Chương 29: Mole Rats

Academy Hill, Vidako Imperium Stellarum September 29, 2847 Arc and Jessica didn't exactly talk much after that. Instead, the two of them sat in the waiting room in an uncomfortable silence. At least, Arc hoped that it was just as uncomfortable for the imperial guard as it was for him. He would have preferred that she left or went back to acting as some sort of invisible, untouchable ghost—slinking along in the shadows, spying through drones, or crouching outside in the bushes.

A part of him knew that thinking like that wasn't entirely fair of him—her job was to keep Cassie safe, not to be nice to him. And he was grateful that she'd been near enough to help them against the gangers. But did she have to be quite so mean? He complained, silently. Of course, now that he had an AI living in his head, nothing that Arc thought was really private. To his surprise, Iceni seemed nearly as put out as he was.

She did not speak with Cassie or Lyra before talking to us, that I can guarantee, Iceni muttered. Her volume didn't change, of course, but the artificial intelligence seemed to be rapidly picking up the habit of mimicking human intonations. They actually like us. If they'd heard that, they wouldn't be happy with this... this... Bitch? Arc supplied. He could feel Iceni hesitated. No—I don't think this feeling has any gendered connotations, the AI decided, after a moment. She's just a... an asshole!

Arc couldn't help but smile. It was the first time Iceni had ever swore, though she'd certainly heard plenty from living among him and the other cadets for nearly a week. How does that feel? He asked. Strangely satisfying, Iceni admitted. I don't understand why it should be, but it is. Before Arc could formulate an answer to that, the door between the waiting room and the rest of the infirmary opened.

He was utterly unsurprised to see that Cadet Second Class Radecki had opened it for Cassie and was holding it in place so that she could step past him. The polite thing to do, of course—and it also put her in the position of being quite close to the older cadet's body, as she stepped into the waiting room. Arc decided that he would very much like to punch Fletcher Radecki in the face. Instead, he stood up, half a beat ahead of Jessica, and stepped toward her.

"How are you feeling?" Arc asked, determined to focus on his friend and not the other two jerks in the room with them. Cassie flinched when she met his eyes. For the first time in the seven weeks they'd known each other, she gave off something of the same feeling that Rain Makani never seemed to be able to entirely escape. Fear.

"I look terrible," she said, raising a hand up to almost touch her scalp, before hesitating. There was a very faint, dark fuzz, just enough to make her hairline stand out from her forehead—but not enough to conceal the week-old incisions. They were relatively small, Arc thought—none more than a few centimeters long. Every one was still angry-red, no longer swollen but slightly raised, and surrounded by bruising. The black threads of surgical stitches were clearly visible. All of that was expected.

Arc had brushed his hand against his own bandages more than once and flinched at the pain. He was certain that Cassie had known, just like he did, that when the bandages came off, the healing skin beneath wasn't going to exactly be pretty. It was another thing to actually see it, of course, but perhaps more shocking was the tracing of silvery metal which ran in interlocking lines all along the surface of Cassie's head.

From what Doctor Seung had shown him, Arc knew that the vast majority of the neural lace was beneath the surface, safely encased inside the protective bone of the skull, but this was the first time he'd got a good look at the edges of the system. On the older cadets, it was entirely concealed by regrown hair. Arc looked down from Cassie's head to her eyes and saw that, just like her dorm-mate earlier that morning, she was on the verge of tears.

It was unsettling, because she was normally so confident and assured, so tough, that he never would have expected it. She's afraid of what you're going to think of her, Iceni pointed out. And that made him want to do nothing but wrap her up in his arms and kiss her, Arc realized. To take her back to Tycho Hall and bundle her in a soft blanket on one of the loveseats, with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands, and keep her there until she was warm, and safe, and knew just how much he cared about her.

It was, he realized, an urge that didn't fit the idea of 'friend' very well at all. But both Jessica Morrow and Fletcher Radecki were in the room with them, so instead he reached out and took her hand and smiled.

"I bet mine are going to look ten times worse," Arc said.

"Wait for me until I get out?" Cassie nodded and, after giving Arc's hand a squeeze, went over and sat down next to Jessica. It surprised him, though he supposed it shouldn't have—after all, this was a woman she trusted with her life.

"Doctor Seung is ready for you," Radecki said, before Arc could say anything else. It almost felt like a deliberate interruption—as if the older cadet was hurrying Arc along, so that he'd be out of the room. But Arc had to get his bandages off, and there was nothing else for it but to follow Radecki down the corridor and let the door to the waiting room swing closed behind them. They moved in silence, though Arc was certain the other man would have been talking to Cassie the entire way to Seung's office, and back.

