'I take it there's no proof then?' Jake said. 'Ever find out where the fire started?'

'I was only sixteen. You think I cared? Dudgeon sent me off to some science academy and I worked here part time - you know, running errands and such. They don't have much time for angry teenagers round here. Anyway, I didn't know about any of this until last week. I just thought - oh I feel so stupid.'

'So you haven't been down there?' Jake tried to keep the scepticism out of his voice. Yes, something strange and exciting was clearly happening, but this urban legend stuff was a bit too far-fetched for him.

'No, of course not. Why would I? The really interesting thing, is there's no Basement Level 6! There are only two floors below the car park, and they're storage.' Yep, Jake thought, far too far-fetched. They should probably let their techs out once in a while.

'Well, it's interesting alright,' Jake said. 'But it's only a story.'

'Yeah. I mean no. I don't know. There's all this weird shit today, like it's been building up for a while. She's been getting more and more excited, but I thought we were in for another amazing breakthrough, not this.'

'Another breakthrough? Even better than a cure for cancer?'

'Who knows? Like I said: I manage the campaign. I'm the front end, the public face. No idea what's going on in the labs. Only what she wants me to know.'

'So all this wasn't just about my report,' Jake said slowly, half to himself.

'Oh please. She just wanted you to stop writing about stupid things when we are about to change the world.' Natalie smiled at the look he gave her, and added, 'Really, we are.'

'Change the world, with the Secs and the promise of immortality?' Jake hated sounding so suspicious, especially when Natalie looked so hurt. At least with a money-laundering scandal there was something to get your teeth into.

'Were you even listening?' Natalie said. 'With the internet, the tiniest rumour can shoot round the planet in seconds. A throwaway comment can destroy a CEO's reputation overnight, bring a government to its knees. Dudgeon wants to be the government. She wants to run things, and the way things are going, she will in a few years. You might have started something, so she wanted to tell you - oh I don't know. Maybe she was going to give away a few of her secrets. Something to spice up the campaign. A teaser, maybe.'

'And I thought Dudgeon was melodramatic!'

'Melodramatic?' Natalie laughed. 'You've got no idea! We can cure cancer! Do you realise how important that is? If this rumour is real -'

'Er - right.' Important, yes. Too late though. Too little too late. If they'd come out with a cure for cancer a year ago, he might still have a life.

If Jake was honest with himself, he hadn't taken much of it in. He'd done those sorts of interviews before, the ones where the politician makes grandiose statements about the future, curing all disease, eliminating poverty. Lip service for votes, that was all. He just hit the record button and let the netbook do the rest. But now something had happened. There was a real story underneath the bluster and fairy tales, and Natalie was letting him in on the secret. All those years writing fluff pieces and getting by would soon be over. Barely surviving while his wife lay dying, sucking everything he earned into a bottomless pit of ineffectual treatments and depression.

Yes, the professor's successes often weighed on his mind, especially when he wanted to end it all. Nobody could be that good, that successful, that quickly. If you believed in magic, the story almost made sense.

Something Natalie had said was still bothering him. 'Wait. So you need my help?'

'Yes.' She sighed. 'Please.'

'To do what, investigate? She won't let me near the place after this.'

'Probably, but there's got to be something in the history of this building, people you can ask. She used to work at some University before moving down here. Start there.' Natalie rubbed her temple. 'You did say she would go far, didn't you?' she said.

'Too far, some might say,' said Jake. 'Regardless of fairy tales. You say these cures actually work? With no side effects?' he shook his head. 'Some things shouldn't be messed with.'

'She hasn't gone far enough, not yet. She wants to make humanity immune to everything. She's aiming for a lifespan of at least 200 years.'

Jake grinned. 'Well that's alright then,' he said. 'Who doesn't want that? Make a good campaign promise too.' He scratched his chin. 'There are some people I could get hold of, I suppose. It's never easy, the hippies live off the grid, but that might be just what we need.'

Natalie hugged him. 'I knew you would be able to help!' she said, 'Anything you can do. I'm completely at sea here, I thought I knew what the Company stood for, but now I'm not so sure. I need to know what's going on. I need to know if she's worth it.'

'Alright,' said Jake, extricating himself, red-faced and perspiring. 'I'll see what I can do.'

'You know, whole sections of this building are locked away. Not on the computer system, even. Anyone who can get into that, would be able to tell us a lot.'

'You mean even your fancy computer -'

'Unicorn.'

'That's right - even Unicorn doesn't know what's down there?'

'Exactly. That Techie who interrupted us? She's from down there. I've only ever met her twice and I've been here ten years. What does that tell you?'

There must be some logic to this, Jake thought. Somewhere, there must be a pattern, a link. A secret fire, a legend, now 'something' escapes and the zombie army arrives in full force to sweep it all under the carpet again. It was getting weirder by the minute. 'Well you'd expect there to be secrecy,' he said. 'I mean you don't want the other Big Pharma's stealing your research, do you?'

'It goes deeper than that, though - Last week I looked inside the casket.'

'Right. Wait - the what?'

'The casket. Did you see it on her desk? Old box, curved lid, fancy carvings?'

'I think so. So?'

'It's her most valued possession. She touches it when she's insecure. Sits and stares at it for hours. Just sitting there, thinking.'

'So? What was in it?'

'Here.' Natalie handed over a sheet of paper, Jake read the words and looked up at Natalie in surprise.

'See?' she said. 'That's where you need to start.' She opened the door. 'Come on,' she said, 'I'd better get you to Accounts before people start asking questions.'