by M. Modak
“Thanks!” he said, “I prefer not to be hurt.” His eyes followed the silky skin of her arm up to the fabric that covered her shoulders; there his eyes betrayed him as they fell once again upon her large breast. She cleared her throat. His eyes snapped back to meet her eyes.
“Thank you,” she said. The syringe was full of thick red blood.
“Wow,” he said, “I didn't even feel it.”
Rose gave a mischievous smile, “Distraction is my best method, when taking blood.’
Drake blushed, “I guess I'm just a typical male.”
“Don't feel bad. I thought you held out as long as you could. I wasn't making it easy for you. Now hold the bio swab here.” Drake placed his hand over her hand. With her other hand she reached in her pocket and produced a roll of flesh tape and stuck it on the bio swab. Then she said, “Don’t bend your arm much and try not to lift or strain it for the next five hours.”
“Okay, thank you,” he looked into her eyes again. Her eyelashes opened revealing the depths of her soul. He could get lost in there; he could find himself there too. For another moment time stood still. Love, love and more love... It seemed to swirl around him and numb his fears. He wanted to eliminate the space between them. Get closer, closer and touch her from the inside. She wanted him too.
He looked over at the sound of the door opening. She pulled her hand back quickly, breaking the hypnotic touch. “Hello Rose,” Tim’s voice came from beyond the door.
“Is everything taken care of?" Dr. Sudo asked.
"Yes Dr. Sudo, he's ready for the scanner.”
Drake broke in, “Excuse me doctor, why do I need a scan? I haven't broken anything.”
Tim glanced over at Rose, “Mr. Thornton,” Rose said with authority but with a smile that betrayed her playfulness, “sometimes we like to take that extra step, just to be thorough."
Drake’s fear subsided at the sound of her voice. “Okay,” he heard himself say.
Tim said in a tone that was more of a command than request, “You can leave your clothes and stuff here. It’ll be safe until you get back.” Drake got up and the group slowly made their way down the hall.
The hallway was circular and bent to his left, it was darker than when he had first come down it and it seemed familiar to him. The lights they passed were dull and hazy. He guessed the blood they had taken had affected him a little and the pill had started its work on him too. Most of the doors they passed were closed but a few were marked with names like: Dr. June, Dr. Pine, medical storage, copy room.
His head began to feel a little lighter and his vision started to blur. Looking closer at the doors, he noticed that none had knobs; in fact he could hardly tell whether or not they were doors at all. He thought, These could just be images of painted doorframes but what would be the point in that?
“Where is everybody?” he asked.
“Oh the other doctors have the day off,” Dr. Pain replied.
Drake felt his stomach heat a little from the pill he had taken. The feeling of danger began to swell within him while at the same time he felt a sense of euphoria. All this, Sudo doctors, Nano pills, and fake doors was starting to seem a little too much to just let go because he liked this girl, but he really liked this girl. He reminded himself that she also had something to do with what happened to him last night at the loading dock.
The turmoil inside him was about to explode. He was just about to turn and leave when he thought about how ridiculous he would look if he left now. A list of questions began to fill his mind. How would I explain it to Sam if I left now? What would he say to him, “Some lunatic doctor was about to do some new experiment on me... and that was why no one else was in the building...so I left?” His thoughts melted into each other for a moment then abruptly returned to normal. Would I then beg Sam to let me return to work anyway or just quit on the spot? And what did Sapen have to do with any of this. His thoughts seemed to slow a little and jump around as the connections from one idea to another began to break down.
He could barely remember Lavar telling Joshua something about Sapen; something about him too. Questions were spinning around in his head. He knew he had heard that name, Sapen, somewhere around town before, but where. Rose had said something about Sapen. He wondered, how does Rose know about Aughra. Oh yea, the Nano machines in my brain? What reason could I give Sam, “it just didn’t feel right?” And how could she communicate with Nano machines? He struggled to put his mind back on that huge tree, next to the river again. He let that image calm him even as the drug completed its work.
Now that he was a little calmer, he started thinking again. Sam, of all people will believe me. He and Sam often sat up together, late at night, talking about strange things. Sam has incredible insight and imagination when it comes to ideas of covert operations. Then he thought, Maybe Sam had read too many old Kahn Fancy novels. He remembered how they would speak about things like conspiracy theories, government scare tactics and corporate spying. Sam had a different story each night.
In one tale, wacko executives wanted to take over the music industry. One desperate group had started genetically engineering children so they would hate their parents at a certain age, and therefore their music, leaving only the new music they were selling as an alternative.
Drake had to point out that the only problem with this theory was that most kids had already hated their parents long before that kind of technology existed and they still liked a lot of the older music. Most of the music today was engineered for public calm during, “These economic times.” The Interim Government preached obedience through approved versions of pop rock. The old music defied everything, took no prisoners and spoke to the soul.
At other times, Sam seemed to be asking questions when they talked. He would somehow get him talking about his uncle’s military background, and his sudden rise to power. He didn’t know much about his uncle. He remembered his father keeping him away from his uncle when he was a child. He never said it, but Drake was sure his dad didn’t trust his uncle Whitman at all.
