Survivors, p.33
Survivors, page 33
“Fuck.” Miya hung her head. “Then it wouldn’t be much fun doing it again, would it? So no, I’ll pass.”
“Oversight says thank you.”
“Huh,” said Miya.
“Why,” Sam said slowly, “would Oversight suddenly let Miya punch them in their noses?”
“Ah.” Katriana nodded, her colour now closer to normal. “That’s because … Miya is now … in charge. Or will be. Apprentice … if you like.”
Miya stared at Katriana. “What the fuck am I in charge of, or apprenticing to?”
“Everything,” said Katriana. “If you say yes.”
Miya stared up into the sky. “That makes no sense at all.”
“Well,” said Katriana, “not everything. But … important things. And you … wouldn’t be a … dictator, or … anything. But Oversight … listens, takes … instruction from … the person in … your role. But then, you … need to listen and … take instruction … from others, too. It’s kind of … complicated.”
“More complicated than me raising your kids with two fathers, when you eventually die? Sam said yes when you were dead, by the way.”
Sam nodded. “As long as my baby doesn’t do what you just did. Holy shit, Kat.”
Katriana smiled weakly. “No, just normal … babies. Thank you, Sam. And you… can still reconsider. It’s best to think … things over first. What if … you choose Rachel?”
“Well,” said Sam, “okay. I’ll think it over some more.”
“Good. Don’t rush … important decisions, Sam. And yes, Miya … slightly more complicated than … raising someone else’s kids with … two fathers.”
Miya sighed. “I’m going to need this explained to me. It feels like a prank.”
“It’s not, and I’ll explain … nearly everything,” said Katriana. “But inside … please. The bugs are … starting to eat me alive. And if my … blood volume gets … too low right now, I’ll … be dead for real, no … coming back.”
“Big baby.” Miya got to her feet and held out her hands to Katriana. “Let’s get you inside. You’re in my room tonight, so I can watch over you to make sure you don’t keel over. No dying twice in one day, on my watch.”
“Okay.” Katriana smiled as Miya pulled her carefully up to her feet. “Okay.”
Miya stared up at the dark hillside, the brightly lit Earth Base One building far above, casting shadows down the hill. “Now, where is that damned kart? Oh, there it is, lights blinking half-way down the fucking hill. Too bad if we needed it to rush you to the doctor or anything! It should have been here before sunset, and waiting for us, not the other way around, making us wait here in the fucking dark! First thing I’m going to fix, if you’re telling the truth.”
“I am.”
“I might need to break your nose again. Sisters and friends do that sometimes.”
“A couple of days … before you do it, please … I’m still fragile.”
“Don’t give me a deadline. I hate fucking countdowns.”
“Sorry.”
Thomas and Sam supported Katriana as they walked back towards the building from the kart, then went in through a side entrance that Katriana pointed out. They took a service lift to the fourth floor, then they slow-walked down the corridors to Miya’s room. All along the way, Miya was twitchy. At the merest gasp, or drag of a toe on the carpet, she would glance back over her shoulder at Katriana, concern etched deep into her face. Miya had wanted to take Katriana straight to medical, but Katriana had waved them off. She had died before, no big deal.
Miya swiped her wrist, and the door clicked open. She wondered, briefly, if her wrist would open all doors now, like Searchers up on the Ark. But then, Thomas had to be allowed into the underworld on Miya’s say-so, so maybe not all doors would be open to her. She decided, right then, that she wasn’t going to test that theory. She’d wait to find out, for someone to tell her, at the right time. Miya pushed the door open wide and stepped through, holding the door open for Sam and Thomas as they walked Katriana into the room, Hank following close behind.
“Put her on the bed?” Thomas gestured with his chin.
“I am perfectly capable of … walking on my own two feet,” said Katriana, and pulled her arms off of the two men’s shoulders. She took one step, then another, then promptly dropped to one knee.
“Uh-huh.” Miya reached out a hand. “She said sitting helps, so she can sit. I can put her on the bed later, if she can’t do that for herself.”
Katriana waited for Sam and Thomas to slip in beside her and lift her up, her arms once again over their shoulders.
