VirileMail/13

Revenge
After many days of reading about the nanoscale adapter organelle project and piecing together bits of information about the project, I began to get a fairly coherent understanding of what they were doing.

The bioengineers routinely referred to the nanoscale adapter organelle as an NAO. The NAO development project was at a company called Conceptions Organiques, located in France. I was astounded to learn that the NAO was a genetically engineered mitosome, a type of naturally occurring subcellular organelle. The NAO had been designed to be synthesize by Naegleria fowleri, a type of amoeba capable of invading and surviving in the human brain. The strain of Naegleria fowleri being used was called Nf23 and it had been genetically modified to reduce its ability to damage brain tissue. Nf23 cells could invade the brain by way of olfactory neurons in the nasal cavity and then become factories for the production of NAOs.

Unlike normal mitosomes, the NAO was designed to function in the space between neurons. An Nf23 cell inside the brain would released large numbers NAOs into the fluid-filled spaces between brain cells. The term "NAO" really meant, "nodal adapter organelle" where the term "nodal" was a reference to Nodes of Ranvier, the small gaps in the myelin coating along the surface of axons. The NAO was designed to clamp onto an axon at a Node of Ranvier and provide a convenient molecular adapter through which nanobots could both monitor and control the electrical signals being sent down the axon.

The attachment of NAOs to axons depended on the presence of Badhesins at the surface of both axons and the NAOs. My mission was to deliver the Badhesin virus to Conceptions Organiques and they would need to test the results obtained by simultaneously infecting human brains with both the Badhesin virus and Nf23. If all went as planned, the result would be an ideal biomolecular interface by which nanobots could integrate fully into a human brain.

I was sickened and horrified by the idea that there were biologists who would do this kind of work for the aliens. Even if the people at Conceptions Organiques knew nothing of aliens and nanobots, what did they think they were doing? I read deeper into the documents available to me and found that Conceptions Organiques was trying to make a computer interface that would allow stimulation of nerves in patients with severed spinal cords. The goal was to allow quadriplegics to regain control of their muscles with the aid of a computer and implanted arrays of nanoscale electrodes. I quickly scanned through all the documents and found no mention of nanobots.

Apparently the situation at Conceptions Organiques was similar to what I had experienced at Antler where we had imagined that we were working with some fairly conventional email software, but in reality we were giving birth to Janek, an alien artificial life form. The biologists at Conceptions Organiques probably imagined they were working on a new approach to treatment of a serious medical condition while remaining totally unaware of what the aliens intended to do with the NAOs.

I could not sleep that night. I kept thinking about the pile of nanobots that were waiting to enter my brain and I had no confidence that Lilya's vaccine would prevent use of the NAOs by the aliens as a means to achieve better control over human brains. What I wanted to do when I reached Earth was immediately take the vaccine to the resistance forces and provide them with the sample vaccine doses and instructions for mass production of more vaccine. However, I doubted that I could prevent delivery of the Badhesin virus to Conceptions Organiques. Even if I did not make the delivery, Janek would find another way to get the virus to them. So it seemed like there would be a race. Were the resistance forces well enough organized to get the vaccine produced and distributed before the aliens could make use of the Badhesin virus? And sprinkled in among all my worries and my nightmares were images of Chloe, a lost and helpless puppet of the aliens.

The trip to Earth seemed to pass more slowly than had the reverse journey to Mars. One day, finally the image of arth swelled to fill the computer screen and Janek contacted me. "The virus samples are in compartment one in the cargo hold. I've unlocked the door to that compartment, so you can now go get the samples. The samples are frozen in liquid nitrogen. You will be dropped off in the country, not far from the Conceptions Organiques research labs. You will deliver the virus and explain how it is to be tested in combination with Nf23. I have set up an appointment for you to meet with the lead researcher, Dr. Redes, at 9:00 in the morning."

"So Dr. Redes knows nothing about the Badhesin virus?"

"Very little, no more than Anthony Geisler knew at the start of the VirileMail project, in other words, just a suitable cover story."

While Janek spoke, I started feeling itchy around my nose and mouth. I looked for the pile of nanobots, but it was gone! Once again I had the alien nanobots in my brain. "And when I have made the virus delivery to Dr. Redes, I want you to honor our agreement. I want you to remove the nanobots from Chloe."

Janek produced a perfectly normal sounding laugh. "Very well, Chloe will be free. Maybe you can then both go to Mars and 'live happily ever after'. Do you have any more demands?"

I replied, "I want no more tricks. You say, 'Chloe will be free,' but I do not want you to later say, 'Oh, but I did not say when she would be free..."

