Tunnel Rat

After food and a short nap, Milo went to find Belinda. She was in the middle of the park tossing treats to rabbits. As she saw Milo coming, she tossed the last dozen bits of food and showed them empty hands. The rabbits took one look at Milo and decided that no one that famished would have treats in his pocket. In fact, they were a bit worried about being around someone who looked that hungry and decided that visiting the hydroponics for fresh vegetables was in their best interests.

Milo sat down across from her, noticing she wasn't wearing the suit he had made for her and was looking very healthy. "You're looking good."

"Thanks, you're looking like hell. What did you have to do to keep us safe from being cooked to crispy critters in a fusion oven?"

"It was a lot of stress, a lot of hours inside both layers of my suits, getting shot and nearly killed, and then interfacing with a Quantum Core. I experienced time dilation inside. It felt like a week, but was less than 24 hours. It put a lot of strain on me. That's what happened to Dr. Cooper. Part of him survived, but not much is left of his physical form. It was better for me, I was built to do stuff like that."

"Built is such an odd word for a human being."

"Yep, but it applies to me."

"To me too. I may have had a normal birth, but if what you found is correct, someone did some building. I've had a lot of time to think lately, and I'm thinking better as I get the last of the drugs out of my system. There are a lot of odd things on my medical charts."

"Yeah, about that. Jeremy said something that bothered me a lot. He said your dad, Vigo, was behind the creation of Batch 4."

"Shit. And that's you and possibly some of your brothers and sisters? What does that make me? Batch 5? It's pretty obvious he managed to engineer some changes in me."

Milo shook his head. "No, if Batch 5 even exists, they are pretty far from human. Jeremy called them 'Brains in Jars'. Something you could plug into a computer or a tank or a habitat to run things. Probably devoid of self-will." Both of them were silent after he said that.

Belinda finally said, "You need a break."

"Too much to do. And I'm going to want you to help. I think there's information about both of us in the data discs I stole from your doctors. It's a huge amount of biological research, maybe everything from Vigo's labs. We have to go through it to get answers."

"Good. I've been a little bored lately. I'll get started finding out what's in there. And you aren't helping me with it."

"I'm not?"

"You're not. You can barely walk, and Mama is worried sick about you. Everyone else is too. You had a job to do, we get that, and everyone is thankful. But you need a rest. I'll get started and you can look over what I've accomplished after you take some time off."

"Maybe, but I have repairs to do on Section E. Stuff always breaks. And I have to find a safe way to contact my family and a ton of other things."

"No, you need to take a break. Use that big brain and look at how you're abusing your body, then extrapolate the possible workload, adding in extra stress for the emergencies that always pop up around you. What does that tell you?"

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Milo considered the problem, set things up in part of his mind, and consulted his memory for the last time he'd read his physical status report from his suit. The conclusion was frighteningly obvious. "Uh...I need to take a break. I have bones that need time to knit, muscle and ligaments to rebuild, and my nervous system will regenerate, but that takes time and nutrients in a stress-free environment, preferably from a pod. The projections aren't good. How did you come to your conclusion when I hadn't noticed?"

She took a deep breath. "First off, you never consider the cost to yourself. Second, I'm getting smarter. With all the drugs out of my system, as I recovered from the addictions I noticed that my coordination is better, I'm using the suit less and less, and my cognitive abilities are increasing. Not to your level, but increasing."

"That just shows we need to look at the information on those discs."

"Yes, but I want a sane and uninjured Milo to do it with me! You have no idea what it's like to be around you when you're tired and moving 300 miles an hour. Rest first, then data. And everything else will fall in line. I can handle the first part of the project just fine, and I have Rusty to help me with the heavy lifting."

Milo felt tired. He normally ignored all those feelings, since they got in the way of getting stuff done, but he had to admit that Belinda, Momma, and everyone else he talked to had a good point and were concerned. His body fat was next to zero, and his ability to heal and recover would be slowed. He'd be more efficient with some rest.

"OK, so what do you suggest? Locking me in my pod for three days?"

"You'd go insane. No, I think you should get in your pod, sleep for 12 hours, and play in Genesis. Not with me or the gang, but by yourself exploring tunnels or doing whatever you want to do. When you come up for air, you can do all the little things that keep Section E running. And once you're able to take on more mental stress, you can start helping me with the Medical Data. 12 hours in the pod, 12 hours of data mining, or fixing the habitat if something breaks. Lots of sleep, good food, and time off for your head. Keep things balanced until you're ready to do stupid things again."

Milo realized how much he had missed the game. The only time he'd played lately was helping Larry with his quests and the details were fuzzy. He wondered if he'd done some of that in his sleep, the way he kept working on Run, Run, Ramona.

"Fine. That sounds like a plan."

"Good, because Mama's plan was feeding you desert and then stuffing you in the pod and locking it for three days."

"Dessert?"

"Yes. Something called Creamcheese Pie with strawberries on top."

Milo hopped up, wincing as he put weight on what he normally thought of as his 'good leg.' "Just one pie?"

"Don't be silly, she defrosted four of them."

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