They walked around the front of the sofa, Katriana facing the seats opposite, then Thomas and Sam slid out from under her arms. They supported Katriana as she lowered herself carefully down onto the sofa. She weakly squeezed their hands, then let go.
“I’ll go get you some water,” said Hank as he headed off to fill a glass in the small kitchen. He came back and set it down on the table in front of her.
“Thanks, Hank,” Katriana said weakly.
Miya stood staring at Katriana, her arms crossed over her chest. “Ten minutes, huh? It’s been almost an hour and you look really weak, Kat. You didn’t let me take you to medical, but that was a mistake, I think. I’m going to get the doctor right now.”
Katriana slowly lifted her head. “Already on his way.”
“Good.” Miya sat down heavily on the sofa across from Katriana. “You’re a fucking mess, Kat. And I don’t mean just because you died. I mean … no. You explained it, tough job, sometimes kills you, but you need to keep going on working until you reach your limit. But that itself is cruel.”
“Not as cruel as … submitting seven or eight times as many … people to the process, Miya.” Katriana winced.
“Oh.” Miya bit her lip. “Well, that’s true, too. But why seven or eight jump starts? Why not twenty or a hundred?”
Katriana smiled. “Cumulative effects. Except for last night … which was blissfully peaceful … when we overtax ourselves … by accident, more than anything else … the process of death is often painful. There’s usually tissue damage, heart attacks … being the most common cause. They can repair it, to an … extent, but overall, everything … reduces our effective service life.”
“Effective service life?” Miya snorted. “You’re not some valve or pipe, Kat. You’re a person.”
“No.” Katriana sighed. “I stopped being a person … when they added all of this metal and wires … and took away my baby.”
“We’re going to fix that, I told you. I promised. Well, not the one you lost, but — you know.”
Katriana smiled. “It’s not too late to back out … on that, Miya.”
Miya shook her head firmly. “I’m not going to back out. I promised. Even though I’m furious that you went and died like that — that you agreed to Oversight killing you.”
“Not dead anymore, though. I’m on my… last life now, the ninth and final. That’s it.”
“Sick fucking bastards,” Miya growled. “Anyway, I’m mad you died. I’m glad you’re alive. But now I’m even more mad that you lost a life, or death, whatever, and this is it for you. No more party tricks to scare the living daylights out of your friends when you lurch back to life. This is it, no more. And I’m really, really worried that you’re going to die again, on my sofa, right now. You look like shit.”
“Cumulative effects. But the doctor’s bringing … a few things to help. I’ll be fine … by the morning, you’ll see.”
“I’m not sleeping tonight, you know. Two nights in a row, worried sick about you. I might die from sleep exhaustion. They might find both of us dead in the morning.”
Katriana shook her head. “You can sleep. And it takes longer than … two nights of sleep deprivation to die, Miya. I would know. That killed me twice.”
Miya threw up her hands. “Then why not sleep, Kat? Why kill yourself by not sleeping, not once, but twice? You fucking dodo!”
Katriana looked over at the window, their images reflected back at them in miniature. Sam and Thomas stood behind the sofa, staring down at Katriana with concern. Hank poured himself a drink of water and drained it down.
Katriana turned to face Miya. “I was … a squid.”
Miya blinked. “A squid.”
Katriana took a sip of water and nodded. “Newbie, squid, the word … you use in sanitation. Wasn’t really listening … to the warnings I got. But I had learned how important … our jobs were, up there, and down here. So I worked hard. Too hard.”
“So you worked yourself to death.”
Katriana nodded. “In my first full week on the job.”
“Fucking hell, Kat.” Thomas put his hands to his head. “We were still together then. You never told me.”
Katriana shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you. Plus, I didn’t want to scare you. I was plenty scared … enough for the both of us. I wasn’t asleep in my room then, lying in my own bed. Night after night I just … kept working, died on my pillow. Surprised as hell when I actually woke up the first time after dying. Knew they had the jump-starts … they tell you that. And they tell you to be careful. So I got up, I had a shower … then went straight off to medical. Told me off for not having breakfast first, before I came to see them, and hadn’t drunk the bottle of stuff they … warned me to take if I died. After that, I smartened up, I slept more. Or what we call sleep.”
