Chương 167: Chapter 165 – A Bot For You… You… and You!

You… and You!

"If you excuse me folks, I am going to spend some quality time with my granddaughter while I still can," Illianna announced, standing up and giving the room a cursory glance. The group, having forgotten she was there, suddenly turned to her.

"Try to get some rest, Ill," Roxie said.

"We will be heading out first thing in the morning. I will need you to work your magic with our lawman over there to see what he's uncovered," she said, giving the older woman a wry smile.

"You guys should see her in action, she doesn't miss a beat."

"You worry about you, Missy," Illianna laughed.

"You get some rest too, you're gonna need it just to keep up," she said, smiling before turning toward the door. Alex walked in from the lab.

"Hey, everyone, before we all go our separate ways, I'd like you to gather around." The group turned to him, confused.

"Come closer, I'm not going to bite," Alex said, laughing lightly. Chairs scraped and boots shuffled as the group closed in around him, forming a loose semicircle.

"Okay, that's it. Thanks," Alex said.

"What the hell, Alex?" Elena asked.

"What was that all about?"

"Consider it field testing," Alex said.

"Field testing?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, Celestia. Please allow me to explain," Shirley began, her computerized voice filling the room.

"Alex, Mikale and I devised what Alex has been affectionately calling an anti‑bot."

"I can't take credit for the name," Alex interrupted.

"Rowan came up with it, I just appropriated it," he snickered.

"May I continue, Alex, or do you wish to add more?" Shirley asked, seemingly annoyed at the interruption.

"Sorry, Shirley, please go on," Alex apologized.

"Unless of course you would like to explain it, then by all means please do," Shirley countered.

"No, Shirley, go ahead," Alex said, his face flushing.

"As I was saying, we have devised an anti‑bot that in theory should self‑replicate and transmit via close proximity, for a lack of a better term, to infect the exposed individual. The anti‑bot has been shown to neutralize any residual nanobots in the exposed person's blood. It also seems to display immunization properties and will lay dormant in the infected person's blood until exposed to the nanobot infection," Shirley said. This book is hosted on another platform.

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"Okay, can you dumb that down for us non‑sciency people?" Celestia asked.

"Of course," Shirley began.

"The anti‑bot is both a cure and a vaccine. It does not need to be injected into a patient to create herd immunity. It spreads on its own, rendering the original nanobot inert." A few uneasy glances passed between them, shoulders stiffening as the weight of the explanation settled in.

"Tomorrow, we will be sampling everyone before they head out to their appropriate destination to see if it worked. If we find anti‑bots in your blood, then we know we were successful," Alex added.

"All this came from Thai's blood?" Illianna asked.

"In principle yes, but it did take some development to create. I don't think Mikale and I could have done it without Shirley's help, but Thai's blood held the proper immunofactors to make this successful," Alex replied.

"And now we have all been exposed?" Regina asked. Her voice sharpened, and she took a step forward, eyes locked on Alex.

"Exactly," Alex beamed.

"Well, that was pretty… I don't know… Mordakish. Infecting people with an experimental anything without consent is pretty low, Alex," Regina said, her voice sharpening again as she took another step forward, eyes locked on him.

"My thoughts exactly," Roxie agreed.

"Don't get me wrong, in concept it's wonderful. It solved the need to create millions of doses of the cure or vaccine, but infecting all of us with it without knowing the long‑term effects is wrong, especially without our permission to do so," Regina said.

"Now what if we all get sick because the anti‑bot is just as harmful as the nanobots?"

"Regina, I can assure you that the anti‑bots are incapable of creating any side effects or long‑term effects. They have one sole function, and that is to disable the nanobot," Shirley said.

"I understand what the end game is, but you don't know if there is going to be any kind of reaction once the anti‑bot encounters the nanobot. For all you know, it could make the nanobot reactivate and cause people to drop dead," Regina said. The group looked at one another, then at Alex.

"You're right, Roxie, but from all our analysis, statistically there is no real chance of there being any side effects whatsoever. It is essentially a kill switch for the nanobot, not the being that is infected," Alex said.

"But you're right, we should… no, I should have… told you beforehand." Alex rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding their eyes as he admitted it.

"I am patient zero. I was infected with the anti‑bots last night, and I can tell you, I feel great." Illianna pushed her chair back with a soft scrape against the concrete floor, the overhead lights catching the silver in her hair as she stood.

"At any rate, I am going to go spend some time with Thai while I still can, then I am going to get some sleep. It is too late now to take it back, so it is what it is, Regina. Roxie, you should get some rest too. We have a long day tomorrow, and sitting here arguing over the morality of the cure is, well… irrelevant. We knew we were going to have to be immunized in one capacity or another before we leave and, well…

to be honest, I'm thankful it doesn't require a series of shots," Illianna said before turning to leave. The group muttered their goodnights as Illianna's footsteps echoed softly down the hall. The room fell into a heavy silence behind her.