Elite (10 page)

And then the doctor got this big giddy look about him, as if he were a kid about to open the biggest present under the tree on Christmas morning.

“In my research I’ve been able to learn enough about how the brain communicates that I was able to design my own cutting-edge equipment that can be used to perform a first-of-its-kind surgical procedure that will make that German scientist’s dream a reality.”

Daniel did not share in Doctor
Horchoff’s excitement. In fact, he felt as though he had just been told a science-fiction tale as opposed to a proposal.

“How did you get ahold of his research?” Daniel asked.

“That’s not important,” Richfield cut in before the doctor could answer. “What’s important is that this is a ground-breaking, once-in-a-lifetime procedure that could change the world, and change your life.”

All of a sudden, the understanding of what was going on hit Daniel like a brick. He wasn’t sure how he had missed it.
Horchoff’s long lecture on brains must have sent his into an almost comatose state. But now he understood just what it was Richfield, Doctor Horchoff and Mr. Blank were asking of him.

“You want to do experimental brain surgery on me?!” Daniel blurted.

It didn’t even sound real as he heard the words came out of his mouth. This was insane. Suddenly he felt so out of place. The absurdity of everything around him was finally coming to light. It felt as though an alien race had landed and begun taking over the planet and he had been the last to realize it.

Richfield decided now was the time to go for the hard sell. “We want to offer you the chance to change your life – To better yourself. You could be the perfect human specimen. There would literally be nothing you couldn’t do.”

“I…I’m sorry,” Daniel managed. “It…it just all seems so ridiculous. I mean…you do realize what you’re asking me don’t you?”

Just then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I know how it sounds kid,” Blank spoke softly. “But I promise you, I wouldn’t have put you in this spot if I didn’t think you were the right man for the job. Doc, explain to Danny Boy the benefits.”

“Well…” the doctor began, “the potential is truly limitless. First off, you would have total control of your muscle movements. Meaning you could be as strong as you wanted to.”

This did catch Daniel’s attention. “Like, I could get ripped?”

“Well…” the doctor replied, “Yes. Much easier than any other human, that’s for sure. But more than appearance, you could use your muscles to their fullest potential whenever you wanted. You’ve heard about when people are able to lift 3,000 pound cars to save a loved one? Well you could do that whenever you wanted. You would be able to control the amount of adrenaline and testosterone flowing through
your body by increasing production in the brain, increasing your heart rate and expanding your blood vessels for increased blood flow, and sending increased contraction signals from the brain to your muscles.

“As I said, the possibilities are limitless.”

Daniel did think that sound pretty cool, but also unrealistic. Not to mention the fact that it would require this creepy looking doctor experimenting with his brain. No – it was not worth the risk. Not to mention…

“I would control my heart rate just by thinking? Does that mean I would have to think every heart beat?” Daniel asked.

“No, actually,” Horchoff explained. “I was initially worried about that as well, but I found in my research that the procedure would not limit the current functions of the cerebellum, but merely allow you the option of tapping into them if you so desire. The connection between the cognizant thought of the forebrain, and the involuntary actions associated with the hindbrain can be shut down and turned back on at any time. As I said, you will have total control of body
and
mind.”

Wow.
Daniel thought to himself. It was a truly amazing concept. And to be the one chosen to receive this gift—to have a power no one else on Earth would possess…

NO!
He stopped himself. This is
insane.
They want to do
brain surgery
.
EXPERIMENTAL
brain surgery.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I can take the risk,” he said plainly.

Blank took his hand off of Daniels shoulder and sauntered away with his head down in partial defeat.

“I promise you, the risk is lower than you think,” Doctor
Horchoff said. “What I am doing should have absolutely no effect on your current brain function. I am not closing off any of your current pathways, I am simply attempting to open up more. Theoretically, the worst that should happen is that it proves unsuccessful and you’re left exactly the same.”

“Theoretically,” Daniel repeated with a sarcastic edge.

“And if that’s the case I’ll pay you a million dollars,” Richfield added.

