“Okay, listen.” Jason’s attention was now fully trained on Pia to the point that she herself had to look away. “Mariel knew I had gone to see you in the hospital, and she wasn’t happy about it. She said you were bad news, and that I needed to keep away from you if I wanted to continue working at Nano. I tried to say that I thought you were a bit aloof but an excellent scientist. Her reply was that there were a lot things I didn’t know.”

“Like what? What was she implying?”

“I don’t know exactly.”

“And you just believed her.”

“I’m sorry, Pia, this job is my big break. I’ve been trying to get a job like this for years. You know how it is out there.”

Pia stared at Jason for as long as she could before looking off. She couldn’t believe it. It was as if she were some kind of pariah. She felt like trying to goad Jason into talking to her and tell her what he really thought since he was certainly holding back. But she didn’t have the energy.

“Good luck, Pia,” Jason said after an uncomfortable moment. “I hope things work out, I really do.” He turned up the collar of his jacket and hurried on toward the building.

Pia needed an outlet for her anger, so she took out her phone and, despite the light rain, dialed Mariel Spallek’s number. It was probably best the woman didn’t answer because Pia wasn’t sure what she would have said. On this occasion Mariel’s voice mail did pick up, but Pia didn’t bother to leave a message. Instead she shut and locked the car door and walked quickly toward the Nano entrance.

Normally, she would walk though the doors and directly to the iris scanner by the glass doors leading into the facility, but after what had happened at the security gate, she headed to the security office as she had been advised. Guests and delivery people were instructed by notices to visit the reception desk to the left of the main door. There were a handful of people waiting there. Other Nano employees were arriving in small groups. It was a busy time of day. Security guards were attentive, making sure people went through the scanner and glass partition one at a time. Pia recognized most of them.