by ECT. Unfortunately, those therapies haven’t helped our patients.”
Adi continued to enlighten Maggie while writing something different on paper. Zeke found it tough to concentrate on both the pencil and her voice. He opted to listen and read her note when she was finished.
“Needless to say, we cannot allow dream comas to continue indefinitely, as manifestation is inevitable,” Adi said aloud. “We’ve had to resort to undesirable experimental procedures.”
The camera would pick that up. Adi’s suspicions about Karen’s wounds, murderous intent and superfast healing were the items she felt compelled to hide. Experimental procedures were apparently fine and dandy.
“Some patients have been in medical comas long enough that their bodies couldn’t tolerate the displacement to a dream coma.” Adi’s mild voice didn’t change in tenor, though she was describing some pretty depressing shit. Nearly all the patients here were the good guys, their condition ill-fated instead of a relief. The Somnium had had few alucinator villains during its history. “They died shortly after the changeover. Kingsbury is one of our longest-surviving high-levels in any type of coma, and she’s no longer well. I have asked you here, Zeke, to authenticate that she is experiencing a dream coma. EEGs are suggestive, but we don’t consider them verification.”
“What can I do that a vigil can’t?” Zeke asked aloud.
“We need to officially settle her condition before we can authorize any experimental procedures,” Adi said. “Vigils can occasionally sense the fitness of a dream coma sufferer and guesstimate how long before a manifestation conduit will form. Since I could not, it was expedient to request your help, as her former mentor, to see if your tangible connection can be exploited for that purpose. Oh, and I thought it would be instructional for Maggie to witness.”
She handed Zeke the pad. How did you know this was about K?
He was about to ruin Adi’s day. Only fair—she’d sure as shit ruined his.
Zeke wrote, She communicated with me. Not normal coma.
He left off the part about how the wraith mob he’d seen resembled Maggie’s. If Lill had told her, she already knew. If Lill hadn’t, it was best if she continued to think it was a psycho Karen thing.
Adi’s jaw clenched. She rubbed her brow. When Zeke noticed her hand trembling, she whipped it down to her side.
Yes, she was afraid.
Outside of curators, a class unto themselves, vigils were the wisest and most powerful L5s the divisions had to offer. As large as divisions were, that was saying something. Vigils even had to possess good personalities. Assholey vigils found themselves out of a job before long.
If a vigil were frightened by recent events, Zeke would be wise to take Maggie and run. He owed it to her, and she wasn’t as prepared as she should be to protect herself. He should have tried harder, figured out a way to help her graduate from his bed. And his life.
Lame shields after two months. He didn’t push her enough. He worried so much about doing it wrong that he hadn’t done it right.
His extreme caution with her—was it caution? Or selfishness?
Maggie, however, looked more curious than frightened, as if this were another dreamsphere theory class she’d enrolled in. She held out her hand for the pad. What did K say?
He debated how to phrase it. Karen had begged him. Karen had said only he could help. Karen had said she was trying to “hold them off”.
The wraiths? The observers? The other patients?
Wants out, he scribbled.
Adi replied on paper. Cannot allow that.
No shit. Karen conscious was Karen deadly.
Euthanize, he wrote. Alucinators sometimes had to make hard choices—but this one wasn’t. Better, safer, not sorry.
Maggie and Adi glared as if he were the evil one. The evil one was Karen, lurking in the dreamsphere, waiting for another crack at killing them all. He wouldn’t be surprised if she figured out how to
Adi continued to enlighten Maggie while writing something different on paper. Zeke found it tough to concentrate on both the pencil and her voice. He opted to listen and read her note when she was finished.
“Needless to say, we cannot allow dream comas to continue indefinitely, as manifestation is inevitable,” Adi said aloud. “We’ve had to resort to undesirable experimental procedures.”
The camera would pick that up. Adi’s suspicions about Karen’s wounds, murderous intent and superfast healing were the items she felt compelled to hide. Experimental procedures were apparently fine and dandy.
“Some patients have been in medical comas long enough that their bodies couldn’t tolerate the displacement to a dream coma.” Adi’s mild voice didn’t change in tenor, though she was describing some pretty depressing shit. Nearly all the patients here were the good guys, their condition ill-fated instead of a relief. The Somnium had had few alucinator villains during its history. “They died shortly after the changeover. Kingsbury is one of our longest-surviving high-levels in any type of coma, and she’s no longer well. I have asked you here, Zeke, to authenticate that she is experiencing a dream coma. EEGs are suggestive, but we don’t consider them verification.”
“What can I do that a vigil can’t?” Zeke asked aloud.
“We need to officially settle her condition before we can authorize any experimental procedures,” Adi said. “Vigils can occasionally sense the fitness of a dream coma sufferer and guesstimate how long before a manifestation conduit will form. Since I could not, it was expedient to request your help, as her former mentor, to see if your tangible connection can be exploited for that purpose. Oh, and I thought it would be instructional for Maggie to witness.”
She handed Zeke the pad. How did you know this was about K?
He was about to ruin Adi’s day. Only fair—she’d sure as shit ruined his.
Zeke wrote, She communicated with me. Not normal coma.
He left off the part about how the wraith mob he’d seen resembled Maggie’s. If Lill had told her, she already knew. If Lill hadn’t, it was best if she continued to think it was a psycho Karen thing.
Adi’s jaw clenched. She rubbed her brow. When Zeke noticed her hand trembling, she whipped it down to her side.
Yes, she was afraid.
Outside of curators, a class unto themselves, vigils were the wisest and most powerful L5s the divisions had to offer. As large as divisions were, that was saying something. Vigils even had to possess good personalities. Assholey vigils found themselves out of a job before long.
If a vigil were frightened by recent events, Zeke would be wise to take Maggie and run. He owed it to her, and she wasn’t as prepared as she should be to protect herself. He should have tried harder, figured out a way to help her graduate from his bed. And his life.
Lame shields after two months. He didn’t push her enough. He worried so much about doing it wrong that he hadn’t done it right.
His extreme caution with her—was it caution? Or selfishness?
Maggie, however, looked more curious than frightened, as if this were another dreamsphere theory class she’d enrolled in. She held out her hand for the pad. What did K say?
He debated how to phrase it. Karen had begged him. Karen had said only he could help. Karen had said she was trying to “hold them off”.
The wraiths? The observers? The other patients?
Wants out, he scribbled.
Adi replied on paper. Cannot allow that.
No shit. Karen conscious was Karen deadly.
Euthanize, he wrote. Alucinators sometimes had to make hard choices—but this one wasn’t. Better, safer, not sorry.
Maggie and Adi glared as if he were the evil one. The evil one was Karen, lurking in the dreamsphere, waiting for another crack at killing them all. He wouldn’t be surprised if she figured out how to
Similar Books
