An Untitled Novel

Basil realized he was awake, though did not remember waking up. He felt groggy and his mind was clouded, and he felt as if he had just dropped below the threshold of being aware of the fact he was awake. He found himself in a bed, caked blood cleaned off, and feeling entirely painless for the first time he could remember. A maintenance drone lay lifelessly in the corner of his vision, but sprang to life and approached him once he started to move. “How are you feeling?” ACE asked over the maintenance drone’s speaker. Basil remained silent for a moment, struggling to think, but eventually replied. “Good.” ACE, despite his monotone robotic voice, seemed to be pleased. “Good. You are on a lot of painkillers so I would not expect any different, but you are patched up and stable. Rest for a little while longer and I will get you something to eat, then we can talk more.” Time passed and Basil fell back to sleep.

Basil woke up again, this time he found he did not have an IV in his arm and his mind remained considerably clearer. He slowly sat up and looked at the watch placed on the stand by his bed. The watch showed that it had been over 24 hours since ACE began to treat him. He began to stand up. “Careful” ACE said over the speakers of the maintenance drone. Basil continued to stand up, and although he felt weak he managed to get to his feet. “Here” ACE said, offering Basil another glass of the blue liquid and a jello cup. Basil chugged the glass of fluids and wolfed down the jello cup, despite ACE’s protesting of Basil’s rate of consumption. Eventually he finished and felt his strength gradually beginning to return. “There is a bathroom through that door with a shower, here, follow me,” ACE said, leading Basil in that direction.

Sometime later Basil stepped out of the shower, feeling very refreshed, and put on some clothes ACE had found - a pair of jeans and a simple gray shirt. Finally dressed, he asked the question that had been at the forefront of his mind. “Does it look like the people who attacked us are coming back yet?” ACE responded over the maintenance drone’s speakers.

“It appears that they have tried, but something has stopped them. According to a satellite feed I acquired access to there is now a mountain in the location that we are in. The cameras outside the building do not indicate that there is a mountain on top of us, but a group of people were working their way towards us and stopped once they got to the base of where the mountain would be. I am not entirely certain what is going on, but it would appear that we are safe for the moment.”

“So we’re safe then?” Basil asked. “For now, but there are two things we need to discuss.” ACE paused for just a moment, and when Basil remained silent he continued. “The first is your condition. You remain stable, and as long as you continue to take antibiotics you will make a full recovery from your wounds. There appears to be a moderate selection of medical supplies at this facility so you will be okay in the interim.” Basil sounded confused. “The interim? What’s going on then?” ACE replied, and despite his monotone voice, Basil could almost sense a touch of hesitancy in ACE as he spoke - though be it real or emulated bedside manner he did not know.

“While I was tending to the bullet wounds I discovered a set of growths emanating from the implant in your wrist and following your nerves up your spine. They are non-operable, but I may be able to create an MRNA virus that will attack the growths in the fabrication device. You will be okay for at least a year, however, so we do not need to focus on it immediately.”

Basil seemed a little confused, although with the previous days’ events he seemed fairly unworried about the bad news. “The thing that can make circuit boards?” ACE responded. “It appears it can assemble various materials of all kinds on a very small scale, although it will require more tests to be certain that’s possible.” Basil asked “Okay, what’s the other thing?” unsure of what to think of ACE’s medical plans. “We will need more supplies. Currently repairs or continued construction of the facility are not possible, and we will likely run out of food and some medications for you in about two weeks.”

With the more immediate deadline Basil began to feel a bit more worried. “How will we get them?” ACE seemed to already have that planned out. “I will begin preparing the jet in the hangar, with some false papers I should be able to fly you out to Chile to acquire the highest priority supplies once you are in better health.” Basil asked the seemingly obvious question. “But won’t the people after us know if we use a jet they’re familiar with?” ACE had apparently considered that too. “Not if I make some alterations to it, once you are ready I will need your help bringing maintenance drones to the hanger where I can begin working on it.” Basil seemed content with the plan and nodded silently. ACE spoke once more. “If you are feeling capable, I could give you a tour of the facility.”

ACE began to lead Basil around, showing him exactly what he had discovered after performing treatment. On the middle floor where they were existed several rooms that appeared to be living quarters, including the one in which Basil was treated. There was a room that seemed to have triple purposes: kitchen, dining area, and makeshift clinic. There were also some storage rooms, with everything from medications to electronic components. On the top floor, the only above ground floor, there was a large room that looked like it was once dedicated to researching or constructing things of some sort - although it was largely tossed apart and emptied of anything that could hint at what was originally the subject of research. There was also something of a garage that held a single snowmobile, although looked as if it was intended to hold more. Beyond that there was a set of diesel generators nearly out of fuel from running for an unknown length of time.

Last, ACE showed Basil the bottom floor of the facility. There was the generator of some form, which ACE originally surmised might have been some form of Nuclear reactor, except there appeared to be no input or output of steam or fuel. Access to information on the system seemed limited, but it seemed capable of outputting as much power as the facility could use, so for now it would stay a very useful mystery. There was also a large glass room that looked to be some sort of cage, but ACE informed Basil that it could be sealed and then pressurized or depressurized as well as vented if there were any toxic fumes created by something. There were a few devices that contained the same printed circuitry that was cached in the fabricator, although the devices had been smashed. Eventually, the tour concluded and Basil settled in to consume a real meal for the first time in his life; at least that he could recall.