The Claire Project

Chapter 12

Will was sick to his stomach when he returned home, turning over what he had witnessed in his mind. Whatever Veldin had been about to do, it was clearly less than honorable, in fact it was just plain wrong. Will idolized Veldin, but now suddenly he found he had lost a lot of respect for the man. Really, Will hardly knew him at all apart from his published research, and for the first time Will realized that maybe knowing what kind of man he was actually mattered. He didn't want to work for a creep, even a brilliant one.

He made himself a quick dinner in his kitchen and forced himself to eat it even though he didn't really have an appetite for it. The notebook he'd brought home from the lab was sitting on the kitchen island, and Will looked at it but decided maybe he would take a break from work just for one night. He really needed to take a step back and try to relax, and clear his mind.

He was already working his stomach into knots when he thought about how he would confront Veldin the next day at work. It didn't seem like the kind of incident that should be brushed under the rug, so Will would have to say something, express his disapproval. But that was such a terrifying thought to him that even though he knew it would be the right thing to do, he had no idea if he would have the courage to actually do it.

It turned out he didn't have to worry about it though, because despite giving him a restless night of sleep and extremely high anxiety in the morning, Veldin wasn't there when Will entered his research wing. Instead, Will encountered Dr. Weiss, who gave him a stern nod of her head in greeting.

"Good morning, Dr. Weiss. Is Dr. Veldin in today?" Will asked, hoping the apprehensiveness he felt wasn't totally obvious in the tone of his voice.

Weiss regarded him, unsmiling, as was her typical humorless way. She really was a severe lady, and to be completely honest, Will was sort of afraid of her. "Not today," Weiss said, "Dr. Veldin is away on business. He will return next week for the next phase of our project using the Claire model."

"Oh, Ok," Will replied, feeling relief washing over him instantaneously, although he felt a little guilty about it. He knew his strong desire to avoid confrontation probably made him a coward.

"Here," Weiss said, not looking up from the stack of papers she was looking at as she handed him a small stack of his own, "Read this. Details for the next phase of research."

And with that she walked away, her shoes clicking on the floor with her quick strides as if she could not be troubled to waste any more of her valuable time with him. She entered the room where he had left Claire the night before, and Will, realizing he had been dismissed, turned and headed back to his own lab.

But he did read the details Weiss gave him on the next phase, a fascinating trial to induce neuroplasticity in the brain, and after lunch he went to help Dr. Weiss prepare the vials of injections that would need to be administered to Claire to begin the study. He didn't see Claire at all that day since there was really no reason for him to, but perhaps he was actually trying to avoid her as well. He was still a little unnerved when he remembered the way she had looked at him the night before.