Gnotret (The Accidental Heroes Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  After making my way through the line and getting slices of pizza for both of us, I headed

  to the back and eased into the booth. We ate quickly, Amy going on about her test today in her

  class and I explaining about the pop quiz in chemistry. The medical trial didn’t come up again

  since Amy could tell it was still a bit of a touchy subject for me. I almost never ignored my

  hunches or feelings and doing so now was not sitting right with me.

  “So did you get a chance to call Kittlesby yet?” Amy asked me when we were done and

  heading outside.

  “No, not yet. I figured I’d wait until he closed today and call him. You know he stays in

  the room above the shop,” I replied absently, looking for the car.

  “What are you going to do if he won’t give you the month off?” Amy continued, walking

  confidently towards the car. “Are you going to back out of the trial?”

  “I signed, didn’t I?” I asked, unlocking the car and sliding in again. “Besides, he’s always

  worked with my schedule before.”

  “Good. I really want you there with me,” Amy explained, repeating herself from earlier.

  She sent me one of her dazzling smiles and I couldn’t help but smile back. We drove back to

  our apartment and pulled out our homework. An hour passed in pleasant silence and I deemed it late enough to call Mr. Kittlesby. Taking the phone into the bedroom so I didn’t disturb Amy, I

  dialed the number I’d come to memorize.

  “Thank you for calling By The Stack, Jack Kittlesby speaking,” Mr. Kittlesby’s familiar

  bass drone came across the line. “What book can I help you find today?”

  “It’s George, Mr. Kittlesby,” I said, sitting down on the bed. “You have a couple minutes

  to talk?”

  “Can you give me a couple minutes to close?” he asked, rustling coming through the

  phone. “And how many times do I have to say you can call me Jack, George?”

  “I can wait,” I replied, smiling. “It just seems odd to call you Jack. You’re my employer.”

  “Friend too, I’d hope,” Jack laughed, more shuffling coming over the line. “I’m going to

  put the phone down now. Give me five minutes.”

  I waited while a muffled thunk indicated the phone had been set down. I could hear

  footsteps through my phone as Jack walked around the store. He was probably making sure all

  the customers were gone so he didn’t lock anyone in. I heard the bell over the door ring and

  then silence. Another minute of footsteps and Jack picked up the phone again.

  “So what do you need, George?” Jack asked, light panting and heavy footsteps

  indicating he was walking upstairs.

  “I was wondering if I could get some time off,” I said hesitantly. “Amy talked me into

  signing up for this medical trial thing. It runs for a month and they want all the participants to

  stay in this facility offcampus for the duration.”

  “When does it start?” Jack asked curiously. “What kind of medical trial? Is it safe?”

  “It starts next Thursday,” I told him. “Dr. Carnesby wanted to give us enough time to

  square away everything we needed to with classes and work. He didn’t tell us what the drug is

  for but it does seem safe. He was very thorough in the presentation we went to. Can I get the

  month off?” I heard Jack muttering to himself over the phone and could barely make out a number

  here and there. He must have been looking at the schedule for his employees over the next

  month. I held my silence, not wanting to push since I wanted to go back to my job once the trial

  was done. I really enjoyed working in By The Stack and the employee discount didn’t hurt either.

  “If I shuffle a few things around, I can make that work,” Jack finally asserted. “This whole

  thing is actually rather good because business has been a bit slow. I was thinking about letting

  one of the part-time kids go. But by the time you come back, we should be into the end-of-term

  rush. You are planning on coming back, right?”

  “Of course,” I defended myself. “This job is one of the best I’ve ever had. I don’t want to

  lose it. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t fire me for taking off so long.”

  “No, I can let you have the time off. Like I said, it works perfectly,” Jack replied, laughing.

  I smiled with relief, letting a chuckle escape me. “Just follow your schedule until Thursday and

  call me when the trial is over. If you need more time due to side effects or something, let me

  know.”

  “Thanks Jack, I definitely will,” I told him, the smile still on my face. “And if I can, I’ll let

  you know what it wasall about. I know you’re probably going to go crazy with curiosity while I’m

  gone.”

  “How well you know me,” Jack murmured drolly, the sarcasm dripping from his words.

  “But seriously, I would like to know what it’s all about. See you tomorrow, George.”

  “See you tomorrow,” I replied then hung up. Amy had been right: Jack had no problems

  at all with letting me take the time off. She looked up curiously as I walked back into the living

  room, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as it always did when she was

  concentrating hard. “He let me have the month off. I can go back to work after the trial is over.”

  “That’s wonderful!” Amy exclaimed, getting up to hug me. “I worked it out with my

  professors today to turn in my papers after the trial. Everything’s set for me.” “The only thing I needed to do was deal with my job,” I replied, walking into the kitchen to

  get a drink. “I’m ahead in all my classes and nothing is due until after the trial is over.”

