Page 69 of The Brotherhood

Harlow keyed in the command. “Where is this stuff coming from?” he cried, incredulous.

“From him. The machine is tapping into his new biology, giving it creative workarounds via its adaptive evolution. Don’t have this, then use that. Don’t have that, then create it. Don’t know how? Here’s the formula.”

“Is he okay?” Spook dared as the machine whirred, its lights steady.

Harlow answered with a slow shake of his head, eyes wide on the screen. “Not until these alarms shut the fuck up,” he said. “We got another request. Crystalline lattice structure for bioceramic reinforcement. What the hell is he making?”

Quantum barely shook his head, lifting his golden gaze. “This is high-density material, designed to handle extreme force.”

“No shit,” Harlow said, eyes moving quickly from one monitor to the other as he typed. “No reserves on hand,” Harlow warned, shaking his head, pacing before the monitor.

The Neuromancer’s lights pulsed again, and Harlow jumped back to the keyboard. “We got our workaround,” hecalled, typing quickly. “Calcium oxide, silicon carbide, plasma base.”

Spook looked at Quantum now, his expression perplexed. “It’s not simply adapting to available resources, it’s synthesizing compounds to suit a very specific blueprint.” He stepped over, fingers flying over the screen next to Harlow’s. “It’s not just repairing, it’s rebuilding him to accommodate a specific objective.”

Harlow didn’t take his eyes from the screen. “And what is that objective?”

Spook’s pulse sped up at the hard look of awe Quantum leveled on Harlow. “Take a wild guess.”

“One very mean motherfucker?” Harlow let out a low giggle, shaking his head. “I understood his adaptive evolution on a theoretical level, but… seeing it guide the Neuromancer’s own calculations?” He grinned right at Spook now. “Ball-tingles.”

Another alert flashed on the monitor, demanding their attention. “Plasma-infused calcium for unbreakable bone density,” Harlow shrilled, his whole face locked in shock. “Bruh, we don’t haveanythingcloseto that.”

“And now we do,” Quantum muttered, pointing at the screen. “Magnesium, ion-bonded graphene, and synthetic plasma,” he said in quiet astonishment. “Of course.”

The monitors suddenly blared, the shrill noise jerking all heads to the vitals screen where Bishop’s hear beat was now a flat line. “Fuck!” Harlow yelled, grabbing his head while looking from one screen to the other.

Spook focused on Quantum’s tight, unfaltering expression on the controls. “The Neuromancer is forcing a cellular shutdown,” he announced.

“Dowhat?”Harlow cried.

“Just like with Kaphas,” he announced. “Only faster.”

“How much faster?”

Quantum straightened from the computer looking like a doctor who had done all he could. “One hour.”

“What the fuck is going on,” Spook called, trying not to lose his shit.

Quantum looked up at him, as if just realizing he was there. “This method is designed to push his cells to their limit, recalibrate, then reboot. Every phase will require a full reset. Bishop’s adaptive evolution can’t advance without these shutdowns. We call it the rapid regeneration protocol.”

Spook’s knees weakened, while the fucking heart monitor blareddead.

“He’ll come back,” Harlow said forcefully as Spook paced, not missing the hugeshouldhe’d left out. His phone buzzed in his hand, and he answered without even looking, numb with shock as his eyes never left that constant, flat green line on the screen.

“We’re all on our way, brother. I heard everything. Hold tight.”

Harlow strangled the console with both hands, his eyes locked on the wall clock on his right. “One minute,” he announced, shaking his head, pacing before his station now, eyes moving from the clock to the monitors. “This is some kind of edging, bruh.” He looked at Spook now, his frazzled, nearly crazy appearance telling just how long they’d been at it. “Your Bishop’s gotsomekind of—” A bleep lit up the screen, bringing three collective gasps and a buckle to Spook’s knees.

“That’s it, buddy,” Harlow encouraged, holding his head while eyeballing several monitors like a man on a ledge. He suddenly let out a gasp and braced the edge of the station with both hands, head hanging, whispering, “Vitals restored.”

Spook was no better off, hands on his knees, barely catching his shit. He finally straightened and scrubbed bothhands over his face, making his way back to them. “So, he’s okay now? Does this mean he’ll wake up sooner?”

Spook eyed Quantum who took a deep breath, golden gaze on the monitor before him.

“What’s wrong?”

“According to his upgraded biogenetic blueprint…” He shook his head. “He’snotdone resetting.”

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