Tanaka’s eyes narrowed as he considered the latest information. “You’re lying.”
“Can you take that chance? Your brother’s cables, the one still stuck in his head, I still have remote control of them. I sent a command to shut down his brain. All his organs have stopped working. I did this a few moments ago, so there is time to save him if you get him to a hospital, but you have to do that now. Every second is another second his body dies.”
Tanaka slowly released Destructo while he jumped off. “Where is he?”
“In the same room where you found Nancy.”
Tanaka narrowed his eyes, pictured the room in his head, then teleported away.
He looked around and found Daniel lying face down on the ground, unmoving. He ran over to his brother and knelt down, desperately feeling around for a pulse he couldn’t find. “Damn robot wasn’t lying.” Tanaka spat as he picked his brother up. The adrenaline running through his body cleared his mind enough to get a partial image of the hospital in his mind. He tried activating his powers but found himself going nowhere. A throbbing shot of pain assaulted his head, dissolving the careful image he constructed. Concentrate, Tanaka thought to himself, trying his best to clear his mind. Daniel is going to die if he couldn’t do this.
The image of the hospital waiting room formed in his mind again. He could see the chairs, smell the cleaning agents, hear the nurses walking around. It was the best he could do, and when he activated his powers again, he heard the loud pop of his teleportation. When he opened his eyes, he saw several people looking at him, confused.
“Help me!” He yelled, snapping the staff out of their shock and into action.
A nurse brought a gurney up and Tanaka laid his brother down on it. Doctors ran up to him, checking for any vital signs. They started shouting orders to the staff, ordering stuff that Tanaka knew nothing about. He watched as they wheeled his brother away. He wanted to follow but found his feet unable to obey his command. He took a step back and found an empty chair. He sat there and waited for the pain in his head to return. It did with a vengeance. He fell off the chair and onto the floor, holding his head and rolling around.
Now it was his turn to be attended to. Before he knew it, he was being carted off into a bright emergency room. Questions were being shouted at him and he answered them as best he could. “Got into a fight with a robot. I’m an Evo and my powers are going crazy. My teeth were lost a while ago, and yes, I have had several concussions this week.”
They put a needle in his arm, and after a few seconds, the pain in his head went away. Everything was still foggy, thinking was difficult, but at least he didn’t feel anything. An overwhelming feeling of exhaustion hit him and he closed his eyes as the nurses and doctors worked on him, fixing him up so he could fight another day.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Tanaka heard the sound of a heartbeat monitor and opened his eyes. Something dripped from a bag into his left arm, and the room smelled like rubbing alcohol. He blinked a few times remembering what happened and why he was here. Daniel. His thoughts suddenly moved to Daniel. How was he doing? He reached up to feel a bandage on his nose. It was swollen, he knew that much, and it still hurt but at least it seemed to be on its way to healing.
Sitting up in his bed, he reached over to grab the tube running into his arm. He needed to get up, needed to find out what was going on with his brother. He didn’t care about the robots anymore. Didn’t care about anything other than Daniel.
“Whoa, take it easy,” came a voice from next to him. He didn’t see Grace siting there and wondered how he missed her.
“What are you doing here?” He asked.
“I heard about what happened on the news and came running. Daniel is still in intensive care. Figured it wouldn’t be long.”
“How long have I been out?”
“About fifteen hours,” she replied. “Things have gotten interesting. You and your brother helped saved hundreds of lives.”
“What?” Tanaka asked.
“It’s all over the news. The police found the bunkers, found the people inside. They’ve been slowly waking them and gathering up their robot copies. So far, it’s been peaceful. The robot copies just sort of shut down when the human versions of them wake up. I’ve been in touch with Officer Lee. He might know more about that, but so far everyone is safe.”
Tanaka fell back onto his bed and sighed. He felt the emotion well up inside of him. He wanted to shed a tear of relief. He hadn’t cried since Nancy left him but he wasn’t about to now. There was still a lot of work to do and he wasn’t going to celebrate yet. “What about Daniel? What did they tell you?”
