by Eliza Green
Bill had called and told him Harvey and Jameson had come up with a cure, but their method of delivery might cause issues for the Indigenes. This virus had bested Stephen and he was out of ideas. It was time to let others help.
He felt himself slip to the floor. Serena’s grip on one arm firmed up. Clement held his other one.
‘We could have met them alone,’ said Serena, grunting to keep him upright. ‘You didn’t have to be here.’
‘I have to,’ he croaked. ‘This is my fault.’
If it hadn’t been for Serena’s and Clement’s support since the virus’ attack, things could have played out differently for him. Cast out of the district? Perhaps. Stuck in the middle of a District Three coup? Likely. Emile had done a good job of turning everyone against him. It had only taken an hour for the elder to prove how the Indigenes really felt about his leadership skills.
A sound beyond the impervious omega door reached his ears, but just barely. His skills had faded into the background, making him no better than a human. Serena left his side and, with Clement’s help, they heaved open the door.
Waiting on the other side were the two humans, Harvey and Jameson. With them were Bill, Laura and Margaux. Only three of them wore gel masks.
‘Stephen,’ said a worried Margaux, popping through the environmental barrier and coming to his side.
Despite his weakness, he managed a smile for her, but it felt more like a grimace.
The grey-haired Harvey neared him, while the one called Jameson, clutching a black doctor’s bag, stayed back.
Harvey visually inspected Stephen’s eyes and throat. ‘The symptoms appear to have worsened since we were last here. How long have you been like this?’
‘About...’ Stephen coughed and cleared his throat. ‘About a day.’
His throat hurt from using his voice too much. But telepathy felt far worse.
Harvey turned to Jameson. ‘The virus is spreading fast.’ He looked at Stephen again. ‘I assume everyone knows not to use telepathy?’
Stephen nodded. His stomach swirled with a sickness he could barely contain. ‘I think I’m going to be sick.’
Clement and Serena grabbed hold of him before he collapsed.
‘I want to see the infirmary,’ Harvey announced.
The geneticist marched on ahead, forcing Laura and Bill to run after him. Jameson followed. Stephen sensed trust had still not been earned with this human.
His sickness passed. With a nod to Serena and Clement, they walked Stephen there. Medics were tending to new patients, who now overflowed outside of the official treatment area. Some patients had sheets draped over them. Inside, the scene wasn’t much better. They needed the cure now. Success or failure be damned.
Serena and Clement walked him inside the infirmary and over to a mattress that was being cleared of its last patient.
But he stopped them. ‘I can stand. Give the space to someone else.’
His sluggish movements turned him around too slowly. He watched Jameson for a moment. He’d set his doctor’s bag down on the ground and was removing several Buzz Guns from it.
Stephen jerked back from the weapons. ‘What is this?’
‘The cure.’ Jameson nodded at him. ‘Electroconvulsive therapy. We haven’t tested it yet.’
He looked at Bill. ‘And is this your only solution?’
Bill shook his head. ‘We discussed radio wave therapy, to target the specific frequency of the virus.’
Stephen slid his eyes back to Jameson. ‘But shocking us will get faster results?’
Jameson nodded. ‘We don’t know the exact frequency the virus responds to. Shocking you will hopefully shut down all frequencies including the one it is using to travel.’ Next, he removed a cap with nodes attached from his bag. ‘This is an electroencephalography cap. The electrodes will allow us to record the electrical impulses the virus uses most to travel between bodies. If we can isolate the frequency it uses before we shock you, we might be able to use radio waves to target it.’
Stephen took the cap from him and put it on. ‘You’ll test it on me.’
Jameson removed a DPad from his bag and frowned at it.
Stephen held out his shaking arm, waiting for the shock to be administered. Wishing and praying for his abilities to return. For his life to return to normal.
Jameson straightened up, dropping all the Buzz Guns back into the bag, except for one. But a new fear donned his expression and his eyes flicked from Harvey to Stephen.
