There was an article in another scientific journal dredging up all the old material from Microbotics again, plus making the totally spurious speculation that perhaps DNC was able to mimic the action of known chemical causes of neural malfunctioning—thus, by implication, linking DNC to a whole lexicon of mental disorders on the basis of no factual evidence whatever. An editorial in the same issue created horrific scenes of mass-demented children and teenagers if DNC were to be let loose in the Virtual Reality marketplace, while a suspiciously portentious letter in the Wall Street Journal called for a government-enforced moratorium. The subject had surfaced on three West-Coast TV channels, the tabloids had picked it up, and a lively exchange was already taking place on the Internet. And, certainly not coincidentally, over the last couple of days Neurodyne’s normally robust stock had taken a three-point dive.
She had no doubt now that it was being orchestrated. Perhaps it was the image in her mind of envious scientists in collusion with money-running-scared mobilizing the media against one man with courage and an ability that outshone all of them that offended her. She picked through her thoughts, looking for a way of telling herself that it was simply her professional sense of injustice that was outraged, no more.
But there was more, something more personal. It was a disquiet that she felt toward Kevin and Eric because of what she perceived as their vulnerability—Kevin on account of his years and his circumstances; Eric because of his unbalanced stance toward the world—technically masterful, politically a rustic—that she had felt strongly for the first time that afternoon. She visualized the two of them again in her mind, heads bent intently over one of their creations in the lab, the one virtually an early copy of the other. Just the two. Why didn’t she see Vanessa there too, in her mental picture?
That was it. She felt herself getting uncomfortably close to the root, now, of what was bothering her. She got up, moved to the window, and stood staring out at the bright tower dominating the night and the neon lights dancing on water.
Because Vanessa did nothing to make herself a place there. She had accepted the part but not the character. Vanessa would probably have scoffed and said they didn’t need it; that Eric had his machines, and Kevin, his bugs. But Michelle didn’t see things that way. To her, such preoccupation with the immediate meant that they needed someone to watch the longer term for them even more. What else had Doug Corfe been trying to tell her?
She felt frustration at not having made any more of an impression on Eric in her first attempt that afternoon than Doug had been able to. Now that she had more information to work with, she was impatient to try again. And if she was going with Eric and Kevin to Hiroyuki’s barbecue tomorrow, maybe she wouldn’t have to wait until after the weekend.
But before she tackled Eric again, there was one other person she needed to talk to, who might, conceivably, know more than anything she could gather from the kind of information that she had been collecting. She came back from the window, turned on the desk lamp, and found the number that Vanessa had given her. Then she called the Hebers’ family lawyer, Phillip Garsten.
“Hello.”
“Is this Phillip Garsten?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Hello. My name is Michelle Lang of Prettis and Lang. We’re the attorneys for Theme Worlds Inc., who are interested in a possible joint arrangement with Neurodyne in Tacoma. I understand that you represent the owners of Neurodyne.”
“The Hebers. That’s right, I do.”
“Is this a good time to call?”
“As good as any. My team in the game here tonight are about ready for retirement. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I was planning to get in touch with you next week anyway to review the situation—Vanessa Heber has given me some of the background. But I’ll be seeing Eric and some of the people connected with Theme Worlds again tomorrow, and there was something I wanted to check with you first.”
“Well, Joe Skerrill is Neurodyne’s corporate lawyer. You sure you shouldn’t be talking to him?”