Emergence: Chapter 43

Kivina assured Tors and Cane that the silver device in her ear was broken, and lost its connection with whatever transmitted the signal sometimes, before Cane could remove it. The device took over again at one point, leading to two Scalimen deaths, which she seemed greatly remorseful for. Later on, however, she had brought Cane, who had extended medical training, a pair of tweezers, a scalpel and some stitches. When she did so, he gave her a strange look.

“Stitches and a scalpel? Bit much?”

Kivina shook her head. “I dunno how deep it is. I dunno how Xaos got it in there in the first place. I tried to pull it out before, but it wouldn't come out.”

Tors glanced at Cane, who shrugged. “Could very well be attached to part of your brain.” Cane said softly. “I have medical training, but I'm no brain surgeon.”

She grabbed his hand. “Please. It's for your sake too.”

Tors nodded. “It is. I'll help you out Cane.”

“I will too.” Pandora chipped in. “We patched your knee up together, we can do this too.”

Cane chuckled. “Not exactly the same thing, but I would appreciate the help. Thanks guys.”

Kivina drank a thick purple liquid and struggled to swallow. “The anaesthetic will kick in soon. Please give it about five minutes before you start hacking away.”

As her eyes closed, Tors turned to Cane. “Can we do this?”

Cane sighed. “I have no idea what we're dealing with.” He shook his head. “If we can't, we'll probably kill her. Which means that they'll kill us.”

“If we can help her, she might be able to help us escape.” Tors remembered the cold night before. “We can't stay here much longer.”

“No, we can't.” Pandora chipped in. “We need to do this, one way or the other.”

Cane hesitated, before nodding. Tors could see the fear on his face, the nerves. “Alright, we'll do it.”

Kivina was definitely out cold; Cane's punch to the arm proved that much. After ordering the unusually-silent Emola to stand as a look-out, he grabbed the tweezers, asking Tors to pull her hair out of the way. Tors obliged, and finally got a proper look at the device; like a silver egg. The tweezers, magnetised, gripped onto the device and held it tight. Cane grunted as he tried to pull the device out, but there was no moving it. “Damn...”

“Pandora,” Tors had an idea, “Can you weave your hair into there and get an idea of what we're looking at?”

Pandora seemed to consider it, before agreeing. Placing her head next to Kivina's, she let her hair flow free into Kivina's ear. She squirmed for a while, evidently feeling around inside, before her hair retracted and she could get up. “That's lodged in there well; there's some sort of connector leading from the egg into the eardrum, probably continuing through the ear's structure and latching onto the cochlear nerve; if we can remove the egg portion, it stands to reason that it should cut off the connection to Xaos.”

Cane nodded. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” He gestured to Tors. “Hold the tweezers, and pull when I say.”

Tors did so, and pulled slightly on them; they didn't budge, being attached to the immovable device.

“Pandora,” Cane turned to her now, “When I say, use your hair to inch veins and arteries shut; if I can do this quickly, she should be fine.” Pandora nodded and sat next to Kivina again.

They all started breathing deep as Cane placed the scalpel on the back of her ear and made the first incision. A trickle of dark blood immediately appeared, oozing out of the cut. He forced the scalpel down further, and Pandora began to plug the leaking veins. Cane moved the ear, and asked Tors to hold onto it with his spare hand. Tors did so; it felt cold and clammy. He could see down the ear canal now, thanks to the extra hole Cane had opened.

Cane moved in further, cutting at the cartilage around the ear canal, giving him more space around the sides of the device. “If I can get in far enough to cut the connector, that'd be great, but I don't see that being easy.”

“You can do it, buddy.” Tors said, smiling a fake smile; he had no idea how this was going to play out.

Cane nodded in appreciation at Tors, before having a look inside Kivina's ear again. “Tors, give it a tug.”

Tors did so, pulling until his muscles strained, and he felt something give way. “It feels looser now.”

“Guys.” Emola called. “Xaosians coming.”

Tors looked at the mess that was on the floor. “Shit!” Heart pounding, he looked at the others; Kivina's prone body, Pandora, with her hair wrapped into Kivina, and Cane, hands covered in blood. “Alright...Cane, hands in pockets. Pandora, lie on top of Kivina: pretend to be asleep. Emola, move away from the door and grab a blanket, chuck it over Pandora, then sit with me. You too Cane, come on.”

They sat around together in their small hut, heads down. “So,” Tors glanced at the door; they had to make it seem natural. “You remember Naarl?”

“Oh yeah, he was cool.” Emola faked emotion there; Tors knew that he'd cared about Naarl, but it didn't seem like the place for emotions.

“Who was Naarl?” Cane asked.

“Some old guy across the street,” Tors glanced at the door; Xaosian shadows could be seen moving towards them. “He taught Pandora some of the history of the planet.” A Xaosian looked in, surveyed the area, and moved on, satisfied. “Keep talking keep talking. Emola check.”

Emola got up quietly, and wandered over to the doorway. “Nah, they're gone. Long gone now.”

Pandora threw the blanket off herself. “Finally; you have no idea how weird that was.”

Cane rubbed his hands on Kivina's clothes. “Let's finish this crap.”

Tors went over, holding the ear, which was colder than before. Cane went in, chipping the device with his scalpel as he did so. “Pull more.” Cane grunted to Tors.

Tors obliged, grimacing as he pulled as hard as he could.

“I can see the connector you said about,” Cane nodded to Pandora, “Should be a simple cut...”

Tors watched him use the scalpel like a saw until, eventually, the device came loose and Tors Jolted backwards as it came out. He let Cane and Pandora do the closing of the wounds; he wasn't needed, and he had no clue what to do. Instead, he looked at this egg-shaped device and watched sparks emit from the frayed end where the connector was. To him, as he turned it over in his hands, it felt light and in a sealed unit; obviously mass produced.

“Do you think all of the Xaosians have this in their ear?” Tors asked Emola, who had moved away from the doorway.

Emola nodded. “Most of them, anyway. I doubt all of soldiers do; I know one of them patrolling here doesn't.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he doesn't wear his helmet and his hair's all clipped back, so you'd be able to see. You can usually see them, I find.” Emola seemed too knowledgeable on the subject. His mood changed as he remembered something. “In fact, I heard one of them say they've got a large of inhibitors tomorrow; do you think that's what these are?”

Tors felt a pang of dread. “Almost certainly. We need to wake Kivina up and get out of here. Sooner rather than later.”