Maxwell poured me another shot, and I let myself digest the information I had been given. I had been 'technically dead' for at least five years, and had supposedly been rescued by people yet unknown who possessed technology far greater than my home dimension. Maxwell was patiently staring at me while I downed the shot, and then he poured me another one.
"No questions so far?"
"Oh, quite a few. I'm just unsure where to start, that's all."
Maxwell poured himself some more whiskey and took a sip. Then I came up with a good question.
"You mentioned I was alone. No-body else was around, no?"
"No. You were the only person left. We found some quantum signatures, to suggest that there had been some sliding occurring recently, but nothing major. Just as well really. The pulsar that was going to hit the planet was far more potent than it should have been."
"How so?"
"It destroyed the entire planet."
If I hadn't been drinking the whisky just then, I would have done a spit-take. And yes, I'm not too old not to know what one is.
"A pulsar destroyed an entire planet?"
"Yes. There is a nice little asteroid belt now in that dimension where Earth used to be."
"A pulsar destroyed an entire planet?"
"Yes. The cosmology division is still trying to figure that one out. If there was some divine force that wished to wipe the human race of the face of the planet, then they have a mighty sense of over-kill."
"Any idea of any survivors?"
"No way to do a trace. The radiation is too great now. We could barely discover that there had been sliding in the area. You had companions I take it?"
I nodded my head, and Maxwell silently took that in.
"Most sliders are survivors. You survived. I am sure that they must have as well."
Maxwell then spent some time trying to distract me from thinking about the others. The Consortium, the group that he was a member of, was a 'think-tank', a group of experts in many different fields. However, to differentiate themselves from a research team such as NASA, the Consortium took in all fields of experts, from across many dimensions, and used their resources to collaborate and expand on their own knowledge. He told me how he himself had been rescued from a world where mutated diseases were rampant due to meddling in genetic engineering and biological warfare, and his collaboration with a nano-technology expert had resulted in an eventual end to disease on his world. He mentioned a little more about the group, but I was too preoccupied with the welfare of my companions to focus clearly. After the induction, I came up with another question.
"What exactly, if you don't mind me asking, did you do to me?" I was unsure if it was a question I could ask Maxwell, due to any scientific ethics that he had to honour, or for myself; I had seen some of the 'field surgery' that had been performed on me, and that brief image I saw of myself being operated on was morbid and gruesome enough, but he was eager to 'spill the beans' as it was.
"In fact, the technology is my pet project. To put it simply, the reason you are alive is that your body's regenerative and immune system has been, augmented." He stumbled a little with his wording there, as he tried to tactfully put any discomfort that I may have had at bay. "Due to the seriousness of your cancer, and a few other injuries that you had somehow sustained, it was imperative that we try to 'patch you up' as well as we could, as well as simultaneously restarting your body as well."
He had another sip as he continued. "You had suffered a lot of damage that would have eventually have killed you, but the immediate threat was the bullet. Removing that was the task of the exploration robots. One of which had been installed with a medical kit, some healing drugs, and our new nanotechnology. I took over the nano-tech research when our other expert decided to leave us, and had been tinkering with it for a while. So I had managed to develop a technology that would effectively allow someone to get up and do whatever he or she were doing at the time. A child who fell off his bicycle and damaged, or even hurt his knee, could be up riding his bicycle within an hour or so of the treatment."
"An hour!" I felt at that I had to butt into the conversation. "That is incredible!"
"The wonders of technology. Anyway, when we discovered you, you had already been dead for a few seconds. We managed to revive you to a point so that you would not suffer brain-death, and then put you into cryogenic suspension for a few years while the nano-technology does it's work. Unfortunately, the technology was only designed to work with one problem at a time, so as you had so many different ailments, one part of yourself was treated. That is why it took so long."
"Five years however. And you say you can completely heal a broken limb in an hour?" I felt like I was a student again.