Daniel’s ears perked up as he shifted his attention to Richfield. He had often thought about the things he would do for a million dollars. It was a long list, but this was never on it.

Was it worth putting his life on the line?

He contemplated the idea a bit longer.
Put his life on the line.
He had known all along that coming to work for Elite would mean putting his life on the line. Whether he was out in the field working against the world’s most skilled killers or under the knife, what was the difference?

Because in this instance whether I live or die is completely out of my control
, he thought to himself. He wasn’t comfortable putting his life into someone else’s hands.

Then again, his chances in survival would be greatly increased if he had the abilities Doctor
Horchoff was talking about giving him. He had expected Elite to put him through some revolutionary diet and workout routine, never in a million years had he prepared himself for this.

Richfield could see the inner torment Daniel was struggling with, so he decided to give him some options.

“So this is it. I have no more information to give you. You know now what I’m asking you. If you agree to the procedure and it doesn’t work, I’ll give you a million dollars just for letting us try. If it does work – well I don’t think I need to tell you how you’ll benefit then. But remember, you can’t tell anyone about this.”

Daniel ran his hands up his face and threw his hair before giving Richfield a disenchanted look. “No one would ever believe me if I did.”

“Yeah, well—there are some folks in the government who would be storming through my front door in a matter of minutes if they got wind of this thing,” Richfield retorted.

“I’ll tell you what kid,” he continued, “I’ll give you a month to think it over. Think about everything Doctor
Horchoff has told you today. Digest all of that information, and if I don’t hear from you in a month, I’ll have Mister Blank start looking for somebody else.”

Daniel dropped his head into his arms which were now folded on the table.
Just what he needed – more thinking.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was going to be another sleepless month.

Chapter 6

             
The month to follow was not nearly as restless as the previous. Daniel knew that there was no way he was going to go through with the procedure. Yes, the money made the offer very tempting, as did the thought of being the “perfect physical specimen,” but it was not worth agreeing to experimental brain surgery. He didn’t care how good of a surgeon Doctor Horchoff may be, or about his claims of limited risk – Daniel wasn’t about to let anyone alter his brain chemistry when there was absolutely nothing wrong with it in the first place.

He had a better understanding now of why Mister Blank had chosen him as the candidate for the procedure. They needed an average Joe – someone to showcase that this revolutionary procedure could change any ordinary guy on the street into Super Man.

They also needed someone desperate enough to agree to such a thing. Blank must have seen the desperation in Daniel’s eyes as Jordan drove off in the cab that night, having just broke the news to Daniel of her affair with Gordon Demérs back in Indiana. Yes, Daniel was desperate to become something better, but not that desperate.

Blank and Richfield had chosen the wrong man.

Jordan was now living in her new high-rise apartment with Gordon
Demérs, and Daniel tried his damndest not to think about it. He had met up with her on a number of occasions, usually for a quick lunch or nice dinner. The setting was never too intimate however, or at least not as intimate as Daniel would have preferred.

He was not sure whether or not she was sleeping with
Demérs, and he could never muster up the courage to ask her. He figured it didn’t make much difference either way and would only lead to a long, dramatic conversation, which Daniel did not want to have. He wanted to enjoy his time with Jordan as much as possible, even if it wasn’t how he had dreamed it up in the past. All he knew for sure was that she was sharing an apartment with Demérs, which meant she was seeing a lot more of him than she was Daniel.

It had become quite clear that she was keeping Daniel at an arms-length. Jordan had always acted that way when she feared Daniel was getting too close, as though showing any affection would serve only to set him up for some sort of disappointment. The reality was that Daniel was always fully aware of the situation, he just didn’t care. He would rather put himself out there and pour his heart and soul into his relationship with Jordan than to lie down and just give up. In his mind, the pain would hurt the same either way. At least this way he had a remote chance of overcoming the obstacles set before him.

Still, it was incredibly difficult for Daniel to cope with the idea of being her number two. For so long she had treated him as though they were destined to be together—that nothing could ever get in the way of the love they shared. Now, there was someone else—someone that she may not have cared for in the same way as Daniel, but that she could not get out of her head. She loved Daniel in the deepest way possible, but she was drawn to Gordon Demérs. Until she was drawn in such a way to Daniel, as she once was, there was no way for her to justify being with him.

