Chapter 81: Forging Mutants (Patreon)

Dan, Lessa, and Catherine descended into the cavern toward the Operator. Behind them, the glass doors sealed the B-15 control room shut, and the sound of them closing rolled out across the cavern and came back. It was quiet down here. Any loud sound carried, and when any of them spoke, she could hear it echo off the far walls a second later.

Catherine remained focused on the spot where the Kanryx had rested, never looking away. Dan and Lessa observed their surroundings upon arrival, noting the size of the area, both of them exhausted from what they had heard through the monitor. Napoleon had been sweeping the cavern for threats. He came off the floor and landed on the Operator's shoulder.

When Dan arrived and saw the evolution pods, his eyes widened. “Wow. I never thought I’d see an evolution pod in my life.”

"They're that rare?" the Operator asked.

“It’s not that they’re rare. It’s that it’s rare for people like us to see one up close. Only people with a lot of money, or those who matter to the winged ones, ever get to use one.”

"And what does it do for those powerful people?"

Lessa answered. Her eyes were still red, but talking about something else seemed to lift her a little. "Adds years to your life. Makes people younger. And a lot of people said they gave you abilities, which always sounded like a lie." She looked around the cavern. "After everything we've seen, though, it doesn't sound so crazy anymore."

The Operator couldn’t bear to see them worn down like this. “Look, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen or what’s up there, but I’m going to do everything I can to keep you alive. I just have to reach the surface first.”

Lessa’s eyes shifted to the Operator’s waist. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, and her face turned pale. Dan looked where she was staring. Upon seeing it, he took a step back. “By the winged ones.”

The Operator glanced at her belt. The head was positioned as usual, secured against her thigh. However, the third eye, closed since she shut it, was now open. It was wide open on the lifeless gray face, staring straight ahead at nothing, without blinking or moving. Mordran’s other two eyes remained shut. 

The library is back. I can’t waste any more time.

“Guys, stop staring at the eye and look at me.” Neither of them could do it right away. Their eyes kept drifting back to that open eye on her hip, and she couldn’t blame them. “Like I was saying, I have to get to the surface. With the way things are up there, the truth is I can’t protect you.”

Dan spoke softly, saying, “We always knew that, Operator. We even discussed it while we were in the control room, especially after we saw your Kanryx didn’t…”

“Please, Dan, let me finish,” the Operator urged. “You’re weak, yes,” she said, pointing toward the evolution pods. “But if you use these, we might have a chance.”

Lessa’s eyes widened as she quickly looked at Dan. He squeezed her hand and nodded. “Yes, we accept,” Lessa said confidently. “We don’t want to be a burden. I know we don’t know each other well, Operator, but we want to help.”

"Good answer," the Operator said, and she smiled at her.

"And Catherine?" Lessa asked.

The Operator glanced at the girl, still fixated on the vacant Kanryx dens. “She’s a Kanryx hybrid. I doubt the procedure would work on her, and it could harm her. But that’s not the concern at the moment.”

She looked back at the two of them. “Right now, I need you to take off your clothes. You can keep your underwear on.

“Tera, what did the nanobots say?” the Operator quickly asked.

They responded, stating that considering all their host has endured, her mental health is also important. However, they caution that this will only be a one-time occurrence. If you ever need to install the mutant evolution in someone else later, you’ll need to find a method that doesn’t depend on nanobots guiding it.

“Thanks, Tera. Tell them I love them again,” the Operator said, catching Dan and Lessa watching her, talking to her invisible partner. “If you’re going to be with me, you’ll have to get used to it.”

Lessa smiled. “Don’t worry, we’re already used to it. And it’s clear you’re not crazy. Anyone who sees you with a Lord Mordrad head on your hip might think you are, though.”

At least she’s in better spirits now. The Operator smiled, then knocked her fist against her head. Don’t get distracted by anything else, damn it.

“Okay.” She said it out loud. “How do I get the nanobots into you? Make a cut and pass them through?” She moved as she talked, working it through. “But I’d need a vasoconstrictor with coagulation factors to stop the bleeding before I could apply the nanos. How do I even know what a vasoconstrictor is?”

The nanobots think the easiest way is this. They can induce tears carrying the nanos, and you put one tear into one of their eyes. From there, the nanos spread through the body and temporarily duplicate themselves to guide the process.

"Perfect. Thanks, Tera."

“Okay, good news. I know how to perform the mutation evolution now. But I need you to trust me. What I’m about to do to you is different from what they do to the privileged of this world. What I’m going to do for you is the same thing Eron wants to enslave me for. If I do this, and we get out of all this, and he finds out you have the same thing, he might hunt you, too. Are you okay with that?”

“Screw Lord Eron. Screw them all.” Dan didn’t hesitate. He looked at her. “Lessa? You in?”

“Better than just sitting here and waiting to be killed,” Lessa said firmly. “I’m in.”

“I don’t expect you to understand how any of this works, so here’s the short version. I’ve got nanobots running inside me. They’ll be the guides that make the mutation work for you. I’m putting them in through the eye. Got it?”

