46

“I can see you, Robert.” Chase stared at the apparition materializing in the corner. “Can you hear me?” The white coat worn by the doctor when Chase last saw him was as real as Kerstin’s red dress the night she’d first materialized.

“I hear you, son, but I can’t see you. It’s how the program works.” Robert didn’t look directly at Chase but his lips moved when he spoke.

“I know—I’ve had this experience before. Though I didn’t welcome the last person who intruded on the exoself. But now—”

“Yes, yes. Kerstin. Awful woman. I demanded she be sent back to the Synvue Estate. But the government took her somewhere else, I think. They were hard on her when she lost track of you.”

“Then you know about that. Robert, I’m so glad to see you. Well, to see what the exoself has presented of you. I’ve got so many questions. That aside, it’s just so good to talk with you.”

Mel sat beside him and clutched his hand. “Chase, baby, is Robert Fiender really here? Right now?”

Chase pried his eyes off Robert and looked at Mel. “Same program as when Kerstin showed up. It’s all right. He’s on our side.”

“Are you sure? We don’t know what kind of tricks those people can pull. Maybe it’s not really him at all.”

“Chase, is someone there with you?” Robert asked. “If so, then a change has occurred in the program. The exoself should not have allowed contact unless you were alone. Little visions and hints of a presence, perhaps, but not audio.”

“Yeah, about the exoself—it’s done some things you might call unbelievable. Not to mention what my body can do on its own. If you know about Kerstin, then you know about the Feds losing my trail so quickly. I mean, I was right there under their noses. Did the exoself throw them off?”

“I suppose it did. The Feds were baffled when the trail went cold. They picked up three men, assumed one of them was you, and brought them in. Didn’t take long, of course, to realize their mistake, but they only scanned the area for your cyber imprint. None was found and they didn’t even bother with a physical search. Then a drone caught your trail, only to crash before it could send back reliable data.”

“The exoself was hiding in an old laptop when it blew up that drone.”

The doctor’s bushy eyebrows drew together and he wiped his mustache. Chase smiled at this. He’d missed the old man. His friend.

“I had a feeling it had come out of your systems when your imprint disappeared. But to hide in an antiquated device? I feared it may have jumped out of you completely this time, rather than remaining dormant after the killswitch was triggered. Its homing mechanism should have sent it here. But it was best that it stayed clear of me—I guess it knew better. I’m under constant scrutiny.” The doctor paused. He blinked his thick eyelids. “Chase, I had nothing to do with implanting the device in Kerstin that allowed her to access the exoself.”

“I know, Robert. I never thought you did. But I think the homing mechanism did what it was supposed to do. Only it sought out a closer familiar hiding place. The laptop—actually two laptops—were registered to Melody Reese. Do you remember that name?”

The doctor grumbled and his lips puffed outward. “Yes, yes, of course I remember. Your undercover programmer. The best friend you were so determined to locate.”

“That’s right. I guess the exoself knew her, so to speak, since she helped in the programming. It took up residence in her computer. A perfect hiding place.”

“Amazing. And now it’s back inside you where it belongs? And you’re safely back underground? Somewhere in Quebec, I assume.” Robert cleared his throat. “Before you answer, and because this whole situation appears so volatile and fluid, disregard my last question, Chase. The Feds have not given up.”

“Thank you for wanting to protect us.”

“Us?”

“Yes.” Chase put his arm around Mel.

“Enough said. But how on earth did you get the exoself back into your processors?”

“I just asked. I typed in a message and the code started scrolling. I think my eyes did the work.”

“Oh my. Your eyes are programmed to accept data, but you don’t need to do that on your own, Chase. You’re an amateur. When I instructed your processors to allow reentry of the exoself, I did it in an orderly fashion to avoid too much strain on your…human. Are you all right?”

“It was a little overwhelming but I feel good now.”

“And all functions are operational? The vision and hearing enhancers? The strength sensors?”

“Haven’t tried out the vision and hearing, but the upper body strength is back for sure.”

From across the room, Switchblade muttered, “You got that right.”

Chase glanced his way. “Sorry, buddy.” He turned his focus back to the phantom figure of his doctor and designer. “Robert, I suffered a broken leg when the truck I was in flipped—that’s when the Feds lost the trail. It took two days for the break to heal. Two days, Robert. What can you tell me about that?”

The man cleared his throat. “Your blood contains—”

“Nanobytes?”

“More like nanobots. But yes, they are in your bloodstream. When I last examined you, they were non-functional. I expected nothing more from them than the validation that such mighty little warriors could indeed be added to a human being’s blood and not cause death. Are you saying that your broken bone has healed completely, Chase?”

“Like it never happened. Are you saying adding this crap to my blood could have killed me?”

“It was a possibility. I didn’t know you then, son. I didn’t care about you as much as I cared about the experiment. Any number of things could have gone wrong. That you survived your transformation at all was a miracle. I must admit part of me longs to study how the techno-evolutionary process is changing you. Your body’s ability to heal itself is just another miracle. If I could believe in miracles. As it is, I’m glad those who do believe have taken you in. You know I’m sorry for all this, Chase. I wish it had never happened.”

“I don’t wish that, Robert. I’m with the ones who have become my people. I have to protect them. Are there any more surprises coming?”

“I can’t answer that with certainty.” The doctor’s appearance seemed to change. A darkness fell on him. “The exoself may take over your own thought process as it strives to preserve itself. Or it may have developed such a dependence on you that it will do nothing to harm you, but only to help you. Either way, it will—it has already—taken on a personality and it’s living inside you, Chase. Whether or not you can trust it…”

“Someone else has taken up residence inside me, and I don’t believe He will allow harm to come to me. Or allow me to become a danger to anyone.”

The doctor shook his head. Was his motion real, or was the exoself adding appropriate gestures to the conversation? “You have become one of the hiders,” he said. “Am I correct? A believer?”

“Yes, Robert. The exoself may attempt to become more, or to make me less. But God is bigger than it or me and He’s got this.”

“Your secret is safe with me, son.”

“My location is a secret, Robert. The work of the underground is a secret. But what I said about me and God is no secret. Tell the world if you want. Tell them Chase Sterling is a true believer. A follower of Jesus, whose blood is more powerful than mine.”

Mel clutched his arm. Did she expect him to keep it quiet? One thought tripped over another. The blood. Actively regenerating healing bytes…or bots.

Amos could live.

“I can’t say I agree with your decision, son. I fear you’ve been driven to the limits of reason by the torment I helped bring on you. Again, you know my sorrow over the matter.”

“No regrets. There’s no turning back. But tell me something, as my doctor and my friend. If my blood was injected into another human—not a transhuman—just a regular man, what would happen?”

Mel lifted her hand to his face pulled his gaze to her. “Oh, Chase, you can’t be serious.”

“Didn’t Christ give his blood for me? Why shouldn’t I follow His example?”

“It’s not the same at all, Chase.” Her eyes filled with such fear, and Chase wrapped his arms around her. He couldn’t bear to think she might come to fear him.

“Trust me,” he told her.

She sniffed back tears and nodded. “Always.”

Chase let her go and stared at the corner of the room. But the computer image his brain had interpreted as the likeness of Robert Fiender had faded to a line of code and a flash of white.

“No. Don’t go. You didn’t answer my question.” He shuffled to the empty corner. “Robert?”