Miya shook her head. “But then you did it again.”
“Not right away. I scaled back. Scared the hell out of me when it happened. But the work is essential, Miya. After that, three heart attacks. The second time … working myself to death without sleep, was an accident. I was absorbed, engaged. I lost track of time. Well, days. And I died. Then two more heart attacks, seven deaths. Dodo.”
Miya rubbed her face with her hands. “You’re right about that. Bloody dodo. And you had one more life, or death, look at it as you will, than the others. And they wasted that tonight. You didn’t need to die, Kat. Friends in five days. You should have lived.”
“Oh no,” said Katriana, draining the last of the water from her cup. “I had to die. That was always going to happen. But before you ask, I won’t tell you why.”
“Can’t, or won’t?”
“Won’t. That’s someone else’s task.”
“Who?”
“I can’t tell you that, either.”
“Am I in charge, or not?”
“Apprentice. Newbie. Squid. Some latitude for decisions. You could have broken Oversight’s noses, for example … if you felt they deserved it. That opportunity has passed, just so you know. And a few other things … you’re allowed to make decisions on. More will come later. As you learn.”
“Oh.” Miya slumped back into the sofa. “Well, that’s good. I’m not even sure what the job really is. So someone will train me?”
Katriana nodded. “All will be explained tomorrow. You’ll meet who you’re going to meet, and learn … what you need to know next, including why I had to die. But the doctor’s just arrived, and he’s got a wicked cocktail … of drugs and nano-biotic tissue repair supplements, just for me. I’ll sleep for real, tonight, within minutes … of injection, so I’ll need to be on the bed when he does it. I’m happier waking up here, in a bed with a nice view, than on one … in the medical bay. That’s why I put up a small fuss about that. I was always going to see the doctor after I died. That’s essential. And you can sleep too, Miya. Honestly, you need it. Eyes hanging out of your head … from lack of sleep and emotional trauma? Not pretty.”
“Should we stay?” Hank looked at Katriana uncertainly.
“We can stay if you want,” said Sam.
“All night if … we have to. In shifts,” said Thomas.
Katriana smiled and weakly waved a hand. “You boys go to bed, get some rest. I’m not going to die tonight. I have something to really look forward to now. I want to see my children be born. I mean, what kind of mother would I be … if I went and died for the last time before the babies took their first breaths? No. I’m not that much of a dodo.”
EBO - Day 12 - AM
Miya awoke with a start. She was spooned up against a body, her arm curled protectively over it, under the sheets. She tentatively lifted her hand, and the body squirmed.
“Oh, thank God for that,” Miya breathed.
Katriana rolled over under Miya’s arm and looked her in the eyes. “For what?”
“You’re still alive,” said Miya.
Katriana grunted and lifted Miya’s arm away. “Well, you’d have noticed if they took the dead body away, I’m sure.”
Miya slapped her arm. “Not even remotely funny, Kat.”
Katriana sat up in her sandy one-piece swimsuit and stared out the window. “I have a dark sense of humour. Comes with job. Well, the job I had. Retired now, I guess. God, what a beautiful world we destroyed. It’s going to be a good day, Miya. In more ways than one. Now, get up, lazybones, I’m starving. And I mean that literally, the nano-biotic critters draw from my body’s reserves, and they had a lot to do. I’m going to shower.”
“Warm, not hot.”
Katriana turned to face Miya. “I’m not going to bleed out from my nose. But I was going to use cool water, actually. Tepid. Blood sugar’s a little low. Need food.”
Miya threw back the covers. “Then I’m coming with you, as spotter. No falling and breaking your neck in my shower. Strictly not allowed. And we can eat in the room, so you don’t have to walk too far. Now, how do we order room service, if there is such a thing? Is this squid allowed to do that?”
Katriana smiled. “Yes, you can do that. I’ve just put an order through now. And yes, please, to the spotter. And maybe walking with me to the bathroom in case I fall. I’m still a little weak.”
