ABC - Penance

Central District Hospital, Spitfield

4th February 2047

“Mama!” called a girl’s voice. “Mama, can you hear me?”

I was lost in darkness, fumbling my way towards that voice. Was it my Mama calling me, or was I calling for her?

“Luisa!” came the voice again. “Please come back to us”

Did I go away somewhere? I couldn’t remember, it was all so confusing. Had Mama come home at last, like Papa promised me?

Then I remembered, No, she couldn’t come home. Papa had gone back to the apartment weeks later, alone, to take her body to one of the few crematoriums still operating. She had been rendered into ash and bone fragments without ceremony and placed into a small urn.

Mama had come back to me, carried in a tiny metal container by my Papa. When we were finally able to leave Mexico and come to the Zone, Mama’s ashes were one of the few things that came with us.

Papa had loved Mama more than nearly anything else in the world. He had sacrificed that love to keep me safe but it had hurt him so very badly. The ashes were always kept in my room and when I moved out they came with me.

Mama never left me, Papa promised me that. Wherever she was she would always look after me and love me with all of her heart.

“Mama?” the girl asked. “If you wake up right now, I’ll get Mrs Weng to cook you her Celebration Banquet”

My eyes opened, seeing the blurry face of a young woman gazing anxiously at me. She gasped in surprise and my vision snapped into clarity.

“Minke?” I rasped, my throat as dry as a desert. The girl’s face was a mask of shocked surprise then her mouth split into an enormous grin.

“I’ve spent three days telling you I love you, and it’s the promise of food that wakes you up!” she declared in a huff, but the moistness in her eyes told me the truth.

“Hey kiddo” I said in a husky whisper. “I could really use a beer right now”

=====

“I was amazed you made it back” Doctor Chappell told me, standing at the foot of my hospital bed. “The medical team here said you were clinically dead when that Chinese woman teleported you into the middle of the Emergency Room”

The room was currently empty other than the Doctor and I, although it had been crowded with my family and loved ones earlier. Jericho’s pet doctor had pushed everyone out, backed up by two blank faced Guards in Police Auxiliary blue.

It was a recurring feature of my life that I kept waking up in hospitals, under armed guard. In this instance I was assured the Guards were there to protect me from Victor Kamarov. Apparently Ghost had led a team to the Water Tower not long after I had been rescued by Mabel. All they found was Victor’s severed right arm and a lot of blood, with no sign of the rest of him.

“Glad to hear the medical team were able to save me” I said to Doctor Chappell. She gave me a sharp glance, looking up from her datapad.

“No, they didn’t save you” Chappell assured me. “You were dead. I’ve seen the data streams from the medical bay. They were going to pronounce you officially deceased”

“So what happened?” I asked in a neutral tone.

“A bloody miracle, Ms Alvarez” she said. “The doctor in charge said he had never seen anything like it. Your body started to close up the wounds, then your heart and respiration commenced all by themselves. Brain activity began again too, as if you were in a coma but definitely alive”

Doctor Chappell sat on the edge of my bed, giving me a penetrating look into my eyes.

“It wasn’t Fast Heal serum, we know that for sure” she said eagerly. “At first we thought maybe you were a latent Stitcher, able to regenerate using an Ability. But then you are a Registered Kinetic Enhancer, so you couldn’t be a Cellular Regenerator as well”

“So what was the cause of my survival?” I wondered aloud, yet privately I had a strong suspicion what it had been.

She showed me her datapad, filled with medical data that was as obscure to me as Chinese ideograms. Her finger highlighted an image file, enlarging it to show tiny wriggling bugs in a pale red solution.

“This is incredibly magnified of course” she said by way of introduction. “Those are a new form of Nanite, similar in many respects to those found in Guard blood or Fast Heal serum. They are in your blood, Alvarez”

She looked at me expectantly and I gave her a weak smile in reply.

“I see” I said non-committally. “Any idea how they got there?”

Chappell sighed dramatically and shook her head, obviously disappointed in me.

“You were injected with them, you know that Alvarez” she continued. “They are a radically new improvement over all our previous Nanite technology. I have only been studying them for a couple of days and the sophistication in their design is otherworldly. From my tests so far, they reproduce using organic molecules from your own body. This encodes them to you and you alone. If they are removed from your body, they wither and die within an hour at most”

Her eyes were locked onto me like the sights of a Railgun.

“Where did they come from?” she insisted.

I squirmed a little under the stress of her regard, wondering if her bedside manner was always this abrupt.

“I’m recovering from a near fatal stabbing” I said. “Shouldn’t you be nicer to me?”

“It was a fatal stabbing and this is me being nice” she countered. “It was Tor Anderson, wasn’t it?”

