The robust little man sat back in his chair, somehow resting one pudgy foot on his other knee—a feat that seemed impossible at first glance. “This plague is just about as fascinating a thing as I’ve ever seen. It’s completely nanotechnology based, yet it shows qualities of an airborne virus, as well as some bacterial characteristics. It’s basically an unprecedented mixture of biological manipulation, microarchitectural nanotech computer processing, and cellular airwave transmissions the likes of which we’ve never seen.”
Sally slammed his thick-knuckled hands on the table. “George, what in tarnations is this fool-headed sack of pork-and-beans yappin’ about?”
“Fool-headed?” Rutger countered. “Sally, you couldn’t add five plus five using your fingers.”
“So ya admit it, then?” Mothball said.
“What?” Rutger asked.
“That yer a sack of pork-and-beans? Only complained about the fool part, ya did.”
“Ten!” Sally shouted out.
Everyone looked at Sally, who held up his hands, fingers outstretched. “Five plus five is ten.”
“Well, I do apologize,” Rutger said. “I’ve vastly under-estimated your abilities to perform mathematical functions.”
“Ain’t nothin’,” Sally replied. “I ain’t never been able to reckon how much food you can stuff down that there gully a’yorn.”
Mothball snorted a laugh, then covered her face as her shoulders shook.
“All right,” Master George said with a huff. “That’s quite enough of this silly bickering. Rutger, I can only speak for myself when I say I had a bit of trouble following your analysis as well, and I’ve been working with you from the beginning. Please, tell us again, but this time don’t try to sound so smart.”
“Try? Master George, I—”
“Please, Rutger.”
Rutger shot a nasty look at Sally, then composed himself, taking a deep breath, which resembled a beach ball inflating and deflating on the chair. “In simpler terms, so all of you can understand it—Sato has nanotechs inside his body that can take control of his brain functions—and therefore his whole body. It’s a technologically created disease, a virus made completely of artificial materials. However, it spreads just like an airborne virus, and once the plague is inside you, the virus can be controlled from a centrally located command center, which happens to be inside the Fourth Reality.”
Sally threw his arms up in the air. “Well, you done cleared it up, han’t ya!”
“’Tis a robot germ,” Mothball said. “A wee little robot that makes ya do whatever that ruddy Chu tells ya. Spreads just like the flu, it does.”
Sally looked over at Rutger, raising his eyebrows. “Now why on mama’s grave couldn’t you a-said it that simple-like?”
“Because I’m not used to speaking down to your level,” Rutger replied, folding his short, fat arms.
Sally turned to Master George. “Why ain’t we caught the sucker if it’s liken the flu?”
“Because we’ve been extra careful,” Master George replied. “We’ve worn gloves when we’ve had to handle Sato. We’ve fumigated his cell room on a regular basis. We’ve worn masks when necessary. It’s a dangerous disease, dear Sally, but it’s not invincible. Not yet, anyway.”
“What about the antidote?” Mothball asked. “Methinks you’ve got news, ya do, or we wouldn’t be sittin’ ’ere tryin’ to decide which of these two knuckleheads gots the smaller brain.”
“We’re very close to having it solved,” Rutger said. “Since the whole power of this plague lies in its ability to be controlled from Chu’s headquarters, we think we can kill it in one swift stroke. All we have to do is inject our antidote into the home source, whatever that may be.”
“That easy, is it?” Mothball asked.
Master George cleared his throat. “Easy, Mothball? I’m afraid not. This . . . device, this thing, that controls those infected with the nanoplague will be well-protected. Ironically, its vulnerability will be the very thing that ensures its invulnerability.”
Sally merely blinked, and Master George had to suppress a smile.
“We can only assume that the device is what Reginald has referred to as Dark Infinity, and there’s simply no hope or chance of us ever seeing it in person.”
“Then what you figger we’s gonna do?” Sally asked.
Master George paused, staring at Sally for a very long moment before finally speaking. “Our only hope is to get the antidote, once it’s completed, to Tick and the others. Then they must win Chu’s contest and get on the inside.”
Mothball sniffed. Rutger coughed. Sally scratched his ear.
“Our only hope is for Reginald Chu to summon the very thing that will destroy him.” Master George reached down and stroked the soft fur of his beloved cat, who was still snoozing. “But how we will do that without losing our dear young friends, I just don’t know.”
Chapter
32
~
Monkeying Around
Paul was getting steadily worse. His arm had ballooned to twice its normal size, blue-purple streaks scratched across the tight skin. As bad as it looked, his moans of pain were worse; he sounded as if he were minutes away from dying. Whatever the case, his condition rattled Sofia’s nerves.
“It can’t be much farther,” she said. “All that whining is only going to make it hurt more.”