Operation Clover

by B. L. Wilson

art by u/DiViSuCa18

The brisk morning air wrapped itself around a young woman as she walked up to the front doors of her new workplace, her arms tight against her sides as she adjusted the satchel strap over her shoulder. She glanced up at the sign above her head, which boldly declared the godforsaken business inside the building: Syntec. The name itself conjured up a feeling of dread within her, but she was defiant against it. No backing down for this lady! No, sir! she thought as she scrunched up her nose at the sign.

Then she rubbed her arms, shivering with an exhale as she thought out loud, “But why must it be cold?”

She reached out to open the door in front of her, but it swung open and she was almost steamrolled over by a man with tortoise-shell glasses and brown hair. She had to flail her arms out to keep from falling over. He only glanced back at her with an apologetic look, clenching the clipboard in his arms closer to his chest as he quickly turned his attention forward before jogging up to a red SUV. He opened it to toss his belongings onto the passenger seat.

With a slight huff the woman shook her head, brushing the front of her cardigan, “What’s his problem?”

He glanced at her again, taking a nervous double take between the car and her before sliding into it. He’s acting extremely jumpy, she thought as she straightened the strap over her shoulder. His anxiety was contagious, and she slowly looked back at the front door with a dry throat. Blinking the feeling away, she squared her shoulders with a deep breath, come on, Jordan, don’t let that person hold you back! It’s like mother always said, ‘keep your chin up and you can do anything you set your mind to, junebug!’ she curled her lip slightly, Eh, maybe don’t mention that nickname here, but...

Jordan nodded to herself, pulling open the door to step over the threshold. She was greeted by the warmth of the air inside the building and the sight of a waiting room. Chairs lined one wall of the enclosed space and a front counter was situated directly across from the door. She went up to the counter, looking around for the receptionist who seemed to be away. Casually, she leaned against the desk and tapped her fingers on it, taking in her surroundings along with the realization that this was actually happening.

All of her research over the years had led up to the moment she was finally able to step inside what she had figured out to be an office of shady practices. However, the full extent of these practices she didn’t know completely, but she wished to. No, needed to. Perhaps even deserved, but she was hesitant to think that. Who in their right mind would think that they deserved potentially dangerous–if not heartbreaking–information? Though she was regarded as a bit... crazy by her peers. They don’t understand, I need to drag this place out of the shadows kicking and screaming. They took her, so I’ll pat them down until I find her! If that means letting the cat out of the bag, then so be it.

“...May I help you?”

“Ah!” Jordan jumped back as her attention was grabbed by a woman who had appeared out of nowhere behind the counter. The woman raised an eyebrow at her as she recomposed herself with a laugh, “ah ha ha, sorry, I was just,” she trailed off a bit as her eyes looked at the plant next to her, “admiring this beautiful specimen! Is it a fern?”

“It’s a cactus.”

“Oh...” she rubbed the back of her neck with an awkward wince, “anyway, a few days ago the recruitment office contacted me saying that Mr. Syphus wanted me to start today. I was told to uh, pick up my badge and coat here.”

The receptionist gave her a nod, turning to open a cabinet behind her to pull out a white lab coat. “What’s your name?”

“Uh, Jordan Kendal, with one ‘l’, heh.”

The woman gave her a look, “Mhm, you sure about that, hon?”

Jordan nodded, her face turning red, “Yeah.”

As she stared at her for a long, uncomfortable moment, Jordan found it harder to keep a neutral face. Oh, lord, did I get it wrong? I definitely got it wrong. Don’t panic, don’t panic! That was when the woman smiled and said, “I’m just messing with you. You must be as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs,” she handed Jordan the lab coat, the badge on it reflecting the light.

“You could say that,” Jordan checked the badge, which indeed had the name she was going under on it. She slipped the coat on over her satchel and clothing.

“Here, let me show you around, hon,” the receptionist placed a lunch break sign on the counter then stepped out from behind it, “I’m April, by the way.”

She led Jordan down a hallway, pointing out a couple of rooms along the way. When they walked past a few scientists, they gave Jordan curious looks. Act normal, she thought as she focused on the back of the woman in front of her.

They stopped and April motioned to a room as she said, “this is the break room, you can leave your lunch and drinks in the fridge there,” she pointed to the appliance on the other side of the room. A couple of people were already seated at one of the tables inside, one was a woman with dark blonde hair while the other was a man with black hair.