Both of them nodded.

“Tera, I’m ready.” She turned back to them. “All right, guys, kneel and tip your heads up.”

They both knelt, doing as she told them. The nanobots went to work inside her. Her eyes began to fill, and a tear formed at the corner of one. She caught it on the tip of her finger. It wasn’t wet like a normal tear. It was thicker, and it held its shape on her skin instead of running off.

She crouched in front of Lessa. “Don’t close your eyes. Maybe this is going to feel strange.”

Lessa held it open, her hands gripping her knees, and the Operator brought her finger down and touched the tear to her eye. It soaked straight in and was gone.

Lessa blinked twice rapidly. “It’s cold.”

The Operator waited a second, watching her, then moved to Dan. Another tear had already formed. He kept his eye open without her having to tell him, and she put it in, and it went the same way.

"Tera?"

The nanobots have their instructions. You know what comes next.

The Operator looked them both over, taking a few seconds with each, watching their eyes and faces, waiting to see if anything was going wrong before she said a word. “Alright. Nothing’s off, and I’m not expecting anything to go wrong either. The mutation evolution takes about three hours. You’ll be asleep the whole time.”

"And what are you going to do in the meantime?” Dan asked.

“We’ve got preparations to make before we go up. You two don’t need to worry about that.” The Operator approached the evolution pods and the panel nearby. She input the information as she had previously done for herself, prompting the pods to open. "Come on, we don't have all day. Get in."

Lessa went first, walking in her underwear, with Dan behind her, red in the face, watching her back.

When he went past the Operator, she leaned in and whispered softly, “Caught you looking.”

He turned redder, walked faster to his pod, and climbed in. 

Both of them were in. The Operator initiated the base mutation installation sequence. "See you in three hours."

The pods began to close, and as they did, Lessa spoke up. “Why are you doing all this for us?”

The Operator thought about it for a few seconds. “I just want to know if I’m strong enough yet to give someone a happy ending.” She waved it off. “Don’t listen to me. Go to sleep. See you in a bit.”

"Thanks for everything," Dan said. The sound of liquid moved through the lines toward them.

The pods sealed shut, and she leaned in and looked at them. Both were already asleep. “Get some rest. It’s probably going to be a long time before I see you two again.”

She checked the head on her hip. The third eye was still open, still fixed on nothing. Then she walked over to Catherine. The girl ran toward her and pointed back at the pods, her whole face asking the question. “They’re sleeping; they’ll be up soon, I promise.” 

She crouched so they were eye level and took Catherine’s hands in hers. “I know you understand me, so I want to ask you something.” She kept her voice even. “In a minute, I’m going to leave.”

Catherine’s eyes went red before the Operator finished the sentence. She let go of her hands, threw her arms around the Operator’s neck, and held on. She wouldn’t let go, and the Operator felt the whole small body pressed against her, shaking. She thinks I’m leaving her here.

“Hey.” She gently took hold of the girl’s shoulders and pulled back just enough to see her face. “Listen to me. Let me finish.”

Catherine looked at her, her eyes wet.

“I’m going away, but I’m staying right here. In this room.” The Operator waited to see if that landed. “And for you, it’ll be like blinking. I go, and I come back, and only a few seconds will have passed out here. That’s all it’ll be for you. A few seconds.”

Catherine let go of her neck. Her breathing evened.

“Now here’s the part I need you to think about. Where I’m going, it won’t be just a few seconds for me. It’ll probably be...

“Tera, how many tests do you think are needed to create formulas using my Living Prototype ability?”

Between 2000 and 3000 tests, Operator.

So, 4 years, maybe more. SHIT.

“Tera, the Kanryx components that I brought from B-9. They have a 12-month expiration date. I have 1 year to use them.”

Just leave them in here; you’ll create the formulas once we’re out.

Fuck, I wanted to use them inside. She takes a deep breath and looks back at Catherine.

“Sorry, I sometimes ramble and change the subject. As I was saying, you can wait for me here. It’d be just a few seconds, and I’d be back. Dan and Lessa would be right there in those pods the whole time. Or you can come in with me and spend those years there. Whatever you want.”

Catherine didn’t answer right away. She looked over at the evolution pods and stayed with them for a while. Then she turned and looked out across the cavern, at the empty Kanryx den, at the stone and the holes where nothing lived anymore, and she looked at that even longer. Then she looked back at the Operator’s face and studied it.

Catherine’s hand closed around hers, squeezed hard, and didn’t let go.

Something in the Operator’s chest came loose. She’d asked, expecting a no. She’d been ready for it, already worked out what she’d say to make it fine, and now here was this kid holding onto her hand. “Alright.” She was smiling, and she didn’t try to stop it. “Guess I’m not doing those years on my own after all.” She squeezed back.

"Fair warning. The place is full of books, and it looks boring as hell. But we can get to know each other. That sounds like fun, doesn't it?"

Catherine nodded, smiled through her wet eyes, and nodded again.

"Good." The Operator stood up, still holding onto her hand. "Let me get a few things sorted, and we'll get out of here."