Fan Fiction / Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Yamato Gun IV ❯ My Immortal ( Chapter 3 )

"And if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave, but
your presence still lingers here and it won't leave me alone..."

"So what is this thing?" I ask, holding up the ziploc bag with the patch in it to Raynor.

He takes it, and examines it. "Looks like the StimPack patch, but it could contain anything in it." He replies. "The patch transfers chemicals to the person through, usually, the back of the neck. Makoto, can you turn around and lift up your hair for me?"

She does so, and a patch of slightly red skin is clearly visible. "Shit! Now we've got an emergency on our hands!" Raynor says, getting out his radio. "We need an emergency beam, three from the Conference room directly to sickbay."

We transport to the sickbay. "We've got a UPV here!" Raynor announces.

"UPV?" Makoto and I ask.

"Unidentified Poison Victim." Raynor explains.

Several medics come by and bring Makoto to the bed, lying her down and scanning the living daylights out of her very quickly. "I've got a positive on a minicapsule, vespene-Tritanitanium-lined, no data on the contents, and small doses of Delta-9 TetraHydroCannibinol in her system." one of the Medics said. "About 50 nans."

"Let's get that capsule out bef-"

"It burst!"

"Døk'Sha! Contents!"

"Camo Viral. Count's up to 75 nans."

"Oh, great."

"Camo viral?" I ask.

"Short for camouflage. Manmade, it's technically a cold virus and a replicator spliced together. It's a virus that latches on to chemicals and organisms that could be present in the bloodstream and replicates them at an alarming rate. So if it latched onto a platelet, we could have a massive blood clot on our hands, among any number of other things that could go horribly wrong." Raynor turned to Makoto. "How do you feel?"

Makoto's staring at the ceiling, seemingly completely detached from the outside world. "Weird... like I, uh... like... like I got off a really fast roller coaster." She's squinting so much that her eyes are almost closed.

"Sounds like the viral latched onto the THC." I comment.

"Ok... what is THC, anyway?"

"The active ingredient in marijuana." One of the male medics explains. "Quite the fun chemical, if I may say so, sir."

"Oh."

Raynor and I look at each other for a second before both turning to Makoto. "Do you smoke pot?" We both ask at the same time.

"What...? No, I don't-don't smoke anything. Why... is what I'm feeling having something to do with this?"

"Yeah, the virus that the patch put into you started replicating the THC in your blood. To put it bluntly, you're high, and about to get a lot higher."

"Oh... This is kinda fun, actually." She says, a huge grin on her face.

"Yeah, and even with the reproduction rate it'll be a while until the THC makes her overdose. She's in for a hell of a ride."

"Especially since we can't fight the virus itself." Raynor said. "Or the chemical. How did the THC get into her system, though?"

"Maybe the capsule had THC in it with the Camo virus?"

"Yeah, that could be it." Raynor said, looking at the patch through the plastic again. "I'm going to get this scanned, you can come with me or stay with Makoto if you want."

"I'll stay here."

"Ok... I'll page you if we find anything we aren't expecting."

"Thanks."

Raynor walks out the doors quickly and they close behind him. "Hey, Makoto." I say in a quiet voice. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I-I'm ok, I, uh... I guess... this is so... so weird... but so amazing..."

"The situation..." I sigh heavily. "...is that we can't stop what's happening. The virus in your system is replicating what's making you feel like this."

"Oh... so I'm-I'm going to go even hhh...igher than this...?"

"Until you fall asleep or overdose, or both."

"I think the former... Everything f-feels like it's made of lead..."

"Are your eyes in any pain or anything? They're really red."

"They're feeling a l-little uncomfortable... Why are they, uh... Why... Damn it, my-my brain isn't working."

"Understandable. I know what you're going through."

Makoto gives me this look that says 'hold up, what?' "Remember that big project on cannabis I did?"

"Oh..." She replies.

"What did you think I meant?"

"First-hand experience."

"Oh yeah, I'm a huge pothead." I say sarcastically, making her laugh. "I'll see if they've got anything for your eyes." I turn and face one of the medics making notes on another Star Trek-inspired device, this one a notepad-like screen. He's the same one who explained about the THC. "Do you have some StarCraft equivalent of Visine for her... sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Will Luttrell, ma'am. And sorry, I don't know what Visine is or was."

"Oh. It reduces the blood vessels in the eyes. 'Gets the red out', as it were."

"I see... Yeah, we've got something like that." The medic says, getting out a hypospray-like device and pressing a few buttons.

He walks around to the other side of Makoto. "Don't blink, I'm going to spray this stuff in your eyes."

"Ok, doc. Not blinking." Makoto replies.

