Page 77 of The Alien's Private Redemption

"What do you mean 'the real ones'?" Angela asked. "I've had MRI's before and they always end up looking normal. No damage, no issues, nothing to suggest I'm anything other than a human."

"They end up that way," Dr. Torres said with a nod. "But they don't start that way. And nobody notices. Or they put it up to an anomaly in the imaging software."

"How would they not notice?" Zoric asked. "Isn't there someone watching them being taken the entire time?"

Dr. Torres nodded. "At least one imaging tech, if not a couple of nurses, as well. There were four people watching your MRI at the last base and we all saw the 'glitch' that cleared up just before the imaging was finished. None of them had seen it happen before but, since the final images looked fine, they ignored it."

"But you didn't," Angela said softly. "That's why you wanted any previous MRI's I'd had or to watch me be triggered while being more heavily monitored."

"Exactly right," the doctor said with a smile.

I guess I'm an experiment,Angela sent, her tone rueful.

Zoric remembered previous experiments and had to repress a shudder. Nothing this doctor could do would even come close to what he'd seen in the past. Not only did he not have the equipment, Zoric would eviscerate him to save Angela the pain he'd seen Dorcas go through.

Not if I can help it,he sent back.

"Do you have my previous MRI's?" Angela asked him.

The doctor's eyes shifted. "No," he lied. "I would need your permission to request them. There's paperwork involved."

"I guess that's why you wanted to check your email? To get the forms for me to sign?" she asked.

"Of course," Dr. Torres said.

Zoric couldn't say how he knew the doctor was still lying. There was no shift in his smell, no tells in his eyes or voice, but something told Zoric that Dr. Torres wasn't being honest and he'd learned to listen to that instinct.

"Well, I think that can wait for now," Zoric said.

"And it might have been what tipped whoever decided to attack the base off that Private McBride was there. Or, at least, that she hadn't died when she was supposed to," Ae-cha said.

"What do you mean?" Zoric asked.

"Some of the commands in her brain are old. Probably set in childhood, if not shortly after she was born. Others are newer, and the one I removed was attached to one of the older commands, but they were obviously done by different people. So there's at least one person who is concerned and meddling," Ae-cha noted.

"And if you wanted to keep an eye on someone, watching for requests for their medical records would be a good way to do it," Dr. Phillips added, her voice weak. "As long as you weren't concerned about any of the privacy laws, which I would assume they wouldn't be, if they're planting commands in people's brains."

"The way they did in yours." Angela didn't make it a question. She knew what had happened with Dr. Phillips and was trying to avoid being satisfied with the violence Ae-cha had visited on her earlier. The feelings came very loudly across their Bond and Zoric couldn't find it in himself to disagree with her.

"Yes," Dr. Phillips acknowledged. "The way they did in mine."

"Could you tell if they were set by the same person?" Zoric asked.

"What, do they sign them?" Angela asked.

"In a way, yes," Ae-cha answered. "Every mind is unique and you can't help but leave some of that behind when you mess with someone's mind. Especially when you leave commands behind. But figuring out what the signature is takes time and more than a couple of examples and it doesn't help me identify them unless I know them and their mind."

"Can you look for more?" Dr. Phillips asked, leaning forward. "In Private McBride's mind, I mean. I know you're trying todisconnect them anyway but if you could look for more of them, could you get a better feel? And remember the one in me?"

"I suppose," Ae-cha said slowly. "But do we have time to do that while we're here?"

"Or the energy?" Angela asked. "The interrogation sessions have been exhausting and the last one was worse than any of the others."

How bad did the last one drain you?Zoric asked.You were not in as much pain as the one I walked in on.

Pain is exhausting but the drugs knock me out for the worst of it. This one, I was trying to participate, remember things that have been buried very deep, and keep Ae-cha out of things I don't want her to see.

Like what?

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