He almost said something, almost asked a question. Why are you doing this, perhaps, or, what do you want, exactly? But the answer was obvious, and Arc didn't see anything to gain by it. There wasn't a victory condition, or even any information worth gaining. Are you really thinking about human mating rituals using warfare as a metaphor? Iceni asked, as Radecki put his hand to the door of one of the examination rooms and knocked.

Arc had been about to keep going, down to Seung's actual office at the end of the hall, and it took him a bit by surprise.

"Your next appointment, Doctor," Radecki said.

"Send him in," Seung called out, and the older cadet stepped aside to make way for Arc. You opened the door for her here, too, didn't you? Arc thought. And were waiting just outside. I see what you're doing. He turned the door handle, stepped into the examination room, and closed the door behind himself, leaving Radecki out in the hall. Arc gave it even odds the other cadet would make a beeline for the waiting room and not even be waiting when the appointment was done.

He wondered just how much shuffling of schedules Radecki had needed to do to make certain he was the one helping Seung this afternoon, instead of some other cadet or a corpsman. Am I being paranoid? He asked Iceni, as he made his way over to the examination bed. I don't think you are, the AI responded. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"How have you been feeling, cadet?" Doctor Nara Seung asked, sweeping a fall of dark hair behind one ear, then lifted her tablet up from the countertop and swiped at the screen until she had, presumably, pulled up his medical records.

"Any headaches? Fever? Dizziness, or nausea?"

"No," Arc said, hopping up and letting his legs dangle awkwardly.

"It was a little weird hooking into the simulation pod for the first time, and then coming back again, but I didn't need to sit down or throw up or anything. Mostly it just itches, and I have to keep myself from touching the bandages."

"You'll need to do that even once I've unwrapped you," Seung said, and put the tablet aside.

"Lay back and let me get a good look at it." She pulled on a pair of sterile gloves and grabbed a small pair of steel scissors. Arc settled back and closed his eyes, though he could still feel and see the glare of the bright lamp she swung over and pointed directly at his head. There was a bit of a pull at his bandages, and then a sudden loosening, followed by air hitting his scalp for the first time since the surgery.

Seung took a moment to remove all the bandages, with a bit of cutting and a bit of unwinding, until his entire head was exposed. It felt just a bit too cool, and Arc couldn't help but shiver in the air-conditioned examination room.

"I don't see any sign of infection," Seung said, in a tone that spoke of only putting half of her attention into what she was saying out loud.

"The swelling has come down. Quite a bit of bruising, though that's normal. I don't see any signs of rejection."

"So, I'm good?" Arc asked, keeping his eyes closed.

"You still need to take care of it," Seung warned him.

"There's a prescription for anti-bacterial wash waiting at the commissary for everyone who's gone through the surgery. You should walk over there and pick a bottle up before you go back to your dorm and use that when you shower. If you feel like your uniform cap is irritating the incisions, or if it causes pain to put it on, don't wear it. None of your professors will penalize you, they've all been here long enough to know how this works. And if anything changes, I want you to come and see me immediately.

Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Arc said.

"Alright, you can sit up." Seung swung the lamp aside, and the hot glare of its light left his eyelids dark. Arc stood up, blinked, and saw that she'd crossed the room to lift her tablet and make a few notes in his file.

"Could I ask you a question, sir?" Doctor Seung paused and looked up from what she was doing.

"I'm your doctor. Of course you may."

"I've never had any genetic modifications," he began, trying to organize his thoughts as best he could.

"I've been thinking about what to request from the academy —" Seung raised her eyebrows, her gaze flicking down to the tablet in her hand.

"You've earned one hundred and eighty-two merits, Cadet Sandhurst, and you need one thousand. You don't think this is a little premature?"

"I'd rather plan ahead as much as I can," he explained.

"So many of the other students here have modifications that let them get by with less sleep. I was convinced that would be the first thing I asked for, all through Hard Burn."

"That reasoning makes a great deal of sense, given your circumstances at the time," Seung observed.

"But now that you're transitioning to a more sustainable academic schedule, you have cause to rethink that, I presume?" Arc nodded, and the motion made him aware, all over again, of the air on his bare and tender scalp.

"Iceni and I ran a statistical analysis of mech pilots in fleet, and it seems like enhanced reflexes is more important."

"You've taken into account that your information is incomplete?" Seung asked, and Arc nodded.

"Alright. I can't divulge any private medical information regarding other individual patients, you understand. But I can tell you what I see, in terms of general trends."

"Please," Arc said. Doctor Seung took a deep breath, and her eyes seemed to focus for a moment on a chart on the wall while she gathered her thoughts.

"You need to know what your goal is," she said.

"You've told me you want to pilot a Kestrel for fleet. To do that, you need to be able to handle high g forces." She waited for Arc, and he nodded.

"What you really want is a full rebuild of your cardiovascular system," she said.

"The strongest heart we can grow for you. Thin layers of muscle around the major blood vessels in your arms and legs. You want us to work on the blood vessels which surround your eyes and your brain, because even a small rupture there can cause blindness or a stroke. Adrenaline helps, as well."