Grace shook her head. “Not much. I know his heart had stopped but they were able to start it again. I know all his organs were failing so they put him on every machine they could. He’s strong but...” She sniffed back some tears. “I’m not sure if he’s that’s strong.”
“He is,” Tanaka said, hoping his words were true. “He is. I need to see him. I need to be near him.”
Grace stood. “I’ll get a nurse.”
Tanaka reached out and grabbed Grace by her arm. “Do you know anything about Nancy?”
She looked at him sad. “The reports on the news said they found a body outside the bunkers. They identified it as Nancy Waddel.”
Tanaka nodded and released her arm. After she left, he felt the swelling of grief rise up inside. There was no preventing it now, even his heart couldn’t take the pain and he felt himself sobbing uncontrollably. The person he got to know out here wasn’t the real Nancy. But she was close enough for him to realize he wanted something more. If it wasn’t for this robot bullshit that could have happen. He would never know her again. Never understand why she did what she did.
Moments passed by as Tanaka struggled to regain his emotional equilibrium. By the time the doctor walked in, he had pushed it all down into a place where he could release it when he needed to. “Tanaka McGuffin, how are you feeling?”
“My brother,” Tanaka said. “Where is he?”
“In a moment,” the doctor replied looking at Tanaka’s chart. “You have a broken nose, a concussion, and broken teeth. You should be in a great pain. How do you feel?”
“Doc, don’t take this the wrong way, but I feel like kicking your ass. Now tell me about my brother.”
“Okay,” the doctor replied putting the chart back. “Feisty. You’ll be fine then. I’ll find out about your brother. I’m not working on his case. But I have heard some news about him. He’s a fighter all right, but he’s not in decent shape. I’ll get his doctor to explain it to you more. Sit tight.”
Once the doctor walked out, Tanaka ripped the tube from his arm, stood from his bed, and walked out of the room. He followed the doctor closely, not even trying to keep himself hidden. Finally, the doctor turned. “He’s on the seventh floor, room 712, intensive care. I have to warn you, he doesn’t look very good.”
“I don’t care,” Tanaka said, then turned to go to the elevators, grabbing a large band aid off a tray as he did. He ripped the band-aid open and slapped it onto his bleeding arm. Pulling out the needle hurt a lot more than he was willing to let on. Gotta keep up the tough guy act, he thought as he waited for the elevator to take him up several floors.
When the door opened, Tanaka walked down the hallway, ignoring everyone and everything until he found his brother’s room. He opened the door, walked in, then sat down next to Daniel.
Daniel looked like the meal inside a plastic web. Tubes of all sizes and colors were running all around his body, feeding him food, dripping medicine, keeping him alive. The plugs had been removed from his head and were replaced with a large white bandage that looked like it would need to be changed soon. The largest tube was sticking out of his mouth. His head had been shaved bald, and if Tanaka were in a better mood, he’d find a way to make fun of Daniel for it.
A group of machines hummed along next to his bed, making sounds only heard in a hospital. Some of the mach
ines swooshed while overs beeped or sloshed.
Tanaka grabbed his brother’s hand and squeezed. “Come on, bro. Wake up, man. I can’t do this alone.”
Daniel didn’t respond. Tanaka was hoping for something, a twitch, a return squeeze, a wink, something to let him know Daniel could hear him. Instead he got nothing.
“Is that Shadow Ninja?” Asked a voice from the doorway. “And, are you Dagger?”
Tanaka turned to see a young boy, tall, thin, and very geeky looking, standing there. A bag filled with fluid was attached to a large pole which he was able to wheel around. He wore a blue robe, old and worn looking. His hair was a mess of cowlicks and grease. “Yeah. Who are you?”
“Oh, I met him a few days ago. My name is Harold, but he might know me as Whitebeard the Wizard.”
Tanaka’s eyes narrowed, then he remembered. This was the boy who connected everyone at the hotel. He was a powerful telepath, and he was shot with an arrow. “Didn’t recognize you without that stupid beard. Last time I saw you, you barely had a heartbeat. Didn’t think you’d make it.”
