Time Traveler Part I (Feeling Like The World Forgot Me)

Chapter 6

Patty certainly seemed happy about an excuse to see Cody. His empathic nature and Ben's deteriorating health made for a heart-wrenching combination and Ali was glad to see his spirits somewhat lifted, even as he turned up the tint on his contact lenses until he couldn't see and they helped Ben walk to Zach, Dan and Cody's shop.

"They're all born human," he explained as he lowered Ben into a seat on the tram they were taking to the mech sector, "But Cody has this...thing. Some of his skin is blue and scarred, so don't be too shocked when you see him. It upsets him."

"I like the way he looks," Patty put in, resting his chin on the head of the cane he'd made to feel his way around when he had to blind himself, "It's a pretty blue."

The cane idea came from a book Patty read about ancient human history. Back when their technology was so primitive that humans hadn't yet figured out virtual reality brain implants, blindness was often a permanent condition, so they figured out how to use sticks to see instead. Aside from some short-sightedness, Patty could see perfectly well, he just preferred not to when he was in any space larger than their bunker. Even that had been almost too much for him when they'd first moved in.

Ali smiled. "A lot of people gave him shit about his skin back home, so he came here. Nobody blinks an eye on Zsashos Five."

ZDC Prosthetiks had been made in the skeleton of an old drop ship deep in what used to be the hangar of a much larger ship, but had long since been turned into the tech hub of Zsashos V, popularly referred to as the mech sector. Most of the station was like that now, large ships docked at ports or stored in hangars, stripped for parts and eventually assimilated with the station's systems.

Since moving in, Zach, Dan and Cody had built an extra storey on top of the drop ship and furnished it to create a large workspace and somewhat cozy home. They'd even set up a guest room for clients that needed to stay back while they watched for adverse reactions to new augments.

When Patty lost his right eye and they'd been going through a rough patch financially, he, Ali and Foley gone straight to Dan for a cybernetic one, grateful for their policy on keeping everything as affordable as possible. All they'd really asked them to pay for was the eye itself.

Ali had endless admiration for their efforts to be generous on the station. Kindness rarely payed well.

"Hey!" Zach greeted when they entered, "Haven't seen you guys in a while!"

"It's been forever," Patty agreed, making a beeline to Cody for a hug and kiss.

"Ben, this is Zach and Cody," Ali said, gesturing between them.

"You don't seem familiar," Zach observed, looking at Ben.

"I'm new here."

Zach nodded understandingly. "You look like you've got a lot of tech. Something you want looked at?"

"I need a few signals checked," Ben confirmed.

Cody untangled from a reluctant Patty to get some devices down from a wall rack. "Lie down," he said, gesturing to the table in the middle of the room, "Full body check-up?"

Ben nodded as Ali helped him onto the table.

As Cody ran a scanner over Ben's body, Zach set up a monitor and gestured for Ali to take a seat. "Any kind of signal in particular?"

"...A tracking beacon...of sorts."

Zach gave another nod. "Hey, no problem. We've disabled plenty of those before."

Ben seemed to relax at that, watching Cody wave the scanner over him again.

"Okay..." Zach said, watching lines of text appear on the screen, "Wow, this is some retro tech. That's good, Cody. Ben, you can sit up now." He wheeled the monitor over, adjusting it so Ben could see. "So you've got a few signals here." He pointed to something. "This one's harmless, it's just your translator. It searches nearby databases to help it learn and understand spoken language." He pointed to something else. "Your problem is over here. Every couple of ticks this thing searches for a certain signal, usually something broadcasted throughout prisons, and, every time it doesn't find it, transmits a trackable signal."

"So...you'll reprogram it to think that it's receiving the right signal?" Ben asked.

"Fuck no," Cody laughed, "We'll take everything out and use the parts to fix our microwave."

"Well, we'll take out as much as you're comfortable with, starting with the transmitter," Zach corrected, "There's usually a lot of other stuff in there, like boosters and encrypters, but it's a super easy procedure. I could do it with a hand cut off."

Patty came up behind Cody and kissed his neck. "So you don't need to help out?"

Cody grinned. "Nope."

Taking his hand, Patty led him through a backdoor in the corner of the room.

Zach rolled his eyes dramatically and passed Ali a mask. "We'll do it in the Faraday cage."

The main operating theatre was at the back of the drop ship in a room lined with mesh to keep signals from getting in or out. Another scan showed that the tracking device was attached to the inside of one of Ben's ribs. Cutting a piece of rib out wouldn't normally bother Ali, but with Ben so weak already he had to worry.

"So who is he?" Zach asked once they had Ben under anaesthesia and were operating.

"It's a bit of an odd story," Ali answered, passing Zach tools as needed, "We found him cryofrozen in one of the core labs. Apparently he's been there since the station orbited a moon."

"Shit. How is he still alive?"

"Some incredible luck, I suppose." Ali looked at the growing collection of bloody electronics on the paper towel he'd laid out, wondering why humans back then had bothered with augments when it all had to be so bulky. "He's dying, though."

"Why?"

"His body can't handle the station anymore, the bacteria and all that."

"So why do this?"

Ali shrugged, glancing at Ben. "It seemed important to him. He was part of some rebel group and all this is what the enemy did when they caught him. I guess in a way he never wants to risk them finding him again."