“Yes, sir. Right this way, Jethro.” She led him up and into the small VTOL’s cargo compartment that had been fitted with bench seats.
Several medical crates were scattered about the compartment, as well as numerous devices that Jerin was unfamiliar with. There was a man working to secure them, garbed in scrubs that marked him as a nurse or intern. Another man was sitting there as well. The seated fellow was dressed in a patient’s gown and had an IV line attached to his arm. His head lolled against his chest as if he were asleep. Poly Ann nodded to him.
“Don’t mind him, Jethro. That’s Devon. He had a violent reaction to one of the treatments and he is sleeping it off. We will be dropping him off before we continue on to our destination.
Jerin nodded. He barely felt it as the VTOL lifted off and the roof of the building dropped away. He watched Poly Ann cautiously as she opened a crate of supplies next to the seat.
“Well, Mr.McCard. We have a few preliminary tests to take care of before we arrive at the main compound. Do you mind?” The interior of the VTOL had excellent sound dampening. Poly Ann barely had to raise her voice to be heard. Jerin’s throat tightened. What would they do if they found he had lied? What would they do if they found out he was Jerin and not Jethro McCard. Would they withdraw the help?
Poly Ann took out a digital clipboard and began asking him questions while filling out sections of some kind of official looking form. Jerin answered them as if he was his brother, Jethro, but he knew that as soon as they scanned his SIN the lie would come out. The questions were just basic information, and Mr. Johnson had said they were not interested in his past, so maybe they wouldn’t scan him.
The questions wound down as the landscape flashed by outside the tiny round window set in the side of the plane. Jerin looked around as Poly Ann finished with her questions. ‘Devon’ seemed to coming out of his sedation. Jerin was a little un-nerved by the groaning sound he was making.
“Is he okay?” He indicated Devon.
“He will be. His IV was full of meds to help. Just let me scan your SIN and we will be completely finished with your enrollment.” This was the what Jerin had been worried about the whole flight.
“Yeah, about..” Jerin started to make some excuse, but at that moment Devon came startlingly awake.
With a loud yell Devon kicked out, trying to leap to his feet. The kick connected with Poly Ann’s wrist, knocking the portable SIN scanner out of her hand. It clattered to the floor and skidded over into the corner.
“Drek!” Poly Ann shouted for the other guard as she attempted to subdue Devon. “Bring another hypo!”
The fellow in scrubs grabbed a hypo from the supply crate sitting there and rushed over to help. In a few moments ‘Devon’ had calmed back down, gibbering to himself, but looking like he did when Jerin first saw him.
“Sorry about that. The reaction to the treatment caused him severe paranoia, some possible psychosis. We’re not sure yet. We’re keeping him sedated so he won’t hurt himself.”
Jerin nodded, but still looked uneasy.
“Where were we. Oh yes. We needed your scan.” Poly Ann retrieved the portable scanner, and before Jerin could react had hit the scan trigger. She looked down at the screen and scowled.
“What is it?” Jerin asked, unable to hold his tongue. Poly Ann scowled down at the screen for several more minutes before replying.
“The screen is busted. All I can read is J. McCard, but we already knew that, right? I’m just mad because it’s probably coming out of my pay.” she glared over at Devon, shaking her head.
Jerin let out a little sigh of relief while she was distracted. She had turned the screen enough that the could make out the gray slab of discoloration across the left half of the tiny screen.
“I thought everybody was using holographic displays or AR nowadays.” he said.
“The higher ups like to cut costs. These are almost relics, but they do the job. Besides. The scan is just to verify what you’ve already told us. It’s not like its a high priority or something.”
They landed somewhere in Redmond that Jerin was unfamiliar with and off-loaded Devon without incident. After that Poly Ann assured him they were headed to the compound for some more tests and blood work. That was her words, so that confirmed Jerin’s suspicions that Mr. Johnson had already gotten a sample of his blood before waking him up. Strangely, this eased Jerin’s mind a little. If they hadn’t been on the up and up they could’ve just kidnapped him and done whatever they wanted to him. He tried very hard to ignore the voice that was whispering in the back of his mind. That little voice that sent shivers down his spine. “
“It’s easier when the victim cooperates” it said.
