Salvage
Page 5
I must look like an idiot. A grown woman afraid of her own shadow in this stupid lab. I drop my arms to my side and put on my best fake smile. “No worries,” I say.
Reed places his palm on the small of my back (yes, I get goosebumps) and guides me over to the scientist. “Lucas Poindexter, meet my old friend, Ida Sarek.”
Lucas nods stiffly and doesn’t offer his hand.
“Hey,” I say.
“Hello,” he says. “I’ve heard a lot about you over the years from Reed. It’s… so interesting to finally meet you.”
Reed’s ears redden, and my heart skips a beat. Did he think about me that much? I barely thought about him at all, and that makes me feel guilty. And sad.
“So, you work on robots?” I ask, desperate to change the subject.
Lucas stares wide-eyed at Ogre. “Yes, I do...What model is your machine?” He wanders over to Ogre and starts to circle, inspecting the android.
“I don’t own Ogre,” I say quickly.
Lucas meets my gaze, his eyes cold. “Apologies, the wealthiest visitors have brought personal robots before, but nothing like this specimen.”
Ogre shuffles its feet and starts to slowly turn in the same direction as the doctor. “May I help you?” Ogre asks.
Lucas halts. “You’re a Spark City bot, right?”
“Yes, but I prefer the term android,” says Ogre.
“You have sentience?”
“I am a fully independent, functioning android, model OGR19. I was manufactured in DremCorp Towers, Spark City, year 2042.”
“Fascinating,” says Lucas. “In all my years of research, I’ve never encountered an android this sophisticated, this—"
Reed interrupts and places a palm on Lucas’s shoulder. “I met Lucas shortly after my escape from Woodlawn. He's been my best friend ever since. We both shared a lot of the same interests in science and engineering. He became one of the top nanorobotic scientists in the entire world.”
“The top scientist, thank you very much,” says Lucas. He puffs out his chest.
“I would like to learn more,” says Ogre.
“Brilliant,” says Lucas. “Follow me. I'll give you a short demo of the type of research we conduct here.”
Lucas leads us over to a table in the rear. Scanners, digiscreens, and other lab equipment rest on a clean, steel surface.
“You're going to love this,” says Reed, glancing my way. He stands next to me, and our shoulders and biceps touch, making me flush.
Lucas postures in front of us as if he's about to give a class lecture. On the table rests a small cage containing a white mouse, a notable bulge on its side.
Ogre scans the creature and tilts its head. “The rodent has cancer?”
“Precisely,” answers Lucas. “A cancerous mass has formed in its abdomen. What do you think is the typical course of treatment for cancerous tumors?”
Ogre pauses, accessing its information bank. “Typical treatment is surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy.”
“Correct. But in many cases, depending on the type of cancer, these treatments are ineffective. I’ve been working on treatments, because I want to eliminate cancer forever.” He rubs his palms together like an excited school boy. “Watch this.” He opens a container and withdraws a syringe. The liquid inside the vial glows a rich, green color. “What does this look like to you?” He offers me the syringe.
I peer at it. “Some kind of green goo.”
“Yes, to the human eye, it looks like a synchronous liquid, but inside it's teeming with life.”
“What do you mean?” I ask. Of course I know about nanotech—it’s inside me—but I’ve never had a scientist explain it to me. Could they know about my alterations from my military records? Is that why Reed brought me here? I feel nauseous.
Lucas swipes the air in front of him and a holographic column appears. It buzzes with numbers and digits, like a data feed moving in a stream, projected in three dimensions. He places the syringe inside the feed and, as if magnified, particles collect inside the green liquid. Tiny robotic creatures swim in circles. Thousands of them—too many to count. He trails his finger along the edge of the vial, and the creatures form together, following his finger.
“Nanotechnology. Each bot is 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.”
The swarming behavior intensifies, and I'm reminded of the sensation of tingling that used to happen in my arms just before I healed someone. Of course, now that sensation has changed. It feels electric when I touch someone, as if I'm shocking them.
