Sofia Amaral posted:
What happened to Dr. Henry KimTO: Erica Cross
Erica,
First of all, my condolences and apologies. I didn’t realize you had a history with Henry, and frankly, I would not have promoted you into this position had I known. If you would be more comfortable working on something else, I can make that happen, no questions asked. (To be clear, I’m not talking about a demotion, I mean a comparable senior position in another department.)
You’re correct in that it’s a very sensitive topic, but given your current security clearance, I can tell you what I know. Unfortunately, I don’t know much. For the past six months, I myself have been trying to work out what happened, but I haven’t made much progress. I know Henry was working late in his lab, and there was some kind of a chronon particle surge. Of course, we know that exposure to large quantities of chronon particles can result in physical changes. Paul Serene is an example of that – his first exposure resulted in his extraordinary abilities, and the second exposure caused his progressive condition. In Henry’s case, that exposure transformed him into a Chronon Disrupted Wave Function Subject, or a Shifter. It is of course clear that Mr. Serene’s and Henry’s conditions are essentially the same thing, even if Mr. Serene’s case hasn’t progressed as far.
However, it’s not at all clear how Henry could have been exposed to such a powerful dose of chronon particles, particularly as the lab area itself underwent none of the temporal changes we have come to associate with such an exceptional event. None of the containers on scene had remotely enough chronon particle capacity for such a high dose, and furthermore, all of them were intact and accounted for. In short, we don’t know where these particles could possibly have come from.
I’m not surprised that Martin Hatch was unwilling to discuss this. He was the only other person present in the lab when the accident took place, but I don’t know why he was there or what happened, and he claims to have no memory of the events. Despite this, Martin somehow managed to contain Henry in the artificial zero state field set up in the lab.
I am unwilling to speculate as to how this could possibly have happened. Suffice to say that I have many questions about these events myself.
Think about my offer, Erica. You’re a first-rate scientist and I would hate to lose you, but I would absolutely understand if you wanted to change departments.
Please give my best to your wife; it was lovely to meet her the other week.
Sofia
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TO: SOFIA AMARAL
FROM: ERICA CROSS
DATE: OCT 6, 2016 – 9:18pm
SUBJECT: What happened to Dr. Henry Kim
Sofia,
I realize this may not be a welcome question, but I feel like I need to ask. I knew Henry Kim very well; I went to school with him, and he was actually my husband’s best man for my first marriage. Unfortunately, when I moved down to Florida, we didn’t manage to stay in touch. Let’s just say that life took me into unexpected directions. It was a very welcome surprise to hear from him when he was recruiting new people, and I’m glad to say we hit it off again. We spoke on the phone a lot, he came over to meet my wife, and, well, it was like old times. (It could’ve been awkward, but it wasn’t. Henry was like that.)
You can imagine my shock and disappointment when I heard about his death just a week before my own employment at Monarch began – we didn’t get to work together the way I’d hoped. Now, Monarch has been very good to me, but his death has been eating at me. I know it’s something people don’t want to discuss, and I understand that there are confidentiality issues. However, having recently been cleared for some of the more sensitive chronon research, I now know that the story of his death is a fabrication, and Henry has become something entirely different. I’m not blaming anybody, but for my own peace of mind or sense of closure, I suppose, I’m wondering if, given my new security clearance, you are in a position to explain how this came to pass.
I should add that I brought this up with Martin Hatch the other day, and he made it clear in no uncertain terms that I should drop the matter. Given that, I’m taking something of a chance talking to you about this, but I feel like I can’t let this go. I’ll understand if you aren’t allowed to discuss it, but I’m more than a little scared and upset. I hope I can rely on your discretion either way.
Erica