Lactose Threshold
by Peter Marinsek
Never before had the hospital linen felt so rough or the pillow felt so hard as today. Felicia wasn’t a stranger to the sterile environment of hospitals, to the poor bedside manner of overworked nurses or to the dismissiveness of doctors, who rifled through charts, ordered treatment, then hurried off to fight the next fire.
Her illness wasn’t pleasant. Her skin had cracked, her muscles degenerated to near infant level. She wasn’t much more than a walking skeleton. No wonder even Paul, her husband, didn’t come all that often. But he did come, thank Juno. If not to visit her, he visited Ronny, their child in vitro, now maturing in the incubation pod next to her bed.
Today was the day Ronny matured. The nurses and doctors said he was healthy and that made Felicia’s day that much worse. Treating her illness cost her and Paul everything they had, and they were almost sent to Mars, to the terraforming colonies to work off their debt.
No one came back from the planet Mars, that lifeless rock of hopelessness and death. No one.
The doctor from Paul’s corporation came to her a few days ago and told her of how special her child was going to be. That he was the only boy in the entire Occupied Peacedom that possessed incredible lactose threshold and had one of the strongest hearts he had ever seen. Felicia was thrilled. At least her boy would grow up strong when the caseworkers took him. But the doctor gave Felicia an alternative, that would give Ronny a chance at a good life, and save both her and Paul from slavery.
The Corporation wanted to buy Ronny. They offered an incredible amount of money. She and Paul could buy a house outside of the slum after paying off her medical debt. Felicia would have the means to do what no one in her family could. She would live past the age of twenty-five.
But now that the day had come and the contract had been signed, Felicia wasn’t all that sure that life without Ronny was worth living.
The curtain around her bed whirled and six doctors appeared from behind it, Paul standing in the middle. They looked like a gorgon, their stares cold as stone and unforgiving, their intent emotionless and uncaring.
Felicia had asked what they wanted to do with Ronny, but the lawyer said it was on a need-to-know basis and that she wasn’t on the list. She tried to negotiate visiting rights or status checks or even an occasional postcard, but The Corporation wouldn’t budge. Ronny would be theirs, entirely.
Now that the moment had come, Felicia wanted to scream and fight, but her voice caught. She watched with horror as one of the doctors lifted the lid of the incubation pod, and took a laser-scalpel to cut the umbilical cord.
Next came a nurse to wipe the amniotic fluid off Ronny. She held him to her breast and cooed at him as he gurgled. Ronny, it seemed, was fine.
Felicia, her voice still buried deep in the six hells of despair, stuck out her arms, but received only disapproving looks from everyone around her.
“No honey,” said Paul, as he sat on edge of her bed, “it has to be a clean break, or you could cause damage to his genes. You know that he’s going to undergo gene therapy, and experiencing emotions can harm the procedure. Just look away.”
But Felicia couldn’t, wouldn’t. She watched through tear-filled eyes, as the nurse carrying Ronny turned away from her, and gave Ronny to a fat little doctor dressed in black. She cursed her to Tartarus, for not letting her hold Ronny.
Looking back, if only the lawyer didn’t come when she was weakest, when her mind was plagued by misfortunate and despair. She’d say no then. She would defy him and The Corporation, for the heartless assholes that they were. At least that’s what she told herself.
Paul wrapped his arms around her and said, “It’s ok now, let go. Let it all out.”
Felicia shot daggers at Paul, then started to scream. The Ward was full to the brim, with patients lying on cots in every nook and cranny, but as Felica’s cry reached a crescendo, everyone stopped in their tracks.
A mother’s fury was something primal, a howl straight from Mars himself. No one said anything in the next few minutes. No one even moved. They were all victims of The Corporation in there.
#
Time, as they say, heals all wounds. But they never say how scarred the wound can get, how deep it can go, how it aches.
After receiving the funds, Felicia got better, fast, and then she began to carve out a life for herself. In the following seventeen years she even reconciled with Paul. The latter was hard, and for a while, seemed impossible. It got to the point when they had to invoke a moratorium for one year. A desperate plea to save their marriage.