“Huh.” Miya scooted off the bed and held out a hand to Katriana. “Ten minutes to catch your breath after dying. Right. Well, we’ll get you cleaned up and fed, and then we’ll go from there. Jeez!”
“It’s just low blood sugar. I need food. I’ll be fine after that.”
“Sure you will.” Miya shook her head as she pulled Katriana up to her feet. “I’ll be watching you like a hawk to make sure you are fine, and stay that way. Bloody dodo!”
“Are you sure you’re okay to walk, Kat?”
“Yes.” Katriana nodded. “We’ve got an appointment to get to, the one I told you about. But I’m not running.”
Miya pressed her lips into a thin line. “We hurry it slow, Kat. That’s what we do. Hurry it slow. If they have to wait a little, they’ll just have to wait.”
“Okay.” Katriana smiled. “Okay. Now, there are a few things you need to know before you meet who you’re going to meet. You need to be prepared, but not over-prepared. If you understand what I’m saying.”
“No.” Miya shook her head. “Not really. Are you sure your brain is okay?”
“It’s fine. Functions are nominal.”
“Okay. So what do I need to know?”
“You’re special, Miya.”
“You said that yesterday. I’m going to carry your babies.”
“No, I mean special.”
“Yeah, right,” Miya scoffed.
“No, I’m serious.”
“I’m just me.”
“You’re one in a million.”
“There’s only one point three million people in the Arks. Now I really feel that you’re making fun of me.”
Katriana sighed. “I’m not trying to. But you know that Oversight watches everybody. At least some of the time. Some, more than others.”
“Yes. Like right now, through you.”
Katriana smiled. “Yes. And you also know that diversity is important. Genetic diversity.”
“Yes.”
“People are matched into pairs during Selection.”
“I lived through that. Found out in the hospital it was Thomas, when I woke up. Surprised as hell.”
“There are many, many possible matches, Miya. Oversight doesn’t select for certain traits, they just make sure the pot keeps getting stirred. Under normal circumstances, you could have ended up with any of several thousand compatible mates. Oversight selects against potential in-breeding adverse effects, back to third and fourth cousins, just in case. And to avoid congenital diseases that might show up if both parents contributed similar genes, that kind of thing. We want people to be healthy. But after that, it’s random.”
Miya glanced sidelong at Katriana. “Random. And normal circumstances, you said.”
Katriana nodded. “And if you were a normal person, that’s exactly what would have happened. Names drawn from a hat, almost, on the day. But more like a bunch of hats, a lot of possibilities for each person. But definitely random, up to a point. That’s important.”
Miya stopped walking.
Katriana stopped and turned to face her.
Miya cocked her head. “You said I’m not normal. Sam doesn’t like that word, just for the record. Labels, names, they mean things. So that means I’m a Devian. Like Thomas, and Hank, and lots of others I’ve met down here. But I’m not interested in having sex with you, or any other girls, Kat. I’m not wired that way. But I’m fine that Thomas and Hank are, and I can live with that, and even share. But maybe that’s not normal. So maybe you’re right. I must be a Devian.”
Katriana sighed. “Not everything is about sex, or sexual preferences, Miya. It’s a lot of other things, too. All Searchers are Devians of one type or another, but not all Devians are Searchers. And yes, you’re as Devian as they come, if you want to use that label.”
“Really? But now, I’m not sure what you mean.”
“How do I…?” Katriana cocked her head, then nodded. “Okay. I know Thomas thinks Oversight is singling out Devians for gradual elimination from the gene pool by making them Searchers, that they’re all rejects destined for the trash heap, but nothing could be further from the truth.”
“You could be lying.”
“I’m not. This is full disclosure time. Well, as much as I can tell you before your next conversation. A Devian is anyone that varies significantly from the baseline average beyond a certain margin in one or more key attributes. As in, deviation from the norm. They’re the fringe cases, the exceptions. Yes, some of them have different sexual preferences, and that’s the only use of the term you’ll hear up on the Arks. That doesn’t line up well with the continuation of the species. It’s publicly frowned upon, because we have enough problems with the fertility rates as it is.”
