Echo

by Valerie J Mikles

  Jack sat sprawled on the couch, her head tipped back, her expression one of boredom and agitation; it was a welcome change from yesterday’s defeat. When Sky entered, Jack gestured to the dining table, where Dr. Shon sat with a pile of notes spread out before her. She paged through them with gloved hands so she wouldn’t have to touch the blood-stained pages. Morrigan’s giggles emanated from a bedroom and Schon’s head jerked up any time Michael honked or replied in his stilted voice. “We didn’t do bedtime stories,” Jack told Schon, answering a question Sky hadn’t heard. The irritation in her voice was just as plain as that on her face. “I never told him about spirits or harbingers. He must have learned it from you.”

  “When you taught him to write, what text did you use?” Schon asked, scrolling through a tablet of notes.

  “Basic grade one primer. He’s been writing since he was five.”

  “He was not authorized,” Schon frowned.

  “Tommy was,” she replied. “They learned together. Michael adores his brother. I couldn’t stop him from picking up a pencil. It made communication much easier.”

  Schon’s nostrils flared, but she didn’t argue the point. She turned another page in a journal, this one with the name ‘Libby’ written over and over. Schon’s interest intensified, and she made more notes on her tablet.

  The bedroom door opened, and Morrigan skipped out, pulling Michael behind her. Their faces were flushed, and Sky was surprised at the casual affection, given the stakes. The moment Michael noticed Dr. Schon, he stopped in his tracks and ducked his head submissively. Morrigan rolled her eyes, then raised his chin.

  “Don’t be afraid, Michael,” she whispered. Then she leaned over the table to look at Schon’s notes. “Did you come to see his progress?”

  “No, I’m clarifying some of Dr. Fisher’s notes. You two can sit on the couch.”

  Michael went to the couch, but Morrigan didn’t. Sky wondered if Michael felt a supernatural pull to follow the order but guessed not since Morrigan didn’t seem perturbed. Jack opened her arms and Michael snuggled against her. He squirmed, adjusting his mother’s arm to not rest on his improperly healed ribs, which was a step forward for him.

  “Love you, Mom,” he murmured, his voice bringing her to tears. He made the signs as he spoke. Fisher was reluctant to learn the gestures, but she knew this was part of the deal for getting him status in the city.

  “Everything all right?” Morrigan asked, coming next to Sky.

  “Not sure yet,” Sky said, confused by the peacefulness of this prison. “What’s going on here?”

  “Everything’s perfect.” Morrigan smiled. “As long as he speaks up and doesn’t get scared, he’ll be granted personhood by the end of the week.”

  Sky smiled back and quietly slipped a comm bracelet onto Morrigan’s wrist. “Take this. Just in case.”

  “Gift from the Prime Minister?” Morrigan asked.

  “Rebellious teenager,” Sky said. Sky’s bracelet vibrated and she frowned. But it wasn’t Lula calling to pester her.

  “Tommy, what’s going on?” she asked.

  “Danny asked me to call,” Tommy replied, his falsetto voice making her shudder. “Amanda didn’t wake up.”

  “Amanda didn’t wake up?” Sky asked, exchanging a look with Morrigan.

  “I told him it’s normal,” Tommy said, seeming unconcerned. “Michael often does this when he’s remapped. It’s part of the restfulness she can enjoy. But he’s worried and he’s taking her to the hospital.”

  “Thanks. We’ll meet you there,” Sky said, clicking off the channel. “Problem.”

  “I have to go,” Morrigan said, her eyes flashing as the realization hit. She glanced at Michael. “I’m allowed to go, right?”

  “You’re not needed at the moment,” Schon acknowledged.

  Morrigan was still looking at Michael, but Sky didn’t think they had time for a long good-bye. She grabbed Morrigan by the arm and dragged her out.

  Danny paced the hospital hall next to the gurney where Amanda lay, waiting for an exam room to open. There was no violent outburst and no new bruises to deal with, just new uncertainty.

  Ian Cooper arrived first and when Danny saw her, he murmured a prayer. Of all people, Ian should have known to warn him.

