Bridgebuilder

Release

The mediboard was truly one of those things that defined the promise of technology. Fast healing from even the most grave injuries, with almost no lingering effects afterwards. Physical effects, at least. Alex was now living proof of this, as of two a.m. ship time, the nanite gel that had enveloped his lower body for nearly a month began to slowly retract, as the board considered him fully healed.

There were supposed to be protocols about how this happened. A bit of bedside manners for the machine. Someone was supposed to look into the well being of the patient before release. Ensure there was appropriate ongoing pain management available, and that all wounds actually had been fully accounted for. The mediboard that Alex was, for the moment, still attached to had nearly all of that excised when the main dedicated AI unit had been removed in pursuit of increased utility.

He was done, and he was promptly released from the mediboard with no fanfare.

The mediboard had been providing Alex with significant amounts of pain management through nerve disruption. And just like that, it wasn't. The recently regrown nerves felt raw and they lit up like a christmas tree all at once. It was the most thorough wake up call he had ever experienced as he sat up at the waist like Frankenstein's monster, yelling in pain in the dark.

Everything hurt. New nerves were sensitive to even the lightest touch and his legs bouncing around in the privacy shroud was just short of agonizing. He shoved the shutter back down and righted himself, floating there over the mediboard half naked and holding on to the rail to keep from flying into a wall.

"You'd think there'd be a warning." Alex mumbled to himself, shook his head and sighed, pushing off towards the soft glow of the door controls. His hand slid over the glassy panel, door to the passageway sliding open silently. Poking his head out into the dim red light, he looked back towards the engine room. Carbon's cabin was back that direction, as was what passed for a mess and the aft airlock. He checked the other way, his own cabin door just a few meters up towards the bridge and across the passageway.

They both knew he should be done today, there was no need to wake Carbon up to tell her it had happened. Getting a message from what was left of the ship's comm system was a jarring experience even when awake, and Alex could count on one hand the number of people he thought might want him to show up at their door wearing just a t-shirt. She's smart, she'll figure it out. He'd just get some rest and finally be able to get some work done around the ship.

He paused to consider actually getting into bed in zero gravity. The beds on board were a little more complex than a sleeping bag glued to a folding table, but that was always what it reminded Alex of. The thought of cramming his legs down into that snug tube of cloth was entirely unappealing. He pushed himself back into the infirmary towards the medicine pack. The screen lit up and he approached and he dialed in an analgesic with sleep aid. A few moments later a tube with two pills inside clicked into the tray.

Crushed between his teeth, the liquid in the pills was warm and flavorless. They dialed the doses in low on the ship, he'd get six hours of sleep at most. It would do well enough to keep him on ship time.

The empty tube found its way into the recycler slot and Alex shoved his way down the passageway to his cabin, swiped the door open and pulled himself in. The lights came on, still on automatic and it was exactly as he remembered. Just a big light gray box with an allegedly mood-enhacing blue stripe running around the wall. It wasn't even that big. A three meter square, with all the things you'd need in a room built into the walls. Bed on one side, several pieces of exercise equipment slotted into the floor, a desk and drawers on the other side and panels of emergency equipment filling out the far wall. The ceiling was devoted to lighting and life support. Allegedly, each room had enough for three months of sustainment built in, although that included a lot of urine recycling and near starvation rations. He didn't want to test that.