Man Made God 003

by Brandon Varnell

  Adam spent the next several hours lying on the bed, kissing Aris until they both eventually fell asleep.

  Cured

  Because the population had declined by nearly a third thanks to World War III and Mortems Disease, the population of large cities had also declined. Cities like New York City, which used to boast a population of 33.5 million people, now only had a population of about 13.1 million. Larger cities were hit much harder than smaller cities.

  With the decreased population, there had been a need to downsize large cities like New York City, which now had a population of less than half of what it was originally. However, that was easier said than done. Mortems Disease did not care if you were a blue-collared worker or a government official with a high position. Everyone’s lives were equally claimed once they contracted it.

  New York City had been hit especially hard thanks to the large amount of cars, pollution from factories and gas emissions, and unclean subway stations.

  Many of the buildings in New York City were still abandoned even thirty years after World War III. Some of these buildings had been torn down and replaced with newer buildings, but a lot of them, like Fayte’s apartment complex, still existed.

  This usually meant the building in question would be taken over by a corporation or a powerful family like the Pleonexia Family, who owned more than thirty percent of New York City and had business holdings spread across the American Federation. They were not the only ones who owned property in New York City. There were many families and powerful companies that owned various businesses and real estate.

  Of course, even these families didn’t own every property in the city. Fayte’s apartment was privately owned by a small family that operated under the radar. They weren’t operating illegally, but they weren’t large enough to own more than that single apartment complex. Consequently, this was also why her complex was not as well-maintained as similar complexes elsewhere.

  The New York City Hospital was a six-story building made out of glass and red and white bricks. It was longer than it was wide, shaped like a rectangle with inverted corners, and possessed a flat roof surrounded by a large fence. Located in the busiest area of New York City, it was easily the most populated hospital anywhere in the American Federation. The reason this hospital was so popular wasn’t just because of its location, however.

  The New York City Hospital was one of the only known hospitals that willingly treated Mortems Disease. They had specialized equipment meant to quarantine and treat victims, not only helping people who had contracted the world’s most fatal illness, but also keeping the disease from spreading.

  Adam pulled his car into the parking lot on the other side of the street. He needed to pay a fee to park. After finding a secure parking spot, he stepped out of the car, unloaded Aris’s wheelchair from the trunk, then lifted Aris from the passenger's seat and onto the wheelchair.

  “How do you feel? Any discomfort?” asked Adam.

  “I feel fine.” Aris gave Adam that beaming smile he loved so much. It was much brighter than he remembered. “I actually feel great. Hee-hee. I think my body has become a lot more durable now that my Mortems Disease is gone.”

  Adam felt his heart soften as he looked at the girl sitting on the wheelchair. Aris was wearing a light blue dress that covered her knees but left her calves exposed. It was still cold, so black yoga pants were covering her legs and a red scarf was tied around her neck. The scarf was something Adam had hand-knit for her two years ago. Her hair was tied into a side ponytail.

  “That’s good. Do you need the blanket?”

  Because of how weak her body was, Adam worked hard to keep her warm whenever they went out. Mortems Disease could be affected by body temperature. The lower the temperature, the greater the chances of it accelerating.

  Aris shook her head. “I’m not that cold. Actually, this cool temperature feels really nice on my skin.”

  Since Aris said she didn’t need it, Adam stowed the blanket in a small compartment underneath her seat. After locking the car, he grabbed the wheelchair by its handles and pushed her toward the elevator.

  They were on the second floor, so they needed to travel down one floor, and then Adam went to the street light and waited until he could walk across it. The hospital was right in front of them.

  “It’s too bad Fayte couldn’t come with us,” Aris said.

  “Fayte had something she needed to take care of today.” Adam shrugged. “Also, I’m not sure going out with her is a good idea right now.”

  “Why is that?”

