IMPERIUM INSECTUM

“Okay, Mr Friedman, can you give me a thumbs up if you can hear me?” I Gave him my middle finger

“Thank you, very polite,” he said with a small chuckle. “Alright, starting the scan now.”

The machine rumbled as it whirred into life.

 [Welcome to the Maryland Biometrics, full body Deep tissue Array scanner.] Said a robotic-sounding female voice.  

“This looks fancy,” I said

The speaker in the pod came on. “Yes, it is. First and only one of its kind too. If this thing works, it’s going to Put a lot of clinics out of business.”

“oh, that’s coo-Wait!? First? You didn’t tell me that I would be the test dummy for this. ”

“Well, next time, you should read the fine print.” He chuckled.

 “You need to relax more. I would never willingly put you in harm's way; I’ve read the research and spoken to a few inside friends in Maryland. I’m 70 per cent sure this is safe.”

I groaned.

“if this thing kills me, i’m coming back to haunt your stupid ass.”

 “Relax, it won’t even tickle. Are you ready for us to start”

I rolled my eyes. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

The lights in the pod changed from light blue to all turned red.

[Commencing full body deep biological scan, please keep your eyes focussed on the green light at all time] said a familiar, calming female robotic voice. Maryland really doesn’t hold anything back.

I turned my head forward, and my eyes were assaulted by a bright green light. It stung to look at, but I persevered.

[commencing scan in 3….2….1...]

I was suddenly hit by an array of flashing lights from bright green to very dark shades of violet. The strobe effect damn well near blinded me, suddenly, I felt multiple pin pricks all over my body as dozens of needles stabbed into me and started to draw blood.

“Biological scan complete.”

The lights turned back to the light blue they started at.

*PSCHHHHHH*

The pod decompressed, and the table I was on slid out.

 [Thank you for choosing Maryland Biometrics. Maryland. improving the human condition one body at a time.]  The machine then did a small jingle before switching off. 

The door swung open, and there stood Doctor McKenzie Habermann or Doctor Mac for short.

“How was that, Mr Friedman”

I gave him the devil's eyes. “You know if I had functioning pain receptors. I would probably be beating the shit out of you by now. ”

“Heh, Hehe, sorry. Next time we’ll do it whilst you are asleep.”

“it’s fine doc. Can you get me out of here now”

“Sure thing. NURSE!!”

 A tall ruby-lipped woman walked through the door and smacked Dr mac around the back of the head.

“DO I LOOK LIKE YOUR FCKIN MAID!!” She yelled at him.

I chuckled. These two are always at each other’s throats, yet they always work wonderfully with each other.

“I'm sorry, Anne, I thought you couldn’t hear me with those tiny things you call ears at the side of your head!” He replied

“TINY! I’m gona-”

“LADIES!” I interrupted, “As much as I do love to see you two argue, could you please help me to my chair”

“Haha, right. Sorry, how unprofessional of us” They both came to the table and helped move me to my wheelchair. I have long since lost all motor functions in my legs. You see, I have a rare genetic neurological condition. That affects all the nerves in my body. Causing them to attack themselves and die, meaning slowly, over time, I've lost more and more control of my body. It all started when I was around 5 when I lost the feeling of pain in my body. My mother caught me sticking my hand in the fireplace and trying to play with the fire, not even realising that my own skin was being burned to a crisp Anyway, a quick trip to the hospital and lots of skin grafts later, doctors started to investigate my condition they didn’t believe my mother at first, but when they caught me drawing a car in my hand with a piece of broken glass, I found they quickly changed their minds. Seriously? What 2^nd rate hospital lets a child get their hands on glass like that? Whatever, I'm getting distracted. Ever since that moment, it's been downhill. First, losing pain, then the feeling of touch, taste and much more recently, my ability to walk and. Judging by how everything is starting to look blurry, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m going to be blind soon. But hopefully, with this new machine, they can find something to halt the condition.

“You two are terrible at this,” I watched as the two “Health professionals” struggled to move me into my wheelchair.

“SHADDAUP” The two of them said simultaneously.

5 minutes later, I was finally safely secured in my chair

“Took you long enough. My carers can do this in 30 seconds,” I said.

“Keep talking like that, and ill kick the breaks on and leave you here overnight.” The nurse replied.

“ooo000ooooh scary”

She gave me the middle finger.

“well, I’m going to have a quick look at the results. Can you send him to my office?” Dr Mac asked.

“Sure. Come on, trouble.” She said, kicking the brake off on my wheelchair and starting to wheel me out of the room. Dr mac’s office was on the top floor of the hospital, so it took us a while to get up there. On the way, me and Nurse Anne talked about our lives. I say we talked, but more like she talked, and I nodded along. I don’t mind it. It’s nice she treats me like a regular person rather than some cripple that can't even take a crap without help.

