Chapter 7
“What if I could have the thrill and the money?”, Carlie echoes me
My plain face offers no suggestions.
“I’d be happy, I suppose”, she concludes, giving me a shrug and an ephemeral giggle
“You’d be happy whatever it takes to have both?”, I want to know
“Yes”, Carlie admits, after the briefest hesitation, and I smile
“So what can thrill you?”, I want to know
“Being a scientific spy”, is the answer, given without a time gap
The screenplay playing in Rob Neilson’s hotel room unwinds within me, taking new turns.
“A scientific spy?”, I ask, wanting more details
“Imagine sneaking in corporate labs and blowing up all their secrets. Of course human beings create the knowledge corporations treasure as secrets, but human beings are nobodies to the corporations. The profit they make is valuable, but they – as human beings – are worth nothing”
I listen to the tirade without speaking.
“So you want to steal corporate secrets and then what?”
“You know wiki-leaks? Yeah, I want to make it all public”, says Carlie, a bitter bend twisting her mouth
Hunched over an empty glass and a newspaper, the man wrapped in his black trench coat adsorbs flecks of our conversation with discreet glances.
“This would give you the thrill, but what about the money?”, I say
Carlie’s thoughts swirl for a moment.
“I’d sell the secrets and then make them public. I’ll get the thrill, the money and the fun for playing the best prank ever on everyone”, she says angrily
But then Carlie’s horizon closes, her revengeful dreams deflate.
“I must be crazy to discuss this nonsense with someone I just met”, she says
Lying back on my seat, cheeks touching the headrest, I see Carlie beside Rob Neilson as I look at an imaginary TV screen.
“Most certainly Carlie, and I have a crazy idea for you”, I smile