by KJ Nelson
20
The full co-op meeting was brutal. Brody had done a good job of getting everything together, but when they rolled out the food on a big pallet there was a mad rush of people trying to get their share. Cameron had to shoot two rounds into the air and look threateningly at several people to get them to calm down.
After that, things went smoothly and everyone got their food. It just put a damper on the entire situation. People smacked openly, shoving the food into their faces as quickly as they could, which led to several people getting sick. One older man ate so fast that he choked and had to be given the Heimlich which broke one of his ribs.
After he was rushed to the medical container Cameron was finally able to talk to the crowd. She told them that their raid had been successful. They were able to find a food store and that they had a plan for feeding everyone in the future.
She did get several questions about the explosion that had rattled the entire community. She shrugged it off saying they’d ran into some Freeriders and had to use some explosives to escape.
People also questioned her about Stafford, and she gladly laid the blame for his injury at the feet of the Freeriders. People were angry and several threatened to go after the other clan, but she knew it was all hot air.
She tried to leave as quickly as she could but got caught answering the same questions over and over for at least two hours. Finally, when it was full night, she slipped away and breathed a sigh of relief.
She was exhausted from lack of sleep and social interaction, but she decided to go see how Stafford was doing before turning in for the night.
She snuck her way over to the medical container purposefully skirting around multiple people in the dark shadows cast by the tall stacks of metal. She went in through the back door and startled Joanne as she was tending to Stafford.
“Sorry,” Cameron said in a whisper as Joanne grabbed at her chest in fright.
“I forgot you had a key to the back entrance.” Joanne bent over to catch her breath. Cameron patted her shoulder gently, feeling bad, but not regretting avoiding the crowd surrounding the old man who had choked on his food.
“How’s Stafford?’ Cameron asked when Joanne was recovered enough to speak.
Joanne just looked at Cameron, a painful expression on her face. Cameron’s heart sank. Joanne had a terrible poker face.
“How bad is it?”
“You have to understand, with a compound fracture, especially one that breaks the skin, getting a good set is nearly impossible.” Joanne always rambled when she was nervous. “The bone isn’t able to rejoin and infection sets in very easily. If we had a real surgeon on hand, maybe they could have done it…”
“Stop,” Cameron said firmly while still trying to not draw any attention. “In less than five words, what’s happening?”
“His fever spiked. He’s going to lose the arm.”
It was more than five words, but Cameron wasn’t counting anymore. She looked over at Stafford, his eyes closed tightly. She could see the sheen of sweat on his brow.
“Are you sure?” Cameron had to know there weren’t any other options.
“Yes, Jeb is going to take it off in the next hour or so. We can’t take the chance of the infection spreading up the shoulder and into his heart.”
Cameron was continually surprised by how for granted she’d taken medical advancement before the Crumbling. Back then, breaking an arm just meant surgery at worst and being in a cast for six to eight weeks. But just a hundred years before, a bad break could mean losing your life or at best living the rest of it without a limb.
“Don’t do anything until I get back.” Cameron looked Joanne in the eyes to make sure she understood what she was saying. She opened the back door again and ran into the night headed toward her apartment.
21
It only took fifteen minutes for Cameron to run back to her container, grab the replicator and get to the container holding Drac. She hated that her plan to force better information out of him was scrubbed but glad that she had a chance, as small as it was, of saving Stafford’s arm.
She approached the container holding Drac quickly and fumbled with the lock trying to get it open. Cameron was worried Jeb wouldn’t wait on her and go ahead with removing the arm if she wasn’t there to stop him.
Cameron heard the low humming noise coming from Drac again and found him in the same sitting position she’d seen him in earlier.
“Hey! Hurry, get out here.” Cameron said in a rush, her voice haggard from running the length of the compound. Drac didn’t move a muscle. He was deeply entranced, his eyes focused on the blank wall of the container. His monotone voice didn’t falter.
Cameron bent down and grabbed a quarter size rock and flung it at Drac’s head. In a move quicker than a snake, Drac lifted his hand and deflected the pebble. He blinked several times taking in the room and Cameron.
“Do not throw things at me human.” He said in a low voice.
“Hurry Up!” Cameron nearly shouted. Only managing to keep her voice low because of her desire to not attract any attention.
“What is your issue Sape?” Drac’s eyes flashed with anger. He clearly did not like being bossed around.
Cameron simply pulled one of her guns out, the shiny metal flashing in the pale light of the half-moon overhead.
“Move, right now.” She spoke simply, not in the mood to banter with the pompous alien. Drac stood formally, his shoulders straight. He shifted his face from anger to impassive and started moving deliberately toward Cameron.
“May I at least know what is going on?” Drac asked in a tight voice. “You said you would not return until tomorrow.”
“There’s been a complication.” Cameron grabbed Drac’s cuffs and dragged him forward. He didn’t put up a fight and Cameron started making her way as quickly as she could back toward the medical container.
She knew it would take at least 10 minutes to get there, so Cameron decided to use the time wisely and learn as much from Drac about the replicator as she could.
