Hercules III - 2. Chapter 2

Hercules III

Chapter 2

Green

Three hours later a bot-mobile landed in the middle of the residence’s vehicle parking area; a moment later, a forward door opened, permitting three bots to walk out of the carrier. When Clara saw the bot-mobile, she went to the door, and opened it. The vehicle resembled an ambulance, only bigger at about double the width and four times as long, and with virtual power units fore and aft. The three bots were probably med techs; and, by the way they were walking, the bot in the middle and slightly in front, was in charge. When Mama welcomed them and asked to accompany them to the med center the lead bot turned its liquid metal face toward her. When she said Carlos should go too, the bot’s virtual face appeared out of the pool of cold metal.

“Yes, it’s only logical that we include the other now,” the bot said. “Do you have your bag ready? You will be staying with us overnight. Tonight we’ll reboot the other once the defective has had his jacks restored and he is properly and truthfully booted to his destiny.”

“Are you saying my son needs to be operated on, too?” Clara asked.

“Yes, it is very important the defective and the other remain in symbiosis,” the bot said. “The Hercules III is ready to leave and must have its navigation in place before departure. It is suggested that you and your partner join your other and the defective; but, of course, you won’t actually be with them.”

“We have a rice harvest to get in,” Clara said. “My husband won’t be able to leave until at least next month.”

“If arrangements could be made, would you and yours want to be agriculturalists on Hercules III?” the bot asked. “You will receive the harvest credits, plus an extra amount for discovering the defective’s incorrect wiring scheme and software inefficiencies.”

“Would we still have access to the boys?” Clara asked.

“I cannot answer that,” the bot said. “Please prepare to leave, now.”

“Go on Clara, I’ll be able to take care of myself,” Jorge said. “I’m willing to go on the new ship if you are. Oh hell, the agri-bots can do the rice harvest. I’ll grab a bag, too.”

“Carlos, go pack an overnight bag,” Clara said.

“What about Stefan?” Carlos asked.

“The defective needs surgery as soon as we get back to the med center; we will perform a number of pre surgery steps on our way back; and arrange suitable accommodations for you and yours, plus the other,” the bot said. “So, please, get ready to leave, now!”

Carlos looked down at Stefan, whose body was still quivering slightly. Was that the reason they calling him defective?

“Carlos! Hurry up,” Mama said. “The bots need to leave right now.”

********

“Hi,” Carlos said when he walked into Stefan’s room. It was a standard hospital room with yellow walls, white polyester curtains, and a service bot hiding in plain sight in the corner to provide housekeeping tasks. “Hey, you’re green all over.”

“They said I’m like a plant, I can get energy from lights,” Stefan said with a frown. “How long have you been here?”

“We stayed at the med center’s hotel facility last night. I guess I’m scheduled to have genome surgery later today. Mama said I should come up to see you before I go. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I feel weird,” Stefan said. “They said it’s my altered genome that’s making me green only in those cells that have direct contact with light. I think it might be from all the wiring and new jacks they stuck in the back of my head, I guess I received five more than you have now; you’ll probably get yours tonight. They won’t tell me exactly what’s going on, maybe they don’t know. Does anybody know how much the bots know? They did say I should be better next week.”

“Mama said you had to have a full reboot,” Carlos said as he sat on the edge of the bed. “She said you should be okay next week, too; but she might have been talking about me getting better. The meds visited with us last night and said I’ll have to have a full reboot later today, too, because of all the sensors I have, but I think it’s because of me turning green, too. Are you sure you’re not hurting. I know I’ll be hurting when they do the full reboot plus making me green.”

“Nah, I think it’s each of my skin cells changing to a green one at a time if the cell is in a place that will receive light the most,” Stefan said. “It wasn’t as bad as the reboot. So, I have to stay here with your mama while you get better?”

“Uh, well, the meds told me we’ll have to stay in our room because we’ll be green,” Carlos said. “I guess it’s supposed to be some kind of big secret. They said we’ll be told later, once both of us are completely green and guess what? My papa is also here. It won’t be so bad, I hope. What’s it like being green?”

“I dunno, though they did tell me that we’re among a group of special humans,” Stefan said. “I guess it’s some kind of government project or something like that, so it’s not good to ask too many questions. I think we’re supposed to go to a different school because we have to learn how to do all of the adjustments ourselves when we get to wherever it is we’re going. All I know is we probably won’t be able to see our parents, anymore. So, don’t be disappointed if I tell you I didn’t see her or your papa. Besides I might not be here when you come back from your surgery.”

