Page 72 of The Gift
“Summarising again, you don’t believe you need to feel any remorse towards the victims, and for the sake of clarification, I mean the people that you held in cages, the very ones that ran for their lives as soon as they could. Can you see how the public, including me, are offended by your lack of compassion?”
“How can you be offended? Take your emotions out of the equation and what I achieved needs to be applauded. You can’t be that naive in not seeing what we were doing as anything but ground-breaking.”
“Oh, no, it most certainly was not ground-breaking. Like we’ve already discussed, industry experts concluded that fact, not me. Those same people have been very vocal that what you did was moralistically wrong. I’m afraid all our discussions with peer recognised experts reiterated over and over again that you are a small minded, egotistical man with a highly inflated sense of achievement.”
“Those intelligent enough will see my work as near perfection. My research and the advancement I made in the repopulation of omegas will be recognised in time. Sometimes for society to see how far one person was able to further the standards of science a period of time needs to pass and only then do you see the greatness of the project.”
“And you have nothing to say to the victims? Perhaps an apology?” I keep pushing him hard, knowing this is all that we need and then we can get the flying fuck out of here. And leave this asshole to rot.
“Those people have been changed, modified if you will, and I can guarantee that they are living a better life as an omega, for a pack, than they would have as betas.”
I shake my head, no longer stunned by the shit that comes out of this prick’s mouth. He is stark raving fucking mad.
“Anything else to add? Any special message for our viewers, or better yet, do you have an apology for the victims of Regalo.” And for the first time since the cameras started rolling, I lose my professionalism, repeating the same thing over and over, no longer bothering to hide the disgust from my voice.
He laughs, and it is evil, sliding onto the deranged side. He leans in, his beady rat rounded eyes full of nothing but glee. “You know, Bailey, they were such tasty little treats, I sampled them all, of course, to double check how wonderful our creation was before we delivered to our paying customers. Back to your question, I do have a special message, my gift to those involved is the key to their happiness.”
“We’re done,” Ashton says, but I wave him away. I wish we were done, but we’re not. He stays close enough to the back of my chair that the heat from his body takes off some of the edge of the cold seeping into mine.
“But Bailey, you won’t let them deny my parting gesture, will you? It would be remiss of your position of influence to silence me.”
“Strange sentiment, considering we’re currently interviewing you. By all means, go on.”
He’s condescending and offensive in his demeanour, in the way he speaks, in the way he breathes. I wave him on without another word, counting down the seconds until I can be free of this.
“The most poignant advancement was the way I was able to procure outstanding results within the scientific and psychological fields, but combining the two was pivotal in my successes. Much like when you modify an embryonic cell, the way you do it defines the outcome. No person alive has been able to achieve the same result, and never will they be able to emulate.” He waves his arms around like he’s a maestro in a symphony, his face flushes with his excitement. “Because they refuse to consider that their precious line of ethics has moved as we evolved.”
“Are we talking all the people you kidnapped unwillingly as that line?”
He scoffs and rolls his eyes. And I thought he was talking about evolution. If anything, he’s still stuck in the stone ages. This guy is such a fucking whack job he makes my head pound as I try to keep up with him. I take my hat off to him and his manipulations though, just when I thought we were wrapping up, he has me leaning in for more. But damn him, I want this story done and dusted.
“See, it’s people like you that forced me to do what I did.”
Ashton hisses, answering for me, emulating my own disgust at Regalo’s insinuation. He takes it as an opening to keep going.
“How can we afford a battle of wills when the very purpose of my work was to provide a breeding omega to the packs in need of generational stability. It would be defunct if I delivered one ripe for the purpose, but one refusing to spread their legs wide. Of course, when my projects were delivered so were instructions on how to make the omega pack. And since I have been unable to withhold my end of the bargain to those packs, since my program was stopped, I have no requirement to provide the key needed to enable them to bond with any pack.”
“That’s preposterous!” I shake my head, no longer driving this train wreck.
“That’s life,” he smarts back, smiling like a saint.
“They’ll Subpoena.” I laugh.
“And my lawyers will file Exclusionary,” he counters, his pride wafting off him like perfume, souring his uric scent even more.
I shake my head, honestly thrown by everything about him—his intelligence, arrogance, and I’m so angry at the way he’s refusing to help all the victims. His unwillingness to do a thing is as disgusting as he is. His eyebrows are high as he stares at me, a cocky grin on his face, knowing he holds a lot of the cards still.
“Actually, you know what, I will do one thing. Only because it’s you, Bailey. What do you know of power words?”
“Not enough to agree to anything you propose. Honestly, we’re done. I think we can cut here.” I look to my team indicating we’re finished.
“Isn’t this what you want? To help those weak, pathetic creatures? To give them some comfort? And then I offer you that and you run! You can’t run, Bailey, what’s been done is impossible to hide from. One day, when you least expect it, the truth will come out, and you’ll fall from your ivory tower without a person to catch you.”
“All right, that’s enough,” one of the guards steps up interrupting, while Ashton’s hand drops to my shoulder.
The noise in the cell starts to pick up. People argue, others whispering about the evil we’re all looking at. The mood changes as he flips personalities. But I don’t trust the game he’s playing because while he might be acting different, mumbling nonsensical bullshit, his eyes are still crystal clear and full of smug triumph. And they’re still locked on me.
“No more.” I reply firmer, holding his eye despite the pressure building in my head as his alpha genetics rise again.
