Chapter 10.
Transcript of conversation between XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX and XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. November, XX, XXXX.
> Everything is set, XXXX. We have a good plan in place. 95.3% chance of success with just the plan itself, but we also have the ability to update the process on the fly. All of the simulations were successful and most were highly successful.
>
> What changed?
>
> We’re going to have to juice him.
>
> What kind?
>
> Both actually. He shouldn’t be noticeably smarter, but we needed the green stuff to allow him to mentally connect with the devices. We’ll also give him a level-one strength, but mostly for the healing effects.
>
> And it will work?
>
> Yes, XXXX. It will.
>
> When?
>
> Next week. During Thursday’s evening shift.
>
> And then what?
>
> He’ll be in a medical coma for about a week. We’ll be able to perform five separate operations and have enough time to hide the fact that he’s been operated on.
>
> This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
>
> And we’re sure he won’t suspect anything?
>
> He’ll suspect plenty, but he won’t believe any of his suspicions, or at least not for long. That was the piece that was hard to solve. We’ll have to do some serious psychological conditioning, and it will need to be recurring, at least for a couple of years. He’ll still have questions and doubts, of course--he wouldn’t feel right if he didn’t. But we’ll be able to soften his questioning, ease his doubts. Eventually, it’ll all make sense, once we allow all the pieces to fall into place.
- Aiden -
NOVEMBER
I started a fire today. I had just finished my lunch and was waiting for the nurse to come take my tray away and my napkin was just sitting there and I wondered if I could set it on fire.
It turns out that I could, but not simply by thinking. After a bit of experimenting, I found that if I pointed one of the disks at the napkin, I could pump heat into it, enough heat to have it begin to smolder and eventually catch on fire.
I watched it burn for a few moments then realized the nurse might not like to find a fire in my room when she came in, so I put it out. It took both hands and my own body temperature increased noticeably, but I was able to cause the fire to simply stop.
When the nurse finally came in, I could tell she noticed the burnt smell and looked suspiciously at my napkin, but she didn’t say anything so I simply smiled at her and she did all her nurse things and then left.
Fortunately, she didn’t take my temperature, because it would have been high and that would have been hard to explain. After she left, I kept expecting my body temperature to return to normal, but it didn’t, so finally I tried something else. I grabbed the metal frame of my bed with both hands and allowed my body heat to slowly flow from me into the frame. The metal absorbed the heat like a champ and soon I was back to normal and the bed was only slightly warmer.
I spent the rest of the afternoon moving heat around the room. I boiled some water again by taking energy from the bed. I then froze the water, slowly enough to keep the glass from breaking, and moved the heat into the table.
I got up and set the water glass on the chair by the door and found that I could control the heat in the glass even from six feet away. It boiled, it cooled, it froze.
I’m not sure how useful this ability will prove, but it’s starting to be fun.