[Book Four] Chapter 39: It’s a revolution

[Book Four] Chapter 39: It’s a revolutionChapter 39: It's a revolution

Rick was currently in his laboratory, finishing his check of the nanobots code. Everything seemed to be in order and he downloaded it into the nanobots. Taking his trusty injection gun he put inside a capsule of them with the right amount needed for mice. Taking one of the cute little rodents in his hand he was about to inoculate the nanobots when the door to his lab opened and a hurried Alec Ryder came in.



“Is it true?! Did you really create a cure for AEND?!”



Rick was frozen in his position, finger on trigger, observing the intruding man.



“Sorry. I shouldn’t...”

“Have barged in like a c-sec officer doing a bust in a drug den? No. Shessh, I almost injected myself.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine, my nanobots would have neutralized those ones but... Anyway, I’m about to test it. It’s not really a cure, more like a procedure to deal with the eezo particles. Well... right now it’s just dealing with cancerous cells but it’s more or less the same thing. You can take a seat if you want to watch.”

“Thank you.”



Alec quieted down and sat in one of the chairs at the desk in the room. Meanwhile Rick injected the nanobots in the mouse and put it in the empty transparent container on his right. He then discarded the ‘bullet’ in his gun, loaded another, picked another mouse, injected it to and repeated the process until ten of them were inoculated. He removed his working gloves and went to sit next to Alec and in front of the terminal screen where he activates the nanobots.

As soon as they were alive they sent signals to the terminal, most notably an echography from the inside of the mouse about their bodies. Both men could follow their journey to the rodents’ small brain.



“What do the mice have?”

“The white something akin to alzheimer. The gray, tumors.” Rick replied.

“So, the bots are either healing the damaged neurons or removing the dangerous ones?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Though healing is... very literal.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lost information is lost information. You can’t get it back. So yes, the neurons should be functional again but they could be brand new, a clean slate.”

“I see.” Alec replied with a grieving tone.

“Thankfully, much information is spread on multiple neurons. The loss may not be total. I’m sure you’ll get back your wife and make new memories.” Rick said and Alec turned towards him in shock. “Don’t look at me like that. Your dramatic entrance told me everything I needed to know. Had she passed away you wouldn’t have been in such a hurry. She’s in stasis, right?”

“Yes, she is. I... lied to everyone and said she was dead. It was very difficult for my kids and when she collapsed... I...”

“Faked her death so they could move on and start to live happier lives while you kept her in stasis in the hope that a cure could be found here.”

“Yes...” he confessed guiltily.

“Don’t feel guilty, you protected your family the best way you could.”

“Would you have done the same?”

“I would have told my children the truth about putting her in stasis. I never lie to them. I may not tell them things or omit things when they ask but I don’t lie.”

“Omitting things is considered a lie.”

“I considered it the smart way to differentiate smart people asking the right questions from idiots asking the wrong questions. If they want to know everything they should ask precise questions, if they do not it’s because they’re not that interested in the subject and only have themselves to blame.”

“Interesting perspective.”

“That fucked over lot of people and made me plenty of enemies, so take it with a pinch of salt.”

“I can imagine.”



They waited thirty minutes before the nanobots sent a signal informing them that their work was done. Every mouse was alive which was a very good outcome. The gray ones had all their tumors removed with precision and the bots started breaking down the wastes. Only time would tell if the brain would create new cancerous cells or produce healthy new ones. The white ones cells seemed to have been stimulated. If the bots believed a cell could be saved they tried to revitalize it otherwise they removed it.



“Okay, the nanobots do properly what I designed them to do. The question is: is it effective?”

“They are all alive so far.”

“Yes so it’s a good sign but can they still do what they originally could or are they staying the way they were when sick. Especially the gray ones, some neurons were dead and may not be replaced.”

“You do realize that you may have effectively cured cancer and not just AEND if that works?”

“...No?” Rick replied not having thought about that at all.



It was a chuckling Alec amused at the absurdity of the situation that left the lab with hope for his wife.



Opening it she picked up an injection gun loaded with a bullet dose of nanobots.



“You’re her daughter... and his.” Lana said with a smile.

“I am.” replied Arianna in kind.”

