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Aspen

Chapter 1.2

My mind was a raging river of memory. Moments came flooding by - hours, days, months, and years passing in an instant. My eyes couldn't focus; I couldn't hear anything but the overlapping memories flashing in front of me. I reached out and grasped at the endless waters...

~~~

[TWO MONTHS EARLIER]

"You need my help, Alan."

I stared across the table at Jenna. She was always perceptive; she was very good at seeing when something was wrong, even in circumstances less dire than mine.

"Help with what? I don't - " I started.

Jenna cut me off. "Be honest with me. Please. I know you're in a lot of trouble."

I glanced around the room quickly. It was a cozy little diner, though it was rather quiet. Our booth was one of the few occupied ones, and there was nobody else within earshot.

I turned back to Jenna warily. "Exactly how much do you know?"

"I know you've gotten on the wrong side of some dangerous people."

I sighed and looked away. It was true; I was in bad shape. Worse than you would probably think possible, given the sort of social safety nets that had sprung up in the wake of the nanotech revolution. It was practically impossible to end up homeless or hungry; nanotech had made products of every kind incredibly cheap and easy to make, and the whole country was reaping the benefits. As I had found out, though, there were still a few ways to dig yourself into a deep hole.

"Yeah," I finally said. "I'm in trouble."

"Right. Well, I've got a job offer for you."

"What kind of job? And how is that supposed to help?"

"We can get you a fresh start. Blank slate. You can disappear and start a completely new life."

I stared at her. What she was offering... it was impossible. Wasn't it? Especially these days, with how easy it was to find someone just through publicly available information. And of course, that's not even considering the resources that my bosses had to work with. There was no way it could be done. Right?

She must have noticed my doubt. "Listen. You know I work for the Army's research division, right? Well, uh... that's not quite accurate. It's basically a private laboratory - " She cut off abruptly. "Hold on a second."

A moment later, I heard footsteps approaching, and a waitress appeared. "Ready to order?" She asked us cheerily.

Jenna nodded, and opened her menu briefly. "Can I get a Jumbo Burger? Thanks." She closed her menu and handed it to the waitress, who then turned to me. I had only taken a cursory glance through the menu; I already knew that there wasn't anything there for me.

"Uh, yeah. Do you have any non-nanofood menu items?" I asked with an embarrassed smile.

"Nanofood" was shorthand for "food made with nanotechnology," and it was a big problem for me. I had a rare disorder known as "hyper-nano-reactivity," or HNR. What it essentially meant was that any sort of nanotech or nanotech-engineered food could have unpredictable and often disastrous effects on my body; it was a major part of what had gotten me in my current predicament. Imagine, if you can, being violently allergic to technology. It was like that, but with far more unpredictable reactions than an allergy.

"Hm. I don't know," the waitress said. HNR wasn't something that restaurants catered to; most people who asked for non-nanofood were simply modern-day Luddites who were afraid of nanotech. I'd have been surprised if the restaurant had anything beyond a basic menu.

"Tell you what," the waitress continued. "Let me go see if we have a special menu. I'll be right back." She walked off, leaving Jenna and me alone again. I looked over at Jenna and saw her smiling at me.

"I remembered right, yeah? You do have HNR," she said.

"Yes. So?"

"So, the research lab I work for... I mentioned that we're technically not part of the Army; we're more of a secret military contractor. Anyway, we've been trying to find someone with HNR. That's why I reached out to you."

"Why does your lab want someone with HNR? And why does your employer sound so shady?"

"It's not illegal, if that's what you're asking."

"...That's not very reassuring."

Jenna sighed. "Listen. The short version is, we need you, and we can give you the way out that you need. We know what we're doing. All we need is a test subject, and you can come out the other end as someone completely new."

"A_test subject_?! Listen, I'm not in a good position, but I'm still not going to subject myself to random scientific experiments - and especially not for some mysterious paramilitary lab that probably doesn't have my best interests at heart."

"Just shut up and listen to me, will you?!" Jenna hissed at me. "And keep your voice down. Officially speaking, the project I'm working on doesn't exist."

"Why are you even talking to me? How do you know you can trust me?"

"Because I know you. We dated for two years, for fuck's sake. If you have any respect for me left, then please, at least consider this."

Then I realized: She was desperate. I'd seen it in her before; our two years dating in college had left some very vivid memories. Whatever her reasons were, she genuinely needed me to help her.

It was tough. I didn't know what to do. The more I thought about it, though, the more I slowly realized: Why not? I really needed the help, and if they could do what Jenna was suggesting, then I would be able to escape my problems. I could at least try to get more information; I didn't have to commit to it yet...

"Okay," I said. "I'm listening. Tell me more."

~~~

The memory faded and was gradually replaced with a set of bright lights. I could hear some quiet voices. Then someone spoke up.

"Director Fuller? He's conscious again."

"Ah, good," Fuller said. "Alan? Can you hear me?"

"He can't speak, but mental activity seems to indicate that he did hear you."

"Great. Alan, we paused the procedure momentarily, and I just wanted to make sure you know: You're doing fine. Keep it up. We'll be resuming in just a minute."

My brain slowly caught up with what I was hearing, and I was able to relax a bit. I still couldn't move, but the unbearable pain from earlier had gone away. My skin felt cool and... wet? My eyes couldn't focus right, but something felt wrong with my face somehow. It was an odd sensation, and being unable to move didn't help much.

"So, you see the beginning of the changes taking place, yes?" Fuller had turned down the volume on his microphone and didn't seem to be addressing me anymore; he was probably talking to the observers that the military had sent. "The thin film across the subject's body is the start of what will eventually become scales - essentially, a highly durable, self-healing body armor. The changes to the subject's head and face include a massive upgrade to his senses; his eyesight, hearing, and smell will be even keener than most modern hybridizations can provide."

"How exactly did you accomplish this?" Someone asked.

"Have you heard of hyper-nano-reactivity? HNR, for short. People with HNR often have adverse reactions to nanotechnology. However, when we use nanotech that was specifically designed to be accepted by the subject's body, it allows for much more extensive changes than normal hybridization can allow."

"HNR is pretty rare, isn't it?"

"Oh, absolutely. It shows up in maybe 1 in every million people or so. It was quite difficult to find a subject for Project Aspen. However, I'm confident that we can eventually apply this process to people without HNR, given that our generous funding continues."

"Hmm. We'll see. It depends on how today's demonstration goes, and what kind of results you get."

"Well, speaking of results, I suppose it's about time to resume the procedure." Fuller turned his mic back up. "Alan? We're going to keep going now. Maintain that focus from earlier; it seemed to be working nicely."

What focus? I thought. I wasn't in control earlier. Not in the slightest. But if it was working... I guess it's okay?

A chill ran up my spine and spread across the rest of me; the nanomachines were resuming their activity. An instant later, they ignited; like before, it felt like I was on fire. I'm pretty sure I almost blacked out. I was being torn apart; I couldn't take much more. It was almost a relief when the flood of memories came once more and carried me away.

To be continued...