Microstory 2277: But Also of Everything Else

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The doctors are impressed. I’m recovering quite nicely. Don’t you go getting any ideas about stealing my eyeballs, or my fingernails. I’m not doing well because of any supernatural magic. I have a great medical team at a great facility, the support of my friends and fans, and the luck of great health prior to this. So yeah, I guess there was something supernatural about it. I was healed from the prion disease weeks ago, but also of everything else, including any aches, and phantom pains that people at my age experience all the time. So I went into that illegal, unethical, and immoral organ-stealing surgery in tip-top shape, which gave me an edge. Plus, they found me rather quickly, all things considered. Had it taken them only a few more hours to locate the site of the crime, I might be telling you a different story today. Or I might not be able to tell you any story at all, because I also could have died. But they found me, and treated me accordingly. I’m so grateful for that; I’m not sure if I can ever say that enough. This is all just to explain that I’m going to be okay, but that won’t work a second time. If anyone tries to do anything like that to me again, I will die. And for anyone who isn’t bothered by that, and is interested in trying anyway, you will be punished for it. We’re boosting our security team, as you can imagine. Law enforcement is rounding up all of the people who were involved in taking me, or my organs. No one has won. No one has gained anything. When my original organs are located, if they don’t need to be preserved as evidence, they will be destroyed as biowaste. I don’t know what that means if they’ve already been transplanted to someone else, but I don’t think they’ll be happy with the outcome. On that negative note, I’m very tired now, so I’m gonna go back to bed. Night!

Microstory 2276: Be Genuinely Worried

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Last Friday, I was able to dictate my own post for Kelly to type for me, and we talked all about my then-current condition. Things have not changed much on that front—I have a long journey ahead of me—but what I realized hours after that posted was that I forgot to express my gratitude. I’m not ready to share the specifics of what happened to me when I was abducted, but I was out of it most of the time. To preserve the internal organs that they were stealing, they had me on sedatives, instead of something stronger, like heroin. Then they put me on anaesthetics during the surgery. By the time I woke up, I was in the hospital with the replacement organs. I was very confused, and scared. I was never able to ask for help, but people helped me anyway, so please allow me to go through the list now. Thank you to the paramedics who found me. They were working with law enforcement during the literal search, and came across me first. Thank you to the cops and FBI who investigated this matter. Thank you to the medical team that transported me, and the surgical team who treated me after. Thank you to the organ donors for your selfless sacrifice for me. Thank you to the nurses and doctors who are treating me during my recovery. Thank you to Kelly and Dutch who have stayed by my side. And lastly, but not leastly, thank all of you for your immeasurable support in this incredibly difficult time. I appreciate your concern, I really do. It’s been a huge help to see everyone be genuinely worried about my wellbeing. It has gotten me through it.

The Advancement of Mateo Matic: June 21, 2473

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Last year, this ragtag group of random time travelers who didn’t care to have anything to do with each other humored Utari Kiswana, and took a tour of the artificial island that they were on. It was a really interesting place, and they all probably would have enjoyed themselves had they come here on their own, and weren’t being held at this point in spacetime against their wills. There were a ton of activities to do here, like mountain climbing, sailing, and paragliding. There was even a train that just rolled around on a set of circular tracks, where some people apparently lived permanently. After it was over, they were all exhausted. Most of them were asking to just be sent back to where they belonged, which poor Buddy must have actually obliged, but Utari seemed to be in charge now.

A funny thing happened on the way back from dinner. Utari and Buddy wanted to get rooms in one of the main beach hotels for everyone, so they could stay the night, and wake up refreshed in the morning. As Buddy described earlier, dozens of beaches radiated from the island, allowing a lot of residents to have beachfront property. The main part of the island, however, was still surrounded by water, and there were a ton of hotels and housing units there too. They just weren’t quite as immersed in it. It seemed like a nice place to stay, but by the time they got checked in, two of the abductees mysteriously disappeared. Buddy apparently made the attempt to bring them back, but was unable to.

“You were transported to my domain in the future,” he guessed. “You’re here now, and so am I. Basically, my past self was unable to retrieve you, because he would be stealing you from me, and that would not have been okay.”

Mateo looked over at Bhulan and Arqut. “You have been here for a year?”

“It hasn’t been that bad,” Bhulan replied.

“It’s actually been kind of nice to get a break from the ship,” Arqut added. “Though, I would like to see my wife again, so could we be quite quick?”

“Quite quick with what?” Olimpia questioned. “Have the rest of you figured out how to do anything that this asshole is asking of us?”