April continued, “Er, just be sure to mark what is yours. Some people here see unmarked food and think it’s theirs,” she gave the man a look.

He noticed her and raised his hands in defense, “Hey, I told you that I thought it was mine, I even apologized.”

“It wasn’t even the same sandwich, Ben!”
“It seemed like it was.”
“You put mayonnaise on a meatball sandwich, who does that?!”
“I–” he cut himself off with a slight groan, standing up, “look I’m not going to sit here and argue with you about this, again. We both have work to do.”

Jordan had to move out of his way as he left the room. He almost stopped to talk to her, but he decided against it as his crystal blue eyes glanced at the woman who had practically chased him out. So instead he briskly walked away from them, running a hand through his hair.

“He has a point,” the blonde woman said as she turned to them.

“About what? He’s insane to think that was the same sandwich,”
April crossed her arms. “What? No, I mean he was right about you having work to do. I can show her around for you.”

“Oh, er, yeah, alright then,” she let her arms fall to her sides, then she turned to Jordan,“it was nice meeting you, hon.”

Jordan nodded at her as she returned to her desk, and she walked into the room, “Hello, I’m Jordan Kendal, with one ‘l’.”

“I know who you are. I’m the one who helped you get here.”

“...D? I thought you would be...” she blinked, looking the woman up and down,

“...different.”

She sighed, “Yeah, somehow I get that a lot. My full name is Deborah.”

“Okay, and what is your last name?”

“That doesn’t really matter, I’d rather forget it, honestly. Come on, let me show you around,” Deborah got up slowly.

Jordan gave her an odd look, “What?”

“What?”

“You just said that you want to forget your last name.”

“Did I?” she thought about that for a moment, then shook her head, “you must have been hearing things,” with that she walked out of the room, pushing up her glasses.

Jordan followed her, a seed of doubt starting to take root in her mind. A few months prior she had been contacted by Deborah, who only went by “D” in their conversations. Deborah had learned that Jordan was looking into Syntec and their practices, and had offered to help her gain more information. At first it was just redacted documents of trails and a few vague descriptions of the prototypes that were being tested. It was only recently that D grew nervous about what was being leaked. She didn’t want to be caught red-handed by someone, and she had had a few close calls already. From what Jordan understood, that was grounds for some sort of punishment from Deborah’s higher-ups, and not the pleasant kind either.

So, D devised a plan. It wasn’t hard to recommend a ‘new transfer’ with her seniority, one from a large company like J&J that she already had contacts in. Removing one letter from her name just in case anyone went poking around and speeding up her hiring with the recruiting office was easy enough, and suddenly everything was set.

Jordan agreed to this plan, despite her own personal reservations.

Deborah led her to a staircase. It was located in a warehouse-like portion of the building, the room being quite large with high ceilings. A couple of the same red SUVs Jordan had seen outside were parked at one end of the room. At the other end were wooden crates of various sizes, all stamped with the word “Syntec” in bold, red letters.

She watched as Deborah checked to see if anyone was around before she kneeled to grab a corner of the landing in front of them. With a slight grunt, she lifted the board up to reveal a hatch that covered a space under the stairs and a ladder that was attached to the support beams that ran under it. The woman then climbed down to land in the darkness of the hidden compartment and she turned on the light to illuminate the space.

“Come down here,” Deborah said as she looked up at Jordan, taking a step back from the ladder.

Jordan crouched down to look into the space, the square computer on the desk in it immediately catching her eye, but she had larger concerns, “Uh, are there any... spiders in there?”

“Just get down here before someone sees you.”

With a gulp, she eased herself down the ladder, almost getting stuck between the beams. When her feet touched the ground, Deborah reached up to pull the hatch down then turned away to power on the computer. Now that she had a better look at the room, Jordan could see that there were several tubes full of different colored liquids along with dishes with samples placed on them. She looked over Deborah’s shoulder at the computer, which was an Apple II, as it started to display green text.

However, her mind was too focused on other matters to concern itself with what was on the computer, and she asked as she hugged her arms, “So, what do you have planned for me now?”

“It’s like I told you before,” Deborah said as she typed on the keyboard, “I have you down as my bio technician assistant, you will do tasks for me as well as take pictures of things that you can use to expose Syntec. Of course, that should be done as secretly as possible and you should use the knowledge you have learned about biotechnology so you don’t draw too much attention to yourself.”

“Uh, right, about that...”

A sigh escaped Deborah’s mouth, “You didn’t study those terms I gave you, didn’t you?”

