Chapter Eighteen: Reconciliations and Reconstruction
"Dipper, come here. Look at this. I've been working on a method to fight Stan's cancer. I have a lot of other things I was working on. But this naturally takes priority." Ford said.
"Of course." Dipper said, going over and looking under the microscope. He saw cancer cells in there. He couldn't tell what kind of cancer. But ultimately it didn't matter. He watched as nanomachines aggressively attacked the cancer cells and seemed to transform them into regular cells.
"What? How!" Dipper gasped, pulling away from the microscope.
"I injected the nanomachines into the hot spring water while it was still at a near boiling level. It seems the nanomachines consumed the water and took on some of the effects. I still don't know how the water works. But there must be something supernatural on the molecular level that allows the water to affect such incredible regeneration and immortality." Ford said.
"Wow! But will the nanomachines make Stan immortal? What if the nanomachines create an unending cycle of regeneration and regrowth of the tumor? What if the nanomachines aren't enough to destroy the tumor. Would he end up like Wade Wilson with super cancer? The regeneration prevents the cancer from spreading or killing him, but don't get rid of the cancer but also cause his mental instability to grow." Dipper said. Ford chuckled.
"Dipper, I appreciate your caution. But that's science-fiction at best." Ford said.
"Yeah? So were nanomachines and bionic organs until you invented them, especially at the level you've invented them at." Dipper said. Ford sighed. Dipper made a point, even if he was using a character that was not meant to be taken seriously to make it.
"Dipper, I know this is risky. But you need to trust that I want what's best for Stan and I'm not just arbitrarily using him as a test subject." Ford said.
Dipper nodded.
"I trust you." Dipper said.
"Good. I might need you to hold Stanley down for me. You and Wendy." Ford said. Dipper sighed knowing that he might get a broken nose and some bruises. Broken noses healed as fast as bruises for Dipper and bruises often never even showed up in the first place they healed so fast. But he would do it for Stan.
Ford filled a vial with boiling hot spring water and injected the nanomachines into it, watching as they absorbed the water, taking in all of its molecular data. The water seemed to evaporate, turning the inside of the vial foggy and then dissipating.
"Good. We're ready. You and Wendy meet me in Stanley's room." Ford said. Dipper went and got Wendy and the three of them went to Stan's room.
"Stan, we have a treatment for you. I'd like your permission to inject you. It's a nanomachine treatment that will directly attack your tumor. It will also send out scout nanomachines to seek out any other cancerous cells and log them in my computer so that we can get rid of them before they start to grow into tumors." Ford said. He had spent days programming these nanomachines to be specifically tailored to annihilating cancer in the whole body.
"You're such a nerd, Sixer. How do you come up with weird things like this?" Stan asked.
"So can I inject you?"
"Yeah, yeah. Look, nobody lives forever. But if you think you can get rid of this train boomer, go ahead." Stan said. Stan had been saying words wrong sometimes lately. Another effect of the brain tumor. Ford went up to him, cleaning off Stan's neck, feeling around for his artery, injecting him.
"Okay. With any luck, you'll be feeling the effects of the nanomachines by tomorrow. Or rather, you won't be feeling the effects of the tumor as strongly." Ford said. Stan waved him off. Dipper sighed in relief, glad that he wouldn't have to try to hold Stan down. Dipper had gotten stronger, but Stan was still a difficult person to hold down. He was surprisingly strong for his age. He kept in surprisingly good shape for a seventy-something year old.
Stan sighed, closing his eyes and going to sleep. Dipper turned off the lights and let Stan sleep. Ford had also injected Stan with a monitor nanomachine that would observe the nanomachines attacking the tumor and measure how well they were doing at diminishing the size of the growth.
-0-
Pacifica sighed, working on her phone, taking notes on what she was going to say to Dipper, how she was going to convince Wendy and Mabel to let her talk to Dipper, especially after how she had treated them.
"Hey, Pacifica… You gonna go to bed?" Lizzie asked. She was finishing up some work on her blog before she went to bed herself. She didn't mind if Pacifica stayed up. But it was getting on towards midnight and she figured Pacifica was a person who usually went to bed early and got up early.
"In a bit." Pacifica said, yawning widely. She continued taking notes, finally turning her phone off. She knew that she had prepared as much as possible. She turned out the light, closing her eyes, trying to go to sleep. She knew somehow that she wouldn't be able to sleep. But she had to try. She needed to be able to in order to make things right with the Pines tomorrow.
