Mr Ma, who had been observing this whole exchange in calm silence the whole while, abruptly nodded and then stood up, tottering slightly on his spindly legs. When he had steadied himself, he began to clap slowly and deliberately. With his liver-spotted hands he then made a few enthusiastic sign language gestures, after which he sat down, still grinning, as Mr Wang interpreted for him.
‘Ms Fang, Mr Ma is incredibly impressed, and is in awe of the technological breakthroughs your team has made. He would like you to personally oversee a team from Cobalt Fresh, the soft drink company owned by Huntsmen Inc, in terms of developing the right kind of energy drink to be marketed in conjunction with the ‘D-Immz’ product. What is more, he feels so blown away by this work that every member of the team is to receive a substantial cash bonus at the end of this week, and in addition he will throw your team a suitably lavish banquet.’
A murmur of excitement rippled through the researchers. Mr Ma heaved his insubstantial frame to his feet again and bowed to the team members. He then made a brief gesture in sign language before sitting down again.
‘Mr Ma says you are all free to leave now,’ Mr Wang announced. ‘Take the rest of the day off and celebrate your success.’
Everyone stood up and began gathering their things and leaving the room, the formerly sombre and almost leaden atmosphere of the boardroom now buoyant and sprightly. As Ms Fang moved to leave, though, Mr Wang sidled over to her and subtly gripped her forearm.
‘No, not you,’ he whispered. ‘Come back here in five minutes when you’re sure everyone else has left. Don’t let any other members of the team see you.’
Ms Fang’s face remained blank and emotionless, and without turning to look at anyone she strode out of the meeting room. After everyone had left, Mr Ma and Mr Wang sat together in the still-darkened room; two hunched, shadowy figures blanketed with an aura of dark menace. Mr Ma conversed with his assistant in sign language, while Mr Wang responded in hushed verbal tones. After a few minutes they heard the clacking of high heels on the marble floor that announced the return of Ms Fang. Mr Wang wasted no time in getting started.
‘You’ve done an excellent job, Ms Fang. This technology your team has developed is going to revolutionise everything about the way global society communicates and participates in the social media universe. However, as I’m sure you may have guessed, Mr Ma and I are interested in certain aspects of your technology which we would prefer to keep more … secret, shall we say. Obviously, the ability to link a person’s brain directly to a computer could be used for some very interesting ends.’
Ms Fang nodded, her small eyes cold and her mouth drawn tight.
‘I think I have an idea of the possible applications that you are talking about. Tell me, sirs, would you like to see our product in action in the human test subjects?’
Mr Wang smiled and nodded.
‘That is exactly what we were going to ask you about, Ms Fang.’
‘I will take you there. I assume secrecy is paramount?’
‘Your assumption is correct.’
‘Would a visit in the early hours of the morning suit you, then?’
‘We can do that, yes,’ Mr Wang answered. ‘I must stress once again that absolutely no member of your team can know about this. We do not trust anyone on that team besides yourself.’
‘I understand.’
She took a small notebook from her handbag and tore out a piece of paper from it, upon which she scribbled some numbers.
‘These are the GPS co-ordinates of the facility. It’s just outside a small fishing village about one-hundred-and-thirty kilometres from here. There is a helipad eight kilometres from the site. That’s located at the second set of GPS coordinates that I’ve written down. If you can land there at around two in the morning tomorrow, I can pick you up from the helipad and take you directly to the facility myself.’
‘Excellent, Ms Fang. We will see you then.’
***
MANMO-M Technologies Testing Facility B-24
‘Thank you for driving us here,’ Mr Wang said as he helped Mr Ma out of the back seat of Ms Wang’s Mercedes S-Class sedan.
‘It is my pleasure, sirs. Come, let me take you straight to the human subjects.’
Fifteen minutes later they were several metres underground, deep within the bowels of the top-secret institution. They passed through a room of orang-utans, all housed in cages only just large enough to accommodate their bodies. Some stared out from behind the bars with eyes that were pools of abject sadness within their leathery faces. Others rocked compulsively back and forth, their minds utterly obliterated, victims of the terrible insanity that spreads the choking tendrils of its malady through the brains of all wild creatures confined to the hell of a caged life.
One young orang-utan reached an emaciated arm through the bars, trying to touch Ms Fang as she strutted past in a desperate attempt to fulfil its need for physical contact, longing to feel warmth through its all-too-human fingertips. Ms Fang stepped deftly to the side, coldly
