Under the Skin by Kannan Feng Page A

where he was sure that something was going to come pushing its way through the skin.
    When his vision cleared, he was sitting up and he could taste blood in his mouth. Gingerly, he ran his tongue around the inside, wincing when he found the raw spot that he had chewed open.
    Minoru was crouched on the bed like a gargoyle, eyes intent, and though he was breathing hard, he was calm.
    "Shall I call an ambulance?” he said seriously, and Padraic waved him off.
    "No, no, I got it,” Padraic said. Something about trying to talk made another wave of nausea pass over him, and he had to stumble for the bathroom. He made it just in time to vomit with what he felt was inappropriate violence.
    Distantly, he was aware of Minoru kneeling next to him, rubbing his back and murmuring in a language that Padraic could no longer say was definitely Japanese or English. The tile of the floor was cool under his hands, and the coolness was so nice that Padraic ended up lying flat on it, willing some of it to enter his own overheated body.
    He concentrated on making his body take air in and then force it out. Breathing. He knew how to breathe, and a soft, almost unnoticeable echo made him look up at Minoru with a ghost of amusement.
    "You don't have to breathe with me,” he said, his voice a harsh croak in his ears. “I'm not having a baby, you know."
    Minoru smiled wanly at him, and Padraic believed for the first time that Minoru was concerned about more than just the technology he was carrying. The thought was soft and warm as wool, and Padraic tried to hold on to it.
    He figured that he had lost track of time again because the next thing that he heard was Jenner talking with Minoru.
    "You didn't call an ambulance."
    "No, he said he didn't need one."
    "Oh, so we're taking his word for it..."
    "I would rather avoid the hospital if at all possible. Some of the software we put on him—"
    "Would get him dropped into a room with barred windows in two heartbeats. Yeah, probably just as well."
    Padraic sat back on his heels and stared at the paneled ceiling until his body calmed down. He thought his stomach was empty, which was just as well, and after a long moment, he half-tripped to the tiny bathtub. He managed to lever half his body into the tub and thrust his head under the faucet. After letting the water run icy cold for a full minute, he felt almost human again and pulled away, narrowly missing gouging his scalp on the sharp spout.
    "We can't do this,” he said, coming back into the room.
    "Oh, come on...” Jenner started, but Padraic kept talking.
    "The neural net just can't handle it,” he forced himself to say. “Not like it is, not without some serious repairs. Maybe after I do some more work in Milwaukee,” he offered lamely. “Maybe..."
    "Or maybe you'll just do it anyway.” Jenner said cheerfully. “It's still holding information, isn't it?"
    Something about his tone made Padraic bristle.
    "The way I see it,” Jenner continued, “it works just fine; the only thing that we're really worried about here is migraines and some stomachaches."
    "That's not it,” Padraic insisted. Why couldn't they see?. “It's not supposed to do that; that means that something's wrong."
    "It's not like you can leave,” Jenner said offhandedly, and that, more than anything else, made Padraic retrieve his shirt and head for the door.
    "Where are you going to get plane fare?” Jenner asked with interest.
    "I'm going to whore myself outside the hotel door,” Padraic snapped automatically.
    "No, please.” Minoru snagged him by the crook of his elbow, and because it was Minoru, he stilled.
    "This is not going to happen,” he said, speaking to Minoru directly. “I'm leaving, and we are not doing this."
    "Then we call the police and tell them that you're leaving the country with Inoue corporation secrets,” Jenner said.
    Padraic turned to Jenner slowly. He expected that Jenner, who had just casually revealed something breathtakingly violating to him,