Division Zero: Thrall by Matthew S. Cox

Author:Matthew S. Cox [Cox, Matthew S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781620077269
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Published: 2015-03-29T07:00:00+00:00

irsten leaned on the edge of the hospital-sized comforgel slab, holding Brooke’s hand. The head of the bed angled up, and a teal blanket covered the girl to the armpits. People came and went past the door. For almost an hour, she sat in silence and watched blurs of color go by while listening to the distant din of the hospital. Voices, both real and AI, occasionally came over a PA system to summon a doctor or medical technician to one crisis or another.

Brooke twitched in her sleep once or twice over the hour, raising false hope. Kirsten slumped back in the chair, attempting to manage her feelings of guilt for leaving Evan at Nila’s overnight yet again. She toyed with the idea of taking a day off and spending it with him, but with a one-week deadline to prevent an assassination, she could not. Kirsten did not want to burden him with the weight of what hung over her head; the simple explanation of trying to prevent someone from dying was enough. Evan did not need to know the police would cause the death.

Brooke moaned in her sleep and opened her eyes. She convulsed, and sat upright with a feral gleam in her eye. Kirsten leaned over and put her right hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Hey, calm down. I’m here, you’re safe.”

The girl lunged for the side of the bed; Kirsten held her down. Weak from the surgery and with no Lace in her system, the task was a simple one.

After a futile effort to get away, Brooke flopped limp. Kirsten gathered her hand once more, earning an accusatory frown. The girl stared at the ceiling for a moment, and raised her left hand. It fell on her chest, then slid up into her chin, popped up straight, and finally came down on her face where she wiped her eyes.

“What the hell is wrong with me?”

“Apparently, Lace withdrawal can cause violent flashbacks for the first few hours. You can break your arm or leg from flailing around. They gave you something to protect you against that. Even if you have a seizure, your muscles shouldn’t have the strength to do damage.”

“Let me go. I didn’t do anything.”

“Well, first of all, you’re in no condition to even get out of this bed. Right now, you’ll need help getting to the bathroom.”

Brooke blushed.

“Secondly, you were on Lace. Right there, that warrants mandatory detox. There’s a couple officers outside who want to have a nice short chat with whoever gave it to you.”

Brooke folded her arms, frown deepening. “No one gave it to me. You can tell them to go away.”

Kirsten lifted the girl’s arm, tracing a thumb over the back of her hand as she examined a delicate wrist. “You’ve probably got Greybones. Same thing I had at your age from being out there alone. All the chemicals you’ve been walking around barefoot on, breathing, basking in… they leach at your body.”

“My bones are grey?”

“No, just brittle. It’s just called that because most sufferers live in grey zones, or worse places.

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