Stefanie removed the cardboard and examined the container inside closely, but it was well sealed. Considering the application, the inaccessibility of the sensor wasn’t particularly suspicious. Watertight was the name of the game in their business. A clicking noise sounded nearby, quiet but insistent. Stefanie’s phone buzzed. It was a notification from Nash’s new platform prototype.
“What is that?” Alexis tilted her head.
“It’s the app that connects to our demo platform.” Stefanie frowned. “Something set off an alert.” She opened the notification and her palms began to sweat. “Um, you guys need to see this.”
Joey looked around them, stepping between Stefanie and the source of the noise. “What caused the alert?”
“The Geiger counter is registering amounts above the background levels it has been measuring for the past week.” Stefanie pointed to the platform in the center of the room. “According to the app, the number is within the safe range, but it spiked when we walked by.” Her heart began to thud. “Is it…?”
“Clear the area.” Alexis put a hand on her arm. “Expediently, but without panic, walk to the back door with me.”
Stefanie blinked several times in succession, shock preventing her from fully processing the danger. “Waffle didn’t detect anything explosive. It shouldn’t explode, right?”
Alexis got very serious. “Stefanie. It doesn’t matter if it won’t explode. Radiation is something we don’t mess around with. We are going to leave, quickly and quietly. We need to bring in the cavalry.” She checked the camera. “Peggy just left. Thank goodness.”
Alexis motioned for them to follow and pushed a button on her phone. “Quinn. It’s hot. Clear the building and get a crew in here. I don’t know what they’re trying to do, but radiation is involved.” She put her phone in her pocket and looked at Joey. “Take Stefanie home and don’t let her out of your sight. We’ll let you know what we find out.”
Quinn met Alexis at the back of the building and tossed the agent her keys. “Take the van and get out of here.”
“The Geiger counter didn’t register harmful levels. I could help.” Alexis looked back into the building.
Quinn put a hand on Alexis’s shoulder. “If we’ve got a run-of-the-mill explosive, you’re the first one we call. This one is my department. Good boy, Waffle.”
Alexis’s partner wagged his tail cheerfully, looking up with concern at his mistress. He leaned into her leg. She sighed. “Fine. But let me know if you need me.”
Quinn leveled her eyes at the young agent. “I need you to go back to the hotel and see if Stefanie’s customers skipped town. They may be planning to drop and dash. If not, there is no way they know what’s in the box. Tony and his team could be Dmitri’s latest liability.”
“You got it.” Alexis nodded. “You have backup?”
“Yeah. Cam’s meeting our team around the corner, getting us some protective equipment, and leading them here. We’ll call you as soon as we know anything.”
Quinn waited for a specially-trained team to arrive while the remaining occupants of the building filed out to the parking lot. They’d been informed of a natural gas leak and were told to leave the building for the weekend while a crew repaired it. No one seemed particularly concerned. When the small team of specialists showed up half an hour later, they brought protective gear and bags filled with more advanced detection equipment. They shook hands and introduced themselves by first name, then got down to business. Soon, they confirmed what the OEG research platform had already told them. They were dealing with a non-explosive product with traces of radiation. They could learn no more without opening the container to see what was inside, which would risk the lives of everyone around them. Quinn frowned. “It’s Schrödinger’s cat.”
Cam tilted his head. “I’m pretty sure you’re talking about a metaphorical cat, but I’m not sure which one.”
“Schrödinger’s cat is a thought experiment where a cat is in a box with a vial of poison that is ruptured when the box is opened. Therefore, it can be presumed that the cat is neither dead nor alive. Therefore, it could be presumed both dead and alive…” Cam raised an eyebrow. Quinn sighed. “It’s not important. Anyway, we don’t know if what’s in that box will kill us until we open it. And opening it might kill us. I mean, it’s not a perfect use of Schrödinger’s cat, but it’s the best I could think of in the moment. Basically, by the time we get the container to a place it won’t hurt anyone and determine what’s in it, we’ll miss our meeting. Our cover will be blown and the answer will be moot.”
“Can we replicate it?” Cam stared at the box on the counter.
Quinn looked around the lab. “Not perfectly. But we could use a larger container and claim that it was needed to fit their sensor in the bracket assembly. Stefanie would have to cover for us.”
Cam shrugged. “Okay. If she can’t, we’ll have her call in sick and we’ll have Joey cover.”
“Deal.”
“How long will it take you to modify the bracket and make a dummy device?” Cam looked around the lab.
Quinn rummaged through a couple of drawers filled with spare parts. “Once these guys are gone? A couple of hours.”
“Alright. Let’s get to work.”
Stefanie paced around her kitchen. Alexis had stopped on the way to check the hotel, where their customers were still behaving as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Alexis and Joey were remarkably calm, alternating between communicating information to their superiors and half-watching a nature documentary none of them particularly cared about on TV. Finally, Stefanie asked, “Are they okay?” When Joey and Alexis exchanged a look instead of giving a quick answer, all of the things that could go wrong flashed through her brain. She closed her eyes in an attempt to block everything out. Waffle licked her hand and she snapped out of her borderline anxiety attack
