Honor System (The System Series Book 4) Read online

  I squeeze my eyes shut tight and hang my head.

  Chapter Four

  Dad’s been silent for the last hour. The only way I know he’s still here is that we can see his soul.

  Which has started to lose its color. The bottom third is a cloudy gray. That’s what startled Jack.

  “What about a heart transplant?” Kate suggests.

  “Even if it happened fast enough, which it won’t, I don’t think it will work,” I say. “I’ve already grown fresh arteries, and they won’t connect to Dad’s body. No.”

  “Maybe a blood transfusion will help,” Kenneth says. “Even if it’s not Tyrion’s concocted blood. Maybe your father just needs a fresh start.”

  “I could try re-building his bone marrow,” I say. “At least it couldn’t hurt.”

  The front door opens and Tyrion comes back in. He stuffs his phone in his pocket.

  “Any improvement?”

  I shake my head. “We’ve got nothing. I’m thinking about re-building the bone marrow.”

  He sits on the floor beside me. “Do not be angry.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “For what?”

  “I just got off the phone with Dr. Trent at the Attic. I had him ask for volunteers.”

  “For what?” I repeat.

  “The babies’ stem cells are unique,” he says. “We can use them. I will prepare everything at the Planarian Institute if Kate and Kenneth let me.”

  “No,” I say, but Kenneth pipes up.

  “I would like to be present and participate in the process,” he says.

  I look at him. “Seriously?” Kenneth meets my eye and doesn’t blink.

  I growl. “Dad wouldn’t want that. Dad, can you hear me? Help me out here.”

  I stare at his head. Dad doesn’t reply.

  “So you actually got a volunteer? I can’t believe one of these babies understands what he’s getting himself into.”

  “It is a simple procedure,” Tyrion says, “and a relatively painless one. I am just going to draw blood and take some cells. A few pricks, nothing more.”

  A few pricks. Nothing more. Can a baby consent to that? Even a Dweller baby?

  I wouldn’t do it for me, for myself. But I’m not making the choice for me. This about Dad.

  “I need to talk to Tessa.”

  Tyrion takes out his phone again.

  ***

  Kate and Kenneth left to return to the Planarian Institute and ready the lab, should I consent to Tyrion’s plan.

  Jack and Tyrion left with Em to get everyone food.

  Erica and Tessa stay to help me sort things out.

  “You have to do this, Thomas,” Erica says for the fifth time. “If the child consents, there’s no reason not to.”

  “Mom, go lie down on Thomas’s bed. Get some rest. We know where you stand,” Tessa says.

  “I can’t leave until I convince you both that this is the right thing. If there’s even a small chance that this will work, we have to do it.”

  Tessa pulls her mom across the room and whispers at her. But I can hear them.

  “You don’t understand Thomas like I do,” she says. “His moral code is everything. Harming the innocent trumps saving his dad’s life.”

  “Fuck his morals!” Erica whispers back. “The babies won’t be harmed. How can he not see that?”

  “He sees it and he’s wrestling with it. It’s like…like an adult having sex with a twelve-year-old. Can the twelve-year-old consent? Sure. But that doesn’t mean she’s mature enough to understand the repercussions.”

  “What possible negative repercussions exist here?”

  “Taking advantage of an innocent,” Tessa says. Then she sighs. “He’s waiting to talk to the baby. I’m sure of it.”

  “But Tyrion already said the baby gave his consent.”

  “Thomas has to hear it with his own ears. Please. It will be alright. Go lie down and let me talk to him.”

  Erica huffs a breath and stalks off to our bedroom.

  Tessa lowers herself to the floor beside me.

  “You heard all that?”

  I nod. “You know me.”

  “I do.”

  “Tessa, I won’t give up on my dad no matter what. But I have to do this the right way. I just…have to.”

  Tessa wraps an arm around me. “That’s why I love you.”

  Chapter Five

  I should have suspected who would have volunteered for this experiment, but I didn’t. It didn’t even occur to me.