  “Danny! I heard there was a problem with Amanda,” Ian called.

  “She won’t wake up.” Danny getting choked up the moment he tried to speak. He pointed to the gurney. “She went to sleep, and everything was fine, and now…”

  After watching Tommy and Amanda stay up talking all night, he was surprised when Amanda crawled into bed next to him and snuggled to his side. In his experience, it meant she felt sick and scared, but he didn’t mind holding her. Then Tommy climbed into the bed, too, mirroring Amanda so that Danny was sandwiched between them. It was sweet and peaceful. Or had been, until Danny realized Amanda was in a coma.

  “I was waiting for this,” Ian said, leaning over the gurney, putting a small disc on Amanda’s forehead.

  “I told you it was normal,” Tommy said.

  “What were you waiting for?” Danny asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Ian sucked her cheeks in. “It’s a little earlier in the process than I expected. Given the stress she’s under, it was only a matter of time. It does present me with an ideal state for rapid remapping. I’ll take her to the lab. Is there someone I can call for you?”

  “His people are coming,” Tommy said. “I’ve called them.”

  “Perhaps this is an ideal time for you all to return to your ship,” Ian suggested. “Be with your family. Amanda won’t regain consciousness today.”

  “Hold on,” Tommy said, clamping a hand on the gurney and pointing to Ian’s tablet. “What’s this reading?”

  “You are neither her family nor her physician. You should not be looking at it,” Ian said, jerking the tablet away from Tommy. Tommy tapped the device on Amanda’s neck and sent a holoprojection to the wall instead. An image of a brain popped up.

  “This is not the scan she showed me last night. We broke down every detail of her map,” Tommy said. “We talked for hours.”

  “And neither of you are experts,” Ian said, giving the gurney a push to get Tommy out of her way.

  “This brain is missing her memories!” Tommy exclaimed. “That’s why she didn’t remember giving me the book. That’s why she was so disoriented.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about, lab rat!” Ian seethed, waving a hand and making the brain vanish.

  “Dr. Granger, look at this!” Tommy called, wrestling for the device. “Ian is erasing Amanda’s memories!”

  Ian stood straight and glowered, exchanging a look with Dr. Chelsea Granger. The doctor glanced at the scan, then ran her own medical scanner over Amanda.

  “Rapid remapping protocol. Time is of the essence,” Ian said, tapping her foot.

  “Wait! Look at the scan!” Tommy insisted.

  With a begrudging sigh, Ian put the brain back on the screen, and Chelsea danced her fingers through the projection, checking all angles.

  “That’s not what we saw a moment ago. That is not her present state,” Tommy insisted, his frustration growing.

  Ian put up two more brain scans. “Start, present, destination,” Ian said. “She is in a fragile state and you are wasting time.”

  Chelsea looked to Danny.

  “Don’t look at him. He can’t tell one brain scan from another,” Tommy said.

  “Do another scan,” Danny requested.

  “There doesn’t appear to be anything worrying in this scan, Captain,” Chelsea said, waving Ian to move on ahead.

  Tommy’s nostrils flared, but a look of defeat soon followed and he ran down the hall. Danny was torn between chasing him or Amanda, but Chelsea stopped him from doing either.

  “She made it through the night without medication?” she asked, linking his arm and guiding him down a different path.

  “Tommy said she didn’t have the s
ame memories,” Danny said.

  “She may be accessing them differently now,” Chelsea said. “Did you get any indication last night that her memories were blocked?”

  “She was disoriented when we first left the lab,” Danny said, trying to think of signs he’d missed that couldn’t be explained. Amanda had been disoriented often. “She mostly talked to Tommy.”

  “What about her food and drink preferences? Any change?”

  “She didn’t ask for anything unusual,” Danny said. “She forgot she gave Tommy this book to read. He wanted to talk about it, and she didn’t. But maybe she just changed her mind. She doesn’t really like to talk about her reading. She says it ruins things for her when someone has a negative opinion on her favorite stories.”

  “She slept in her own bed?” Chelsea asked.

