Page 19 of Anarchy Missing

“Talked about what?” I ask.

Lincoln clears his throat. “Look, Case,” he starts. “We think the jellyfish enzymes might’ve fucked with something.”

“Fucked with what?” My heart is beating fast all of a sudden. Because even though I know something is wrong, I don’t want things to be wrong. I just want it all to go away.

“It doesn’t matter. What matters,” Thomas says, “is that we get a handle on it as soon as possible.”

“So how do we do that?” I ask. “Sheila says—”

“Sheila says her instruments aren’t sensitive enough,” Linc interrupts. “She wants to inject you with nanites.”

“Nanites? What the fuck are they?”

“Microscopic computers,” Linc answers. “Injected in your blood. They travel through your whole body and a few hours later they start sending signals back.”

“You assholes want to inject me with computers? No fucking way. I’m not getting turned into some crazy cyborg like you.”

“They degrade after three weeks,” Thomas offers. “Disappear, like they were never there.”

I open my mouth to say no, but Lincoln beats me to it. “Look, Case. We need to know everything. What’s happening with you? You look like total shit. You’ve been acting weird for months, and to be honest, I’m starting to get really worried about you, man. We need to figure this out.”

I start pacing back and forth in front of the jellyfish tank. This is the huge one. The big blobs light up through bioluminescence. “What kind of jellyfish are these?” I ask.

“Just comb jellies,” Linc says, walking up beside me. “Why?”

“What do you use them for?”

“They have special cells.”

“Special how?” I ask.

“Who cares?” Thomas interrupts. “We’re not taking no for an answer, Case. You’re getting the nanites.”

“Special how?” I repeat, this time only looking at Lincoln.

“They can transform,” Lincoln says. I stare blankly at him. “Into other kinds of cells. That’s how I made all these changes.” He pans a hand down his body. You can’t see Lincoln’s changes with his clothes on. But they are clearly visible when he’s undressed. He has ports in his arms and legs that can power specially-made weapons. And he’s got that light inside him. And heat too. He’s wearing gloves right now, as he usually does. And this hides the vents in his palms where the heat and light escape.

I look at my own palms. They don’t glow, but they are hot. Even now, they are very hot.

Lincoln notices and takes my hand in his, pressing our palms together. “Shit,” he says. “You’re burning up, Case.”

“Sheila says I’m not.”

We just stare at each other.

“What’s going on?” Thomas asks.

“Maybe you just need some vents?” Linc says. “Like me?”

“Why would I need vents, Lincoln? If all you did was boost my healing capacity?”

“What the fuck are you two talking about?” Thomas is getting pissed.

I don’t know much about what Lincoln has been doing down here all these years, but I definitely know more than Thomas. He was missing for most of that.

“Maybe you had… a bad reaction?” Lincoln asks me.

“Would one of you assholes please fill me in?” Thomas snaps.