Thinking about it tore Daniel apart from the inside out. She had become the center of his world, and he wasn’t even sure why. He wanted to be near her constantly, and any free moment
he had he wanted to spend with her. She had other interests most of the time though, and he found himself spending many nights by his phone, hoping for a spontaneous invitation to hang out. When those invitations didn’t come his mind would often become plagued with thoughts of her and Demérs together, filling his heart with a combination of sadness and rage.

He knew however that this was a burden he was going to have to live with, as the pain he would feel from cutting Jordan off completely would be much greater than that he was currently experiencing. He needed her in his life, or so he thought. At least for right now, until such time as a new woman would rise from the ashes like a mythical phoenix and finally take his mind away from Jordan. He could only hope that woman existed somewhere in the world and that he might find her soon.

Work was work, as it always was, and July 10
th
seemed like any other day. It was the middle of summer in Chicago and the sun was hot. The temperature was expected to reach ninety degrees that day, and the air was damp with high levels of humidity. Most people complained about the muggy weather, but Daniel loved it. Once work was finished he planned to go to Navy Pier for a drink or ten and enjoy the summer weather because it always seemed to leave too soon. In the blink of an eye it would be October again and people would be breaking out their winter sweaters. He planned to take as much time as he could to enjoy every last bit of the summer heat.

He brought a duffel bag with him to work. Inside was a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and a pair of flip-flops for him to change into after work. He had texted Jordan early that morning to invite her to join him, and she had responded that she would love to if she were able to find the time. Daniel didn’t know what could possibly be taking up so much of her time in the summer when school was not in session, but he felt it was best that he didn’t press her for any explanation. That could
only serve to annoy her and push her away from him even further, and that was the last thing he wanted.

He did have to admit that he was less than comfortable when standing out in the sun in his work clothes. It was a major relief to walk into the air conditioned building of the radio station. He walked over to his desk and set his duffel bag on the floor next to his chair.

As he pulled out his chair to sit down, his boss interrupted him.

“Hey Daniel, can I see you in my office for a minute?” She asked him.

“No problem,” Daniel responded as he followed her across the room to where her office was located.

She held onto the door handle and waited for him to enter the room before closing the door behind him.

This is odd,
Daniel thought to himself. Tanya rarely had any interest in speaking to him except for when she needed him to start on a new project, or to check on the progress of a project he was currently working on. These encounters usually happened in meetings however, or she would simply come to his desk and inquire. She never asked him to come into her office.

His boss, Tanya
Hursinger, was a very strong-willed woman of about fifty. She was married, but had no kids. She struck Daniel as the type of woman who had probably spent most of her life debating whether or not she actually wanted children, and before she knew it time had slipped away from her and ultimately decided that it was too late for her to start now.

She was tall and slender – still very attractive for her age. Daniel had considered what it might be like to have a scandalous office encounter with her, and decided that it might be quite enjoyable. He had even decided that if the opportunity ever presented itself he would not refuse. Being married and his boss, she would obviously have to
make the first move. It was one of those fantasies that Daniel knew would never actually come to fruition, and therefore found no harm in giving it consideration.

Tanya had fiery red hair, and from Daniel’s experience he found that red-headed women were always crazy in one way or another. He tried to avoid them because of this, but those same qualities always created within him an unavoidable attraction to them.

He also found her face to be quite beautiful for a woman of her age. A narrow nose sat in between her pale blue eyes which accentuated her pale skin. Daniel generally preferred a tanner shade of color on his women – like was the case with Jordan – but the pale skin worked very well for Tanya. She had just a few visible wrinkles on her face, which did not distract from her beauty in the least.

Yes, Daniel had a strange attraction to this older woman, and the fact that she was his boss probably had something to do with it. This little meeting
however, did not appear to have anything to do with physical attraction.