  Tessa answers the door to Dr. Trent and a barely-older-than-newborn baby dressed in miniature green hospital scrubs. The baby’s little feet are bare, and from his perch in the crook of Dr. Trent’s arm, I can read the tattoo on the bottom of his foot: XLD495.

  He was the first baby I saw when I discovered Tyrion’s mad-doctor experiments. And he connected with me, feeling the horror I felt when I saw his plight. He asked that I be the one to raise him.

  XLD495 lifts his head, and he puts his arms out, like he wants me to take him.

  But I can’t move.

  Tessa holds out her arms instead. Dr. Trent places the baby in her tender care.

  “Are you XLD495?” she asks him.

  They communicate silently, a cool trick that all of Tyrion’s babies seem to possess.

  Trent finally looks over at me and Dad and gasps. “Is that what I think it is?” he whispers.

  “His soul,” I whisper back. “He’s hanging on by a thread.”

  “But I don’t believe in God,” he says.

  I smile at him. “Maybe you should reconsider.”

  He barks a laugh and sinks to his knees beside me. “How are his vitals?”

  “Everything’s fine as long as I’m here.”

  “And how long has that been?”

  “Five hours and twenty-seven minutes.”

  “You’ve been drinking your Dwellerade, I assume. Have you urinated?”

  “Twice,” I say. “By the end of this, I may need a diaper.”

  I look at Dad. Kenneth catheterized him, and put a diaper on. That’s why they were a bit late arriving—they stopped to pick up some Depends. I’m praying the diaper doesn’t need to be changed any time soon. Baby poop is one thing, but adult poop? And having someone wipe your ass…it’s the ultimate indignity.

  Dr. Trent smiles faintly.

  “Thomas? X would like to speak with you.”

  I look over my shoulder at Tessa. “X?”

  She smiles. “It’s his nickname until we pick a new one.”

  She sets the baby down on my other side, and he sits with no help. Dr. Trent gets up.

  “Tessa and I will be…where will we be?”

  “How about the kitchen?” she says, leading the way.

  I look down at the baby. “Hello, X. Thank you for coming. I’d give you a hug but my hand is a bit occupied.”

  Little X radiates sympathy. Thank Dr. Trent. I had no way of coming on my own.

  “I’ll do that,” I say. “So…you’re okay with helping with one of Tyrion’s experiments again?”

  He leans forward and places his hands on the couch. Then he claws his way up until he’s standing on tottering legs. He peers over the edge of the cushion at Dad.

  Families help each other. Isn’t that true?

  My eyes tear up. “You don’t have to do this to be a part of a family,” I say. “Tessa and I, we want you to be a part of our family. We’d already decided. I would never ask you to do this.”

  He turns his head to me. She told me that, too. But that’s not why I came. I knew you were family when you found me. I just knew. And this is your dad. My…grandfather?

  He looks at my hopefully. My eyes burn. I nod.

  X grins. The he turns back to Dad.

  I can help. I want to help. And it doesn’t look like he has much time.

  “What do you mean?”

  You see that his soul is losing its color, yes?

  “You mean, he’s dying.”

>   X shakes his head. He’s well-anchored and wants to live—that is not the problem. His sense of self is changing. His moral code is shifting. He’s not happy about what you’re doing, how you’re shortening your life to lengthen his. And he doesn’t want me involved, either, but he knows he doesn’t have any other choice.

  “How do you know all that?” I ask him.

  I’m reading his mind. And his feelings. And his desires and hopes. He’s not hiding anything.

  “Does he know you’re here?”

  X shakes his head. He shut off all his outward senses. He’s trying to conserve energy.

  I nod to myself. It’s comforting to know that Dad’s been silent on purpose and not because his body is shutting down further.

  “So you’re okay with this, X? I just want to make sure. You’re going to experience some pain from the procedures, and I won’t be there. I wish I could be there for you.”

  I know your thoughts and feelings, too. I know you are trying to protect me. He falls on his butt and crawls into my lap. You have the strongest feelings of anyone I’ve ever met.

