Killswitch (30 page)

“Codeine. I'll go get it.” She left the room.

Mom dropped the little towel into a bowl of water beside the bed. “Chase, I heard you got the exoself back.”

“It's all there.”

“I don't know how I feel about that.”

Chase shook his head. “I'm not sure either. But it's me, Mom. It's who I am.” He got up off his knees and sat on the bed opposite his mother. “Amos, can you hear me?”

The man grunted and looked at Chase. “Yes, son. I'm feeling a little better now.” He winced and his eyes shut tight.

“We're going to give you something for the pain. But it'll have to be in pill form. Can you keep it down?”

“Kinda doubt it. But we'll give it a try.”

“Good,” Chase said. “Mel went to get it from the supplies we brought back from Gagnon. Amos, we need to talk to you about taking you there.”

“I told you before there is nothing the doctor can do for me.”

“You may be wrong about that, Amos. Remember how my leg healed? And Mel said I might have some techno blood flowing inside me?”

“I remember.”

“She was right. And I think my blood might be what you need.”

Mom's eyes grew wide. “What on earth? You can't be serious.”

“Mom, I talked to my doctor—the one who designed me.”

“He called you?”

“No, Mom, he didn't call me. It's complicated.”

“And what did he say about this foolish idea of yours?”

“Well, I didn't get an answer. But I'm hoping to know for sure if it'll work. And if it will, or even if there's a possibility, then that trip to Gagnon might just save Amos's life.”

Amos lifted his arm out from under the covers. He reached for Chase but his hand fell to the bed. “Son, why would you take a chance like that for a dying man? I've made my peace with this.”

“Amos, what would it hurt to try? If God wants you to go, then you'll go.” Chase took the man's hand in his. “But maybe He wants you to stay a while longer.”

Amos blinked and then stared at the ceiling. “You don't know if it will work?”

“I'm hoping to find out soon. Will you do it?”

“I've always loved a good scientific experiment.”

Mel slipped into the room with a small pouch. “I've got it.” She sat beside Amos and took out a pill.

Chase lifted Amos's head, who opened his mouth just enough for Mel to drop the pill on his tongue. Then she reached for a water glass and held to his lips.

Mom crossed her arms. “Melody, do you know what he's planning?”

“Oh, yeah. Crazy idea. Might kill both of them. But hey, I'm just the leader of the worldwide command center of the Underground Church. And the transhuman's girlfriend. My opinion doesn't count for much.”

“Mel, take it easy,” Chase said. “I thought we'd reached an understanding.”

“You talk to that crazy doctor again?”

“Not yet.”

“Then you still have some convincing to do.”

Chase tightened his jaw, his eyes on Amos. “I'll let you know what happens. Hang in there.” He headed for the door. “Mom, do you need a break?”

“I got one earlier. Can I just call you…you know, in your head if I need to?”

Chase nearly laughed. “Only if you have a coded VPad on you. Right now, Mel's the only one who's got one. You can't summon me with your brain. Unless you got chipped since the last time we talked.”

She smiled and brushed the graying hair from her eyes. “I'll just send for you.”

Chase nodded and left the room.

Mel was close behind him. “I'm going back to my station,” she said. “You gonna go try to conjure up your doctor?”

“I can't do that. At least, not yet. Maybe the exoself will refine the program and allow it. For now, I'll just have to wait.”

“Amos could die before Fiender shows up again.”

“Then it wasn't meant to be. I'm going back to my room.”

Mel grabbed his hand. “We've got to do this together. No matter what happens.”

“You've got no argument from me. I'll check in with you in an hour or so.”

“It'll be supper time in an hour.”

“I'll see you there.” Chase squeezed her hand, then let her go. He went to his room, shut the door, and sat in one of the chairs Switchblade had brought in earlier. And waited.

No amount of hoping or praying would bring the phantom of the man back. Maybe Mel was right. Maybe this wasn't God's plan for Amos. Or for Chase. “She's right—it's a stupid idea.”