  Adam wondered what he should tell Aris. He was certain that Levon Pleonexia was doing his best to monitor Fayte’s movements. He had learned that Susan was interrupting Levon’s attempts to track her (which he thought was incredible), but she couldn’t monitor his activities all the time. She also couldn’t monitor all the people working for him. There was no telling when he would find out about what she’d been up to and where she lived, and when that happened, there was also a good chance he’d find out about them.

  If at all possible, Adam would like to avoid being associated with Fayte until he could properly guarantee Aris’s safety.

  “Let’s just say that Fayte is in a dangerous position right now,” he said, a diplomatic response if there ever was one.

  “Is it because of that bet she has with that Levon guy?” asked Aris.

  There was a soft creak as his grip on the handles tightened, but he didn’t reveal anything on his face as he said, “Yes.”

  As they passed through the sliding doors, Adam studied the hospital’s waiting room. There were a lot of seats. Some were full and some weren’t. Adam saw a man nursing his leg, blood leaking from his thigh. It looked like a knife wound. There was also a mother and her daughter. The daughter kept coughing into her hand, had a red face, and bags under her eyes. He recognized the symptoms of a particularly bad cold.

  Adam pushed Aris’s wheelchair up to the front desk, where an older woman with grayish-red hair, blue eyes, and a kind smile sat. She looked like a kindly grandmother. The amusing thought that this was why she manned the front desk instead of someone else crossed Adam’s mind, though he dismissed it seconds later.

  “Hello, we’re here to see Dr. Sofocor,” Adam said. “We have an appointment.”

  The woman’s eyes drifted briefly to Aris. Sympathy appeared within them. However, she was nothing if not professional and went back to looking at Adam.

  “What are your names, dear?” asked the woman.

  “Adam Lancer and Aris Purety.”

  “Adam… Lancer… Aris… Purety… ah. Here you two are.” After typing on her console, the woman looked back up. “It says here that your appointment is set for 10:00 AM. You’re a little early, and Dr. Sofocor is currently with another patient. Could you please wait for a little while? I will let her know you’re here.”

  “Thank you,” Adam said.

  “Thanks!” added Aris.

  He pushed the wheelchair over to one of the seats, then was about to sit down himself—until Aris held her hands out for him. The slight smile on her face and expectant look in her eyes made her desire obvious.

  Adam slipped an arm around her shoulder and another around her legs. He lifted her off the wheelchair and sat down with her on his lap. It took a moment of shifting around to get comfortable. Aris’s soft butt was pressed firmly against his crotch, which was distracting, but he was soon able to ignore it as she began playing with his hair. Her soft fingers threaded through his blond locks and gently rubbed his scalp.

  “Do you think this will be the last time we see Dr. Sofocor?” she asked.

  “Probably,” Adam said. “Dr. Sofocor only accepts patients who have Mortems Disease. Since you’re cured, there’s no reason for you to see her after this.”

  “That’s a little sad to think about.” Aris twirled a strand of his hair between her fingers. It tickled. “I really like her.”

  “That’s because she’s sweet on you,” Adam sa
id dryly.

  “Hee-hee. True.”

  Aris was the kind of girl most people couldn’t help but like. Not only did she have a unique and innocent beauty, but her sweet demeanor and lovely smile could make a person’s heart stop beating. Or make it speed up. Gamers knew she made Adam’s heart accelerate whenever she smiled at him.

  They continued to converse in hushed voices, not wanting to disturb the people sitting with them, but that was impossible considering the intimate position they were in. Several of the other patients stared at them with looks of either jealousy or pity, depending on who was looking. Adam wondered if he was weird for not caring about those looks at all. Aris was with him. Why did it matter if these people were staring?

  A door leading further into the hallway suddenly slid open. Out walked a middle-aged woman in a knee-length black skirt, long-sleeve black shirt, and white lab coat. There was a security tag attached to the lab coat. Her brown hair swayed behind her, tied tightly into a ponytail. Only a few bangs framed her tanned face and hazel eyes.

  “Adam. Aris,” she called out.