“Hey, there’s no need for language,” Buddy argued.

“Then how’s anyone gonna understand me?” Olimpia asked combatively.

“We have an idea,” Tauno jumped in. “We’ve been waiting for you two to return before we try to implement it.”

“It’s this.” Utari set her briefcase carefully on the ground, and opened it to retrieve a cable.

“The Livewire?” Mateo questioned.

“You’ve heard of it?” Buddy asked.

“I’ve used it,” he explained. “It caused some problems in the Third Rail, but it also saved lives. That’s what it does, transfers consciousness. Why would we want that?”

“That’s not all it can do,” Utari began. “It can transmit any form of energy, including temporal. We think we can wrap this around our respective wrists, and channel our power into a focal object. That thing might end up with enough power to accomplish what we’re trying.”

Mateo took the Livewire from Utari’s hands, and started wrapping it around his own palms for no particular reason. “I’ve seen a lot of wondrous things. I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what some of you have seen, but I’ve picked up a few things here and there. My best friend, Ramses may be the most knowledgeable person when it comes to temporal energy. Sure, you got your Hokusais and Hogarths...your Team Keshidas and Holly Blues, and even my wife. They’ve made some great things, but I still don’t think they compare to Rambo. He really gets into it. He has worked hard to figure out the fundamentals of time, and the manipulation of it.” He carelessly dropped the wire to the ground. “What you’re suggesting is stupid. Your lemon issue is not there for lack of power. There’s plenty of energy to go around. People with more power than all of us combined have not been able to transport citrus. You’re not gonna get it done with more temporal energy. If anything, you want less. Lemons don’t like time. They tolerate it at a one-to-one ratio, which is why they don’t explode in every grocery store in the world. They only become overloaded when you mess with the balance.”

“So, what’s your suggestion?” Buddy planted his hands on his hip.

Mateo shook his head. “Why did the Buddha’s hand citron go extinct?”

“A lot of things happened,” Buddy said. “Highlights include climate breakdown, wayward pesticides, pests themselves, a lack of customer demand during the rise of genetically modified organisms; particularly dayfruit. In fact, a lot of fruits have become extinct by now when we stopped growing them in favor of more efficient alternatives, not just citrus. Those I could rescue, if I were so inclined.”

Mateo nodded, and approached the man. “You’re a time traveler. Go back in time, and protect the Buddha’s hand. Build a greenhouse, keep it protected. Hire people to maintain it for the last few centuries. Do this the right way; you don’t need magic. Did you ever think of that?”

“Sounds like a lot of work,” Buddy decided after a long beat.

“It is,” Mateo agreed. “Preserving life is work.”

“No.” Tauno picked the Livewire back up, and wrapped it around his wrist before moving on to do the same to Bhulan. “I built the Fourth Quadrant out of raw power that I store in my dick. I can do this. I just need a boost.”

As offended as Bhulan was by Tauno’s crude remark, she didn’t stop him from pulling her into this power-sharing gambit. Arqut let him wrap it around his wrist too, as did Utari and Buddy. They stood there, like the worst basketball team in the league. No one tried to force Mateo and Olimpia to join them, but what else were they gonna do? Buddy and Bhulan were the only people here who could send them home. They might as well humor them again, and give it a shot. He was right, it wasn’t going to work, and hopefully, it wouldn’t instead make things worse either. The two of them huddled up with the group, and closed the Livewire loop. Arqut gave Mateo a wink, which was weird, but okay.

“We connected this room directly to the mountain’s primary fusion chamber,” Utari revealed. “We should not be lacking in electricity.” She took the first end of the wire from Tauno, and shoved it into the wall socket.

They could feel the pulsing energy surge around their wrists. It kept circling the loop, over and over and over again, building as it was continuously fed by the underground fusion reactor. Buddy was smirking as was happening. That was when Mateo realized that they never selected an object to focus the power into. That must have been because it was Buddy. He had chosen himself to be the vessel. He was clearly a megalomaniac, so this should have come as no surprise to them. The real question was whether he would stop at this mission, or move onto the next one after this. What would he do with all this power? The dude wanted some lemons. He was being a jerk about it, but evil was not the word that either of them would use. Utari, however, appeared to have let her hand show. She could turn out to be the real threat. She could be the next Cleanser, or Oaksent. She was smirking even more sinisterly, like she knew something that Buddy didn’t.