He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands. Then a flash rushed through his mind. The line of code. A white coat materialized beside the table where the lifeless old laptop still remained. “Robert.”

“Yes, yes. I'm here, son. I had to exit the program earlier. That asinine man who chipped Kerstin blew into my office.”

“Young Dr. Jack. Does he suspect anything?”

“Nothing. And I've altered the exoself to disallow contact from any processors other than mine.”

“Robert, do you have a chip in your brain like the one Kerstin got?”

“Had it for years. It's a bit antiquated and I don't know how long I can maintain contact with the exoself. Getting an updated implant right now would only bring more questions than I care to answer. But rest assured, no one else can come in. If Kerstin tries it again, the exoself will not only disallow entry, it will wipe out her processor.”

“That's a relief. I almost got caught. The underground would have been compromised. I can't allow that, Robert. Are you positive what you're doing now is safe?”

“Yes, of course. You know how I feel about you, son.”

Chase wanted to put his arm around the old man's shoulder. “I know. Robert, did you hear my last question before you had to cut out?”

“About your blood? Yes. I'm guessing someone is ill.”

“The leader here—the former leader—is dying. Leukemia. He had to step down and now he's in bad shape.”

“The technology is so new, Chase. You're the only man in the world with nanobots in his bloodstream.”

“Just give me your professional opinion. Would it make any difference at all in his condition? Would it matter if we didn't have the same blood type?”

The doctor's image varied a bit but rectified in a flash. “Blood type, for you, no longer matters. It's the same as with your organs, which are made to be universally acceptable by any human being. Once we added the technology to your blood, it lost some aspects of its humanness. It regenerates with no specific type. A transfusion would not harm your leader. As to whether or not it would help him, I can only tell you that it would take over in his body the same way it has in yours. It would latch on to the organic blood cells and eradicate malfunctions. At least, in theory, Chase.”

“Then it's a cure for all kinds of disease. That's incredible.”

“In
theory
, son.”

“But you think it would work. Don't you?”

“The data indicates that it should produce major, positive changes when applied to most conditions. Now that I know of its function in you, I'm hopeful that it will become a viable treatment. But son, the nanobots don't regenerate. Your human blood still does, of course. However, this is not something you could do repeatedly. Once, maybe twice, but no more. Now that your organs and your blood are functioning together, doing this repeatedly might have dire consequences.”

“The recipient wouldn't benefit,” Chase said.

“No, son. The donor wouldn't survive.”

Chase drew closer to the image. “Robert, can you send the data to me? I mean, only if it can be done in an untraceable program. I don't have access to the Helgen.”

“Do you remember when you contacted an old computer of mine to let me know you were safe? Does the exoself still have the code, or was it wiped clean after the first contact?”

Chase ran a scan of the coded trails of the exoself and found the connection. “I have it.”

“I'll move the data to that location. Give me until tomorrow morning. Chase, this will be my last visit, at least for a while. They're bringing in a new subject and I'm being forced back into the laboratory. Security will be too tight for me to try this again.”

“A new subject? They're going to build another one, aren't they? Another transhuman.”

“Yes, son. But he will be inept. I'll see to that.”

Chase grinned. “Thank you, Robert. For everything. I miss you.”

“And I miss you, son. Maybe one day…”

“Maybe.”

The image faded away. Chase reached for the door, but stepped back and sat in the chair. Then he dropped from the chair to his knees. “God, thanks for this. It'll work. But it won't be me that saves Amos—I know that. I can't save anyone. Only Jesus can.”

He stood up and swung the door open. A smile on his face, resolve in his step, he headed for the dining hall.

Meals waited on the counter for the evening's servers to pick up and deliver to the tables. Mel sat on the far side of the room. An empty chair waited beside her. Chase made his way to sit next to her.

“I talked to Robert,” he told her.

