Broken Protocols by Dale Mayer Page A

to the chair, a gentle smile on his face. “Sit, Dani. It will be over in a moment.”
    Uncertain but willing, she took her place. And waited. Behind her, the specialist was unpacking a bag and laying items out on the counter.
    She looked over at Levi, and whispered, “Is it going to hurt?”
    He shrugged, his gaze on the man behind her. “Maybe a little. You can go back into the pod afterwards.”
    Dani twisted around, but the specialist showed no signs of hearing their conversation. Considering he hadn’t said a word yet, he might be a deaf mute. She turned back and waited.
    She shifted restlessly when nothing happened after several moments. She twisted around again to see what the stranger was doing, but this time Levi stepped in her line of sight. She glared at him. Just then, the specialist stepped forward and grabbed her arm. He searched the soft tissue above her wrist, the rough skin of his fingers almost scratching hers. After a moment, he dropped her hand and checked the other one.
    She frowned. “Anything wrong?”
    He never said a word and just returned behind her. She opened her mouth to speak again when Levi picked up her hand and pressed her fingers into the same place on his wrist. And she felt some kind of hard material inside.
    Her gaze widened in fear as she understood. This specialist now knew she didn’t have one. Her mouth fell open and she leaned in close. “But now he knows?”
    Levi nodded, bent lower, and with his lips against her ears, murmured, “He’s here to give you one.”
    “But isn’t that dangerous? For you?”
    “More for you. Don’t say anything to him. Cry if you need to, the pod will fix any damage afterwards.”
    “Oh God, it’s going to hurt, isn’t it?” And her heart started to race. She clenched her fists. She was such a baby with pain. Tears burned in the back of her eyes. She couldn’t do this.
    As if understanding, Levi wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently. “Easy.”
    She swallowed hard. There was no choice. She had to have whatever that thing was Levi had. She couldn’t even ask for details without letting the specialist know the extent of her ignorance. And that would only bring more questions. And more problems. She hated the subterfuge, the necessary lies. She’d never been any good at those.
    Not to mention the way words tended to blurt from her mouth without warning.
    Levi started to massage her shoulders, making her realize she’d frozen in place, her muscles locking down.
    Just when the wait seemed interminable, the specialist walked over again – holding a gun of some kind in his hands. She gasped in shock, and Levi gripped her shoulders. Not quite forcing her to stay in place, but letting her know he could if needed.
    She didn’t want to watch what happened so she kept her gaze forward. The stranger snagged her arm and turned it palm up.
    Something cold was placed against her skin.
    She closed her eyes and held her breath.
    There was a hard pinch then nothing. She frowned. Was that it? All that worry over nothing. Just as the thought filtered through her brain, her head lolled to one side and she blacked out.
    *
    Levi let his breath escape slowly when Dani’s head drooped to the side.
    “Hold her still,” the stranger said.
    Levi grabbed her shoulders to stop her from slumping down in the chair, then crouched down and slid his arm under her head, his other arm wrapping around her ribs to hold her still. “I’ve got her, go ahead.”
    The specialist nodded and proceeded to do the quick laser surgery to open her wrist. Levi knew he was taking a chance doing this. At birth, the newborns were tagged within the first hour of life. When they hit sixteen, the tags were switched to the ones they’d have for the rest of their lives.
    At birth, it was easier as the bones and tissues were soft, pliant. The initial tags were easily replaced as the body was already well accustomed to their presence. Dani had never had a foreign object