“Oh. I just don’t know any better. I told you I’ve got a lot to learn about being a Christian.”
“Well, don’t learn too much. Wouldn’t want you to unlearn how to pray. You got an answer?”
“Yeah. Nothing will separate me from God. Nothing. You and Switchblade told me that. Tell me something from the Bible, Mel. Tell me I’m right about this.”
“From the book of Romans. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“Does transhumanism fall within the boundaries of all creation?”
“Back when we were at Synvue, I once told you nobody makes something from nothing. Nobody but God. The Helgen Institute didn’t do anything God didn’t allow.”
“What was meant for evil, God used for good.”
Mel smiled and brushed her hand against the side of his face. “That’s right.”
Switchblade pushed the door open and dropped two chairs to the floor. “There. Now what are we doing about this, Charlie? You in? Or are you a transchicken?”
45
Chase grabbed a chair and pulled it to the table for Mel, and he sat beside her. “Get yourself a chair and sit down, you big jerk,” he said to Switchblade as he let a chuckle slide out. “We’ve got to figure out how to get Sparky back where he belongs.”
Switchblade nearly smiled—a rare site from what Chase had witnessed the past few days. “That’s what I’m talking about. What do you do now, Melody? You need anything? Wires or pliers or something?”
“Pliers?” Chase asked. “What do you think she’d do with pliers?”
“I don’t know—you’re the robot.”
“Well, I don’t have any parts that require anything from a tool box, Switchblade.”
“You boys keep it down,” Mel said. “I can’t think.”
“Sorry,” Chase said. “Type in thirty-one, eight and see what happens.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Switchblade said. “What’s thirty-one, eight?”
“Safe travel,” Chase told him. “Mel? Anything?”
“I don’t think so,” she said.
“Let me try.” Chase reached for the computer and pulled it across the table. “When I was traveling, I asked the exoself to give me some instructions, and it did.” He put his hands on the keys and began typing, Mel and Switchblade behind him.
CHASE STERLING REQUESTING REINSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
Nothing.
RESTORE CYBER CONNECTION
“This is a waste of time,” Switchblade said.
HEY, OLD FRIEND. I NEED SOME INSTRUCTIONS. GIVE ME SOMETHING.
The code on the screen mushroomed from a short list of numbers to a full page display of binary code. Chase touched the screen as the code scrolled down. His eyes drank it in. Even his fingertips seemed to take in the information he couldn’t interpret. The processors in his back and arms surged.
“I need to lie down.” He rose from the chair and stumbled to the bed.
“Chase, is this thing hurting you?” Mel knelt on the floor next to him as he dropped to his back. “I’m turning it off.”
“No,” he said. “Robert was able to reactivate the exoself in an orderly fashion. Now it’s just all rushing in at once. But don’t try to stop it. It’s coming back.”
“Don’t want the thing to take you down or nothing,” Switchblade said. “I didn’t mean to push so hard for you to do this.”
The rush that Chase knew as the signature of the exoself seemed to slow. “Give it to me. I need to look at the code. I don’t know what I’m looking at, but I think my eyes do.”
“Chase, are you sure?” Mel asked.
He reached for her hand. “I’m fine.” Sweat beaded on his upper lip. Other than that, and the lethargy that had overtaken him, his physical condition hadn’t altered. He could count the beats of his heart. He knew his blood pressure and temperature. They were forever constant.
“Quickly, Mel. Give me the laptop.”
Before she could stand, Switchblade handed her the computer. She placed it on Chase’s stomach, the screen facing him. He lifted his head a little, and Mel folded the pillow underneath him so he could look at the scrolling code. The inner clock worked again. For three minutes, thirty-four seconds, he didn’t blink. And it all came back.
Every branch of the Underground Church lined up in a sea of information organized by the four S’s. The secret communication of the WR opened to his manipulation. Intel of arrests, of stake-outs, growing detention center population, and the increasing number of people dropping off the grid of WR support programs filled his mind. He checked the reports from the underground against the files of the WR. No base of operations had been flushed out. At least not since those of a few days ago. Chase hadn’t missed too much, and the exoself filled him in on what had gone down during their separation.
He exhaled a groan.
“Chase, that’s enough,” Mel said. “I’m turning this thing off.”
“Yeah, go ahead,” he told her. “It’s done. The exoself is back where it belongs.”
Before he’d finished the sentence, the computer screen went black. Then a spark shot out and a whiff of smoke rose into the air.
Switchblade grabbed the laptop and dropped it on the table. He waved his hand over it as if that would stop the smoke. Then he slammed the lid shut. “I think it was too much for the old thing.”
Chase sat up and rubbed his eyes. “I told Finley we’d get her stuff moved to another computer.”
Mel raked her fingers through his hair. “Too late for that. She’ll understand. All that matters is you’re OK. You are, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. Don’t think I’m quite ready bend a metal pole, and I don’t know if I can see in the dark. Other than that, seems everything is in good working order.”
“Hallelujah,” Switchblade said.
Then a flash of code appeared from the corner of Chase’s eye. It danced and curved until it began to take the form of a human.