“And?”

“Good news. He thinks it'll work.”

“I need—”

“He's sending me the data. I'll have it by morning. But Mel, we can take him at his word.”

“I know you trust him. But to me, he's just the man who turned you into…” Her eyes showed the sorrow for what she almost said. “I need to see the data.”

“It's coming. But I don't think that's the only thing you're worried about. I have to ask you, one more time, if you can deal with what I am. I'm not the same man you once knew.”

Her lips curved upward and tears puddled in her eyes. “I know that. I didn't love that man the way I love you.”

Her words took his breath away. Even lab-grown lungs had to respond to the unexpected confession of this lovely young woman.

She wiped her eyes. “I'm just so scared of you going off. You can tell yourself it'll all work out, but the truth is that you being up top in the real world is dangerous. And you made a promise that we would never be apart again.”

He studied her face for a moment. “We need to talk, Mel. You've got to see the data before you let me go. Well, there's something I've got to do too.”

“What is it?”

“Not here. Meet me in my room after I tell Amos the good news.”

“But Chase, he needs to understand—”

“I know—the data. Half an hour. OK?”

“Yeah, but aren't you hungry?”

He grabbed a slice of bread from her plate. “This will do.” He left her there. Looking back, he met her eyes and held the sight of her. Then he headed out as he stuffed the bread into his mouth.

She had her stipulations. Well, so did he.

50

Amos seemed hardly able to comprehend what Chase had to tell him. Would he even survive the trip to Gagnon? Mom still sat at his bedside. She'd eaten her supper in the room and tried to feed Amos a bit of cooked apples. He didn't take much.

Even through the pain and mental haze, Amos accepted Chase's word that what they were about to do offered hope and promise.

“We'll leave tomorrow night—around midnight,” Chase told him.

“The three of us,” Mom said. “Right?”

“Come on, Mom. You can't be serious about that. You're as bad as Mel.”

“Well, you can't stay with him—you'll need to get right back here. He needs to have someone with him, Chase. Someone he knows. We've become close friends. And I want to go.”

Amos had closed his eyes. What would
he
think about dragging her along? Chase huffed. “You'll need to get permission from the boss.”

His mother smiled. “How are we getting there, son?”

“Assuming it's
we
, I'm working on it. I met a funny guy called Shorty who owns a hearse. That's how I got to Gagnon when I was injured.”

“Kind of morbid—putting a sick man in a hearse.”

“It may be our best option. He'll be more comfortable than if we try to move him in a livestock truck.”

“All right. Whatever you say. So you'll make the connection from the command center tonight?”

Chase smiled. “No need for that. I just made it. Waiting for a response.”

She shook her head. “Wonder of wonders.”

“I need to talk to Mel. You OK? You need anything?”

“A couple of the young men have been helping me. If you see Michael or Joseph, ask if one of them can come in about an hour from now. I'll go to my room and get a few hours' sleep.”

“OK.” He bent to kiss her cheek. “I can't believe you talked me into taking you. You're stubborn. You know that?”

“Where do you think you got it from?”

Chase left for his room. But he slowed his pace. “God, is this the dumbest thing I've ever done? I planned on waiting a while.”

He found his door open and Mel resting in a chair, her eyes closed. He left the door cracked and knelt in front of her just to watch her.

After a minute, she opened her eyes and smiled. “Hi.” She blinked and sat up. “How'd it go?”

“Between the pain and the codeine, I'm not sure he understood everything I told him. But he knows what we're planning.”

She wiped her eyes. Worry swept over her face, but she didn't argue about the plan. “What did you want to talk about?”

Chase didn't answer. He only looked at her.

“You're scaring me.”

He reached to take her hand. “I don't want to scare you, Mel. I want you to trust me. I need you to know I never want to be apart from you. And I think there's a way I can show you.” He paused.

“I'm listening.”

He kissed her hand before he rested his head on her knee and closed his eyes.