It worked, but only just.
Paul almost lost himself to nanohol, an alcoholic beverage, laced with tiny robots that stimulated the nervous system. He mourned Ronny in his own way.
Wednesday afternoon was their time together. Felicia would make something to eat, while Paul cleaned the house. After, they sat in the holoroom and watched some shows. Felicia was looking forward to spending some time with Paul – he got a job at The Corporation and had been working overtime to catch up to the other shift managers. A promotion he called it. Felicia didn’t see it that way. Nothing pertaining to The Corporation was good.
It was Paul’s turn to choose what they watch, and lately he’s been following the Mechletes. Felicia didn’t like it that much. They way those athletes disfigured themselves, to meld with their machine, was appalling. Perhaps today he’ll choose something they both liked.
Paul sat down, grabbed the popcorn from Felicia’s lap and said, “Holo on, channel seven, volume thirty. Focus on the relay race, third person view.”
Guess not, Felicia thought.
The holo viewer whirled, a mesh of light and sparks and sound, until a picture formed in front of them. Suddenly, their small four-by-four room expanded to an arena, and they were hovering over the athletes.”
The announcer’s voice came from all sides, “What do you think Mitch, can Hex pull it off? His team has the best implants on the field, but only he has the talent and the body capable of pushing to the Ephemeral level of his bionics.”
“Hard to say Josh. He’s been pushing his body a lot lately. Not sure if he can keep it up. Not sure if he should. Look, the medics are already standing by and I think that’s a stimulus they just injected him with. Those things are nothing to joke about, believe you me. Having the nano’s run inside of you, mending cells and delivering energy, then dying in your veins, cluttering them, really takes it out of your body. Sure, you can go and purge your blood of the little suckers, but there’s a limit of how much a body can take.”
“I hear you Mitch. Let’s take a look at Hex’s bionics.”
The holo changed to a schematic, displaying metallic legs and arms. At each join, wires jutted out, reminding Felicia of worms crawling out a hole. Or a severed limb.
Mitch let out a long whistle, “Woo-wee, would you look at that. I thought they made those illegal. Twenty-five hundred pounds of force, carbo-titanium alloy and… is that a small reactor built in it?”
“Look’s like it Josh. That stimulus we saw moments ago must’ve had iodine mixed into it to counteract the radiation. Hex must have some special body. Miranda interviewed him earlier today. Let’s have a look.”
The holo switched to a hotel room, and it appeared like Felicia and Paul were sitting next a table. On the opposite side sat Miranda and Hex.
“So Hex, how come they gave you these fancy toys? You think you can take it?”
“I know I can Miranda, and I’ll tell you why in three words. High lactose threshold,” Hex smirked. “As my body uses up all the available energy, a signal comes from the brain that says one thing: More! So, another engine starts up, but that one isn’t as efficient as the first one – it produces lactic acid in the muscles that slow you down. Your threshold tells you how much you can take, before slowing down, and mine is off the charts!”
Miranda looked impressed, “I’ve seen your charts Hex. Did you accomplish this on your own, or did you get a little help from The Corporation?”
“It’s a mixture Miranda. I’ve been with The Corporation for years now, can’t even remember a time where I wasn’t training to be the best. I’m lucky to have a team of experts and doctors and mechanics, that help me become the best I can.”
They continued talking, but something was odd about Hex. He seemed like someone she should know. Perhaps he comes to the hospital, where she works as a receptionist.
Hex’s body modifications were severe. The only thing human was his torso and his head. Everything else was a mesh of hard steel, wires and pistons.
Felicia could see the wires from the diagram, digging deep into his skin. They seemed inflamed, even infected. A shiver ran through her. She wouldn’t wish that on anyone, not her, not Paul, and not…
“Oh, Jupiter,” Felica whispered, “It can’t be.”
“What is it dear?” Paul said, his eyes glued to the hologram.
