Chapter Forty-five (End of Lament!) (Patreon)

The orange juice was more like orange sludge, but Ava drank every drop of it before hurrying off to work. She left a full twenty minutes earlier than she had to because she didn’t want to take the chance that Dean would decide to turn up on her doorstep again. She wore simple black yoga pants and a bright green t-shirt, and Dr. Veralt nodded in approval when he saw her bare face.

“Good. And I see you’re on time today.” His pinched lips almost relaxed enough to smile, and Ava tried to look as unassuming and trusting as possible.

“Yes, sir. I tried to make sure I followed all of your instructions, Dr. Veralt!” She opened her eyes wide and forced a tremulous, worried smile, and the man harrumphed in satisfaction.

“Well then, I foresee no problems. Go see LeeAn in exam room one, and she’ll help you get into the new suit and place your IV.” Snapping open his screen, he turned away, muttering as he headed for Amy’s room and left Ava standing with her mouth open. Ava glanced at the duty nurse, who just shrugged without much interest, her eyes fixed on the monitors in front of her.

“So much for a training period,” Ava muttered, but headed for the exam room, thankful that they were clearly marked.

LeeAn waited inside, though she was staring at her personal screen when Ava entered, and jumped guiltily when she realized she was no longer alone. Quickly, she stuffed the screen into her pocket, leaving Ava to wonder what she could possibly have been up to. With how cut off the house was in general, and the lab specifically, the older woman couldn’t have been contacting anyone from the outside, or even streaming a video, so what had caused that expression of momentary panic when she saw Ava?

Whatever it was, it was gone, and the professional mask from the day before took over as she handed Ava another bundle. “This isn’t a standard suit, so you’ll need help putting it on. There are hookups for bodily functions, as well as a few electrodes and an IV line.”

Ava didn’t have to fake the hot flush that rose in her cheeks. “Oh, um, I didn’t really think about… Because I’ll be in the pod for so long?” Reluctantly, she toed off her shoes and reached for the hem of her shirt.

LeeAn nodded, picking up another bundle from the table beside the exam room screen, which was currently displaying a gender neutral, gray human shape. “Eventually, you may be able to do this alone, but until you’re completely comfortable with the procedure, you’ll need someone to check and make sure everything is properly placed and the fit is right.”

As Ava finished removing her clothes, standing bare and vulnerable in the middle of the cold exam room, the older woman started placing electrode patches on her skin, making Ava jump and shiver at the cool brush of gloved fingers on her skin.

It took about ten minutes of awkwardness before LeeAn seemed happy enough with the way everything was placed and actually started helping Ava into her new suit. As the nanofiber fabric settled into place over each of the electrodes, the exam room screen chimed, and another part of the person on the screen turned from gray to green. When the entire body was green except the head, LeeAn placed the last few electrodes at Ava’s temples and around her hairline before tugging something like a swimmer’s cap over her hair.

“Be glad you have short hair,” LeeAn unbent enough to offer Ava a small smile. “We nurses have been practicing this for the past few weeks, since we were told about this new pod, and getting the cap to fit correctly over long hair is a real trick.”

Grateful just to not be naked any more, Ava returned the smile. “Have any of you actually tried the pods? What is it like? How does it work?”

LeeAn’s expression returned to its neutral work-mode, and she shrugged, turning toward the table near the screen to pick up one last bundle. “They just finished installing them yesterday. You saw them. Some people on the night shift used them briefly last night, but they’re not allowed to talk about it. You’ll be the first one in for real. Once you’re out, Ms. Landon will go in with you the next time.”

“Oh! Um, so, I’m… on my own this time?” Ava asked.

A tiny smirk flickered across LeeAn’s face, so fast that Ava wasn’t certain she’d seen it. “As much as any of us are. I believe Dr. Veralt will be using a standard pod to log in and show you the ropes. After that, though, I don’t know. Hold out your arm.”

Ava extended her arm, and LeeAn slid her finger along an almost undetectable seam down the inside of her right suit sleeve. It split, exposing Ava’s forearm and inner elbow, and LeeAn tied a tourniquet around her upper arm. Once the nurse expertly inserted Ava’s IV, she re-sealed the sleeve, and stepped back, nodding in satisfaction.

“You’re all set. I’ll put your things in a locker by the showers for when you get out, and link it to your LandonHome app so you can find and open it.” She pulled her screen from her pocket and glanced at it. “Now, Dr. Landon is ready for you in the immersion room.”

