Inner Workings

Inner Workings - Part 9

Rachel made sure the oxygen monitor was set to auto-ran when she left for Cetz's office. The final results weren't calculated through the program, but she had seen enough through the BT's Soak scan to form a solid theory. She knocked on Cetz's door and he looked up from his desk of paperwork and open folders.

"What's up?"

Rachel closed the door. "I think I know why Massaru passed out in Reese."

Cetz lifted an eyebrow and set aside the file he had been reading. "Tell me what you got."

After of five minutes of what Cetz would patiently call "scientific psychobabble-fish" she got to the main point.

"The oxygen exchange for other people doesn't come from Will, it comes from Louis. Contact with him is the only way they are able to survive because there are no Soak connections between them and Will, only between them and Louis."

"So when Louis moved away from Massaru," reasoned Cetz. "Massaru started suffocating and passed out from lack of oxygen."

"Bingo."

"Does that explain why Louis and Massaru had such a low oxygen level in their blood when they were in Reese?"

"No. But if I were to guess, it would be because Reese's system is different from Will's. I could do a blood oxygen reading on him to compare with Will's resting rate."

"You are one of the few scientists I know willing to guess something without definite proof."

"Because I don't have a stick up my ass."

"But you're still overworked." Cetz smirked as Rachel stuck her tongue out at him. "Good job. Anything else?"

"Louis and Will nearly got into an argument before their test."

"What about?"

"How much gel Louis uses; frivolous really. But whatever is going on between them is getting worse." Rachel shrugged back against the office wall. "If we don't find a shrink for the two of them soon their partnership is going to deteriorate, and eventually that will affect the tests."

"Which will affect the relations between us and the Watch One Scientific Committee." Cetz ran his hand through his buzzed scalp. "I won't make any promises, but Dr. Balcuwitz still hasn't impressed me."

Rachel opened the door to leave. "Let's hope he does soon."

***

Trying to keep his mind off Louis and his frustration, Will dove right into the paperwork waiting in his inbox. Three dense paragraphs into an acquisitions report, Will realized he had skimmed over a gray blur. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, feeling Louis shift as his chest expanded. The words

"You need coffee," said Louis, sounding tired himself.

"No, I need sleep," Will replied quietly. Beni and Reese were fine with Will talking to Louis, but he didn't want other people to think differently. "You're the one that wants coffee."

"Sleep," said Louis, a yawn trailing after. "That sounds real good right now."

Will put down the report in defeat. "No, that sounds perfect."

He rose and waved to Beni and Reese as he headed for the stairs.

"Where're you going?" asked Louis.

"To the lower storage room to find a cot. I need some shut eye or I'm not going to function for the rest of the day."

"I thought it was being cleaned out for renovations this week?"