Gestation by John Gold (love books to read .txt) 📗

and individual sessions with patients. On the other hand, you have the constant battle of getting funding for your experiments.

“Miss Donovan, one of your wards has been hospitalized,” Moro said to the boss as soon as she walked into the office.

“Good morning to you, too, Moro. Who? What happened?”

“Anji Ganet; general psychological and physical exhaustion. The medbots have already delivered his body to the clinic.”

“That’s odd. He was healthy, no? Put me in touch with the medical staff who did the examination.”

A couple of seconds went by before a room with the boy and an avatar of a doctor appeared on a screen hovering in midair.

“Hello, Mr. Garret. I’m Eliza Donovan, psychologist in charge of Anji Ganet. What happened?”

The man in the doctor’s outfit looked at the girl for a few seconds.

“Good morning, Miss Donovan. The boy is going through exhaustion due to the constant bleeding general overexertion is causing it. The capsule established his critical condition and called the medbots, who put the boy into a medical coma.”

“What’s causing the bleeding?”

“I already told you - general overexertion of the central nervous system. He doesn’t have a neuronet, which would make figuring out the exact reason easier, especially since this rarely happens in people who don’t have a neuronet. Even now, the boy’s brain is overloaded, regardless of the fact that he’s on sedatives.”

“What’s the diagnosis?”

“We’re seeing symptoms of accelerated physiological development syndrome. That would overload the central nervous system and trigger an attack.”

“What’s he looking at, and how is that treated?”

“It isn’t. It’s a deviation at the DNA level. All we can do is work on the symptoms to make sure it isn’t life-threatening. The patient isn’t in danger now, and he’ll be hooked up to a med capsule for a couple weeks. After that, we’ll put him through a restoration course and boost a few development processes to make the boy’s life easier over the next six months. Basically, his body is going to develop too quickly.”

The doctor’s behavior seemed suspicious to Eliza.

“Aren’t you supposed to just give him medicine? His insurance doesn’t cover that kind of treatment.”

“You’re right, Miss Donovan. The most intriguing part is that we received a request from the Lunar government telling us to cover the cost of the full restoration course. I agreed. I’m a doctor, and my job is to help my patients get better. Medicine wouldn’t do as much as full treatment.”

Eliza had to wonder who the sponsor was.

“That’s very odd.”

“Agreed. This happens very rarely. In general, they only finance tech studies. This is the first time I’ve heard of them paying for an orphan.”

Nothing fit with the general policy in Lunar.

“I have a request. When the boy’s condition stabilizes, can you give me permission to chat with him in a personal virtual space? I want to ask him something.”

“What about his supervisor?”

“I’ll talk with him.”

∞ ∞ ∞

It’s a funny feeling when you’re falling into the game, you don’t know where from, and then the capsule forces a shutdown. All of a sudden, you’re in the psychologist’s office.

“Anji, how could you let that happen? Letting things get so bloody!”

“What, did I kill someone?”

“You should’ve seen how much blood there was! The whole corridor was filled with it. The kids are in shock.”

“…”

I’d never liked Vaalsie, but I wasn’t going to kill him.

“They had to take you to the hospital! When they pulled you out of the capsule, there was blood pouring out your nose, your ears, and even your eyes. Your brain needed a break, so you’re going to spend the next two weeks in the hospital. You’re already there, actually.”

The perplexed look on my face says more than words ever could.

I’m no whackjob, so how did I become a fountain of blood they had to take to the hospital and then send for the psychologist?

“Accelerated body development syndrome. You’re going to live, and you can read about the rest yourself.” I nod. For the time being, it’s better to get along. “You’re going to spend the next two weeks in the game, though you have to make sure you don’t overload your nervous system while you’re in there. The resources it has should be enough for you to get back on your feet. As soon as your body tells the capsule that you’ve had enough, they’ll cut you off, put you to sleep, and then drop you back in. Okay?”

I nod again.

“Anji, why won’t you talk to me? What did I ever do to you?”

I look at her like she’s some kind of idiot. First, she pulls her tricks, and now she wants to talk with her?

“I remember our last conversation. You told me how much you hate women, though I still don’t understand why you won’t talk with me now. You spoke in the space port, no? And I can’t have anything to do with why you have a hard time with girls.”

I point at my ear.

“No, I turned off all the communication channels with the outside virtual space.”

“Because you threatened me and the ones I care about. Then, you told the other kids that I can talk, and that created a whole lot of problems for me.”

I see the joy of victory in Eliza’s eyes, and the happy smile on her face turns her into a very beautiful girl.

“What if I didn’t tell them?”

“You created a situation that hurt me, whether you meant to or not.”

“And that’s why you don’t want to talk with me?”

I switch off my sound. She wants to say that “that” was nothing. I’m good at reading people, and the virtual space lets me identify their emotions. Instead of listening, I start reading her work. Eliza is smart and a good psychologist, though I’m not prepared to give anyone the time of day if they think I should just forgive their mistakes. We’re never going to work together.

∞ ∞ ∞

Victory! Regardless of how the conversation ended, Eliza was satisfied that the boy had opened his mouth. The first time, she’d made the mistake of talking with him in