OIC (15)
MegaZone23
"To be, or not to be? That is the question."
--Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
"Excuse me?" asked Zoner, blinking a couple of times at
this odd gentleman.
"Let me get right to it, MegaZone, and save us all the
pain in the ass of kicking around the subject. In order to
save your life--or rather, reclaim it--I injected into your
system the very essence of my race, the Detians--Omega-2. A
retro-virus so powerful few in the universe have even heard
of it. It did the job quite nicely; drew you back across the
line and anchored you firmly in the here and now. Perhaps
too firmly." Noting Zoner's still-puzzled expression, he
went on, "You still don't understand, do you? Simply put,
you are now immortal."
"Immortal?!" Zoner sat bolt upright in his hospital bed,
flinging off the sheet. "What the fuck do you mean,
immortal?!"
"I was afraid of this," Edison muttered to himself.
"You cannot die, Bikowicz--accept it."
"Never? What the hell is going on? Did I wake up to a
bad Highlander remake or something?"
"Oh, calm down--if you really feel it necessary to end
your life, yes, there are ways. Make this entire exercise a
waste of my time and resources, go ahead. Let yourself age
and die like some ephemeral fool. Or stay, live, enjoy life
to its fullest extent forever, the woman you love at your
side and the entire universe for your playground. You
decide," said Edison, and left the room.
"What the fuck is going on? Who is this guy and why is
he trying to guilt trip me. And... Wait a second, rewind
that--what was that about the woman I love at my side?" Zoner
called after him.
"I wasn't going to leave you behind, all alone in the
world," Yuri told him, putting an arm around his shoulders.
"You too? You mean you're immortal too? Yuri, you
shouldn't've--"
"What? You don't want to share the rest of time with
me?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant. I want to be with you
forever, but--"
"Look at him," Gryphon muttered to Kei under his breath,
but he was angry enough that everyone in the room could hear
it. "Fuckin' ingrate." He turned on his heel and stormed
out of the room.
"Ben, come back," Kei called after him. With a quick
and perfunctory--and rather cool--"Welcome back, Zoner," she
went after him.
"Ben, what's gotten into you? You've never been this
mean to Zoner, not even at the worst times. What's wrong?"
"He's being his usual sensitive self, that's all," Ben
replied through his teeth. "He's put Yuri through hell, and
now all he can think of is his own pathetic deathwish."
"That isn't true! He's concerned that Yuri had this
done to her--"
"--'cause he's just gonna leave her behind," Gryphon
finished. "You watch--he's gonna go find some active volcano
or blast furnace or something and, with a huge amount of pomp
and circumstance, and probably Pink Floyd blasting in the
background, do himself in."
"You don't know that."
"Oh yes I do. He's gonna make good and damn sure he's
wrecked everything, smashed it all up, then leave it all
behind and you and me to pick up the pieces."
"Well if it helps you any I've made my decision."
"What decision?"
"I'm going to do the same as Yuri."
"Why? A while ago you didn't want to."
"I'm afraid for the future, okay? That isn't a crime.
I want to be able to spend longer with you than our little
human lives can give us--and I want to be able to stay with
Yuri. Besides--maybe if there are more of us around him like
that, Zoner won't be quite so keen on bailing out of life
again."
"That's a possibility...I hadn't thought of that."
Gryphon gave a sigh, squared his shoulders, and said, "Fine.
Let's go get this over with, before I change my mind. And if
I haven't told you lately--I love you."
Kei just smiled and gently squeezed his hand as they
walked.
"What do you mean, you want it too? Good Lord, I have
better things to do than go around making young lovers
immortal for a lark! Do you know the severity of this crime
in the Detian culture? It's worse than a capital crime."
"What do you care, Bell?" Gryphon asked. "You're an
anarchist. I can tell just by looking at you.
Unconventional, masterless and irrepressible. That's the
whole reason you're with Wolfgang and company at all--they're
just like you. We're just like you. The Detian government
is too restrictive--so you ditched and you'll do whatever you
damn well please. Besides, even if you did care about it,
you've already done it twice here, and who knows how many
times elsewhere--the hole you've dug yourself can't get any
deeper. Now fork over."
Edison was silent for a moment; then a smile spread
across his face. "I like you," he said, slapping Gryphon's
shoulder. "Just a second while I ready the equipment."