“Paul, Paul! Quick, freeze it. Freeze it!”
“You don’t have to ask me to freeze, just freeze it. It isn’t hard.”
“Freeze it Paul,” Felicia yelled and stood abruptly.
“Holo freeze picture and audio.” Paul said with a sigh, “One of these days, you’ll have to learn to like technology Felicia. It isn’t that bad, you just have to get used to it.”
“Paul, look, look! Hex’s nose, his chin, his eyes. Does he remind you of someone?”
“That is what caused all this fuss?” Paul said, “Alright, alright, let’s have a look. Holo, zoom in picture, focus on Hex’s face.”
The lights in the room passed Felicia’s face, and she could almost feel the energy discharge coming from it.
“What am I looking for Felicia? Is he someone’s relative, cause I don’t know anyone that would subject his son to appear in the -”
“Paul, what is it? Say something!” Felicia said, her eyes trying to deny what her mind was telling her.
Paul rose, the popcorn on his lap spilling all over the floor, casting tiny shadows where they landed.
“It can’t be. The lawyer said they’d keep the name. He promised me.”
Felicia fell on her knees and began sobbing, “Tell me what I’m seeing isn’t true Paul, tell me it’s fake, that it’s only a faint by the light.”
“I’ll do you one better Felicia. Holo, facial recognition Hex, compare to Paul Stallard, Felicia Stallard.”
A graph appeared moments later. There were three lines, each showing a curve – a mathematical equivalent of a human face. Hex’s line appeared as an average of Paul’s and Felicia’s.
“What have they done to my boy?” Paul said, his steadfast manner quickly leaving him, “Monsters. All of them! Holo off.”
The room plunged into darkness, then slowly, automatic lights turned on.
“What are we going to do Paul?”
“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do, Felicia. Tomorrow, I’m going to call that lawyer and get the facts straight.”
#
Paul came back late again, but his face was haggard, ashen. He stepped inside their three-bedroom house, and grabbed the lavender railing to steady himself.
“It’s true Felicia. Everything. How did you know? How did you recognize him so fast?”
“A mother knows Paul. What have they done with him?”
“The lawyer said that Ronny was so strong, he broke every test they gave him. He got bumped up to the premium squad at the age of five, got his first bionic at seven.”
“No Paul, don’t say it,” Felicia said, her voice shaking. Her hands twitched and the glass she was wiping fell, smashing into a thousand pieces, “Don’t say that they cut up my boy before he even lost all his baby teeth!”
Paul looked crestfallen. He turned and walked towards the couch, his voice lifeless, barren. “He was on full-bionics two years later. The pain our boy had to endure, just because his parents were worthless. Minerva give us the wisdom to come out of this and the strength not to crack.”
Felicia came next to Paul and sat down. They didn’t touch or caress or hug. It was too late for that. They were riddled with shame and guilt at what they’d done. After a while, Paul spoke up.
“They even tried to do it again.” His voice was barely a whisper.
“Tried what?” Felicia asked. She wanted to put her hand on Paul, but didn’t dare to.
“Buy us off. The amount of money they offered was incredible, just to stay quiet. With that amount, we could even afford the Lunar colony, or even Elysium.”
Felicia’s face went from white to red. Back at the hospital, it was Paul that convinced her to give Ronny away. It was a burden that nearly ended their marriage. She nearly cried out, when Paul’s soft voice extinguished her built up rage.
“I told them to go fuck themselves.”
Felicia’s wrath and indignation, flared, then died down to a small spark.
“What are we going to do Paul?” Felicia said, her hand on his. He gripped her hard and looked at her face.
“We fight Felicia. That’s what we do.”
#
Paul tried a few things at work that nearly got him fired. Questions, it seemed, were more dangerous than weapons in The Corporation.
He formulated a plan, and he wanted Felicia to wait. He triggered a formal inquiry and said that even The Corporation couldn’t get out of that. That no one is beyond the law.
But Felicia knew. The Corporation is the law.
