Reboot

by Larry Buenafe

  -(SVC) Unclear… reports are that they shot him with a high-caliber round that got through his outer layer. His status is also unknown right now.

  -Oh my God, why didn’t you freaking lead with that? Do whatever it takes, get the status of those two now. We’re going into general session in less than an hour! Oh, crap… if he’s dead, that changes everything. This whole house of cards will crumble, and then we’re all screwed. (BG), hand me those chips, would you?

  ****

  “ Where am I? Why are you crying?” asked, as I struggled to sit up. That seemed to make Cheri cry even more, and she grabbed me with her one arm and hugged me tight.

  “I thought we lost you for sure, and I wasn’t ready for another one,” she said, her voice trembling.

  I didn’t understand why she was so upset; I was okay, and we accomplished our mission. I thought everyone should be happy.

  “Lucas, you’ve been unconscious for eighteen hours. A lot happened that you don’t know about. You saved me and changed the direction of our whole country. I don’t know how you did it; even though I know what you did, it just doesn’t seem possible. My staff has reconstructed your journey for me while we waited for you to recover, and no one could have done all of that. I know you are not what you appear to be, but this… Your friend here, Carlitos, he refused to leave your side until he knew you were safe, said we would have to kill him first. You saved me, and he saved you. But some terrible things have happened as well. Ms. Kim, would you like to tell Lucas the rest of the story, or would you like me to do it?” asked beautiful grandmother woman Monica Kovitski as she held my hand, her voice calm and soothing.

  As she spoke, I looked down and noticed that my hand was back to normal, and that someone had changed my clothes; I was now wearing what looked like hospital scrubs, in a pale blue color. Someone had obviously washed my feet, because the last time I saw them they were covered in a mixture of dirt and blood. Ava, why was I unconscious for so long?

  “We had been through a lot, and your body needed to recover, so I kept you asleep for a while. Pay attention now, sonny boy, the president is talking to you.”

  “Thank you for offering, Ms. Kovitski; you’ve been very kind to us in what has to be a terribly trying time for you. Lucas and me, we’re a team, and it’s up to me.”

  “Tell me what? What happened?” I just couldn’t understand why everyone wasn’t happy, throwing a party or something.

  “Lucas, I’m going to tell you, but it’s… it’s difficult. After you left, on your way to the prison in Goiânia, Hassim… Hassim was frantic. He said we needed to do something more… something to make things at least a little easier for you. The only thing we could think of was to try something that would pull the guards away from the inside of the prison… we contacted the leaders of the resistance: Pedrina Rossi, Jose Silva, Eloa Oliveira, Izabel Souza, Antonio Costa, and some others, and hatched a plan to stage a mass protest outside the gates of the prison. It all happened so quickly… we went there, to Goiânia, and there were hundreds of people, maybe thousands, all shouting for the release of Ms. Kovitski. We were so happy; our plan seemed to be working, but then some in the crowd got out of control; they were trying to break in to the prison, and then the lights went out. That told us you were on target with the plan, and the crowd got even wilder. Dozens of guards came out to the prison gates, maybe a hundred or more. Hassim and I were near the front, because we wanted to be ready to go into the prison if we had to, to help you, and then… someone shouted on the guard’s side of the fence, and they started shooting into the crowd, just random, in all directions. At first we didn’t realize that they were using live ammunition, but then people were falling everywhere, and a panic took over… people running over one another to get away, while the guards kept shooting… Hassim, he… he dove into the crowd, pulling people out, two or three at a time, dragging them to safe spots… he got hit in the leg, I saw it go through, but he just kept going… he didn’t even slow down… he dragged dozens of people to safety, shouting at the guards the whole time to stop… he got hit again in the shoulder, but he didn’t slow down… I tried to help him, to get him to stop, but then I got hit in the leg too… “

  “Wait, you got shot? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, it’s fine, I just can’t walk right now… it went through my calf, didn’t hit the bone, but it put me down, and I couldn’t help… I dragged myself behind a dumpster, but Hassim… he wouldn’t stop… he got hit in the back, and he went down… but he got back up, he pulled more people away… he was waving his arms, shouting at the guards to stop… then, they… they got him in the chest… I crawled out, pulled him back, but… there was nothing I could do, it was too late… oh, Lucas, I’m sorry…”

  “Find out where he is. It might not be too late. They don’t know about his enhancements. He may appear dead, but he could still be alive. Quick, we have to get to him now.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Oh, Lucas, he’s gone, it's…”

  “WHERE IS HE RIGHT NOW?”