Janek could not hide the contempt in his voice, "What do you want, a signed and notarized contract? Really, you have no choice but to trust me. But I agree, there will be no tricks. After you deliver the virus to Dr. Redes you can come back to the ship and I'll fly you across the Atlantic to Chloe and she will be free of all nanobots when you reach her."

But even as we made our deal I knew I would try to break it. My mind felt no different with the nanobots back in my body and I had already decided to test if the anti-Badhesin vaccine was now protecting me from alien mind control. If so, then I would destroy the virus samples and focus my efforts on getting the vaccine instructions into the hands of the anti-alien resistance forces.

The spaceship made a night time landing just a few miles from the Conceptions Organiques research facility. The office compartment, with me inside, was pushed out of the cargo hold. I opened the door and jumped down about four feet onto the surface of Earth. I was immersed in the smells and sounds of a Summer night on Earth.

I wore a back pack that contained the virus samples in a small container of liquid nitrogen. At that moment my hope was to escape from Janek, but in case my nanobots were able to take control of my mind, I tried to note the terrain and landmarks so I could return to this landing site. I was only a few feet away from the ship when it silently drifted back up into the sky. I had not previously seen an alien ship flying and I was impressed by its easy movement.

But now was the time to test the nanobots. I took off the pack and opened the liquid nitrogen container. I felt no interference from the nanobots. I poured the liquid nitrogen on the ground and then shook out the tubes of frozen virus. I felt nothing but elation: the nanobots were powerless to stop me from destroying the virus!

An hour later I was in the village of Parsac and from there I was able to hitch a ride to the nearest rail station. My MasterCard debit card was recognized by the French rail system ticket machines and by dawn I was at the Limoges airport, with a plane ticket in my pocket.

After a short connecting flight to Charles de Gaulle airport I went to the main customs office and reported that I had lost my passport. I was provided with a temporary replacement and bought a ticket on the next available flight to New York. I went to the Airport's post office and put a small package that contained the vaccine instructions into the mail, addressed to a P.O. box number used by the rebels. I kept one of the six vaccine sample vials for myself, planning to use it to free Chloe from her nanobots. The vaccine seemed completely effective at keeping me free from any nanobot mind control and I was eager to share this freedom with Chloe.

Twenty hours after returning to Earth, I saw Chloe returning to her house from work. She pulled her car into her garage and the garage door closed behind her. I waited a minute then I drove my rental car into her driveway. I went to her front door and rang the bell. A moment later she opened the door. "Joe? Joe! I never should have doubted..."

I'd long fantasized that she might throw her arms around me, but this was the real Chloe and she just stood there looking cute, struggling mentally to imagine where I had been since my sudden disappearance. I asked, "Can I come in? I need your help."

We sat in her living room and I tried to watch her closely for signs that she was still infected by nanobots. By now Janek surely knew that I had not delivered the virus to Conceptions Organiques, so it seemed unlikely that Chloe had ever been freed of her nanobots. She asked, "Why do you need my help? What happened to you that night we were in the mountains?"

I wanted to tell her everything that had happened to me and inject her with the vaccine. Then I wanted her to help me destroy Janek's communication channel to the nanobots. But I had to take things slowly. I said, "There is so much to tell." And I did not feel safe at Chloe's house, it was too obvious of a place to look if the aliens were trying to find me. "Let me buy you dinner, and we can talk."

Chloe agreed to dinner, so we went outside and got in the rental car. I told her everything from the moment she had gone to bed the night I left Earth. I talked and talked and she listened to it all. By the time we ordered desert I was starting to tell her about Lilya and the anti-alien rebels on Mars. She went to the restroom and I poured a dose of the anti-Badhesin vaccine into her drink. Chloe ate her desert and finished her drink while I told her about the anti-Badhesin vaccine and that I had returned to Earth in order to help anti-alien resistance forces produce the vaccine in large quantities.

We got back into the rental car and I told Chloe, "During dinner I put a dose of the vaccine in your drink. Soon you will be free of the alien mind control."

Chloe said, "That's quite a story, Joe. It would be nice if you had some proof, some verifiable evidence to support these claims about aliens and your trip to Mars. Also, I'm wondering where you are taking me now."

"I called my bank today and found out where my belongings have been stored." While I drove I explained how my memories had returned after my dose of the vaccine. As I talked about the "router/Janek" tape, Chloe started to breath rapidly and perspire.

