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“There is no open passage for his lungs to take in air, but his blood is fully oxygenated,” said the voice. “This is the parasite called ‘facemask’ and it is irrevocably attached to your friend Loaf. It has already penetrated his brain so deeply that it cannot be extracted without causing seizures and death. But it has taken over oxygenation. Your friend will not die.”
Rigg was tempted to say, “Kill them both,” because he believed that was what Loaf would want.
But Loaf’s life did not belong to Rigg; nor did it belong entirely to Loaf. It belonged in part to Leaky, and if she were in the room, Rigg doubted that she would decide so quickly that Loaf’s life should end here and now.
“If Loaf were to die,” Rigg asked, “what would the facemask do?”
“Transfer to another host, if one could be found quickly enough, or it would die.”
“You’re familiar with this parasite?” asked Rigg.
“The expendable has been breeding them for a hundred thousand generations. This is type Jonah 7 sample 490.”
“What was the expendable breeding for?”
“I don’t know.”
Wrong question. “What are the traits of this facemask type that makes it different from other facemask types?”
“The Jonah strain has been the expendable’s sole focus for eight thousand years. Type Jonah 7 emerged more than three thousand years ago. This type differed from the rejected types by being able to reach adulthood without a host, by being exceptionally quick to attach to the host, by being prepared to recognize and bond closely with a human brain, by being ready to co-metabolize with human blood of any type, and by bonding with higher-function parts of the brain, as well as the brain root and spinal column.”
Rigg tried to think these things through. Vadesh believed that symbiosis between facemasks and humans was good, but he had also talked about the facemasks working for instead of against civilized behavior.
“7-B-B-5-5,” said Rigg. “Prediction. What will happen to Loaf if this facemask remains attached to him?”
“He will survive.”
“Beyond that?”
“Jonah-type facemasks have never been tested on humans. There is no data.”
“And you don’t know how Vadesh expected this to turn out?”
“Vadesh is dead,” said the voice.
Rigg looked at the expendable. “He can’t die. Can he?”
“You call the expendable Vadesh. He cannot die.”
“So whom did you mean when you said Vadesh is dead?”
“The founder of this colony. The expendables call each other by the name of the wallfold. This is Vadeshfold. Now I understand you. No, I do not know Vadesh’s expectations. He used us for storing data but not for analysis beyond a primitive level. He did not discuss or share his thinking with us.”
“Will Loaf be safe if I leave him here?”
“He will need nutrition within a few hours. Would you like me to supply nutrition?”
“Yes,” said Rigg.
“Waste elimination as well?”
When Rigg said yes, arms began to attach devices to Loaf’s body.
“Can you keep this expendable here, immobile?”
“Yes.”
&nbs
