The Resonant Aligner was humming, fixing things. Benny was watching the monitors with his hand on the stasis field that was holding his mom in the quiet hospital at Pancreatic Junction. The figure for her cells that were sticking together was at 12.7%. Slowly, but it was going up.
Maxine said the Aether stuff was calming down. It was no longer a war zone inside Joan's body, just a cleanup operation.
She told him, "Talk to her, Maxine was not trying to be nice but she was sure of herself. Your voice goes straight to her brain. It might help her to come to."
So Benny talked. He told her about the disgusting Vat-Bread, and the baby crystal plants that were starting to grow. He told her that his head was not empty anymore, but was filled with the sounds of people working and talking. He told her about the Symbiote kids who taught him how to listen to the mushroom gossip.
He didn't know if she heard him. But her heartbeat on the screen kept getting a little stronger, more steady, as he talked.
The door opened. Naomi came in carrying two bowls of hot Vat-Bread mush. She looked tired, not put together anymore, but still very much determined. There was now a fire in her eye.
Benny, I brought dinner, she said, handing him a bowl. She looked at Joan. Any better?
Her lungs are working 3% better than yesterday, Benny said, as if he were repeating what Maxine had told him. He took the bowl. Thanks.
Naomi sat down and ate her mush. The quiet was not bad. After a while, she said, People are calling it 'The Great Weaning' in the lower areas. It's not a term of hope, rather those people are shocked. As if we were all babies trying real food for the first time, and finding it difficult.
Benny gave a little smile. It is hard.
It is, she said, stopping. Your mom would be happy with you. How you've helped. How you listen.
Benny stared at his food. I just want her to wake up. I want to tell her… the screaming stopped. Everything's okay now.
Naomi put her hand on his shoulder. She knows. She knows in there. She fought for this quiet.
After Naomi left, Benny was still in his chair, the Aligner humming and he fell asleep. His dream was not of screaming but of a slow, deep beat, like that of a sleeping giant. He was in the Mycelial Wastes, and the mushrooms were singing a lullaby. His mother was beside him, holding his hand, and looking serene.
He woke up abruptly. The dream was very vivid. The Aligner was still humming. The monitors looked the same.
But Joan Rhodes's eyes were open.
They were hazy, not sharp, and were looking at the ceiling. But they were open.
Benny was out of breath. He moved closer, his heart beating very fast. Mom?
Nothing. Just the slow blink of dry eyes.
He took the comm and dialed Maxine urgently. She's awake! Her eyes are open! He said.
Maxine came quickly. She looked over Joan, then looked at the figures. There was a little bit more brain activity. She is not really there yet. But she is no longer in a coma. She will be going into a vegetative state.
Not magic. Just medicine. But to Benny, it was everything.
Are you able to hear me? he asked, nervously.
Maybe not understand. However, she can hear things. Continue talking. Being normal might get her out of that state.
So Benny talked. He told her about the dream, the lullaby that the mushrooms sang. He told her about Vat-Bread, and Leo and Casssandra calming the water. He told her about the new, quiet world while holding her cold hand.
And while he was talking, a tear came down Joan Rhodes's face from her eye, and fell on the pillow.
Not awake. Not knowing.
But a feeling.
A feeling, getting out.