After his father died and he had moved to Atlanta, his uncle had visited him with a dramatic show of force. No less than ten large vehicles pulled up and parked along his street. Men looking as dark and dangerous as any spy novel escorted his big balding uncle, dressed in a dark blue suit, right up to his small front porch. Drake was sure that his uncle’s suit was more expensive than his own house. When they had all arrived, he looked out the window as a beautiful woman politely knocked on the front door. He opened the door and walked out on the front porch.
Whitman was a large man but Drake towered over him and his entourage. The old man didn’t wait to get to his point. He had given small talk all of five seconds before he got down to business. He said that he felt badly that his only blood relative lived in such poverty. He wanted Drake to come home with him, take a comfortable job in any department he wished and one day he could be a big part of the changes to come. He remembered the intensity in his voice when he had said, “The changes to come.”
Drake had told him, “Thanks, but I’m just not at a point where I want any more big changes.”
His uncle was relentless, and started with the insults. Drake simply turned and walked back into the house and closed the door. Through the door he could hear the same beautiful woman who had knocked, ask if she could break the door down and take him with them. He quickly opened the door, went back out on the porch and stared down at the girl’s face. His anger cooled when she gave him a beautiful smile. He looked back at his uncle, apologized, and said he would think about it.
His uncle had slapped him hard on the back and said, “Okay my boy, think about it. But don’t take too long or ill send Void here after you. He got quiet for a moment and looked away then he said, “You won’t like that.”
Drake looked at the tall, Asian girl standing next to him. She possessed a silent power. He couldn’t help but think of all the kung fu flicks he had seen where the lone girl with a sword was underestimat
ed to everyone’s peril. He had returned her smile and said, “Uncle Whitman, you can send Void to have dinner anytime she likes. Just call me first so I can cook for her.” His uncle then looked at her in an eerie way then shook his head.
“Here is my direct number,” he said as he handed him a cell phone card, “Call me when you’re ready.”
Coming out of his train of thoughts he laughed to himself, what I will do because a beautiful woman smiles. He had called his uncle back but had asked only for help getting a small local job first, for now. “Perhaps something in security.”
Sam had thought the whole encounter more interesting than he had. He looked down the dark, empty hallway and he thought that today must be some holiday he had missed. That’s why no one else is here.
Drake felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He turned; Rose was standing close behind him. She rubbed a knot in his shoulder and as it melted away he felt the last of his doubts leave his mind.
It’s going to be okay.
Tim stopped and opened a door marked, Hazardous Area Authorized Personal Only.
“Have you eaten anything today?” Tim asked.
“Not yet.” Drake started laughing though he didn’t know what was so funny.
Dr. Sudo was standing just inside the room. He said, “Good, then we can get a full body readout.”
Drake paused before entering the door. He asked, “What’s a -Full Body Readout.”
“Our equipment has the new H.H.S.A.D. scanning upgrades,” Tim said.
“What's, that?” Drake asked.
Dr. Pain smiled, “Human Health Spectral Analysis Display.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that?" Drake replied.
Tim spoke impatiently, “Biotechnology changes every day. It's only when something cosmetically useful or when something super-jazzy comes out that the public knows anything about it.”
“Super-jazzy,” Drake couldn’t resist the smirk this time, “I’ve never heard a doctor use a medical term like that.”
Tim grimaced.
“Just a joke doctor,” Drake offered a genuine smile, “I'm not trying to make you mad, and I’d never want to piss off a person called Dr. Pain. Besides, you’re working on me.” He burst out laughing again but quickly stopped himself. He was starting to feel light headed.
Tim’s smile widened, “Don't worry about it Drake. All I mean is that a lot of medical technology doesn’t get reported.”
Drake stepped in the room marked Hazardous and the others followed. The small room was completely dark but for a beam of light that shone down on a table. The table looked like a cold, gray block of steel. Off to one side was a metal door with a window that held a thick pain of glass, through it he could see a control room.
Rose helped him onto the table then she left the room. As he lay down, he looked up. Through the darkness, he could barely make out a large mirror mounted to the ceiling. Then, hanging from thin rods just outside the angle of light that was shining down on him, he made out several small spheres as they started glowing softly. The spheres began rotating in a slow elliptical path. With the lights spinning, he could see that there was a glass dome between him and the now brightly glowing spheres.
As he watched, the spheres started to burn light trails into his vision that connected into large ellipses of slowly changing colors. A soft hum began coming from them as they sped up. He wondered if the dome would be coming down soon.
He was startled when Rose suddenly strapped his arms, chest and legs down. He just lay there watching her doing it, feeling strangely erotic, “You don’t need that to keep me here,” he said with a grin.
She said, “Seriously, hush Drake and calm down, I’ll have you out of here very soon.”
He looked away from her as a scream of electricity slammed into the rods above him kicking their spinning into a higher gear. “It’s starting,” she said as she looked up at the spinning lights, “I will be able to communicate with you through the Nanos I gave you, but for a little while the interference from the spectral generator will disrupt our communications.” She leaned closer and said, “Remember, keep your mind on one thing.”