Lucas steps away from the screen, a grin spread across his boyish face. He approaches the mouse and injects the liquid from the syringe into the cancerous mass. “Now watch,” he says, and changes the screen so we see what’s happening inside the tumor.
The tiny particles surround and start to assault the cancerous cells. I stare intensely, drawn toward the screen.
Next to me, Reed whispers, “Isn't it amazing?”
The nanotech Lucas has created is like the AI in my arms. The ones that used to heal people, before they were damaged. I watch as the machines continue to transform the cancer cell. The mouse’s tumor shrinks visibly before our eyes.
Ogre looks at me as if about to say something, but I shake my head. I don’t want the android to reveal my secret.
“What will happen to it? To the mouse?” I ask Lucas.
“The transformation will take several hours, but the mouse will be cancer-free before the day is out.”
“You could help everyone,” I say. “You could save millions upon millions of lives.”
His face darkens. “Eventually…”
“Why not now? Why not start getting this into the hands of people who need help?”
Lucas narrows his eyes. “It's not ready yet. While this works on trials with mice, I’ve yet to replicate similar success in humans. It's like I'm missing a piece of the puzzle. If I knew how to make the nanobots work cohesively on human cells…”
I hold my breath as a flood of emotions wash over me. Ogre stands by, its red pulse rotating, as if waiting for me to react. I have a piece to the puzzle, or I did at one point. The nanotech worked inside me, until it didn't.
Should I admit what was done to me at the lab?
But something holds me back. Reed has been back in my life for less than twenty-four hours. He controls Space Squad and holds incredible power, but how much do I really know him?
And Lucas is a scientist. If he discovers my nanotech, he could hold me in his lab. Nothing would stop them from keeping me here like a prisoner. Not even Ogre.
If I was in charge and discovered a person’s touch could kill others in seconds, I would lock her up.
And yet, Lucas could hold the key to helping me. Could he somehow alter the nanorobotics inside me to stop hurting people?
“What do you think, Ida?” Reed searches my face with thoughtful eyes.
I try to ignore the tension in my chest whenever he looks at me. “It's...amazing. So full of promise. What did you mean before, when you said you owe Lucas your life?”
His face brightens. “Remember how crazy allergic I was to everything, even my own shadow? Lucas helped me get my life back. First, he designed nanotech that corrected my vision, so I could lose the thick glasses. But then he developed... Lucas, do you want to tell the story?”
“Sure, I'd be happy to.” Lucas strides forward and retrieves another diagram on the holofeed. This time, an image of a man's body appears. “Reed had incredibly sensitive skin and extreme allergic reactions. For a year, I studied him, eventually using one of my early nanotech prototypes to treat him.”
Lucas manipulates the screen to reveal nanorobotics being inserted into the test subject’s skin. “See this behavior? I injected Reed here…and here, giving the nanobots pointers. They swarm and create a barrier at the subcutaneous level of his skin.”
“A barrier?” asks Ogre.
“Since Reed was reacting to toxins from the environ
ment and lacked the resilience that other people have, I programmed the nanobots to act as a swarm, like bees protecting their nest. They melded with his skin cells and formed a protective barrier. They filter his skin—only allowing in good things and they keep out dangerous toxins to protect him. And it works on other people. We've used it on children who are particularly sensitive to allergens.”
“You could say I'm a new man,” Reed announces proudly. “It absolutely gave me a new lease on life. Without it, I’d be weak, probably bedridden, if I had lived even another five years.”
“That's incredible,” I manage to say. “I’m so happy you found him, that you were able to help each other out.”
Reed grins. “Like I said, Lucas is one of the good ones. He saved my life. I’d take a bullet for him.”
Lucas gazes at me with a smug smile. “Now, Reed. Don’t embarrass me in front of your long-lost friend.”
“Right,” says Reed. “We’ll let you get back to work.”