That was when Arqut breathed deeply in and out, and flexed his arm muscle. He reached over with his free hand, and cupped his fingers over the wire on his other wrist. The energy stopped circling the group, and instead began to redirect into Arqut. He was taking it. He was taking all of it.

“What are you doing?” Buddy questioned angrily. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Yeah, how are you taking it from us?” Utari pressed.

“It’s all about the entropy, baby,” Arqut answered vaguely, pleased with himself. “Energy tends to flow from a higher concentration to a less ordered state. I’m the least ordered state in the room, dumbasses. I’m not a time traveler. I’m only human.”

Buddy and Utari tried to remove themselves from the circle, but were literally tied up. Bhulan and Tauno were smiling, and it was becoming clear that this was the true plan all along. Had Mateo and Olimpia been here during their interim year, they likely would have been in on it too. There was nothing anyone could do to stop it. Utari kicked the wire out of the socket, but that wasn’t where the energy was coming from anymore. If anything, it helped, because now the temporal energy was free to slide along the wire on its own without competing for space. Only a few seconds later, the other four were noticeably drowsy and dizzy. They couldn’t keep their eyes open. Meanwhile, Arqut was stronger than ever, and the two members of Team Matic were doing fine.

The energy slowed down on its own, and once it was used up, most of the group fell towards their backs. Olimpia managed to catch Bhulan in her arms, but she was still passed out. “How are you two standing?” Arqut asked.

“We’re salmon,” Mateo told him. “We don’t live off of temporal energy. It really only comes to us once a day.”

“Yeah, we need sunlight!” Olimpia agreed cheerfully as she was carrying Bulan to one of the beds. “We’re plants!”

Arqut smiled, and walked over to open the shades as a nice gesture. He then went over to untangle the Livewire from everyone’s arms. “Most temporal objects are illegal on the Extremus. Tauno is a jackass, and we all know we can’t trust these two yahoos. Bhulan already told me that she has a knack for trying to destroy these things. So I think the only logical answer is to give it to you.”

“What happens to them?” Mateo nodded his head towards the people on the floor.

“I don’t care what happens to Utari. There is a way for me to tether myself to the ship when I get back home, and Bhulan will find a similar solution in the Constant, where she belongs. Tauno has all sorts of friends, I’m sure he can ask one of them for protection from Buddy. That’s why you need this. It could be your version of a solution.” Arqut handed the wire to Mateo. “I hope your friend, Ramses is as resourceful as you make him sound.”

“How do we get home?” Olimpia asked. “Do you have all their powers now?”

“I have their power,” Arqut clarified. “Not their powers. Bhulan’s will replenish itself eventually, and she’s already agreed to send me back to the past. As for you, I just gave you what you need. You take care.”

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Extremus: Year 89

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Tinaya has done something unusual, but it’s not illegal. It’s a bit of a gray area when it comes to her son, because he can’t consent to the link, but as long as they don’t perform a medical procedure, there shouldn’t be a problem. That’s how Tinaya and Arqut made their connection to each other. It’s called a spatio-temporal tether, and just as it says on the tin, it connects two people spatially and temporally. There are different kinds, though. The two of them have the most intense version, and their respective tethers to little Silveon are somewhere in the middle. If he’s ever lost in space and-or time, Tinaya will automatically travel to that location with him, no matter what method is used, even if he grows up, and does it on purpose. Arqut, meanwhile, will know when and where they went, and can make efforts to bring them back, should they need it. Or he can send himself off to join them. If either Arqut or Tinaya is transported somewhere, the other will become cognizant of their partner’s location for retrieval or reunion, while Silveon will remain safely wherever he is. They obviously decided to do this after Arqut’s disappearance, which neither of them wants to happen again. But the rest of their family isn’t sure they agree with how extreme they took it.

Arqut and Tinaya joined together in something called a lifelink, which connects two individuals on a biological level. Not only will they always be able to find each other across spacetime, but what happens to one will happen to the other. If she gets a paper cut, so will he. If he gets the flu, she’ll start to suffer as well. When it comes time for one of them to die, the other will succumb as well, even if they are otherwise perfectly healthy. This is a fairly rare dynamic that only the strongest of bonds—or the most reckless of ones—have led to. You really only wanna do it if both partners are at about the same age, and neither one’s daily life is particularly dangerous. There’s also a rigorous evaluation process, which even the Captain and Superintendent had to go through. They have chosen to keep it a secret from the crew and the passengers for now, but everyone will figure it out eventually when they keel over dead at the same time.