  I bolted to my feet, and Cheri said, “Lucas, calm down, you’re just upset…”

  “I’m not upset. WHERE IS HE?”

  Cheri turned to Monica Kovitski, and she turned to an aide standing behind her. “Find out where Mr. Rajput’s body is immediately.”

  “Right away, Madame President.”

  He scurried away, and I began pacing. “You don’t understand. Hassim… he’s not normal. Not like me, but not normal in a different way… I just need to see him right away. He may seem… dead… but he might not be. It’s…”

  The aide sprinted back into the room and whispered into Monica Kovitski’s ear. She nodded and said, “There is a morgue in the basement of the Federal District Base Hospital, and he is there. They have not operated or autopsied him yet, although that will happen soon.”

  “Make like a bird, sonny boy.”

  Hey, I know what that means…

  “How high up are we?”

  Monica Kovitski glanced at Cheri, who shrugged her shoulders. “We are on the fourth floor. Why do you ask?”

  “Are there any open windows or a balcony?”

  “Well, yes, behind you and to the left is a balcony. But why…”

  She didn’t have time to say anything else, as I dashed for the balcony at top speed.

  40

  DIRECTOR’S NOTES

  MEETING WITH SVC, BG and LPJ

  121752 13:55

  The general meeting starts in five minutes. Still no word?

  -(SVC) Stand by… no, still nothing definitive.

  -What is the problem? Are we getting messages by donkey or something?

  -(SVC) We have a report that the boy was seen being carried out of the prison by a prison guard, and they left from there with Kovitski. They took him to the Presidential Palace after they arrested Leitao, but we have nothing more about his status. We have a confirmed report that Rajput was shot several times, but no reports as to whether he survived.

  -Several times? Oh, crap, that’s not good.

  -(LPJ) What about… wasn’t there a girl also?

  -Yeah, the Kim girl, one of the Sacramento Kim family. Yes, that Kim family. ASC.

  -(SVC) There was an unconfirmed report of her being shot as well, but again, current status unknown.

  -This is intensely aggravating. We’ll have to assume the best for the moment. Are you two ready to discuss the halo protocol?

  -(BG nods to LPJ) (LPJ) I think we are ready to bring everyone up to speed.

  -We may need that thing to work, and soon. I’m counting on you to get us there.

  -(BG) We’ll do our best, but it may be a crapshoot as to whether it works as intended, without extended testing.

  -Do whatever you have to, martial any resources necessary, and use my authority. It has to work. (SVC), where are we with ‘operation bugout’?

  -(SVC) They are just awaiting our direction.

  -Okay, two minutes, let’s see if we can ge
t everyone on the same page. Do we have any Cheetos?

  ****

  A va, can we do this?

  “Just jump and let me take care of the rest. The hospital’s close; just a little over a kilometer. We’ll be there in less than a minute.”

  Lots of people will see me.

  “We can’t worry about that now. It’ll be in the realm of urban legend soon enough, anyway, and most who don’t see it directly won’t believe it. Let’s just hope no one gets any video.”

  Well, even if they do, I still have my teenage girl disguise on, so they won’t know it’s me, right?

  “Now you’re thinking. Jump!”

  I sprang over the ornate railing of the balcony and spread my arms; after a moment of panicked descent, my arms and legs cooperated, and I was gliding swiftly toward the hospital. We skimmed the treetops on the way, trying to stay away from open areas, and circled around behind the hospital; I tipped my wings up, and we came to a jogging stop on the pavement; several shocked hospital staff who were unloading an ambulance stopped to watch, and I shouted, “How do I get to the morgue?”

