Conniveo

Chapter XII: Response

"You've already had nine of these, there's no need to act like it's so painful."

"But it is."

The nurse held the dose injector threateningly and I inched away from her. I felt fine. My headaches were gone and so was my fever. Whatever had been causing my illness was sure to be dead at this point. I wasn't sure why I was still receiving the medication. The nurse cleaned the injection area and gave me the dose. I grimaced.

"Ten done, about twenty more to receive. If we maintain this medication."

"There are alternatives?" I hoped there were. Maybe something that could get the job done faster and give me fewer skin perforations.

"Yes, the specialists said so, and they are working to gain access to a larger pharmaceutical factory which would produce the alternative drug."

"I hope they succeed. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"You can take twenty more."

I scowled and looked away. The nurse laughed and left my quarantine unit quickly to join the others who were watching the Network Reports. It had been three days since Eugene and Greg's appearance and the entire city was in a frenzied state. The security forces were being overworked and queried by every member of the journalistic board who managed to receive an audience. They were even receiving requests from the aristocratic class to become their personal guards; the rich were more afraid that their property could be targeted next. Several scientists had tried to explain what was going on, but very few were able to sound convincing. In the midst of all the chaos, the conspiracy theories were born. Some had said that the government had approved experimentation on new Homini abilities and the test subjects had escaped. Others claimed the incident was a publicity hoax to attract attention to the aquatic reserve; it was revealed that the reserve had not been receiving the financial support it required to continue operations. So far, no government body had been able to identify who Eugene and Greg were - after running facial-algorithm matches through the population databases of their countries. Of course they couldn't. Neither of them was from our time.

I thought about what the doctor had said to the nurse days ago, about how I would be required to answer questions. I had not been called for any sort of inquisition in that time frame. Also, none of the news relay officers had spoken to me. Maybe they were all waiting for my full recovery. I wondered what I would tell them. It was no fault of mine that Eugene or Greg had come into my room. I was not going to be useful with regards to arresting them, if that is what they wished. I felt a little nauseous at the thought. I did not want Eugene to be arrested. He had done nothing wrong, other than visit me in my bed chamber. And that was no crime. There was no part of our national or international legislation that forbade visitation from alternative time zones. Even his appearance in the aquatic reserve was sure to be some sort of accident. I did not think it possible for him to have engineered a break-in when he had not even felt certain about his appearances in my room. The doctors, of course, regarded him as a source of disease. Maybe that was why they wanted him - to confirm the source of my illness and probe into his body to find out why it was not making him ill. Maybe they could find an alternative cure. Or maybe they only wanted to further their knowledge of science and write a thesis to earn a 'Professor' title. The nurse increased the amplitude of the sound.

"We would now take a hearing from the General of the Security Forces."

A young, yet strangely mature-looking blonde man came on the screen. I blamed it on his grayish eyes; they exuded a calm authority that sharply contrasted with his youthful hairstyle. He was speaking from what looked like his office; his walls were lined with accolades. I was puzzled as to where he had received those. I was unaware of any wars fought within the last four hundred years. He cleared his throat briefly.