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Authors: Zachary Rawlins
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sympathetically that Alex couldn’t help but wonder if he was being genuine.
“We had no choice in the matter, you see, because of your injuries,” Michael continued. “You were dead by the time they got you to the infirmary, Alex. Your heart stopped on the elevator ride up. And even if the doctors had gotten it going again, you had spinal trauma and massive blood loss, not to mention clotting and impacted bone in your forearm. You would have died again on the operating table, you have to appreciate that.”
Alex was not entirely convinced that he did, but he let the big man keep talking.
“You were injected with almost two-ounces of water saturated with billions of particles of nanomachinery, Alexander, programmed for replication and recovery protocols,” Michael said, almost casually, as if it were a normal thing, regrettable perhaps, but something to be expected. “Your heart started beating about twenty seconds after the injection, and you started breathing again within a minute.”
Alex looked at his hands, at the blue veins running just underneath the skin, and wondered.
“Are they still inside me?”
The question seemed somehow terribly important, his throat dry and his voice hoarse. He had to fight the urge to scratch at his skin.
“I’m afraid so,” Michael replied, looking sadly at Alexander. “It’s not a reversible procedure, Alex.”
“Why would you do that?” He was almost shouting, halfway out of his chair and onto his feet. “Who told you could do that?”
“Sit down, Alex,” Michael ordered sternly. “I won’t bother to repeat the ‘you were dead already’ part, since we covered that, and move to the other half – we would have done it to you, anyway, regardless of the injuries. We would have asked your permission, but, hey, I was there, watching you bleed out, son. If you’d prefer that I explain myself fully to an unconscious kid, before deciding to try and save his life, well, I’m not sure how realistic your expectations are.”
Alex glared at Michael, hands knotted around the arms of his chair, for a long moment. Then he sat back, sighing.
“What exactly have you done to me?” he asked, resting his head in his hands.
“It’s not as bad as all that, son,” Michael said, his smile back. “They did save you, after all. And those little machines, the nanites, they can do it again, too, if it becomes necessary. You’ll find dying pretty difficult from here on out, my friend.”
Something in Michael’s tone resonated with Alex.
“Do you have them too?” he asked, almost pleaded. “Are there machines inside you?”
“Sure I do,” Michael said, reassuringly. “And so do all the students here, and the entire faculty. For people like us, it’s an absolute necessity.”
“Why?”
“You’ve got power inside you, Alex, like everyone else at the Academy, to one extent or another. We don’t know why, but you were born that way. But power isn’t everything…”
Alex shook his head, bewildered.
“Look at it like this,” Michael said, leaning forward in his chair excitedly, “electricity, it isn’t much good, all by itself, right?”
“Huh?”
“You don’t just build a power plant and then sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor, right? Electricity alone won’t do it. You need light bulbs, right?”
“Light bulbs?”
His response was nothing more than a weak echo.
“Power isn’t everything, Alex, I already told you. Application, that’s what we’re talking about now, son. Energy alone is meaningless, unless you can make it work for you, and you need tools for that. Something inside you provides the power, sure, but those nanomachines, they’re the tools. With them, you can apply energy, and do work.”
Alex raised his head from his hands to stare at Michael incredulously. Neither of them responded to the quick knock and rapid entry and exit of Mrs. Nesbit, and neither reached for the steaming coffee mugs she left behind.
“So, what
“We had no choice in the matter, you see, because of your injuries,” Michael continued. “You were dead by the time they got you to the infirmary, Alex. Your heart stopped on the elevator ride up. And even if the doctors had gotten it going again, you had spinal trauma and massive blood loss, not to mention clotting and impacted bone in your forearm. You would have died again on the operating table, you have to appreciate that.”
Alex was not entirely convinced that he did, but he let the big man keep talking.
“You were injected with almost two-ounces of water saturated with billions of particles of nanomachinery, Alexander, programmed for replication and recovery protocols,” Michael said, almost casually, as if it were a normal thing, regrettable perhaps, but something to be expected. “Your heart started beating about twenty seconds after the injection, and you started breathing again within a minute.”
Alex looked at his hands, at the blue veins running just underneath the skin, and wondered.
“Are they still inside me?”
The question seemed somehow terribly important, his throat dry and his voice hoarse. He had to fight the urge to scratch at his skin.
“I’m afraid so,” Michael replied, looking sadly at Alexander. “It’s not a reversible procedure, Alex.”
“Why would you do that?” He was almost shouting, halfway out of his chair and onto his feet. “Who told you could do that?”
“Sit down, Alex,” Michael ordered sternly. “I won’t bother to repeat the ‘you were dead already’ part, since we covered that, and move to the other half – we would have done it to you, anyway, regardless of the injuries. We would have asked your permission, but, hey, I was there, watching you bleed out, son. If you’d prefer that I explain myself fully to an unconscious kid, before deciding to try and save his life, well, I’m not sure how realistic your expectations are.”
Alex glared at Michael, hands knotted around the arms of his chair, for a long moment. Then he sat back, sighing.
“What exactly have you done to me?” he asked, resting his head in his hands.
“It’s not as bad as all that, son,” Michael said, his smile back. “They did save you, after all. And those little machines, the nanites, they can do it again, too, if it becomes necessary. You’ll find dying pretty difficult from here on out, my friend.”
Something in Michael’s tone resonated with Alex.
“Do you have them too?” he asked, almost pleaded. “Are there machines inside you?”
“Sure I do,” Michael said, reassuringly. “And so do all the students here, and the entire faculty. For people like us, it’s an absolute necessity.”
“Why?”
“You’ve got power inside you, Alex, like everyone else at the Academy, to one extent or another. We don’t know why, but you were born that way. But power isn’t everything…”
Alex shook his head, bewildered.
“Look at it like this,” Michael said, leaning forward in his chair excitedly, “electricity, it isn’t much good, all by itself, right?”
“Huh?”
“You don’t just build a power plant and then sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor, right? Electricity alone won’t do it. You need light bulbs, right?”
“Light bulbs?”
His response was nothing more than a weak echo.
“Power isn’t everything, Alex, I already told you. Application, that’s what we’re talking about now, son. Energy alone is meaningless, unless you can make it work for you, and you need tools for that. Something inside you provides the power, sure, but those nanomachines, they’re the tools. With them, you can apply energy, and do work.”
Alex raised his head from his hands to stare at Michael incredulously. Neither of them responded to the quick knock and rapid entry and exit of Mrs. Nesbit, and neither reached for the steaming coffee mugs she left behind.
“So, what
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