The rest of the staff were busy working, but they knew better than to pester the boss and two department heads. There were glances thrown that way, though, and even some unapologetic eavesdropping.

“The problem is,” said Doc, “that we know too much and not enough.”

Her masses of blond hair had spilled out of the bun and hung unevenly around her face, making her look like she’d just come in from riding a horse on a windy heath.

Bug snorted. He was bleary-eyed and unshaven. “Welcome to Rogue Team International, where that is on everyone’s page-a-day calendar for any day ending in a Y.”

“You’re not wrong,” said Church. His only concession to the long hours since Ledger had gone off the radar was that he’d taken his suit jacket off and tugged the knot of his tie loose. He still looked immaculate.

They had cups of coffee and a plate of cookies. Church was nibbling on his fourth vanilla wafer, and no one else seemed interested in cutting into his supply. Doc had a bunch of animal crackers laid out like a parade and was biting off bits of each animal but not eating any whole cookies. Bug sat there, slowly unscrewing double-filled Oreos and eating the cream. Only when he finished the fillings did he begin eating the cookies.

“Ron Coleman and Isaac are studying the cybernetic implants on the patients we brought from Croatia. Right now, there seem to be several kinds of implants. Some have neuro chips, and there’s research suggesting that the chips are designed to interface with add-on gear like a targeting helmet, exoskeleton, or even drones. And there are implants that Coleman is certain will trigger the release of different kinds of chemicals. Some of these chemicals are natural to the body, so the implants regulate those. Dopamine, for example. Or they can sync with a med pack prefilled with drugs. Modifications of modafinil and armodafinil, for sure. They act as selective and atypical dopamine reuptake inhibitors; and then there’s adrafinil, which serves as a prodrug for modafinil. And a prodrug is a compound or medication that, once administered and metabolized into a pharmacologically active drug, controls and improves how the drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted. And we also found experiments with other eugeroics—the norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor solriamfetol, and pitolisant, which acts as a histamine receptor antagonist and inverse agonist.”

“Interesting,” said Church.

“And there are other compounds referenced that we haven’t found details on yet. One in particular is R-33. There are notes saying that it’s promising, that tests are showing it to be stable for field use, though of limited duration. And a list of side effects, including possible heart trauma. But we have a ton of stuff to go through, and there’s the encrypted stuff, so maybe it’ll be in there.”