The medic sprays the solution in her right eye, and it clears almost instantly. He repeats this with the other eye. "Thanks." I say.

"That's better..." Makoto says, mostly to herself.

"No problem." He says as he finishes making notes on the pad. "Anything happens, you can page us by pressing here." He shows both of us a glowing red square on the pad.

"Will do." I say as he walks over to the next filled bed.

"Hard to-to believe sss... omething so amazing... could be bad." Makoto says suddenly.

"What?" I reply, turning around to face her again.

"Well, you know... know how there's all this stuff about, like, 'oh, Marijuana's a, uh... a-a drug, it's bad, it's evil, don't do it' in the media. Now that I'm high like this, I don't, uh, don't believe... don't believe a second of it. All crap to me."

"Sounds like stoned rambling to me."

She halfheartedly sticks out her tongue in reply. It makes me laugh that she can be so carefree about something so serious. All part of the effects of the drug, if I remember my project on it correctly. "Why thi- this white?" She says, again without warning.

"Why what white?" I ask, confused.

"Why are all hospitals, no matter what-what time, or... or, uh, planet, the same damn shade of creamy white?"

"Dunno. Something having to do with light and cleanliness, I would imagine."

"Cleanliness I can see. Why light?"

"Well, if the walls were a perfect harsh white like a Clean Room then you'd get blinded as soon as you walked in the door. This color is still light enough to see dirt-or whatever else could possibly splatter on a hospital wall-" This makes Makoto laugh again. "-but isn't so hard on the eyes."

"I still say that a light green would look better."

"Isn't it a light green, by your eyes?" I ask with a smirk.

"Hey yeah! It is!" She says, starting to laugh again. She keeps laughing for a couple of minutes before finally calming somewhat, then shaking her head shuddering for a second or so. "Head rush." She explains.

"Yeah."

"Yeah... Wh-what was I laughing about?"

"No idea, it wasn't that funny. Hey, computer, what was she laughing about?" I say half-jokingly.

"'Isn't it a light green, by your eyes?'" The computer quotes in my voice, then, in Makoto's, replies "Hey yeah! It is!"

That sets Makoto off again, possibly even more than last time, and another five minutes pass with her laughing her head off.

When she calms down enough to speak, she says "Hey, tall dark and armed to the teeth," looking to the door. I look up and see Raynor standing there, a look of amusement on his face.

"You know, in other circumstances this could be fun." He says.

"Yeah, probably. Any word?"

"We found THC and the Camo virus on the patch, and a partial of your fingerprints. Nothing else."

¯¯¯--- ¯¯¯--- ¯¯¯---

"So am I going to die, doc?" I ask, as sober as I possibly can. Which is not very, considering. My god am I stoned.

"We don't know if THC overdoses can be killers or not." Raynor says. "You're gonna be the closest anyone's ever came."

That's comforting, I think sarcastically. "So I might not die?"

"Yeah, you might not die."

"Alright, something that went right today!" I say, attempting to pump a fist in the air. Didn't work.

Damn this... uh... this... arg. Imagine trying to make a Rembrandt on an Etch-a-Sketch clamped to a paint shaker. That's thinking to me.

"Tired, are we?"

"After doing the equivalent of this room filled to the ceiling with weed, you would be too."

"Next time I can get that much I'll try it. Bet everything's fun, right?"

"Right!" I say with a giggle.

"That's how I want to die." Raynor comments to Ami.

"Hey, you want to take my place, go right ahead. I've got the rest of my life ahead of me."

"You know, I'm only 30."

"You're still in the age of majority, and have been for like a decade..." A particularly strong wave of this high feeling washes over me and wipes the proverbial hard drive... what was I talking about? "...So, uh, yeah."

"Yeah, I see your point."

"Uh...what point was this?" I ask genuinely.

"Never mind, probably just stoned rambling."

Makoto stuck her tongue out again. "That's what Ami said."

"Hey, her brain isn't completely jello yet!" Ami says, making me laugh again. Man, that was funny. I laugh for the third-or fourth?-time for a long while. But all this laughing's also sapping my strength because when it stops I feel twice as tired as before. I clasp my hands together and rest them on my stomach as I close my eyes and drift off. I attempt to say "Good night", but I have no idea if it actually made it or not.

¯¯¯---

"You used to captivate me by your resonating light but now I'm
bound by the life you left behind... your face, it haunts my once
pleasant dreams... your voice, it chased away all the sanity in me..."

¯¯¯--- ¯¯¯--- ¯¯¯---

"I guess we should let her sleep." Raynor says. "She looks so peaceful..." He adds sadly.