Jordan laughed nervously, “You see, I was busy working on other things–”

“It’s no matter,” the other woman waved her hand, “just don’t carry on in conversations that would require using those terms. I’ll let you know when you can step away to gather proof.”

A spike of defiance dug itself into Jordan’s mind, “Hey, wait a minute! Do you really think I’m that foolish? I think I can take care of myself when it comes to that kind of decision making.”

“And are you really doubting me now? I’ve gotten you this far, Jordan, and you know that I had to risk my safety to do that. You getting caught would jeopardize both of our lives, so forgive me if I have my own doubts about your–”

She cut herself short, looking up slightly at the board above their heads with a hand raised to signal Jordan to stay silent. That was when the wood around them creaked under the weight of someone on the stairs.

The footsteps stopped right above Jordan’s head, and she could hear a honeyed voice muttering, “...I could have sworn I heard voices right here... maybe I need more sleep... or coffee, yeah coffee...” then they continued walking.

Deborah waited a few moments after they left to speak again with a lowered voice, “Look, both of us have loved ones who we wish to keep from getting hurt even more than they already have. I only ask you to focus on that truth if you can’t trust me fully.”

Jordan looked her in the eyes, the emerald gaze holding a softer look than they had previously, and she nodded, “Alright, but that doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you when I write my articles.”

“As long as people see what is being hidden here, then I will accept that price,” she typed on the computer a bit more, “...it looks like one of my new trial subjects is having difficulties. I need to check up on them,” she got up, going to the ladder to lift up the hatch and glance around before opening it completely.

“I’m guessing that you want me to join you?”

Deborah nodded back at her as she heaved herself out of the compartment and Jordan followed her out, making sure to lay the board down softly. Together they walked further into the building until they reached what looked to be a room a family physician would use for an annual check-up. Sitting on the medical chair in the room was a young man who looked no older than twenty-two, and he was looking at a pill in his hand like it was a ticking time-bomb.

As they entered he looked up at them, clearing his throat, “H-hello, uhm, you’re the doctor, right? They told me to take this, but I’m not sure if this is right.”

“Yes, I’m the doctor assigned to you,” Deborah said as she picked up a clipboard that was sitting on the counter in the room, “you must be... Oliver Baker?”

“Yeah, that’s me, but before I take this thing I want to know what it is.”

She exhaled through her nose, “It’s a laxative.”

“Oh, okay then,” he popped the capsule into his mouth and grabbed the cup by his side to swallow it with some water, then he curled his lip, “this isn’t going to be pleasant, is it?”

“The bathroom is just down the hall when you need it. I will be checking up with you in about an hour and a half.”

His face turned pale at this as Deborah exited the room with Jordan, who glanced back at him with an apologetic face.

When they had gotten far enough from the room Jordan asked, “Why would he need to take something like that?”

“It’s to prepare his body for the tests he’s going to go through. Let’s say that some side effects of the serum cause the body to expel fecal matter rather... explosively.”

Jordan had to hold back a laugh, and when the woman next to her raised an eyebrow, she covered her mouth, “Sorry, sorry, but you’re serious about that?” yet another laugh threatened to escape as her face turned red. And did I seriously ask that? Yes, yes I did!

“I don’t see what is so funny about it.”

“I agree: this isn't a laughing matter. Deb, who is this? I don’t recognize her.”

Jordan jumped, turning her attention to the sandy-haired man now standing with his arms crossed over his chest, a distasteful look on his face directed at her. She squared up quickly and in return gave him a defiant look as she thought, who does he think he is, giving me a look like that?

“I’m sorry, Wes, I was about to tell her the same thing,” Deborah said while giving her a stern look, “this is Jordan Kendal.”

Wait, this is one of the co-founders? Jordan thought.

“She’s the new assistant you were telling me about a few days ago?”

“Yes, I picked her out on the account of her previous work.”

“I see,” he scratched at the stubble on his chin as his heavy eyes shifted over to Jordan, “what was that work?”

Her chest tightened and her mind tried to piece together something believable, “Uh, um, I worked on, uh, new chemicals and, uh–”

“She worked on synthesizing new chemicals for laboratory use,” Deborah said for her, “anyway, I couldn't help but to notice that you didn’t return the email that I had sent yesterday regarding you sitting in on an experiment.”