  Their expressions were hard to read, but I would say stunned would be a good way to describe them. One by one, they pointed to an entrance just behind them, and I sprinted through it at top speed, so fast that the dozens of staff people I passed might have thought they had just imagined it. At the end of a long hall I skidded to a stop, and hollered to no one in particular, “Where are the stairs to the morgue?”

  A young lady nearest to me, her eyes wide, pointed to a door just down the hall; I took it at full speed and jumped the three flights down to the basement. I went for the door, but of course it was locked, so I yanked the handle off and pushed the door aside, and yelled to the several staff members inside, “WHERE IS HASSIM RAJPUT?”

  The startled hospital workers pointed at a table on the far side of the large open space, where a person, maybe the coroner, was preparing to open Hassim’s chest. “STOP! DON’T TOUCH HIM!” I roared, and jumped the length of the room, pushing the man aside.

  I leaned over him and felt his skin; he’s warm… colder than he should be, but not totally cold… “Hassim, come on, Hassim…”

  I listened to his chest… nothing… no breath… come on, Hassim…

  “Don’t panic, sonny boy. I’ve been doing some research during our trip over here. The British were experimenting with a chemical system shutdown to help their agents survive situations like this. If there’s anyone who would have agreed to test that system, it would be this guy. Keep listening.”

  Okay… I stood with my ear to his chest for two minutes, waving everyone away. What… what was that… was that just some internal gas, or something else? Two more minutes… the same sound. Ava, what do we do?

  “He needs to be shocked, and it needs to be strong. Tell them to try the paddles first, but it might not work. If not, we’re going to shock him, like we did to the snake and the rats. It’ll freeze us for a couple of seconds, but it won’t matter if it works.”

  I turned to the staff members now standing nearby and shouted, “GET THE PADDLES! THE HEART, THE SHOCKER-THING! NOW!”

  The coroner, who was still on the ground where I had shoved him, bounced to his feet and signaled one of the other staff members to pull the cart with the paddle-thing over next to Hassim’s limp body. The coroner looked me in the eye and said, “I’m not supposed to do this.” Then he placed the paddles on Hassim’s bloody, naked chest and bellowed, “CLEAR!”

  Hassim’s body jerked in response to the current flowing through him, but there was no other movement. “It’s not enough, sonny boy. Did you see where he put the paddles on his chest? Put your hands in the same spots and make sure everyone stays back.”

  I waved the coroner away and said, “This will look strange, but everyone, get as far back as you can.”

  I put my hands where Ava had directed; come on, this has to work… okay, Ava, I’m ready.

  “Here we go, easy peasy… three, two, one…”

  BANG! The lights flickered, and it froze me, just as Ava said; there were burn marks on Hassim where my hands had been, and after about five seconds, I could move; I put my ear up to his chest… thump… ten seconds… thump…

  I spun and noticed that for some reason there were tears coming out of my eyes; I gasped and said, “Please, get him to an operating room, now.”

  41

  DIRECTOR’S NOTES

  MEETING WITH SVC/LFP GENERAL MEETING

  121752 13:59

  Before we get started, I forgot to ask. What’s the status on Oakes and Concannon?

  -(SVC) They have met. Concannon agreed immediately, no caveats. They are on their way to Las Vegas.

  -At last, some good news. Do they know what’s happened down in Brazil?

  -(SVC) Unclear, but I think it’s safe to assume that at least Oakes has some intel.

  -Okay. Here we go. Everyone on line? Good. I see that all are holo-present, aside from (JR). Let’s call this meeting to order, once again dispensing with Robert’s Rules for today. There have been some developments and we need to bring you all up to speed. Our subject, young Lucas Taylor, has successfully completed his mission in Brazil, and has freed the rightful president. She has ousted the sitting president and has the military on her side, so all around a great success for our boy. Any comments before we move on?

  -(HP, from Germany) Were there any casualties? Is the boy’s system intact?

  -We’re waiting for definitive confirmation, but there doesn’t appear to be any reason to doubt the integrity of the system at this point. We don’t know the extent of any other casualties yet.