"Cancers are usually treated over a long course of treatment. We also had to effectively reconstruct your heart as well, due to the trauma it had suffered. There is also your age, your health. There are so many factors which all added up. Still, I do have to ask you something."
"Yes?"
"How do you feel?"
"I feel like I'm a teenager again. A teenage Olympic athlete."
"Another little side-effect. You will fell good, a lot healthier than you have felt. I do not believe you will have any problems with arthritis, or cholesterol, or any of the joyous signs of aging for many years now. You are possibly stronger and have more stamina than you had before as well. Tests will have to be done of course, but it is distinct possibility."
The marvel of being alive again hit me. It was true, I felt young again. Healthier than I had been in years. I would not have been surprised if I had managed to out-drink any rugby player in England with how my body now felt. Still, there was the niggling feeling in the back of my head that something was not quite right.
"I should be honest with you, we still have many tests to perform. We have to keep the nano-technology inside you, otherwise there is always the risk of the cancer you have developing all over again, and I would warn over trying to drink rugby players underneath the table."
I was sure he could somehow sense my mind shout "DAMN!" at that.
"And you are also our first patient. Obviously, we wish to ask you some questions, but that can wait. Are you hungry?"
"As long as I don't have to eat hospital food."
The next week was full of questions, just as Maxwell had promised. I also met some of the other staff. Some I recognised, or at least their doubles, most I did not know. I had the joy of recounting my sliding experiences to a psychologist, who seemed mostly interested in certain worlds than I would have thought healthy, but I decided to play along. After all, I was being the gracious guest here, and I did owe these people my life. It worried me however, why I was chosen to have this revolutionary treatment. The coincidence of research into the pulsar that had destroyed the last Earth I was on was at least a plausible excuse, but it did not explain why any of the countless other worlds dead were not used for the research. I decided to dismiss any thoughts into that however, and counted myself lucky to be alive.
It was a Monday when I next met Maxwell over a game of chess. It was something we occasionally did; it was a worthwhile escape from research, and we were both good enough to give each other a challenge, or at least drag the game out longer than it should have.
"I've noted you have been exploring."
That was true. The library that they had was gigantic, and most of the space was used to hold the computers that stored the information they had. Nothing was closed. Books were divided into either author, topic, or world of origin.
"The library is marvellous here." This was a casual talk. I took one of his pawns and moved it too the side.
"You like it here then?" He took one of my knights in retaliation, and looked to be wining the forth game as well as all the others we had played.
"It is a scientists dream. No problem with research grants. Unlimited resources. Anybody would give their right arm to work here."
"Would you consider staying?"
It was something that had crossed my mind. The problem however was that their cosmology and physics bodies were already bustling at the seems. Another Maxamillian Arturo in physics would not seem out of place there, but I did not believe I work alongside five of my own doubles for the rest of my life. I put the fear of God into most of my students; I had no doubt that six or seven of us together would drive each of us insane. And sliding had reawakened an adventurous spirit in me that I had not felt in years. But where else could I go?
"It's not as if I could go anywhere else." I tried to appear as nonchalant as possible.
"We could get you home."
That made me drop my queen as I had started to move it to check his king.
I had wondered why the only part of the library I couldn't access was their sliding research. This was probably why. Try to temp me to stay with them, or bait me with something else.
"What's the catch? There's always one. I want to know what it is."
"No catch. Ideally, we would want you to stay, but the knowledge we have been given by you is wonderful. We have proof that the nano-technology works. And we have a log of over a hundred worlds. But I am not the expert on sliding. You should talk to her to get the information you need." The intercourse was carried over a few moves on both sides. Mutual defences and attacks. I had never met the sliding researcher at the complex; she apparently had been constantly 'held up' for some reason or another, but the possibility of being able to go home was too good to give up. I still had a life there, or at least I could salvage it, so I was anxious to return.
"When could we go?"
Maxwell gulped down the rest of his coffee and checked my king. "Why not right now?"
Author's Notes
Sorry this took longer than expected, but stuff has been happening so bleh. The next chapter should be finished by next week.