So, while Paul did his thing, she would do her own. She snuck to the Arena, where Ronny would be training. She donned a Hex shirt and cap, so she looked like one of his many fans, and then bought the extremely pricey tour ticket. It meant that she and Paul would be on processed meat for the next month, but she didn’t care. She needed to do something.
The tour went past statues of famous Mechletes, past countless signed jerseys and other memorabilia. It went through the ‘clean’ room, where the Mechletes’s bionics were assembled and upgraded, and then finally ended near the lockers.
“If we’re lucky,” the tour guide said, “We can see Bis, Rhampon or even Hex walking down the halls, but that only happens a few times a day. Most of the time, they’re either training or having their biotics refitted. Those suckers pack quite a punch on the field and to the body, but I’m sure you all know that.”
Felicia started lagging behind the group, as Ronny’s trophy case drew her eyes. There were so many trophies and medals. What in Tartarus did The Corporation want with Ronny to make him go through all this? Then she looked at her clothes and knew. Ronny was a brand to them, a new cash cow.
What kind of animal would watch a person suffer, just for a handful of credits?
“Hey lady!” the tour guide said, walking briskly towards Felicia, “No dawdling. I know you’re a Hex fan, but he’s at fitting now, so there’s no way to spot him, not after today’s big race. Here, have a half-off re-entry coupon. He should be out later today. Lively now, come on.”
He then walked towards the front of the group, which was already going into the next room. The giftshop.
Felicia couldn’t wait or afford another tour. She ducked down and ran through the labyrinth of hallways, praying to Diana that she will be able to find Ronny before they find her.
She stopped in front of a map of the complex and saw that the fitting room was far away, on the other side. Great.
Her search was perilous – any misstep, any wrong turn or simply anyone she met, could spell her downfall and rapidly eject her from the arena. The world was against her, so Felicia did the only thing that made sense.
She ran. She threw caution to the wind and ran as fast as she could, her gasps coming sudden and shallow. She wasn’t an athlete, she never did anything physical, so even a slight jog tired her. The burning she felt now, was on a completely different level.
She passed a few people that gave her curious glances, but she must’ve looked like someone that was meant to be there, despite her clothes. Once, when she had an issue at work, someone told her that she only needed to look like she knew what she was doing, and people would believe her. Guess that was true for rushing through secured areas too.
She finally found the fitting room, but her head slammed against the door, as the blasted thing didn’t open. She cursed loudly, then looked around. There was an airduct, but that only worked in movies.
How’d they get the damn thing open anyway, she wondered.
No, she’d have to find another way in. She began walking around, and found a gray old door, cracked open. She went through and found herself in a room of levers, buttons and screens.
Everything was alight, and there was a cup of steaming coffee on the table. That meant she only had moments before the drinker returned and threw her out.
In front of her was a window, and she gasped as she saw Ronny on the other side. He was strapped to a table. His face was twisted in a agonizing scream, at least that’s what it looked like. She couldn’t know. The glass was soundproof.
She looked for a button that said mic or voice or something similar, she needed to talk to Ronny! Tell him that she’s here, that the pain is over. But the only thing she found was a volume dial. It was set to zero.
Slowly, her eyes looking at Ronny as a doctor entered with a large syringe, she turned the dial to one, then two, then three.
Soon, the room was blazing with Ronny’s screams and the doctor’s voice.
“Come on Hex, you know the drill. We need to remove your bionics every day or your flesh melts underneath. This is why you can do what you do. It is why you’re always better than the others. Now be a big boy and take it.”
“No!” Ronny said, through clenched teeth. “I want to see the CEO. I want to see him now!”
“The CEO is a busy man Hex, he can’t see you all the time. But he wants me to tell you that you did great on the interview. You followed the script to the letter and you sounded like a proper grown up. He sees you practiced and he’s proud of you. He’ll be at the race tomorrow to cheer you on, won’t that be nice?”
Ronny wiped his nose with the other bionic hand, and said, “Is he really coming tomorrow? Is he really proud of me?”
