Page 21 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
“Wonderful,” Oliver said, beaming. “We’re just grateful to be here.”
“Perfect. Follow me!” Dr. Rodriguez led the group through the glass doors and into the vast lobby, which stretched above their heads for miles. Strange clouds of mirror shards drifted in the air, glittering in the dull afternoon light.
“Thanks,” Dani whispered to Oliver as they crossed the lobby. “For jumping in back there.”
“No problem,” Oliver said with a smile. “You’ll probably need to take over at some point, though, yeah?”
“By the way,” Dr. Rodriguez said from the head of their group, “this is Max. He just graduated from the Leap last year, and we snapped him right up as a research coordinator.”
The redhead doled out an introductory nod to them, his eyes lingering on Oliver’s face a hair longer than Dani’s. Maybeherecognized them? She didn’t have time to puzzle it out. Oliver was right; she neededto gather herself and start asking questions. The group had already reached the elevators on the far side of the lobby, and Dr. Rodriguez was ushering them into one. She hit the button for the eleventh floor—there were twenty-two in total—and the doors slid shut. The car began to rise so smoothly that Dani could barely tell they were moving.
“The first eleven floors are open to the public,” Dr. Rodriguez explained as they ascended. “By invitation, that is. The upper eleven floors are authorized staff only. That’s where the real magic happens.”
Dani looked down at Silva’s list of questions. “So, uh,” she said, clearing her throat. “Howarepreparations coming along for the gala?”
“Oh, well,” Dr. Rodriguez said, her plastic-wrap facade slipping a bit. A blonde-roast brown began to grow in Dani’s mind—but it faded just as quickly as it had come, and Dr. Rodriguez perked up, having resisted the urge to give in to Dani’s ability.
Dani frowned. This might be harder than she thought.
“Just splendidly,” Dr. Rodriguez said. “There’s always hiccups in the process, of course, but we’re really very excited to be presenting at our alma mater. Our CEO is a Leap alumnus, too.”
“Keeping it in the family,” Dani said. Dr. Rodriguez shot her a strange look, one she couldn’t quite interpret. “What did you mean by hicc—”
A chime shimmered in the air. The elevator glided to a stop, and the doorswhooshed open.
“Hold on to your questions for a moment,” Dr. Rodriguez said, stepping out with an element of drama, “because you’re going to want to take this in. Come along!”
Dani and Oliver exchanged a glance before they followed. They stepped into a small glass room with a door straight in front of them, surrounded on all sides by views of the biggest laboratory Dani had ever seen. If there was any organization to it, it was beyond her understanding. It looked as if OneiroLabs had thrown a bunch of scientists into a room filled with beakers and incubatorsand increasingly bizarre equipment and told them to wreak as much havoc as possible.
And they were doing just that. To their left, a woman in full protective gear was tinkering with a pot over a flame; the pot was emitting a fierce magenta mist that seemed somewhat problematic, based on her reaction. On their right, two people were taking a hacksaw to what appeared to be a large, translucent cube of gelatin. As Dani watched, they succeeded in splitting it open, only for a remarkable mass of orange goo to spill all over and for both of them to panic—or celebrate, she couldn’t tell which.
“Welcome,” Dr. Rodriguez said with a flourish, “to the Imagination Workshop.” As she spoke, the words formed in bright blue letters on the glass behind her, using the same official font as the company’s logo.
“Wow,” Dani said, not sure if she was being sarcastic. It was impressive and revoltingly showboaty at the same time.
“Every idea at OneiroLabs starts right here,” Dr. Rodriguez continued. “We encourage our scientists to work on anything they can think of, test it to their hearts’ content, and make a proposal to our product committee. Our famous DreamLite and DreamRite lines? Both started here. So did our upcoming project—the one we’re debuting at the gala. While it’s too dangerous for us to step inside the workshop, please watch from this side of the glass for as long as you like, and I’m happy to take any questions.”
Dani glanced down at her notebook, trying to figure out where she’d left off. Oliver gracefully filled the silence. “So, you mentioned the new product is your brainchild—does that mean you made it yourself?”
“It does! My managerial duties often keep me out of the lab,” Dr. Rodriguez said with a hint of cutesy petulance, “but there are certain big projects that let me jump back in every once in a while. The concept of the new product was my—was our CEO’s, but the realization of it was entirely my own.”
“What’s the concept?” Dani asked casually.
“It’s meant to empower people through dreams,” Dr. Rodriguez said. Out of the corner of her eye, Dani saw Max look up, surprised. Her gambit had worked, catching Dr. Rodriguez off guard just enough to answer without thinking. The woman’s off-the-cuff answer was the color of a purple yam—she was proud of what she’d made. “Instead of just giving you good dreams or taking your dreams away, like the other products in our lineup, it puts the choice of what you do and where you go directly in your hands.”
“Like lucid dreaming?” Oliver said.
Dr. Rodriguez paused, seeming to realize she’d revealed too much. “Not necessarily. It’s a little more abstract than that. More like… a world you can explore, and a way to navigate it.”
Oliver frowned. “How exactly does that—”
Max shot them a look. Hedefinitelyrecognized them. But his expression was not one of suspicion, like Dani would’ve expected, but of warning.
“Earlier you mentioned there have been some hiccups in the process,” Dani said, talking over the rest of Oliver’s question. “Did you mean in the clinical trials?”
She hated watching people squirm under her influence, and Dr. Rodriguez was no exception. A battle was raging on the woman’s face.
“Trials are just that—trials,” Dr. Rodriguez said finally. “There are always a few misfires, but we’re back on track and excited for the gala.”