  “She slept next to me. That’s a bit of a regression, but not unusual,” Danny said, swallowing hard. He’d been so eager to hold her, he hadn’t thought about it. As Amanda had gotten healthier, she’d sought more independence, and had shied away from sleeping next to him.

  “But she clearly remembered you or she wouldn’t have done that,” Chelsea concluded.

  “Why are we going so slow?” Danny asked, gritting his teeth.

  “Because all you can do is stand in the hall and brood, and that is not healthy for you. I saw how much it affected you the first week. Ian is right. You need your support network,” Chelsea said, her voice sweet and smooth.

  “The Prime Minister won’t let me talk to them,” Danny said, turning his wrists to show her the monitor. “Tommy’s gone. I can’t even call Sky and ask where she is.”

  Chelsea nodded, then cocked her head, her throat moving as she made the sub-vocal call for him. “Sky is at the gate square.”

  “I’ll take him, Chelsea!” Lula said, popping out from one of the halls.

  “Lula, aren’t you supposed to be quarantining?” Chelsea asked, though she didn’t seem surprised to see her cousin.

  Lula hurried to pull a mask from her pocket and covered her nose and mouth. “No. I was told I could go to school if I wore a mask.”

  Chelsea rolled her eyes and motioned her approval. Lula grabbed Danny’s hand and led him down the hall. She had on thin gloves that blended with the color of her skin.

  “How do you keep showing up everywhere?” Danny asked, his helplessness clouding his ability to resist.

  “Isn’t it obvious? I’m fascinated by you, and I’m stalking you,” Lula said, leading him between buildings, taking a shortcut to the gate square. “If you don’t invite me to your ship, I’m going to stow away.”

  They came out of the building shadows and emerged into the bright daylight to find Morrigan and Sky leaning over a park bench. Morrigan was pale and clammy, and Sky dug through her satchel.

  “Why are you out here? What is wrong? I needed you,” Danny said.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong,” Sky said, dropping the satchel.

  “I need to get out. I need to get out of the city,” Morrigan moaned, the sound almost imperceptible as she flopped onto the bench. “I need to go. I’m allowed to go, right?”

  “Do you have the thing I made for Danny?” Lula asked. Sky handed Lula a comm bracelet and Lula slid it onto Danny’s wrist.

  “Morrigan,” Danny said.

  “I need to leave now. The gate is opening, right? It’s time. It’s time to go!” Morrigan moaned.

  “We’re going,” Sky said, pulling Morrigan’s arm around her shoulder. “Danny, you need to take her.”

  “I can’t leave Amanda,” Danny said, startled by the urgency in Sky’s voice. Things were snowballing out of control at the worst possible time.

  “Your movement is restricted in the city. Mine isn’t. Morrigan can’t fly herself,” Sky said.

  “Michael?” Morrigan asked, turning away from Sky, then stopping short.

  “Nope. Home. Let’s go,” Sky said, lifting Morrigan off the ground and carrying her to the gate chamber.

  “Can I come with you?” Lula asked eagerly.

  “No!” Danny and Sky said together. Then Sky added, “Operator! Open the gate!”

  They reached the exit gate, but the door was closed. There were a few engineers around and the operator leaned against the wall across from her console.

  “Kellern, we need to get out,” Sky said, addressing the operator.

  “I’m sorry,” Kellern shrugged. “Your frequent traversing has overtaxed our system. We have been ordered to shut down the gate for now. Is there something else I can help you with?”

  Sky looked back at Danny, then dropped Morrigan into the nearest chair.

  “We’re trapped?” Danny exclaimed.

  “What is the nature of your friend’s illness?” Kellern asked with worry, putting on a mask, just as Lula had done.

  “She’s not sick. She just wants to leave,” Sky said.

  “Leave me alone!” Morrigan shouted, flailing her arms and covering her face. “Just… leave me alone.”