  “This is going to be fun,” Amy called from the living room. I could only hope that’s all that

  it was. We turned in early that night, both of us having morning classes. The ease with which we

  were able to put everything on hold should have reassured me but it didn’t. I didn’t think I was

  going to shake the dread I had until the trial was over. Chapter 4

  The next week passed slowly but, all too soon, the day of the trial crept up. I met Amy at

  the same cafe and gave her a hug. She was excited, almost vibrating in place with emotion. I

  sighed and pasted a smile on my face. I could pretend to be excited for her. I didn’t want to dim

  any of her enthusiasm.

  We drove to the address Dr. Carnesby had given us, parking in the lot next to the

  building. I studied the warehouse as I got out of the car. It was made of gray concrete, the

  windows small and very high up. It looked as if it would take an army to get in if the people

  inside wanted to keep others out. The front door had an electronic lock on it and no knob. We

  shared a confused look then Amy pressed the button on the intercom.

  “Name please?” a robotic female voice answered.

  “Amy Veksler and George Ormond,” Amy replied for both of us, her head tilted to the

  side. She glanced at me and whispered, “I thought it was just going to be us and the professor.

  Whose voice is that?”

  “Maybe there’s one other person to help?” I suggested, just as quietly. “I mean, five test

  subjects is a lot for one person to deal with.”

  “Thank you,” the voice continued after a few moments. We heard the locks on the door

  click and it swung open with a hiss. It looked as if the door was hermetically sealed. “Please

  enter and go to the lounge. The others are there along wit
h Dr. Carnesby.”

  “Uh, thanks,” Amy said, slanting a strange look at the intercom. We walked inside, the

  door sliding shut smoothly behind us. When it closed, our ears popped. Shaking my head, I led

  the way down the corridor to the sound of voices at the end. When the corridor opened into a

  large room, we saw we were the last of the group to arrive. “Welcome guys,” Michael said, waving at us from a corner. He was sitting on a

  comfortablelooking armchair, a glass filled with something brown in his hand. “Refreshments

  for all are here. I don’t think Adam is going to make us stint on things while we’re here.”

  I looked over to the small island that Michael was waving his drink at and saw a huge amount of

  bottles. There were alcoholic ones and I recognized one of the rum bottles as what Michael was

  drinking. Sandra was the only other person drinking something alcoholic, a fizzy pink drink with

  an umbrella in it. Billy was drinking what looked like Sprite or 7-Up.

  Amy walked over to the island and poured some drinks for us, sticking to the non

  alcoholic things. I was glad of it: I didn’t want to go into this drunk. I wanted to have all my

  faculties for this first day of the trial. I took a seat by Billy, wanting to draw the shy guy into the

  conversation Michael and Sandra were carrying on animatedly. He sent me a small smile but

  went back to looking down into his drink.

  “So what made you decide to go to med school?” I asked after a few moments.

  “I wanted to help people,” Billy replied. “I know it’s what everyone says but it’s true. My

  mom died a few years back from complications with a surgery. I want to help make sure that it

  doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

  “Sorry to hear about your mom,” I said, sharing a commiserating look with him. “But it’s

  nice you’re becoming a doctor in her honor. You said you wanted to work at the U of C

  Hospital?”

  “I do,” Billy nodded, taking a drink. “I don’t want to move away from my family if I can

  help it. We’ve lived in Chicago for as long as I can remember. Plus, the U of C has one of the

  top hospitals and I want to be challenged.”

  “I was thinking about becoming a professor here,” I explained, nodding at the word

  challenged. “I love this town and once I’m done with fieldwork, I think I’d like to end up here.

  Plus, there’s plenty of companies that Amy is looking into that have headquarters here.” “How long have you two been together?” Billy asked curiously. “You seem very

  comfortable around each other.”

  “We’ve known each other since high school but we didn’t start dating until our second

  year of college,” I replied, laughing at the memory. “We both went to the same party and got a

  little drunk. We ended up making out on a couch and the next morning decided to give dating a

  try. How about you? You seeing anyone right now?”

  “I don’t have the time. School and studying is pretty much my life right now,” Billy

  admitted, shaking his head. “It’s part of why I decided to participate in this study; I could really

  use the money.”

  “That’s partly what finally convinced me,” I said, looking over at the others when a loud

  burst of laughter rang out. Michael was miming something with his hands, his drink sloshing

  perilously close to the rim of his glass. Sandra and Amy were laughing, leaning on each other

  as they laughed breathless. Michael seemed to have made excellent inroads on the rum and

  was more than a little tipsy.

  “What was the other part?” Billy asked, drawing my attention back to him.

  “Amy actually,” I admitted. “I didn’t want her to do this on her own. I don’t know how to

  say this without sounding like an alarmist but I had a bad feeling about this. If I’m here too, I can

  do my bestto watch over her.”

