From: megazone@obsidian.WPI.EDU (MegaZone23)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime,alt.prose,wpi.students.story
Subject: OIC (12)
Date: 10 Sep 1992 14:35:40 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
NNTP-Posting-Host: obsidian.wpi.edu

-------------------------------------------------------TWELVE

     "We can rebuild him.  We have the technology."
                         --The Six Million Dollar Man

     Over the next two days the remaining crew of the Wayward
Son watched as the skilled workers at the shipyards began the
task of reconstruction.  They first removed the charred stubs
where the A.R.M.D. platforms had been.  Next to go was the
wrecked root of the starboard bow main gun boom.  As these
tasks were performed hundreds of workers swarmed over the
hull, patching the smaller wounds.  Of course, removing the
damaged sections was the easy part.  Installing the new
components was much more delicate work and would take much
longer.
     While the work was being done, the crew of the Wayward
Son had the time to mentally review the battles on Earth.
The severity of what had transpired began to sink in.  They
were fugitives from their home world.  What the hell was
their purpose?  They had defeated GENOM, what was there to do
now?  It had seemed like a good idea when it started.  Travel
around the cosmos and be heroes, great.  But reality was a
stark contrast to their dreams.  They had lost friends and
seen death first hand.  For many the first sentient creatures
they had killed were the agents of GENOM.  Many tried to
rationalize that they were all Buma, but they knew the truth.
Many of those they had killed were humans, same as they.
That was the hardest thing to accept.
     They had the chance to leave the ship before returning
to the shipyards, and some of their friends had, but they had
stayed.  Why?  Was it loyalty to the others who stayed, the
chance for adventure, the chance to make a name for
themselves, or were they trying to leave Earth, and their
deeds, behind?  Their reasons varied, but one thing was
constant: they were here now and planned to stay for the
duration.  No matter what.
     In addition to all their own problems, the crew was
waiting to hear about the Captain.  When the SDF-17 had
docked Gryphon had returned and made a speech to the crew.
He told them that Zoner was indeed still alive and that the
chances for his recovery were pretty good.  But he seemed
upset by something, and the crew picked up on it.  Rumors
began circulating almost immediately.  Zoner was dead, he had
been dead, he was a cyborg, he had a new body, he was an AI
now, he needed constant life support.  The rumors were many
and varied.  It didn't help matters that after the initial
speech Ben, Kei, Yuri, and Jenna seemed to be avoiding the
rest of the crew.  The Rats were convinced that they were
hiding something.