  Adam stood up with Aris in his arms. She pouted when he set her back in the wheelchair, but he just smiled before pushing her over to the woman.

  “Dr. Julia Sofocor,” Adam greeted.

  Julia Sofocor was a renowned doctor who had dedicated her life to the study and treatment of Mortems Disease. She was in fairly decent shape and had an attractive face, though he wouldn’t have called her super pretty. Her looks were average. Her husband was one of the first victims of Mortems Disease. That was why she had become a doctor who specifically worked with patients who had it.

  “I see you two are as lovey-dovey as ever.” Dr. Sofocor frowned at him. “The way you indulge Aris borders on insane.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Adam said. “And you have no room to speak.”

  “Hmph.”

  “Does it really bother you?” asked Aris, tilting her head curiously.

  “Of course it does!” Julia snapped as a fire was ignited under her bottom. She raised a hand to her face and clenched it into a fist. “Do you know how much I want to be lovey-dovey with you?! But I can’t because Adam won’t let me!”

  “You are a doctor. You need to maintain a sense of professionalism.” Adam paused, then smiled. “And Aris is mine.”

  “Hee-hee. Adam called me his. He’s so possessive.” Aris placed her hands on her cheeks, which had turned red. The smile she wore was so wide and satisfied it reminded him of a cat with an entire bowl of cream.

  “Grrrr…”

  Emitting a soft growl from the back of her throat, Dr. Sofocor turned around and marched back the way she had come. Adam and Aris followed her.

  Dr. Sofocor worked on the sixth floor, which was dedicated solely to patients who had Mortems Disease. The hallways were not as wide on this floor as they were on the bottom floors. The rooms were also bigger, but they appeared smaller because of all the equipment inside. Containing, studying, and treating Mortems Disease required a lot of advanced equipment.

  Of course, even with the most advanced medical practices, Mortems Disease could only be halted—at least, that was what everyone believed.

  The room Dr. Sofocor directed them to was one such room. The bed was more than just a bed. It had an advanced scanner around it that looked like a half-donut. Several large machines hummed and beeped with life, cabinets containing a variety of medicines, and a desk.

  “Can you tell me why you asked for this appointment? You sounded pretty excited over the phone.” Dr. Sofocor picked up a tablet from the desk and began inputting data into it. He knew she was accessing Aris’s personal information.

  “I want you to run a scan on Aris to check for Mortems Disease,” Adam said.

  Dr. Sofocor stopped typing into the tablet and stared at him, blinking several times as a stupid look crossed her face.

  “I’m sorry. You want me to what now?”

  “I want you to check Aris for Mortems Disease,” Adam repeated.

  The doctor did not say anything as she stared at him, then shifted her gaze to Aris. The seventeen-year-old woman didn’t flinch under the doctor’s intense scrutiny. She wore the same bright smile she had been wearing since yesterday. After looking at Aris for a moment longer, her gaze went back to Adam.

  “There has been a change in her condition?”

  Adam’s smile widened. “We’ll know for sure if you run that scan.”

  “Fine. Let’s operate the scanner.”

  With Dr. Sofocor now onboard, Adam helped lay Aris on the bed, which was about a foot longer than she was tall. Dr. Sofocor went over to a computer connected to the half-donut shaped scanner. She typed in a command code and set the scanner to run. Several lights on the scanner flashed before it began moving across the bed.

  Adam came up behind the doctor and watched as the scanner mapped out Aris’s body. It didn’t just scan one aspect of her physique but all of them: muscles, skeleton, organs, veins, everything. Mortems Disease infected every part of the body. That was part of what made it so deadly. Scanners like this individually scanned each part of the human body to make sure it didn’t miss anything.

  The scanner moved back and forth across Aris’s body several times, then stopped. When it did, Dr. Sofocor said nothing for the longest time. She stared at the information revealed by the scanner, her expression stunned, mouth open and eyes wide. Several seconds passed before she looked at Adam as he was helping Aris sit up.

