Conniveo

Chapter X: Transmission

The lights were annoying. I shut my eyes and tried to drown out the irritation I felt. I had asked that the luminosity be reduced, but the nurse insisted that she had been ordered to keep me under visible surveillance. I turned around in the quarantine unit. I couldn't remember a time when I had ever been so bored. The clearing of the pexes in the air did not help either. I felt so powerless. After a day - I assumed about a day had passed though it easily could have been ten minutes - I began thinking of ways to distract myself. Imagination had always been my strong suit, something I must have gained from my years of being reclusive. I thought about things like art and music and began to compose songs in my head. I grew tired of the thought chain and tried to sleep again, but with the dull pain in my head, it was difficult. I wished the pain could end. I wished I had never let my curiosity get the better of me and lead me into contact with Eugene and Greg when I could have easily reported them to my parents.

I stopped.

I could barely convince myself of that, even though it was only a thought. I found Eugene fascinating. Even if I had known I might suffer illness as a result, I most likely would not have changed my course of action. There was something about him that pulled me. Maybe it was my own sense of escapism. He was like the ultimate distraction: a person from another world, with endless possibilities of his origins and what he was capable of. Even if he claimed his species had no abilities, he was able to transport himself to and from our world. I wondered if he could take me to his world. I was sure he could, seeing as he was able to bring someone from his world into mine. But with the effect he had caused simply by coming here, it would be a truly dangerous ordeal. The specialist doctors had said that my illness was caused by something that was not considered a pathogen in the past. So what of those which were considered pathogens? Those would surely kill me. I tried to think about something else but my thoughts always circled back to Eugene. I began to grow irritated at myself. I did not want to think about him, but somehow he was the only thing on my mind. I focused on emitting brainwaves again. I needed to find pexes, any pexes at all, even a single one. Manipulating it would surely provide a good distraction.

"Kana."

I opened my eyes and grimaced at the lights. They only increased the aching sensation in my head. I looked the source of the voice - a nurse in a biosafety suit who was holding a drug injector. I did not like those, but somehow they were the only delivery system for most medication these days. I wanted to speak, but my mouth felt dry. She entered the quarantine unit through a biohazard filter compartment at the side and gave me the dose. The injection stung a bit and she looked apologetic. She offered me a weak smile.

"You are in luck; the specialists were able to order an accelerated batch process for the drug."
"How long have I been in here?"
"Almost three days."
"They could get the drug that quickly?"
"The first few doses were prepared with great difficulty from an archived sample. They even had to refer to the Biblos for instructions. Fresh compounds are being manufactured to provide for your continued treatment as well as any new cases that may emerge in the next few days."
"Really."
"We expect the drug to take effect within the next hour. Until then, we would increase your analgesia."
"Can you dim the lights, please? They are truly discomforting."
"Sure."

I offered my gratitude with a smile and lay back. The nurse left the unit and soon the lights were reduced to a rather mellow intensity. I closed my eyes again and sent out my brain waves. There were no pexes in the area. I concentrated - I thought it impossible that a substance so ubiquitous would be completely nonexistent, pex filters or no. I felt something. A response. A little flicker, far away. I pulled it nearer. It was difficult, as there were several obstructions to its path. I manipulated it in every direction I could muster. It was caught and dislodged several times. I realized how strange it was that I was focusing all my energy into a single particle. But the growing flicker of feedback made every strain of effort worth it. After a while, I felt it in the unit beside me. I lifted it into the air and opened my eyes to see it. With a little charge modification, it produced a spark. I noticed it and smiled. Professor Neshi would be proud.