We found the storage company and I parked under their big glowing "24 hour access storage" sign. Chloe and I went into the office and soon emerged with a key to the storage shed that held my belongings. When I lifted the door of the shed I found myself in front of my car, my one possession I had missed. Chloe and I searched through boxes until we found the "router/Janek" tape, my TV and my VCR. I plugged the TV and tape player into an outlet in the wall and played the tape.

I narrated, "This is the part you have seen before. I recorded this little bit over the original data tape. Its me explaining our discovery and the key contents of the original recording. After my short narrative there is some of a conversation between Judy, Brad and I. That had come into the room while I was making my recording. I have never previously listened to this; I've always just stopped and rewound. We kept watching past the point where I had stopped the recording. Now Chloe and I could see that I had recorded over the "evidence tape". I hit fast forward and found the point on the tape showing how Chloe and I discovered that the VirileMail AI was pretending to be a human named Janek. Chloe was now sweating and trembling and she tried to turn away from the TV, but I put my arms around her and forced her to watch. When the tape showed Chloe and I loosing consciousness, Chloe collapsed.

I picked up Chloe and put her on the back seat of my car." I ejected the tape from he VCR and got into my car. It started with a bit of difficulty after sitting so long. I drove my car out of the storage shed then put the rental car in the shed. I locked the shed, got back in my car and drove away. I rented a room in a motel and put Chloe to bed. I sat in a chair watching her sleep, wondering what kind of battle was going on in her brain between nanobots and the anti-Badhesin vaccine. When she woke up would she remember everything the aliens had tried to make her forget?

Hours later I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. Chloe also woke up and was looking at me with confusion and concern, I went to the door, looked through the peep hole and was surprised to see Briana Geisler. When I opened the door Briana said, "Its good to see you again, Joe."

Chloe was sitting up in bed and shaking her head in wonder, "This is so strange, is this a dream? What's going on? Where am I?"

I asked Briana, "How did you find us?"

Briana said, "When you disappeared, my father hired an investigative firm. One of their services if to monitor bank accounts of people who disappear. When your debit account became active about a day ago, it was not that hard to follow your spending pattern. My father was notified and I was told that you were back in town."

I said, "Of course, I used the debit card to pay for this room."

Briana nodded. "As soon as I learned about that transaction I came here."

Chloe said, "Where is 'here'? I don't remember how I got here."

I ignored Chloe's question and asked Briana, "So your father ordered you to find me?"

Briana nodded, "Yes, he did. He'll we thrilled to learn that you are safe. We should call him."

I said, "I'd rather not."

Briana asked, "Why not? Are you in some kind of trouble?" That last question was asked as much of Chloe as of me.

Chloe said, "Joe has been telling me wild stories about aliens and....and, he said he put something in my drink."

My mind started racing as I tried to imagine how I could explain everything to Briana. "Aliens? I suppose Joe told you that he disappeared because aliens abducted him."

I said, "Chloe collapsed because alien nanorobots in her brain were trying disrupt her memories. I don't care if you believe me or not."

Chloe jumped out of bed, "Joe, I remember!" Chloe was not steady on her feet.

Briana stepped forward and held Chloe, "You remember how you got here?"

Chloe shook her head. "No. Joe, I remember what was on that video tape. And I can remember that whole week.....how the VirileMail project got started. Oh, but that was crazy...and now....I can see that it was all Janek....you are right Joe....it was Janek, the AI, giving us orders...does that sound crazy?"

I was thrilled that Chloe was remembering and drawing the correct conclusions from her memories, but I was worried that Briana was here seeing Chloe's escape from nanobot control. I was sure that as a member of the Geisler family, Briana had been under nanobot control her entire life. I could picture her reporting back to her father and then soon enough Janek would learn that Chloe's mind was no longer being controlled by nanobots. My plan had been to get Chloe to return to Antler and sabotage Janek's communications channel to the nanobots, but Briana could easily disrupt my plans.

Revelation
But Briana said, "Chloe, you are not crazy, you're just waking up. And Joe, I do believe you about the aliens. You are not the first person to be abducted from Camp Geisler. I was specifically recruited to serve as a monitor of all the strange goings on in my family."

Chloe asked, "Recruited by who?"

Briana replied, "A network of people who know about the alien nanobots. We do everything we can to resist the aliens."

=Navigation= Return to Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12

Epilogue
THE END.

There are a few parallel versions of the epilogue happening in parallel universes to this story. Some of them are very short though.


 * WNANT/END-2
 * WNANT/END-3
 * WNANT/END-4

Story created and written by JWSchmidt. With some additions in chapters 6 to 8 by Davichito. The parallel endings are all his invention (until now).

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 * JOBot