Tanya sat down at her desk, across from Daniel. She pushed a couple papers that were on her desk aside, taking one last glance down at them before placing both hands, palms down, on her desk. She seemed intent on making this meeting short and to the point.

“So,” she began, “Daniel—you’ve been here how long now?” She seemed harmlessly curious, as if the answer really had nothing to do with why they were there.

“Almost a year now.”

“A year?” She repeated, seeming a bit surprised. “Do you think you might be looking at a career as an AE soon?”

“I had considered it,” Daniel responded. “It seems like the next logical step.”

It was common that after receiving around a year of experience as a Sales Assistant anyone who was good at radio sales and maintained an interest in it would move on to become an Account Executive. Stations were always hiring sales people, and Daniel figured he would be a shoo-in if it was something he really wanted to do. His only problem with the job was that being an AE meant you worked entirely on commission. A lack of guaranteed pay was somewhat of a frightening thought for Daniel, but if you were good you could make some major bucks. Daniel figured he had probably learned enough, and made enough connections as an assistant that he could survive, but failure would more than likely mean having to move back to Indiana, and that would crush him.

Even more so now that he and Jordan were in the same city for the first time since college.

Tanya took a deep breath and sighed.

Daniel thought for a moment that he had figured out what this meeting was about. She was going to try and push him to move on from being a Sales Assistant to an Account Executive. It would be something he would have to give some serious thought. Generally new reps were given a three month stipend with which to live on before being turned over to entirely commission-based pay. It was no easy task to establish
yourself in the sales world in only three months. In fact, there were many failed AEs out there who would tell you it’s flat-out impossible.

Daniel felt that he might be able to do it however. It might be time for him to give himself the opportunity to start making a little more money. His pockets would never come close to the size of Gordon
Demérs’, but at least they could grow enough to offer Jordan a comfortable life with him.

“As you know, the station is constantly facing budget cuts,” Tanya continued.

“Oh,” Daniel said flatly. He knew now what this was about. She wasn’t going to give him the
option
of becoming an AE – this was an ultimatum.

“Radio just isn’t what it used to be, and we have to become more efficient in the way we allocate our income…”

Daniel’s face began to feel hot. This wasn’t good.

“Therefore we have decided to eliminate the Sales Assistant position all together. It isn’t crucial to the daily operations of the station, and is in reality more of a convenience to the sales staff. Your responsibilities are going to now be allocated to the rest of the sales team, and we are going to have to let you go.”

Daniel’s head dropped, making it very easy for Tanya to read his emotions.

“If you would like an Account Executive position, I would be happy to set you up with one. You’re a hard worker Daniel, and you have a solid understanding of radio sales. I think you could do quite well as an AE.”

Daniel looked up at her. It was well-known in the world of radio that there was never any forewarning of when employees were going to be let go, and when it happened, it was always effective immediately.

Daniel never expected it to happen to him. At least not so soon, and not like this.

But at least his boss had provided him with a safety net, and it would now be a much easier decision to take the job as an AE.

“The stipend for the AE job – that’s three months,
correct?” He asked.

She took another deep breath, an awful indication of the answer to come.

“Unfortunately, because of the cutbacks and the whole reason we had to eliminate your position in the first place, we are no longer able to offer a stipend to incoming sales reps.”

Daniel’s heart sank. There was no way he could survive his first three months on commission alone. He had some experience and a few connections, yes, but all of those accounts already belonged to another sales person in the office. He would be making practically nothing in those three months. On top of that, if he took the new position he would not be eligible for the little bit of severance he had coming his way. He would never survive.

Daniel realized that he was wrong – Tanya
had
brought him into her office to fuck him.

Before he could find the words to speak, Tanya got up from her chair and moved to the door. “You can go home and think about it tonight, and give me a call when you’ve thought it over.”

She opened the door, and he got up to follow.

“We will pack your things up for you, and have them sent to you,” she concluded.

A building security officer was waiting outside the door to escort him out of the building. It was standard procedure. They didn’t want someone who had just had their life set ablaze throwing a hissy fit and tearing apart the office before leaving for good.