This is a risky situation, because it will leave their child alone, regardless of the circumstances of death, which explains why they haven’t told very many people about it. At the moment, should something unfortunate happen while Silveon is still too young to care for himself, their families will obviously take up the responsibility. The law will accept and honor this. But it’s time for them to come up with a real plan, and select at least one designated guardian. They actually have two in mind, but as these two are not in a relationship with each other, it may take some convincing.

Arqut’s half sister is fully 29 years younger than him. His mom did not have a tether to her husband, so after he died, she was able to live on, and fall in love again. She and her new beau never got married, but they had a daughter together. Zefbiri and Arqut are not the closest of siblings, due to the huge age gap, but they love and trust each other. They’re just at such different stages of their life, so she feels more like a daughter, or maybe a niece, to him than anything. She’s currently unattached, though that could change in the future. One reason they would like to select her as one of Silveon’s designated guardians is that she already knows the truth about Verdemus. While Omega and Valencia are both immortal, they are also really busy and unreliable. A team has to be responsible for the Nexa at all times, so knowledge of it must be passed down the generations, just like every other system on the ship. Zefbiri is currently in the process of learning every square micrometer of this building. She’s here now, doing her thing, but she has time for a break.

“Have you met Niobe Schur?” They’re sitting in the Nexus cavity at the moment for lunch. People aren’t really supposed to eat in here, but as long as they’re not sloppy, it should be fine, or really even then. This machine was designed to transport people across millions of light years. A little salad dressing shouldn’t be able to do any damage.

“Uh, I’ve heard of her,” Zefbiri replies. “We’ve never met, though.” She takes a second bite of her sandwich. She doesn’t know what this conversation is about yet.

Tinaya switches breasts for Silveon, which she doesn’t typically have to do this early in the feeding process. Hopefully there’s nothing wrong with her supply. “Well, we would like you to meet her today. We’ve already time mirrored her, but we were hoping to make a holo-call. I believe it’s her dinner time.”

“Sure, that’s fine. The more the merrier, as the Earthans say,” Zefbiri decides.

Arqut taps on the control tablet, and initiates the call. Niobe is suddenly sitting next to them. “You started without me?”

“Sorry,” Tinaya replies.” Silvy was impatient.”

Niobe smiles. “It’s fine. So, what’s up?” She sits down at her own table

“Are you alone on your end by chance?”

“Vaska,” Niobe calls up towards the control room as she’s starting to stretch. “Vaska!” She has her hands against the back of her head, and she’s pulling her muscles apart as far as they can possibly go. “Get out!”

There is no way to know if Vaska really has left, or if anyone else is lurking. A crowd of a dozen people could be watching them in secret from outside the perimeter of the cavity, and as long as they stayed quiet, the people on the call from the ship would never be able to tell. They have to trust Niobe, which is why they’re here. Tinaya leans her chin forward like a baby bird so Arqut can slip her some soup. She likes to keep hold of her baby with both arms while he’s nursing. “Listen, we brought you two together, because we ain’t gettin’ any younger. Arqy used to be older than me, that’s how crazy the world we live in is. Anything could happen at any moment. Zef already knows this, but I need to explain to you, Niobe, that he and I are linked. We will both die at the same time, and since we had this little guy when we were so old, there’s a chance that he’ll still be quite young when that happens.”

“You two are also young, but old enough to care for a child,” Arqut continues. “The only question is if you would be willing to take on that responsibility, should the need arise within the next couple of decades. We would like to ask you both to agree to be Silveon’s designated guardians. I know it’s a lot. How do you feel about it?”

Niobe was setting up her meal, but she stops short. Zefbiri stopped eating when Tinaya started talking, but she still had the sandwich in her hand. She unwittingly loosens her grip too much, and it falls to the floor. She doesn’t notice it right away, but then she looks down, and freaks out. “Oh my God. No, I’m sorry.” She desperately reaches down, and begins to put the pieces back together. “I promise, I would never drop your baby. Oh my God, no!” She’s even more desperate now, trying to wipe up every bit of mustard.

“Zef. Zef.” Arqut gently takes her by the wrist, and lifts it up. “The sandwich isn’t a metaphor for our baby. It’s all right. Relax.”

“I’m sorry,” Zefbiri still isn’t really getting that the food accident has nothing to do with their decision.

“Really, don’t worry.” Arqut pauses for a moment. “So, is that a yes? Do you want to be Silveon’s guardian?”

Zefbiri looks over at Niobe, who is still in shock. “Are we a package deal?”

