The Immortality Game

Tyoma didn’t want to argue right now. Perhaps the rest of his colleagues could back him up once they reached the compound. «And…‌after?»

«Then we’ll do what we promised her. Contact her friend Irina and have her come get Zoya.»

Tyoma blew out his breath. He’d long admired Dr. Saenz and had always wished he could meet him, but the idea of scanning a mind without the permission of the individual made him feel dirty. «We should tell her.»

«She’s in shock. She’s can’t make any rational decisions right now. I doubt she can even know what feelings, if any, she has toward Marcus at this moment.»

The lift stopped and the doors slid open onto a garage. Kostya leaned against his air car a dozen meter away, a smile on his face. Relief flooded through Tyoma and he grinned back at his friend. “Come on, Bunny. Let’s go home.”

Epilogue

Marcus opened his eyes, feeling rested if a little groggy. His arms were crossed over his chest on a thin blanket pulled up to his chin. He blinked several times to let his eyes adjust to the bright light of the small room. Is this a hospital?

Two men stepped into view, one on either side of him. Both were strangers to him. They were elderly but in good shape, as most old folks were these days due primarily to nanobot technology.

Marcus tried to talk, but his tongue didn’t seem to want to work.

“Don’t worry,” said one of the men. “It’s only temporary. Do you feel all right? You can just nod or shake your head.”

Marcus looked down past his arms and noticed something strange. His belly was gone. Or rather it was flatter than it had been since he was a little boy. He had an instant cartoon image of his belly deflating after being punctured by the bullets. I must have been out a very long time. He nodded at the kindly-looking old man.

The other man said, “There’s someone who has been waiting impatiently to speak to you for many years.” He nodded his head.

«Hello, Marcus. I hope you feel yourself again.»

«Papa?»

«Yes. How do you feel?»

«Okay, I guess. I remember being shot. I thought I was dead.»

«You were.»

«This is the hospital? In Moscow?»

«We’re still in Moscow, but this is not a hospital. We are at the research compound. The one I was looking for, remember?»

Marcus examined the old men closer. «These are your scientists?»

«Two of them. They…we do remarkable work here.»

A third man moved into view, dressed in a lab coat like the others, but Marcus recognized him and it made no sense. His stomach roiled at the memories of being chased by the huge gangster Bunny. And it was clearly Bunny…‌except older and looking somehow less vacant of expression. Sophisticated almost. The man caught his gaze and must have seen the panic there, because he smiled kindly and patted Marcus’s shoulder.

“Calm down,” he said. “They told me what the original owner of this body did to you and I can only imagine how hard it must be to see me like this. We can talk about it later once you are ready. When you get your voice, you can call me Xax. I like that better than Bunny, and my original name is already spoken for.” He glanced meaningfully at one of the other scientists.

Suddenly the last moments in The Pyramid came back in a rush. The war bot firing… «Zoya! Papa, is she all right?»

«She’s fine. You’ll see her soon enough. You need more rest first.»

«I’d like to see her now. Haven’t I been resting long enough?» He looked at the aged Bunny—What did he say to call him, Xax?—and his breathing became labored. «Just how long have I been out?»

«You haven’t been out. You were killed. I managed to get your body on life support in time to prevent brain damage. It’s taken—»

«I’m a…» Marcus looked at his flat belly again. «You’re telling me I’m a clone!»

«Is that such a bad thing?»

The ramifications of what had happened were roiling in Marcus’s brain. Question upon question piled up one after another. Would I rather have remained dead? «What year is this?»

«Twenty-one fifty-six.»

«Madre de Dios! What have you done?»

«Calm down. I’m sure you have many questions. When you feel up to it, we can have a nice lunch and answer all of them for you. You should rest now.»

«I don’t want to rest. Apparently that’s all I’ve been doing for, what, eighteen years? Why are you talking like this? Weren’t you going to get your new body and become a real person again?»

«We encountered too many problems, and I have enough fascinating work to do with my friends here.»

«Mother! We deserted her!»

«Don’t be absurd. I was with her to the end.»

«She’s…‌dead?»

«She didn’t suffer at all. And she was with her friends.»

Marcus knew what it was like in the Mesh. The machine that keeps the body clean and functioning could only keep one alive for so long. He tried to imagine what it must have been like for Mama during her final days. All he knew was that he should have been there for her.

«What did you tell her about me?»