“Tell me how to mend the bone,” Cameron demanded in a low tone, glancing around constantly to make sure they weren’t spotted. The last thing she wanted was to have to explain who the small man she was escorting around in handcuffs was.
“Ah.” Drac smiled and chuckled lightly. “So your friend isn’t healing like you said he would. You will soon learn, I’m never wrong Cameron.”
His use of her name set Cameron back again. Drac was so infuriatingly conceited most of the time, but when he said her name there was something else buried in his tone.
“Tell me how to mend the bone.” As Cameron spoke, each word came out as if it were its own sentence. She pushed any thoughts, especially the weird feeling, out of her mind and focused on the mission at hand. She had to save Stafford’s arm.
“It’s simple if you’re one of my people. But for a human, I have no clue if it’s even possible for your mind to gain a level of control to work the machine effectively.” Drac spoke with resignation in his voice. He didn’t like giving away any information about his technology.
“Explain what you mean by the level of control.” Cameron thought back to the first time using the replicator. How powerful it felt in her hands. How it melded with her mind and the weird feeling of seeing its interface in her vision.
“The replicator has different power levels, and also different settings. It can be used to replicate an entire forest or a single cell. Your mind has to be able to process all of the data that the machine uses to operate, and pick out what you want it to do.” Drac spoke quickly motioning with his bound hands.
“You can’t just fire it up and blast the energy the way you did in the outpost, you’ll end up giving Stafford an extra arm, or worse replicating his body entirely.” Cameron cringed at the image of making Stafford’s situation even worse by misusing the replicator.
They finally made it to the medical container and Cameron stopped outside the back door. She listened for
a moment making sure the crowd from earlier had dispersed. Everything seemed to be quiet.
Cameron turned back to Drac. “Stop telling me what not to do and start telling me what to do!” Drac nodded slowly, taking in her determination.
“You’ll power up the replicator like last time, use the ocular interface. This time you’ll need to feel the machine, let it flood your...mind.” Drac said the last word like he didn’t really believe it was possible.
“Okay, then what?” Cameron asked nodding to keep him talking.
“You have to imbue yourself into the interface. Every part of your mind must sync with the replicator. It’s not easy and takes Neandratons hours of practice to be able to fully sync.” Drac shook his head, shrugging his shoulders.
“It’s just not possible for one of your breeding to be able to do it. You’ll have to allow me.” The smile on Drac’s perfect face made Cameron sick to her stomach. She couldn’t trust him to do what he said he would. She would not give him the upper hand.
“After the full sync, then what?” Cameron frowned, not willing to give up. Drac rolled his eyes at her persistence.
“If it were possible for you to get that far, then you would be able to speak to the machine.” The way he said the word, speak Cameron knew it wasn’t using any language she would understand.
“You tell the replicator specifically what you want it to replicate. As long as you know the anatomy of the organism that you are trying to replicate you can focus the power on the specific part that you want to change. In this case, you would have to think past the skin, the veins, the muscle and focus only on the bone.” Drac spoke in reverence of the machine. Cameron could tell that even as jaded as he was, Drac still found the replicator awe-inspiring.
“As you direct the replicator it will enhance your vision, giving you the ability to see exactly what you’re changing. To save the arm, you need to work from the inside out.”
Cameron nodded. She didn’t know what he meant by the replicator enhancing her vision, but she was ready to give it a try.
“If anyone asks, you’re a Freerider that I caught while we were out getting supplies.” Cameron grabbed the key and opened the door to the back of the medical container, ready to get started.
22
Jeb and Joanne were standing at the head of Stafford’s bed when Cameron and Drac walked through the door. Jeb was wearing a grimace, his customary cheery attitude gone as he took in the sick man.
“We’re here to help.” Cameron’s voice was low in the quiet room.
“Who’s we?” Jeb asked, looking at Drac with suspicion in his normally kind eyes.
“This is Drac, it’s a long story who he is and I can’t explain right now. Just know that you can’t trust him.” Jeb and Joanne were both taken back at her words.
“Then why is he here?” Joanne asked, looking suspiciously at Drac.
“Because he can help me help Stafford,” Cameron spoke quickly. She dragged Drac by the handcuffs over to Stafford’s side.
“Whatever you’re about to see, don’t ask any questions. You both have seen plenty since the Crumbling that you can’t explain. Add this to the list.” Cameron pulled the replicator out of her backpack as she spoke.
Jeb and Joanne stepped away from her, both showing fear at her words and the strange disc-shaped item.
“This will not work, Cameron,” Drac said emphatically. You do not have the mental fortitude to operate the replicator beyond its most menial functionality.”
“Have you not learned anything since you met me?” Cameron asked with ferocity in her voice. “I defy your understanding of humanity.”
With that, she placed her hand atop the replicator and felt as it attached itself to her. The red dot began pulsing in her vision. She looked at it and activated the replicator’s interface. A purple glow started emanating from the device and it hummed with expectation.