“So anyway, I told the tour guide he must be crazy if she thinks ill jump in there. Hey, are you listening?”

“Hmmmmmm, sorry, I zoned out there for a minute. What were you saying? Something about a lake of piranhas.”

“Honestly, why do I even talk to you.”

“Because you don’t have any friends.”

“I have friends. They are just too busy doing stuff.”

“oh yeah? What stuff?”

“Oh look, were here” The elevator door dinged, and the door slid open. We were walking towards doctor mac’s office, which was at the end of the corridor. I looked to the right of me. There were loads of doors, each labelled with the different names of different doctors. Some looked familiar, but a lot was unknown to me. I looked to the left, and there were sever large panels of glass that overlooked the large sprawling city of London.

“Great view, isn’t it?” the nurse chimed in.

“Yeah….. it is” The sun was starting to set on the horizon causing golden rays of light to flood the streets. I could see the iconic red buses ferrying people from place to place and millions of people going by their daily business without a single care in the world.

“It’s a shame I probably won’t be able to see it soon.”

My wheelchair stopped. I felt the nurse let go and walk in front of me. It was just the two of us on this corridor.

“Look, I know I’m not the smartest when it comes to this sort of stuff. Anatomy and physiology are not my strong suit.”

“How did you become a nurse again?”

“hey! I’m trying to do an encouraging speech. Don’t interrupt me.” she replied. “as I was saying, I don’t really understand what's going on half the time, but I know dr Mac does, and He is trying his hardest to find a cure. Yes, he is a raging arsehole some of the time, but he cares about you a lot. We both do. You’re not just “another patient”. Your, our friend. So have some faith in us, okay?”

I chuckled “Thanks. It just….. gets hard to deal with sometimes.”

She rubbed my hand and gave me a caring look.

“trust Dr mac, he will find something” she said, getting off the floor and going back around my wheelchair. We continued to the end of the corridor, where we saw a large oak double door with Dr mac’s name engraved on it. The nurse swiped her id card on the reader on the side, and the door swung wide open there was dr mac sitting in his office chair across from a man with a black briefcase and black suit.

Dr mac had a scowl on his face that I've never seen him make. But that changed to a fake smile as soon as I entered the room.

“Mr Friedman, nice for you to finally make it. What took you so long?”

“heh, heh sorry. Got stuck in traffic,” I said trying to ignore the stiff tension in the room.

“We had an issue with one of the elevators that took a lot longer than what we expected.” I lied.

Dr Mac nodded and winked at me. He saw right through me as usual.

“so er, who is this? A friend of yours?” I asked

“Oh, him, he’s an old colleague who was just about to leave.”

“Oh, nonsense,” the man in the black suit said, standing up and walking up to me.

“The names Richard Maryland.” He said, sticking his hand out towards me. “ I take it you’re familiar with a few of my machines. Tell me, what did you think of our new scanner?”

I took his hand and shook it. “it's fine, I guess, but it’s a little bit too aggressive in the way it scans you.”

“Too aggressive….” he repeated. “Thanks for the feedback. I'll let the eggheads back home know honestly, I told them before we sent the prototype, but they didn’t listen.”

“Great, the two of you have met. Don’t you have a plane to catch” Dr Mac said, pointing at the clock.

Richard glared at him before sighing.

“he’s correct. Dr Habermann, I trust you will tell your patient about my proposal.”

Dr mac scowled and gritted his teeth.

“I will”

“thank you”, he said with a smug smile. As he walked towards the door, he made sure to give me a nod before he left, shutting the door behind him.

“You mind explaining what THAT was all about?” I asked Dr Mac.

He walked over to the drinks cupboard in the far right of the room and poured himself a drink.

“Sorry, you had to see that.” He said, downing the brown liquid, “he’s an old friend of mine and let’s just say our relationship is a rocky one for both of us. But let’s forget about that let's look at your results.”

He poured himself another drink before walking to his desk where a large thick binder sat. he quickly sat in his chair and started flicking through the binder.

“come on… it has to be AHA!”

He pulled out a blue sheet of paper and gave it a quick read-over.

“right, the results show that the medication is working. We have seen a slowdown in the degradation of nerve cell tissue. I think if-“

“What was he talking about” I interrupted.

Doctor Mac looked at me and let out a sigh.

“Your not gonna let this go are you?”

I shook my head. Nope. Im way to invested now.

“Anne, could you please leave me and Nick alone for a minute. I'll explain everything to you later.”

I looked over my shoulder. Anne looked between the two of us with concern before finally letting go of my wheelchair and walking to the door. There was a soft click as she left.