With a roll of his eyes, Harvey plucked the weapon from Jameson’s hand. ‘Useless. I’ll do it.’
He stepped forward, bringing it level with the side of Stephen’s face.
The angle of approach alarmed Stephen and he jerked back. ‘What are you doing?’
Bill answered, ‘The shock is to your brain.’
Stephen widened his eyes. ‘My brain?’
Bill nodded. ‘We need to disable everything.’
Harvey continued, ‘The cap will record the electrical impulses you’re using now, but it does nothing for the infection. The shock directly to the source will switch off all electrical signals and hopefully render the virus dormant. Like I said, if we can isolate the frequency before that happens, we can target it. But either way, the shock has to happen.’
‘We also think the virus is interfering with your body’s ability to self-heal,’ added Jameson. ‘When we turn it off, that should return. If we can’t isolate the frequency, your body should fight it on its own. We should know in an hour if the treatment has worked.’
Stephen’s mind raced with the stories from first and third-generation Indigenes, both of whom had been created and subjected to numerous barbaric tests at the hands of doctors just like these. Second-generation Indigenes, like Stephen, had been born on Exilon 5 and spared the same tests. But Stephen’s gaze found Anton, a second gen who had been tortured by Charles Deighton and whose DNA had helped to create Serena. They hadn’t endured all of that to give up now.
With a nod, he lowered his arm. ‘Try it on me.’
Harvey looked around the infirmary. The medics’ gazes were all on him as he clutched the weapon. ‘We can do this somewhere more private, if you like?’
Stephen would not hide this from his charges. They needed to see it work.
Or not.
Serena squeezed his hand and whispered, ‘I’m not going anywhere.’
Bolstered by her words, he shook his head at Harvey. ‘Here is fine.’
He straightened up as much as his sickness would allow.
‘Okay,’ said Harvey, kneeling down beside a vacant mattress. ‘Clear this space, please.’
Serena ordered the medics with a nod. They moved the patients from the mattresses on both sides of the vacant one to outside the infirmary. Serena and Clement helped Stephen to lie down.
‘Tilt your head to the side.’ Harvey activated the Buzz Gun. It crackled with an energy that made Stephen’s skin crawl. ‘It’s the fastest way, I promise. It will be a high concentration, but not enough to kill you.’
Stephen stopped him with a hand. ‘Will my abilities be restored?’
‘It’s hard to know. The mutations may be permanent, or they may be temporary.’
Harvey’s words contained little warmth. He looked at Bill, who was chewing his thumb, looking far too concerned. Margaux was standing next to him, her face relaxed. She smiled at him and nodded. Laura was staring hard at Harvey.
He didn’t trust him either, but this former Earth geneticist was the most qualified to deal with his condition.
Stephen removed his hand and tilted his head to the side. He stared at the back wall. ‘Do it.’
Sensing Harvey was close, he squeezed his eyes shut. A sharp, blinding pain followed. Air rushed out of him with the shock.
‘Keep still,’ snapped Harvey. ‘Everyone else, stay back.’
Tiny pinpricks of pain flicked inside his skull as the electricity bounced around.
Then the pain stopped and
a warm sensation took over, making his skin tingle. This was either the best idea he’d had or the worst.
A rush of emotions hit him. Tears formed in his eyes and leaked from his eyes. It felt like they might never stop.
‘What’s wrong with him?’ he heard Serena say.
‘The shock is likely interfering with his abilities,’ Harvey said. ‘You all experience moods, some more than others.’
‘How long will it last?’
Keeping his eyes shut, Stephen concentrated on the basic functions that he worried Harvey had destroyed. When no reply came, he imagined Harvey shrugging.
Flashes of colour brightened his inner world. Pain hit again as the warmth switched to cold that spread through his head. He shivered. Perhaps it was the virus on the move, trying to find a new food source. He searched for Serena’s energy but the room felt of nothing. A different pain dropped his mood to a new low.
‘It didn’t work,’ he huffed.