Drac stared at her shaking his head. Condescension clearly showing on his face. He grinned with the confidence of someone who knows, without a doubt, that they are right. The smug look on his face drove Cameron forward with reckless abandon.
She embraced the power flowing from the replicator. When she’d used it the first time she looked at it only as a tool. Something dangerous, to be used and then put down. Now with Drac’s words in her head, she changed her perspective.
Cameron looked at the replicator as a part of herself. She no longer had two hands. She had one normal human hand on one side, on the other she had the replicator. It was part of her, she could use it as an extension of herself, without conscious thought.
As she stood there, staring at her new limb she felt her mind explode. She knew her brain was still there inside her skull, but she felt as if it now encompassed the entire room, the entire state, the entire planet.
The feeling of vertigo almost made her nauseous. Cameron blinked, coming back to herself. She could feel her body like normal but where her brain had before been solely able to control her right hand, she felt now the ability to do so much more.
“I did it.” Her words came out high and breathless.
“I doubt it.” Drac chuckled to himself. “It’s not possible.”
“You’ve said that about me multiple times, and you’ve been wrong every time.” Cameron stared him right in the eyes as she spoke.
“You’re saying you’ve fully synced with the replicator?” Drac asked in a sarcastic tone. “If that’s the case, then you should be able to make an exact replica of that.” Drac pointed at a small plant Joanne kept on a table near the medical supplies.
It was one of the few plants left on the planet. Joanne had grown it from a single tomato seed. She’d used her precious water supply to grow it, nurturing it as if it were her child. I knew tomatoes were her favorite and she loved the plant more than anything.
Cameron walked over to it and picked the plant up with her left hand. She examined it carefully, taking in every detail she could. She placed the plant on the ground, the red clay pot leaked water onto her hand.
Cameron noticed Joanne pacing nervously beside Jeb. It was a show of her power as Warlord that Joanne even allowed her to touch the precious plant. Cameron had witnessed, on several occasions, the kind woman nearly come to blows with people for getting too close.
Cameron took her right hand, her replicator, and hovered it over the small plant. The purple light surrounded it and Cameron had the strangest feeling of being able to see out of another pair of eyes.
The first pair of eyes looked at her hands and the disc-shaped replicator. The second pair looked only at the plant. She realized with shock that she was seeing with the replicator. Her brain couldn’t compute having an additional input for sight and she felt it momentarily reject the second input.
It made sense, her brain was trying to protect itself from what it clearly knew wasn’t possible. Her vision doubled and blurred as she instinctively switched back to her human eyes.
“Whoa.” She said quietly to herself. She looked at Drac, and his smug expression died on his face. “That’s what you meant by enhanced vision?”
It was the first time Drac was speechless. He just stared at her with his mouth open. She couldn’t tell if he was even breathing. She recognized the expression that most of the survivors of the Crumbling wore for many days after the world ended. It was a look of complete and total shock.
Cameron left Drac to rebuild his worldview, while she focused on trying to use her new vision. She closed her eyes thinking it might help focus if she only had one visual input.
Again she tapped into the new extension to her brain and submerged herself. Her vision turned purple and she again saw the plant from a lower perspective.
She focused on it, feeling instinctive that there was more to see. As she focused her new vision the outer layers of the plant started to fade away. At first, she was afraid that she had somehow harmed it. Then she realized as she pulled her focus back, that she was seeing inside the plant.
; She could see every detail of how the sprout was constructed. The long pale fibers that ran their way up from the dirt and into the stock of the plant. The water inside the stock that fed the leaves. The plant was more alive than she ever thought possible.
It was also worlds more complex than she could comprehend. As she focused even further, the replicator zoomed in on one of the leaves. She watched as the green from the plant faded into white with a hint of a color she’d never seen before. She could see the individual cells of the leaf as they moved and replicated.
As tightly focused as she was, she could sense the leaf actually growing. To her view, it seemed as if the plant had gained over a foot in size in the few seconds she stared at it. If it kept growing at the pace it would fill the room in a few minutes.
She snapped open her eyes and felt the uncomfortable vertigo of the double vision. Her brain once again reverted back to its natural state and she took in the small plant sitting on the floor. To her human eyes, she couldn’t tell any difference from before.
Relieved, Cameron closed her eyes again and forced her brain to see through the replicator. She stared at the ever-growing plant and gasped at its beauty.
“It’s amazing.” She said with delight. “It’s so beautiful.” Cameron could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Never before had she seen with such clarity what had been taken from humanity.
“What do you see?” A quiet voice asked in her ear. Drac had moved across the room to join her. Instinctively Cameron opened her eyes, alert to the danger that Drac could pose while she was distracted with the replicator.
“Get away from me.” Cameron almost shouted. The new anger she felt at him for what he was responsible for, made her voice louder than she meant to be. She pulled out one of her guns with her free hand and pointed it directly at his face.
Drac froze, going slightly cross-eyed as we tried to follow the barrel of the gun. He backed away slowly, his cuffed hands held out placatingly.
