Rising Tomorrow (Roc de Chere Book 1) by Mariana Morgan (essential reading txt) 📕

Gonzalez with my usual sarcastically cheerful and competent attitude. Time permitting, of course.

It would take another day or so for the Elite woman to be in a shape to be debriefed, so barring any disasters Ingram actually had some time to rest in peace. She could almost feel the cosy pillow under her cheek again.

CHAPTER 16

Somewhere in the Afro-European Alliance

Saturday 25 April 2725

DAY 6

‘What state is she in?’ the caller asked.

‘Unclear at this stage, beyond the fact that she is alive,’ the black silhouette replied.

‘An Elite surviving three days in the Underground City. Unheard of.’

‘She had an excellent… guide.’ The silhouette smiled with a proprietary air of satisfaction, though the caller couldn’t see that.

‘Contingency plans if the Elite’s mind shuts down?’

‘Operation Ouroboros will be scrapped.’ Even the computerised voice couldn’t hide the pain at the thought of a hope dying.

‘Loose ends?’

‘Terminated.’

CHAPTER 17

Roc de Chere

Lac d’Annecy

Afro-European Alliance

Sunday 26 April 2725

DAY 7

The next morning, Eloise Moretti stirred in bed, her eyes opening and struggling to focus.

Gonzalez had seriously considered restraints, and not just at Ingram’s recommendation, but ultimately decided it would be a bad first impression. Their Medibot, having finished dealing with the physical trauma, had been carefully pulling Eloise out of an acute state of drug toxicity over the last few hours. Gonzalez would have liked it to have been slower, but he didn’t have the time. He was cutting it dangerously close, but the Medibot was indicating that her body was strong enough to handle it.

Ingram had tried to argue with him, contemptuously dismissing the Elite’s ability to handle herself. She rather forcefully suggested keeping the woman drugged and restrained so she wouldn’t be a danger to anyone, and most importantly perhaps to herself. Gonzalez overruled her firmly.

‘Ms Moretti, can you hear me?’ he asked in a soft, relaxed voice. He was sitting comfortably in a simple armchair, far away enough not to be looming over the half-conscious woman but close enough to act if he had to.

He had instructed the Medibot to bring her back out of the nano-induced coma slowly and steadily. The process was delicate. At first, it had to stimulate all the wakefulness centres, but then when the tipping point came and awareness hit, it had to carefully apply light sedation to limit the jarring shock of all her senses coming back to life at once. If he rushed it, Eloise would probably go straight into a panic attack and shock her system, which would mean more sedation and more delays. And more strain on her body.

‘Wha—’ Eloise croaked.

‘Please, don’t try to speak yet. I promise I will answer all your questions. Give your body time.’

Eloise stared at Gonzalez, confused, as if trying to identify the source of the words. And then she blinked and closed her eyes.

Gonzalez knew from experience what was happening, and forced himself to be patient. The partially flushed-out sedatives made the person feel like they could either go back into the safe, oblivious state or come back to full consciousness. Her unconscious mind would try to drag her back into the sweet, blissful oblivion, moving her away from the pain and the shock of the reality, but the stims were waking her up whether she liked it or not. And frankly, she would have to have been insane to like it.

She visibly winced with the memory of the pain. She didn’t yet know consciously what the pain was about, but instinctively she knew something was wrong. Her whole body was gearing up to deal with it.

‘I know you must be confused now,’ Gonzalez said softly, taking his time, ‘and probably quite scared. That is perfectly normal. Perfectly human. There are gaps in your memory, but I promise the memories will come back to you.’ He paused, letting the word sink in. ‘You are safe now. I promise.’

It must have seemed silly to expect anyone waking up in a strange environment, feeling sick and disorientated, to trust a stranger, but Eloise actually visibly relaxed. Partially due to the gentle drugs still flooding her system, but mainly because of Gonzalez’s soothing, kind voice.

‘I’m going to come closer to give you some water,’ he continued when Eloise opened her eyes again. ‘Your mouth and throat must feel quite dry. It will make you feel better. May I tilt your bed into a sitting position, please?’

Eloise seemed to think for a while, whether trying to understand the words or considering her answer Gonzalez couldn’t tell, but then she gave a tiny nod.

‘Back rest, tilt up. Sixty degrees,’ he instructed.

He placed a straw gently on Eloise’s lips and waited. The water flow was restricted, ensuring she couldn’t take a huge gulp and choke, and Eloise sipped slowly, her eyes focused on something only she could see.

Absent-mindedly, Gonzalez pondered Eloise’s different-coloured eyes. Normally the nanogenbots in the NanoBTher would fix the cause, restoring symmetrical pigmentation. If they hadn’t, and there was no doubt Moretti’s family could afford the best NanoBTher available, it meant that the heterochromia wasn’t caused by something that compromised her health.

Thankfully, the eyes in question were still empty, groping around for sensations and feelings but with no clear memories to focus on. She was indeed waking up slowly, one step at a time. Maybe because she had so little experience with what was going on, so little training, she made no attempt to force her mind to go either way. She just coasted slowly towards full awareness, sampling the reality around her with no apparent rush or conscious dread.

It was a strange experience. Drinking. She could remember it felt different last time. Last time the water tasted funny, and there was hardly any sensation when it touched her throat. She didn’t remember having to swallow, but now she was acutely aware of it. It burnt at first, her parched throat shocked by the contact with cool liquid, but then she relaxed and it felt like the most wonderful feeling ever.

Finally, Gonzalez pulled the straw away and returned to