JOURNEY DOWN A HARD ROAD

Chapter 13

"Whatever you've got planned for tonight's story, drop it."

Murray and Theora looked up as Edison hurried into the control room with Jenny following.

"Edison, guests are not permitted." Murray warned.

"Stop quoting the rules, Murray," Edison retorted. "Jenny is a friend of Bryce's. She was at the center with him."

"You brought an employee from a rival network into the heart of Network 23!" Murray exclaimed. "Which Network are you loyal to?"

"I am employed by…"

"It doesn't matter, Murray," Edison said. "Jenny here says that Bryce is in danger. "He was taken from the center by an ambulance."

"Please, sir," Jenny begged. "You have to help me find him before it's too late. He was going to work on a spybot to learn more about that terrorist organization, the Seventh Wave. But he fell into a coma and was taken to an unknown location."

"You're saying that Bryce is in danger." Murray realized.

"If he remains in a coma for more than two weeks, brain damage will begin to set it," Theora explained.

"If he's been hidden somewhere away from proper medical care," Murray said, "you can be sure they'll do whatever they can to speed up the process. We don't have weeks. We have days. Maybe hours."

Theora began typing out the codes that would link the Network 23 computer with the System.

"I can't find the Harrisburg Center," she told them after an intensive search.

"They may not be listed," Edison suggested. "That itself may be legitimate to prevent reporters from disturbing the patients. But if someone from the Seventh Wave infiltrated the Center somehow…"

"Jenny," Theora said. "can you remember the names of the staff members who work at the Harrisburg Center?"

"I think so," Jenny replied. "There's Dr. Benson,"

Theora typed in Dr. Benson's name. "He works at the local Medical Center and the Harrisburg Center. That's it."

"Nurse Eve Taylor,"

Theora repeated the search with Dr. Taylor's name and got identical results.

The search went on until Theora keyed in Dr. Wilkins' name.

"East Garden Asylum," Theora's face went white. "If they've taken him there…"

"It would be a perfect location to hide a patient who was deliberately damaged," Edison realized. "Destroy the brain then they would be lost amongst the patients who came in damaged by drug addiction or traffic accidents."

"The place is like a fortress, Edison," Murray told him. "And once you get inside, what's to prevent them from labeling you as a patient and preventing your escape?"

"I don't know," Edison said. "But I know I'm not leaving Bryce in there. Bryce is brilliant, Murray. To have his mind destroyed would be the cruelest fate of all."

"Edison," Jenny said. "I'm going with you."

"No," Edison said. "I won't risk you, too."

"Then promise me something," Jenny said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You don't need to ask," Edison said. "If I find Bryce irrevocably damaged… I will kill him."

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