Freestone: Okay, are we ready to talk about - Geraldine, you brought that thing out again?

Macy: I have to record things like this, Victor. For posterity, for science.

Freestone: Posterity might prefer a careful, organized record instead of whatever…Ger, I don’t want my voice on record. I’m better on the pen.

Macy: I figured out how to rig the voltaic to provide heat and power. I think I have some say in how that power’s used.

Freestone: Fine, it’s not worth the argument.

Macy: And your voice sounds nice. Academic, even.

Freestone: I…suppose. Thank you. Oh, Walstead’s writing something.

[pause]

Macy: Mattie, you horse’s ass!

Freestone: Must you read filth into the slightest positive comment? At least that’s not being remembered for posterity.

[pause]

Freestone: “No skin off my back. I’m remembered for posterity every time I bend over in-” Are you testing new stage material on us? Now, of all times?

Macy: Victor, we only have an hour before the voltaic needs to be rerun. Start explaining while I get the injector set up. It’ll be easier for you to argue once her voice is back.

Freestone: Oh, don’t look so surprised, Walstead. I was struggling before, but now that my fever’s gone and my stomach is my own again, I was able to find a solution. In the interest of…transparency, yes, something’s very wrong with your throat. Lesions, warts, odd growths, necrosis. It almost looks cancerous, but from a bullet? What kind of metal can cause that?

Macy: Victor? Focus.

Freestone: Right, medical mystery can wait. The only way to halt the corruption would be to replace your throat entirely, something I’d gladly do if I had my full set of tools, replacement parts, Geraldine’s assistance and four or five days in a warm, dry room. If I try it now, there’s a good chance you’ll be crippled from the neck down in a way that would be expensive for me to fix.

[pause]

Freestone: The fear on your face is appropriate. That said, it’s in our best interests to get you talking again if we want to get out of Missouri. Fry’s horse is dead - I’m going to have to pay him back for that. And the Marshals have to be on the lookout for us now. We’ll need allies and they’ll need convincing. I’m a Negro, and Geraldine is…

[pause]

Freestone: Well, yes, she’s like that. That’s not a bad impression.

Macy: What? Come on, Victor, I’m not that awkward. I’m not, right?

Freestone: Geraldine, focus. Regardless of what I think of you as a person, Walstead, you’re naturally charismatic and know how to work a crowd. You’re our best bet at getting out of Missouri without more trouble. So…I have an idea. We’re lacking standard materials but we do have a few dozen pounds of…non-standard material we can use.

[pause]

Freestone: Yes, the EF. Yes, I understand why you’re making that face. It’s a temporary measure, I assure you; neither I nor my mother will tolerate it being permanent. But it should work. We’ll insert the EF where your jaw and neck meet, and excise the-

Macy: Mossy meat.

[pause]

Freestone: The affected material gradually so EF will form new flesh in is place. EF in a mortal body has differing effects based on a number of factors, but it usually has a healing, regenerative effect wherever it’s placed. In a few weeks, your neck should be good as new, and I can get my mother out of your body. Geraldine and I have everything ready. Shall we?

[pause]

Freestone: Questions, right. Yes, I should be able to complete the operation without you unbuttoning anything. Yes, I’ll make sure the EF is out of you before we part ways, for your sake, my mother’s, and mine. I have no idea what this will do to your life expectancy, but I doubt it’ll have a significant effect. No, you do have to be conscious for this, unfortunately. Previously what I was doing was maintenance and minor repairs; that I can get away with during normal slumber. This is significantly more intensive, we don’t have anything to put you under with, and Geraldine won’t use the Switch again until she’s had a chance to make sure it’s safe. And yes, it’s going to hurt a little going in and probably hurt more going out, and…I’m not sure why you just made that particular face, but that is the truth.

[pause]

Freestone: “You’ve been respectful and I appreciate the importance of what you’re giving me, so I’m not going to tell you the joke I just thought of, it would just make you mad. Do it.” Alright, Geraldine, the voltaic and the knives and the pipette. Walstead, here’s a fifth of whiskey I found under the seat of Fry’s wagon. Let’s get to work.

