Grand Solomon Residence
Westway, Hatemoor
23rd of January, 2157
21.13 NPM
At Lars' orders, Rachel was in bed early, leaving all the work she usually did until well past midnight. She had taken two types of nerve sedatives, but the drugs had not yet had some effect on her. Conversely, her panic only increased, causing her to fidget, tossing randomly in bed. Tenor, who was guarding the front door, entered the room because the robot assumed that Rachel wasn't sleeping yet.
"Rachel Rachel, what's wrong with you? If you usually sleep quietly like a corpse, then why are you making noise this time? " He asked, stopping right next to Rachel, who was covering her eyes with a sleep mask.
Her breath was heard once again, "I'm annoyed."
"Why are you upset? Someone is bothering you?"
Rachel shook her head gently, "I'm upset because I can't sleep, I can't calm down, and I'm tired," she answered honestly, complaining. It didn't matter. Tenor was the only one who was aware of all her flaws, from as simple as her complaining about being tired seconds before to her secret business tactics.
Tenor then moved forward, bringing Rachel's right hand into his. A silicone rubber with fine serrations appeared, starting to massage Rachel's hand. "Rachel, you don't need to do the experiment if you're scared," he said.
Rachel sighed, "I can't stop, Tenor. I won't be a loser. What will they say if it turns out I'm afraid of my own experiments?"
"You said the experiment could use other people, but why are you doing it?"
"Because if I choose that way, it means I'm putting someone between two choices, life or death. It's too risky, I'd rather sacrifice myself."
"You'll leave me and Bass alone if you die, Rachel." Tenor paused a bit. His words were just like a machine-like voice that kept touching Rachel somehow. "Don't die, Rachel."
Rachel seemed to be gulping down her saliva, "You're only scaring me more, Tenor. You better shut up and get out."
"According to your rules, I'll only come out when you're asleep. Your eyes are still open behind that cloth cover," Tenor argued.
After a moment of silence, Rachel reluctantly replied to the chatty robot again. She decided to try to sleep even though it was difficult, with Tenor continuing to relax his body muscles there. But the calm that had just begun was once again ruined because of Bass that suddenly entered the room noisily. The robot sounded like it was running fast on its wheels.
"Rachel Rachel, Niels Geyer called you. He wants to speak to you, face-to-face."
Rachel suddenly took off her black sleeping mask, and sat up in surprise, "What? Niels Geyer?" he screamed in disbelief. "Tonight?"
"Yeah, he just got put on the waiting list."
"Oh my gosh, that's so sudden," Rachel exclaimed. What did he want to talk about?"
"I don't know, Rachel."
"Maybe he's upset that you ignored his message this afternoon," Tenor said, causing Rachel to roll her eyes lazily. "Okay, tell him to wait five minutes. I'll talk in my working room."
****
Without changing her cartoon cat-print pink pajamas or dressing up a little formally, Rachel sat down in her work chair in a huff. Her feet below had not stopped moving since earlier, waiting for the figure of the man he had been sneering at to call back via voice call. Unmitigated, Niels initially asked them to make a video call, but Rachel refused, saying he was not feeling well. Oh, it wasn't a lie either. She did have a mild panic disorder, and the man's night calls made her worse instead of calming her down.
But what can she do? She can't reject the calls. Rachel was too curious about the figure of Niels. She wants to be closer to him and knows what else he would say. Whether it was the critique from this afternoon, or something else?
But Rachel also didn't open up immediately. She even asked Bass to disguise his voice when talking to Niels later. There was no particular reason for it. It was just her habit when dealing with new people virtually.
Minutes later, the transparent cell phone screen on the table lit up. Niels contacted her again. Rachel immediately zoomed in on the screen to reveal the man's formal profile picture, turning it into an eleven-inch hologram mode. She aimed to look closely at his photo, as she wanted to appreciate the first-ever conversation as if they had met directly in person.
Rachel sighed, then answered the call without a greeting, keeping it quiet for half a minute.
"Hello, with Rachel Richmann?"
Rachel gasped, her panic disorder reaching the top as soon as Niels' deep voice filled the room, "Yes, it's me. What did you call me, Mr. Niels Geyer?"
"Please speak informally, Rachel. You can call me Niels since we're maybe the same age."
Rachel nodded, smiling faintly, "Okay. So what can I do for you, Niels?"
"Sorry in advance if I was rude to call you during your rest time, and didn't introduce myself. You've received my letter, haven't you? You've also read it without replying."
Rachel squeaked inwardly, "This man, really ..." she said to herself silently.
"I was busy and didn't have time to reply to your messages."
"Then can you give me your opinion now? I want to hear it first before anything else."
Rachel sighed, "Thanks for your messages, critiques, and suggestions, Niels. But for now, what you're saying can't change what my company has planned. Let's say that your suggestion is late because you should have said it before I even planned an experimental project. Five years ago ..."
"But don't worry, I'll accept what you say as ..." Rachel had trouble finding the right words. The panic disorder caught her breath, "As the input for future developments," she continued casually.
"Okay, no problem."
Rachel raised an eyebrow. This man wasn't stubborn, contrary to his initial impression.
"But Rachel, as a fellow scientist, I beg you to keep your promise. Make the experiment successful and provide a sustainable good impact on humans. Can you?"
Rachel sighs once more, her chest tightening even more. "Yes..." she says. "I ... I will try, and ... it will start from tomorrow."
"Who's going to dissect you and insert the chip? Is it Doctor Lars Austerlitz?" asked Niels later, causing Rachel to frown, "H-how ... how did you know?" she asked.
"I know him quite well."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes. Then, can you ... follow my words on this one?"
"W... what is that?"
"Stay away from Lore Hasenclever. Don't let her enter your experiment room tomorrow. Keep her away from the whole microchip gene insertion process."
Rachel didn't understand. She couldn't even think, "B...but why?" she asked. Her hands were shaking now, sweating coldly. Her breathing was irregular as his hand moved to reach the mineral water glass on the table. For God's sake, why did panic disorder have to come at a time like this?
"You don't need to know the reason now. But I beg you to follow my lead..."
PRANG!
Rachel closed her eyes, staring angrily at the broken glass close to her feet.
"Rachel? What happened? Did you drop something?"
"Um... I..."
"I heard from Lars that you have panic disorder. Is it because of your experiment tomorrow?"
Rachel didn't answer, even to wonder why Niels knew so many things about her. Now she's trying to normalize her erratic breathing. She had to meditate in the middle of her conversation with Niels. It was a shame, but Rachel couldn't do anything about it if her illness flared up.
"Um... Niels... I'm sorry..."
"Calm down, Rachel. I'll stay with you here until you feel better."