"I'm exceptionally good at math, certainly better than you ever were."
Frederick's gaze dripped with malice. "Yes, your mother was a mathematical genius too."
"You certainly inherited that from her."
Claire rolled her eyes so hard they nearly stuck to the ceiling. "Thanks for the compliment. I do have a bit of a gift."
"But you clearly lacked any sort of talent. Otherwise, how did you end up radiating like a glow stick without even cracking the code?"
Claire was merely deducing facts. If he had sustained such catastrophic radiation damage at work, he was obviously mishandling radioactive elements.
Or did he just willingly move into a nuclear fallout zone?
Or maybe he just chugged all of Sundara's unreleased toxic wastewater for breakfast.
Frederick's face contorted. It was true; he had zero natural talent and relied entirely on desperate obsession.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be standing here decades later with nothing to show for it.
His superiors' mandate had been simple: locate the fugitive couple and drag them back to Sundara.
With them in custody, the project would be finalized in record time.
Frederick loathed taking orders, but he had no choice but to obey the chain of command.
He acted like a criminal mastermind in front of Claire, but in reality, he was nothing but a lapdog on a tight leash.
"Whether I have talent or not is irrelevant."
After his initial emotional breakdown, Frederick seemed to regain a twisted sense of clarity.
"As long as you have the talent, that is all that matters."
Claire ignored the comment.
What good was her talent? Was he actually deranged enough to think he could swap brains with her?
Wait.
A horrifying realization struck Claire. No way. Are they actually psychotic enough to try that?
"This rotting corpse of mine doesn't have much time left anyway. But if I could transfer into a fresh, young vessel... wouldn't that be divine?"
Frederick let out a raspy, maniacal laugh.
A violent shudder ripped through Claire, giving her goosebumps beneath her heavy winter coat.
This man is clinically insane!
"You've lost your mind! My father studied physics, and I assume you did too."
"Are you seriously trying to pivot into experimental biology?"
No wonder he hadn't cared when she said his condition was incurable.
He had been plotting this gruesome contingency plan all along!
"Modern medicine isn't even close to that level of advancement. Don't even dream about stealing a young body!"
Frederick just smiled. "Everyone
desires a second chance at youth. 1 am more than willing to sacrifice
myself to medical science and become a pioneer."
Claire analyzed the sheer madness behind his words.
The lunatic actually knew the science wasn't there yet, but he was fully prepared to
turn himself into a human guinea pig.
Absolute psychopath.
He knew his current body was running out on the clock. Why not roll the dice on a twisted consciousness experiment? If it worked, he won everything.
Gambling his life on an impossibility... he was totally delusional.
Seeing Claire finally shocked into silence put Frederick in an inexplicably fantastic mood.
Unfortunately for him, the victory was short-lived.
A sharp knock echoed from the door. Frederick motioned for Meiko to answer it.
The second the door cracked open, a hand shot through and pinned Meiko to the wall.
Another figure smashed into the room, immediately locking into brutal hand-to-hand combat with Frederick's bodyguard.
Frederick lunged to take Claire
hostage, but his frail body betrayed
him. Before he could even roll his wheelchair within reach,
claire
lashed out with her legs, kicking him and the chair entirely upside down.
"Grab Claire!"
Frederick screamed at his bodyguard.
But the bodyguard was entirely occupied, taking a severe beating and unable to move an inch toward her.
A second man stepped through the wreckage and swiftly sliced through the ropes binding Claire.
It was Dewitt.
"Claire, are you hurt?"
Dewitt had been terrified that delaying the breach would result in a catastrophe.
Claire had hidden a
micro-transmitter in her shoe. The moment she had transmitted the signal to close the net, Dewitt and
his tactical team had stormed the
floor.
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Claire shook her head. "I'm fine."
She looked up at him. "Dewitt, is your arm okay?"