Anarchy Novel "Will" Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Early the next day, Ray received an urgent call from Marcos. “You’d better get Vintage down here, quick.” It was early and Ray was still groggy. He asked, “Why? What’s going on?” A tired and wired Marcos said excitedly, “Better to explain in person, trust me. Please hurry.”
Sophia, surprised at the early call, sleepily asked, “What was that all about? Everything ok?” Ray replied, “Apparently not. That was Marcos. He said to rush down there with Vintage.” They went to wake their friend from a much needed slumber but found that he was not in bed. They then heard a faint heaving noise. “Bathroom!” Sophia yelled and the two scurried to see what was happening. Sure enough, Vintage was praying to the porcelain gods and vomiting violently. Ray’s eyes bugged out. “Ok, ok, Vintage, we’re taking you back to see Marcos. Can you make it to the car?” With a swollen face Vintage grudgingly nodded yes.
Minutes later they arrived at Marcos’ house. Vintage walked up to the front door slowly with the support of his friends. Marcos came running out to help as he saw them approach.
They entered and Marcos ordered, “Help me get him on the table, I need to act quickly. I’ll explain later!” They did as instructed and Vintage lay limp on the same table where he had had the surgery the day before. His mind was in extreme fog. Was this the end? He felt so hot and yet cold at the same time. He thought death would be preferable to the pain and nausea that was controlling his body.
Marcos grabbed an L-shaped instrument and clamped it to Vintage’s head. He then injected a small needle into Vintage’s arm as he began to tremble. He held up a black control pad and started furiously pounding buttons. Then he stopped and stared at his special patient. Ray and Sophia stood by breathless. “What now? Why did you stop? What’s happening?” Ray pleaded with angst. “Now,” said Marcos, “I’m hoping and waiting. Either this works, or it doesn’t.” “And if it doesn’t?” Sophia asked meekly. “We won’t talk about that just yet,” Marcos said softly as he stared at Vintage with a keen eye.
Ray squatted down next to the table where his friend was laying. Sophia paced back and forth as she sulked and quivered madly. Marcos stood like a statue as he observed his patient. Seconds seemed infinite. Time, actually, doesn’t exist in moments like that. Consciousness superceeds time in those moments. All is frozen and yet faster than light at the same time, one of the mysteries of the universe, one which science will never explain.
After twenty minutes of this agony of uncertainty, Marcos flinched. “His vitals are improving.” Moments later, Vintage gasped for air as if it were his first or his last and gulped it with desperate pleasure. His eyes popped open then sagged down to a normal level. Relief and joy filled the room. Vintage looked over at Marcos, “You’ve got some splainin to do, doc,” he said with a touch of irony in his voice. Everyone laughed and the stress dissipated.
Marcos brought a glass of sparkling blue electric fluid tableside and removed the device from Vintage’s head. “Please drink this. It’s hyper water, especially designed for ultra fast hydration. You lost a lot of fluid, and we almost lost you.” Vintage sat up and sipped at the sparkles. He then looked at Marcos expectantly.
“Ok, I know, you want an explanation. Well, here it goes. Try to keep your cool, ok? Your heart doesn’t need anymore stress, but I feel you need to know ASAP. I know I would want to if I were you. Sophia and Ray stood tableside as Marcos continued.
“After you went home yesterday, I decided to examine the devices that were removed a little closer. It’s not everyday I get to examine technology from the other side of the wall. I have to say, in some respects, from what I know, your culture has extremely primitive technology and techniques, but in other respects it’s not too dated.” He paused to take a deep breath. “What I removed from you was, for lack of a better term, an interesting apparatus with multiple functions. The obvious function was to record and transmit video and audio, but upon closer inspection, two other, much more advanced functions were revealed. Both were electrobiochemical in nature, which is why I could identify them fairly quickly. The first one is a type of chemical which stunts neural activity, specifically memories. One of the devices was programmed to gradually and consistently keep a supply of the chemical flowing into selective areas of your brain.”
Vintage held up a hand to pause Marcos, “Are you telling me that my memories were erased?” Marcos actually smiled at this point and refuted, “Thankfully, no. Your memory pathways were basically ‘put to sleep’, more or less.” Vintage interrupted and sat up on the table, “Hold on, doc. It sounds to me like, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I might have a chance at retrieving my memories?” Marcos nodded in affirmation, “There’s a very good chance of that. I can give your neurons a boost, if you like. We can speed up the natural process and you might have clear memories within days.” A wild swing of emotion swept the room. Joy and hope.
“There’s more, though,” continued Marcos, “The reason you almost died. Another thing I found was that the transmitter that I removed wasn’t just a transmitter of audio and video, but something much more sinister. The device was programmed to eject a virus into your system upon removal. It is a synthetic virus which is designed to kill within twenty-four hours, hence the haste when I called this morning.” That put a chill in the room.
Ray narrowed his eyes and said, “Whoever put those cameras in you didn’t want you coming back, my friend.” Vintage stared at the wall, mind reeling. Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? He spoke slowly, “I must find answers.” Marcos agreed, “You’ll find answers, I think. The first thing that needs to happen is for you to rest and recover. Once your memories return, the path to the answers you seek will surely open up. I’m quite confident.” Vintage sighed deeply and laid back down. He might find answers, but what would be the consequences?
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