  “As good a reason as any, I guess,” Billy shrugged, taking another drink. He had

  emptied his glass by now and got up for a refill. I took the momentary lull in conversation to

  study the lounge. Other than the island currently holding drinks, the lounge was filled with

  armchairs and a table surrounded by formal chairs. A flatscreen TV was hung on one wall with a

  PS3 hooked up below it. Dr. Carnesby hadn’t been lying when he said we’d be able to entertain

  ourselves. One entire wall was taken up by a bookcase, several authors and genres

  represented. One portion of the shelving was filled with magazines. I could see another hallway

  that led deeper into the building that had white doors leading off from it. Each door was painted with a black number and I assumed they were the rooms we’d be staying in. I saw five doors

  total and wondered where Dr. Carnesby would be staying.

  “So what made you decide to go into anthropology?” Billy asked, continuing our

  conversation when he sat down.

  “I like studying people, I guess,” I answered, shrugging. “I’m able to read them very well.

  Plus, learning about other cultures and travelling is fun, so I just put all my likes together into a

  future career. I want to study Amazonian tribes because they survive in a rather difficult

  environment. Even thrive.”

  “That does sound interesting. And hey, travel perks are never bad, right?” Billy smiled

  widely, revealing white, even teeth. I was really starting to like the shy guy and was glad that

  something good had come out of this so far.

  “Nope,” I agreed, smiling back. “So have you seen anyone else around? I know Dr.

  Carnesby said he was going to be running the trial by himself but I heard a female voice over

  the intercom.”

  “I haven’t seen anyone else yet,” Billy said, looking over at the others in the corner.

  Michael had just stood up to refill his cup and he was stumbling slightly as he made his way to

  the island. I shook my head and figured he’d have one hell of a hangover tomorrow. “But that

  voice didn’t sound quite human to me. It sounded... tinny.”

  “She did sound like a robot to me, too,” I said. “I wonder who she is and if we’re going to

  meet her.”

  “Seeing as I’m the only one here other than you five, probably not,” Dr. Carnesby’s voice

  interrupted me. The professor walked into the room, dressed in his usual polo and jeans. He

  smiled at us all and continued, “Who is this she you’re referring to, George?”

  “The voice over the intercom,” I explained, gesturing down the hallway towards the door.

  “I thought you said you were going to be the only one here during the trial.” “I did indeed. The voice you heard wasn’t a person,” Dr. Carnesby explained, his eyes

  lighting with mirth. “She is an AI that is helping me run the trial. Her name is Jane and she will

  be keeping electronic records on all of you during your stay.”

  “Hello, ladies and gentlemen,” the robotic female voice said. “It is nice to meet you all.”

  “Jane has audio pickups and speakers in every room,” Dr. Carnesby explained, laughing

  as we all jumped. “She’ll be here to help you monitor any and all side effects from the drugs.

  You merely need to say the word if you need help. And if you are unable to speak, Jane will be

  able to pick that up and summon me.”

  “It’s my pleasure to assist all of you in the trial,” Jane added before falling silent. I shook

  my head at that. It was a little creepy to think that something with an ever-watchful eye
was

  going to be keeping tabs on all of us.

  “I see you’ve all helped yourselves to the refreshments. We have a kitchen at the end of

  the hallway,” Dr. Carnesby said, rubbing his hands together. “We can take turns cooking since

  it’s just us in here. The refrigerator is fully stocked. Everything will start tomorrow. Today and

  tonight are for settling in and getting to know each other. I hope you all get along, you’re going

  to be stuck here for a month with each other.”

  “We have been so far,” Sandra observed, looking around the room. We all nodded and

  Dr. Carnesby nodded.

  “Excellent,” he said, satisfied. “I have a few more things to finish up before tomorrow so I

  will leave you all to your evening. Feel free to pick a room, they’re all furnished the same. And

  George, Amy, I know you two are together but I want you to take separate rooms. I don’t want

  any overlap in Jane’s readings of you two. Good night everyone.”

  With that, Dr. Carnesby headed back down the hallway and into the kitchen. Apparently,

  his room was on the other side of the building. That got me wondering, worried that the side

  effects of other things he’s tested here might have been extreme. I pushed my fears away,

  reasoning that guessing now would accomplish nothing. I’d get my answers soon enough. “Billy, George, why don’t you join us?” Sandra asked, waving us over. Her words were

  only slightly slurred; she hadn’t drunk nearly as much as Michael seemed to have. He smiled

  blearily at us, wobbling a bit in his seat. Billy and I got up and dragged our armchairs over. We

  ended up sitting in a circle, able to see each other’s faces.

  “Nice to see you again, George,” Sandra said. “Amy here was just telling us about how

  you guys met in high school.”

  I turned red at the memory; it wasn’t one of my finest moments. I was very clumsy during

  my adolescence and had a tendency to trip down stairs. I had just fallen down the stairs trying to

  get to my next class. My books flew everywhere in the stairwell and the other students had just

  laughed and walked on by. Amy was the only one who’d stopped to help me. Ever since then,

  we've been inseparable. As Amy related the story, the others laughed heartily. I responded by