The Blueprint (The Upgrade Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

glass walls built on a platform few feet above the ground. It gave it a commanding view of the entire floor.
    “They call it a fish bowl around here. I guess it fits. Please sit down.”
    “This is an impressive facility.” Rachel sat in an uncomfortable looking aluminum chair.
    “Thank you Rachel. May I call you Rachel? Let me give you a quick overview of what to expect.” Poznyak made himself comfortable behind a massive chrome colored desk.
    “First, let’s talk secrecy. I know you signed all the required disclosures, but I want to drive this point home. Asclepius is built on secrecy, thrives on secrecy, and will maintain secrecy at all costs. I don’t want to sound ominous, but if you betray the company’s trust, I can promise you that you’ll never work in your field ever again. Not to mention that you’ll probably go to jail for a long time.”
    “I understand.”
    “That means,” he continued, “that you can’t discuss things that you do here with anybody, and I mean
anybody
. If you think you can’t handle a lifestyle where you can’t share your day’s highs and lows with your husband when you get home after a sixteen-hour shift, right now would be a good time to say that.”
    “I can handle confidentiality and I’m excited to be here.”
    “Great. I hate the secrecy myself but it’s a part of our life here. But let’s talk about the good stuff.” Lab director put his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers.
    “The vast majority of what we’re working on here has military applications. Exoskeletons, wet-wired triggers, body armor implants, and so on. But don’t let it make you feel like a warmonger. A lot of big inventions developed for the military ended up helping humanity in more ways than their creators could ever imagine. Take nuclear fission for example. And in this day and age when, let’s be frank here, big corporations are more like independent states, security and weaponry are taken very seriously. So, until we have the luxury of building what we want for the purposes that we desire, we need to be able to pay our bills.
    “Speaking of bills…“ He paused and poured himself a glass of water. “Would you like some?”
    “I’m okay, thank you.”
    “Let me give you a piece of advice. We’re what some people call it an
off brand
company. That means that, although the majority of our contracts come from independent sources such as DOD and Otomo, at the end of the day we get those contracts because Guardian Manufacturing allows us to. Without Mr. Engel’s blessing we’d be out of business in about three months’ time.”
    “I understand.”
    “Good. Now here’s what you’ll be working on.” Steve slid a thick binder across his desk. It had a stamp
Level 17
across the top and in the middle in small block letters it said AL-3.1.
    “AL stands for Artificial Lungs, and it’s one of our most advanced projects. This is what some people consider revolutionary, while others, of course, might call dangerous or even blasphemous, a true human augmentation.
    “These lung implants would enable their user to extract oxygen from pollution heavy air and possibly even water. As, I’m sure you can imagine, that could be handy in combat situations. Under certain circumstances, the implants could actually substitute the organ itself. Initial experiments and animal trials looked promising and I think your addition to our team would help me perfect the prototype. If everything goes right, we should be able to start human trials in about six months.”
    The rest of the day was a whirlwind of paperwork, biometric scans and catching up on her team’s research.
    Rachel’s team consisted of six scientists and their main and only priority was project AL-3.1. As the name suggested, it was a third incarnation of the device and so far the most promising. They had been working on this model for almost a year and, as her new boss pointed out, were inching ever closer to human trials. Their