Broken Pixels (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern, Book 4) (21 page)

“Naturally I had assumed the three of you were biological humans—humans like the rest of us here in this—” She looked to Mara with a questioning look.

“Realm,” Mara said. “You thought we were human like people in this realm.”

“Clearly you are not. I’m not even sure if it would be wise for us to attempt to treat you. There could be unforeseen side effects—we could do more harm than good by giving you the Quintivir treatments,” the doctor said.

Ping lifted a hand and rubbed the warm spot on his forehead. “Since I clearly am susceptible to the virus and its effects, I think it would be best for you to proceed with the treatments. Other than the variability of my cell density, I suspect that my anatomy isn’t much different than your original biological body.”

The doctor shook her head. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable making that assumption. We cannot even get a reliable scan of your body because of this cell flux. How am I supposed to come up with a treatment that doesn’t kill you?”

Ping opened his eyes slowly and looked around the room to make sure the nausea didn’t return. After a moment, he asked, “If I can maintain a steady cell density throughout the scan, will you be able to get the information you need?”

“Assuming there are no other surprises in there.”—the doctor pointed to his midsection—“Can you control your cell density consciously?”

“To some degree for a short period, if necessary. It’s sort of like holding your breath.”

“Very well then. We’ll redo the scan while you hold your breath,” she said and then turned toward Mara and Sam. “Now I’m sending the two of you to your own examination rooms for scans.”

Mara raised a hand and shook her head. “I don’t think that’s necessary right now. We’re not exhibiting any symptoms.”

“We cannot wait until you get sick to begin worrying about dealing with any anatomical variations we might encounter. You need to do the scans now, and, once those are done, we can discuss the timing of your treatment. But I have to once again stress to you that remaining exposed to the virus is very dangerous. I still recommend that we begin treatment as soon as possible.”

Ping interjected, “She’s right. At the very least the two of you should get the scans to make sure your bodies can be treated for the virus.”

Mara pressed her lips together and looked at her brother. He shrugged and said, “They’ll just run that light up and down our bodies. I don’t see the harm in that.”

“All right. Where do we need to go?” Mara asked.

The examining room Mara stepped into was a duplicate of the one she’d just left a few minutes before. Across from the door was a bank of monitors on the far side of the examination table—a typical narrow chrome-framed bed topped by a narrow pad covered with a white sheet. Standing next to the table was a pale-skinned woman whose red hair—twisted into a loose pile on the top of her head—and fire-engine-red lipstick provided a stark contrast to the drab whites and grays of the room. The attendant didn’t look much older than Mara, but her medical smock gave her an air of authority in this context.

After closing the door behind her, Mara forced smile and said, “Dr. Canfield asked me to come here for a scan.”

The attendant made no attempt at small talk or to do anything to put Mara at ease. She raised her arm and pointed to the head of the examination table and said, “Please lie down on the table, and we’ll begin the scan.” Tight-lipped and deadpan.

Mara moved toward the table, stopped halfway across the room and turned to the attendant. Holding out her hand, she said, “Hi, my name is Mara.”

“No need for introductions. I know who you are,” the attendant said. “If you’ll get on the table, we can have the scan completed in just a few minutes.”

Mara frowned at her and went to the table. As she sat down and swung her legs up, she said, “You have me at a disadvantage.”

“I don’t know what you mean. If you’ll just lie back, we can begin the scan, and you can be on your way.”

Mara didn’t move. “You have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don’t know yours. It was an invitation to introduce yourself.”

The attendant’s jaw clenched; the muscles on the sides of her face flexed. “Socializing isn’t necessary to complete the scan. Please just lie down, and we can get started.”

Mara remained upright. “Have I done something to offend you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before I walked in here a couple minutes ago.”

“No, we’ve never met.”

“Then what’s with the attitude? Everyone else I’ve met since arriving has been nothing but courteous and professional.”

The young woman’s face reddened, and her body stiffened, as if she were straining not to pounce on Mara, but she did not move or respond.

