Nano Bytes

Her breath came out in short sharp gasps, as pain shot down her arm. «I need something to dig it out with.» She forced out the words, trying to ignore the pain.

Galvanized into action by her words, he hurried into her bathroom, coming out a second later holding a clean towel and a pair of tweezers.

She reached out for the tweezers with a shaking hand, but he handed her the towel instead.

«Be ready to put that on the wound and put pressure on it when we’re done,” he said, brushing her blonde hair back, away from her wounded shoulder, and gazing down at the implant.

«It’s connected to your nerves,” he said. «If I pull this out, it’s going to hurt like hell. All the little legs on it are clamped down on your nerves. What do you want me to do?»

She clenched a fist around the towel, preparing herself for more pain. «Pull the fucking thing out!»

He nodded before looking down at the implant with a grimace. «Okay.»

She felt a stinging sensation as he lowered the tweezers into her shoulder, but then the pain increased to become unbearable. The world around her blurred for a moment as white–hot agony overwhelmed her.

She gripped his arm, holding on tightly as he pulled on the device, watching the muscles clench in his jaw as he ripped the implant out of her shoulder in one fast movement.

Her eyes widened at the implant. It was small capsule with one tiny silver thread hanging off it. The thin wire was twitching as if it was dying. The blue light on the silver capsule blinked once before it dimmed to gray.

«Shit, I can get them all,” he gasped, staring at the gash in her shoulder.

She peered down into the open wound, widening her eyes as the remaining silver wires wriggled as they buried into her flesh.

She hitched her breath in pain as her body shuddered with spasms. It felt as if a thousand needles were stabbing into her.

Barely aware that he was holding her steady, the world spun around her as she sank into unconsciousness, unable to handle the high level of agony that the wires were causing.

* * *

Thea slowly opened her eyes expecting to feel pain, but surprised when she didn’t feel any at all.

She peered up at William, who was frowning down at her with a look of concern as he held her in his arms while pressing a bloody towel to her shoulder.

«What happened?» she asked.

«Did you black out? You wouldn't stop screaming.» He sounded rattled and his face was ghostly pale.

She tried to clear her mind by shaking her head, remembering that the implant's wires had gone inside her.

The wind howled outside, causing her to jump.

The storm is coming. We can’t stay here!

She abruptly sat up, and the towel fell off her shoulder. She widened her eyes when she stared down at her unmarred skin. Barring a few bloodstains, her shoulder looked unharmed. There were no cuts, no scars, nothing there at all.

She glanced at William as his mouth dropped open in shock.

After a moment, he touched the unblemished area that she had cut open earlier. «It must be the nanotech.»

«Do you think it’s still active?» She studied her skin. There were no blinking blue lights there anymore.

«No, we killed its brain.» He held up the capsule. It was just an unlit silver tablet now with a dead silver wire trailing off it.

«Then what’s controlling the ones still inside me?» A bubble of panic expanded in the back of her throat.

«I think you are.» His frown faded with realization. «That’s why you healed.»

A block of ice bounced off the window so loudly that she was surprised the glass didn’t break. «I guess it’s time we found out. We can’t stay here.»

He nodded, taking her hand and pulling her up until she was standing. «Let’s go.»

This time she let him pull her toward the door. As she neared it, she felt butterflies in her stomach.

What if it didn’t work?

Gritting her teeth, she headed for the door. It had to work. It was her only chance.

She stepped through the doorway, breathing a sigh as she made it into the corridor in one piece.

After glancing back to ensure she was okay, he pulled her down the hall to the stairs.

Both running at full speed, they bounded down the staircase and burst through the front doors of the apartment building, onto the snow–covered street outside.

The area was deserted. Looking across the city, she realized it was also deserted. Judging by the frosty exterior of the skyscrapers in the distance, they didn’t have much time. She stared in awe as the massive chimney from the power plant cracked and fell sideways, the last of its gray fog expelling out of it like a final breath.

«The world we knew is over,” she said as the artificial lights around them flickered before exstinguishing.

His warm hand wrapped around hers in a secure grip. «Maybe the next world will be a better one. It’s a new beginning.»

She turned to smile at him, seeing his dusky profile under the soft glow of the moon. «Then we better survive so we can see it,” she said as she pulled him toward her car, heading for her new beginning, and leaving the past behind her.