“Pony?” I relented. “Yeah, he gave me a shot of something he said was better than his previous serum. He said it would help me in what was to come”

“It beats the pants off the Fast Heal, there is no denying that” Chappell agreed. “The Nanites in the original serum are fast replicating but they don’t last. The serum stays active for about twenty four hours at most, then the Nanites break down. In this new version the Nanites seem to be able to reproduce endlessly, provided they have a source of raw organics”

“I see” I responded, not sure if I really did though. “What does that mean for me in the future?”

“I really don’t know, Alvarez” she admitted. “In the short term at least, you may well be able to recover from substantial trauma that would kill anyone else”

She reached over and lifted up my hospital gown, exposing my stomach. I yelped in alarm, glad that I was wearing some boxers underneath. The doctor pointed to my side where Kamarov had driven his knife into me. A faint pink scar was the only evidence of the wound he had given me a bare three days ago.

“Look at your body, Alvarez” she told me. “I mean really look. Tell me what you see”

I ran my eyes over my stomach and down my exposed legs, seeing the healthy tan skin I always had. Then it hit me. I lifted my hands, turning them over, then my arms, gazing in wonder at the unblemished skin.

“My old scars are gone!” I gasped. “The little fuckers took all my scars away!”

“Erm, yes, those little ‘fuckers’ have regenerated a lot of your body tissue” Doctor Chappell explained. “My guess is that they are modelled along the same lines as the Nanites in the Guard clones, intended to keep the clone body at optimum health and efficiency for an indefinite period”

“Does that mean I won’t age? I’ll be like this forever?”

“Perhaps. Only time will tell” the Doctor answered. “All of your initial results from the Emergency room have been sealed by Jericho-Three. I would like to conduct further tests in the future, but for now you are in better shape than ever. You can be discharged right away”

“Am I safe to be in public? Can these Nanites infect anyone else?”

“No, they break down and die if they are separated from you. Whatever else they may be, they appear to be purely benign in function”

I got off the bed and started rummaging in the bag of clothes and toiletries Minke and Papa had brought me. A stray thought intruded into my head and I couldn’t shake it loose.

“Ah, Doctor Chappell. Could other parts of my body get regenerated, like say my Appendix or Tonsils?”

“I suppose so, in theory at least. Have you had them out?”

“Err, no” I admitted. “I was just wondering”

She left me to get dressed, closing the door behind her. I waited until she was gone then took off the hospital gown and my boxers. I snagged a clean pair from the bag but before I put them on I stood in front of a tall mirror, fixed to the wall of the room. My nude body looked familiar yet strange, the vanished scars making me feel like an intruder in my own flesh.

My eyes drifted down to my groin, the hair starting to regrow in the short dark curls I remembered. I laid my hand over my womanhood, feeling the warmth under my palm.

“I really hope not everything grows back” I muttered to the empty room.

Losing my virginity the first time had been traumatic enough. I didn’t want to go through all those dramas again at my age.

“Fuck you Pony” I said to the world in general. “Why the hell did you pick me as a guinea pig?”

=====

Alvarez Apartment, South Bank District

Ghost drove me home, having requisitioned a Police Auxiliary Cruiser from Headquarters. I was happy to grab an Auto-Cab but my partner had insisted. All through the drive to my apartment he had not said more than a dozen words, the longest sentence being “Get in the car, Alvarez”.

I detected a distinct air of hurt pride and generalised pissiness at me, which didn’t come as any surprise in the circumstances.

“I’m sorry” I said at last. “We didn’t have much time to organise ourselves and I didn’t want Kamarov spooked before we got the kids out”

“You called Mabel instead of me” he said, his eyes locked onto the road. The Cruiser had a Dumb AI so he could have let it drive itself, but like me he wanted to stay in control. For all the flat tone to his voice, I felt the hurt behind his words.

“She can teleport” I replied. “It seemed to be the fastest way to get them clear of the scene”

The Cruiser arrived at the front of my building, Mr Liu from 1B watching us with interest from his chair on the front steps. I stayed in my seat, turning to regard Ghost in profile.

“I will never doubt your skills or loyalty, you know that” I continued. “I trust you with my life. That’s why I need you to do something for me, something that no-one else can. I’ve already spoken to the Boss and he agreed to it, so I hope you will”

He turned his head and regarded me with his mis-matched eyes of flesh and metal.

“What is it?” he asked.

I told him, laying out my half-assed plan and trying to make it sound feasible.

“You really want to die, don’t you Alvarez?” he replied afterwards.

“Nope. I keep telling everyone, I’m a cockroach, partner. I’m fucking unkillable!”

“Fine” he agreed. “I’ll do what you asked. Now get out of my car”

He gave me a hint of a smile when he said that, so I knew I was forgiven. I got out of the Cruiser and hoisted my small bag from the back seat. The back door was barely shut before he waved me goodbye and drove off, leaving me standing like an unwanted date on the sidewalk.

I climbed the steps to the lobby doors, waving a hello at Mr Liu as I went past. While I was there I checked my mail box, pulling out a wad of cheap printed flyers. My eyes roamed the assorted advertisements for local restaurants, cleaning services and private escorts, glad there was nothing from Victor.