“No,” Tinaya answers. “We wanted to ask you together, but if only one of you wants to sign the papers, that’s okay. Please look into your own hearts, and decide for yourselves.”

Niobe lets out a prolonged squeak, like someone with sleep paralysis who’s screaming in their head, but barely audible in the real world. “I would be honored,” she finally manages to articulate.

“Yeah!” Tinaya shouts. She high-fives Arqut. “One down, one to go! Give me some soup.” She accepts another sip off the spoon.

“Okay,” Zefbiri begins. “I don’t want this to sound like I’m being ungrateful, or anything, but if she and I are going to be in this together, then I think it only makes sense that we meet each other for real. I mean, when something happens—if!” She corrects herself. “If something happens, then either I’m going to move to Verdemus, or—”

“You’re going to move to Verdemus,” Niobe decides without discussion.

Zefbiri turns her head back away from her, and tries to work it out in her head. “Right. I would move there,” she agrees, seemingly not knowing the logic in that, but not wanting to be a contrarian.

“Actually, Niobe,” Tinaya says. “As complicated as it is with you not being on the Extremus manifest, we could figure out how to swing that. What we can’t do is let the dead Captain’s son mysteriously disappear forever without an explanation. You would have to come live here instead. Given this clarification, if you feel the need to change your answer, we totally understand. We chose you both...despite your current interstellar disassociation, because we love and trust you both. That was our only concern when we were making the list, who do we think could handle this responsibility? Others fit the bill, and live at the same place, but the problem with them is that they’re...”

“Of the older persuasion,” Arqut finishes her thought for her again.

“Exactly,” Tinaya confirms. “You two are of the perfect age.”

Niobe stands back up, and starts to pace around, occasionally stepping out of the bounds of the holographic cameras. “I’m still in,” she eventually says, “but if that’s a requirement, then I think I should just move here now, and establish myself as preexisting member of society. We wouldn’t want me to show up on day one, and have the Extremusians question who the hell I am, and where I came from. Like you said, we would need to make an identity for me, but that’s better done now than later.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Arqut replies. “We just didn’t want to throw too much at you. We’re already asking so much.”

“No, it’s everything I ever wanted.”

They all look back at Zefbiri, who has yet to give them an official answer. “Okay, so I thought I would feed two birds with one worm, but I still...I...”

“What is it?” Arqut asks.

“I’m still hoping to go to check out Verdemus. I’ve always wanted to go.” Her gaze switches uncomfortably between Tinaya and Arqut, and the floor.

Arqut chuckles. “I think that can be arranged, sister.”

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Microstory 2275: Now I Can’t Remember What

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This is finally Nick again. Kelly is typing this for me, but it’s my words. I’m really struggling to keep my eyes open. It’s not even that I’m falling asleep. It just kind of feels really uncomfortable to hold up my eyelids. They feel like huge weights on my face. I do occasionally fall asleep when I don’t want to, though, so it may take us a long time for us to finish this post. I would tell you to be patient, but this isn’t live, so by the time you read this, you’ll have known how long it took us to finish. I’m still in the hospital, as you can imagine, and I’m in quite a bit of pain. I’ve limited myself to regular OTC stuff because I don’t like how narcs make me feel. Before I could advocate for my own healthcare needs—back when I was on the brink of death, and totally out of it—they had me on morphine, or something or other. They continued to give this to me after my surgeries, because that was protocol, and I couldn’t tell them otherwise. It was probably for the best during this period, however, because the pain would have been unbearable, and the hallucinations were worth it if I could remember them. I started being able to remember them before I was lucid, though, so I can tell you about them, if you’re curious. The most common one was that every time I tried to shut my eyes to sleep, a cacophony of unintelligible voices would start to talk over one another in the hallway. I asked them to be quiet, but I think in the real world, I wasn’t saying anything at all. These people obviously didn’t exist. The scariest hallucination was when—sorry, I actually did fall asleep in the middle of this sentence, and now I can’t remember what I was gonna say. Maybe I’ll recall for a future update. I would have written it down earlier if I could have. I can barely move. I’ve not gotten out of this bed since they brought me in. Kelly has had to do things for me, even though she doesn’t work here. I’m hoping I’ll be able to stand up by tomorrow, and then shower on my own shortly thereafter.

