Void Black Shadow by Corey J. White

Author:Corey J. White
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

CHAPTER TWELVE

They fabricate another collar. Once it’s around my neck, four guards escort me to the clinic, which is pointless overkill now that I know Mookie’s at risk. I guess they don’t know he’s the only reason I’m here.

A wide swathe of blood covers the front of my tunic, the wet fabric sticking to me like a second skin.

As we enter one of the examination rooms, the autodoc stationed inside comes to life. It takes a couple of goes to scan my retina past my swelling eye sockets. It shines a light from one of its fingertips into my left eye, then the right. It orders me to stand while it watches me with its lenses clicking quietly, before telling me to sit.

The autodoc’s fingers are cold and hard as it pinches my nose. Its hand actuators whir for a short moment, then it snaps my nose back into place with a shock of pain and a burst of speckled white across my vision.

It sprays antiseptic on my wounds without bothering to warn me. The spray stings in my eyes only slightly less than in the splits across my lip and the bridge of my nose.

“Apply ice to minimize swelling,” it says, synthesized voice too bright for these circumstances.

Yeah, I’m sure the guards are prepping an ice pack for me right now.

“These painkillers and antibiotics will help with the healing process.” The autodoc’s arm folds backward at the elbow. Segments of the forearm’s shell split apart, leaving an empty hollow wide enough for a person to fit their arm inside. I shift back from the autodoc, but a guard is there. She pushes me forward and keeps a hand on the back of my neck.

I sigh, and slide my left arm into the gap. The mechanism in the autodoc’s upper arm ticks and whirs, then three needles emerge. Green light stripes across my arm and I turn my head just as the needles plunge into my skin. I chew the inside of my cheek to stop myself from making noise.

I pull my arm free and the autodoc turns away, apparently done. I stand and pitch to one side, then right myself. The guard shifts her hand from my neck to my arm, the android’s metal fingers pressing into the fresh puncture wounds.

The painkillers kick in and the various stinging and aching parts of my face fade as the guard leads me from the clinic.

* * *

“Strip.”

We’re in a small tiled room with a drain in the floor, but no showerheads or taps on the wall. The envoy blocks the exit.

There’s a squick as my bloodstained tunic comes away from my skin, and a wet slap when I drop it to the floor. I take off my bra next, then peel off my pants and underwear together.

The guard crosses the room and kicks the discarded clothes aside.

She walks back to the door and thumps one of the tiles. It swings open, revealing a coiled length of bright-blue hose. Before I can speak she sprays me in the face.

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