“Seriously, what’s the matter?” Mara asked, trying to sound sincere.

The attendant looked at the floor, then directly at Mara. “
Arrived
, you said. Arrived from where?”

Mara sighed. “That’s a long story.”

“Well, if you won’t recline on the table, we’ll be here for a long time. I hear it’s an interesting story.”

“So you people gossip just like the rest of us.”

“By
you people
you mean
synthetic people
? I heard you thought less of us for leaving our biological bodies, that we were somehow less than human now.”

“That’s not true. I don’t believe that at all. Not that it matters, but I think you have done what you had to in order to survive. I know that, if I lived in this place, I would have done the same thing,” Mara said.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’ve met my counterpart—the Mara from this world, the one who is living the life I would lead if I grew up here—and she has a synthetic body just like everyone else.”

“So it’s true. You’re from some kind of alternate reality. That’s why you’re still in your biological body.”

“I am from a different realm, an alternate version of reality. Yes.”

“So why are you trying to destroy our way of life?”

Mara frowned. “Where did you get a notion like that?”

“They said you are the ones causing all the problems, making people act crazy and attacking the transceiver node. There are rumors about people being killed and killing themselves—and you have something to do with it.”

Alarmed, Mara stood up suddenly, startling the attendant, who flinched and stepped back from her. “We had nothing to do with what is going on. The whole reason I agreed to these scans is to figure out if I can stay here long enough to help resolve what is happening.”

“This isn’t caused by someone from your world?”

“Well, yes. In a way. But not us, not me and my brother or Mr. Ping.”

The attendant’s eyes filled with tears, and she looked up at the ceiling while wiping them. “We’ve been cut off from the outside, and I haven’t been able to contact my family all day. Do you know what is happening up there?” Her lip trembled.

Mara wanted to wrap an arm around the young woman’s shoulder but resisted the impulse, not wanting to make her flinch again. “I’m not really sure, but a bad person is out there hurting people, influencing your world in ways that I cannot even begin to understand. But, I do know that someone has to stop her—and since she is, in a manner of speaking, from our realm—that someone will likely be me and my friends. That’s assuming the virus doesn’t kill us first.”

“So that’s why you’re getting the scans? To see if you can stay and help?”

“Exactly.”

“Then why are you standing in the middle of the room? Get up on the table and let’s get the scan done,” the attendant said.

Mara returned to the table and laid down. “To be honest with you, I wasn’t completely comfortable with you at the controls of that robotic arm from the ceiling, given your attitude when I walked in. For all I know, it can be used to dissect people.”

The attendant smiled. “It can be used for surgery, so I guess dissection is possible.”

Mara look up from the table doubtfully. “I don’t know about this. You never answered my question.”

“What question?”

“What’s your name?”

“Oh. It’s Kelly.” She winked, looked up and said, “Body scan, full spectrum.”

* * *

As Mara stepped through the door of Ping’s examination room, she found Sam standing next to him, looking concerned. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly shut the door and asked, “What’s going on?”

Sam turned and said, “The doctor told Ping that he has to go into the receptacle immediately. If he waits, there a good chance the treatment won’t work, and he could die.”

Mara approached and placed her hand on Ping’s arm. “Are you feeling sick?”

Ping shook his head slowly and said, “Just a little tired and disoriented. Of course the doctor said I’ll be deaf again as soon as I’m out of range of the auditory interface. The computer is essentially picking up the sounds and beaming them into my brain somehow.”

“Will you get your hearing back after you get the Quintivir?” she asked.

“If we start the treatment immediately, she says I should be good as new within forty-eight hours,” Ping said. “But she says I have to go into the receptacle because that’s the only way they can regulate the dosage in a way that won’t cause any permanent organ damage.”

Dr. Canfield walked into the room, carrying an electronic pad of some kind. Without looking up from it, she said, “You two are showing increasing viral loads, but not nearly as much as Mr. Ping, probably because of his more advanced age. However, it is just a matter of time before you experience stage-one symptoms. Since Mr. Ping requires immediate treatment, I took the liberty of configuring three receptacles, one for each of you, based on your individual scans.”