He directed his now suspicious gaze over to Deborah, and it changed into one that held slight dread, “You know that I don’t like watching those things. To call them experiments just isn’t... it just isn’t right.”

“Wesley, do I have to remind you that it is a part of your job? Especially now more than ever.”

“I know, I just can’t do it anymore... not since the one where–,” he sighed and subconsciously grabbed something that was hanging around his neck, which to Jordan looked like a vial of some sort, “you know the one I’m thinking of. I still cannot shake those screams out of my mind.”

“It was a mistake, and now that Nelson knows about it, I can’t stop him from ordering me to perfect that mistake,” Deborah reached out to rub Wesley’s arm, “I’m working toward a solution, though. One that will free everyone from the pain. But I need you to see what I am working on so that you don’t have to guess about it, and it might help with what you have in mind.”

He locked eyes with her and let his hand drop back down to his side, “I’ll think about it. I hope you do find a solution to... this,” he glanced around loosely before he moved away from the two women. Jordan watched him turn the corner of the hallway, feeling sorry for him. He really does sound like he wants to change something here. Why can’t he? Isn’t he a co-founder of this company? Maybe he doesn’t have a choice, something could be holding him back. Or, maybe this place is too far gone, and nothing he can say can change what is going on. She looked over at Deborah, whose eyes were glazed over as her mind became lost in thought as well. Jordan couldn’t tell if the woman was doing this for everyone involved, or just for the man she had just spoken to. Though one thing was for certain: there definitely was one person who wanted to see Syntec cleansed of its shadows, and that gave Jordan’s glimmer of hope fuel in that something like that could actually be done.

---

The low sun glared over the buildings around Jordan as she waited for Deborah to meet her outside of the location she had specified, the only company being her thoughts as they wandered into the past. The area looked residential for the most part, so she was put off about the location of this “secret laboratory”. It had been just around a year since she had started her undercover work, but she already had had so many close calls. One in particular shook her to the core, she could still picture that Autumn woman’s face as her honeyed words echoed in her mind, I know you are up to something... and I’ll figure out what it is. Mr. Syphus doesn’t like people who snoop around in places they don’t belong. Especially when that place is right outside his door.

Jordan shivered despite the humid air. That woman’s passive aggressiveness was sharp enough to pierce an elephant’s hide. She wasn’t about to test just how dangerous it was. Now that would be insane. Though, not as insane as Nelson trying to smooth-talk her, that was an... unsettling experience.

The sound of glass breaking jolted her from her memories and she looked at the door that led into the building she was near. She would have disregarded it if she didn’t hear someone cursing loudly afterwards. Okay, I thought Deb said that no one else was here, she thought with furrowed brows. Her curiosity pushed her to approach and open the door, its hinges creaking louder than she would have liked as she stepped inside. Equipment beeping steadily was the first thing she heard, but she couldn’t see much due to the lights being dim and the windows being boarded up. She looked around and a knot formed in her stomach when she saw the figure of a tall man standing in a corner of the room, facing in her direction with shadows obscuring his face. Ragged breathing reached her ears as the man’s shoulders raised and lowered with each breath, and he slowly stepped forward as if every move were like needles digging into his skin.

Instinctively Jordan stepped back, grabbing the door handle, but the man stopped, “...Who’s... there?”

His voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard that were also being played on a low resolution television. Jordan winced at it. It held the same amount of pain his body movements portrayed. It was haunting, and sad at the same time. She could actually begin to feel the same amount of agony he was going through.

He took another step forward, one of the only slivers of sunlight on the floor jumping across his leg, “...Deborah? ...Is that... you?”

That was when Jordan recognized him. Her eyes widened with the realization that this man who she had thought–or really everyone had thought, or at least she thought everyone had thought–had disappeared was Ben. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. What, what happened to him? How did this happen to him!?

“...Deborah... I know you can speak,” a hellish cough made him hunch forward, and it took a few moments for him to recover, “...ah... you are speechless... this is how you treat me now that you can see me in this state... with silence...”

Jordan was frozen in shocked fear. She couldn’t speak. Funny, for the first time in her life she was speechless, even when she had seen so much hell over the past year.

He moved forward again, the light sliding across his face and landing on his right eye, which had a red iris in place of its normal blue, “But the silence isn’t complete to me... no... I can hear them... all the souls we have butchered... but the ones you have butchered speak to me the loudest! ...They wish to hear your confessions... all of your guilt... they want to see you grovel in your despair!”