Microstory 2274: Thanks Again

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Nick is awake, and already improving. It will be a constant battle for the rest of his days, but as long as he takes care of himself, and is diligent about his medicine, he should lead a pretty normal and long life. He will always be a transplant recipient, but that won’t be all that defines him forever. Right now, they’re focusing on determining the best cocktail of anti-rejection medication, and also pain management. He doesn’t like narcotics, so that’s really limiting for him. He’s doing a lot of breathing exercises to cope with the pain holistically. Overall, there is not much that I can say so far. We’re very optimistic about his recovery, but there are no guarantees. It’s going to take work, patience, and the aid of a great hospital team. I would like to once again the donors who selflessly gave my friend what he needed to survive, live, and thrive. We still don’t know who you are, but if you give us a chance, we’ll be able to thank you in person. To everyone else, thank you for all of your continued support in these desperate times. Another CauseTogether campaign sprung up to pay for the new medical bills. He doesn’t need it this time either, so we’re just going to turn right around, and donate it to another cause; perhaps to survivors of trafficking, or something along those lines. Oh, I’m typing this up in his room while he’s trying to sleep, so I’m gonna stop here for now. Thanks again!

Microstory 2273: Skipping Out of the Building

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Against all odds, the organ donor network was able to find two matches for Nick. One person gave him a lobe of their liver, and another one of their kidneys. I couldn’t tell you anything about them, even if I knew myself. They’re not necessarily anonymous, but the information hasn’t been released yet. Some of their respective families may not even know what they did. There was apparently a really short, but really intensive, vetting processing. Normally, a person would have weeks, or even months, to prove that they understand what they’re doing, and what they’re giving up. But in this case, it was an emergency. I wasn’t part of any of that, so I don’t know how it went down, but I’m grateful to them just the same. All three surgeries are now finished, and they’re in recovery. Nick still hasn’t woken up yet. Well, he has, but he hasn’t been at all lucid. During what little time he was somewhat awake, he didn’t seem to really know where he was, or what was going on. It will just take time, but I’m choosing to be optimistic. We’re still not out of the woods, so I’m not going to break out the celebratory balloons just yet, but he has a chance now. We will know more when he wakes up, and he can tell us how he feels. That’s a very important metric that doctors can only guess. They’ll continue to keep him here for quite a while. They still couldn’t do anything about his spleen or gallbladder, so I imagine his hospital time will be on the upper end of the typical estimate. Once he is healthy enough to be discharged, he won’t be skipping out of the building, though. For the next few months, he’ll be in a state of recovery, gradually getting better and stronger. Dutch and I will be with him the whole time. Even though the surgery is over, he’s still opening doors, hoping to speed up the process, but a part of me is worried about that working. If he becomes immortal again, the donors’ sacrifice might seem to mean a little less. I dunno. I guess in that scenario, they still bought him time, and it was still a profound thing to do. I shouldn’t be thinking about any of this. I just need to go back to making sure he wakes up feeling safe and comfortable.

Microstory 2272: Tested For Compatibility

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People are coming in from all over the country, and maybe even beyond, hoping to donate a lobe of their liver, or a kidney, to Nick. That’s very sweet of all of you, and trust me, I wish it gave us more hope, but he’s in really bad shape. If this were the future, the hospital might be able to hook him up to machines to keep his whole body alive. They could replace every vital body part and organ temporarily until a more permanent solution could be found. I like the way you think. With all these volunteers, there’s surely a perfect match for him somewhere out there. The problem is that it will take too much time to find that person, and in the meantime, Nick’s body is shutting down. He’s being kept alive by the machines that are available today, however, they are limited in scope. I don’t want to discourage you from hope, but what do you want me to say to you? Do you want me to lie, and claim that he’s going to get out of this because he’s survived so much until now? I’m sorry, but I don’t see how we could succeed. They just took too much from him. He probably won’t survive the week, let alone major surgery. From my perspective, I am willing to try, but the donors would be risking their own health on a huge gamble. Believe me, he’ll be the first to promote living donorship. He thinks that it shouldn’t be so stigmatized, that signing up to donate should be an obvious choice that any healthy person should make. The fact of the matter is, though, that we don’t live in that world. We’re not ready for it. Perhaps one day we will. Perhaps this will galvanize society into making changes, not because we’re bad people now, but because we can always improve ourselves. Unfortunately, Nick is not going to be able to benefit from such a world. Like I was saying, the hospital is doing everything they can, and it’s not like I’m stopping people from reaching out to the administrators with their inquiries. I just feel the need to manage your expectations. If this crazy plan works out, it’ll be a miracle, and how many of those does one person get in their life. Dutch and I have already been tested for compatibility, and we’re no good, so it would be up to you. Sadly, I don’t like our odds. His luck and time are both running out.