  -(PO, from the US) So, it worked? He actually did it?

  -Yes, as I said, Ms. Kovitski is out of prison and in the presidential palace as we speak.

  -(General murmuring from the group)

  -(EM, from the US) Okay, so what’s next for him?

  -I think we can assume that he’ll hear from the US regarding the next mission they have for him. Can we move on? We have much to discuss, including the halo protocol and ‘operation bugout’.

  -(General murmuring from the group, louder)

  -(HB, from the UK) I don’t think we have enough appreciation for what a bloomin’ miracle the Taylor boy is. He’s uncanny, he is. And the halo protocol? Ain’t that purely theoretical?

  -That’s why (BG) and (LPJ) are here in person. They are going to bring us all up to speed. (BG), (LPJ), you’re on. (SVC), do you have any gum or mints or anything on you?

  ****

  T he next two days were mostly a blur to me. Hassim was in surgery for hours, but he made it. His dad, Ambassador Rajput, showed up while Cheri, Carlitos, and I waited at the hospital, and he talked to me and held my hand for a long time, which seemed weird, but I don’t really remember what he said. I was just checked out, I guess. Cheri and Carlitos wouldn’t leave my side, and even when I got up to relieve the gas that had been building up inside of me, they walked with me to the restroom. Carlitos wanted to come in the bathroom with me, but Cheri warned him that it would be in his best interest to wait outside, and even then, it would be unpleasant, so he waited.

  President Kovitski showed up eventually with a group of guards following her, and met in a private room with Mr. Rajput. After a few minutes, they called Cheri, Carlitos, and me in, and once again expressed their thanks. It was all nice, and it’s not that I didn’t appreciate it, but I just wanted to get my dad back. The truth is, that’s why I did what I did. I was thinking of him the whole time.

  The thing that made me most happy was that I was able to help Hassim. I mean, Ava and I were. It’s weird that I have made so many good friends since… since waking up in the hospital in Riverside; it was just a couple of months ago, but it seems like a whole lifetime…

  The next day, we got to see Hassim, and he was joking and laughing like everything was normal. He’s a tough person, that’s for sure. His dad arranged to take him out of the hospital later that
day, to fly him to their hospital in Pakistan, and he took Cheri and me along with him, dropping us off in Perth. We said our goodbyes and promised to visit Hassim just as soon as we were able, which we all knew honestly might be never. As soon as we arrived in Perth, I got calls from both Carlitos and Monica Kovitski; they just wanted to make sure we got back safely and to invite us back to the Presidential Palace in Brasilia anytime we would like. I thanked both of them and said we would, but we honestly all knew that would never happen. Still, they were super-nice people in a world where it seems like not that many are left.

  I don’t know how they knew we were going to be in Perth, but waiting for us when we arrived were all the most important people in the world to me, aside from my dad; Benji, Mr. Harutyunyan (who swept me up into a huge bear hug, which I tolerated pretty well), Ms. Houng (who kissed me like ten times on the cheeks, which I also was proud of myself for tolerating), Tarni (who did the same thing as Ms. Houng), and even Wally and Harry, Benji’s triplet brothers, and Jedda, their sister, just a few months older than me, who I have to admit I have a crush on. They all said hello and wished their best to Hassim before they flew off to complete their trip to Pakistan, and everyone had a great time in the old nation van trundling back up to the nation cavern.

  Everyone but me. I couldn’t help it; I had a bad feeling that somehow all this would end soon. Maybe I’m wrong; maybe it’s just because I will be fifteen in six days and I’m sad for no reason, like I’ve heard teenagers sometimes are, or maybe I’m just sad that my dad isn’t here. Maybe all of that. Whatever it was, I couldn’t seem to shake it. Of course, Cheri noticed, and she always knows what to say. That’s one of the many things I like about her. I glanced over at her, huge bandage on her leg, missing arm, and thought, ‘That’s all because she got hooked up with me. None of that would have happened to her otherwise’. That made me feel even worse, and I covered up my face.