Dyskenesis

Chapter 04

"Sir…" Edison began.

Cheviot held his hand up. "I'm sure you were told to be back here to cover the telelection."

"I think Bryce is more important than some minor politician." Edison pointed out.

"Bryce was more important when he had a working brain," Cheviot said, darkly.

"Bryce is only unconscious. He's not brain-dead." Edison argued.

"When I asked about Peller's death, the doctors explained to me that the disease causes the brain to misfire. I asked if this affected thought patterns, and he said it most likely would. So he might not be brain-dead, but he's as good as. And until he wakes up and proves me wrong, he

is no longer an employee of this network."

"Excuse me," Edison turned toward the door.

"Where are you going, Mr. Carter?"

"If Bryce no longer works for you, Mr. Cheviot, then neither do I."

Edison disconnected the vu-phone before Cheviot could reply. Then he left the medical center

and headed back to his apartment.

Cheviot was mad enough to kick babies and throw puppies. Didn't Edison understand? Even if Bryce did survive this sickness, he was most likely to wind up as little more than a vegetable. He would never fully comprehend all that Edison was sacrificing for him. Edison might as well be giving everything up for a turnip.

Edison. His best reporter. The man whose reports had put Network 23 on the top of the ratings food-chain. The man was the network's greatest asset, and now he was casting aside the Network he had helped forge for the sake of some practically brain-dead kid who in a few days time would probably be placed in an institution to spend the rest of his existence. If he wasn't so far gone that euthanasia was preferable.

Cheviot kicked the water cooler as he went to get a cooling drink He hated days like this one. Edison was probably off at the ouzo bar bad-mouthing him to anyone who cared to listen. Telling them that he wanted to murder Bryce just because he wasn't smart enough. That wasn't true! Cheviot did have a heart! He like Bryce as much as the next guy. He didn't want to see the boy killed for no reason. Or for some stupid reason. But without his magnificent intelligence, and without street-skills, the boy would not last on his own. Didn't Edison see that? Bryce was proud of his mind, and would never want to spend his days suffering the embarrassment of being a mere vegetable.

But Edison believed more than just the opposite of that. He believed the impossible. He believed that Bryce would wake up and be perfectly normal. As if the brain-debilitating disease would have no lasting effect on him.

As far as Cheviot was concerned, Edison was waiting for a miracle that would never happen.