Chase wouldn’t allow this. That phantom would not haunt him again. He jumped off the bed, grabbed a chair, and threw it at the corner of the room.
Mel let out a quick scream. “Chase, what is it?”
Switchblade took Chase by the arms and tried to sit him down on the bed, but Chase sent him flying into the wall. The upper body strength was back.
“I will not accept this!” he yelled at the code replicating in the corner. “Get out of here!”
Then he dropped to the bed and breathed out a heavy sigh. He swiped his hands over the top of his head.
“Oh, God, thank you,” he said. “Robert.”
46
“I can see you, Robert.” Chase stared at the apparition materializing in the corner. “Can you hear me?” The white coat worn by the doctor when Chase last saw him was as real as Kerstin’s red dress the night she’d first materialized.
“I hear you, son, but I can’t see you. It’s how the program works.” Robert didn’t look directly at Chase but his lips moved when he spoke.
“I know—I’ve had this experience before. Though I didn’t welcome the last person who intruded on the exoself. But now—”
“Yes, yes. Kerstin. Awful woman. I demanded she be sent back to the Synvue Estate. But the government took her somewhere else, I think. They were hard on her when she lost track of you.”
“Then you know about that. Robert, I’m so glad to see you. Well, to see what the exoself has presented of you. I’ve got so many questions. That aside, it’s just so good to talk with you.”
Mel sat beside him and clutched his hand. “Chase, baby, is Robert Fiender really here? Right now?”
Chase pried his eyes off Robert and looked at Mel. “Same program as when Kerstin showed up. It’s all right. He’s on our side.”
“Are you sure? We don’t know
what kind of tricks those people can pull. Maybe it’s not really him at all.”
“Chase, is someone there with you?” Robert asked. “If so, then a change has occurred in the program. The exoself should not have allowed contact unless you were alone. Little visions and hints of a presence, perhaps, but not audio.”
“Yeah, about the exoself—it’s done some things you might call unbelievable. Not to mention what my body can do on its own. If you know about Kerstin, then you know about the Feds losing my trail so quickly. I mean, I was right there under their noses. Did the exoself throw them off?”
“I suppose it did. The Feds were baffled when the trail went cold. They picked up three men, assumed one of them was you, and brought them in. Didn’t take long, of course, to realize their mistake, but they only scanned the area for your cyber imprint. None was found and they didn’t even bother with a physical search. Then a drone caught your trail, only to crash before it could send back reliable data.”
“The exoself was hiding in an old laptop when it blew up that drone.”
The doctor’s bushy eyebrows drew together and he wiped his mustache. Chase smiled at this. He’d missed the old man. His friend.
“I had a feeling it had come out of your systems when your imprint disappeared. But to hide in an antiquated device? I feared it may have jumped out of you completely this time, rather than remaining dormant after the killswitch was triggered. Its homing mechanism should have sent it here. But it was best that it stayed clear of me—I guess it knew better. I’m under constant scrutiny.” The doctor paused. He blinked his thick eyelids. “Chase, I had nothing to do with implanting the device in Kerstin that allowed her to access the exoself.”
“I know, Robert. I never thought you did. But I think the homing mechanism did what it was supposed to do. Only it sought out a closer familiar hiding place. The laptop—actually two laptops—were registered to Melody Reese. Do you remember that name?”
The doctor grumbled and his lips puffed outward. “Yes, yes, of course I remember. Your undercover programmer. The best friend you were so determined to locate.”
“That’s right. I guess the exoself knew her, so to speak, since she helped in the programming. It took up residence in her computer. A perfect hiding place.”
“Amazing. And now it’s back inside you where it belongs? And you’re safely back underground? Somewhere in Quebec, I assume.” Robert cleared his throat. “Before you answer, and because this whole situation appears so volatile and fluid, disregard my last question, Chase. The Feds have not given up.”
“Thank you for wanting to protect us.”
“Us?”
“Yes.” Chase put his arm around Mel.
“Enough said. But how on earth did you get the exoself back into your processors?”
“I just asked. I typed in a message and the code started scrolling. I think my eyes did the work.”
“Oh my. Your eyes are programmed to accept data, but you don’t need to do that on your own, Chase. You’re an amateur. When I instructed your processors to allow reentry of the exoself, I did it in an orderly fashion to avoid too much strain on your…human. Are you all right?”
“It was a little overwhelming but I feel good now.”
“And all functions are operational? The vision and hearing enhancers? The strength sensors?”
“Haven’t tried out the vision and hearing, but the upper body strength is back for sure.”
From across the room, Switchblade muttered, “You got that right.”
Chase glanced his way. “Sorry, buddy.” He turned his focus back to the phantom figure of his doctor and designer. “Robert, I suffered a broken leg when the truck I was in flipped—that’s when the Feds lost the trail. It took two days for the break to heal. Two days, Robert. What can you tell me about that?”
The man cleared his throat. “Your blood contains—”
“Nanobytes?”
“More like nanobots. But yes, they are in your bloodstream. When I last examined you, they were non-functional. I expected nothing more from them than the validation that such mighty little warriors could indeed be added to a human being’s blood and not cause death. Are you saying that your broken bone has healed completely, Chase?”
