by M. A Casey
“I will be fine Ethan just stick to the plan,” she said coughing a little.
“Emin, help your sister get the men ready for the procedure. Just do whatever she tells you, alright. I will stay with your mother and remove the bullet.” Emin hesitated, and Dad’s voice got louder. “We don’t have time Emin your mother will be fine, I am capable of removing the bullet and closing the wound, now please help your sister.”
Zeke was back from upstairs with the pain killers and some water. Dad helped Mum to swallow the pills. He and Zeke carried her to the table and then he looked at me.
“This is up to you now Hayln, you can do this, I know you can. I need to remove this bullet, and you need to complete the procedure on all three of them. Tell Emin and Zeke what you need, and get it done. I will be right here alright.”
I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what I was about to do. But I couldn’t seem to take my eyes from my parents. Dad had removed part of her shirt and had a scalpel in his hand.
“Hayln, what do we need to do?” Zeke said bringing me back to reality. I had to snap out of it. Of course Dad could handle himself, and mum seemed to be talking him through it. Now it was my turn.
“I want to start with Ian, I think he will be the easiest. Put him up on this table, I will administer the anesthetic to him first. The other two can be put over there, and I will do them next.”
The boys did exactly as I asked them, moving quickly and taking care with the men as they moved them. I started gave the men the exact doses of anesthetic Dad, and I had calculated. Ian was entirely under when I came back to him. I hooked him up to the monitoring equipment, and I was ready for my serum.
I hesitated for just a moment and then Dad spoke. “Everything is well over here Hayln, I can see the bullet clearly and should have it out in no time. Keep going.”
I double checked the monitor and then made the first of a number of injections. Zeke kept an eye on the heart rate monitors while Emin watched the other men and Mum and Dad. Ian was handling the procedure well.
We all heard voices from upstairs and Tyler and Aunt Maive came down. She let out a little gasp as she entered the room.
“Emin, can you give me a hand bringing in this machine for Hayln?” Tyler asked quickly. Emin went straight to the door as Tyler looked to Dad. “I filled Aunt Maive in on most of it on the phone and out the front, but I knew you wanted to talk to her.”
“Thank you Tyler,” Dad said wholly focused on removing the bullet.
Tyler dashed up the stairs after Emin, while Aunt Maive seemed stunned in the doorway. I had just about finished my last injection when I heard the little plink of the bullet dropping in the sink. We all shared a little moment as Dad got ready to close the wound.
“Thank you for coming Maive, I’m sure you must have some questions for us,” Dad said to her.
“Will this really work?” She asked in a shaky voice. “Can we get our lives back?”
“We certainly wouldn’t have put ourselves in this danger unless we believed this could work Maive. Of course there are no absolute guarantees, but Hayln’s research is ground breaking,” Dad said confidently.
“And they won’t remember this, or any of us?” She said still sounding doubtful.
“Yes, that is the plan,” Dad answered.
“And now you want to know who’s side I’m on,” Maive said nervously. “And if it is Spencer’s then that happens to me too.” She pointed to Ian on the table with all the equipment hooked up to him.
“I don’t think it is quite as black and white as that, but yes, we do need to know where your alliance is.”
“I will always be grateful for Spencer giving me the chance to be a part of Tyler’s life, but that is where my fondness for him ends. I’ve had to endure being physically hurt by that man, as well as having to watch him hurt Tyler. The thought of finally being free from him…. is like a dream come true.”
Dad had sutured Mum’s wound and looked at Maive. I could tell he had decided it was safe for her to keep our secret – I saw it in his eyes.
“Our family just wants a normal life like you and Tyler, and this is our best option given the circumstances we are in. If you can live with that, and keep our secret, then you and Tyler will be free of Spencer also.”
“I can give you my word, your secret is safe with me,” she said sincerely.
She put her handbag down and asked if there was anything she could do. Dad said he would appreciate a hand with Mum’s wound, and she went to his side to attend. Emin and Tyler came downstairs then with my equipment and set it up to my left, just in time. Ian was ready for the next step.
Tyler and I had used this machine in Professor Gregor’s office a number of times, and it was fairly easy to set up. I tested it a couple of times before I adjusted the voltage of the current and we were ready. Just like Patch we had decided to pass two currents through his body.
“You’re ready Hayln.” Dad’s voice surprised me a little, I hadn’t realized he had stopped to watch.
I turned the machine on and let two, ten second currents run through his body. He twitched the same way Patch did, as if he was sleeping restlessly or having a bad dream and his heart raced. It took a little longer for his pulse to settle, but once it did it returned to a perfect rhythm.
“Ian will be ready to implant a memory in about fifteen minutes, so let’s get Davis set up in the meantime,” I said to the boys.
Dad had finished with Mum’s wound and taped it up, so she took the seat near the window, and we transfered Ian to where she had been. It took all three of the boys to bring Davis to my table.
“This guy weighs a ton,” Emin complained.
“Hey Hayl’s, feel free to delete a few more memories if you like. I was thinking maybe how to go to the toilet or something,” Tyler joked.