  I smile down at him and rub my free hand over his back. “Sometimes they’re so strong I can’t control them. I have very set ideas about what’s right and wrong. I’m not an easy person to live with.”

  X giggles. Wait until you meet some of my brothers.

  He snuggles into me, and for the first time since Dad crashed, I feel calm. At peace. Confident in what we’re about to do.

  Then X lifts his head.

  “What is it?”

  Can you call Tyrion and tell him to return immediately?

  “He’ll be here any minute,” I say.

  Grandfather’s cells…something’s happening.

  I curse myself for taking my attention off Dad, even for a few moments. I search his body and find the issue—nerve cells in the spinal column are spilling their potassium. Without potassium, they won’t be able to send and receive signals. If nerve cells in Dad’s brain can’t relay signals…his nervous system is going to shut down.

  “Tessa!”

  Chapter Six

  “Do you think the baby will be a Dweller?”

  I stretch out my cramped legs and try to find a place to rest my elbow without crimping my nerve connections to Dad.

  “Highly likely,” I say, “since both you and Dad are.”

  Erica hands me a triangle of quesadilla. “I’m not going to live to raise this baby, am I?”

  I turn my head sharply to her. “Why would you say that?”

  “I have eight months until I die of heart failure,” she says. “That’s what Jack and Tyrion read on my soul. If my calculations are right, I’ll die in childbirth.”

  “Tessa told you?”

  Erica nods.

  “We’re saving Dad and we’ll save you,” I say. “Don’t give up.”

  “But what if we’re not meant to live? What if we’re messing with something that shouldn’t be messed with?”

  “The conclusion I’ve come to is that if God didn’t want me to use my abilities, he’d let me know. Why give me these abilities if I’m not supposed to use them? Why give Jack the ability to read our deaths in the first place?”

  “Maybe you just have a birth defect,” Erica says. “No one is born perfect. The Dweller genetics could just be some screwed-up anomaly.”

  “I don’t buy it,” I say. “My abilities have a purpose.”

  “What about a blind man? Does his lack of sight have a purpose?”

  “Sometimes accidents happen. Sometimes miracles happen. Not everything that happens is on purpose.”

  Erica looks at me hard. “So what makes you so special?”

  “That’s the question, isn’t it?” I say quietly. “Maybe I’m not special. Maybe my abilities are the result of a freak mutation and nothing more. But I can still do some good with them. I can choose how I use them.”

  “You’re assuming free will,” Erica says. “You’re assuming that saving a life is a good thing. You’re assuming you’re doing no harm. That’s a lot of assumptions.”

  “Probably not the best thing to bring up when you already know how I feel about using X to save Dad.”

  “You’re going to save your dad no matter what I say. And I do believe that’s a good thing. Your dad is worth saving.”

  “So you’re just playing devil’s advocate?”

  Erica shakes her head. “I can advocate for your dad without a twinge of guilt. But when it comes to saving my own life…I don’t know.”

  “You’re worthy, too, Erica,” I tell her.

  “But am I more worthy than someone else? Is my life worth yours? I won’t think that, Thomas. I can’t think that.”

  “It’s not me or you. I can save you, and I’ll be fine.”

  She sighs. “If this doesn’t work out, if…if your dad doesn’t make it, I’m out.”

  I narrow my eyes at her. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t want to live if he doesn’t. Don’t even try, Thomas. It’s not worth taking a portion of your life when we know the outcome.”

  “Don’t,” I say, but Erica plows on.

  “Just listen. If your dad—”

  “No!” I yell. “Dad will be fine, and you will be fine, and you’re gonna raise my little brother or sister. That’s it. We won’t know the outcome until this is over, so there’s no use talking like this.”

  “But I need to think about the future,” she says. “I need a guardianship in place. I—”

  “Why are you doing this now?” I yell. “I’ve literally got Dad’s life in my hands, and you’re throwing a ton of shit at me! Why?”

  Erica takes a hitching breath and bows her head. “I’m trying to prepare myself,” she whispers, and then her voice grows louder. “Look at him! His soul’s half gray! He’s dying, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  I reach out and squeeze her arm. “But I can.”