With my plans made and no urgent death threats to resolve, I headed for the elevator sporting a pleased grin on my mug. I dropped the flyers in the recycler and hit the button on the elevator control panel.

“Alvarez!” called a woman’s voice, stern and commanding. I froze in place, hoping that by standing still she wouldn’t spot me. I had read somewhere that the big predators could only track you if you moved.

The elevator doors slid open with a cheery ping and I was torn between those old responses, flight or fight. Mrs Grazier from the second floor regarded me curiously from inside the carriage, waiting for me to step aside so she could exit.

“Excuse me, Luisa dear” she quavered in her elderly voice. “I think Mrs Avonmore is trying to get your attention” She pointed over my shoulder, so I relented and stood out of her way, letting the dear old thing shuffle into the lobby.

I tilted my head slowly, meeting the Medusa like gaze of Mrs Avonmore, the building super. A carton lay in her big right metal hand, held easily by the mechanical arm she wore proudly on her starboard side.

“This arrived for you” she stated in a low growl, as if someone sending a package to the building was all my fault. Her arm extended and I took it from her, feeling the heft of the contents. “I’ve been holding onto it until you got home”

“Thanks” I muttered. By the weight and size of the cardboard packaging, it could be anything from a pair of hiking boots to a fragmentation bomb. At least it wasn’t ticking.

I hit the elevator button again, making the doors pop open and I stepped inside, turning to face Mrs Avonmore as they closed.

“I’m glad you are Okay” she said as the final gap disappeared.

=====

As soon as I entered my apartment I could tell something was wrong. A long, metal framed structure had been erected along one wall underneath the living room window, displacing a set of shelves that were now crammed into a corner. A thick mattress had been laid on top, along with a set of blankets and sheets.

Minke had claimed a permanent space in my living room, which already did double duty as my kitchen. I could see a couple of plastic storage boxes tucked neatly underneath the camp bed and I was tempted to peek inside, wondering what treasures she was willing to store here.

I pushed that thought aside and sat on my couch, laying the new package on the coffee table. At least my couch could return to being a full time couch and not a part time bed for my young housemate.

Minke had already messaged me to say she was staying at Papa’s tonight, getting in some extra practice for a Kickboxing tournament on the weekend. I had seen plenty of her when I had finally awoken in the hospital, yet I was bummed she wasn’t here tonight as well.

Considering what might be in this package it was probably best I was alone. A more prudent Officer would have left an unexpected package for the Bomb Squad to check, but if I knew one thing about myself I did not have prudence. I lifted it up and saw my name and address had been laser-printed on the address label, along with the sender’s details.

It had come from the Wonder Bar factory in Westborough.

I got a sharp knife from my kitchen drawer and sat facing the package, weapon in hand.

“Okay, Wonder Bar, show me what you’ve got!” I declared then cut the tape strip open and folded back the cardboard flaps. Nothing went boom except maybe my heart. Inside were nestled a mix of Wonder Bars in various flavours, a neat dozen in total. A pamphlet laid on top of the bars informed me I had been selected as a favoured reviewer of the new product lines, thanks to my interest in visiting their facility.

“Someone is taking the piss!” I said to the empty room and swept the box from the coffee table, spilling the brightly coloured bars across the floor. A slip of notepaper fluttered loose, drifting like a rectangular feather to land atop a Basic Bar.

My heart was hammering now, as I slowly got off the couch and circled around the table. The single sheet of paper had writing on it and I picked it up, uncaring of whatever traps may have been set on its innocent surface.

It was a short note, written in black ink by a precise and ordered hand.

“I need to meet you urgently. P”

I went back to the box and checked the date it had been registered for delivery. The coding was from B-Post, a delivery branch of Brackenridge Transportation who handled packages all across the Zone. It had been registered with them three days ago and delivered to Mrs Avonmore’s hands the following morning.

If Pony wanted to see me urgently, he could have chosen a quicker method of sending me the message!

I considered heading out right now, hoping that the Professor would find me on his own accord, but I discounted that idea. There were still enemies out there, hunting for my head. Plus Kamarov had managed to survive a hundred meter fall with a severed arm. That fucker could well be lurking in the shadows, waiting to get revenge on me.

The plan I had suggested to Ghost was not a great one, but I had to give it a little time to be set up. As much as my own instincts were to rush headlong into the fray, I needed to allow the pieces to be moved into position.

Like any good fight in the Arena, you had to give your opponent a chance to show off their moves, to let you read them. Then, once you knew what you were up against, you made your attack.

For once, Judy agreed, letting herself settle down in my mind, releasing the energy I had unconsciously been gathering into my clenched fists.

“Nice and easy, Luisa” I told myself. “There will be plenty of chances to punch their lights out. Just got to give Ghost time to do what I asked”