I attached all the monitors to him, double checking all his readings. He was ready to go. I had a few more minutes before finishing with Ian and realized we hadn’t organized how the rest of the evidence Spencer had would be destroyed.
“We still have to get rid of the files and paperwork,” I said to everyone.
“Aunt Maive and I were going to go over and do those ourselves. We just wanted to make sure everything was alright here first,” Tyler said.
“We should be fine now Tyler, it will be a little while yet before I’m done,” I reassured him.
“If you think you will be alright for a while Evelyn, I would like to go with Tyler and Maive, to make sure we don’t miss anything at his brother’s house,” Dad asked Mum softly.
“Are you sure Hayln won’t need you?” Mum said in a strained voice. Dad turned to me to see what I thought of the idea.
“I will be fine here, and I think the more thorough be can be the better.”
“I have been thinking about that actually,” Maive said. “Tyler mentioned the computers, back-up’s, emails and mobiles, but I remembered that he also has a safety deposit box in Kings Valley. I think we should check his pockets to see if he has his keys on him.”
Zeke was the closest to him and went through his pockets. He pulled out a mobile, his wallet and a set of keys. He tossed the keys over to Tyler who went through the set.
“This could be it,’ he said showing Aunt Maive.
“That looks like the one,” she agreed. “Are we ready to go then?”
Dad gave Mum a kiss on the forehead before he went to leave. “I will come back after we finish at Christian’s house. Tyler and Maive will continue on to Kings Valley, to go through Spencer's things there. I won’t be long, but call if you need anything.”
“We’ll be fine,” Emin assured him, taking Dad’s place next to Mum holding her hand.
The three of them left the room, and I told Emin and Zeke to grab Ian and Davis’s phones and wallets. “Make sure there is nothing left about us or Spencer anywhere – not even a phone number.”
They went to work while I took my place next to Ian to implant his memory. I hadn�
��t practiced this part at all, so I had no idea if it would work. I knew the effects of the serum would still be penetrating his brain and would allow his memories to be manipulated. It was a relatively straightforward idea, but I had decided to say the replacement memory out loud to Ian, while recording it at the same time. Then I would continue to replay the recording to him until the effects of the serum had entirely disappeared. I pressed record and then started speaking to Ian slowly.
“When you wake up in your house you will remember spending the last few days alone deciding what to do with your future. You have decided not to waste your talent, and you want to get some proper training. You don’t want to be involved with criminals anymore. You will avoid all contact with anyone involved in illegal dealings. You want to get an honest job. You will enroll as a mature aged student to get your qualifications. You want to make these changes straight away and start your new life. You deserve better than this old life, and it is time to change it now.”
I stopped the recording, put his headphones on and put the player on repeat. As I walked over to Davis, Mum held out her hand to me.
“That was a considerate thing to do Hayln. If that works, you will have made his life a lot happier, he would appreciate it.”
Mum spoke softly and looked a little pale, which was to be expected I suppose after being shot. I quickly grabbed a rug from upstairs and put it over her and then started my injections on Davis. It went as smoothly as it did with Ian and then I passed the two currents through his body. Once his pulse rate returned to normal we moved him next to Ian and brought Spencer onto my bench.
“Was there much on their phones?” I asked while I waited to do my implant on Davis. Emin had finished with one of the phones and was starting another.
“Hardly anything on Ian’s,” Emin said. “No text messages and only Davis’s phone number. Which is now gone of course.”
“There was a bit more on Davis’s,” Zeke said. “But it’s nearly all deleted.”
“Was there anything about a sister?” I asked.
“There are a few text messages from a Beth Davis, which I think is his sister. She seems to think he is a bodyguard. Why?”
“The detail will help with the memory I implant.” I said as I set up to record Davis’s memory.
“So do you want me to delete these messages to and from Beth?”
“No leave them there it will give me something to work with,” I said smiling at him. I sat down next to Davis and pressed record.
“You have spent the last few days in this motel room. Things haven’t gone well since you were discharged from the military, but it is time to change that. You have been using prescription drugs over the past month, and you decided to stay in Cape until you were over your cravings. You don’t know anyone in this town. The drugs will leave you feeling confused about what has happened over the past week or so. You no longer need any drugs, and you want to go and spend some time with your sister, Beth. You want to have a better life that includes your family. You want to make an honest living. You never want to hurt anyone again. You want to avoid any contact with dishonest people from your past. You need to act on these things immediately.”
I put his headphones on and turned his recording onto repeat hoping that these implants would work. Now it was time for Spencer’s procedure. The boys had him set up on the table, ready to go. I double checked the monitors and started with the injections straight away.
I knew I needed at least two hours with the implant recording for Spencer’s memories. I started on the injections, his procedure was more intricate because of how long he knew about us. I had known before tonight that there was no way I would be able to completely block his memory of my father out. Rather I would have to give him different reasons for knowing him while erasing Tyler, Maive and I from his memory. I had spent nearly an hour with Spencer’s injections, and I was ready to pass the two currents through his body.
