Heath is getting better. He’s learning his skills quickly. The clinical
neuropsychologist, Doctor Nuadu Merrick is very optimistic regarding his
recovery, and expects him to be a fully functioning, independent human being
within at least a couple of years, much to his surprise. Heath has the
benefit, of course, of not suffering from any actual brain injury, which is
what has happened to most of Dr. Merrrick’s patients. Heath—or rather, this
version of him—just has a brand new brain, which needs to learn everything
that a normal person would know. They’re starting with the basics, like how
to walk and talk, before tackling more advanced tasks, like how to eat food
with a fork.
Marie was overjoyed when the first assessment came following a few therapy
sessions. She could see it for herself too, he is well on his way to no
longer needing any help anymore. When she thought about what that day might
look like, though, she started to realize the truth. Now she understands
that any happiness she feels for the patient’s progress can really only be
felt in a general sense. Her love for people, and the desire for their
success, is what’s going to keep her going, as long as it’s strong enough.
There are other forces at play here. The relief she felt upon hearing the
news has subsided. She now feels herself falling into a depression. It’s as
close to a literal pit in the earth as possible while remaining
metaphorical. Her heart feels low. No matter what they do, that’s not Heath.
He’s a completely different person, and he always will be.
“There is another option,” Mateo says somberly.
“What would that be?”
“Keep in mind that this is only a possibility. I can’t guarantee
anything, and if it doesn’t work, we may not be able to undo the attempt,
and go back to just helping the individual we have here learn how to move
around the world.”
“Spit it out, Mateo,” Marie demands.
“If we ever get back to the main sequence, and we bring him with us, we
could blend his brain with the real Heath from the past.”
“That’s it,” Marie says. She paces away from him like a soap opera
character, and looks for figurative holes in Mateo’s suggestion in the
imperfections on the wall. There’s one big one. “Except what are we going to
do with him until the day comes when we can escape the Third Rail?”
“I don’t know, but that’s not our biggest problem.”
“What is?” she questions.
“The Third Rail is special. Nerakali can blend brains from any timeline, but
I’m not sure what that means for parallel realities. I don’t know if her
power would treat them the same, or what. She may not have any access to
Heath’s original mind, especially not if this world’s power dampening-power
makes it impossible to do anything like that anyway.”
“She’s not the only one with such a power,” Marie points out.
“They all originate from her, including when Leona and I shared the
ability.”
Marie paces some more. “So either we help Heath Two-Point-Oh learn how to
live, or we stick him in a box on the off-chance that we can recycle his
body later.”
“Correct.”
Marie sighs. “We obviously can’t do that. It’s incredibly ethically
suspect.”
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