“It’s the same as when I was in medical school. It’s down to me. I’m going to have to get inside the other buildings at Nano where I’m officially not supposed to go to find out what is going on. I tried to look around a little the other day, even the building connected to the one I work in by a bridge. Frankly, it is my first choice to look in, because it seems to have the most security, but I got nowhere. An iris scanner blocked my entrance to the bridge.”

“Isn’t snooping around Nano going to be dangerous? You saw those guards who came to my ER.”

Pia shrugged. “Maybe yes, maybe no. I don’t really know. But I am a Nano employee. If I end up being found in some area where I’m not supposed to be, I can just say I got lost, or I’m running an errand for Mr. Berman, now that I know him socially. The only other thing I can think of is to try to get him to invite me to participate in other aspects of Nano’s research efforts. The trouble is, I don’t know what it is, exactly, and I can’t tip my hand. My immediate boss, Mariel, has told me on several occasions how important secrecy is considered, even with the work I am doing. You see, I could be fired at any time. I’m helping them, but I am certainly not indispensable.”

“How do you know you’re not already working on the secret stuff?”

“What do you mean?” said Pia.

“I just mean you may not know all of the uses the projects you’re working on are put to. I mean, do you?”

“And I thought I had a cynical side,” said Pia, with a sarcastic chuckle. She hadn’t thought of that possibility. The microbivores seemed to have a benign purpose, but with the technology she was helping develop to counter the biocompatibility issues, she couldn’t be so sure. Pia was silent for a few minutes.

“I’m sorry,” said Paul. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t upset me. I’m fine.”

“Okay. Good.” Paul came to a halt and gestured around them. “This is the turnaround. Let’s enjoy the view for a few minutes and head back.” They had emerged from the trees and reached a rocky ledge, which offered a striking view of distant mountains.

After another few minutes of silence, Paul spoke again. He wasn’t out of breath in the slightest. “So how do you want me to help you? I have a sense that this is where your monologue is leading. So just talk it through or is there something more concrete? I won’t do anything illegal, mind. And I’m not breaking in anywhere like you just told me George did with you.”