Ava trailed the other woman obediently as they entered the hall and walked the twenty feet between the two rooms. When LeeAn opened the door to the room that held the pods, however, she didn’t enter, but just stepped aside and motioned for Ava to go ahead. Her expression was so neutral that Ava wondered if she imagined the barely audible, “Good luck,” that LeeAn murmured as Ava walked by. The door clicked shut behind her, leaving Ava alone with Dr. Veralt and, of all people, Quinn.

Dr. Veralt was, as usual, busy staring at his screen, and barely glanced up as Ava entered. Quinn, on the other hand, took an insultingly long time to look Ava over before a sneer curled his lip, though he didn’t speak.

“Hmm, good,” Veralt said, finally flicking his screen closed. He reached out and touched the pod nearest the main door, which now had a large number two on the lid. “This will be your pod, Ava. Pod one is for Ms. Landon’s exclusive use, so this is the one staff members will utilize.” He gave a wintry smile. “Don’t worry, they’re exactly the same, except that Ms. Landon’s pod can provide additional medical support in case of emergency.”

No ‘extra medical support’ for us peons, Ava translated mentally, but just nodded, smiling enthusiastically. “I’m excited to go in, doctor,” she said, edging up so she could peer into the open hatch. Seeing the familiar sling, she tried to look surprised as she asked, “Ah, where’s the bed, though? Did they forget to install it?”

Veralt actually chuckled, clearly enjoying her discomfort. “Don’t worry, Ms. Shaw, the pods are finished and completely safe. You’ll be suspended in a liquid medium during immersion. The biogel is actually both edible and breathable, and will provide most of your nutrition as well as your oxygen.”

Ava dropped back a step, eyes widening. “Wait. I’m supposed to breathe liquid? Isn’t that drowning? I’ll die!”

The doctor laid what was presumably meant to be a comforting hand on her shoulder, but thanks to the force with which he gripped her, it came across as more threatening instead. “Now, now, Ms. Shaw. You’ve been eminently sensible thus far, and I hope you’ll continue to be so. I assure you, I’ve undergone this process multiple times myself, and while the thought may be daunting, it is perfectly safe. In fact, when you wake, you’ll probably feel better than you have in your life.”

He pulled her toward the pod, continuing to speak. “We’ll deliver a mild sedative through your IV. You’ll feel very drowsy, and barely even notice when the time comes to aspirate the fluid.”

Quinn took hold of Ava’s other arm, and between the two of them, the men half-helped, half-forced Ava into the pod. She twisted as they slid her lower half into the yawning cavity, and flinched as she felt part of the suit that LeeAn had carefully aligned shift into a new and much less comfortable position. While Quinn held onto Ava, who continued to protest, though nowhere near as strongly as she would have if she’d been as frightened as she was acting, Dr. Veralt attached Ava’s IV to the pod. Almost instantly, she felt the chill of the sedative, and let herself relax slightly.

“Ah, there you are. That’s better.” Veralt said, stepping back with something dark and cold gleaming in his eyes as he stared down at Ava. She blinked, trying to keep her eyes open as Quinn slid the mask over her face, plunging her into darkness. She thrashed once more, this time for real, as the darkness remained, instead of fading into the comforting familiarity of the Veritas Online splash screen or even displaying the view her eyes would have seen if the mask hadn’t been in the way, as Amythyst’s had.

Warm liquid rose around her, terrifying in a way it hadn’t been when she could see, and she heard Quinn snigger as the lid clicked closed above her. This was his fault, she was certain. Somehow, the man had managed to prevent the mask from turning on when it was supposed to, and left Ava in absolute, terrifying darkness, with the world closing in on her.

I have to… She woozily fought against the fear and the medication, pushing at her suit with her hands, just like Amythyst’s ridiculous stick figures had shown her. There was a bump and a sort of tab sticking out right… There! She pressed against the spot, and felt something shift, loosening the seal the suit used to make sure that her bodily excretions wouldn’t contaminate the biogel. Hopefully, she’d just disengaged the right one, and only that one.

There had only been one way to sneak anything electronic into the lab. They had to mask it with her own bioelectric signature, which meant it had to be inside her body. Even as she gasped out her last breath of air, and sucked the biogel into her lungs, the special juice she’d drunk that morning should be working its way through her system. Soon, Amythyst’s tiny bugs would be free in the pod, and after that, Amythyst believed she could crack the closed system, allowing her access to everything Carl Landon was trying so very hard to keep secret.

A tiny smile crossed her lips as light finally, finally, spread across her vision. The spinning Veritas logo resolved out of the darkness, and Ava thought, Got you, you bastards.

Stage three, complete.