The Fox Inheritance (Jenna Fox Chronicles 2)

Mr. Jafari stands and joins her at the table, taking her hand in both of his. "What a remarkable journey, indeed." He reaches out and touches her cheek, his palm resting there. I watch Kara strain to maintain her smile. "Remarkable," he says again.

She steps away. "Why don't you tell him the rest, Locke?"

Mr. Jafari returns to his seat, and the spotlight turns to me. I know my performance won't be as flawless as Kara's, and I am not sure why it matters so much to Dr. Gatsbro anyway. I reach for one of the small lemon cookies Greta has brought us and stuff the whole thing into my mouth.

"Locke?" Dr. Gatsbro prompts.

I nod and wash the cookie down with some tea. I'm on. "Well, as Kara said, after a very long time, Dr. Gatsbro finally came along with the right technology and managed to restore our bodies." Use the word restore, Locke. It sounds more natural than create. "He used photos and videos to achieve perfect likenesses, so every detail of the restoration was an exact match." Except cowlicks. "He even used our retrieved DNA specimens to engineer our tissue so that we have our original unique identity." But we're not who we once were. We've changed. Especially Kara. Was it all those years of being trapped in a six-inch cube that changed us? Or maybe after so long, parts of us simply dissolved away. Could that happen? Or maybe parts of us just gave up, parts like hope and connection. Or maybe after so long it's natural for us to be filled with grief and anger about all that we've lost. We've lost everything but each other. When we woke, Dr. Gatsbro gave us a month to grieve before our lessons began. A month was not nearly enough.

"And?"

I look at my hand squeezed into a tight fist. I've lapsed again. Exactly what he warned me not to do. I look at Dr. Gatsbro and see the anger simmering behind his eyes. Focus, Locke.

"Dr. Gatsbro used the latest generation of Bio Gel--BioTen--to accomplish all this, but then he took it one step further and reengineered it so we could return to a life that was completely normal."

If you call being illegal normal. If having every inch of your skin look like you but not feel like you can be called normal. If 260 years of no breath, no light, no touch, and no hope is normal, then yes, I guess we're completely normal.

"Truly remarkable." Mr. Jafari leans forward. "Tell me more about it, Locke."

"Well, it's a lot like the original Bio Gel developed by Fox BioSystems. It's an oxygenated gel filled with microscopic biochips. They communicate and specialize very much like human cells do. When properly modified, the gel can replace all damaged body systems, actually communicating with intact cells to deliver everything they need for repair and--"

"Were you always this knowledgeable about science, Locke?"

Me? Never. I was bored by science in school. Can't you see I've been carefully coached, you moron? Dr. Gatsbro lifts his chin, anticipating my answer.

"Yes," I say. "Science was always a strong interest of mine." I hear the weakness of my voice and how utterly unconvincing I am. After an uncomfortable pause and a glance from Kara, I try to recover. "The important thing is that we have our lives back--a second chance."

Mr. Jafari smiles.

Dr. Gatsbro takes over, apparently not taking any more chances with awkward pauses. He pours more tea and quickly fills the silence.

"As Locke was saying, BioTen is much like the original, but of course as the tenth generation, it has seen many improvements. For instance, the original Bio Gel was quite susceptible to temperature changes. Not so with BioTen, which can withstand temperatures far above and below the

human standard. BioTen also doesn't have the input delay of earlier generations. Once the mind is uploaded, it is fully functioning. As for their actual bodies, they're not artificial in the sense that they are made of foreign materials. They are 80 percent human--far exceeding the current standard requirement. They even have blood running through their veins. Engineered blood, but still real blood. Every ounce of them is better and smarter and stronger because it is all bioengineered. Their bones, their flesh, digestive and nervous systems, all human-based and fused with not just BioTen but with the latest breakthrough--the one that's only available through Gatsbro Technologies. True, it's not legal yet, but that's just the point, it really doesn't matter. Under a standard microscan, the biochips even look like human cells. Kara and Locke could walk through any security scanner without causing so much as a blip. We call it BioPerfect. And because it's our own exclusive development and not under the constraints of government agencies, we don't impose end dates on BioPerfect the way the government does with BioTen. It's completely up to the recipient--a typical human age span of one hundred thirty years, or whatever the recipient requests."

An end date? Why didn't he ever tell us about that before? We have an end date?

It's time we know, don't you think? Kara stands and smiles, her arms held out like she is taking in life with one big breath. "Perhaps Mr. Jafari would like to know about our end dates, Doc?"

Dr. Gatsbro looks at Kara, reading the disaster in her smile as easily as I do. He is just now recognizing his slip. "Yes, of course," he says. He clears his throat and shifts in his seat. "Kara and Locke do not have end dates. Since they were unavailable to consult with prior to their restoration, we simply will allow the BioPerfect to run its own course, which we expect to be four to six hundred years. Of course, unforeseen traumas can still happen, which might shorten their lives, but they will never have to worry about disease or the natural progression of age."

Mr. Jafari nods. "BioPerfect," he repeats slowly, like he is envisioning all that it might mean.

We have end dates. Four to six hundred years. How could he not tell us that?

"And their minds?" Mr. Jafari asks. "How did you get them to work with this technology?"

"Minds are simply uploaded into a central datasphere and they immediately begin functioning, communicating with the rest of the BioPerfect just the way the brain communicates with cells and nerves in a typical human body."

"No, I mean, does it all come through intact? After all that time? Nothing is left behind?"

"I think the proof is before your eyes. We have two completely normal and fully functioning people."

"Yes, I can see that." He turns to Dr. Gatsbro and says in a low voice that Kara and I can easily hear, "Was anything ... added?"

Dr. Gatsbro reaches into his pocket. "Absolutely not. I understand your concerns, Mr. Jafari, and they are valid." He pulls out a scanner. "But Kara and Locke are as free-willed as you and I. There is not one bit of programming in them that would make them anything remotely like a BioBot. Be my guest." He offers the scanner to Mr. Jafari.

Jafari doesn't take it from him and instead reaches into his own pocket. "I'll use my own, if you don't mind."