[Two minute gap]

Macy: Voltaic’s wired up to the head and the base of the neck. Start cutting.

Freestone: Cutting. Walstead, try not to look at it. You’ll be fine, as long as the voltaic’s running, whatever I do with your neck shouldn’t affect anything above it.

Macy: Oh god, it looks worse in there now.

Freestone: Bedside manner, Geraldine! It’s open. I’m going to start removing material near the jaw to make space. Geraldine, the EF.

[pause, then increasingly loud sounds of rattling glass]

Freestone: Okay, I’ve removed enough of the trach — the affected material. Now, just need to grab a small sample to — Matilda! Do not look!

Macy: It’s okay, Mattie. I know it looks raw and feels bad, but he’s going to fix it.

[pause]

Freestone: Okay, it’s starting to take shape. Geraldine, how do you feel about the vertebrae in the back?

Macy: It looks…a bit odd but it’s intact and stable.

Freestone: Good. EF can’t replace bone and I don’t want to tamper with the spine without a supply of copper wire in case something breaks. All we should need to do now is remove the rest of the affected material.

[Twenty minute gap]

Freestone: Okay, healing’s improved so much that I’m having trouble keeping the work area open. I’m going to seal it up so it heals even at the front.

Macy: You’re almost done. Victor, ready to disconnect the voltaic in ten.

Freestone: Perfect. Almost…done. Disconnect.

[Coughing]

Freestone: Just take a minute to adjust, Walstead. It’s a new throat; it’s going to feel wrong for a day or two but-

Walstead: “By the blue Alsatian mountains dwelt a maiden young and fair.”

Freestone: Oh. Oh god.

Walstead: Okay, I can talk again, but…Gigi, Freestone, what happened to my voice? I sound like Rosalee for Christ’s sakes!

Freestone: That’s…her voice. My mother’s.

Walstead: Oh, shit.

Macy: That’s…I never even considered using the craft to transfer traits. Victor, do you think that’s limited to just transferring human traits? What if we managed to catch a deer and-

Freestone: Stop! Just…good, it worked, it’s just…really uncomfortable to hear her voice coming out of you.

[pause]

Walstead: Well…I am thankful, Freestone…Victor. [sniff] My voice…my words are important to me, and I’m glad I can say them again, even if it’s with a borrowed voice. Still feels off but not the oddest thing that’s gone into me by a -

Freestone: No, no, sorry, no, I can’t listen to your jokes in her voice. I’m going out to scout where I saw that glint last night. You can just…talk while I’m not here.

[stomping, rusty hinges]

Walstead: Hm. You know, Gigi, two months ago I would have done anything to get a rise out of him like that. Now I’m actually feeling guilty about it.

Macy: He’s good, Mattie. I told you.

Walstead: He’s reliable. And he called my raise. I told him that I’ll stay at least until he fixes my throat, and he gets it done in two days. God, I really am going to risk my standing with the Marshal to finish his little rescue mission. Shit. You know, if he is right about all this, he probably could have just gotten his mother’s body back with a civil suit. It’d probably take a few decades but if his mother is immortal and if he does have the backing of Francois the shipping magnate, he has more than enough time and money on his hands. Why cause this much trouble by trying to steal it out from under Henshaw’s nose?

Macy: I don’t know. I know there’s a deadline he’s trying to meet but not what it is. But I think part of it is…he really did want to replace Birch for a bit. I don’t know why he’s not a doctor legally, but he knows more than enough to be one even without the craft. Maybe he just wanted a chance to help people.

[pause]

Walstead: Your fiancé is a baffling man.

Macy: You know he’s going to hate you calling him that more if you do it with his mother’s voice, right?

Walstead: He will but not you?

Macy: Horse’s ass, you are an absolute horse’s ass.

Walstead: Well, if you aren’t engaged, we do have an hour until he comes back, I can talk again, and my offer from November is still open.

Macy: Oh? Oh! Um, well, let me turn the dictaphone off first.

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