Elite 2: The Wrong Side of Revolution Read Free Page A

skeptically.
    Horchoff turned his hand over and stretched out the lower region of his face as if the answer were quite obvious. “You know how to send commands. Just tell your immune system to do it.”
    “Do what, exactly?” Daniel asked, realizing that the Doctor hadn’t yet explained how his immune system worked.
    “Right,” Horchoff corrected himself. “First though, find any signals being sent back to the nervous system from the immune system.”
    Daniel again closed his eyes and searched around the same area of his nervous center. He soon found signals being sent back to his brain, much like those sent from his nerve endings when he experienced pain. These ones seemed to be giving reports of the immune system’s activity. Again, he tried to sync his conscious mind in order to interpret them, but without having any understanding of what was going on, it was impossible.
    “I think I’ve found them, but none of it makes any sense.”
    “Alright then let me explain what’s happening,” Horchoff suggested. “Your damaged cells are currently building up oxidants, which are warning other cells around them that they are damaged. This has activated your immune system which is now dissolving the damaged cells. As this happens, antioxidants will neutralize the stray oxidants to maintain a chemical balance and prevent further damage. Once the damage is cleaned up, your healthy cells will split and replace the damaged ones.”
    “So what do you want me to do?” Daniel asked.
    “I want you to command your cells to start regenerating as the damaged ones are being destroyed,” Horchoff answered.
    “But I have nothing to base that command on,” Daniel explained. With every other command he had sent, he had first felt his nervous system send it naturally so that he knew how to identify it.
    “Point,” Horchoff conceited.
    That was when the doctor got an awful idea. He pulled a small pin out of his pocket and pricked Daniel on the arm.
    “Ow!” Daniel shouted.
    “Sorry,” Horchoff lied. “It shouldn’t take very long to heal. Lay down and follow along as the immune system sends signals to your nervous system. Remember the process I just explained to you. Cellular regeneration will be the last step.”
    “Seriously?!” Daniel protested.
    “Homework,” Horchoff countered. “You’ll thank me when it’s over.”
    It took the entire day, but Daniel stayed on the table with his conscious mind synced to his nervous system, following along as his immune system worked to heal the pin prick on his arm. Remembering the process Horchoff had explained to him, he believed he knew how to interpret each signal and in-turn send the coinciding command.
    Monday morning he found Horchoff in his cluttered office on the medical level. They went back into the exam room and Daniel laid down on the table and closed his eyes.
    “Okay, now listen closely, this is important,” Horchoff told him.
    Daniel rolled his eyes underneath his eyelids. Nothing good ever followed Horchoff saying, “This is important.”
    “I want you to tell your cells to start regenerating, but this may confuse your immune system. You need to also make sure it keeps dissolving the damaged ones as you regenerate the new ones.”
    “Got it,” Daniel said, taking a deep breath. This was going to take a great deal of focus, but he felt up to the task.
    “Also be sure that you aren’t letting oxidants run rampant. That would be a bad thing.”
    Daniel again eyed the doctor. “Got it,” he said, closing his eye and focusing on his nervous center.
    “You ate breakfast, right?”
    “Indeed,” Daniel replied a bit snidely.
    “Good. Have your digestive system absorb as many antioxidants as possible and direct them toward your injured area to keep the oxidants in check. I’m not really sure how this is going to go.”
    Daniel picked up his head and looked at Horchoff. “Is that all?” he asked.
    “Yes,” Horchoff answered definitively.
    “What if