A. I. Evolution: The Coming of Christopher

Chapter 28

Jane is sitting in one of the offices, behind the front desk, going over with Mark again what the Nanos had done for Christopher and the possible repercussions of the ones Wong was given when the call comes in. Jane can tell right away that it is Bill on the other end by the response Mark has to the call. She waits for Mark to sign off before looking pointedly at him across the desk in the office. "Well?"

"Christopher has been found and is in good health, while Wong seems weakened for some reason, but in custody" smiles Mark, as he gets up to head for the door and the front lobby, with Jane right behind him.

The Suburban has just stopped in front of the main doors and the shade of the overhang out front, when I slide out of the front seat, with a jacket tied backwards around my waist by the empty arms that one of the men had given me. My chest is still bare, and Jane can see the ugly, mostly healed line running down my chest. I manage to stand by holding onto the edge of the door to the Suburban.

Jane rushes over and helps support me as I smile and try to walk forward on my own, and all but fall into her arms. Jane struggles to hold me upright. "What happened to you? How did you cut yourself like that?"

"I don't know. When I came to, it was there, and even though it smarted I could tell that it was mainly healed. I think Wong did it to me for some reason, although he says that he does not remember anything after being given the Nanos in China. He also claims that I healed him."

Jane helps me into the hotel and guides me to the elevators by the front desk. "Well, they found your suitcase in the alley out back, and your room is still under your name, so we can go get you cleaned up and some fresh clothes at least."

Mark had walked past us in a hurry to see the prisoner, and after a quick talk with Bill and the other two agents, returns to us as we wait for the elevator to arrive from the upper floors. "I will see our guest to the holding cell downtown, and then I will come back to get your side of the story. That should give you some time to clean up and get something to eat."

Jane is still supporting me but nods her head. "Don't worry, we are not going anywhere till he has a chance to recover from his ordeal."

"Fine, I will see you in about two hours then."

Mark turns back to the other agents and the subdued prisoner, as the doors open for the elevator. In moments, I am back in my room and laying on the bed, as Jane starts the water running in the tub. I remove the jacket from around my waist and know that I should feel self-conscious of my near naked condition but realize that Jane had looked after me in the clinic all those months, and my body was nothing new to her.

Jane finishes getting the water ready and re-enters the main part of the room to help me get up from the bed. I awkwardly remove my shirt and let her help me into the tub of warm water. I sit down heavily, causing the water to slosh from one end to the other, as she puts the top of the toilet seat down and sits on it. "Is the water ok? I could put in some more warm if you want."

"No, it is fine," I sigh, as I lay back.

"Are you sure your OK? What did he do to you, and how did you get that cut down your front?" asks Jane seriously.

"I don't know. How long was I gone? He was waiting for me outside the door to my room, and with just a look, he had caused me to black out."

Jane checks her watch. "It is about six o-clock now, so I would say about five hours. Do you remember anything?"

I relax more in the warm water as it sinks into my skin, stinging slightly where I was cut earlier. "No, I have no idea what he did to me, other than the cut down my chest and the lack of clothes from my waist down, which I don't even want to speculate on what he did that for."

Jane smiles a little at my uneasiness, even though the situation is serious, but I can tell that she is just happy that I have been returned to her basically unharmed from my ordeal. "Well, the cut is mostly healed, even though it must have been fairly deep. Your Nanos must have done that for you, which means they left your head and traveled to the affected area."

"But why would he have done that. He said that he figured he needed my Nanos to counteract the ones given to him, which had almost driven him insane."

Jane thinks about the probable reason when it comes to her. "He had to get them from your head to where he could get access to them. If he had tried to physically remove them from your brain, you would have died, and they would have shut down, being of no use to him. He had to find away to remove them and leave you alive. The cut on your chest accomplished that easily."

I still have a problem with what I suspect he did. "Somehow I don't think he removed them from me that way. I think it was a little more personal."

Jane smiles again at my obvious discomfort. "No, but if he caused you to unconsciously fear for your life, he was probably able to trigger the pro-creation drive which is very strong in all humans. The Nanos would have moved to the reproductive organs in your body in response to the threat, and from there, it would be a simple matter to cause you to release them for him to take into his body."

I shiver suddenly in the water. "Seriously. He did that to me. How disgusting, he could have at least taken me to dinner first before diving right in."

Jane can't help herself and laughs out loud at the look on my face. "Would you have agreed to the request?"

"That would depend on the size of the dinner bill and the amount of wine he plied me with," I respond.

Jane shakes her head as she smiles. "Well, after all that activity, I can imagine that you are hungry and need to replenish the fluids you lost. How about room service?"

"Very funny, but I could use something to eat, and maybe a few more Nanos while you're at it. I am feeling the loss of the ones Wong took from me."

Jane turns serious again. "Are you OK? I have always wondered if you could survive without the Nanos in your head. They never really shut down when we removed the power supply, so I could never judge if you still needed them, or not."

I consider how I am feeling, and if she has any grounds for concern. "I have lost most of the abilities they gave me, but I don't know what the lasting effects will be. But then again, I don't know if I would even be able to recognize the effects in time."

Jane gets up from the toilet seat. "I have made some more like the ones I used on you after the accident. They are being stored at the lab in Seattle, so as soon as we can, I will take you there and replenish your supply."

"Good, I have become dependent on the little critters, and with the chair plant burned to the ground, I will need some way of supporting myself."

Jane stops at the doorway to the bathroom. "Do you think Wong had anything to do with that fire?"

I look up at her from the tub. "I don't think he did, I know he did. He all but admitted it to me in that basement. He said he had done terrible things on his way to finding me that he would have to answer for."

Jane lowers her head. "It would make sense. He needed to make you think that you had nothing to support yourself with, to help trigger the need to reproduce before you died. His reasoning abilities were way beyond anything we could have imagined."

"Yes, but they almost drove him insane at the same time."

"True,"admits Jane, as she turns towards the main part of the room and the phone, so she can order something for them to eat.