Connor Rix Chronicles 1: Rules of Force (13 page)

16

Marie turned her
head slowly, trying to process what she was seeing. The wide room with its
glass walls, the brightly lit clean rooms, the mechanical things that looked
like spines hanging from hooks… it was difficult to take it all in.

It was the
strangest place she had ever visited.

The whole crew
had driven up to Big Fella Jackson's lair that morning. They figured they would
have a day or two before Vinicius Cunha arrived in Texas — assuming he
actually did — and it would be worthwhile to evaluate Rix in the
meantime. They had not said much among themselves, but they were all still
shaken by his collapse yesterday. It was shocking to see so strong a man
crumble into a heap, nearly paralyzed with pain.

But this
underground facility, so modern and mysterious, the complete opposite of the
ramshackle motorcycle wrecking yard above, was almost as shocking to Marie.

Rix was in one of
the far rooms in the rear, lying on an inclined table of some sort, while those
two odd men, Jonathan and Young-Soo, examined him. They had various sensors
attached to him and kept running a compact mobile scanner over his body. Big
Fella was back there, too. Marie had noticed he was not just an observer, but a
participant in Rix's examination. He had periodically conferred with the… what?
Marie still didn't know exactly what to call them. Doctors? Scientists?
Installers? It seemed it was always this way when it came to Modifications.
They were going to need new words for some of the job descriptions surrounding
the MI trade.

Marie turned away
from the glass wall and walked back to the small conference room, as Big had
jokingly called it, and dropped into her chair across from KC. The other woman
looked up from her E-Thing.

"Relax,
Marie. He'll be fine."

"I wish I
could be as sure about that as you."

"Oh, trust
me, he's been through worse."

Marie looked
directly at KC, trying to determine if she was serious or joking.

"Well, don't
leave me hanging," she said at last. "I haven't heard all those old
stories. I sometimes feel like I'm missing something. For example, I've
wondered why the two of you follow him so readily."

KC leaned back in
her chair. She had been looking past Marie in a distracted manner when she had
spoken before, eyes slightly unfocused, but now met Marie's gaze.

"So he
doesn't talk about those days much, eh? Well, men are like that," she
said, smiling softly. "It's… well, you know how it is when you're at a
specific time in your life, and it really isn't even a very long time, but so
many things happen, life-changing things, that it seems like that short period
is really the biggest and most important part of your life?"

She sighed and
shook her head slowly. "No. Let me back up and start over. I'm getting
ahead of myself. Look, it's like this — Rix likes to tell everyone he was
a simple MP in the Navy, rounding up rowdy MIs when they'd trash a bar. I'm
sure he must have done that once or twice, but that's not quite the whole
story. No, he was a lot deeper into the beginning of this whole human
Modification thing than he lets on. Rix was one of the first Modifieds —
officially sanctioned, government-approved.

"I know
that, because I was one of his counterparts in the Air Force, although we came
along later. But we heard a lot about Rix through the grapevine. He was one of
the pioneers. He was the guy who came through every prototype Modification like
it wasn't any more difficult than taking an aspirin. A lot of people —
and I mean a lot — weren't so lucky. The attrition rate for the MI
program was atrocious on our side of the fence. I can only imagine what it was
like for the Navy, which took the lead among the services.

"See, this
whole street-level trade in Modifications that we have now is fairly new. It
was the governments around the world that were taking the lead back then, and
keeping a very tight lid on their materials and methods. In America we had very
good people and the latest research, but we weren't the only ones. The South
Americans and the Japanese were making very big breakthroughs. Anyway, the
advances were coming quickly, although there were never very many of us.

"But they
didn't see the Breakup coming. When the U.S. began splitting apart, the old
government was desperately trying to control all that Modification technology.
They did their best to keep us under surveillance, keep us from leaving for one
of the breakaway republics.