“He will and he is. Now bite on this, while we cauterize your flesh. Ah, I see we’ll have to give you some skin grafts again. I’ll order them after we’re done here. New skin always feels good, right Ronny?”
This was wrong, so very wrong, Felicia thought. She started looking for the microphone button, but the door creaked open and startled her.
A low female voice said, “What are you doing in here?”
Felicia twisted around and fell on the controls behind her.
“I, I, I, …” Felicia stuttered as the lights around her started blinking.
“Wait, what have you done?” the technician said and pushed her aside. Ronny began screaming again, and Felicia could hear the sound of drilling.
She turned towards the door and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
#
“The formal inquiry failed Felicia. The lawyers said that they don’t understand how. It should’ve been an open-and-shut case, but somehow a judge ruled against us. The Corporation didn’t even have to give any proof of their innocence. I stormed out of the office immediately. I don’t know if I can go back.”
Felicia sat on the couch unmoving, Ronny’s screams still echoing in her head.
“Honey, talk to me. I don’t know what more we can do. The Corporation is too powerful. I was so sure my plan would work, I didn’t think to make any contingency. Can you hear me Felicia? There is no plan B!”
Felicia squeezed her fist, crumpling the half-off coupon the tour guide gave her.
“I have a plan. When is Ronny’s next big race?”
#
“This tour is ridiculously expensive Felicia! Even your half off… We’re going to have to sell the speeder or part of the house! How do people afford this? It’s day light robbery!”
“Shut up Paul.” Felicia said, pulling her Hex cap lower. They installed a few more cameras, and a few more security guards lined the halls. This is going to be tougher that she expected, and they’d only get one shot.
“This plan is crazy Felicia. Let’s try with the formal inquiry again, I’ve been talking to some colleagues and they think-“
“The same colleagues that work for The Corporation? I think not. No, Paul, we’re doing it my way. We’re getting Ronny out today. After we’re safe, we’ll take care of him and he won’t have to see any bionics for the rest of his life. He’ll be confined to a wheelchair, but you heard him on the holo. He’s smart and youthful – I wouldn’t be surprised if he made something of himself!”
Felicia rifled through her pocket and stung herself on one of the needles. She stole about a dozen, each laced with sedatives strong enough to knock out a horse. She looked at Paul, whose baggy trousers nearly hid the fact that he had an exoskeleton from the waist down. He was nearly as powerful as one of the Mechtlete, but his power supply was much more limited than theirs and it only affected his legs.
Today Ronny won another race. Last time, they took him to the fitting room two hours later. He had to be there. Had to.
They stole away from the group at nearly the same spot as she did before – how stupid are these people? Felicia thought – and began walking briskly towards the fitting room.
But something was wrong, she could hear thunderous footsteps quickly approaching her.
“Stop right there!” someone yelled.
Felicia and Paul turned around and saw five guards, armed with shock batons. Their expression was grim and something told Felicia that they weren’t the type to escort them promptly off the premises.
She slid her hand in her pocket, which caused one of the guards to yell, “Hands up, both of you! What are you doing here?”
Felicia obliged, and so did Paul. “We just got lost, we’re awfully sorry, me and my husband. We don’t want any trouble, we’re just Hex fans!”
“Don’t play it lady, I recognize your face from the holo feed we all watched.” The security guard produced a pair of laser cuffs.
“Now don’t do anything funny, or you’ll meet my ten-thousand volt friend.”
He rounded Felicia carefully, then stowed his shock baton. The others seemed to calm down as well.
Mars, help me in my struggle.
As soon as he cuffed one hand, she twirled and stuck the needle in his neck. He fell down moments later.
Now the other guards rose their batons, but Jupiter was on their side. As Paul kicked one of the guards – his exoskeleton giving him increased strength and speed – he propelled one of the guards into two others. They all laid lifelessly on the other side of the corridor.
The remaining guard turned to Paul – Felicia’s opportunity. She lunged and stuck two needles into the guard’s exposed neck.