  26

  The closet where the test subjects were kept was warm, dark, and well-ventilated. It needed to be to counter the stench of waste in the cages. Tommy scraped at the excrement on the walls of one of the recently deceased—a small primate who had been injected with a tumor similar to the one that had killed Isabelle Cooper. The team in Dr. Schon’s lab had found a treatment that killed the cancer, but not before it killed the subject. So, they were back to square one. There had only been three cases in the city, and Isabelle was the first fatality. Tommy missed her. She used to teach him how to fix things and had made him believe he had a future beyond cleaning cages.

  After his first university degree, he’d asked to be trained on the NR machine properly, but Ian laughed at him. No one would accept treatment from someone like him. And so, he lingered in the university getting degree after degree. He’d only convinced Dr. Schon to give him the job as caretaker because he was already caring for Michael.

  Finishing with the empty cage, Tommy stripped off his gloves and slumped into a chair next to an older primate named George. The most recent report said George would be a cadaver by the end of the day, and Tommy couldn’t help but lift his old friend out of the pen and hold him close one last time. In Tommy’s earliest memories of the lab, before Michael came along, George was as big as he was, and they’d sit together on the table between experiments.

  “No one believed me about the scans. Now I’m starting to doubt my own eyes,” Tommy told George, combing his fingers through the ape’s soft fur. “There’s something wrong with me. I go places, and I don’t know why. Michael makes me do things for him. He’s my brother, so I have to. He can’t do things on his own, so I have to help—”

  The door opened and Dr. Schon strutted in. “What are you doing in here? You should have finished by now.”

  “Just talking,” Tommy said, playing his fingers against George’s. “I saw George’s experiment was terminated.”

  “What did I tell you about humanizing the test subjects?” she seethed.

  “If his project is terminated, he’s not a test subject anymore. And he’s not a cadaver yet,” Tommy sassed. Holding George made him feel brave, and he was glad his old friend would finally be free from his suffering. It was a freedom Tommy had been promised and denied, because his mother wanted him to keep living. And with the promise of personhood, it seemed Michael would be denied his relief as well.

  “You’re not afraid to go home, are you?” Schon mocked.

  Tommy’s jaw flapped, his confidence waning. He didn’t have a home. He had a pile of blankets on the roof of the lab, and no one noticed that he never had any place else to be.

  “You know I did not remap Michael. But with the new behavior he’s exhibiting… If he impregnates that woman, it will validate all the years we’ve spent studying his fertility,” she said. “I know he assaulted you, and as you are the legal person, you are within your rights to demand his termination.”

  To
mmy shook his head. He’d betrayed his family by calling Dr. Schon the first time. He didn’t know if he could muster the courage to do it again.

  “You like Michael’s voice?” Tommy asked, standing with George, hugging him tighter.

  “It is awful,” she laughed.

  “Worse than mine?”

  “Yours isn’t so bad anymore.” It was nice when she said kind things.

  “What if I use my real voice?” he asked, dropping to his natural register.

  “Oh, that is awful,” she said, her lip curling. “You shouldn’t speak like that. Ever.”

  “I won’t,” Tommy whispered, resuming his falsetto. “Are you going to make him change his voice, too?”

  “I’m not planning to talk to him again,” she scoffed. Even when she scowled, Dr. Schon was beautiful. She had round cheeks and full lips. Libby came from the same template and sometimes, in his fantasies, he imagined being with both of them together.

  “What about me?” Tommy asked.

  “Well, after this hormone treatment and transformation surgery, I imagine you’ll be much more pleasant to listen to,” she said. “Fisher never should have forced that male chromosome onto your template.”

  Tommy turned his back, pretending to give attention to George. If he said the word, Dr. Schon would terminate Michael before his personhood was granted, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

  “You will make a beautiful Fisher,” Schon crooned, coming behind him, running her fingers up and down his spine. The touch stirred a yearning in him, and he stayed still, waiting to see where her hands wandered. This was a kind of flirting he recognized, but he preferred Amanda’s more innocent efforts to find common interest. In Dr. Schon’s mind, he wasn’t a Fisher yet.

  “Have you ever had sex?” she asked.

  “Not since…” Tommy hesitated before finishing the sentence. By the way she asked, it was clear their time together in the lab didn’t count. “Not since I became a person.”