"That was
stupid. How could they expect us all to feel the same way? Everyone was
choosing sides, and the way the Feds were trying to keep us leashed helped make
up a lot of minds. Still, it was pretty damn scary. But Rix rallied those of us
who wanted to join the Texas Republic, and he led us right out of there and on
to Houston, where we were able to fight on the Texan side."

KC looked off to
the side again, resting her chin on her fist. "You should have seen him in
those days, Marie. It's not easy when a country falls apart, and emotions were
running pretty hot. But he kept us steady. He always was the optimistic one.

"Anyway,
they were furious when they realized they weren't going to be able to control
all their Modified agents. Even though the new borders are set and the old
nation is well and truly gone, the Atlantic States of America, where most of
the old U.S government ended up, has Rix on its permanent shit list. That's why
he's so paranoid about covering his tracks, as you probably know. I'm sure
those ASA agents would love to find him and haul him back across the
border."

"Yes, he's
told me about making enemies over on the ASA side during the war," Marie
said. "That's why he moved to New San Antonio and set up his false
identities, and why he scratches out a living taking on these quiet little jobs
rounding up Modified outlaws and other crazy people."

"Exactly,"
KC said. "And then as for Rix and Big Fella, well, that's something else
entirely. Big was never a fan of bioengineering. He wasn't one of the early MIs
or anything. But war makes people into comrades whether they necessarily see
eye-to-eye or not. Did you know it was Rix who carried Big to the field
hospital after the battle of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Well it was.
Without him, there wouldn't even be a Big Fella Jackson today…

"And
that," she said, casting a sideways glance out the door, "would have
been a crying shame."

****

"Well, this
is fascinating."

"Yes,
fascinating."

Rix was tiring of
the two-man banter, the back-and-forth sounding more and more like some old married
couple finishing each other's sentences. But Jonathan and Young-Soo had been
working together so long, largely in isolation, that he supposed it was a
tolerable quirk. He took a calming breath.

"So tell me,
how did the other recipients of this bone density treatment react?"

"I really
couldn't say."

"And why is
that?"

"Yes, why is
that?"

"Because
none of the others survived."

"I
see," Young-Soo said, looking over his glasses at Jonathan, and this time
there was no echoing reply. "I assume there must have been an
anti-rejection regimen, yes?"

"For a
while."

"Do you know
what it was?"

"Yes, tell
us about it."

"They
weren't very forthcoming about the actual formula."

"Ah."

"Indeed. So
we take it that you have not been taking any anti-rejection drugs recently?"

"Not since
the shooting started, no."

"Hmm."

"Yes,
hmm."

"Alright you
two," Rix said, looking from one to the other. "I can tell you've
already made up your minds. Out with it."

"Well, you
see, Connor…"

"Yes, see
the problem is…"

"Just give
it to me straight. I've got a tarantula-sized cancer crawling around in there
somewhere, right?"

Rix almost
laughed at their shocked reactions.

"No, no!
Nothing like that!"

"Yes,
nothing like that!"

"What it is,
well, is that it might be that your unique Modification worked
too
well, Connor. Or you could also say that the initial
research and testing trials were sloppy."

"Yes,
sloppy."

Rix gritted his
teeth. "And that means…?"

"Oh, the
bone density treatment certainly worked, Connor. But too well. The muscles and
nerves simply cannot cleanly attach. I mean, they are attached, of course, but
it is a constant battle, constant regeneration. No doubt it's quite painful. I
think you may have to deal with this your whole life."

"Yes, your
whole life."

Rix said nothing.

"But it may
not be as bad as all that, Connor. As you know, we've been working on ways to
revitalize nerve endings. That's been practically the entire push behind the
exoskeleton project, repairing damaged communication between nerve endings,
even strengthening the electrical impulses within the human body. As you well
know from our large friend here. I think we can adapt the technology to your
particular condition."

"Yes,
adapt."

"Great. It
shouldn't be any problem to knock that out in the next eight hours or so,
right?"

Jonathan and
Young-Soo looked at each other, startled. Jonathan's face flushed red, and
Young-Soo began stammering.