As he fell down, Felicia knew that between her and Paul, they probably killed four out of the five guards here. Men, just doing their jobs. Men like her and Paul, just trying to survive.
She would mourn for them later, it was time to get Ronny.
They made their way to the fitting room and luck was once again on their side. Ronny was on the table, the cauterizing scalpel in the surgeon’s hand.
Paul broke down the door, and Felicia took out one of the needles.
“Get. The Hell. Out!” Felicia roared.
“Don’t do this. His wound isn’t closed. He’ll bleed to death if you stop me!”
“Paul. Grab Ronny. We’re leaving.”
“No!” the surgeon cried and lunged at Felicia with the scalpel. He gashed her cheek, then begun swinging it madly, his eyes wide with terror.
Felicia put the needle down, which made the surgeon stop.
“Just go. We just took out five guards, I don’t want you on my conscious too.”
“No, they’ll kill me! Rather I die here than in their repentance camps, or worse. On Mars!”
The surgeon lunged at Felicia, but Paul acted first. With his superior speed, he slammed the surgeon backwards, into a wall.
The surgeon’s neck was twisted, broken. Felicia ran towards Ronny. He was unconscious, which was perfect for Felicia’s plan. She injected a bit of sedative, grabbed some antibiotics from a nearby platter and said.
“Paul, quick, grab him and lets go.”
But Paul didn’t move. Felicia turned and saw a bright red pool around Paul’s waist. She rushed towards him and saw the cauterizing scalpel buried deep in Paul’s chest.
She began sobbing uncontrollably, but then she heard Ronny’s voice, “What, what happened?”
Her tears dried up instantly as her motherly instincts took over. “Nothing honey, nothing to worry about. Mommy is here now, you don’t have to worry anymore.”
“Mommy? I don’t have a mommy. I only –“
The rest would have to wait, Felicia thought as she took out the sedative needle.
With tears in her eyes, she unbuckled Paul’s exoskeleton and put it on herself.
Plenty of time to mourn Felicia, just not now. Not now…
She grabbed Ronny, checked the remaining power and ran.
#
She turned on the TV. With a clicker. She couldn’t fathom why people would rather have a tactile device, instead of their voice. She turned to the news, like she always did. It was her only source of information this far south.
“Hex’s disappearance remains a mystery. Here’s a spokesman from The Corporation.”
“We at the Corporation are deeply troubled and remain steadfast in our pursuit of Hex’s safety. Rest assured that we know who the perpetrator is and that we will find him. The only thing we want is Hex to be back with us, doing what he loves. As for the safety of our other Mechletes, we’ve taken measures to see that this never happens again. No one will ever leave the arena like that again.”
Poor souls, Felicia thought. She turned off the TV, then went to the kitchen. Ronny was still sitting there, quietly, staring into nothing.
“Hi honey, feeling any better?”
Felicia got a doctor to take off all of Ronny’s bionics. They were key to bartering passage to the southern dunes of Argentina. To the backwaters.
Ronny spent his days on a wheelchair, effectively paralyzed. His wounds needed constant attention.
“Where are my arms? Why did you take away my arms?” Ronny asked again and gurgled. He couldn’t even speak properly. Felicia wondered how they got him to speak so eloquently on TV.
“They were hurting you sweety.”
“Ok,” a child’s response. A shadow of a man.
“Can I have the num nums from before?”
“You mean the mangos?”
“Yes,” Ronny said and his eyes sparkled. “Those num nums!”
“Alright sweety, there you go.” Felicia said, sat next to him and started spoon-feeding him wild mangos. Those were hard to come by and they were almost out.
What a man Ronny was. She watched his muscle-toned body, his chiseled jaw and lustrous hair. How his eyes pierced the soul and his baritone voice charmed its way into your head. She saw all that he could be and all that he never will be.
Those monsters.
Then she remembered Paul and wept.
“What is it mommy?”
“Nothing honey, absolutely nothing.”