He was interrupted by the arrival of a doctor at the window.

“Hello, Mr. Pritchard.”

“Hi, Doctor…Narang, right? What’s up?”

“We’re blowing through the nanite samples that Dr. Kemp took, and we’ll need a new supply soon. Obviously, you being in isolation represents a challenge. We think we’ve figured out a way to get what we need from you with minimal fuss or danger. We’ll have to do some work on one of the other cubicles, then we’ll be moving you. I just wanted to let you know, because it’ll be a little noisy for a while.”

“No prob, Doc. I’m so bored that even construction noise is a welcome addition.”

Narang gave him an embarrassed smile. “You have full media access, of course, although I expect that gets old quickly. Is there anything else we can do for you?”

“I don’t think so, Doc. I’ve thought about all the things I want or might ask for, and most of them are beyond your power or really bad ideas. So, no. You could answer a question, though.”

“I’ll try, Ivan.”

“On the subject of Vid, there have been demonstrations around ICDC and UEN headquarters. You haven’t released anything, have you? Do these people have any actual fuel for this?”

Narang paused for a moment before responding. “Ivan, there’s been no official announcement, either from ICDC or the UEN. But something’s gotten out. Some of the commentary is just too close to the mark. We’ve had to increase our online security because of the increased attention. I’m sure Admiral Moore is all over it, though.”

She smiled again, nodded to him, and left before he could ask any more questions. He wasn’t sure, but she might be walking a little faster than she really needed to. Was that embarrassment, or just not wanting to be around the metal man?

Welcome to my new life.

31.First Looks

31.First Looks

“Who’s in the AQRI?” Narang walked up to the console, where a couple of doctors sat watching the monitor.

Dr. Noelia Sandoval turned in her chair. “A little guy named ‘sample scraping’”

“Ah. Bare nanites? What do they look like?”

“Coming up,” said Nakamura, in the next seat. He poked at the console, and an image came up on the monitor. The Advanced Quantum Resonance Imager could scan in detail an object from the size of a full-grown human being down to the nucleus of a cell. The researchers hoped to learn if they could decode the internal workings of the nanites.

Narang gasped when the image popped up on the monitor. The nanites glowed in AQRI imaging. This was their first bit of good news. If the devices showed up that clearly on AQRI scans, they’d be able to detect any infections in humans with little effort.