Chapter Four #3
She listened to the plan and started to put the monitor pods on her temples as the instructions continued.
She added stickers to her chest and abdomen.
Within an hour, she was in a bed with a larger drip in her arm, and a tank was being pushed into the chamber she was in.
Naked and wired, she had to get into the tank to let the repairs be enacted with the liquid as support.
Pain control was also in her system. That was a first.
She walked with Arcady and got into the tank. The oxygenated liquid would help the nanite-laden fluid work on the connections for her gills.
This was going to be quite the soak.
Arcady smiled. “There is a tablet hooked to the inside of the tank, and you can use it for communication and entertainment.”
Hemma gave her a thumbs-up, and Arcady said, “You are going to be guarded around the clock. Don’t worry.”
Hemma shrugged and closed her eyes as she began to feel pulses in her system. A voice in her mind began to give her BDC instruction. Well, may as well. It would be interesting if nothing else. She listened to the voice and learned all she could about how dating actives worked.
Late in the night, she opened her eyes, and a familiar face was sitting and reading on a tablet. Ival was sitting there, and she turned her head to make eye contact. Her red eye made the silver cybernetic eye look startling. The scars across her features set everything off.
Ival sent her a message via tablet, and she heard the voice in her head. “I am just here to make sure no one comes in and tries to snag you. Keska and Zephyr were worried, so they asked Char to call me. She did, and here I am.”
Hemma typed, “U R Okay?”
Ival touched a button on the outside of the tank and spoke softly. “I am okay. It’s been a rough road, but the writing helps. Folks seem to enjoy paying me for my personal therapy.”
Hemma smiled and pressed her hand to the inside of the tank. Ival pushed her hand against the exterior, and they met eye to eye.
Hemma looked into the red eye and remembered when there had been a matching set and when they had both been in training to gain secrets from the different countries they had travelled to. Everyone was wary of Ival, so it made Hemma look more desirable in comparison.
Hemma typed. No gloves?
“I am on guard duty. Anyone who comes through that doesn’t have the password, drops.” Ival smiled. “Oh, and the biochem department is working on an antivenin for my effect, so that’s fun. I get paid for it, too.”
Wow. Finally. They dodged you for how long?
“Three years. Everyone thinks that covering up is manageable, and no one thinks that it means you can’t touch anyone. I miss touch.”
Hemma paused. You used to be able to touch?
“Like many of their experiments, I got more toxic as I aged.”
You are still stunning.
“Flatterer. You must be delirious. I know what I see when I look in the mirror.”
Survivor. Very sexy.
“Practicing your BDC info on me already? You are a quick study.”
I think you are beautiful.
“You knew me before they started to engrave my face. When my eyes matched.”
I like your books.
“I get a lot of frustrations and random thoughts out with those. I also have friends who are escorts, and I use the vague details to spark my imagination.”
It’s efficient.
“Yup. That is my life now. Efficiency and all skin wrapped up.”
Can they reduce the toxin output?
“Maybe. The chem department nearly peed themselves when I let them take samples.”
Let me guess, they had your file but didn’t realize you lived locally?
“Yeah. That.”
Ival smiled. “I will just be working on my next manuscript. You go back to sleep.”
How long?
“You are on Tuesday, and you should be done in the next twenty-four hours. You are responding well to the treatment, and your internal scars are slowly coming together. They are nearly done, and then you are going to rush to the finish. I am here for it.”
Send me a book?
Ival laughed and sent a book to the tank.
* * * *
Arcady watched the two women: one floating in front of the tablet, the other sitting and writing on hers. They were obviously friends, but there was distance between them. They were aware of each other’s situation but not invasive about it.
The biochem department was having an amazing day. The chemical secreted from Ival was a treasure trove of cocktails, and the analysis units were going nuts trying to break down mixes that they hadn’t imagined were possible.
Arcady couldn’t imagine the strength of the paralytic that could turn to a deadly toxin with the touch of both hands, but it was amazing.
Zera walked in and said, “How are they doing?”
“Keska was right. Ival is keeping Hemma calm.”
“I just located her file. She was listed only by code name. What they did to her is appalling.”
“Aside from the cybernetic eye?” Arcady frowned.
“Keska built that for her to replace the one the Uraddans had installed. It has analytical capabilities that enable her to select her targets. A lot of the dropped bodies that were assigned to Jeneev were this woman instead. She’s a walking chemistry set.”
“Sort of like Khytten.”
“Yes, but Ival’s effect is exclusive to the nervous system. No corrosive effects, so you have to know where her target was touched to begin looking for a treatment.”
Arcady whistled. “Yikes. Salmet lets her run around loose?”
“Have you heard of any incidents anywhere in Aksalla?”
“No.”
“Then, there is your answer.”
Ival looked up toward the camera. “I can hear you, you know.”
Zera blinked. “Seriously?”
Ival jacked her thumb in the air.
Arcady stared. “That isn’t in her file.”
“Uradda had sloppy recordkeeping. They thought one manifestation was all an active could manage. Bureaucracy at its finest.” Ival’s voice was quiet.
Hemma looked toward the camera and gestured to her ear and then to Ival.
“And it was just confirmed. Hyper hearing. She should join the reapers.”
Ival smiled softly. “I have killed enough, and they have been asking.”
Zera paused. “Ival, can you come out here?”
“No. But you can come in here. I am not leaving Hemma alone here.”
Zera nodded. “Right. I am coming in.”
Ival nodded, and Arcady kept monitoring Hemma floating in the tank and listened in a little.
When Zera and Ival finished their discussion, Arcady was stunned, and Zera had a sad expression.
“She’s not Uraddan. Well, not fully.”
Arcady nodded. “I heard. Her mom was an omega?”
“Yup. Handed over to the Sethir-Nin as per the treaty. She was obsessed, he died in action, and she killed herself. So, since his family didn’t want the child, Uradda was her only country.
” Zera frowned and rubbed her forehead. “It makes me want to ask the refugee centre for genetic testing, but I know it is a delicate topic for them.”
Arcady said softly, “Maybe offer it if they want to know their origins? Give the countries a chance to find their lost children and grandchildren.”
Zera nodded. “It’s a thought.”
“Run it past Salmet. She’s giddy with speaking with Renovik for the first time.” Arcady smiled.
“I will run it through Khytten. Salmet likes her, and she’s been hearing from me frequently lately. Khytten can hide behind the grandkids.”
Arcady smiled. “Got it. Oh, you are doing it now.”
“We have a perfect time right now. The babies are being put down for the night, and Khytten’s daughter is with them.” Zera walked into another room and asked for the favour, explaining it to the ladies who were in the lab right now.
Khytten agreed to pass the information on, and then Zera had to wait.