Drake realized he understood what she meant. He was surprised, dulled as he was from the drugs, at all he knew. Then he remembered, he had all John’s knowledge. He recalled that John was a scientist that created Aughra. Hell, he could build a Super Symmetric Quantum Dis-Entanglement Machine if he wanted to. He held that thought for a long moment, it scared him. He let the thought of John and Aughra go and he began to think of Joshua and the hundreds of other lives he had a connection to through Joshua.
Rose was looking at him with a new level of interest he wasn’t sure he liked. She repeated, “Put your mind on one thing or they will have Aughra.” He nodded then craned his neck as he watched her walk back into the control room. She had kept the door ajar.
Over the sound of the whining, electric motor he heard Tim’s whining voice, “His mind has locked on you Rose. We’re not getting any visuals on the computer other than pictures of you. We’ll need to do a deeper memory probe.”
Rose returned holding a syringe, “Drake, I need to give you an injection.” She leaned closer and spoke at a level only he could hear, “Don’t forget what I told you. Stay calm and you’ll keep in control.” She glanced back over her shoulder, toward the control room and spoke loudly, “This will feel just like going to the dentist. Your body will grow numb and you will feel…very dizzy.”
Drake turned and saw Dr. Sudo standing behind the glass window staring at him with a wild look in his eyes. Drake talked over the noise, “I'm not big on heavy drugs doctor, only herbs.” He snorted at his own joke but calmed down quickly when he saw the stern look on Rose’s face… None of this was funny to her.
She said loudly, “This injection is not intended to numb your senses,” but her eyes said that was a lie.
“That’s just one of the effects on the nervous system. We’re going to do a deep wave incursion,” Dr. Sudo said. He had sunk up beside Rose. He looked at the vile filled with a silver liquid that Rose held and continued, “These Nano machines will surround the cells in your body’s digestive systems giving our scanners a higher resolution.”
Drake’s vision focused above the table and into infinity as the doctor’s words rolled into a heap of indistinct dribble. He was really feeling the effects of the pill she had given him earlier. The spheres above him spun beautifully in an expanding dance of color and sound. The connecting rods he had seen earlier had disappeared into the blur of motion giving the spheres an illusion that they were just floating by an unknown force. The mirror, high up in the ceiling and the glass dome reflected the light from the spheres and he thought that this was what Joshua had felt like when he was looking into the endless space of the multi-universe.
Drake said in a groggy tone, “A little, umm, hi tech for what I need don't ya think. All this for a few missed meals and some sleep… right?!” No one answered. “I’m not the first person to do this, am I?”
Rose’s face came into view. Her hand rested on Drake’s arm as she looked him in the eyes, she whispered, “It’s time for the shot,” She squeezed his arm, “Think on one thing Drake.” She raised her voice, “This is called Nanoactivephylumilluminescentphosperiousoxide842, or as some say for short, Liquid Mirror.” She lowered the vile so he could see the delicate silver liquid inside. Then she pulled out a syringe and drew the liquid down into it. It shimmered like Jell-O as the vibrations of her movements quivered through its volume. Rose gave one last squeeze of her hand before carefully injecting it into the vein in his upper arm.
He felt his blood grow hot and then heavy as the Liquid Mirror melted into his bloodstream. He felt it begin to pulse through his body with each heartbeat. He sensed deeper bonds inside him forming. He couldn’t explain it but he could feel his blood starting to communicate with his tissues at a higher level as it merged with his cells.
Something in this liquid matches with my body.
He felt alive as it moved through him in waves of… pleasure. When it reached his spinal cord he felt a shock. He could trace the individual neural pathway it traveled through as the sensation made its way up into his brain and spread. He could see the Nanos.
Then his mind opened and he saw Rose. She was raw power incarnate. Her presence, even from a distance, roared like water falling from Niagara. Every time she had touched him had been signals designed to create a total concept only he could understand, when the time was right.
All at once, he understood completely. Her Nano’s were communicating with him. She was an artificial life form developing within a living body, a Quantum Genetic Cyborg. Sapen had created her and she was the first of her kind, but she had a mind of her own. She had chosen this form, chosen it from an endless selection of feminine bodies, for him. If he liked, she could change. Her body was a mixture of human tissues and Processing Reactive DNA, and she was so much more.
Sapen had designed her for himself. She was his greatest achievement, an unmatched synthesis of meta-materials. Her potential limits unknown. Her body was a single DNA computer seamlessly interacting with trillions of personal Nano machines, which shared, rearranged, and repaired her body’s cells. It took the last of Sapen’s S-matter reserves to animate her. Her body had belonged to a young woman, a nurse in fact, who had unique markers in her DNA compatible with the Nanos. Her whole purpose was to complete Sapen’s emotional programing. But she had to choose him. She was deciding which program she wished to complete.. And she had just been born. He knew who she was, what she was! And even though she didn’t understand it, he knew she loved him, completely. Whatever part of her was human still longed for true love.