Jordan finally found the strength to push through her fear, and she attempted to open the door she had her back pressed against.

It was jammed.

Tears of pure terror filled her sight as she fought the door handle while she pressed against it.

This seemed to strike a nerve in the man and he rushed forward, “You can’t run away from me forever, Deborah! I am not another one of your failures! You will give me what I need! You. Will. Save me!!!”

He reached out to grab Jordan by the arm, and she screamed as loud as she could. She reached around to quickly hold up her camera, her finger finding the flash button and clicking it. The white light flickered in the man’s face, illuminating it enough for her to see that it was covered in burn scars that ran down from his eyes, and that he was wearing a respirator that had tubes connected to it. He cried out in pain as the light shocked his pupils, stumbling backward with his hands over his eyes. While he was stunned Jordan tried to open the door again, and to her surprise it swung open. She almost fell face first onto the ground, narrowly missing Wesley, who was now outside the door.

He pulled her away from the door and forced it shut behind her as Ben yelled in rage. He narrowed his eyes at her, “What are you doing here?”

Jordan regained her footing, “I-I was waiting for Deb and then–”

“Save your excuses, I’ve had just enough of your lies, Kendall,” he drawled the last part of her name, glaring at her with knowing eyes.

Her face flushed as if she had seen a ghost... well technically she just had, but that was besides the point now, “You know?”

“Do you think I’m naive?”

She blinked a couple times, “I meeean.”

He sighed, “Don’t answer that. Look, I’ve known about your little spy work since you started your undercover gig here. You many have Deb fooled somehow, but I–”

“Oh, no, she knows–” she cut herself short. Oh great.

“...What?”

Jordan took a deep breath, “Don’t get upset with her, though. She’s only helping me to stop Nelson and all of the bad things that are happening.”

“But she knows that Ben needs his rest. He doesn’t need to answer questions.”

Jordan shrugged, “She wanted me to meet her here. Trust me, that’s the only reason why I’m here.”

“Why should I trust you? You’ve been lying to me this whole time!” Wesley crossed his arms and an untrusting look came over his face.

“Hey now, I lie because I have to! And you do, too! Not to mention that Deb wanted me to keep my facade up around everyone, especially you.”

He raised an eyebrow, “So, she purposefully didn’t want me to know about you? What, did she think I would spill the beans to Nelson?”

“I don’t know! She just told me not to tell you!” Jordan raised her arms, “Geez, why do people think I know everything that goes on in her mind? Oh wait, maybe the title ‘assistant’ has something to do with that...”

As Jordan ranted on, Wesley’s face became more grim as his mind wandered deeper into thought. His eyes darted back and forth as they steadily softened until they looked completely lost, all while Jordan flailed her arms around to express the annoyance that accompanied her words.

When he spoke again his voice was heavy, “...I thought she trusted me.”

Jordan stopped her tirade mid-sentence, slowly lowering her arms with a deep breath, “I’m sorry, Wesley, I really am. Trust me, I wanted to tell you.”

He was silent for a long time before he grabbed the vial around his neck, “Just go. I’ll talk to her about this...”

She hesitated before turning to walk out to her car. Maybe I said too much, she thought as she got in her car, ugh, well duh, you did. You weren’t supposed to tell him that! With a deep sigh Jordan ran her hands through her hair and looked down at her lap. That was when she noticed that she had dropped her camera in her struggle with Ben. She rubbed her face, then perked up a bit, it doesn't matter. I'll just ask Deb if she has a camera I can use for the assignment she gave me. I’ll just have to write something very convincing for the article that will be an overview of what they do... at least I’ll catch Gary in the act. Ah, no pressure there...

Of course, now that she was by herself her mind also brought up the image of Ben in the state he was in. The fear she had experienced in that encounter wrapped itself around her heart and she found it hard to breathe. For the first time she felt like she couldn’t continue on with this operation. She could only picture worse horrors in her path, and she had no way to avoid them. ...No, I have to do this! Her defiant nature pushed against the fear like a stag dueling for a doe. She couldn’t abandon this project! After all, she had yet to find out what had happened to her...

And no matter what it took, she was going to find out! Hopefully it wasn’t too late.

---

Hope you enjoyed the fourth and final (for now) short story by Subject 4! Just as a reminder, the first chapter of Season 5 will be uploaded next Friday at 2pm PST!

The ability to subscribe to the paid plan under Substack will be available next week and I will send out a reminder in Discord! Until then, stay curious, Subject 4!