ASH: Recorder operational, Doctor.
(Camera focuses, Darien is lying on the operating table in Regency Hospital. His arms and torso are exposed. A glass tube is infusing green fluid into his right arm. His right arm is missing.)
DR. MASON: Thank you, Ash. Now, I will explain what I am doing. Aleister Lewis Mason, the same vampire that at one point turned my son Koen into a vampire, has now done the same to my daughter Gematria.
ASH: A vampiric construct, Doctor?
DM: Reference term: Blood Doll.
ASH: Yes Doctor.
DM: Now, the one advantage he has this time over me than from our last battle is this...he has the only known remaining supply of fermented Bloodfruit, which is the essential ingredient in my Reanimation Serum.
ASH: So he sought to blackmail you?
DM: Correct, Ash. The Serum allows me to revive patients who have ceased all bodily functions, but still have not dispersed their essences into other realms. It also extends my own youth and vitality.
ASH: And what is infusing yourself with the remainder of your supply of reanimation serum meant to accomplish, Doctor?
DM: I lost one of my limbs during a less-than-successful experiment back at the Foundation laboratory. I affixed a limb with dedicated surgical functions, including an installed syringe for the Serum...which allowed me to administer the serum at a moment's notice as well as provide a steady supply to myself.
ASH: And you will no longer need that function when your Serum supply runs out?
DM: Correct. I had planned to use my cloning chamber to regrow a new limb, but that equipment was destroyed in the Gygax takeoff incident. This megadose of Serum combined with the Neural Regenerator will quickly regrow my arm, and use up the rest of the Serum supply.
ASH: But then you won't be able to reanimate or halt your aging process until you find a new supply.
DM: To save Qli...Gematria...it's worth it if I never use the Serum again. Even without our family's greatest biological breakthrough, I am STILL a Surgeon with access to both TECHNOLOGY and MAGIC FAR BEYOND...!
ASH: Doctor? You're monologuing.
DM: Am I? Oh...thank you. Attach the Psychic Wave Inhibitor. I don't want to torment every Sensitive in the Realm of the Roses withthis experience.
(ASH affixes a mask to Dr. Mason's face.)
DM: Increase Serum flow to Maximum! Activate the Regenerator!
ASH: Yes Sir!
(The Operating Room pulses with electrical energy. ASH examines the noteboard hanging on the edge of the bed. DM writhes in his restraints as his arm stump sprouts new bones and sinews.)
ASH: Doctor? According to your notes, you expect to age 25 years from when you traveled back in time to masquerade as Jeremiah to preserve your own history...making you 63 years old...
(DM looks up at the fingers of his new arm. His eyes grow wide as his arm begins to wither.)
ASH: But the reason you never used the Galvanic Tesseractor voluntarily is because it is unsafe for use by organics...In fact the objective age of the traveller is squared by the chronodistance travelled...
(DM grows still as ASH scans the charts for further errors.)
ASH: So because Bloodwing blasted you into the past with the GT, you should actually be aging seven hundred and...Doctor?
(ASH looks down at DM's bleached skeleton, still wearing the Psychic Wave Inhibitor Mask.)
ASH: FATHER!!!!
1 comment:
Oh my! I will be monitoring this Journal closely to find out whether the process can be reversed, as I have become quite fond of reading your adventures, Dr. Mason.
One is reminded of the adage that engineers need to be accurate in their calculations, while physicians merely need to be very close, government contractors merely need to be within an order of magnitude of the original estimate, economists merely need to get the sign right, and politicians merely have to bamboozle the voters into thinking the sign is right.
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