hint about p-modding just to taunt us. 'A measure of security' he says. Ha!" Kalliope muttered darkly.
"It doesn't mean they were behind the break in," Harmony replied, thinking it over. "But it does seem probable that they knew about it and mentioned it as a threat."
"I don't know. I heard rumors on the globenet that Malsanto was behind that lab in India burning down after they were cloning and selling Malsanto products at a discount," Thalia interjected, shaking her head. She didn't know what to think. The whole meeting had been horribly depressing.
"If we give them this technique, the government could use it for all sorts of horrors and they could do it to anyone. If they can change a person's genes through the food that they eat, they can change you without your knowledge or consent," Kalliope said.
"But if we don't they'll just come up with another way to do it. That's the way it always works out," Bob spoke up. "My goodness you ladies are gloomy today. You may not like him, but that man talked a lot of sense. If we do what they want, we don't have to worry about what threats they made or what they might do. All we'd have to do is start counting all the money we'll have and stop worrying about the government rolling in and shutting us down. Sounds pretty good to me."
Joanna rolled her eyes. "I don't really think that's an option, Bob. We don't need the money, for starters. We have a backlog of work for the next two years. And even if we suddenly took leave of our senses and wanted to give the government yet another way to make people miserable, an action like this would require a full vote of the Co-op. Remember? That's why we call it a cooperative. And I sincerely doubt that it will pass in this town."
Bob left the room in a sulk.
"Well, at least we know what they want," Harmony said as they got up to leave.
"What is that exactly?" Thalia asked.
"They want to threaten us. They want the p-mod technique and they want us under their thumb, doing all the stuff they can't do," Joanna summarized. "But they can't buy us out and we won't play ball. So they are going to make trouble for us."
"Why is it so difficult to run a genetech business?" asked Thalia with a sigh. "I mean it's hard enough coming up with a product that works while keeping the cost down to something our clients can afford."
"It could be worse, daughter dearest," replied Harmony. "I started this business the year after they legalized splicing again. It had been outlawed for forty years before that. You want to talk about difficult? It was practically a full-time job just convincing those farmers that they wouldn't wake up to attacking killer tomatoes if they bought my splices."
"That was a crazy time," laughed Joanna. "I just wish they would end the ban on human splicing. We could really make some money if medical genetics weren't so heavily regulated."
Harmony cast her a look. "There were some very good reasons they banned gene modification for so long and it all had to do with human splicing." She gave a quick shudder.
"We are going to need airtight security," Kalliope said with a grim smile.
"This is really not a good time for anyone to be taking too close a look at us and anything we might be involved in. The government does not have the best sense of humor these days," Harmony sighed, looking at her daughters pointedly. Thalia and Kalliope looked embarrassed. Thalia made a mental note to have a talk with Clio about some of their extracurricular projects.
CHAPTER SIX
I t was just after dark when Seth and Max headed towards the location Clio had sent to their handhelds. It was another visually disheartening diner called 'The Tequila Shack.' As they opened the doors, a wave of mariachi music rolled out into the night. Despite their initial urge to run for it, the smell of mouth-watering Mexican food sucked them inside.
"God, it's like a clown car," Max laughed. "How do they fit so many people in here?"
"I'll go check the bathroom and see if
"It doesn't mean they were behind the break in," Harmony replied, thinking it over. "But it does seem probable that they knew about it and mentioned it as a threat."
"I don't know. I heard rumors on the globenet that Malsanto was behind that lab in India burning down after they were cloning and selling Malsanto products at a discount," Thalia interjected, shaking her head. She didn't know what to think. The whole meeting had been horribly depressing.
"If we give them this technique, the government could use it for all sorts of horrors and they could do it to anyone. If they can change a person's genes through the food that they eat, they can change you without your knowledge or consent," Kalliope said.
"But if we don't they'll just come up with another way to do it. That's the way it always works out," Bob spoke up. "My goodness you ladies are gloomy today. You may not like him, but that man talked a lot of sense. If we do what they want, we don't have to worry about what threats they made or what they might do. All we'd have to do is start counting all the money we'll have and stop worrying about the government rolling in and shutting us down. Sounds pretty good to me."
Joanna rolled her eyes. "I don't really think that's an option, Bob. We don't need the money, for starters. We have a backlog of work for the next two years. And even if we suddenly took leave of our senses and wanted to give the government yet another way to make people miserable, an action like this would require a full vote of the Co-op. Remember? That's why we call it a cooperative. And I sincerely doubt that it will pass in this town."
Bob left the room in a sulk.
"Well, at least we know what they want," Harmony said as they got up to leave.
"What is that exactly?" Thalia asked.
"They want to threaten us. They want the p-mod technique and they want us under their thumb, doing all the stuff they can't do," Joanna summarized. "But they can't buy us out and we won't play ball. So they are going to make trouble for us."
"Why is it so difficult to run a genetech business?" asked Thalia with a sigh. "I mean it's hard enough coming up with a product that works while keeping the cost down to something our clients can afford."
"It could be worse, daughter dearest," replied Harmony. "I started this business the year after they legalized splicing again. It had been outlawed for forty years before that. You want to talk about difficult? It was practically a full-time job just convincing those farmers that they wouldn't wake up to attacking killer tomatoes if they bought my splices."
"That was a crazy time," laughed Joanna. "I just wish they would end the ban on human splicing. We could really make some money if medical genetics weren't so heavily regulated."
Harmony cast her a look. "There were some very good reasons they banned gene modification for so long and it all had to do with human splicing." She gave a quick shudder.
"We are going to need airtight security," Kalliope said with a grim smile.
"This is really not a good time for anyone to be taking too close a look at us and anything we might be involved in. The government does not have the best sense of humor these days," Harmony sighed, looking at her daughters pointedly. Thalia and Kalliope looked embarrassed. Thalia made a mental note to have a talk with Clio about some of their extracurricular projects.
CHAPTER SIX
I t was just after dark when Seth and Max headed towards the location Clio had sent to their handhelds. It was another visually disheartening diner called 'The Tequila Shack.' As they opened the doors, a wave of mariachi music rolled out into the night. Despite their initial urge to run for it, the smell of mouth-watering Mexican food sucked them inside.
"God, it's like a clown car," Max laughed. "How do they fit so many people in here?"
"I'll go check the bathroom and see if
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