Chapter 22

Two story shiny stainless steel and glass greeted us as we neared the laboratory. There was no signage, showing it was very new, or uncaring of publicity. It was close by, in the neighboring suburb of Hillsboro and among numerous other high-technology businesses.

I had driven Doris Alex’s Mercedes. Maggie, Molly, and Doris Alex wore professional dresses, while I wore yet another business casual type outfit chosen by Maggie. I really should give her a raise.

Ushering us in was an early-thirties woman in a business suit. She had the badges waiting for us and then guided us up a floor to a glass conference room. We passed Nate’s office on the way. Just his name was on the door with no title. I wondered how much time he spent at this facility. He had dozens spread across California and the Pacific Northwest. Inside the conference room, there was a view of the outdoors on one side. Hallway on the other. It was empty until Nate walked in a moment later, flicked a switch and the hallway glass wall turned frosted.

Since we were in a business setting, I introduced him as Tanaka-hakase to the women. He smiled and said, “Please call me Nate.” He was friendly and approachable. So different from when we first met; he had insisted on playing power games with me. He carried himself with confidence and pleasantness. Just like a CEO would.

Nate stared at Doris Alex, then caught himself. He offered a hug; Doris Alex embraced him warmly. Even though he had seen surveillance photos of her, in person I imagine had been a shock. She was thirty-eight years old, but looked like she was in her late teens.

We sat down and engaged in small talk. How was the drive? Nice weather, etc. Then Nate explained the health purpose of the tests, considering Doris Alex’s transformation and the twins’ role in it. Nate suggested a tour, followed by a blood draw for the women and a few non-invasive tests ... like eye scans and hearing. We agreed without protest. I asked for some time to talk to Nate privately after the tour, if he could make the time. He readily agreed.

Everyone enjoyed the tour, but Doris Alex was definitely in her element. She walked with Nate and asked what seemed like very on-point questions. It was an extensive biological and nanotechnology lab.

Two dozen offices and conference rooms were on the second floor’s front section. So much rich wood and glass. We were told that much of the rest of the second floor contained mechanicals for the building, equipment below, and filter systems.

The left front first floor of the building contained a normal-looking medical facility with more than a dozen rooms for blood draws, X-rays, and some other diagnostic equipment ... seemingly everything short of an MRI machine. So much white with touches of blue. Pleasant but sterile, like so many medical offices. On the right side began the DNA labs. White coats, hair nets and secure facilities, but we received the window tour. More clean white, with blue and black highlights. Each room progressively processed the DNA through one-foot by one-foot little doors, passing the samples further along. Each room had a name, which I promptly forgot. But Doris Alex was animated in her excitement. Equipment of every size and shape, but a lot of it was tabletop laser printer sized up to refrigerator sized. But none looked like simple boxes. It was clear they were being used for DNA processing and analysis with entry ports, spinning vials, microscopes and controls. There were also a few that were huge. The size of a minivan, but looking like they cost millions of dollars. Near the end, way back deep into the building, was technology that looked mad scientist created. Cables, tubes, canisters, microscopes, computers, screens and who knows what, all patched together into a monstrosity. I remember Nate saying, “a brand new DNA microscopy creation.” Scientific invention was messy and flexible.

Back to the front of the building and roughly down the middle was the nanotechnology manufacturing lab. Here, the white coats and hairnets were replaced by people dressed in casual spaceship wear. White baggy clothes with full head coverings and goggles. It contained Class 10 cleanrooms that we could not enter, but peeked through the windows.

“What’s a Class 10 cleanroom mean?” Maggie asked.

Nate said, “Imagine being on an outdoor city street. You might have a million particles per cubic foot. In a ‘clean’ hospital room, you might have 100,000 particles per cubic foot. Inside this Class 10 cleanroom, you would have 10 particles or fewer per cubic foot.

“Why would you need it so clean?” Maggie asked.

“Loose particles will contaminate what you are researching, or building,” Nate replied.

Doris Alex added, “Like in a fab that builds computer chips into silicon wafers. Every particle landing on a wafer can ruin one chip on the wafer, reducing yield. In a Class 10 cleanroom, the air near the equipment will actually be at one particle or less.”

“Indeed, sounds like you know your way around cleanrooms, Doris Alex,” said Nate.

“I’ve been inside quite a few.”

I estimated the facility to be about 100,000 square feet, but it could have been more. There were two mystery hallways that we could not enter at all.

We dropped off the three young women for their testing and blood draws. Nate explained the DNA test results would take two to three weeks to process.

The two of us entered his office, and he gestured to two comfortable chairs around a small table. The same woman who had greeted us at the building entrance came in and brought Nate a coffee, and water for me. He always does his homework; he knew I did not drink coffee.

“What is on your mind, Brother?”

“I had a sudden realization earlier this week when I woke in the middle of the night. You gave me all the clues, and I put them together finally. Well, one clue I had on my own. That was the ping-pong balls.

Nate leaned back. “I am not following you yet.”

“The Chinese team’s interest. The security protocols. Wanting or needing to keep the twins feeling their freedom. My ring, and the Sibling’s rings with technology so we could alert as to where in the world we were. I’ll tell you what I believe; please tell me if I am close.”