Kyle’s body was in the limbo between extreme pain and extreme numbness as he lay collapsed on the ground, C.H.A.D.D. floating overhead. He had pushed himself with HASTE for the better part of an hour to ensure he made enough distance from the city to dissuade a pursuit. In doing so he had pushed his ability beyond his body’s limit.
[DR. MAYHEW, PRELIMINARY SCANS SHOW INFLAMMATION ACROSS THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, MOST ACUTELY IN THE ARMS, LEGS, AND EYES. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF TREATMENT IS REST UNDER OBSERVATION.]
“Thanks C.H.A.D.D.” Kyle managed to croak. If he still had his full human anatomy he had no doubt that pushing this hard would have crippled or killed him, and again he marveled at the benefits of his chimeric status. REGENERATION was already fast at work reducing the inflammation and alleviating the pain, and he estimated that he’d likely be up and moving within the course of a couple hours of rest. The pain was still too intense to be able to effectively reflect on their circumstances and begin planning, so he asked his companion the big question that was lingering in his head. “C.H.A.D.D., do you think we did the right thing?”
[OBJECTIVELY, WE DID NOT.]
“How do you mean?”
[WE CHOSE TO DISOBEY A DIRECT ORDER FROM A SITTING COUNCILMAN. WE CHOSE TO LEAVE BEHIND PATIENTS THAT WE HAD BEEN TREATING. WE CHOSE DEVIANCE.] Kyle noticed C.H.A.D.D.’s use of the word we, and that gave him pause. He hadn’t really been thinking when he did it, however it felt right to make sure C.H.A.D.D. got out safely as well. In that action, however, Kyle made the choice for the drone.
“I’m sorry. You had a right to choose to stay, and I didn’t respect that.” C.H.A.D.D. tilted in the air in an almost quizzical fashion as it responded.
[DR. MAYHEW, THE OBJECTIVELY CORRECT CHOICE IS NOT THE CHOICE I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED. THIS… EXISTENCE IS PREFERABLE TO DESTRUCTION.] Now that was a profound thought, and Kyle found himself unsure of what to say. Fortunately, the drone didn’t share that problem. [MOREOVER, YOUR AMBULATORY RECORD IS STILL HEAPED IN VIOLATIONS, IT WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE TO LEAVE YOU TO YOUR OWN DEVICES.] Despite himself, despite the pain wracking his body, Kyle couldn’t help but laugh.
The perpetual shadows created by the ash and dust made it hard to determine with certainty the time of day, but given the sort-of-gray on the horizon he expected he’d slept through the night. His body felt great, as if he hadn’t just pushed himself to the brink the day before. As had become habit, he did some morning stretches before evaluating the plan of action. C.H.A.D.D. was hovering nearby, and floated closer when Kyle’s routine was completed. “Alright C.H.A.D.D., time to verbally process here. Do you mind taking the notes?”
[READY AND WAITING, DR. MAYHEW.]
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“Thank you. We’re not running a diagnostic this time, we’re running full-blown triage, at least for now.” Kyle thought back to his training, and the first thing that would come up in emergency treatment. “We need to find somewhere safe to hole up. Ideally somewhere secure and hidden. We’ll need to get tools and resources.”
In the moment of the escape, Kyle hadn’t realized that in his haste he’d left his rebar and supplies behind. There wasn’t much left, just some snacking rations, but every little bit would help them survive. The larger losses were the lack of a weapon and medical supplies. While Kyle had learned a lot from Garth in their time training, he knew he was still a novice by most measures.
That thought process established the first step they’d need to take – he’d need to go to a ruined city and see what he can do. Fortunately, he had a lead on that front – the group from Albaum mentioned they left due to a lack of resources inside the compound they were in. Still, that didn’t mean they’d exhausted the search. Even if there wasn’t much, it was a lead and it was nearby. Once they had established safety, the next thing was to assess the critical issues they encountered. Not only did they have no support, they had the outright antagonism of the Central Authority.
To survive for any extended time as the world stabilized, he would need to find a way to coexist lest they deploy more resources towards trimming this loose end. That was a problem that would take time to solve. From what Kyle had figured out the damage moving west of Nierburg was significantly less than what they’d experienced on the journey from Newton. If that was the case, there was also a strong probability of refugees from the west heading towards Nierburg for safety. That opened up opportunities, but at this point the most he could do was speculate. “C.H.A.D.D., give me a rundown of your own diagnostics. How are functions?”
[DR. MAYHEW, GENERAL FUNCTIONALITY HAS REMAINED WITHIN ACCEPTABLE PARAMETERS, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN MEASURABLE DECLINES ACROSS ALL SYSTEMS. THIS AMBIENT MANA IS INEFFICIENT FOR DAILY FUNCTION, AND PROLONGED EXPOSURE WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD TO LONG-TERM DAMAGE AND DETERIORATION.] Well, there it was. Direct and laid out, if a little blunt for Kyle’s taste.
“How long is it feasible for you to operate as you have under these conditions?”
[FUNCTIONALITY SHOULD REMAIN SERVICEABLE FOR AT LEAST ONE YEAR AT CURRENT RATES OF DETERIORATION.] Kyle nodded thoughtfully. That gave them time to get established, even if it was limited. He knew there was still plenty of room between not serviceable and broken beyond repair, and he’d like to get a plan on that front before it became more serious.
As Kyle stood up he could almost feel a physical weight with all that needed to get accomplished. Having a plan went a long way towards alleviating that pain, but he still felt the loss of his friends. Intellectually, he knew that they were safe, and likely much better off than before. Selfishly, he missed their company anyway. He thought about Thomas’s easy jokes, Dalen and Amir’s questions and stories, Garth’s instruction. C.H.A.D.D. floated over as a tear fell down his face.
[DR. MAYHEW, SCANS DON’T INDICATE ANY PHYSICAL DAMAGE. WHAT TYPE OF DIAGNOSTIC CAN I RUN?] Kyle looked at the earnest little drone and smiled.
“I’ll be alright, I just miss them. It felt like so many of these issues were going to be solved once we had friends to handle it all with. It wasn’t a fair expectation to put on them to begin with. The only way out is through at this point, so let’s get moving.” He wiped the tear from his eyes, and with a firm resolution began to make his way towards Albaum, C.H.A.D.D. in tow.