"From how quickly you went through that, I assume it already exists," Arc said. Seung nodded.

"We have a genetic retrovirus which will provide a comprehensive adaptation for high-g burns," she confirmed.

"It is not, however, the first thing that most cadets, even Kestrel pilots, redeem their merits for—because it locks you into a single option. I usually recommend against it until a cadet actually has cockpit time in a Kestrel and knows for certain whether the zero-g path is for them."

"It would help even with the thrusters attached to an Outrider or a Janissary though, wouldn't it?" Arc asked. Seung raised her hand and wiggled it in the air.

"Not enough to be worth choosing as one of your only two genetic treatments here," she said.

"Assuming you earn enough merits to afford two, and don't come up short. If it were me, in your place? I'd choose a regenerative retroviral adaptation. It will be useful to you for the rest of your life, whether you stay in the military or go on to do something else entirely. Get something you won't regret, even if you never graduate."

"Thank you," Arc said, and slid off the examination bed, even though he already knew that he was going to ignore her advice. What came after fleet—well, that wasn't something that he was in a position to worry about. He needed whatever got him closer to the Black Queen, and while it would certainly be nice to have a body that healed more quickly, that didn't take him a single step closer to the pirates who'd murdered his sister. The cardiovascular overhaul, however...

Iceni observed, as Arc closed the door behind him and headed back down the hall. Also, you were correct about Cadet Radecki. He is not waiting for us in the hallway.

"... to the officers' club with us tonight," Fletcher Radecki was saying, as Arc pushed open the door to the waiting room.

"It's generally for upperclassmen only, along with the faculty, but we're allowed to bring underclassmen as guests. They have a grilled red sail dish that's simply amazing, you have to try it."

"Arc!" Cassie practically leapt up out of the seat from where she'd been sitting next to Jessica and crossed the room. He bent his neck, so that she could get a good look at his scalp.

"I can't really see it, myself," Arc admitted.

"But Doctor Seung doesn't seem to think my head will fall off tonight, so I suppose I'll live." He got a glimpse of Cassie wincing as she examined his healing incisions.

"It looks about how my head feels," she admitted.

"Anyway, I guess we need to go and pick up some sort of special wash from the commissary," Arc said, straightening his neck.

"Do you want to walk over there with me?" Cassie nodded.

"Yes, you want to be certain you use it so that you don't get an infection," Radecki butted in.

"So, what do you say, cadet? Shall I expect you to join us at the officers' club this evening?" Cassie looked between Arc and Radecki, and he could tell how uncomfortable it made her to be asked the question right there in front of him—as if he didn't even exist. But she was an imperial princess, and he imagined that meant she'd been trained in social niceties since she was old enough to walk - as well as how to shut someone down, if she needed to.

"I'm still feeling a bit tired from the surgery," Cassie said.

"And I don't think I want to stay out on the first night I've had my bandages off. Perhaps later this week?"

"Tuesday evening, then," Radecki said, using the polite excuse to bull his way forward.

"I'll pick you up at the door of Tycho Hall and walk you over." This guy, Iceni exclaimed in Arc's head. She didn't actually say yes!

"We'll see," Cassie said.

"It's the first full week of classes, and I don't really have a feel for my schedule yet. Anyway, we need to get over to the commissary before dinner. Thank you for all your help, Cadet Radecki." Before the older student could keep pressing, Arc yanked the infirmary door open to the gray, cloudy sky and the dripping wet branches that shaded the campus. He held it just long enough for Cassie and Jessica to go through, then pulled it closed after him, leaving Radecki alone in the infirmary waiting room.

Lyra doesn't like him, either, Iceni observed. Arc tried not to think about the fact that his AI was, apparently, holding private conversations with Cassie's. Together, they turned their steps toward the commissary, and to Arc's immense relief Jessica dropped back behind them without saying a word, giving them at least the appearance of privacy.

"I can see why the upperclassmen call us mole rats, now," Arc said. Cassie shook herself, as if she'd been lost in thought.

"I'm not sure I even know what they look like," she admitted.

"Let me—oh. Oh!" Her AI had obviously found her an image of the disgusting little creatures.

"Right?" Arc grinned. He couldn't tell Radecki off—not yet, and certainly not in front of Cassie. They were friends. If he hoped to be anything more—well, it hadn't happened yet. They hadn't made any kind of commitment to each other, and he had no claim on her time. But at least he could make her laugh and make her feel cared for.

"They're so... wrinkly," Cassie said, and made a face.

"We don't actually look anything like them. But you know what?"

"What?"

"Next year, we get to call the new students that," Cassie pointed out, with a grin.

"Perpetuating generational trauma," Arc joked.

"I'm sure it's funnier when you're not the ones on the receiving end."