Chapter Twenty-Three – Dr. Myalis, Medicine AI

Chapter Twenty-Three – Dr. Myalis, Medicine AI

“The International Air Quality Index, IAQI, or “Yacky”, is an internationally accepted standard for the air quality in and around various metropolitan areas across the world. For example, Paris, France has an IAQI of 4.5, whereas Novaya Moskva has an IAQI of 5.1.

Pure, fully-filtered air in a medical operating room has an ideal IAQI of 2.0!”

–International Air Quality Index brochure, 2054

***

I eyed Rac properly for a minute or so. I’d like to think that I was pretty decent at sniffing out when someone wasn’t in the best of shape. Rac looked… well, not that bad. She’d slept recently, judging by the lack of bags under her eyes. Still, she still looked like she was too thin, and too small for her age.

“Have you been eating?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said, instantly sounding defensive in a way that told me she wasn’t. Or maybe…

“Like, actual food?”

Rac crossed her arms. “Coco always made sure that we ate before and after a mission,” she said. “She had these disgusting protein-shakes she insisted I drink.”

Coco, the large gorilla-modded woman who’s crew Rac had joined. There was a lot of past-tense in that whole statement. “Are you still working with her and the others? Spider and… what was that other guy’s name? The one you had a crush on?”

“I didn’t have a crush on anyone,” she lied. “And it was Garter.”

“Was?”

Rac crossed her arms. “Was.”

I decided not to poke at that too much, it felt like she might be a bit raw about it still. So instead I walked over to the printer and tapped the touch-screen on the front of it. The printer had a pretty easy UI, with no ads popping up or demands to join some subscription or whatever.

It didn’t take much to navigate the menus over to armours, then armoured skinsuits. The problem was when I clicked on one of the options that looked decent and was then prompted to fill in some ‘basic’ information.

Information like my bust size, waist size, the circumference of my thigh, around my knee, my calf, the length of each leg, the kind of arch on my foot… honestly I just kept scrolling down in growing horror. This was asking for about eighty measurements.

“Oh, yeah, it’s like that,” Rac said. “I have a measuring tape somewhere.”

“Why?” I asked

“Because it’s not one-size fits all?” Rac asked. “It’s made for one person only.”

“Damn, bespoke shit huh? Actually, that’s kind of what I’ve gotten used to with Myalis… speaking of which. Myalis, bit creepy to ask, but do you have my measurements?”

I don’t think it’s necessarily creepy in context. You wouldn’t think that a medical professional being aware of your blood sugar or cholesterol levels or body weight is ‘creepy’ would you?

“Yeah, but you’re not my doctor. Not that I’ve ever had one. Wait, are you what it’s like to have a doctor?” I asked.

Rac was giving me a look now, but I ignored it.

Let me just input the data for you.

The page I was on auto-filled and I smiled smugly at the victory before pressing on print. The machine clunked, then hummed, and I got to see a 3d scan of the skinsuit being made on the screen. It was pre-folded into a small package already. A timer popped up, and I blinked at it. “Forty minutes?”

“That seems reasonable?” Rac said. “It’s fast for a print of something that’s that good.”

“Yeah, but that’s forever. Urgh. Come on, Rac, you need to eat, and I don’t feel like waiting alone.”

Rac’s expression was unreadable as I tugged her along after me. We returned to the main part of the house, then into the kitchen. It was mostly empty, except for a single kitten sitting at the island in the centre of the room and staring off into space.

“Heya, Nose,” I said.

Nose turned my way, then smiled. “Hi Cat,” he said. “Hi Rac. Are you becoming a kitten too?”