-0-
Pacifica sighed, getting up and trying to fold the sheets, finding it hard to do. She kept trying again and again to get the sheets to fold evenly, but found herself unable to do it. She'd never had to fold sheets before. She always had servants to fold sheets for her. She took about six minutes, but finally folded up the sheets properly, setting them on the couch and getting her things together. She wrote a note for Lizzie thanking her for letting her stay there before heading out.
She rehearsed what she was going to say to Dipper, Wendy and Mabel when she got there. She knew that it wouldn't be easy. She was sure Dipper was still having anxiety issues. He wasn't exactly the most secure person when she first met him. He was socially anxious and insecure back when they were thirteen and from what she'd seen, he'd come a long way, but deep down, he still had that nervous energy around him. She still could feel it in him.
She knocked on the Mystery Shack door.
"You know, you don't need to knock to come in, dude." Soos said.
"This is the Mystery Shack! Everyone is welcome here!" Soos said.
"Oh… You're the Pines' servant. When did you get back?" Pacifica asked.
"Not really their servant. More like Stan's handyman." Soos said.
"I came back with Melody and Jesus Jr." Soos said. Jesus Jr. and Melody waved at Pacifica.
"Ah, well… Congratulations. Are Wendy, Dipper and Mabel here?" Pacifica asked.
"Yeah, dude. Wendy is working with Mabel on something. Not sure what. But Dipper is downstairs with Ford, working on healing Stan. Between you and me, it's not going that well. Ford says the cancer was much more aggressive than he expected. But he told me not to tell Stan." Soos said.
"I won't tell him." Pacifica said, waiting in the Shack for the rest of the crew to come down.
It took over an hour for them to come down and up respectively.
"Dipper? Can I talk to you?" Pacifica asked.
"You here to throw more accusations at Dipper?" Mabel asked.
"No. I'm here to apologize. I was overwhelmed last night. My dad is dying and I may not like him. But he's still my father, and it doesn't look like he's going to wake up from his coma and I'm betting mom will take him off life support." Pacifica said. Dipper could tell how upset she was.
"Paz… My dad… Mabel's and my dad died pretty recently too, after the earthquake. He had a seizure and died as a result." Dipper said. Pacifica nodded.
"I remember that happened. I just wanted to apologize for accusing you like that. It's not your fault my dad died. He was greedy enough to seek out the hot spring, probably for his own gain."
"I mean, we sought it out too." Mabel said.
"Not so much. We didn't even fully know the effects of the hot spring when we all bathed in it. We had our suspicions. But the day that Dipper uses his immortality for greedy reasons is the day I dye my hair green." Pacifica laughed. Dipper chuckled as well.
"It's alright. No need to keep beating your head against the wall." Dipper said.
"I have to get back to Grunkle Stan." Dipper said, going back downstairs and seeing Ford working frantically on Stan.
"Stanley just had a seizure! His brain tumor caused a seizure! We need to open up his skull and get some of the pressure off his and remove the tumor." Ford said.
"Dipper, get scrubbed up and help me with this. It's going to be a delicate procedure. Some brain damage will likely be evident after the surgery. But hopefully the nanomachines and hot spring water will help." Ford said, putting on his gloves and mask and getting the gear all set up. Dipper got into his gear and stood next to Ford.
Ford gave Dipper instructions and they worked together to shave Stan's head, open up his skull and delicately begin working on the tumor. Already, the seizure no doubt did some damage. But hopefully, they would be able to minimize the long-term damage by getting rid of the tumor quickly.
Finally, they finished cutting away the tumor, putting his skull back on. Ford sprayed some nanomachine spray around the incision and watched as it began to heal up.
"We've done what we can. We'll simply have to wait and see now." Ford said.
"Now, go take a shower and get yourself cleaned up. I'll keep an eye on Stanley." Ford said. Dipper nodded, heading to the shower, sighing as he walked past the girls.
"What's wrong, Dipper?" Pacifica asked.
"I-Stan had a seizure. We did an operation on his head. We removed the tumor as best we could. Hopefully it won't recur." Dipper said, heading up to the shower. Wendy hurried up after him. She could tell how upset he was. She knocked on the bathroom door.
"It's Wendy? Can I come in?" Wendy asked. He was just taking a shower. It wasn't like she hadn't seen him naked.
"I'll talk later." Dipper said. She could hear the tremor in his voice. She sat in his room, waiting for him to finish. Dipper took a long, long shower, sighing as he got out, putting on his bathrobe and going down to his room, planning on just taking a nap.
"Dipper." Wendy said, hugging him tightly. She wasn't usually this affectionate. But she could tell he needed it. His father had died, his uncle was dying. And if they were really immortal, this wouldn't be the last person important to them to die.
Dipper hugged Wendy back, cuddling with her for a while, ultimately falling asleep in her arms.