  Erica starts to shake. She leans her head on my shoulder and sobs.

  Chapter Seven

  It’s close to ten o’clock when everyone returns. Erica went to lie down on our bed a couple of hours ago, and I had her set up a movie on my laptop for me. For the last hour, it’s been stuck on the DVD Play screen, the theme song of Raiders of the Lost Ark looping over and over again. I love that song. It’s inspiring.

  I’ve been imagining that I’m Indiana Jones, with natives blowing darts at my head and giant boulders tumbling after me, that I have to pick the right stones to step on so a gaping hole in the earth doesn’t swallow me up.

  It’s an apt analogy, I think. Dad’s body is like a booby-trapped, treasure-filled cave. I have to navigate it, avoid the traps, and discover the gold. Problem is, there isn’t any gold yet.

  I’m the one who has to hide the gold.

  Tessa enters the house first with X asleep on her shoulder.

  “Hanging in there?” she asks. She can’t lean down to me, and I can’t get up to meet her, so I rub her leg.

  “Yeah. I’m ready.”

  “I’m gonna put X down. Is Mom asleep?”

  I nod.

  Tessa heads to our bedroom. Jack follows her, Emmaleth tucked under her chin.

  Dr. Trent comes over with a stethoscope and a portable blood pressure machine.

  “Time to start monitoring you,” he says. He sets to work on me.

  “I’m fine,” I say. “Tired, but fine.”

  “Tired is the first sign of heart failure,” he says. “You’re the priority here.”

  I don’t argue. I’d happily give my life for Dad’s, but if something happens to me, Dad’s a goner.

  “You need anything?” Trent asks.

  “A burger and fries sound good,” I say.

  He smiles. “Tyrion says this will take ten hours, so it’ll be over by dawn. I’ll buy the pancakes and bacon.”

  My mouth waters. “I’m holding you to that.”

  ***

  They set up an IV to keep me hydrated.<
br />
  Dr. Trent takes blood samples from me. Kate is standing by at Planarian to receive the samples and run them every hour. Tessa will make the runs back and forth.

  Erica, awake now but holed up in our bedroom, is on baby duty.

  Trent is monitoring me, and Tyrion and Kenneth will help monitor Dad and the procedure.

  I’m gonna do what I do.

  They set up another IV, this one for Dad. Tyrion managed to create a pint of his DNA-dosed blood. Dad’s body will take in the blood, and it’s my job to distribute it properly, get the new DNA infused in the existing heart cells, repair the heart, and then clone the blood cells millions of times until they replace Dad’s existing blood cells. At that point, the blood will do the rest of the work on its own, integrating the new DNA into every cell in Dad’s body.

  There’s more to it, but I’m too damn tired to parse it out now. I know what needs to be done. Now I just have to muster the energy to do it.

  “The blood’s flowing,” Kenneth says. “Let us know when you pick it up.”

  I close my eyes. I tune in to Dad’s body and search for the foreign cells.

  “Got them,” I say. “Coming in slow.”

  “Why slow?” Kenneth asks.

  “Dad lowered his own heart rate,” I say. “He’s trying to conserve energy. And until I’ve got a handle on things, we’ll let it go slow.”

  I corral the new blood cells and whisk them off to Dad’s heart. I let them go in one of the damaged arteries, and the cells of the artery soak up the DNA. It’s fascinating to watch, or feel. Of course, I’m not actually watching it happen, but since I’m tuned in to every cell, I can feel the DNA absorption, I can sense the change in each cell. The DNA integrates with little effort.

  I remember my first few trials at genetic engineering. Getting new DNA into existing cells was virtually impossible, with something like a 4% attrition rate even with the best viruses ever developed. To see it happening now, so easily, so smoothly, brings tears to my eyes.

  Tyrion’s done something magical.

  Once I’ve got the artery cells fully upgraded, I flood them with Protein T and start repairs. Blood begins to flow through the artery. I hold my breath, waiting for cells to dissolve or to start their quivering again.