His fear at having lost his abilities consumed him. Harvey might as well have cut his throat.
‘It’s too early to know that,’ said Serena, clutching his hand. ‘We need to wait.’
The sense of loss cut off his ability to talk. He peeled open his eyes, seeing only a blurry version of his mate.
‘I can’t,’ he croaked. ‘My abilities... they’re all gone. I don’t know how to live without them.’
‘Please, Stephen, everything will be okay.’
Serena’s voice grew weaker, or maybe he did. As though a wall divided them, his pain drew him further from reality and his mate.
This must be what death feels like.
An empty void. Population: one.
☼
Someone roused a groggy Stephen from his sleep. The void vanished with several fast blinks. The room came into focus, as well as a sea of concerned faces. His left arm had a needle sticking out of it, attached to a bag containing clear fluid.
A relieved Serena smiled down at him. ‘Stephen, are you okay?’
The pain was gone, and so too were the headaches that had dominated his vision. It was as if something had been pressing down on his ocular nerve. Now, that something was gone and his head felt lighter. Stephen tried to locate Serena’s energy again, to check his abilities, but he found nothing. With a huff, he settled for holding her hand.
‘I think so.’
He sat up in the bed too fast. The action made him dizzy.
Harvey and Jameson both lunged at him.
‘Steady, you’ve been out of it,’ said Jameson.
His head felt heavy for a different reason. He reached up to touch the cap fitted with electrodes.
Stephen frowned. ‘How long?’
‘Just an hour,’ said Jameson. ‘But the data from the EEG cap allowed us to pinpoint the virus’ exact frequency and target it with radio waves. A new blood test confirms the virus is gone.’
Stephen touched the side of his head. The sound of movement in the infirmary calmed him; at least he still had his hearing. He searched for the colourful auras he saw on a daily basis that identified moods. But the room didn’t shift from its flat, grey appearance.
With a grunt, he said, ‘How long before my abilities return?’
Harvey frowned at him. ‘I don’t know. ’
His heart thrummed in his chest. A feeling of dread coated his clammy skin. ‘You mean I may never get them back?’
Bill grabbed Harvey’s shoulder suddenly. ‘You sure the virus is gone?’
Harvey nodded.
‘Then get on with treating everyone else.’
For once, Harvey did what he was told.
Bill hunkered down next to Stephen. ‘It may take a while for your body to repair the damage done by the virus and for your abilities to return. Give it time. For now, be happy it worked.’
He slapped Stephen’s arm, the one without the needle in it.
One thing Stephen hated more than disorganisation was to be a patient. He pulled at the needle, yanking it free. Jameson protested from the other side of the room, but Stephen ignored him and got up. Serena and Bill help him to stand. The virus was gone. He trusted his body to figure out the rest. The litany of concerned faces switched to relief when he managed to stay upright.
‘Am I immune to the virus now?’
Jameson looked back at him. ‘Yes, your body knows what it is now. The radio waves killed the virus’ food source: the frequency.’
Stephen nodded. ‘Treat the elders and first gens next. They got it first. Then the second gens.’
He couldn’t delay treatment of the elders any longer.
With a quick glance at a barely awake Anton and Arianna, Stephen shuffled to the exit. An arm on his stopped him before he reached it.
‘Where do you think you’re going?’ said Serena.
‘To the Nexus. I need to try and heal it.’ With his telepathy gone, he didn’t know if it was even possible.
Despite her protests, she came with him. As did Bill and Margaux. On the way, he explained his plan to all three. Laura and Clement remained behind with Harvey. Probably to keep an eye on him.
His strength returned enough that he could walk unaided. As he passed by Indigenes, he fired instructions at them to head to the infirmary, where a cure awaited them.
By the time they had reached the tranquillity cave Tanya had used, all three of them were on board with his plan.
The cave was still blocked by large rocks and two Indigene guards. Stephen ordered for the guards to remove the blockades.
The guards, surprised by his presence, did as he commanded.
