Order of Magnitude

XL. BTOF-Delta

      Edison wasn't sure what to do. It had finally happened. He had been cut. His blood was exposed to the community. As if that wasn't bad enough, his hand still hadn't healed. Every time he put any kind of pressure on it, the wound would begin bleeding all over again. At this point, he couldn't be sure that no one had been exposed to it yet.

      Who cares? Edison thought while lying in bed. Maybe we deserve this as a species. After all, we have been reduced to nothing more than a pack of murderers. And if we can believe the news Jacques been telling us, then we aren't the only community that's been committing crimes. People all across the country are being murdered by parvs. Is it wrong to want that to stop?

      Edison knew the answer to that. While he disagreed with what was currently going on, he couldn't justify wiping out his entire race. After all, there were still good parvs out there. Like Turner, and Chandra, and Scarlet.

      He rubbed his other hand through his hair. It was no longer as blue as it had once been. Now it was lighter, but it was also more brittle. It would fall out with the slightest touch. Edison sighed, and let his hand fall back to his lap. He lifted his head and listened to the tunnel outside. Mostly silence, with the rare shuffling of feet on the other side of his door. There weren't a lot of SubTerrans left; they were all out on some expedition. Not an expedition. Let's call it what it is, here. A murder.

      An expedition or a murder, it didn't matter what it was called. The result was that a healthy portion of the group was gone. And most of those that were left were fast asleep. He was basically all alone in this place. Now was as good a time as any.

      Edison stood from his bed and grabbed a piece of sponge and container of water. He had bled once at lunch, then again in the wash room. And also here in bed. That was three places that needed to be scrubbed. He hoped there was no more that he hadn't noticed.

      Bit by bit, Edison cleansed every drop of blood from SubTerra, as he had done every night since his cut. It was hard, thankless work, but it was necessary. The minutes stretched into hours. He couldn't press too hard on the sponge, lest his wound reopened, so he had to take his time. There were moments when he wondered if it wasn't all an exercise in futility.

      "What are you doing?" a voice called out in the dark, startling him. He dropped his bit of sponge and looked around nervously. Asa crept out of the shadows and walked up to him. "I said 'what are you doing'? Cleaning isn't your detail, leave that to our custodians."

      Edison gave a simple shake of his head, and went back to scrubbing.

      "What are you cleaning up?" Asa said and crouched down next to him. She reached her hand down towards the mess.

     "No!" Edison said, and slapped her hand away.

      "Jeez, sorry," she said, rubbing at the fresh red mark. "Wait a minute, did you just say something?"

      Edison sighed. "It was a mistake."

      "I didn't even know you could talk. Look at me; I broke through your defenses. Wait 'til I tell the others."

      "Please don't."

      "It's okay, I was just joking."

      "Why aren't you with the others?"

      "Jacques said he didn't need me on this one. The tunnel leads right to it, so the others know where it is. I guess I'm too important to go out when it's unnecessary."

      "Lucky me."

      "Come on, don't be like that. Why are you scrubbing this place? You realize this is all dirt right? All you're doing is making more of a mess."

      "I'm trying to keep it all contained."

      "Keep what contained?" Edison held his hand up to show her his wound. "Ew," she said. "Did that hurt?"

      "A little."

      "Well, if you need help, I can do some scrubbing."

      "No, please. You shouldn't even be this close to it."

      "What's the big deal?" she asked.

      Edison looked at her, wondering if he should spill his secret. What difference does it make? he thought. I've already broken my silence. What's the point in keeping quiet about this?

      "I'll tell you," he said slowly. "But you have to do something for me."

      "What?"

      "Help me get away from here. You know these tunnels better than anybody. I can't stay. You'll understand when I tell you."

      "Hmm..." Asa thought about it. "Deal," she said, and extended her hand.

      "Under the circumstances, we'll just keep the arrangement oral. You'll get why in a second." Edison gathered his thoughts, trying to frame the conversation the best way possible. "I was experimented on."

      "I know that."

      "But you don't know what the BTOF project is. That scientist told me all about it when he injected me. I'm a walking plague."

      "What do you mean?"

      "My blood is infected. If anybody comes into contact with it, they run the risk of becoming infected as well."

      "Infected with what?"

      "A special disease. It won't kill you, but it will render you infertile. And once you are infected, you can infect others. The scientist said that within 15 to 20 years, parvs will be extinct. They will no longer be able to breed, and will eventually die off." He paused to make sure she fully grasped the last part. "So, now you understand. I'm not just a danger to this community; I'm a danger to our entire species."

      Asa carried a shocked expression on her face. "That's terrible."

      "Yeah. And that's why I can't stay here. It's a lot to grasp, I know. So that's why... I wouldn't blame you for going back on our arrangement."

      Asa picked up a piece of sponge. "Nonsense," she said, scrubbing at the drops of blood beneath her knees. "We're in this together now. We're a team."