“I know you probably won’t see my Mama and Papa,” Carlos said. “I guess they’re coming to the new ship and do farming. As far as seeing them, well that’s not certain, according to the bots. It has something to do with us being green; but I wouldn’t worry over it since the bots will be running the new ship.”

“Yeah, I guess from what one of the med bots said, my parents are in deep shit because of how they didn’t care for me, as prescribed,” Stefan said. “Maybe I’m supposed to care about that, but I don’t. Do you think it’s wrong to be able to say things like that? It wasn’t all that difficult and the government was paying all the expenses. So, what made them do that?”

“Look, Stefan, I can’t tell you if it’s right or wrong,” Carlos said. “I don’t know how parents work things out. I think my parents were the best, but maybe I was just lucky. I wonder if Mama and Papa are still down in our suite. I could go now before they take me into surgery.”

“But they’re watching you right now, look up in the ceiling,” Stefan said. “Don’t you see the sparkling small camera lenses up there? If you make it to the exit, they’ll get you and force you back in here. Plus, they might change me to a different venue and leave you here until another extra boy comes along; or, they’ll leave you on Hercules and I’ll never see you again. You’re kind of neat and I have a feeling our stay on Hercules III will go a whole lot easier if I get to spend the time with you.”

“I want to make a run for it, at least to say goodbye to Mama,” Carlos said, walking to the door. “I hope they’ll let me see her one last time.”

“You’re dealing with the government,” Stefan said. “They probably won’t let you if they think you will cause undo harm to yourself or, worse, to other people or bots. That’s what one of the bots said when he came to ask if I needed something to help me sleep.”

“Who am I going to hurt?” Carlos asked. “I thought bots didn’t experience pain.”

As if on cue, a nurse came into the room. Behind her there were two medical bots wearing white coveralls; and appearing as if they used to have a lot of muscles before they transitioned. Their shoulder hinges were massive which made them impressive; but not as imposing as their absence of faces which weren’t on plates of a smooth, liquid silver metal. The nurse didn’t look like she was going to allow any guff from either boy. She was on a mission and Carlos was in her crosshairs.

“So, you were thinking of running away,” she said sounding like she wasn’t interested in any kind of answer along those lines. “We can do this like you’re interested in being with your friend for the next eternity or we can do it our way, which, trust me on this, isn’t what you want or can imagine.”

“When are you taking me to surgery?” Carlos asked.

“Right now, if you think you’re ready,” she said.

“When can I see my Mama?” Carlos asked.

“I think you’ll see her before you go into surgery and maybe we’ll let her see you when you come out,” she said. “It depends on how you and her fit on the schedule. Now, remove your clothes and sandals. Put your clothes and sandals on the bed; Arnold 03302BC will dispose them. You’ll get new attire tomorrow. Very good, now turn around so Sylvia 42309BC can give you your pre surgery injection. This will hurt, but you must not move.”

Carlos shut his eyes as the needle was slowly inserted in the back of his neck. There was no mistaking the pain he felt when the needle bumped into something and had to be redirected. The burn came when he felt the contents of the syringe slowly empty into his neck. The pain was like being hit by any kind of numerous farming implements when he was on the wrong side of whatever when it was running and he had been told to get out of the way. The pain wasn’t as strong as being bit by any variety of bugs that seemed to enjoy living on the farm. Yes, that was it. It was like being stung by a hornet or maybe a scorpion. The pain he felt continued as one long burn, searing his neck and then radiating down his back. This wasn’t as bad as a hornet and then it was over. Carlos opened his eyes and felt something like tape being stuck on his neck over the injection site. He wanted to cry, but Stefan was in the room and he didn’t want to look like he was a weakling.

“Are you okay, Carlos 01AA?” the nurse asked.

“It was like being stung by a hornet or a scorpion,” Carlos said, “but less burning. Why’d you call me Carlos 01AA?”

“The main data source in Hercules III Navigation said from now on you and Stefan—who has the same data registration as you—are destined to be pilots or some other navigational process on the new ship, so it’s very important we get this done before sunrise tomorrow morning,” the nurse said. “Do you feel like you need the toilet?”

“No,” Carlos lied. He wanted to puke from the pain he was feeling. He caught himself staring at her name tag which had Margot 24893MT printed below a line that said she was a pediatric nurse. He’d like to know more about her, but she left taking the two bots with her. He felt sleepy and wanted to lie down, but he was afraid he’d go to sleep. He didn’t want to miss seeing Mama. A gurney came into the room piloted by two less muscled med bots. Silently one of them bent down to pick up Carlos, then placed him on the gurney, and covered him with a sheet.

