Chapter 34 WELCOME TO THE TEAM

Chapter 34 WELCOME TO THE TEAM
“It is about a problem with the way cells talk to each other with the TGF-beta1 pathway. I might even say it has something to do with the mutation in the Smad3 protein phosphorylation. When this happens the cell gets confused. Does not know whether to fix itself or die. That is the point where it's too late to fix the problem.”

The people on the board looked at Xavier like he was speaking a different language. Aris's mouth was open. His face was red with anger.

One of the women on the board jolted to life then turned to Craig, “is what he is saying true?” 

Aris had trouble swallowing. His voice was shaking as he said yes. 

“But he must have cheated by reading some advanced research papers. There is no way someone his age can know this stuff.”

Craig disagreed with Aris. “Alexander is just very smart and you should accept it.”

But Aris was not done yet. 

He slammed his hand on the table. “We will ask you another question Alexander. This time it is about how to fix spinal cord injuries. We are trying to find a way to make cells regrow in the spine. We are having trouble with it. Look at the board behind you and see those pictures. What do you think?”

Xavier felt a surge of excitement as he turned to see the pictures on the board. He had worked on this problem in his former life. He had found a solution. When he looked at Aris he felt cautious. If he gave them the answer they would try to own it and make money from it and he wasn’t about to let his research get stolen like before.

Xavier chose his words carefully. 

“The current idea is to use tubes filled with special helpers to fix the damaged area. By changing the way the cells worked they might be able to regrow the damaged parts.”

The answer he gave was only a first-stage experimental theory, but even at that, the board was shocked. Some of them were writing down notes like Xavier was a teacher. They thought his answer was brilliant even when it was not the complete solution.

"God help us," one man whispered. 

Aris stood up fast, his chair making a loud noise as it fell on the floor. "I do not believe it,” he growled. "I do not believe any of this!” He said again. 

Then he pointed at Xavier. "Look at him. He is too calm. He is too perfect. There must be something going on here. Someone is helping. This is not real. There is no way you can know these answers unless someone showed you the data before hand.”

Craig stood up in anger. "Aris, you are not thinking clearly. Are you trying to accuse someone of cheating?" 

"Check him!" Aris yelled. “I’m sure there’s a bug in his ear giving him the answers.”

Xavier stepped forward. "It is okay Dr. Craig. You can check me. I have nothing to hide." 

Craig looked a little embarrassed but he nodded then checked Xavier. 

He checked behind Xavier's ears and in his hair, even checked his suit but found nothing.

Craig turned to Aris. "There is nothing, Aris," Craig sighed. "What is wrong with you? You are being really rude in front of everyone. You are a Thorne. You should act like one. There is a camera in the room. It is recording this meeting. You will look really bad if you do not calm down.”

Aris looked at the camera as his chest was moving up and down in anger. He knew Craig was right as he slowly picked his seat back and sat down.

"Okay then… let us vote," he said, giving up on the argument. It was clear he had lost.

Craig started the vote. "We are voting about Mr. Alexander. We want to give Mr. Alexander a license to do surgery on his own and be a full-fledged doctor in this hospital. Those in favor, raise your hand." 

The board members raised their hands one by one. Craig raised his hand last as he had a proud look on his face.

Aris kept his hands on the table. Everyone looked at him.

"Aris, what is wrong?" Craig asked. "The evidence is clear. Alexander is really good at what he does."

"I will never say yes to this,” Aris said in anger. "Alexander is not a good choice. He is dangerous and is not welcome here. I vote no.”

Craig shrugged brushing off Aris's words. "Well Aris… it does not matter what you say. We all voted yes and the vote passes.”  

Aris laughed leaning back in his seat like he owned everything. "You forgot something, Craig,” he said with a dangerous smirk. "I have a lot of power on this board. My family owns a lot. My no vote is like three of your yes votes.”

Craig looked at Aris with a knowing smile. "I did not forget, Aris. The other people on the board voted yes. That means we win. That is 60 points to your 40.”

Aris's face turned pale. He got to his feet as Craig got up and walked over to Xavier.

"Welcome to the team Alexander," Craig said as he held out his hand which Xavier took. His handshake was strong.

"You will be working in this hospital and you will have control over what you do, " Craig said. "Come with me to my office so we can talk about how much money you will make and what kind of benefits you will get. We also need to figure out which department you want to change to."

"Thank you Dr. Craig," Xavier said with a smile. "I will not let you down."

The other people on the board came up to Xavier and shook his hand. They all congratulated him. Treating him like a famous person. Aris on the other hand just stood there looking at Xavier with a lot of anger in his eyes. 

For the first time in years, Aris Thorne watched someone walk out of that boardroom beyond his control as a winner.

Xavier walked out of the boardroom with Craig beside him, but before they could reach the elevator, the familiar blue glow appeared before his eyes.

\[MAJOR STORY MILESTONE COMPLETED\]

\[HOSPITAL AUTHORITY ARC: CLEARED\]

\[PUBLIC RECOGNITION ACHIEVED\]

\[SYNC LEVEL INCREASED\]

\[NEW PERMISSION UNLOCKED: ADVANCED RESEARCH ACCESS\]

\[WARNING: HOST VISIBILITY HAS INCREASED\]

A few minutes later, Aris was all alone in his office pacing around in anger.

"Dammit,” he yelled. "How can someone who is not important have that much power?"

The door to his office opened but he did not turn because he knew who it was.

Blaine walked in with a worried look on his face.

"Father?" Blaine asked. "I saw the board leaving. Did everything go as planned? Is he gone?"

Aris slowly turned around. His eyes red.

"No Blaine," he said in a deep voice. "Things did not go as planned. That arrogant Alexander is now a part of this hospital. He has control over what he does. He has the support of the board."

Blaine took a step back in shock as his face turned white. "But the meeting was supposed to be the end of him," Blaine sighed at his father. "You said you would stop him."

"I tried," Aris stated then walked over to his desk picking up a heavy bottle then pouring himself a drink with a shaking hand. "Alexander is not who we thought he was. He knows things he should not know.”

"So what do we do?" Blaine became slightly worried thinking about the future while working in the same place with their competitor. "He is going to take everything from us. He is already making me look bad in front of the staff."

Aris took a sip of his drink then looked out the window at the city.

"If we cannot stop Alexander through the board," Aris clenched his fist, "then we will stop him by taking his life. Everyone has a weakness. Everyone has a secret. We just need to find out who Alexander really is. When we do, we will not just fire him."

Aris looked at his son with an evil smile on his face.

"We will make him disappear."