Prophet of ConFree (The Prophet of ConFree) by Marshall S. Thomas Page B
Authors: Marshall S. Thomas
Ads: Link
medic, a male, snipped a little tuft of my arm hair.
"Go in there!" A blackie commanded. It was a small office. A youngish medical type sat relaxed behind a desk, his white smock open, looking up from a d-screen.
"Rains?" he asked.
"Sir yes sir." I responded.
"Sit down." He gestured at an airchair. "Want some dox?" He was a clean-shaven Outworlder with carelessly combed sandy hair and dark brown eyes.
"Sir yes sir! Thank you sir." What a break! I could hardly believe it. He ordered a fresh dox from a brewer by his desk and handed me the cup as I settled into the chair. Breakfast!
"Well, let's see," he said, looking over his d-screen. "Oh, I'm Doctor Waverly. Just forget my name, you probably won't see me again. Anyway…it looks pretty good. Your vision and hearing are both close to perfect, as they should be at your age. If they deteriorate over time, both can easily be restored. Your general health is excellent. Oh, what happened with your front teeth?"
"Somebody knocked them out, sir."
"Ah. And the nose?"
"Same guy."
"Hmm. Well, the artificial teeth are fine. And the nose is mending well. Aside from that, there were a few minor internal problem areas the scans revealed but nothing major. Those problems are now under repair and you don’t have to worry about them. We've given you reds and whites – that is, nanoreds and nanowhites, to build up your body and counter anything nasty that gets in. How's the dox?"
"Superb, sir."
"Good. Among other things, you're drownproofed now. And invulnerable to all those diseases that used to plague mankind for centuries."
"Drownproofed, sir?"
"Yes – that's the nanoreds, artificial red blood cells, respirocytes – nanoparticles. We just flooded you with them. You can now sit at the bottom of a swimming pool for a couple of hours without breathing, or run for hours without tiring. Lots of oxygen in your system. You'll get guidance on that during Basic. The nanowhites, on the other hand, nanoparticles of white blood cells or leucocytes, will protect your system from all unwanted invaders. Well, let's see what else we have. Blood fine, urine fine, we've got your DNA now and it will follow you wherever you go. If you lose any limbs or organs they will be regrown from your own DNA. We can even grow a whole duplicate of you if we want to."
"You mean, you could produce a whole squad of Richard Rainses? Sir?"
"A whole platoon, if we wanted. We've also got a full memory scan – just took it from you, in there. So if you have brain trauma, and lose your memory, we can restore it – up until today's date. We do these scans periodically for combat soldiers – just in case. It's awkward to build new memories from zero."
"That's amazing. Sir."
"Yep. I did notice your muscles are kind of flabby. Oh, it's all there, and all healthy. Just civilian slack, that's all. Basic will slap you into shape, along with the supplements you'll be eating with your meals. By the time we're through with you, you'll be a superman. Like all Legion troopers."
"Does that include the Immortality Gene, sir?"
"You'll get that a little later in the course. Now, your brain probe revealed quite a bit. Nothing abnormal. Your IQ is fairly high. Not exceptionally high, but fairly high. You have all sorts of potential there. Our IQ results show potential but it's up to you to reach that potential. Have you thought about OCS – officer candidate school?"
"I've been focused on basic training, sir."
"Well, that's a good attitude. Just keep it in mind for the future. Your IQ qualifies you for consideration."
"Thank you, sir."
"Don't thank me. Thank your mom and dad. One last thing, you've now got a Legion c-cell injected under your skin. It will show your medical history and, later, all Legion assignments. It will be autoupdated for the rest of your career. Well, bottom line is you've passed your medical and qualify for unrestricted service. Congratulations."
"Thank you sir."
"Next stop. Out that door. The
"Go in there!" A blackie commanded. It was a small office. A youngish medical type sat relaxed behind a desk, his white smock open, looking up from a d-screen.
"Rains?" he asked.
"Sir yes sir." I responded.
"Sit down." He gestured at an airchair. "Want some dox?" He was a clean-shaven Outworlder with carelessly combed sandy hair and dark brown eyes.
"Sir yes sir! Thank you sir." What a break! I could hardly believe it. He ordered a fresh dox from a brewer by his desk and handed me the cup as I settled into the chair. Breakfast!
"Well, let's see," he said, looking over his d-screen. "Oh, I'm Doctor Waverly. Just forget my name, you probably won't see me again. Anyway…it looks pretty good. Your vision and hearing are both close to perfect, as they should be at your age. If they deteriorate over time, both can easily be restored. Your general health is excellent. Oh, what happened with your front teeth?"
"Somebody knocked them out, sir."
"Ah. And the nose?"
"Same guy."
"Hmm. Well, the artificial teeth are fine. And the nose is mending well. Aside from that, there were a few minor internal problem areas the scans revealed but nothing major. Those problems are now under repair and you don’t have to worry about them. We've given you reds and whites – that is, nanoreds and nanowhites, to build up your body and counter anything nasty that gets in. How's the dox?"
"Superb, sir."
"Good. Among other things, you're drownproofed now. And invulnerable to all those diseases that used to plague mankind for centuries."
"Drownproofed, sir?"
"Yes – that's the nanoreds, artificial red blood cells, respirocytes – nanoparticles. We just flooded you with them. You can now sit at the bottom of a swimming pool for a couple of hours without breathing, or run for hours without tiring. Lots of oxygen in your system. You'll get guidance on that during Basic. The nanowhites, on the other hand, nanoparticles of white blood cells or leucocytes, will protect your system from all unwanted invaders. Well, let's see what else we have. Blood fine, urine fine, we've got your DNA now and it will follow you wherever you go. If you lose any limbs or organs they will be regrown from your own DNA. We can even grow a whole duplicate of you if we want to."
"You mean, you could produce a whole squad of Richard Rainses? Sir?"
"A whole platoon, if we wanted. We've also got a full memory scan – just took it from you, in there. So if you have brain trauma, and lose your memory, we can restore it – up until today's date. We do these scans periodically for combat soldiers – just in case. It's awkward to build new memories from zero."
"That's amazing. Sir."
"Yep. I did notice your muscles are kind of flabby. Oh, it's all there, and all healthy. Just civilian slack, that's all. Basic will slap you into shape, along with the supplements you'll be eating with your meals. By the time we're through with you, you'll be a superman. Like all Legion troopers."
"Does that include the Immortality Gene, sir?"
"You'll get that a little later in the course. Now, your brain probe revealed quite a bit. Nothing abnormal. Your IQ is fairly high. Not exceptionally high, but fairly high. You have all sorts of potential there. Our IQ results show potential but it's up to you to reach that potential. Have you thought about OCS – officer candidate school?"
"I've been focused on basic training, sir."
"Well, that's a good attitude. Just keep it in mind for the future. Your IQ qualifies you for consideration."
"Thank you, sir."
"Don't thank me. Thank your mom and dad. One last thing, you've now got a Legion c-cell injected under your skin. It will show your medical history and, later, all Legion assignments. It will be autoupdated for the rest of your career. Well, bottom line is you've passed your medical and qualify for unrestricted service. Congratulations."
"Thank you sir."
"Next stop. Out that door. The
Similar Books
