He paused to look at the young programmer. “Am I boring you, Timothy?” Dr. Hoffman bellowed.

Timothy yawned and then quickly shook his head. “Nah, it’s this coffee. Not strong enough,” he said, shaking the cup of black liquid with a scowl.

“Well, if you’re done daydreaming, maybe you would like to join the rest of the group for this very important presentation.”

“Absolutely, sir,” Timothy said, taking another sip.

“Obviously, we will be monitoring you throughout the experiment.” Dr. Hoffman continued, waving a hand at one of the four cameras in the briefing room. “There are cameras stationed throughout each of the biomes, and Alexia has been programmed to monitor your vitals twenty-four hours a day.”

Emanuel could almost smell Big Brother over the cheap coffee. NTC hadn’t become the most powerful security and technology company overnight without controversy. It had risen to the top by destroying the competition. Rumors of sabotage and murder were discussed in hushed voices in the halls of the United Nations, but there were never any investigations or inquiries. NTC had truly become invulnerable to international law.

“Any questions?” Dr. Hoffman asked.

Emanuel watched Sophie stand in the front row. He compressed his eyebrows and concentrated, becoming slightly agitated as he watched her lips form a smirk. He could only see her from the side, but there was no hiding it. He knew what came next—her lips would curl back and she would spout out something that would more than likely get her in trouble. She had one of the most brilliant minds on the planet, but one very dangerous flaw often got in the way of reason—her venomous tongue.

“Dr. Hoffman, I have a question.”

“Yes, Dr. Winston?”

Sophie reached down and pulled out a binder from the duffel bag she had tucked neatly under her seat. Quickly, she flipped through the pages, licking her fingers and pulling them back one by one. “Ah, here’s the clause,” she said, putting on her glasses with her free hand.

“Section 10.12: In the event of contamination, the artificial intelligence assigned to the mission will take control of the facility.” She paused to take a breath before continuing. “If the Biosphere is rendered contaminated by toxic substances, then the facility will be cleansed accordingly.” Sophie set the binder down on the chair.

“What exactly does ‘cleansed accordingly’ mean?”

“Would you mind if I answered that?” Carlson asked, stepping up next to Dr. Hoffman.

“Not at all, Miss Carlson. Go right ahead,” he said politely.

“Dr. Winston, I’m sure you are aware there are always threats of contamination. In fact, our last mission, which is still classified, failed for that very reason. Fortunately, we were able to isolate the team before the toxic contaminants took over the Biosphere ecosystem, but the mission was a complete loss.”

Carlson brushed a strawberry-red strand of hair behind her left ear. “In space, we won’t have the luxuries we have here. If a toxin is identified, then the facility will cordon off the infected chamber and losses will be minimized by a complete cleansing. Anyone unfortunate enough to be within the infected zone will receive a lethal dose of the proper chemicals needed to destroy the toxin. We simply can’t risk losing data.”