     Since his initial speech to the crew Ben had been
avoiding contact with nearly everyone.  He spent most of his
time in his room at the shipyards.  Occasionally he would
venture out to check on Zoner or the reconstruction work.
Zoner, immortal, how the hell did all this happen?  And what
the hell was Zoner going to do when he woke up?  Maybe they
all went through this so Zoner could wake up and kill
himself.  And Yuri seemed pretty distant lately.  She was
happy that Zoner was still alive, but something else was
bothering her.  Gee, wonder what that could be hmmmm?  Her
goddamn lover was immortal!  Kei was stressed out too, since
both her best friend and her lover were so upset.  This whole
situation was lousy--why couldn't Zoner just wake up and get
it over with?  Ben hated being stressed.
     Jenna spent most of her time with Matt.  They had a lot
of talking to do.  With the stress of combat behind them they
wanted to make up for lost time.  They spent a lot of their
time walking around the shipyards and watching the stars as
they traveled through the endless night.  Occasionally Jenna
dropped in to check on Zoner; she felt a little irrational
guilt for not being able to save him.  She tried to get
Edison to discuss his technology with her, but he
continuously put her off.  He said that it wasn't time for
the technology he used to be spread across the universe.
Jenna thought that he seemed to have a god complex.  He had
all the knowledge and technology, and he would decide who got
what.  In spite of this, she still was grateful to him for
saving Zoner.
     (In fact, it was no such thing; Edison had seen the
effects of spreading Detian technology among races not yet
prepared to deal with it.  Such intervention had led to the
annihilation of at least four sentient races, dozens of
worlds, and eventually the backbone of the entire Detian
civilization in the Patron Wars.  He felt uneasy enough as it
was just sharing the secret of Detian immortality with these
people, and had he not felt such a deep kinship with them he
wouldn't've considered it, but...)
     Yuri spent a good deal of her time staring longingly at
Zoner.  Ever since Edison had presented them with the chance
to bring him back she had been second guessing their
decision.  What if Zoner was supposed to die?  What if being
immortal somehow changed him?  She couldn't answer these
questions and the unknown future troubled her.  She went for
long solitary strolls around the shipyards to think.  At the
end of the second day she sought Edison out.  She found him
in his room.
     Knock knock knock "Edison?  Can I speak with you?"
     "Yes, of course, Yuri.  Please come in."
     Yuri opened the door and entered.  Edison gestured
towards a chair and Yuri sat down.
     "What did you wish to speak about?" Edison asked.
     "Well, I wanted to talk to you about Zoner."  Yuri
paused.  "And Omega-2."
     "What do you wish to know?"
     "Will Omega-2 change Zoner?"
     "Yes, it will restructure his genetic makeup.  His body
will change a bit.  He'll actually end up healthier than
before, of course.  I thought I had made all that clear
before."
     "Yes, yes you did.  But that's not what I mean.  I mean,
will it change Zoner as a person?  He'll still be the person
he used to be right?"
     "For the most part, yes.  As long as the damage to his
brain wasn't too severe he will have all of the same memories
as he used to--and it is your memories, both conscious and
subconscious, that make you who you are.  The real wildcard
is how he will deal with being immortal.  A lot of people
have trouble dealing with it at first."
     "How serious is it?" Yuri asked, leaning forward.
     "I won't lie to you.  Some people simply can't deal with
it at all.  I have seen people go mad, I have seen suicides,
I have seen people develop psychosis, but many people pull
through just fine.  Let me share something with you--back in
the beginning, after the Third World War on our Earth, the
original Detians were nonconformist college students."  He
grinned.  "And we came through just fine."
     "Since he's infected with the virus he won't age,
right?"
     "That is correct.  He will remain 21 forever, unless he
wishes to age.  He can wish to...if he so desires he can age
at a normal rate.  Of course, he can always age backwards at
the same rate until he's 21 again.  He can die of old age if
he so desires."
     "So he can remain young forever," Yuri said, staring at
nothing, a sadness in her voice.
     "What troubles you, my dear?"
     "I've just been thinking.  You saved him from death, and
now I'll be the one to die first.  Ironic."
     "You are troubled by this?"
     "Well, yes, I guess so.  I mean what happens when I get
old and he is still young?  Or even if he ages with me, he
can always go back.  Will he still want me?  I can't ask him
to die for me and I don't want him to have to go through life
waiting for the day that I'll die."
     "Highlander syndrome," Edison mumbled.
     "What was that?"
     "Oh, nothing.  I was just thinking.  If he really does
love you he will stand by you.  Of course there is another
alternative."
     "Really?  What do you have in mind?"
     "You can accept the Omega-2 virus yourself."
     "I... I don't know.  Would I have to die first?"
     "No, of course not.  I can inject you at any time."
     "What's it like?  I mean being infected by the virus."
     "It's not too bad.  At first you may feel a little ill,
slight fever, et cetera.  But you will begin to feel better
than you ever had before.  All of the changes take place on
the genetic level, so you won't notice much of anything,
until the genetic changes begin reworking your metabolic
processes--and your body seems to be in good enough condition
that it won't have to do much in that department."
     "I'm not sure.  Can I think it over?"
     "Sure.  Take your time.  Big decisions shouldn't be
rushed."
     "Ok.  I guess I'll talk to you later."
     "It's always a pleasure."
     With that Yuri left Edison and returned to her room.
She had a lot of thinking to do.

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