Dr mac put the blue sheet of paper back inside the binder and then brought all his attention to me.

“He came to me for a proposal for a new form of treatment for your condition. It's something completely out of the realms of science fiction, and honestly, I don’t trust it,” he said

“well? Spit it out. What’s the idea?”

“your condition is getting worse. Yes, the drugs are slowing the progress, but at this rate, even if I were to triple the dosage, we are just delaying the inevitable at best, you have around 8 months.”

My heart sank. 8 months. 8 FUCKING MONTHS. What the fuck can I do in 8 months?

“Mac. There has to be something you can do. A new operation A….A…a new drug. Some form of therapy ANYTHING!”

“I'm sorry Nick. We’ve exhausted everything. We simply don’t have the time.”

“8 MONTHS, MAC! 8 FUCKIN MONTHS. FOR WHAT! 8 MONTHS OF SLOWLY WASTING AWAY? I HAVENT LIVED A LIFE, MAC. I'VE SPENT ALL OF IT IN THIS STUPID HOSPITAL. I HAVENT DONE ANYTHING. I NEVER WENT TO SCHOOL. I'VE NEVER GONE OUT DRINKING WITH A GROUP OF FRIENDS HELL, I HAVENT EVEN KISSED A GIRL, LET ALONE HAVE SEX WITH ONE! I JUS…..i just wanna..”

I broke down for the first time in a very long time. I. broke .down. all of the anger, pent-up frustration, I let it all out. I can't stand this anymore. What did I do to deserve a life of misery? All of this because I lost the genetic lottery?! It's BULLSHIT, ALL OF IT! I wept. I don’t know for how long for. I didn’t stop until I felt a pair of hands touch my shoulders.

“I'm sorry Nick. Truly I am. But you shouldn’t give up hope yet.”

I wiped my tears, and I looked up. It was Mac. He had a reassuring smile on his face.

“I'll do anything, Mac. Anything. Just please. I cant…”

“I know. I guess that leaves me no choice but to do what Richard suggested.”

“W..whats he suggestin?”

 “What Richard is proposing isn’t really a cure but a method to buy us more time. Using the most advanced technology Maryland have, they will take your consciousness out of your body and store it digitally.”

I looked at him with my mouth wide open.

“W…what?”

“I know it sounds like something straight out of a comic book, but there is solid science behind it. During one of your nightly observations, we discovered that when You are asleep the cell degradation slows practically to a standstill. This led Richard to believe that there is a direction correlation between you being conscious and your condition. So, the treatment Richard proposed would buy us a large amount of time in which we could find a cure for your body and then put you. I mean, your conscious, back in your body.”

He continued to explain the science and the method they would use to take and store my consciousness, but I was struggling to keep up this all sounded too crazy to be true.

“And that’s all of it. so, tell me. What do you think?”

I looked at him for a few seconds trying to collect my thoughts. This entire thing is crazy. Ripping one's consciousness and stuffing it back in a body? This is too crazy, and yet……

“Do you think it will work?”

He let out another deep sigh.

“I don’t know. The science seems solid enough, but this is uncharted water for everyone involved. This hasn’t even gone through animal trials yet, let alone human trials. You would essentially be the guinea pig for this, and the risks are huge if we fail to store your consciousness at any stage. That’s it, your dead or worse, you could be left suffering for the rest of your life. I personally don”

“I'll do it.” I said plainly.

Dr mac looked t me with a pained expression but I ignored it.

“The risks are high, yes. But at this rate, I will be dead or so close to it that there wouldn’t be any point saving me. Mac, look me in the eyes and be honest with me. Do you think you could treat me with the time I have left? “

He stared at me for a few seconds before looking away.

“I figured. Mac, you’re a good man and a great doctor, and lord knows you’ve done anything and everything and pulled as many strings as possible to help me. I owe it to you and Anne to at least try this.”

He looked at me, hoping that I would give in, but I wouldn’t. He finally gave up and let out a sigh.

“I’ll call Richard and let him know you're doing it. We will also have to stop your medicine effective immediately and put you on a plain diet leading up to then. We want to go in with your system as clean as possible.”

“That’s understandable.”

He pushed a button that was underneath his desk. Anne came with concern on her face.

“Can you arrange for Mr Friedman to be taken to his home? I have a lot to sort out and an annoying phone call to make.”

I nodded at Anne, and she quickly came to me and took me out of the room. After that, I didn’t see Dr mac as much as I used to before. It was probably for the best I didn’t want him to see me in my condition. Without the medication, the condition rapidly progressed. I was now completely blind in one eye, and the other was nearly gone as well. I had lost most movement in my left arm, and I needed to be assisted with everything.

“Anne, are you there?” I said weakly.