I double checked the machine and ran the first current. He reacted much the same as other two men. I suddenly felt a little bit of relief that this was nearly over. I then ran the second current and heard the heart rate monitor go crazy. I quickly turned the current off and returned to his side. Zeke was beside me in a flash, but neither of us quite knew what to do. I quickly read his statistics out to Mum hoping that she would be able to help me in some way.
“You could have accidentally induced a heart attack Hayln,” Mum replied weakly.
“What do I do?” I said in a panic.
“Just keep an eye on his vitals, if his heart stops you will need to CPR.”
I had to admit that I did consider for a moment if I would even want to conduct CPR on Spencer if his heart stopped. It would have solved a lot of problems if he wasn’t around. And just as I felt guilty for hoping this man’s life would end his pulse rate started to slow. I did feel relief as his heart and blood pressure returned to normal levels, and I was glad I didn’t have to make that decision.
His vital signs had completely returned to normal, and we all waited together until it was time to do his implant. We heard movement upstairs, and I was relieved to see Dad return. He had an enormous milk crate full of papers.
“How did you go?” We both asked at the same time, he smiled and signaled for me to go first.
“Davis and Ian’s procedure went without a hitch, Spencer gave us a bit of a fright, but he has settled down now. His heart rate went berserk after I passed the current through him.”
“His age probably worked against him there,” Dad said looking at all the monitors. “What about the implants?”
“Hard to tell yet, I only have Spencer’s to do in a few minutes. What about you, how did it go at Christian’s?”
“Everything is either destroyed or in that box,” he said with a relieved look on his face. He sat back down next to Mum checking her wound. “There was a lot more research done on Tyler than I had anticipated. I thought it might be a good idea to go over their work, which is why I brought some back. There is no evidence left there now. Tyler and Maive are on the way to Kings Valley, they said they would call once they were done.”
“This is nearly over,” Mum said softly.
“Not long now Evelyn, just rest and it will be over soon,” Dad said kindly before getting the boys attention.
“Could you boy’s start taking those monitors out of the lounge and get rid of the cameras? I would like our home back to normal as soon as possible.”
“What do you want us to do with all the equipment,” Zeke asked.
“You boys decide, I just don’t want it here anymore,” Dad answered.
“Cool, let’s chuck it on eBay,” Emin said. He and Zeke left the room laughing.
I thought to myself that I must remember to ask for a cut of the profits.
I wanted to get started on Spencer’s implant, but I had to check something with Dad first. “I needed to ask you something Dad, about Spencer’s implant.”
He came over to where I stood with the recorder ready to finish this procedure. “His memory of you goes too far back, so I don’t think I have a choice but to include you in part of his new memory.”
“I agree Hayl’s, what did you have in mind?”
“I'm going to give him our DNA strain that we separated as we intended to do initially. I'm also going to tell him it was his brother’s creation, and that he brought it here for you to double check before he took it to the next stage of testing.” I paused, a little anxious about what his reaction might be.
“I like it Hayln, it will even give me a reason to keep in touch with him, to make sure the implant works.”
“Well, let’s finish this then,” I said as I reached out to hold his hand, took a deep breath and pressed record.
“Since you left the government, you have been helping your brother with his research. You were trying to perfect a DNA strain that would make humans resistant to most viruses. You were both inspired to start this study because of your brother’s illness. After y
ears of research your brother thought he had perfected the strain, but he passed away before he could do his final tests. You remembered meeting a scientist from Cape years ago named Ethan Knox. You decided to take Christian’s research to him so he could confirm whether you had both achieved your goal. You trust Ethan Knox, and you are grateful that he agreed to go over the research. The last week or so you have been trying to come to terms with your brother’s death. The days feel confusing since his passing, but you are getting yourself together. You want this discovery to be a legacy to your brother and not be exploited by anyone. You want everyone to benefit from your work, not just the rich, it is what your brother would have wanted. Once Ethan gives you the results you will ask him who to contact to help you take the research to the next level. You will then leave Cape to make your brother’s legacy a reality, remembering that you can always confide in and trust Ethan Knox.”
I smiled at Dad – it was done.
“Well done Hayln, now all we can do is wait,” Dad said as we walked together to sit by Mum. She was sleeping soundly.
“You know, if you hadn’t of reacted so quickly, the wound would have been a lot worse,” he said quietly as he held her hand.
“I somehow knew where the bullet would hit, and I just reacted.”
“Well thank you. I don’t know what I would do without her. I know we have been apart for years, but the last week or so has proven to me that I will never love anyone else the way I love her.”
“I know Dad,” I laid my head on his shoulder. “I think she might feel the same.”
We sat together watching Mum for a long while. The boys came down when they were finished upstairs. Even they seemed as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
“Everything is back to normal Dad, would you like to move Mum?” Emin asked.
“I’d like her to stay close by until this is finished, just in case there is a complication. It’s only a precaution of course, but it would make me feel better.”
Emin didn’t argue with him, he just wanted to know what was next. Dad explained that Ian would have to be taken to his house. When we checked his license we discovered it was only a few minutes from Tyler’s place. Davis would be taken to a motel, and Spencer would be taken back to Christian’s house.