“Daughter of who?” asked the husband confused at his wife recognizing the woman.

“Honey... Nevermind, I’ll tell you later.”

“I’m going to inject you with nanobots. They will reach your brain, remove every particle of eezo there and heal as much damage as possible. In this dose there is also a powerful narco agent to put you under.”

“Will that be long?”

“Mice got one hundredth of the dose you’re going to get and they were done in thirty minutes so... An hour and a half on average? It may be more or may be less, it depends on the amount of Eezo particles in your brain.”

“Okay...I’m ready.” said Lana as she squeezed her husband’s hand.



Arianna nodded and injected the dose in her neck. In less than twenty seconds the woman was asleep. Father and daughter sat down in the visitors chairs that were free and looked up at the wall above Lana. Michael found that weird.



“You’re just waiting?”

“We’re monitoring her vitals and what is happening in her head.” replied Arianna as Rick pointed to the wall.



Turning his head and looking up, the man could see a bunch of numbers and a representation of a brain all in white with some areas with dark blue dots and others with green ones. The later were at first forming a big group but spread to reach the dark blue ones.



“Green are the nanobots and dark blue the eezo particles?”

“Yes.”



They sat there in silence, their eyes never leaving the display on the wall. Bit by bit the dark blue disappeared, replaced by gray then by white until finally the whole image of the brain was white with green dots everywhere.



“1H 33M 29s. Not bad for an estimate.” Rick said as Ariann stood up from her chair and picked a bullet dose from the case. This time it was green unlike the white she had used previously.



“To wake her up.” She said to the husband as she approached Lana’s neck and inoculated her with the counter-argent of the narco one.



Lana woke up after a minute, a bit groggy and Arianna did what all doctors loved to do: blind people with a pen light to check the responsibility of the pupil to see if someone was home. There was.



“Hello.”

“Hello.”

“You’re...”

“In a hospital.”

“Yes. Do you know your name?”

“Lana Travis.”

“What day is it?”

“Monday.”

“The date?”

“March 15th 2211.”

“Are you married?”

“To Micheal Travis. It’s been eight years.” she replied and Micheal nodded in confirmation to Arianna.

“How do you feel?”

“... I feel... Different. I can’t exactly point it out but... Lighter? I don’t have any headache anymore.”

“Are you feeling some pain anywhere or just uncomfortable?”

“No... Wait... I feel a bit... tingly? From my neck to my extremities. It doesn’t hurt but it’s like... the blood is rushing back into part of my body that has become numb because I fell asleep on it.”

“Okay.”

“Is it bad?”

“I believe it’s just the new neurons sending proper information through the nerves. We’re going to test that in a moment but I don’t think it’s anything serious. The nerves were not used properly for a while so they’re just... surprised at working perfectly again you could say. Anything else, Lana?”

“I feel... My senses it’s like they’re on high alert. Especially my nose. I can smell...lavender and vanilla and...mint? You’re wearing Le Mâle, Mister Wald?”

“I do. It was a gift.”

“Le Mâle?” inquired Michael.

“It’s a very popular perfume for men. My father used to wear it for important occasions.” answered Lana.

“I see. So either the nanobots fixed the neurons better than ever and your senses are answering in kind or your senses have been dulled so much that now that they're functioning properly it’s like they’re super charged.” Arianna said and noted that on her datapad. “We’re keeping you for a week, to make sure that everything is alright. After that it's a weekly check up for two months.”

“And after that?”

“The usual check up time in the navy, every six months.”

“I can... I can fly again?”

“If everything is alright, I don’t see why not.”

“Thank you. Both of you.” Lana said with a happy smile and tears falling down her cheeks.



Rick and Rianna said their goodbye and left the couple alone.



“Who were they? You seem to know them.”

“She is Arianna Shepard, daughter of Commander Jane Shepard.”

“As in...”

“Yes, THE Commander Shepard. And he’s her father, Rick Wald, you know him as the slayer.”

“THE SLAYER?!”

“Yes honey, your idol but without his helmet.”

“...”

“...”

“You think he would give me his signature if I ask? You know I’m a huge fan.”

“Honey, you didn’t even know his name.” she replied flatly and he had the decency to blush in embarrassment.