“Like it never happened. Are you saying adding this crap to my blood could have killed me?”
“It was a possibility. I didn’t know you then, son. I didn’t care about you as much as I cared about the experiment. Any number of things could have gone wrong. That you survived your transformation at all was a miracle. I must admit part of me longs to study how the techno-evolutionary process is changing you. Your body’s ability to heal itself is just another miracle. If I could believe in miracles. As it is, I’m glad those who do believe have taken you in. You know I’m sorry for all this, Chase. I wish it had never happened.”
“I don’t wish that, Robert. I’m with the ones who have become my people. I have to protect them. Are there any more surprises coming?”
“I can’t answer that with certainty.” The doctor’s appearance seemed to change. A darkness fell on him. “The exoself may take over your own thought process as it strives to preserve itself. Or it may have developed such a dependence on you that it will do nothing to harm you, but only to help you. Either way, it will—it has already—taken on a personality and it’s living inside you, Chase. Whether or not you can trust it…”
“Someone else has taken up residence inside me, and I don’t believe He will allow harm to come to me. Or allow me to become a danger to anyone.”
The doctor shook his head. Was his motion real, or was the exoself adding appropriate gestures to the conversation? “You have become one of the hiders,” he said. “Am I correct? A believer?”
“Yes, Robert. The exoself may attempt to become more, or to make me less. But God is bigger than it or me and He’s got this.”
“Your secret is safe with me, son.”
“My location is a secret, Robert. The work of the underground is a secret. But what I said about me and God is no secret. Tell the world if you want. Tell them Chase Sterling is a true believer. A follower of Jesus, whose blood is more powerful than mine.”
Mel clutched his arm. Did she expect him to keep it quiet? One thought tripped over another. The blood. Actively regenerating healing bytes…or bots.
Amos could live.
“I can’t say I agree with your decision, son. I fear you’ve been driven to the limits of reason by the torment I helped bring on you. Again, you know my sorrow over the matter.”
“No regrets. There’s no turning back. But tell me something, as my doctor and my friend. If my blood was injected into another human—not a transhuman—just a regular man, what would happen?”
Mel lifted her hand to his face pulled his gaze to her. “Oh, Chase, you can’t be serious.”
“Didn’t Christ give his blood for me? Why shouldn’t I follow His example?”
“It’s not the same at all, Chase.” Her eyes filled with such fear, and Chase wrapped his arms around her. He couldn’t bear to think she might come to fear him.
“Trust me,” he told her.
She sniffed back tears and nodded. “Always.”
Chase let her go and stared at the corner of the room. But the computer image his brain had interpreted as the likeness of Robert Fiender had faded to a line of code and a flash of white.
“No. Don’t go. You didn’t answer my question.” He shuffled to the empty corner. “Robert?”
47
Mel put her hands on Chase’s shoulders. “Is he gone?”
Chase drew her close, then gaped at Switchblade, who sat on the floor, his back to the wall, his hands resting on his knees.
“Is he, man? He didn’t tell you nothing about the blood? Because I think you got something there, Charlie.”
“Oh, Switch, you can’t be serious,” Mel said. “You can’t just go pumping nanobytes into a sick man. Besides that, we don’t know what would happen to Ch
ase if we started pumping them out.”
“Actually, it’s nanobots. Is that even weirder?” Chase asked. “Because it sounds weirder.”
Mel didn’t answer—her attention remained on Switchblade. “I can’t imagine any doctor would agree to it, much less one with no training in cyber-genetics. Certainly not Dr. John, and I know that’s what you’re thinking.”
Switchblade got up and limped to the door. “Charlie, can you get that ghost back here for some more Q & A?”
“I don’t think so. But he’ll show up again. Somebody must have interrupted. He can’t very well sit around talking to Chase Sterling with other people around.”
Mel shook her head. “Chase, this is crazy—you talking to him. Talking to Kerstin the way you did. They’re going to find us.”
“We know what happened the last time they closed in. The exoself took care of it.”
“You really want to go through that again?” she asked. “Tell the exoself to stop bringing people here from your old life.” She crossed her arms.
“Robert will be careful. I need to talk to him again.”
“About a blood transfusion? That is even crazier. As leader of Blue Sky Field, I forbid it.”
“Mel. Seriously? You’re going to stop me from doing something to save Amos’s life?”
“I’ve got to get back to the command center.” She opened the door. “If Fiender shows up again, I want to know about it immediately.” She left without waiting for a response.
“Yes ma’am,” Chase said. He pointed at the door and lowered his brow at Switchblade. “That woman…”
“Yeah, you got your hands full, Charlie. But she’s just looking out for you. At least you got Sparky back. You really saw that doctor of yours? I only heard one side of a conversation, and I didn’t see nothing but you staring at the corner.”
“He seemed as real as you, Switchblade. I mean, after he coded in and before he coded out.”
“I think I got the gist of it—the talk you had with the man. You went right out and told him you’re a believer. Took guts, Charlie. More guts than I ever had.”
“Nobody ever taught me to be quiet, Switch. And nobody ever will.”
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