Within moments, everything was ready. Edison slotted a
vial, dialed an appropriate dosage, and, without pausing or
hesitating, shot Gryphon's arm. Then he turned to Kei and,
noting the set of her jaw and the determined narrowing of her
deep brown eyes, did the same to her. These two weren't
waffling about it, that was for sure.
"It's done," he said calmly, replacing his equipment
once more, "and I want you to know something."
"What?"
"I wish you luck. Few relationships can stand the test
of immortality. I didn't want to warn Yuri about this,
simply because she was so overwrought as it was--but I feel
you should know, and eventually you must warn her. I can
only think of two or three, among the entire Detian
civilization, that survived into 413...and mine was not among
them. I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but facts are
facts and you have a right to know."
"Thank you for expressing your concern," said Kei, "but
somehow, I think we'll manage." She squeezed Gryphon's
shoulders.
"Somehow, I think you just may," said Edison with a
smile. "In any event, I wish you the best of luck. All of
you."
"You realize it won't end with us," Gryphon warned. "As
soon as the word spreads--and it will, soon enough--more
people will be coming to you. Possibly the entire Wedge
Defense Force."
"I know," Edison replied. "And as long as they can
convince me they have a good reason, I have no problems with
administering to them either. I've been around long enough
to know how people think pretty well...and unless I miss my
guess, Jenna and Matt will be next, followed quickly by your
chief engineer and the pilots of your Veritech squadron...and
so on, and so on..." Edison sighed. "No rest for the
weary." He smiled. "Go on, go to your captain and tell him
he's no longer quite so alone...it'll cheer him up."
"Ben! Kei! There you are," Yuri called as she met them
in the hallways. "I've been looking for you. Zoner wants to
know why you're so upset."
"He would," said Gryphon with a sardonic grin. "Mr.
Perception, that's Zoner. We were just on our way to see
him...got some news that may cheer him up."
"What might that be?"
"Well," said Kei with a smile, "we've just been to see
Edison, you see..."
"Oh, Kei, you haven't!" Kei nodded. "That's wonderful!
I never wanted to lose you either, you know," said Yuri as
she embraced her partner. She smiled sarcastically. "Where
would I find a partner with your shot-to-kill ratio again?"
"Don't get all mushy on me," Kei said with matching
sarcasm. "I'm glad we'll be together too."
"Hey, what about me, don't I get a hug?" Gryphon said
with mock woundedness. "It was my idea."
"Your idea? Ha! I had to practically drag you down
there."
"Don't argue, you two--oh, Ben, don't be that way, I'm
happy I won't have to lose you, too," Yuri cut them off,
hugging Ben as well.
"We weren't arguing...were we?"
"I don't think so..."
"Come in," said Zoner when the door to his private
recovery room chimed. The door hissed open and in walked
Trouble Investigation Consultant Team #261 and the commander
of Veritech Fighter Squadron VVF-261 (Eight-Ball). And they
were all--lo and behold--smiling.
"So hey," said Gryphon, "feel any different? I don't."
"No not really. But... Wait a minute. What the hell do
you mean `I don't'? You too? And I suppose Kei too?"
"Something like that," Ben replied. "Basically, Yuri
did it so she wouldn't have to leave you, and Kei did it so
she wouldn't have to leave Yuri, and I did it so I wouldn't
have to leave Kei, or Yuri, or--horror of horrors--let you
outlive me. And now we figure Jenna will do it, so she can
stay with us longer, and Matt will do it so he can stay with
Jenna, and ReRob will do it so he can stay with us, and the
other pilots from my squadron, and so on, and so on..."
"You mean--"
"By the end of the week, I figure the whole WDF will be
immortal."
Of course, rumors spread like wildfire through the Wedge
Defense Force about this strange man from out of time and his
immortality formula. No official word had been released, of
course--that would wait until Zoner was recovered enough to
resume his duties, and formally took command back from
Gryphon. That didn't stop people from talking, though. Nor
seeking out Edison to be treated on their own.
Gryphon's prediction was right; by the end of the week,
almost the entire Wedge Defense Force was Detian. No one
really knew who was and who wasn't; most had vague ideas, or
assumed, but no one really knew, nor really figured it was
any of their business.
(Most of those who would've opted to remain mortal had
gotten off back on Earth; if the whole space defense force
routine had been a bit much for them, immortality? Not.)
On Friday, MegaZone formally took command of the Wedge
Defense Force back from Gryphon, and immediately, the two of
them went into conference with Lord Fahrvergnugen.