So whoever designed them was what? A psychopath?
No, that disorder was wiped out from our genome before we discovered interstellar travel.
<<With reference to the Kurtherian records available I must rate the probability as below .001%. There is always the chance, however small, of a random mutation replicating that effect.>>
TOM hesitated before he replied. You think we didn’t check for such and repair them when we found them?
<<All I am saying is without further data we can only reach three conclusions. One, there was a Kurtherian of an older Era on this planet. Two, he modified the nanites of the group that changed the Wechselbalg for his own, unknown, purposes. Three, as a consequence of Janna’s actions in saving Boris we may need to take measures to enable her to survive and leave the stasis we have her in.>>
We’ll top off her etheric energy in the Pod, but we need to get her out of the pod for some time.
Well, why do you need to talk to me?
There was resounding silence for a moment.
Oh, right. You need my hands. And she needs to get some food in her. How long to go?
An hour or so would be my best guess before she can be removed. Her transformation, as I said, was very aggressive. She will need food and time before I feel safe putting her back in to make sure no permanent damage was done and re-key her nanites to her new DNA. ADAM and I will spend some of that time making sure there are no more hidden protocols in their programming. We will want to put Boris in to ameliorate the aggressiveness on his nanites after we fix the programming.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Mess Hall, TQB Base, Australia
Dan had gone off to report to the base guards and make sure that their prisoners were secure. Boris was hungry.
He always was after being shot.
Dan gave him directions to the mess area on the upper levels, so Boris found the room and served himself a large tray to start. There were some sidelong glances from the Were Guardians in the area at the large serving of vegetables.
None of them commented, however. He neither knew nor cared if it was due to comments about his sparring, or his allegiance to Bethany Anne. Right now, with his hunger he was just happy to have the food without any smirks to irritate him from the normally protein heavy group.
There was no-one he really knew in the mess. He sat down and started eating, enjoying the food. It was better than he had expected from a mass production-style setting like this.
The Stroganoff was excellent, although it could have done with some smoked paprika for his taste. Most of the conversation that he could overhear was centered around the recent unpleasantness in China. Boris had nothing to add, so he sat by himself at a table in the corner.
After about ten minutes Dan walked in with a small computer with speakers. He placed it on the table and went to get a tray of food for himself. When he sat down, he said “We need to talk, Boris. Janna is fine but what happened to her was unexpected and… unpleasant. How many times have you tried to heal or change someone with your blood before?”
Boris blinked, confusion clear on his face, stress in his voice. His accent thickened as he said. “Vat do you mean? I have neever tried to change anyvone. My mother taught me that unlike other Veres, ve had to be born. And no-vone ever told me that Veres could change another by blood. I assumed it vas by bite, vampires by blood, like de myths, da?”
Then a look of guilt formed on his face and his voice became filled with pain and guilt-ridden. “Do you mean dat vhat she did to save me, the blood she vas covered in, nearly killed her?”
Dan winced. If he had realized that Boris didn’t know these things he would have approached the entire topic differently. Cursing himself, he put a hand on Boris’s shoulder. “Look, Boris. If you didn’t know. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. You couldn’t have even warned her. But TOM needs to explain the details to you.”
Dan’s explanation didn’t seem to help Boris. He sat in a miserable crouch, the food he had been enjoying were now ashes in his mouth. When he talked about his past love he looked like someone was poking a bruise.
Now he had the posture of someone with a dull spoon sawing through his guts.
TOM’s voice came through the speaker. “I am far more at fault than you are Boris. ADAM and I did a quick and dirty analysis of the nanites in your blood when we put you in the medipod for the first time. We missed critical details in the differences in both the nature and programming of your nanites that would have become evident in a more detailed analysis. We assigned that project a low priority until Janna came into our care. We missed many details, like how aggressively your nanites would hook into and transform a new host.”
“However, even if you had the standard Wechselbalg nanites, it has become evident to me that not all Weres understand the danger of trying to change someone. Unlike with vampires, an unsuccessful termination does not create an unintelligent walking… appetite.” TOM’s voice took on clear discomfort talking about the unintended consequences of his transformation of Michael. “However, they will kill the new host if they are not genetically compatible with their programming.”
By this point, the room had gone quiet as the dining Weres listened to this revelation. They knew that many didn’t survive an attempted change, but the ‘why’ was new to them. Tom continued, “As those nanites were not initially keyed as precisely as Michael’s, they have a wider tolerance, but a significant majority of the population cannot tolerate them. All Weres need to be careful — or very desperate — when they try and change someone.”
Unnoticed to Boris, Bethany Anne and Janna had entered the room. Boris turned when Janna laid a gentle hand on his cheek.
Janna spoke softly from behind him, “Boris, it is not your fault. Besides, the operation in Russia needs you. I would gladly have died to save you if that is the price for taking out the NVG root and branch. I did not pay that price. Do not have guilt for might have been. It is a waste of time and effort.” His guilt lessened at her words. Then he noticed the looks of concern on many of the faces in the mess. He turned and viewed her and all his guilt returned.
The only people he had seen that were definitively in worse shape than her had been those who had barely survived the concentration camps and gulags of World War Two.
“Moya prekrasnaya odna, what have I done…” He whispered so softly that most likely only Janna and Bethany Anne heard.
She put a finger against his mouth, smelling him with her enhanced senses for the first time. He smelled wonderful. A mix of forests and damp earth filled her senses. “Not your fault. It is no-one’s fault, Boris. It is over. I survived. I will be better soon.” She tilted her head and gave him a slight smile “Although I am famished.”
TOM interjected from the computer speakers, “I would like to have you in the medipod after Janna has been put through the second round in the medipod to finish fixing her nanites programing. We can modify the programming in your nanites to make them less dangerous. They are overly aggressive in how they change a new host. We can make them less so.”