Page 32 of Shadow Blind

What. The. Hell?

“Well, nanobots are the closest representative to what we found in your teammates’ samples. But it isn’t a clear identification of the…objects…either. We’ve seen nothing like them. While these structures are of an organic nature, they aren’t composed of virus and bacterium DNA cells, or polynucleotides, like typical organic nanobots, nor of metals or diamonds as the typical inorganic bot. Instead, they appear to be composed of organic proteins and elements found within the human body itself. Elements such as iron, calcium, salt…” The doctor shook his bald head. “It’s ingenious really.”

Baffled, Aiden frowned. He’d heard of nanobots, knew they existed. But that was where his knowledge ended.

“Aren’t nanobots a medical thing?” he asked.

Had a medical experiment gone wrong? Two seconds later, he cast that possibility aside. Every instinct he possessed insisted he and his team had been sent into a test zone—the test of a new weapon. Apparently, a nanobot weapon.

“They can be.” Doctor Cole pushed his glasses back up. “They’re microscopic, so they move through the human body and blood with ease. The ones we found in your friends are inactive, so we can’t be certain how they progressed through their hosts. But they must have moved from the original point of contact, as we found heavy concentrations of them in your teammates’ brain tissue. Particularly in the amygdala and hypothalamus, which explains the scenario you described.” When Aiden stared at him blankly, Cole frowned and rocked back on his heels. The movement sent his glasses sliding back down his nose again. He pushed them up. “The amygdala and hypothalamus are two of the structures in the brain that control extreme emotion, as well as violence. There were also heavy concentrations of the bots in the hippocampus, thalamus, and nucleus accumbens, structures within the brain. These structures have been associated with psychotic and schizophrenic behavior and audio and visual hallucinations.” He dropped his hand and lifted his gaze to Aiden’s face. “In short, these nanobots appear to be drawn to the areas in the brain that control violent emotions, along with violent and psychotic behavior.”

Aiden’s entire body tightened. That sure as hell sounded like a fucking weapon to him. A weapon that turned ordinary people into psychotic killers. “You find any of those damn things in me?”

Cole shook his head. “All the samples we pulled from you were clean. Of course, under the circumstances, we couldn’t pull brain tissue, but the bots were not present in your blood, muscle, or skin samples under the AFM—atomic force microscope. We found large concentrations of them in all your teammates’ samples. Plus, while there were high concentrations of the bots in your teammates’ brains—there was no evidence of them in the multiple MRI, SPECT, EEG and FMRI scans we did of your brain.”

Aiden’s chest tightened. Unease crawled through him. “You said they were microscopic. Would they even show up on brain scans?”

“They do if there are enough of them,” Doctor Brickenhouse interrupted. “They form concentrated clusters that can be identified at high magnification. These clusters were visible in your teammates’ brain scans. There were no concentrated masses in yours. With the lack of the bots in your tissue samples and no indication of a large collection in your brain scans, we’re fairly confident that you’re not infected.”

Fairly confident.

Aiden flinched, his stomach cramping at the thought of microscopic bugs crawling through his brain. They might not be insects, but Jesus… The idea of tiny bugs eating away at his brain until there was nothing left but violence and psychosis gave him the willies.

“We’re releasing you from isolation.” Dr. Brickenhouse handed Aiden’s chart to a serious-looking woman in light blue scrubs standing to his right.

That was the best news he’d heard in days. Aiden turned to Wolf. “I’ll take that jet now.”

Thank Christ. He could finally take care of Demi.

Wolf shook his head. “Not yet—”

“I’m afraid you misunderstood,” Brickenhouse interrupted, a polite expression on his high cheek boned face. “While we are releasing you from the isolation chamber, we aren’t releasing you from the medical facility. You’re being transferred to the clinic. We need to do more testing.”

“Why?” Aiden tensed beneath a surge of frustration. “You just said I wasn’t infected. Why keep me here? Why run more tests?”

“Well,” Brickenhouse took a step back, as though he were startled by Aiden’s reaction. Maybe even apprehensive, like his patient was exhibiting overly aggressive behavior.

Aiden forced his rigid shoulders and arms to relax and loosened his clenched hands, trying to project a less lethal attitude.

Brickenhouse relaxed. “The question isn’t whether you carry the bots any longer—”

“—it’s why the bots didn’t infect you,” Dr. Cole nodded in agreement. “If we can zero in on why the bot’s avoided you, we may be able to manufacture a cure. If this is a weapon, as you and others believe, an antidote is essential.”

“The tests we’ll be running next rule out conditions that could have caused the nanobots to reject you as a host. By running a full battery of tests on you and comparing them against your teammates’ results, we might be able to pinpoint why you’re immune.”

Well…hell. He could hardly skip out on that approach, since it might save lives. “How long are we talking about?”

“At least seventy-two hours,” Brickenhouse said, his dark eyes narrowing. “We don’t know what we’re looking for yet. This could take time.”

“You have twenty-four hours,” Aiden interjected. “Get your testing done by then. I’m out of here tomorrow morning.” Both doctors looked like they’d swallowed a lemon. Aiden turned, catching Wolf’s guarded gaze. “I mean it, bro. Demi needs me.” Although she didn’t realize it. “You get me a chopper or a plane and I’ll give you twenty-four hours of testing. No plane, then I’m out of here now. I’ll book my own trip to Coronado.”

Wolf stared at him in silent contemplation, then turned and left the room.

Was that a yes or a no?

“Mr. Winchester,” Dr. Cole’s face folded into lines of disapproval. “Such testing cannot be put on a timetable.”

Aiden shrugged. “Testing can resume when I get back, right? I’ll only be gone a day.”

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