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Chapter 33
By AC
Incensed, Ven toured the Core. Just five minutes before he'd finished a meeting with the senior Ether techs to discuss the situation. The best they could suggest was get volunteers to serve as temporary Interfaces, in fact, one such tech, Parrel, was being implanted right now.
It was a stopgap measure. At best, Parrel might be able to supply enought Ether to support the Districts essential systems for a few days -- at most. But that wouldn't last. They needed Cisia back and in the Core, or else everything would collapse.
At least the Interfaces in other Districts around the planet were still functioning. Ven didn't need a global catastrophe -- a municipal disaster was more than enough for him.
This particular part of the Core was relatively new. The "Defense Ring" Ven called it. Superconducting magnets which surrounded the Interface chamber.
Ether was composed of high-energy particles and directed by magnetic fields. Under normal circumstances it was relatively safe to be near an Ether Flow, even the "natural" Ether one found in the still-wild parts of the world. But the explosion that occured eight years ago was far from normal. The resultant blast of radiation had killed almost everybody in the Core, and inflicted large numbers of the population with varying degrees of radiation sickness.
Ven had personally designed the Defense Ring. High-energy particles can be diverted by a sufficiently strong force. In the event of a second explosion, the Ring would switch on, creating a magnetic wall around the Chamber that all but the fastest particles could not penetrate. The majority of the blast would be diverted upwards, a radiation beam streaming into space.
Anybody caught inside the ring would die, but at least the city would be spared. In theory.
A tech walked up to Ven. "Sir?"
"What is it?" Ven heard irritation in his own voice, and clamped down on it. Maintain the illusion of strength, he reminded himself.
"Autopsy report on... on the former Interface." The tech looked nervous as he handed a paper to his superior. "The cause of death seems to be cell-breakdown due to Ether production."
"'Seems to be'? Doesn't the coroner /know/ what killed him?"
"Sir... as the report explains, there's an unusual amount of cell damage, even for an Interface. Mitochrondii slashed, chromosomes dissolved... it's as if someone took those cells apart from the inside. Sir."
Ven looked at the frightened tech, confused. Just then a second technician approached him. "Sir. Reginald has returned with the detective."
The minister handed the report back to the first Tech. "Get the coroner to pinpoint the cause of death." To the second tech, he said, "Have Lydon brought to my office. I'll meet him there."
At last, someone he can vent his anger on, even if only verbally.
Paula made her way back to Talehn and the still unconscious Cisia, still in shock at seeing the dead man -- the dead /child/.
It was too much. She sat down beside Cisia with a thud, and put her head in her hands. Against her will, she started to sob.
"Paula?" asked Talehn. She heard him sit down beside her.
"Why did I come here?" she said, between sobs. "Raoul was right; I was a fool to think otherwise..."
"Who's Raoul?"
"My commander. My ex-commander, actually." All her defenses gone, she told Talehn the whole story; about the survey, the decision by her crewmates to delay action, her own actions. "I was so sure of myself," she said, "Just go right up to the locals and tell them to change their habits, as if that would solve anything.
"Instead, I'm a fugitive of two cultures. I've been shot at, threatened... I saw a-a child d-die right in front of me AND I COULDN'T STOP IT." Paula looked at Talehn, but her vision was blurred, tears streaming down her face. "How can I help a world if I can't even help-p a k-k-kid?" Then there was no more words; for the first time in years, Paula cried.
After a minute, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and saw Talehn handing her a handkerchief. Her hand shaking, she took it.
"T-thanks," she said, when she could speak again.
"No, I should be thanking you."
Stunned, Paula looked at him.
Talehn explained. "Anika told me how you stopped Dalasius. Not for long, granted, but long enough for her to step in. And that first aid device of yours is keeping my Cisia free of his influence for now. You might not have saved the world, but you at least helped her. Otherwise she might be dead now... or worse.
Paula sniffed and nodded.
"Besides, you might still save things yet. Ven's cold and calculating, but I never thought of him as completely evil. He might actually listen to you."
Paula smiled. "Thanks; I think I need a good delusion right about now." Talehn chuckled.
Movement on Paula's left caught her attention. Cisia was waking up.
Talehn went to her side immediately. "Hey," he said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"
"Talehn?" Cisia said, her voice slurred slightly. "I'm woozy... what happened?" Then she caught sight of Paula and shrieked.
"It's all right! She's a friend," Talehn undid the knots binding Cisia and helped her up to a sitting position. "There. Better?"
"What's this thing?" Cisia pointed to the oblong device still on her chest.
"It's a first aid unit," Paula said. "It's making the J-10 chemical that is keeping you free of Dalasius."
"Oh... I have a headache."
Paula nodded. "First-aid unit: can you counteract the headache?"
"There is some damage to the cranial arteries. I am producing painkillers and cell-repair nanobots to combat the damage. I reiterate the necessity to halt use of J-10 and remove the implants. Warning: chemical reserves are almost exhausted. Resupply is needed."
"Noted." Not that she could help with the latter.
Cisia put a hand to her head. "That's a little better." Then she pointed. "How did that get here?"
Paula and Talehn looked -- and saw a small animal. It was, Paula realized, the same species as the animal she first saw.
"Most animals avoid the Districts," Talehn said.
Cisia reached out to the animal. "Come here, I won't hurt you --" Her voice faded as her arms dropped. Her gaze was locked on the small creature.
"Cisia?" Talehn looked at the girl, a note of concern in his voice.
Paula gasped as Cisia started to glow, a faint vermillion light. Not again, she thought. "Unit: double the J-10 dosage... now!"
"Request denied. Insufficient chemicals to produce the required dosage. Final warning: all chemical reserves are now exhausted. Resupply is needed for future use of this unit." Tubes detached from Cisia's body, and the first-aid unit fell to the ground.
Cisia stood, and looked at them. Her expression, Paula realized, was not the look of pure hate that she'd come to associate with Dalasius. Instead, it was almost innocent... childlike.
"You are curious creatures," Cisia said. "What/who are you?"
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