“I do have an ask of you,” says Lucas, turning to me. His smile disappears, and a shiver runs through me. Does he know about the AI inside me?
I hesitate, barely able to meet his gaze when he says, “May I borrow your robot… Er, I mean, android, for study?”
Relieved, I throw up my hands. “Don't ask me.”
“My mistake.” He spins and faces Ogre. “Terribly sorry. I should have asked you first.”
In his monotone voice, Ogre says, “What do you want?”
“Well, the other guys in the lab and I are very curious. We’d like to ask you questions and find out about some of your programming.”
“I will consider your request.” Ogre scans the room and glances at several other scientists on the far side of the room, observing us with wide eyes. “By any chance, would you have access to a pool table?”
“Ogre’s a huge fan of pool,” I say. “Bring him a pool table, and he’ll be yours for life.”
Lucas and Reed exchange a glance. “I’ll arrange to have a pool table brought here by tomorrow morning,” says Lucas. “Tell you what, Ogre, you can play all the pool you want with my guys, and we’ll ask you some questions.”
“Request accepted,” says Ogre.
As we leave the lab, I can’t help but wonder whether Lucas could help me. Would he? I can’t shake the suspicion that he’s jealous of me.
But what are my alternatives? I left a man unconscious and probably dead in Wyoming only yesterday.
How long can I go on like this?
Six
“Thanks for coming with me and meeting Lucas,” Reed says as he escorts us to the hotel. He and I stroll a few feet ahead of Ogre, out of hearing range. Ogre better have obeyed my command and dialed down its listening capability.
“Thanks for showing us around,” I say.
“My pleasure. I play tour guide for a lot of VIPs—people with cash to spare to keep things going here. But it's not every day I get to show off to someone I really care about.”
I gaze at the ground, not daring to look at his face.
We end up in front of my door, and Ogre, after pausing, starts toward its room. Reed lingers beside me until Ogre’s door closes. Meanwhile, I'm flushed and my heart's beating too fast. Why is he making me feel like my chest is twisting into pieces? I haven't felt this way since the last time I was alone with Gatz.
He leans in, an arm propped against the wall next to my door. “Have dinner with me tonight. I'm a mean cook.”
“Another of the surprising skills you picked up since Woodlawn?” So, I can flirt a little too.
“Then it’s settled? My quarters at 1900 hours?” He hesitates. “Minus Ogre? You and I have a lot to catch up on.”
His gaze is so intense, like his eyes are boring holes into me. I hope my skin doesn’t look as hot as it feels.
“And your answer is…?”
“I guess…” Dinner with an old friend seems perfectly normal. So why am I hesitating? “You know, we only plan to stay a few days. Originally, it was two nights. Now, I’ve agreed to four days, but I’m on a strict time table.”
“Shush.” He starts to raise a fingertip to my mouth, but I scramble away, out of reach. “Door open,” I command.
I step inside, but he loiters just outside the door, blocking it from sliding shut. “Is that a yes for tonight?”
It hurts to breathe. “Yes,” I mutter and push his chest playfully. “Door close.”
I lean against the door. What have I agreed to? All signs point toward me actually liking this guy. I can't recall anyone having quite this effect on me. Once, I had a one-night stand in the military. Then a boyfriend who lasted all of four days before he pissed me off, so I dumped him.
I've been fine on my own all these years. Then I met Gatz, and I thought there might be something there, but… it made no sense for us to be together. We were doomed from the start.
Now I'm acting like a schoolgirl with a crush on the handsome guy in her class because he winked at her.
But I can't get close to anybody.
I can't be with someone.
I'm not normal.
Seven
That evening, I find myself in front of Reed’s apartment door. Smoothing my hair behind my ear on both sides, I run my tongue along my front teeth. Here goes nothing. I ring the buzzer.
Reed's voice answers from inside, and the door slides open. I wander a few steps into a pristine, sophisticated apartment. I’d expected more of a bachelor’s pad, but instead the ceilings and walls are a grayish white color with undulating contours. In the kitchen, Reed tends to a pan of food on the stove. Various ingredients, pots, and pans are spread out on the counter.