“Hold on a minute,” Mara said. “Before we are put in a tube, I need to find out what is going on outside.”

The doctor shook her head. “Mr. Ping cannot wait any longer. Any delay will endanger his life.”

“Can’t you put Ping in a receptacle now and start his treatment, while Sam and I see if we can do something about what’s happening outside?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer for the doctor, she turned to Ping and said, “This is something I have to confront myself. The people in this realm aren’t equipped to deal with the Aphotis. She’ll overwhelm them before they can even understand what is happening. Would you be okay staying here a while longer?”

“According to the doctor, I will be in stasis and unaware of the passage of time,” Ping said. “So, for myself, I’m not concerned. However, if you leave the repository and cannot get back, you could be putting yourself and Sam at risk.”

“That’s why Sam will go into the receptacle as well,” Mara said.

“No way I’m hanging out in a test tube while you’re running around,” Sam said. He crossed his arms and stared at his sister, daring her to argue. “If you’re staying out, so am I.”

Mara glared at him. “I would feel better if Ping didn’t have to do this alone.”

“What are you talking about? He’ll be asleep in a completely separate tube from me. He’ll be totally unaware of what is going on around him.”

“Once again, I strongly recommend that all three of you begin treatment immediately,” Dr. Canfield said.

Mara raised a hand to the doctor and looked at her brother. “I’m not going to be running around. I’ll just check things out to see if there’s some kind of quick solution to whatever Abby is up to. If not, I’ll come right back. Don’t put yourself at risk.”

“Talk until you’re blue in the face. I’m not getting into a tube if you’re not.” He looked at the doctor. “You can’t force me to do this against my will, can you?”

She looked taken aback and said, “Of course not, but why would I need to? If you don’t do this, you will get sick and put yourself in serious danger.”

“There. She can’t force me, so you can’t,” Sam said.

Ping reached up and patted Mara’s arm. “Let him go with you. He might be able to help, if things get complicated, and I would sleep better knowing
you’re
not alone.”

Mara shook her head disgustedly and looked at her brother. “At the first sign of sickness, you go into the receptacle. Agreed?”

“No problem,” he said.

She asked the doctor, “When are you taking Ping to the receptacle?”

“Immediately. We’ve delayed enough.”

“Can we go with him?”

“If you wish,” she said.

Following Mara, Cam and Dr. Canfield, Sam pushed Ping’s wheelchair from the hallway into the large curved room containing the receptacles. The first three tubes in the row of five immediately to the left of the door were illuminated from within—appearing to be powered up—when everyone walked into the curved room. The rest of the tubes remained darkened.

Dr. Canfield stood next to the console at the base of the first tube and turned to face them. She looked at Ping and tapped her own shoulder, nodding toward Ping’s, and said, “Is the auditory receiver functioning adequately?”

Ping raised a hand to a black plastic rectangle that had been pinned to his shirt back in the laboratory. “Yes, I can hear fine.”

“We’ll remove that before you enter the receptacle,” she said. Bending over the console, she tapped the screen. “This receptacle has been configured for Mr. Ping.”

They watched the tube open as one half rotated inside the other, forming what looked like a transparent canoe standing on end. The side of the pedestal on which it stood alternately extended and contracted to form a set of steps.

“So what’s the process for putting someone inside one of these?” Sam asked, nodding toward the open receptacle.

The doctor shrugged and said, “The patient simply walks inside, the receptacle closes, and anesthesia is administered instantaneously. Once stasis has been achieved, the system can administer and regulate whatever treatments are needed. Of course, when a person is first transitioned, that involves eliminating the virus using measured doses of Quintivir.”

“In my case I’m not actually transitioning. Correct?” Ping asked.

“Absolutely. Technically you are not transitioning to a synthetic body. I used that word out of habit. You’ll simply be sedated until the treatment has addressed the virus, and then you can return to you own realm,” she said.