"Guys, I'm
joking. I'm not an idiot. Major surgery, very delicate. I get it."

The two laughed
nervously. "Of course!" Jonathan said. "Ha ha! But really,
installing one of our exoskeletons is probably not quite as invasive as you
might think. The newest Exos we've worked up are extremely compact and
lightweight. Big Fella's exo-suit looks like dreadnought engineering compared
to what we have under development now. You won't believe how small the power
cells are. The new model looks more like a tattoo than an automobile
frame."

"Thanks,
y'all," Big Fella rumbled.

"Oh we'll
replace yours with one of the newer models… eventually," Young-Soo said
quickly. "With your unique injuries we have to be very… er, careful."

"So there's
nothing to be done today?" Rix asked, propping himself up on the table
with his elbows.

"No! We
didn't say that! We actually have something temporary that might help,"
Jonathan said. He walked quickly into the next room, returning a minute later
with a small vial. "You see, before we can integrate one of our exos with
a patient, we have to deaden certain inflamed nerve endings so the recipient
doesn't go into shock. But it's not like a general anesthetic. It won't knock
you out or make you feel numb. In fact, this particular drug is only one part
of a three-part process, and I think it will temporarily lessen the pain for
you."

"Yes,
temporarily."

"If it will
get me through the next 72 hours or so, then let's get on with it."

Jonathan and
Young-Soo looked at each other. "Um, that's good. Yes, that's good! But
are you sure you don't want to think this over a bit? I mean, as you well know,
this is still a bit on the experimental side," Young-Soo said. "I
mean, we feel very confident about this procedure, but, frankly, we gathered
that you were a bit more cautious about new Modifications. Or so we were led to
believe." Young-soo glanced quickly at Big Fella.

"Normally, gents,
I do like to do a bit more research. But I've kind of been overtaken by events.
If I'm rolled up in a ball shivering with pain at any point over the next
couple days, a lot of lives are going to go down the drain fast. I've seen what
you can do. If this will keep me upright for a few days, let's get it
done."

The two men
nodded almost simultaneously. "We appreciate your trust in us,
Connor," Jonathan said. "This should do what you need it to do. But
when your immediate project is completed, you should really come in for one of
our new exos. I think it would be the permanent solution to your, ah,
condition."

"I think
I'll do that. But in the meantime, there's one more thing I need from
you."

"Yes? What's
that?"

"I need to
borrow Caroline."

He watched the
blood drain from both their faces.

****

Later, after
administering the treatment, Jonathan and Young-Soo left the room muttering,
leaving Rix and Big Fella alone. The larger man folded his arms across his
chest and looked down at Rix.

"Is this how
you saw things turning out? I'm telling you, Rix, you're a little too cavalier
about Modifying yourself. It's gonna lead to a bad end if you aren't
careful."

Rix buttoned his
shirt, saying nothing.

"You never
really had to pay a price for your enhancements, did you? It's been all upside
until now, right?"

"If it makes
you feel better, I'm paying one now."

"It don't
make me feel better, that's the whole point."

"Look, Big,
you're right. It has been mostly upside for me," Rix said quietly. He
stood up. "But the upside is higher than I can even describe. It's like
that for a lot of people. Except for these occasional bouts, I wake up
every
day
feeling at my physical peak, and I
still don't even think I've found the limits to my abilities. I tell you man,
there are days when I feel like I could conquer the world…"

"Bad choice
of words, dude. Conquering worlds is exactly what that Brazilian douchebag is
all about."

"Just a
figure of speech, Big. But what’s this about anyway? You want to back out of
this job?"

Big Fella
stiffened at that. "No, I'm not going to leave you hanging. I just want to
be clear about where we're going with all this. I mean, don't you see it Rix?
We're different sides of the same coin as this Brazilian guy. We want to get
rigged any way we want, and don't want anyone telling us otherwise. Nobody
wants to think about the consequences for themselves, let alone for everybody
else."