“Almost didn’t,” he replied weakly. “Still not in the best of shape, but they say I’ll pull through. I will have a pretty neat scar to show people.”
“Yeah, chicks dig scars.” Tanaka said.
Harold looked over at Daniel. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I don’t know. Not sure exactly what happened but his organs shut down and now he’s dying.”
“I’m sorry. Why are his organs shutting down?”
“I don’t know!” Tanaka yelled. “That bastard robot did something to him and I don’t know what.”
Harold closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “He’s in there, fighting. I can see him trying.”
“What?” Tanaka stood from the chair and walked over to the boy. “You can see him?”
“Yeah. He’s lost, looking for a way out. He wants to wake up, he wants to get things going again. He’s angry, frustrated.” Harold opened his eyes. “I can take you to him. Maybe you can help.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Lead him out. He doesn’t want to die.”
“Why can’t you do it? I mean, go in there and help?”
“He doesn’t know me. In fact, the last time he saw me, I was sort of working for the guy who did this to him. He knows you, and he’s more likely to follow you out than me.”
“How can I trust you? I mean, like you just said, you were working for the bad guy.”
“And the bad guy shot me,” Harold replied coldly.
“Do it. Send me in there. Let me try and save my brother.”
Tanaka opened his eyes and found himself in the middle of his childhood living room. He could smell the forest outside his house, feel the warmth from the spring day, and hear the sound of someone moving around upstairs. The furniture was just as he remembered it on their last day here. He looked around and found a pile of bags sitting by the door.
He walked around the house, listening for any threat which might be here. He had never done the mental thing, not like this, but he knew from his training how dangerous it could be. This wasn’t his mind, it was someone else's, and weird things happen in other people’s brains.
Stepping through the patio door, he walked outside and into the forest. The trees swayed in a breeze that seemed to head his way, but when the time came for the wind to hit him, nothing happened. Which made sense since this wasn’t the real world, just one his brother created. So Daniel had to be here somewhere.
“Daniel!” Tanaka yelled. His voice echoed as if he it had come from massive, invisible, speakers. “Where are you?”
He heard a loud whimper from the woods and walked toward it. The grass under his feet felt like plastic. The sun over his head produced no heat. He did, however, hear things clearly. The sound of bugs walking across the leaves. The chirping of a bird in the far distance. He even thought he heard the steady pounding of his own heart. Was this what it was like for Daniel to have enhanced hearing?
The whimpering grew louder and Tanaka followed it. He saw a boy leaning against a tree, his legs curled up to his chest, crying. A young Daniel cried quietly looking at the ground. Tanaka knelt in front of him. “Hey, you. What’s up?”
Daniel looked up, his face red from crying, his cheeks stained with tears. “I don’t want to go.”
Is this a memory? Tanaka thought. “Why not?”
“The sounds will be too much. I can barely get through the day now without going crazy. I hear everything. I see everything. I smell everything. It’s hard, too hard. This is a perfect place for me. I don’t want to go.”
Memory or not, Tanaka thought, this seemed to be what’s keeping him here. “Come on, things will work out. I promise.”
Young Daniel looked up at Tanaka. “How do you know?”
“Dude, I’m in your mind. Come on. You have to remember what happened. Unless this is some sort of weird time travel thing, this is all in your head. Now come on, wake up. I need you in the real world.”
Young Daniel shook his head. “No, no. This is the real world. This is real.”
“This is a memory. Come on, wake up.”
“No, real.”
“Memory!” Tanaka yelled, his voice once again echoing loudly through the forest. The trees seemed to sway faster, the sky turned a bit darker. “Daniel, come on, wake up.”
Daniel stood from his spot. Each movement seemed to cause him to grow a little older. His face changed shape, his limbs grew, and his chest filled out. By the time he was done standing he had become the adult version of himself. He still looked around, confused. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know exactly. All I know for sure is you need to wake up so I can make fun of you for losing to a damn robot.”