I felt some sensation on my left hand

“Yeah, I am. You need help with anything?”

“no. I’m just wondering if we are nearly there.”

“ I’m not sure. I don’t even know where we are. All I see is desert.”  All we were told by Mr Maryland’s representative was that we were going to some test facility in Nevada.

“This all seems a bit off to me,” Anne said.

I chuckled “Well, I’m guessing what’s happening here isn’t exactly legal.”

“Then we should go back!” Anne yelled.

“I think it’s too late for that” I adjusted my sunglasses against the window.

“And besides, by stopping my medication, we’ve already caused too much damage to my body. I’m too far in to pull out,” I sniggered at that last bit.

Anne lightly slapped me on my arm.

“That’s very inappropriate. Also, how can you make jokes at a time like this.”

“Because if I don’t laugh, ill cry and nobody wants to see that.”

Anne didn’t talk much after I said that. A few hours later, we finally made it to the facility. Anne and a group of other nurses helped get me out of the vehicle and into a wheelchair. After that, Anne took me to a room where Dr mac was waiting for me.

“You made it! How was the journey?”

“it was uneventful.”

“I hated it! Hours of nothing but desert and the same country radio station. I. HATE. COUNTRY. I wanna go home.” She wined.

Dr mac let out a sigh.

“Well, we won't be long. How are you feeling, Mr Friedmann.”

“Like crap, since I'm off the meds, but ill be fine.”

“You know It's not too late to turn around and go ho-”

“you and I both know that’s bullshit and besides, I'm not doing it” I interrupted.

I heard him chuckle. “I see; once you set your mind on something, you don’t back down” I then heard him walk away for a few seconds and then come back.

“I had this printed in brail for you so you can follow along, but I’m just going to run by you one more time what going to happen.”

He told me everything that was going to happen very slowly and repeated even when I needed it.

“is everything clear, Mr Friedmann”

“Crystal. Let's get the shown on the road already.”

“alright, alright, alright. Calm down. We still need to get you prepped. Come follow me.”

After that, what followed went very quickly. I was out of my regular clothes and into a hospital gown. I had all sorts of equipment attached to me, monitoring every part of my body.

“Do you really need all this?” I asked

“No” Dr Mac replied. “But Maryland, do they need the data to help improve the product when it works”

I sighed and let them continue with their work. 10 minutes later, I was moved into a room and then transferred into a special pod. Dr mac told me it was like the biometric scanner but much larger.

“Are you comfortable in there” Dr mac’s voice screamed through the speaker”

I gave him the finger.

“Ha ha ha. Nice to see nothing’s changed. We are going to start the test soon. Is there anything you want to say before you go”

I shook my head. I had already said everything I wanted to say ages ago.

“Okay. Commence the procedure!”

The machine whirred into life. The sound of several hundred coils exploding into life filled the machine. My hair started to stand on end as static started to build around me. The chamber started to fill with the smell of ozone.

[STARTING NEURAL CONSCIOUSNESS UPLOAD] A voice yelled at me. It was different from the calm voices Maryland used. This one was raw, unfiltered and purely mechanical.           

I felt several pins enter my body and head.

[CREATING NEURAL BRIDGE……. SUCCESSFUL]

I felt the muscles in my face start to twitch.

[BYPASSING SYNAPESES……. SUCCESSFUL]

I felt the rest of my vision start to go no, not just that, but my other sense were going as well.

[ALL SYSTEM PARAMETERS MET COMMENCING UPLOAD IN 3……2…..1]

Then everything turned black.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[BLACK SITE OMEGA 12 ACTIVATED]

[RUNNING SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS]

[SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC COMPLETED. SEVERAL ERRORS WERE DISCOVERED.]

[ATTEMPTING REPAIRS]

[REPAIRS SUCCESSFUL]

[RESUMING PREVIOUS EXPERIMENTATION]

[ERROR CONSCIOUS CATALOGUE MISSING. SEARCHING FOR BACKUP]

[ERROR BACKUP NOT FOUND ATTEMPTING REMOTE ACCESS INTO MARYLAND CENTRAL SERVER]

[ACCESS ACQUIRED RUNNING SCAN FOR COMPATIBLE CONSCIOUSNESS]

[………………………….]

[999,999 COMPATIBLE CONSCIOUSNESS FOUND. BEGINNING SCAN]

[ALL CONSCIOUSNESS SCANNED. NONE MET THE CRITERIA. SEARCHING DEEPER.]

[ADDITIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS FOUND. ATTEMPTING TO ACCESS. ERROR. THE FIREWALL PREVENTS FURTHER ACCESS]

[STARTING BRUTE FORCE AND CLEAN UP ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME 650 DAYS]