Page 59 of Hired for Research
He set the picture frame down, eyes turning to meet hers. There was despair, heartbreak, and so much anger it froze any words she was going to say in her throat.
“Your findings, they go against what the Bureau wants? They prove the mandates are wrong?”
She hadn’t told him anything about her observations in Eden, but she had a feeling he didn’t need convincing that alphas were just people too. He had access to all of her notes if he wanted to see them, and as far as she knew, he had.
She dipped her chin in a slow nod, wondering where his questions were leading.
“And you have everything typed up, clearly, in a file on your laptop?”
Another nod.
“I’m glad no one hacked into your laptop or anything to steal the file. If the Alpha Movement, or even the media, somehow got ahold of it, the FBPL wouldn’t be too happy. Especially if it was written in a way that showed their office was looking for the opposite conclusion. I’d be at fault for allowing the access and likely lose my position, but with Deacon presenting, we’re looking at moving to Eden anyway. I hear their school system is expanding with all the children being born or moving there, and they’re looking for someone to run it. Did you know I taught high school before moving on to teach college, and then taking the place as director here?”
Evelyn’s mind was whirling. She had briefly considered leaking her findings, but since it would have jeopardized more than herself, she’d decided against it.
The director’s lips lifted in a sad smile when she narrowed her eyes at him. She thought she understood what he was saying, but she wished he’d just be blunt about it.
“You know, with Eden’s birthrate so high, maybe it would be a better place for you to do your other research. The city hasn’t been open that long and it’s already more than double anywhere else. It’s probably because of all the omegas who’ve moved out there, but even beta fertility seems to be back to where it once was in Eden.”
The tension bled out of her shoulders and Evelyn smiled back at the director.
“Actually, I think I’ve answered that question. It all comes back to the alphas being free.”
He nodded, the gleam in his eyes telling her she was right. He was asking her to do the only thing she could to make the past few months of research mean something. If the file was sent to the board, it would disappear, and six months of her life would have been wasted.
Well, not completely. Not if she could salvage the important things. Sometimes priorities change.
“Of course it does. I’m sure there’s other things a pharmacologist could do there though. You may not be a traditional MD, but hospitals need all sorts to run properly with a growing population.”
The thought of returning to Eden, permanently, was terrifying. She’d have to give up the job she’d worked so hard for, the home she’d grown up in, and she would risk being stuck in the same city with the one alpha she wanted enough to make it all worth it, without knowing if he could forgive her for her deceit. She wasn’t the only one who’d avoided reaching out.
“I’ll think about it. I have a little more work to do on the project, but it’ll all be taken care of tonight.”
“That’s perfect. I only came back to pick up my things since it’s my last day. Not sure who will be doing the presentation to the board tomorrow, but whoever is put in charge will have access to the files as long as you’ve uploaded them to the proper folders in the lab’s drive.”
“I’ll make sure I do, and I’ll send you a copy, just in case. I hope everything turns out okay for you.”
His expression softened as she turned in the doorway, already thinking of how to reword her findings.
“You too, Evelyn,” she heard as she strode down the hall.
26. Jett
Jett walked into the station, expecting it to be just another day. He honestly couldn’t say what day it was, they blurred into each other to the point where he had to set alarms on his phone to tell him whether to stay home or go to work in the morning.
He didn’t even notice everyone gathered around the screen at the far end of the room until he started to ask his partner which route they were supposed to be on and looked up to find no one at the desk opposite him.
Curiosity got the better of him. It was rare for anything to stir the numbness that had taken up residence in his chest, so he dragged himself out of his seat and joined the other Controllers.
“The source says the Federal Bureau of Population and Labor received this information last week, but it was their plan from the beginning to bury the study if the results showed that alphas weren’t the menace we’ve been led to believe. The FBPL doesn’t want to lose their cheap labor. Instead, they were searching for a drug to basically turn the alphas into zombies with no will of their own. That way they could profit from the drug that would be required in order to allow alphas out of the Camps.”
The other news broadcaster shook their head.
“This study couldn’t have come at a more important time. With pressure rising from the Alpha Movement to disband the Camps and lift the mandates, the research behind this lends credence to what they’ve been saying all along. Alphas are no different than the rest of us. What’s been done to them is wrong. If an omega can go into a city with over eight hundred unbonded alphas walking around like everyone else, and come out still convinced it’s safe, what more proof do we need?”
“Well, she came out with plenty of proof. Brain scans, blood tests, pheromone screening… She even compiled proof that the crime rates haven’t changed since the mandates were put in place. If the alphas were the problem, we should have seen a change, but that’s been covered up as well.”
“It’s true. She also explained the dropping birthrates we’ve been facing, and once again, it’s because the alphas were wrongly imprisoned. Keeping them in the Camps is going to lead to our downfall.”