“Robot?”
“Ugh!” Tanaka said raising his hands. “Yes, robot. Look, this is your mind. I can’t really tell you where to look for those memories, so—”
The forest suddenly changed, and Tanaka found himself standing in the base. Around him where the hibernation chambers, and in front of him was Destructo. Tanaka figured this was the last thing Daniel remembered. Nothing moved, it was as if time—or Daniel’s memory—had suddenly stopped.
“This is the last thing I remember,” Daniel said. “I was ready to kill Destructo when he told me that he was alive. I couldn’t kill him then. He needed to be brought to justice.”
“Oh, man. He really used you, didn’t he? He knew your weakness, your honor. It nearly got you killed.”
“I won’t make that mistake the next time I see him.”
“Yeah, you will.” Tanaka said with a sigh. “It’s who you are. You will not kill unless you have no other choice. If you change now, you won’t be you. So stop feeding me this BS and wake up.”
“I don’t know how.” Daniel admitted. “I’ve been stuck here for a while, haven’t I?”
“Not that long. But the longer you are here, the less likely you are to wake up at all.”
“How are you here?”
“A friend,” Tanaka replied. “A friend brought me here to help you wake up. Look, your body isn’t in great shape, but that’s only because this maniac robot shut everything down. If you wake up, your organs should start working again and you’ll be okay. So, what do you say? Wake up!”
The ground shuddered under them, nearly knocking Tanaka over. Was this the start of him waking up, or something worse? “What the hell, dude? Come on, just open your eyes.”
“I can’t!” Daniel yelled. “I’m trying, I just can’t open my eyes.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m here. Yo, Harold, get me out of here!”
Tanaka slowly opened his eyes in the real world and found himself sitting in a chair holding hands with Harold and Daniel. Harold opened his own eyes and looked down at Tanaka. “I guess the ball’s in his court now,” he said.
“This had better work,” Tanaka stood from his chair and loomed over his brother. “Come on. Wake up.�
�
Daniel’s eyes fluttered. Tanaka knelt down next to the bed and shook it. Daniel’s eyes slowly opened half way before closing again. Tanaka continued to shake the bed. The sound attracting the attention of a nurse who was walking by.
“Stop that!”
“No, it’s working,” Tanaka said, rattling the bed even more.
Daniel’s eyes flew open. He looked around the room then at Tanaka. Unable to speak because of the tube, he simply winked and smiled as best as he could. Tanaka fell back into the chair and covered his face, not wanting his brother to see the tears which were forming in his eyes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Daniel sat up in the hospital bed, drinking a protein shake. Grace, Tanaka, and Harold were all in the room with him. Tanaka had a remote control and was flipping through the channels of the TV. Grace sat next to Daniel, holding his hand, while Harold just sat there watching the TV shows Tanaka flipped through.
In a raspy voice Daniel asked, “What now?”
“You’re not fighting,” Grace said. “Not for a while anyway.”
“Doctor said I could go home tomorrow,” Daniel replied, putting his drink down. “I feel fine. I’ve been here too long as it is. We have to find Robot Nancy and Destructo.”
“They’re gone,” Tanaka said. “Do you think they’d be that dumb to stay? We won’t be seeing them until the next scam I’m sure.”
“He could still be in Vegas,” Harold said. “When he recruited me, I didn’t get the impression he had any other place be.”
“Yeah, about that,” Tanaka said. “How did you not know he was a robot?”
“I knew,” Harold replied. “Just, you know, didn’t think it was important. Hell, he was going to pay me like a million bucks for some help.”
“How did that work for you?” Tanaka asked.
“Well, he did pay up, right before trying to kill me.”
Tanaka asked, “Why did he pay up before killing you?”
“Even a robot has some honor, I guess.” Harold replied. “But as I was saying, he might still be here. This is his home base. He’s a robot and will probably live a long time. Why not lay low and try again in like, ten years?”
The Evolutionite Chronicles Book Two: Dagger and Shadow Ninja in: Welcome to Las Vegas Page 20