“Good luck,” Stefan said.

“Thanks, I guess,” Carlos mumbled as the effects from the injection slowly took over his awareness.

********

Carlos looked around him and saw nothing but bluish black and greenish gray. He looked up expecting to see the solar lights, but it was as if someone dimmed the sunlight by covering the normally bright light with a green fog. The cool water made him think of going fishing with Papa. The water was nearly up to his knees, which for some reason made him realize he wasn’t green. He remembered the electric pulses from the jacks hooked up to the boot/reboot device; and he knew he was hooked up to that device as it cycled through all the jacks implanted in the back of his head including the five Stefan mentioned, but he wasn’t hooked up to anything like that. He was somewhere else. The cool, lazy current of Rim-Water calmed him, but it couldn’t be Rim-Water because he never heard that Rim-Water had a muddy bottom. So, where was he?

He turned to get out of the water, but something in the muddy bottom was holding his feet, preventing him from moving. What made him think this was Rim-Water? Unless, this was further down where Rim-Water ran thru Rim-Delta and eventually emptied into Rim-Lake. Maybe this wasn’t Rim-Water. Maybe this was some other water course he never heard of, a slow running stream that had a bottom that was muddy?

Somewhere in his private geography lesson he heard the unmistakable growl of a leopard; though he didn’t have the foggiest idea of which direction the sound came. Maybe if he stood perfectly still it would go away, but it didn’t leave because he heard the sound again. He knew it was not behind him because deep inside his mind he was almost certain leopards didn’t attack from the back. Tigers did that. A primal terror tore a hole in his twelve-year-old consciousness not enabling him to see all around. He had to get away, but how was he going to do that with his feet stuck in the mud?

Carlos looked down to his right and saw a green tinted leopard sitting close enough to him that he could count the spots on its head looking up at him. He could’ve sworn it was smiling. He tried to move a foot again, but it was still stuck in the mud.

“Carlos!” Stefan yelled.

Carlos turned to see where Stefan was, but couldn’t see him. The leopard growled and looked up. Carlos couldn’t believe he was actually scratching the leopard’s head, especially behind the ears. The leopard coughed and turned into Stefan.

“They’re waiting for you to alter your pigmentation genes,” Stefan said. “You have to come with me or they’re going to change everything, forcing me to go on without you. The government is expecting you to start changing to green today. You can’t miss the scheduled time or our embarkation will be delayed.”

“I can’t get out of the water,” Carlos said. “The mud is holding me.”

“Yes you can; it’s only a dream,” Stefan said. “This is your dream. Now, come on or you won’t be admitted to the operating room.”

Following Stefan, Carlos walked back toward a big green building; surprised he wasn’t held by the mud, besides not having any mud on his feet. There was a light green door and Stefan stopped beside it. He said, “This is your entrance to the hospital. I can’t go in this way.”

Carlos stood at the door and waited for what he had no idea. Under normal situations like this, the door opened automatically from sensing the presence of a human or a bot; though bots did have a com unit that told the door to open and in most cases the door mechanism would comply. Maybe there was some sort of repair issue with this door. He’d have to report it to the hospital’s mechanical department. He touched the door causing it to dissolve into nothingness.

“Ah, the guest of honor,” someone said behind a mask. Carlos couldn’t tell which one of the masked meds spoke, not that it mattered. Carlos walked toward the operating chair and saw his master body already sitting there, calmly waiting for Carlos to slip out of his imagination. From the way the other was shaking, they had started the reboot process, as the new leads to his brain began to reach further down in his body. This wasn’t going to be as easy as they said. He looked around the room and saw another manifestation of him sitting on a stool in the corner, waiting to be called when the procedure reached his place in the brain.

“Come on Carlos it’s your turn to join the reboot party,” someone said. “The other one over there is waiting for you to finish your part in the process. Come on you know we can’t resume the reboot until all manifestations of you have melded into your primal body.”

Carlos climbed up into the large chair, turned around, and carefully sat into the waiting body. The absorption of his body and the master took a bit longer than usual because all the jacks had plugs in them. The surgeon helped him settle in and then he felt the familiar electric pulses throbbing across his brain. The last thing he remembered was the long needles being inserted into his temporal lobes.

He remembered waking at some point in the procedure, but couldn’t figure out why the meds would want him awake. Unless it had something to do with the partial reboot and the new leads Stefan mentioned. He remembered having partial reboots in the past and none of them required him to wake in the middle of the procedure; and if they were going to do one, they let him know to expect it. So why did he think he was brought out of the anesthetic this time?