“Make yourself at home,” he says. “Have a seat. Do you prefer red or white wine?”
My legs are shaky. I’d rather stand but I don’t want to seem like a complete idiot. I take a seat on a black cushioned stool opposite the kitchen. “Red, I guess.”
He breaks from food prep long enough to uncork a bottle and pour me a big glass. Catching my gaze, he says, “A toast?”
I raise my glass and try to stop my hand from wobbling.
“I’m glad you came. To old times.”
“To old times,” I repeat softly.
As he continues cooking, I study his furniture: a muted orange modular sofa, elegant fireplace, and stairs that lead up to a loft. “Your place is nice…really retro.”
“Thanks. I saw a room like this in a magazine once and the picture always stuck in my head,” he says, smiling.
We’re silent for a minute, and I wonder if I should bring up a new subject. What do people say on dates? God, I hate small talk.
Then I notice a round, glass table set for two. Above, a chandelier hangs, one I've never seen the likes of before. It's so striking, I wander over to examine it. Shards of light hang down as one would expect, but the fragments of glass undulate. The lights move and shimmer as if they're dancing. “What is this made of?” I ask over my shoulder.
Reed joins me at the table. “You like it? It's nanotech. Lucas designed it.”
“He did? That guy seems to have his hands in everything.”
“He's brilliant, I'll give him that, even though he's not the most emotionally mature person.”
I marvel at the chandelier in motion another minute before returning to my stool. “So, you're old school?” I say as he checks a casserole dish in the built-in wall oven.
“Yeah, I prefer actual ovens and pans over the food printers. I guess I'm a control freak.” He grins.
I take a swig of wine and try to relax my stiff shoulders. He’s my oldest friend. There’s nothing to worry about here.
He wears soft, blue linen pants and a white, cotton V-neck shirt that shows off his chest and reveals his toned, muscular arms.
“I noticed you don’t have arm tattoos like some of the other workers here,” I say. Then I bite my lip, wondering if he knows I’m checking out his body.
“Nope. I don’t like needles.”
He steals a few glances at me as he preps the food. “Don’t worry, it’s just about ready.”
He thinks I’m worried? That’s probably not a great sign for a date. “What are we having?” I ask, trying to perk up. The blend of rich aromas invades my nostrils. It's been a long time since I had real homemade food.
“Chicken, spinach, and potato casserole. And some sauce to drizzle on top. This recipe only has three ingredients, so it’s hard to mess it up.”
I laugh. It’s genuine, and it feels good to be in the moment with an old, dear friend. The wine warms my throat and belly.
Reed starts the fireplace with a verbal command to the AI and then takes a seat on the stool across from me. He pulls his chair closer, and I instinctually scoot mine away. I’ve trained myself to avoid getting close to anyone. The risk of touching skin is too high.
I catch a glimmer of disappointment in his eyes, but it's gone fast.
“Tell me about Woodlawn,” I say.
He pours more wine for himself and adds to mine. “Like I said in my letters, the staff stopped showing up. There was nobody human left and we were guarded by drones.”
“Where was Kilpatrick?” He’d been the head supervisor. The asshole had sold me off to child abductors posing as adoptive parents.
“That prick? I have no idea. He disappeared one day. Probably realized we were about to mutiny. The outcome wouldn’t have been good for him.” Reed’s jaw clenches, and I stare at him longer than I should.
“But the drones and fences kept you in?”
“Yeah, we worked on a plan to take down the drones. All the kids collected rocks and anything we could turn into projectiles. I created slingshots, and we made a whole bunch. One day, the drones guided us into the yard for our recess, and we launched a coordinated attack.”
He gazes up, seemingly lost in old memories.
“I’m sorry I wasn't there to help you.”
“Don't be,” he says. “How would you have known? You had your own shit to deal with in the military.”