  “How?”

  “Are you asking me how Aris no longer has Mortems Disease?” asked Adam with a wide smile. Dr. Sofocor nodded. She couldn’t even form a proper sentence. “I can’t reveal that right now.”

  The doctor’s expression became dark. “Why not? Don’t you know how many people have Mortems Disease? At least fifty thousand people die from it every year. Think of all the lives you could save!”

  “Do you really think most people could afford this cure?” asked Adam, his words bringing the woman up short. “The method to cure Aris, from what I understand, cost over three hundred billion dollars to make. How many people do you think can afford such a cure?” Dr. Sofocor remained silent. Adam sighed. “Of course, I’m not saying I won’t tell yo. Right now just isn’t a good time. Even if you had the cure, there’s nothing you can do with it. Also, the method we used to cure Aris isn’t mine. I’ll have to ask the person who saved Aris for permission to tell you about it.”

  Adam already planned on asking Fayte if she’d be willing to let Dr. Sofocor study the device that had cured Aris. If she could learn how it worked and replicate it using cheaper methods, it could become a viable cure. What’s more, if Fayte brokered a deal with Dr. Sofocor or the group that owned this hospital, she could potentially earn trillions of dollars. There’d be no end to the lines of people willing to pay for a cure.

  The only issue was that creating an affordable cure would take several years. Lucifer’s machine was far more advanced than anything this hospital had. It was probably twenty or even thirty years ahead of current medical technology, and he didn’t believe there was a person out there who could understand the inner workings of something made by that madman.

  In other words, it would be impossible to use this cure to help Fayte win her bet, which was now the most important objective Adam had.

  “I understand that, but—”

  “Doctor,” Adam said, and for the first time, his tone had grown cold. When Dr. Sofocor shivered, it had nothing to do with the temperature. “You are pushing it. I will tell you how Aris was cured. However, it will be on my time, not yours. Let me ask my benefactor for permission first. I’ll contact you when I have her approval.”

  “Fine…” Dr. Sofocor sighed, shoulders slumping. “I understand what you’re saying, but you had better keep your word and promise to speak with whoever gave you the method to cure Aris.”

  “I promise,” Adam said.

  “Bye, Dr. Sofocor.” Aris waved as Adam pushed h
er wheelchair out of the room. “Thank you for everything you have done for us.”

  With nothing left to keep them at the hospital, Adam and Aris went across the street and entered the car.

  “Adam?” Aris began as he started the engine.

  The car thrummed with life, though it was soft and unobtrusive. This car didn’t rely on gas. Cars no longer relied on gas but more environmentally friendly forms of energy, like solar, kinetic, and electric. His car was a hybrid that used all three forms of energy, making it one of the most efficient cars available on the current market.

  “Yes?”

  “Can we… stay out for a little while longer? Now that I don’t have Mortems Disease anymore, I would like to spend more time doing things outside with you.”

  “Of course. Where do you want to go?”

  “The movie theater!”

  “All right. Let’s go see a movie.”

  Adam pulled out of the parking lot and began driving down the road, their destination the nearest movie theater.

  Movie theaters had fallen out of favor with the general populace. Ever since virtual reality took center stage in the entertainment industry, movies and theaters had begun shutting down, unable to afford to remain in business. The once-famous Hollywood was now nothing more than a few die-hard directors and actors who refused to give up on a dying industry.

  But just because movies were no longer as popular as they used to be didn’t mean they were non-existent. So long as there were still people who enjoyed watching movies, there would be movie theaters and people who made movies.

  Adam took Aris to one such theater. It was small. There were only three separate theaters. With the population no longer what it once was and movies having fallen out of favor, any theater that still existed had been downsized. This was one of the bigger theaters. Most only contained one theater and it could hold, at maximum, twenty people.

  “What do you want to watch?” asked Adam as he looked at the movies available. There were only three. One looked like an action movie, one a romance, and the last looked like a comedy.