He entered the cave with its two dozen units set into the floor. Serena, Margaux and Bill followed.
Bill waited by the entrance where the floor was more even and solid. ‘Last time I was in here was to stop Tanya and Simon.’
‘She’s no longer in there, but some part of her lives on,’ said Stephen. ‘I need to rid the Nexus of her. If I don’t, it will keep emitting a poison and fighting anyone who tries to use it.’
He peered into one deep unit and, with Serena’s help, got in using the stone steps.
Stephen sat on the floor and assumed the position needed to enter the healing space.
Serena knelt beside him. ‘Let me come with you.’
He shook his head. ‘I have the cure. I’m immune. I need to heal the Nexus.’
She nodded, despite her frown. ‘Okay, but at the first sign of trouble you get out of there, or I’m coming in to get you.’
42
Serena’s voice faded into the background the second Stephen closed his eyes. The solid wall changed to a bright orange lattice. A breath rushed out of him. His telepathy must still work on some level. A dull, grey tendril reached out for him through the lattice, turning it a burnt orange colour. Instead of taking him gently, the tendril yanked him inside the space hard.
A rush of air escaped his lungs as it jerked him over to a pulsating Nexus wall. Gone was the bright golden wall with orange tones matching the lattice. In its place was a patchy, black, yellow and dark red that resembled bruising. A heaving wall and erratic energy greeted him. Only when he got close enough did he notice the tiny black veins running through its surface. It had been twenty-four hours since Stephen and Clement had been here. Twenty-four hours since he’d ordered the Indigenes to stop using the Nexus. His decision had been the right one.
Black pumped through the tiny veins marking the smooth surface of the wall. Stephen shuddered to think the same blackness had been inside him, killing him slowly.
The tendril slammed his energy against the bruised wall. New grey tendrils drew out from the wall and connected to his energy. They sucked on his energy. The black veins pulsated hard as though he had become the Nexus’ only food source.
The tendril squeezed him suddenly, forcing a gasp from Stephen on the outside.
He heard Serena ask, ‘Are you okay?’
Despite his immobilised energy, he managed to nod at her.
He saw th
e problem now. Without a regular supply of Indigene energy, the Nexus wall had turned black. Without Indigenes to infect, the poison could not spread far and wide, so it turned upon itself. The Nexus was killing itself.
Stephen had to stop it.
Another tendril whipped his energy, leaving a trail of fire across his skin on the outside. Inside, his energy, which held the cure, became the Nexus’ next target.
He pushed against the pressure from the squeezing tendril, but it held him tight against the wall. The Nexus bucked and writhed, creating a new ripple that started from his location and travelled full circle. The ripple turned into a shudder as more tendrils exited the wall to feed on him, sucking and draining all life from him. In his unit, Stephen’s body slumped forward. His mind screamed against the assault. The Nexus attacked him like a wild animal in its last dying moments of life.
That’s when he realised the poison still belonged to Tanya. She might be gone, but she had pumped her paranoia into the Nexus’ veins, turning what was good about the space against the Indigenes. He didn’t believe that had been her plan when she’d entered it. The Nexus was an infinite supply of energy but an organic being nonetheless, created out of the Indigenes’ existence. It relied on them to live and had succumbed to the same fate as half of his district. He hoped the others were getting their treatment.
Stephen hesitated, not wanting to hurt the Nexus, but also keen to avoid more pain. The tendrils slapped him harder now and made his body sting in several places. He knew the Nexus tasted the antibodies now, that his energy was fighting against the poison. But the longer he remained inside the Nexus, the more violent the tendrils’ actions became. They stopped feeding his energy to the wall, turning the space dark and insidious. But still they refused to let him go.
Serena’s ethereal sounding voice reached him from the outside. ‘Let me come inside.’
‘No, it’s too dangerous,’ he replied, not sure if he’d spoken out loud or said the words to himself.
More punishment came in swipes and slashes, harder than before.
‘Stephen...’