✅ Project SETI Trilogy

Chapter One - Part XIV: Rogue

          Nova remained in this deep comatose state for four days. During those four days, a number of different types of scans and diagnostic devices were perused—X-ray, MRI, the advanced dual-headed sonic imaging device, and other, more unorthodox means—but none of those things revealed anything of note, beyond the actual state of his brain. He remained relatively unstable throughout, and now, with day four reaching its end, Gabriel was growing very desperate to keep to his word and find out what, exactly, was causing this—and fix it.

          He'd fallen asleep sitting up at Nova's side for about the tenth time in the past four days, but was jarred awake by the sound of the automatic defibrillator going off. His chest contracted and his arms flailed, and then he continued to lie still, with the monitor tracing his now normal heartbeat.

          Gabriel sighed. It was the fifth time it'd gone off in the last twelve hours alone. Early in the third day, Nova's heart began to give out. He kept having seemingly random episodes of atrial fibrillation, and had even flatlined completely one time as a result. He was put on an intravenous drip to combat the arrhythmia, but sometimes even that wasn't enough—so he remained hooked up to an automatic external unit that would defibrillate or pace as needed.

          He'd exhausted the non-invasive options and felt incredibly frustrated that they revealed nothing helpful. He knew what the only path forward was: he'd have to cut him open again. Something must have happened during the surgery that got past both Julia and himself.

          "And it has to be done now," he thought aloud as 'A-FIB' appeared in bright bold letters on the monitor again. He winced as the defibrillator discharged and shook his bulging torso once more. This is getting too frequent. He'll code again, and one of these times I won't be able to—

          He held his head and shook it, as if to dislodge the thought from his brain. Anxiety and doomthinking weren't going to help.

          He was jarred from his thoughts by a soft knock at the door. Julia walked through shortly after, wearing a soft, sympathetic look.

          "Hey, Gabe. Sorry that took so long, but I'm finally done now, and I'm here," she sounded genuinely apologetic as she crossed the room to stand by the bedside. "How's he doing?"

          "He's still in a deep coma. I haven't found out anything new, and he's fibbing more and more frequently," Gabriel said in monotone. His face was tight with worry, and he wouldn't even look at Julia; some irrational part of his brain had him convinced that if he took his eyes off of Nova, even for a second, something bad would happen.

          Julia frowned. "Well... I'm ready if you are."

          "Yeah... I was just thinking that this needs to happen now," he stood up and deactivated the magnet in preparation for transport, "so yeah, I'm ready."

          The two surgeons brought Nova to the most sophisticated surgical theatre available to Project SETI. It was a lot larger than any other OR within the medical centre, to accommodate more equipment. The large version of the dual-headed sonic probe was inside, and the operating table itself looked markedly different and bulkier than the others: the entire surface of the table looked like one of the sonic probes, and a host of devices and equipment were installed in and on it.

           "I really, really hope this will reveal what's been keeping him under like this," Julia said as they carefully transferred Nova to the specialized table with the bedsheet. "I can see how much it's torturing you."

          Gabriel looked at her pointedly. "It's not just that. It's not about me at all, actually. He could—he could wake up and not know who he is, or know how to talk or walk or—"