"I don't think we've got a choice in the matter." I reply with a smirk. "She could sleep through Hurricane Ethel when she's sober. With that level of high a small nuclear explosion could erupt in this room and not wake her."

"Point."

Raynor's D3 beeps and he activates it. "Raynor's Clone Disappearing Service." He says.

"Funny, Raynor." Rei says sarcastically from the D3. "Listen, we've got a small problem here. We can't find Ami Two."

"Did you check her house? Maybe she went home and assumed the role of your Ami."

"Yeah, we did, and she's not there. I don't suppose you have anything like the Temporal Prime Directive in your universe?"

"Sort of, yes. Scanners and defensive equipment are fine to give, or receive as the case may be, but nothing like weaponry."

"Oh, excellent. Just what I was going to ask you for."

"A scanner? Sure, I'll send Ami back with one. Where are you now?"

"We just got to the Crown Arcade."

"I'll be there with the scanner in a second." I say.

"Will do, Merc. Mars out."

"See you." Raynor says, closing the link and switches the D3 for the Scanner in his Hammerspace. "There you go."

"Thanks." I say, getting out my minicomputer and azure D3. "Little trick of mine. Instant DigiPort, anywhere, anytime."

"Cool."

"DigiPort Open!"

¯¯¯---

I end up in a side alley outside the Crown Arcade, where I walk out nonchalantly and go in the front doors. Rei, Minako and Usagi are all there, as is Minako's clone. She looks a little better than Makoto, but not by much. "Hi guys." I say, going over to their booth and sitting down.

"Hi, Ami." They all say. They look really dejected, except for Minako Two, who just looks lost in space. Kinda IC, actually.

"I got the scanner." I report.

"Yeah. What of Makoto? Is she Ok?" Rei asks.

"Well, to her everything's ok, but it's pretty bad. We found a small patch in her apartment that the Clone Ami stuck on her neck at some point. The patch contained this cyborg virus, called the Camouflage virus, and a little THC, the active ingredient in pot."

"THC? Why that?" Minako One asked.

"We're not sure why they chose THC itself, but it might be because the virus replicates chemicals and does damage that way. It happened to choose the THC in her system."

"Man, that'd get you baked black..." Minako Two said distantly.

"Yeah, and I saw it firsthand. If the virus doesn't stop soon, she'll be the first OD ever."

"What? How much of this stuff do you need to OD?" Usagi asked.

"Let me put it this way-it's the equivalent of this arcade, no people, no machines or any furniture at all in it, filled to the ceiling with it."

Everyone else's jaw dropped. "Yeah. And you'd fall asleep before ODing anyway."

"Well, at least she's not in any pain..." Rei offered.

"Actually, before she fell asleep she was having a lot of fun. Everything was all peaceful and nice and happy to her, and she ended up laughing herself to sleep."

"What a way to go." Minako Two said.

"That's what Raynor said."

"Yeah. So are we going to go look for Ami Two now?" Usagi asked. "She could be getting away."

"Oh, yeah. We should do that now." Minako One agreed.

"This means I gotta move, doesn't it?" Minako Two asked.

"Or one of us takes you back to Raynor's universe, whichever would be best." I reply.

"Yeah, Ok. Man, I'm just meteored... I gotta go sleep this off or something."

"How's about I take her back to the Hyperion, and you three keep up the search until I get back?"

"Sounds like a plan. You got the scanner?"

"Yep. Here." I say, giving it to Rei. "Good luck."

"Yeah. She's probably got quite the lead."

"I'll do my best to catch up with you."

"I'm sure you will." Rei replies as we all get up from the booth. "See you."

"See you." I say as they leave, flipping my communicator open as I do and paging Raynor.

"Raynor's Clone Disappearing Service."

"It's still not funny, Raynor, even on this end. I'm bringing a very, very high Minako your way."

"Oh no... don't tell me they-" Raynor starts.

"Nonono, it's a clone. She just went and stoned herself before she got here." I reply. "Coincidence. I think." I amend as I realize how big a coincidence it would have to be.

"Oh. That's a relief. Well, bring her over, I'll get her home."

"On my way. Mercury out."

I turn to Minako Two. "You able to walk, or should I carry you?"

"In other circumstances, and if you were my Ami, I'd gladly let you carry me. But you're not, so I guess I can walk a little if I have to."

"Good. Right this way." I get up and lead her out and back into the alleyway.

"Now if you were my Ami, I'd be wondering about your intentions coming back here..."

I blush slightly as the meaning of the words hits me. "Well, I'm not your Ami." I say as I get my minicomputer and D3 out again.

First Makoto, now Minako? I wonder about my clone's love life as I say "DigiPort Open!"