don’t care!”

Jorgensen’s face flattened, all of his warm affability hardening into stone. “I do care. We will look into it. If that is all you wanted to discuss...”

“Listen, Preston,” she sputtered through clenched teeth. “You need to listen to me. You can’t do this.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Emery, but there is nothing to be done about it. The launch will proceed as scheduled.”

Reaching a trembling hand into her purse, Alison pulled out her phone. “I’ll go to the press,” she said, trying to make herself sound threatening. “Don’t think I won’t do it. I have contacts.”

Jorgensen extended an open palm, inviting her to go ahead.

Hands still jittering, she scrolled through the contacts in her phone. Her head spun as the names whipped past, eventually reaching the one she sought. She tapped the call button and put the receiver up to her ear, waiting for the other end to connect.

“Alison?” the muffled voice answered.

“Yes, it’s me,” she said shortly, turning her back to Jorgensen. “Hi Mel.”

“It’s been so long! How are you?!”

“I’m... I’m fine, thanks,” Alison stammered. “Listen, I need to talk to you about something. I might have a story for you.”

“Oooh, I’m intrigued,” Mel trilled. “Go on.”

“It’s about the project I was working on last year. You might have heard about it... something called Light Trip.”

“Of course! Light Trip! I saw your picture on the news.”

“Yes,” Alison winced. “You may also have heard that there is a big launch planned for tomorrow. I have some very urgent information that needs to get out before then.”

“I’m all ears.”

“The system...” She took a deep breath. “The system may have a serious defect. Undetectable by standard medical equipment. It appears that it does not transfer every part of the subject... it cannot fully capture and replicate life.”

“Oh... oh, no,” Mel whispered, barely audible through the receiver. “Is it... let me grab a pen...”

Alison clutched the phone tighter and waited. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Jorgensen watching her, smiling subtly. Dread swelled in her stomach as she listened to the shuffling sounds from the other end of the line. “Mel? Are you there?”

Suddenly, the shuffling stopped. Hushed, indiscernible speech came through for a brief moment before Mel’s voice returned. “Alison?”

“Yes, are you there?”

“I’m so sorry, but I’m going to have to call you back. Something came up,” Mel trembled. “I’m sor-” The line clicked dead.

Alison pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it, incredulous. She had never heard Mel sound so fearful. She wondered what had stopped the call; what had happened? As she considered the possibilities, a disturbing notion entered her mind. Horrified, she turned to look at Jorgensen. “What did you do?”

His face remained expressionless and cold, save for a tiny, smug hint of a smile that snuck onto his lips. “No luck?”

She slammed her palms down on his desk. “What did you do?! How could you even...” She stepped away, holding her forehead, trying to think, feeling completely powerless. What could she do? She paced back and forth as Jorgensen watched, still and calm as ever.

“I can assure you, anything I did was for the good of the project,” he said emotionlessly. “There is nothing further for us to discuss. If you could please leave my office, I have another meeting starting soon.”

With clenched fists, she summoned her last remaining iota of confidence and stared at him. “I will stop you.”

“I am afraid you are mistaken,” he said darkly. “It is I who will stop you.”

He stood up and grabbed the visualization disk off his desk, holding it close to Alison’s face. It lingered there for a moment before he tightened his grip and threw it on the ground. Metal and plastic shards flew in all directions.

Alison stared down at the floor, and then back up at him. Anger, fear, and despair clouded her eyes with tears. “You...” she started, but she could not continue.

Jorgensen painted another wide grin across his face. “Now, I hate to ask again, but the attendees of my next meeting will be here any minute. We’ll have to continue this conversation at a later date.”

She was speechless. Her jaw hung open like a puppet’s as Jorgensen walked over and signaled toward the exit. She planted her feet, still holding on to the quickly dissipating notion that she could somehow prevent the launch.

Jorgensen shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to ask you again, Dr. Emery. You need to leave.”

She wanted to stay, to fight him, but she knew it was hopeless. There was nothing she could do, at least not in this moment. She hung her head. “Okay.”

His smile widened again. “Excellent! And I’ll be seeing you at the launch party tomorrow evening, yes?”

She blinked. “Sure.”

“Until then,” he said warmly. Swinging open his office door, he hurried her along, careful not to touch her. As she drifted back into the waiting area, she noticed a group of men in expensive suits huddled just outside.

“Gentlemen!” Jorgensen bellowed. “So good of you to stop by. I apologize for the delay. Come in, come in.”

Alison ducked away toward the elevator, the raucous sounds of transactional revelry slowly fading away behind her.