********

The back of his head hurt. He looked around his bed for the IV unit that usually had a narcotic dispensing feature. Not unexpectedly the sudden agony from moving his head spread out across his body. He reached across the space between the bed and the IV to give himself a healthy dose, which made him sigh as it coursed through his young body.

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” a med bot said when she came into the room. “Did you give yourself enough narcotic?”

“Yes, I think so, thank you,” Carlos said, noticing for the first time his arms were turning green. So it was true, they figured out a way to change the skin color of people. A passing thought of seeing purple people crossed his mind.

He turned on his right side, thinking being that way might change the pain level. Stefan, now mostly green all over, was smiling. How long had he been asleep?

“I was wondering when you were going to wake up,” Stefan said. “You already missed supper, but maybe they’ll have something if you’re nice. I doubt it though. They wouldn’t give me anything I asked for.”

“What’s with the attitude?” Carlos asked.

“I’m greener than you,” Stefan sneered. “Oh, you’ll be mostly green by tomorrow morning, but by then I might be gone. A med bot was talking about you, saying how you give them so much trouble. Well, they don’t know the truth, but it just might get me sent up to the new ship sooner than you.”

“I thought we were supposed to go in pairs,” Carlos said, wondering how he could get changed to a new room.

“Well maybe we’re not going to do that, this time,” Stefan said. “I might want to go out to Hercules III before you.”

“I don’t think the bots will let you do that,” Carlos said. “I think they want us to go together. Besides they said we weren’t going out until next week, we have to wait a week so the pigment change is complete, but if you want to go early, ask a bot. Maybe they’ll let you go. You never know what they’re thinking. I wish my head would stop hurting. I’m going to sleep now.”

“You don’t care about me, do you?” Stefan asked.

“Am I supposed to?” Carlos answered. He was getting sleepy from the narcotic, so he found a comfortable position on the bed and tried to move into that unknowable state between wakefulness and sleep.

“Well, do you?” Stefan asked.

“Do I what?” Carlos asked.

“See? You don’t care about anything I say or do,” Stefan said.

“Look, Stefan, I care. Okay? But right now I want to go back to sleep. I didn’t expect a full reboot, so I’m kind of extra tired. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

Carlos sighed loudly and shut his eyes. The last thing he remembered was Stefan standing at the edge of his bed next to the IV. He tried to wake up but his body simply refused to do anything other than make him more tired.

Then there were bots and nurses in the room. This woke Carlos, but did little else. Stefan was being strapped to a gurney. Carlos watched for as long as he could which wasn’t as much as he wanted. Though he did see one of the bots give a screaming Stefan an injection in his hip.

********

Carlos woke hours later and saw Stefan asleep and strapped to his bed. What worried him most, though, was seeing a big bandage covering most of Stefan’s head. Suddenly a wave of nausea swept through him and, although, he needed to get up and use the toilet, he couldn’t make his body move enough to get out of the bed. It was like he had received an injection to help him sleep, but it hadn’t worked.

Unfortunately, he needed to get into the toilet and take care of his body’s want and needs. Maybe this was a dream, like yesterday when he was stuck in the muddy river. That would mean this was only a dream. All he had to do was acknowledge the fact he was stuck in the bed and then his brain would let him wake up. Then, and only then, he’d be able to go use the toilet.

“Do I have to tell you what to do all the time?” a voice sounding like Stefan’s worked its way through Carlos’s mind. “You are not stuck in bed and do me a favor when you’re in the toilet, have a healthy piss for me, too. If you’ve had time to notice, I’m strapped to the bed.”

“How did you do that?” Carlos asked with his mind thinking what it wanted to say.

“Just like this,” Stefan thought.

“How are we doing this?” Carlos thought.

“Maybe it’s part of being twins, maybe it’s caused by the wires in our brains,” Stefan thought. “Are you going to the toilet or not?”

“Sheesh, I’m going, I’m going,” Carlos thought as he climbed out of bed.

After taking care of the necessaries, Carlos privately thought about having a shower. It had been a long day and the thought of hot water running down his back couldn’t be stopped.

“What are you doing in there?” Stefan thought.

“Having a shower, want to join me?” Carlos thought.

“No, I need help. I need you to go to the nurse and have her either release me from these restraints or hold that tubular thingy so I can have a pee.”

“You know, this is kind of fun being able to talk while in a different room,” Carlos thought as he stepped out of the shower and began to dry himself. Yes, this was a nice way to talk without having to go into the other room.